Thanksgiving Dinner/Chaos

This year for Thanksgiving we were in Danville and had a great time. Everyone was there except the Fishers who were visiting John's mom in South Carolina. My dad did all the cooking and it was quite a feast. Mom made sure the girls were included and they had their own decorated Thanksgiving table complete with art projects. This was Jack's first year of getting to eat a real Thanksgiving dinner and he couldn't have been happier.... all that turkey made for good sleeping!!The dinner itself lasted about 20 minutes.. with 4 kids under 3 no more long leisurely dinners, but we did still manage to get in our Thanksgiving tradition of all going around the table and saying what we are thankful for. The Dunns had a very touching moment during this part as they eagerly await Baby Dunn. We decided to make it an extended weekend so we stayed out there until Saturday along with the Brinkers... yes I know they only live 15 minutes away but isn't it more fun when everyone stays together?? On Friday after catching a quick movie, Aaron and Mark helped my Dad hang the Christmas lights outside. The girls wanted a front row seat for all the action.. The lights turned into quite a project and everyone, including Jack got in on the action.
After the lights were all hung.. Gram (cruise director) decided it was time for a "night walk" in the red wagon.There was never a dull moment between the outside, the art projects, etc.. Gram and Poppo made it a wonderful weekend for everyone and we even got to sneak out for a little double date with the Brinkers.

Gymnastics party/Weekend at Bernies

If you ever saw the movie, "Weekend at Bernies" that is the best way I can describe Madison's 3rd birthday party. After 3 days of being sick and another trip to the doctor we decided to go ahead with her gymnastics party with all 18 of her friends from preschool. After calling every mom to alert of Madison's condition we were thrilled there was still such a strong turnout. Madison loves to jump, hang, climb so gymnastics has been a wonderful outing for her and Dad on Saturday mornings so we thought only fitting she should have her party there, complete with a jumpy house. But the party went south quickly when after a few minutes of physical activity Madison tuckered out.. still not feeling well. Mark and I literally had to hold her up and blow out her candles for her. It was a sad sight!! Hence the "Weekend at Bernies" refernece.I think all the kids had a good time and everyone enjoyed some delicious homemade cupcakes.. courtesy of Auntie JuJu (thanks again). The girls also enjoyed jumping around with their new batons that Madison of course had no interest in passing out so I had to.
Note to self... if your kid ever looks like this... just cancel the party!! We will all remember this as the party her mommy wanted more than she did!!

Madison turns 3!

Well, all I can say is either I have really bad birthday karma this year or I am being tested on my parenting/party skills. Madison had big plans for her 3rd birthday.. we had been talking about it for weeks. She was going to bring a special snack to school for all 35 of her friends and then she was going to go to a special lunch with Mia that consisted of french fries and ice cream.. but the day before her birthday she came down with a terrible virus.. fever, no appetite, cough, the works. So after an emergency trip to see Dr. Noah... we called off school, exceeded our screen time limits for a 3 year old and ate lots of popsicles. We did however muster enough energy to put our birthday hat on and pretend we were having a good time. The biggest and probably best surprise of the day came when the doorbell rang and it was the Brinkers. Braving all warnings of Madison being highly contagious they decided they would risk it to see Mads on her 3rd bday!Madison rose to the occasion and had such a great time.. it really lifted her spirits on an otherwise bummer of a day. After naptime we, well really Mommy decided we all just had to get out of the house. It was a beautiful warm day and a little outing would help us all feel better. So Mark came home from work early and we headed to McDonalds for some soft serve... just what the doctor ordered.

Birthday Party Switcharoo

Wow where to start with this post... I think it can best be summed up by saying all's well that ends well but it was a little rocky getting there. Gina and I decided to plan a fun 1st birthday for Jack and Sadie since they are only 4 days apart and most of our friends are the same. We had grand visions of a kick-ass party at Lemos Farm in Half Moon Bay with the works... jumpy house, petting zoo, train rides, pony rides, pumpkins, cake you name it! As the day was approaching and we were putting the final details on the plans we started to notice the weather. The nice warm fall weather known to the Bay Area this time of year was going to take a drastic turn on Saturday November 1.. the day of the party. We hoped for the best.. confirmed with the Farm that it was rain or shine and kindly told people to dress warm and wear their boots. After a morning of cleaning up from Halloween, finishing the food and coordinating naps so my kids weren't monsters at the pary we all get in the car to head to Half Moon Bay. The rain is coming down hard... the Dunns are calling to joke about "Hurricane Lemos", Mark is weaving through flash floods and 3 car pile-ups....... I will admit the mood in the car was tense and I was fragile. We are getting closer and I get a call from Gina that she has arrived and there is a big sign that says "WE'RE CLOSED". The mood just went from fragile to totally on the ropes!!! Gina and I talked each off the ledge.. then decided to quickly swing into action with Plan B.. move the party to the Farrells house. We are blessed with wonderful friends and family who all showed up to help and celebrate. This is how the Fishers and most arrived.... soaking wet but with smiles on their face that they didn't have to stand in a torrential downpour at a pumpkin patch in Half Moon Bay. Instead we opened a case of Maniac (Mark's wine) ordered pizza and spent a cozy afternoon with dozens of kids running around nursing a Halloween sugar high hangover!!
The kids didn't seem to mind not getting wet and all had fun jumping on the trampoline and playing with the toys. Jack got some special time with Oma.
Makenzie decided to taste test the cake just to make sure it was ok to eat.

Then Madison and Makenzie watched and waited until the moment they could finally eat cake.Jack finally got to have a lick of his first cupcake and enjoyed all the attention and excitement.
Our little birthday buddies.. hard to believe a year ago Gina and I were just a few doors down from each other at CPMC holding our angels for the first time. Who knew they would get dragged every where together for the next year!! More good times to come.

This was us after a few glasses of wine... smiling at our husbands who made an emergency run to the liquor store for the biggest bottle of wine they could find and the party store for more balloons and decorations...Mark could be heard telling the woman at the store...'our wives are on the ropes.. I need more balloons, more decorations and one of each of these"
Happy First Birthday Jack and Sadie... maybe next year we'll make it to Lemos!!

Halloween is finally here!!

The night before Halloween Mark and I got into the spirit for ourselves and after the kids went to bed we carved some politically motivated pumpkins.... "go ooobama"
The next day it was off to Chestnut Street with the whole crew for the annual Halloween parade. In tow we had Mickey and 2 pink Minnies, Chloe the flower, Leenie the witch, and Reese the bumble bee. This is something we have done for 3 years now and it is so much fun. We were quite the scene this year with 3 strollers, two sets of grandparents and five kids under 3!! This might have been the last year for the "Minnies". Here they are giving their best "we're so over it" look.Speaking of being over it.... Jack was over the Mickey Mouse ears and over sitting in the stroller so he decided to walk Chestnut Street. Definitely one of the highlights of this Halloween was Opa's "costume" check out this green hair. I think more people on Chestnut Street were talking about him than the kids... thanks for being such a good sport Opa!!