It's the most wonderful month of the year...

DECEMBER in a glance -

What a month! I was set on being organized this year so this month could be as relaxing as possible. It certainly took a lot of the last minute pressure off, that is for sure... exactly what I was aiming for!

We really ENJOYED the moments this year. We stayed home and just soaked it in... Trimming the tree, baking, family nights of Christmas movies sipping our signature hot chocolate and Bailys... it was a lot of sweet times this year. We loved the preschool Christmas shows, ice skating in Old Town, visiting Santa (mama jumped in the group shot this year as Logan wanted nothing to do with this old guy), and spontaneously jumping in the car to drive and discover the lit houses... This is the type of month it was.







And I hosted Christmas this year. I mean, I was a detail planning, cooking, baking, decorating, surprising fool. This included a visit from Auntie Tay Tay, Uncle Steve, and Keaton for the 23rd and 24th (complete with a Mexican extraveganza on Christmas Eve) and all of Morgan's family for Christmas day. It was a lot of fun cooking the dinner, making homemade cheesecake and planning all the details...name cards, homemade wine charms and family videos dubbed to DVD's as a big christmas surprise. It it was a special christmas, and so fun. I loved every moment and look forward to this amazing time of year next December!!

Thankful

On the eve of Thanksgiving, it is more profound than ever how grateful I am for the life I have. I look around and although so cliche, I have a beautiful family - immediate and extended, amazing friends - lifelong and new, and a life that I love. We are truly blessed!

This year, we are particularly focussed on sending out every ounce of light we have to my sweet mom and Dave. It has been a difficult time, but I KNOW that health and healing are the only options, and this is the truth. These two little turkeys are too, sending blessings their way...and are the apples of all of our eyes!

And the traditions live on...

As a kid, Halloween was a BIG deal. Was it the fact that my parents went all out with decore, halloween parties, and festivities? Or was it the fact that we were channeling the inner - theater fan through costumes? Probably both. But I have so many memories of Halloween, and it is so fun to continue the excitement of my favorite holiday with my own little ones!

This year's theme began a couple months ago after Colin and I saw the stage production of Mary Poppins. From that day forward, Colin (and soon Logan) were completely taken with it's magic, and the characters of the movie. They have now seen the movie several times but mostly it's the music that they adore! There hasn't been a car ride, or meal in the past few months where they don't beg to listen to the soundtrack. And in early October, the conversation began about how to dress for Halloween... Not surprising, Colin proudly announced he would like to be Mary. Challenge #457 of having a boy who is in tune with his musical side and is nothing less than passionate about it all...sports, dance, music, art - you name it. Luckily I never had to totally "go there" as he decided Bert and the "black stuff on his face" would be cooler - especially if Daddy would be Bert as well. So soon, we had our 3rd annual family halloween plan: Mary, 2 Berts and a penguin. Morgan and I joyfully dressed up twice and the boys had FOUR occassion to get into their darling costumes!

Pumpkin patch fun, carving pumpkins, and the various halloween parties and carnivals have kept us quite busy (and happy) over the week as we definitely enjoyed every minute of this holiday!~

Pumpkin carving and toasting the seeds!




Pumpkin Patch tradition!



Community carnival and our little costume contest winner!



Trick or treating:

As it should be

Giving and playing and learning...! That's a pretty good summary of what it means to be thriving as a family in my book. Pretty neat stuff that over the last week, we hit on all 3 of these points! :)

Last weekend, we had a glorious time out in the sunshine among friends and family. We started it off sharing a celebratory walk with our friends. It was a beautiful morning, cherishing so many people - babies to adults - who have Down Syndrome. We loved being a part of this joy, and supporting sweet Jocelyn!! As a mom, it means so much to me to expose my kids to the important stuff so that we hopefully raise children who are extraordinarily compassionate and caring. I know this will be a special memory for all of us, and we look forward to next year's Buddy Walk!!




After the walk, we headed from beautiful Balboa Park to the San Diego Zoo - a short trot in our double BOB. What a fun time we had! The kids had an absolute blast checking out the animals... Hippos, elephants, monkeys, polar bears...and even the panthers (Colin's special request). Such fun with Auntie Court and Uncle Kris and the perfect 2nd half of the day!!




And tonight, we headed over to ABC Preschool for Open House. I have been excited for this night for a few days now! There is something so special about seeing the pride on your little one's face as they show you their artistic masterpieces, their special gardening, and their favorite school books. I feel SO lucky we have the BEST preschool teachers for both Colin and Logan. We adore these special ladies: Miss Sarah and Miss KK. Of course, there was a part of me that had a pang of sadness knowing that this is Colin's last open house at ABC since he will fly off to kindergarden in the fall!! (GULP!!! Pulling a Scarlett O'Hara on that one - I'll think about that tomorrow!!)

Playing catch up

I feel like I am entering back into reality after living in a bubble for the past 6 weeks or so. Now having gone through two Septembers with Hospice of the Valleys, I realize that as long as I am with my beloved company, I will be MIA for that month each year. Come about mid-August, I move into ultra high speed mode, and really don't slow down until my signature fundraiser concludes. I realized that this year on Monday (9/26), the day after the event, I literally felt like I was walking around in a haze, functioning in slow motion after living at such a fast pace for weeks on end.

And, as fabulous, successful and rewarding as the event was, I COULD NOT BE MORE HAPPY TO BE D-O-N-E!

My work schedule will be less for a while so I can 1) SPEND TIME with my sweet family, 2) recharge and revisit the other work projects which had been put on the back burner and 3) Catch up on my house, my to do lists, and my life!

In the meantime, I did manage to capture a few sweet moments this past month. Here is a quick recap:

Highlights from Courtney and Kris' beautiful wedding...








Weekend slumber party with Keaton!





SILLY MOMENTS!!!

Clown day at school!


And our little German leader :)