Welcome to the Krazy Kingdom

Happy Birthday Dr. Suess

2012-03-04T21:12:00.003-08:00

Happy Birthday Dr. Suess. March 3rd is Dr. Suess' birthday & I love that the schools celebrate it every year. I wish there were more days dedicated to the written word. The girls wanted to celebrate by dressing up for school so I had them wear red shirts & I made them round pieces that said "Thing #1 & Thing #2." I even did their hair up with blue bows since the classic "Things" had blue hair. They LOVED it. They both said their teachers were taking pictures of them all day. SO FUN.

We read all day long. My little 3 loved reading stories with mommy. And I did let them all watch "Horton Hears A Who" too to celebrate Dr. Suess. It was a fun mommy/kiddo day. I love days like this.

Craiger's 1st Birthday Breakfast

2012-03-04T20:38:00.005-08:00

Craiger is our last birthday for the month of February & it was his FIRST BIRTHDAY so we HAD to make it extra special. He got his very own birthday breakfast with his favorite food: strawberry oatmeal. . . & a ding dong of course.

He couldn't figure out why we were making him get up at 5:45 in the morning. He's our sleeper & will normally sleep in until 6:30 if we let him.

He was SO fascinated with the candle.

Cragier loves oatmeal, but as soon as he took a bite of that ding dong for the first time, the oatmeal went bye-bye. He LOVED the ding dong.

I can't believe he is already one year old. It seems like yesterday I was still pregnant with him. Where does the time go? Why can't they be babies forever?

Happy Birthday Little Monster! We love you SO MUCH.

Mardi Gras

2012-03-04T20:25:00.002-08:00

I'm one of those people who like to celebrate just about anything. Mardi Gras was on Lorien's birthday this year, so I waited a week before we actually celebrated it (because I was sick of making cakes). But once I was ready, I had a LOT of fun making a

Mardi Gras KING CAKE.

It's not really a cake, it's more of a giant cinnamon roll/donut thing, but it was fun. And I decorated it with green, yellow, & purple sprinkles & mardi gras beads.

We had a full family home evening dedicated to it & the kids had a BLAST. The "cake" was delicious & we all loved the beads. Thank you Nancy for sending us the fun cake mix & the beads. We had a LOT of fun.

3 Pretty Princesses

2012-03-04T20:20:00.002-08:00

Nancy bought each of the girls a pretty dress for their birthdays. They look SO beautiful in them. I love my 3 little princesses SO MUCH.

Crazy Kids

2012-03-04T08:07:00.006-08:00

So I have crazy kids. I love my crazy kids. There is never a dull moment in the Potter house. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

Just the other day Cadence & Lorien were . . . let's say "dancing" (although that's not what was really happening). Cadence swung Lorien into the side of the piano & BOOM,

instant black eye.

After that happened there was lots of crying & hugging & "I'm sorry" being said. I love that they know when what they are doing is wrong & love each other no matter what. However, Lorien has a nice shiner to show off to the world. The best part? Lorien's teacher asked her if her mommy or daddy gave her the black eye. PERFECT. So the teacher thinks we would do something like that to our kids. Lovely. Luckily Lorien is our frank-matter-of-fact kid & told her teacher EXACTLY how it happened. Now poor Cadence is embarrassed because she knows it was her fault & so does everyone else.

Craiger, aka angel baby #5, has turned crazy child since he's become mobile. He's sweet as can be, but boy can he make some trouble. His FAVORITE things to do are empty the pantry & fridge. Bladen tends to leave the fridge open & Craiger goes right to work. I usually find milk, ketchup, mustard, etc. everywhere. Craiger's favorite things in the pantry are the napkins & the marshmallows. I wonder how he gets them sometimes, but he always manages to & makes a mess of it. But what a cutie pie right?

Craiger is also starting to climb. So we had to install a baby gate on the stairs. Now he climbs up onto the baby gate & shakes it as hard as he can to try to pull it down so he can go upstairs. What's a mommy to do?

Grocery shopping has been an adventure in & of itself lately. A few weeks back, Craiger pulled the bottom can out of a 6 foot display of pork & beans. The entire display, cans & all, crashed to the floor. I was MORTIFIED. I can't believe his arms are long enough to reach out of the cart now. That SAME TRIP we were standing in line to check out & Bladen & Taya both start screaming "SCARY PIRATE. SCARY PIRATE." at the top of their lungs. I turned around & there was a little old man with a cane standing there. He had an eyepatch over his eye. I about DIED. He laughed & told me he lost his eye in Vietnam. That made the whole thing even worse. The kids were still screaming "SCARY PIRATE" so he turned to them & said "Aaaargh" which scared the tar out of them & they cried. The man got a good laugh out of that.

And then just last week, Craiger managed to get his hands on a red pepper & launched into the face of the produce manager. Ugh. Then Bladen somehow triggered the silent alarm while I was putting the food on the conveyor belt. The cops were alerted & drove straight-away to the store thinking a robbery was taking place. The store manager tried to call them in route to tell them it was just a 2 year old that pushed it, but then the cops thought the managed was under duress & that the robber was telling him to tell the cops to go away. Needless to say, it was a HUGE mess & I was to blame for the whole misunderstanding. Good times, good times. Now I cringe every time I walk into a grocery store.

I'm amazed at how quickly my boys play off each other. They are both so young, but they both want to be like the other. Bladen LOVES climbing the ladder when it's out & I'm okay with it so long as I'm right there with him in case something happens, but I had no idea that watching Bladen do it would possess Craiger to want to do it too. I turned my back for one minute & when I turned back around Craiger was half way up the ladder too. BOYS.

But out of everything that's happened over the last couple of weeks, this one takes the cake for sure. We're trying to potty train Bladen right now & we try to REALLY congratulate him every time he goes in the toilet. I had Bladen on the toilet & then Craiger had a diaper blowout so I went to change him in the room next to the bathroom. While I was changing Craiger's diaper, Bladen walks in holding. . . . you guessed it. . . . POOP.

"Look Mommy. I did it. I got it out of my bottom."

I really know I shouldn't have taken pictures, but how could I not? It's TOO HILARIOUS. I was just proud of him for going potty like a big boy. (Not proud he dug it out of the toilet to show me, but proud he DIDN'T go in his underwear.) I guess I have awesome pics to show his future wife someday right? ;-)

There's Nothing Like Hanging out with Family

2012-03-01T10:35:00.007-08:00

While Trek's family was here over Lorien's birthday weekend, we were able to have TONS of fun hanging out here in Seaside. Oma & Grandma Kinsfather LOVED taking the girls to school in the morning & picking them up in the afternoon.

Auntie Marc & Oma bought about 6 magazines for us to read over the weekend. It was hilarious how we'd all just sit on the couch, each with our own magazines, & then we'd read during the kids' naps. I actually read all 6 of them cover to cover by the time everyone left on Monday morning. Is that awful or what?

While I made the cake for Lorien's birthday party, Oma, Grandma, & Tarrish took the kids to the park to keep them away from the cake. They had SO MUCH FUN.

We had SO MUCH FUN during Lorien's party. Everybody was such a good help to me & took good care of the little guys so I could take care of Lorien & make her day extra special.

The best part of the entire weekend was sitting together as a family telling stories & just loving one another. Those are always the best & most memorable moments for any family. I LOVE talking with the Potters. They are WONDERFUL.

And no visit from Opa would be complete without bedtime storytelling. All the kids climb up into the tallest bunk & Opa tells them their favorite stories: The 10 Little Goslings, The Magic Fish, Billy Goats Gruff, etc. It's the highlight of the day.

Most of the weekend was dedicated to Lorien of course, but Opa, Pete, Tuhk, & Trek were able to start building our triple decker bunk bed for the girls too. They got it close to being finished. I'll dedicate a whole blog entry to the beds as soon as we get them finished & in the girls' room. Thanks for coming FAMILY. We love you all SO MUCH.

Smores!

2012-03-01T09:05:00.003-08:00

Trek's sister Triskin had his name for his birthday this year & she bought him the coolest little outdoor fire pit for our backyard. We haven't had a chance to use it yet because of the icky weather we've been having here, but while Trek's family was here, we broke it out & had SMORES. It was SO MUCH FUN. Trek's dad even made a DING DONG SMORE.

We had a BLAST. Thank you Triskin & Phil.

MORE presents & a very Birthday-ish Day

2012-02-29T12:09:00.004-08:00

For Lorien's class, I made YELLOW CAKE POPS with bright sprinkles. Lorien was SO thrilled that they were yellow. Yellow is her favorite color right now & she gets SO excited every time she sees it. I knew she'd love YELLOW cake pops.

After school we let her open her gifts from our friend Nancy (who always sends the most fabulous clothes) & my side of the family. She got some great outfits & PURPLE BOOTS from Nancy.

She got $10 from Mamoo, 2 Math Leapster games from Mimi & Baba, & a pedicure set from Auntie Cari & Uncle Justin. She had a GREAT birthday.

Lorien's Birthday Breakfast & Family Birthday Party

2012-02-29T11:53:00.006-08:00

For Lorien's special birthday breakfast she wanted pancakes, scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon, & of course the Potter signature DING DONG. She couldn't wait.

She was also very excited to show us her dollar that the Tooth Fairy brought her on her birthday since she lost her bottom tooth the day before. She felt extra special.

I can't believe our little bug is SEVEN YEARS OLD now. Happy Birthday sweetie.

Lorien's Family Party & Lunch

2012-02-23T10:11:00.005-08:00

After Lorien's birthday party with her friends, we sat down & opened presents from the family since most of the Potter family was there anyway. First she opened her present from Trek & I: a set of all 6 Tinkerbell Fairies. She was SO excited. That is what she wanted more than anything else.

Opa & Oma got her all sorts of painting supplies. Lorien loves to paint & now she's SET for all of her painting needs.

Tylee bought Bladen the funniest Star Wars mask ever. He was karate chopping everybody in the room while Lorien was trying to open her presents. We were all laughing hysterically the entire time.

Grandma Kinsfather gave Lorien $10 to spend on anything she wanted & Uncle Tuhk got her the Mermaid Barbie she's been asking for for a while now.

Auntie Tarrish & Auntie Tylee got Lorien a purse/bag that she can color all by herself as well as an adorable Cinderella & Prince Barbie Set.

All of her brothers & sisters gave her a Paper Jamz Drum Set. She was happy with that & so was Mommy (since you can plug headphones into it so mommy doesn't have to hear the banging)

After presents we all went out to a great little Chinese place for lunch. I love going out to lunch as a whole family. It's always a blast.

Lorien's Spongebob Birthday Party

2012-02-23T06:52:00.017-08:00

Happy 7th Birthday to my sweet little Lorien.

For her special day this year she chose Spongebob Squarepants as her birthday theme. I knew that I could make a fun Spongebob cake for her. It took me nearly 3 hours, but it turned out adorable. According to Lorien. . . . "Eh, it'll work." She is SO FUNNY. I love how frank she is about life. She never lies & tells you exactly what's on her mind. That's what makes Lorien unique & I love her for it. . . even if she thinks after 3 hours of hard work that it's just "Eh."

Lorien's favorite color right now is yellow, so the Spongebob theme made it EASY to incorporate the yellow. My friend Nancy sent all the table wear & goodie bags. She did a great job at picking out some really cute things.

In the doorway to the kitchen, I hung some pink balloons with pink streamers to represent "Jellyfish Fields"

the place that Spongebob & Patrick spend every afternoon together. Lorien thought that was VERY FUN.

And we couldn't forget YELLOW SPONGEBOB BALLOONS.

She was SO excited for her friends to arrive.

Lorien is such a beautiful little girl. I still can't believe she is 7 years old. I love her little toothless grin. My nickname for her is "Toothless" so this picture is so adorable to me.

So once the guests arrived, we started out by making little whale crafts. Spongebob lives in the ocean & he is friends with whales. The kids LOVED this.

Then I had each of the kids have a "Mr. Krab's race" to the back door & back. A lot of them had never done a crab walk before & LOVED it. They were bumping into the wall & into each other. I can never get enough of children's giggles. They make me SO happy.

Our big craft of the day was octopus mobiles. I love Oriental Trading. They have the neatest little craft projects for kids. I got 12 of these crafts for about $7.00. The kids spent a good half hour making their little hanging fish & then I helped them hang their fish off of the legs of the octopus. They turned out adorable.

The kids' favorite part was cake & ice cream of course. Every kid LOVES cake & ice cream.

Craiger didn't know what to make of all the excitement. Pete held him for most of the party & all he wanted was to get the ORANGE BALLS & throw them. ha ha ha.

We were lucky enough to have most of Trek's family come in for Lorien's special day. . . mostly because it was a 4 day weekend, but it was SO MUCH FUN. They helped me get everything ready for the party. It was extra exciting having them there.

Lorien got all sorts of fun presents. . . most of which were barbies of some sort. Barbie's are Lorien's favorite things in the world. She was on CLOUD 9.

Lorien has the cutest little friends. She has more boyfriends than girlfriends (which is going to make the teenage years a TON of fun I'm sure) & they all came to celebrate with her. We had a blast!

As we waited for the parents to arrive, we made Under The Sea sticker scenes. The kids loved these too. Lorien sent them off with their crafts, a Spongebob Bingo game, a goody bag FILLED with Spongebob goodies, & a BIG HUG.

It was the bestest Spongebob Birthday EVER.

Valentine's Day

2012-02-15T20:20:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day

from the Potter house.

I love Valentine's Day. Sure it falls exactly in the middle of 2 of my kids' birthdays, but it's a fun holiday & I always think of my hubby on Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day was the first day we both realized we wanted to start dating each other. Aaah. . . sigh. He gave me a Valentine card that day & the rest is history.

I packed special Valentine lunches for Trek & the girls. They were totally NOT HEALTHY, but they were themed in pink, red, & white & had LOTS of yummy heart things inside. They loved them. The kids especially loved the heart shaped MARSHMALLOWS COVERED in SUGAR with CHOCOLATE in the middle. If you're going to rot their teeth, at least let them enjoy it right? ha ha ha.

Then I decorated the house with pink & white streamers before everyone woke up. I got them each a sweet Valentine card & wrote cute little "I Love You" notes. And then they each got a box of chocolates.

I made a Valentine Breakfast. It was a simple breakfast, but the kids enjoyed it. Our favorite breakfast food is nutella toast. I cut the toast with a cookie cutter to make it a cute little heart & smothered it in yummy chocolatey Nutella. YUM.

I love ALL of my little Valentine's. . . but I must admit, my little 2 year old sure melts my heart. I could just eat him up. What a cutie.

During the day I managed to make a heart shaped red velvet cake. It wasn't hard at all. I just made 2 boxed mixes & put 1/3 of the batter in each heart shaped pan. Then I put the remaining 1/3 in a glass casserole pan. Once the cakes are baked & cooled, just put them together with cream cheese frosting & then spread cream cheese frosting around the entire thing. It's okay if you get crumbs in the frosting, you won't be able to see it. Then take your extra casserole cake & crumble it into lots of little pieces & sprinkle it over your frosting. It makes you heart RED & looks REALLY PRETTY. (It tastes really good too.)

And my Sweetheart's FAVORITE FOOD is PIZZA. So I made him a heart shaped pepperoni pizza for our special day.

And don't forget the chocolate covered Strawberries. . . MY FAVORITE Valentine treat.

Oh, I & had to show off my new Mickey Mouse plates & bowls. (They are my Valentine's gift to me. . . . because I have absolutely NO WILLPOWER when it comes to Mickey Mouse.)

Pizza for dinner & cake for dessert. SO HEALTHY right? ha ha ha.

It was a fun day. I love celebrating with my family. They make me happy! Now I'm off to get ready for the next birthday party. Aaaaaah!

Girl's Night Out with Cadence

2012-02-08T09:57:00.001-08:00

The last thing I did for Cadence's birthday was take her out for a

Girl's Night Out,

just the two of us. She got a Chili's gift certificate for her birthday from her teacher, so off to Chili's we went.

We got burgers & rice & then I treated her to some ice cream with hot fudge.

After dinner I surprised her with a trip to the beauty salon for a pedicure. She's always wanted one but thought she'd never get one in a thousand years. She started bawling hysterically the minute we walked through the door. She kept asking me if it was for real. It was the sweetest little surprise EVER.

She was giggling most of the time, but it was cute. We talked about school, church, & Harry Potter. I loved this one on one time with her. Trek & I are making this a birthday tradition for the kids. . . (a night out with mom or dad.)

She chose a beautiful red glitter for her hands & feet for Valentine's Day.

And the lady even painted a little flower on her toes. She felt SO SPECIAL.

It was definitely a night to remember. We came home & she didn't say a single word to her sisters about it. She knows I'm taking Lorien to do the same thing in 2 weeks for her birthday & she didn't want to ruin the surprise of it. What a sweet sister.

I love my girls.

Cadence's Family Birthday Party

2012-02-07T10:31:00.000-08:00

To finish off Cadence's special day, I cooked her her favorite dinner:

Cheese Ravioli with Garlic Bread & Corn on the Cob.

Then it was time to open presents from the family.

Lorien spent all the allowance money she had been saving up to buy Cadence a cute little fabric craft kit. I thought it was SO SWEET she used her hard earned money to do something for her sister. I hope they are close like this their whole lives.

Thank you to all the family who sent Cadence such wonderful gifts. She appreciates them & loves them SO MUCH. We miss & love you all.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart.

Cadence's 3rd Grade Birthday Celebration

2012-02-07T09:46:00.000-08:00

For Cadence's 9th birthday, her teacher asked if I would be willing to make a treat for the class for Cadence to hand out during her birthday celebration. I decided to make something other than cupcakes this time around. Cadence wanted cake pops so that's what I did. She wanted white cake & cream cheese frosting, dipped in PINK chocolate, & covered in SPRINKLES.

She got to wear the silly birthday hat the entire day. She was a good sport about it.

She was SO EXCITED to pass out the cake pops. Most of the kids had never seen them before. It was such a treat for both them & for me to see them enjoy them for the first time.

I laughed & took lots of pictures while the entire class sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY to her. She was SO embarrassed, but SO CUTE.

It was a fun little celebration. I'm SO grateful for good teachers who allow kids to have fun & celebrate in the middle of learning. It makes SCHOOL so much more enjoyable for everyone.

Happy Birthday Sweetie.

Cadence's Birthday Breakfast!

2012-02-07T09:07:00.000-08:00

Cadence is so funny. If you ask any of my other 4 kids what they want for birthday breakfast, they'd say pancakes & that's it. Not Cadence. She's my breakfast loving girl! She begged me for a "Mini Volcano" (a dish from her favorite restaurant here in Monterey, Black Bear Diner). So, I woke up at the crack of dawn so I could make pancakes, bacon, sausage, & a fried egg for her special day. She ate every last crumb. . . including her birthday cupcake.

I still can't believe I have a 9 year old now. I'm getting OLD. ha ha ha.

Happy Birthday Cadence Dear.

Cadence's 9th Backwards Birthday Party

2012-02-04T19:46:00.000-08:00

Happy 9th birthday to my sweet little angel, Cadence. This year she wanted to have a BACKWARDS BIRTHDAY PARTY

with all her friends. That proved to be a little harder than your standard princess party which is what she always wants so I had to put my thinking cap on & come up with something creative.

The invites were upside down & backwards. They opened from the left side & all the writing was mirrored so you could only read it in the mirror. All the info, date, time, etc. was on the outside of the card, & the "You're Invited" part was on the inside with an upside down cake. VERY CONFUSING, but cute.

I baked several pretty pink cupcakes, frosted them, added sprinkles, & then turned them upside down on their plates with candles coming out the BOTTOM of the cupcake liner.

Then I made THIS MONSTER. ha ha ha. I couldn't possibly do it with cake; it would have crumbled into a million pieces. So I made it out of Rice Krispie treats & fondant. It's not the prettiest cake I've ever done, but it served it's purpose & Cadence LOVED it which was what was most important to me. So here is her UPSIDE DOWN CAKE.

The decor turned out WAY CUTE. I hung several balloons from the ceiling (upside down of course), & then I set up the eating area UNDER the table. We used PILLOWS to sit on instead of chairs & everything was done up cute in pink & white.

Cadence helped me put together the goodie bags. The color theme was pink & white so everything inside was pink or white. There were all sorts of pretty candies including some sugar crystal candy in the white bags, & there were sunglasses, lip glosses, nail polish, & lots of fun girly things in the pink one.

Cadence was SO EXCITED for her backwards party to begin. . .

All the kids (minus baby who was taking a nap) put their clothes on backwards. They thought it was SO FUNNY.

Even Daddy put his clothes on backwards.

And yes, my clothes were backwards too. Do you know how hard it is to button up pants backwards? I was surprised at how difficult it was.

Me & my little birthday girl.

Cadence waited ever so patiently for her guests to arrive. Then she made sure to say "Good-bye" as they each arrived on our doorstep.

The first thing we did was dig into cake & ice cream. After all, this is a BACKWARDS PARTY.

We all sang "You to Birthday, Happy" to Cadence. Then she blew out her candle.

Then we dug into our fun cupcakes. The kids loved eating the sugar FIRST instead of LAST.

After overdosing on sugary goodness, we had the girls sit down on the floor for a

Backwards Puzzle Race.

Basically, they put together puzzles upside down as fast as they could. It was SO HARD. They were laughing the whole time.

After doing puzzles, we had each girl draw a signed birthday portrait of Cadence BLINDFOLDED. Everybody was laughing SO HARD at the silly pictures they could hardly breathe. Cadence was laughing hardest because they were drawing her with blue, purple, & green hair. All the faces looked Picaso-ish & their bodies were no where near the head. It was a fun activity for everyone.

After lots of laughter & smiles, we headed back to our "table on the floor" for a

BACKWARDS DINNER.

We ate Pizza Sandwiches, Apple Fries with Peanut Butter Ketchup, Backwards Hot-Dogs, & upside down Sodas.

The backwards hot-dogs were fun. Just put the hot-dogs on the OUTSIDE of the bun. It makes a MESS, but it's hilarious.

Also, when you stab a hole in the bottom of a soda can, it EXPLODES. (We didn't know that.) But it was still fun. The girls loved drinking out of the bottom of the cans.

I think the favorite activity of the night was the

BACKWARDS PINATA.

All of the candy was on the OUTSIDE of the piñata. They got a kick out of that. (It's just taped on so it will fall off easily when it's hit.)

Trek held it up with a mop pole, then we blindfolded the kids BACKWARDS & made them hold the WRONG SIDE of the bat. The best part? Trek made sure the PINATA HIT THEM a few times before they could hit it. (ha ha ha)

After the piñata, we had another fun game in store. For a NORMAL birthday party, the guests give the birthday girl presents. Well, at this BACKWARDS PARTY, Cadence gave each of her guests a PRESENT.

We put the numbers 1-10 in a shoe (not a hat because it's backwards). Each girl drew a number. Whoever drew the #10 got to pick her present first. Then #9 got to choose whether to steal the first girls gift or open her own & so forth until #1 got to steal from anyone or open her own. They LOVED this. I think they were having more fun stealing from each other than opening their own thing. Girls are SO funny. It turned out to be a lot of fun.

We all had a lot of fun wearing our clothes backwards, eating crazy things, & just being silly.

The night ended with the REAL PRESENTS. I was going to make Cadence open the gifts with her feet, but there wasn't enough time left & I wanted to make sure everyone got to see the presents opened. She got a lot of fun craft things from her friends. They know her well. Everything was perfect for her. We had a blast!

Happy Birthday my sweet little Angel Girl. I hope your day was as WONDERFUL as you are.

My new addiction - Julep Maven

2012-02-03T08:02:00.000-08:00

I'm terrible when it comes to beauty products. I love them. I love to do my nails & my girls' nails. I found this program called Julep Maven & I have to admit, I'm addicted. ha ha ha. You take a style quiz on their website & they assign you a style (I'm "Classic with a Twist"), then every month they send you a box of polishes & hand products worth over $45 for $19.99. They send you an email on the 20th of the month that tells you what will be in your box for the month & you have the option to skip the month (if your running low on $$ or if you don't like any of the colors), you can switch your box to a different style if you like the colors in another box better, or you can send the box to a friend instead. I love it.

In my intro box (January) I got a beautiful peachy pink shiny color called Maya & a beautiful periwinkle color called Taylor which ended up being my girls' favorite color EVER. I also got a really nice hand brightening lotion worth $32 on it's own. I was hooked.

For February's box I chose to switch to "Boho Glam" because I wanted that blue color really badly. Since it's the month of the Oscar's, Julep decorated the boxes in red & gold & included a chocolate Oscar Statue in every box. It was SO FUN. 100 customers got Oscar Gold Boxes which had $100+ worth of polishes inside. Mine wasn't golden, but I loved everything in it.

My box included Oscar (gold glitter polish), Marisa (a gorgeous shimmery blue), & Julep's famous cuticle oil. I'm in love with all 3. Lorien gets hang nails constantly so I've been using the cuticle oil on her all week & it's working miracles on her poor little fingers. Amazing stuff.

Anyway, I just wanted to share. I'm addicted. ha ha ha. Look at my pretty nails.

For more information on the Julep Maven subscription, go here.

San Francisco

2012-02-02T20:17:00.000-08:00

For the weekend, we drove up to Tylee's house in San Francisco. It was an amazing weekend. Tylee & Pete surprised us by taking the kids back to Tylee's house while Trek & I stayed the night at Pete's penthouse apartment in the middle of the city. They sent us to their favorite Italian restaurant & as we were getting ready to leave, the waitress informed us our entire meal had already been paid for in full.

Then we got to spend the rest of the night at Pete's apartment on the 14th floor. His entire apartment is surrounded by windows so you can see out over the entire city. It was GORGEOUS. What a great BIRTHDAY SURPRISE for Trek. . . & I got to enjoy it too.

Thank you Tylee & Pete for a WONDERFUL kid-free evening.

We woke up at the crack of dawn so we could go to the Oakland Temple. There's nothing like waking up at 5:00 am on a Saturday morning. ha ha ha. We got ready fast & drove 30 minutes to the temple to find it CLOSED FOR CLEANING. Oops. I guess we should have checked the schedule huh? It was only 6 am so NOTHING was open. We drove around trying to find ANYTHING open, but we were out of luck. We drove back to the city & parked the car near Tylee's house. Then we walked around for a couple hours to pass the time before the kids woke up. I never get bored of walking through Union Square, even if all the stores are closed. It was a nice morning for a walk.

When we got back to Tylee's apartment, she had a BIRTHDAY BREAKFAST waiting for Trek. She made him a FABULOUS birthday burrito. I was totally impressed. Tylee is becoming a better cook every time we come visit.

After our "Birthday Brunch" we all piled in the van & headed over to Sausalito to the Discovery Museum.

Bladen & Taya liked the toddler area where they got to play with fish in a stream. My kids love any excuse to get wet.

There was a huge open area full of learning toys that the kids loved. They played for a while. I was impressed.

The kids' favorite area at the museum was the art studio. There were so many neat things here. Cadence especially loved the weaving room. Bladen & Taya weren't into the weaving, but they sure loved the safety glasses.

Pete & Tylee bought Bladen some chocolate milk to keep him still while Cadence & Lorien weaved crowns & necklaces (which took FOREVER). He was good so long as he had chocolate milk in his mouth. ha ha ha.

The girls did a fabulous job at weaving wet wood into all sorts of shapes. Trek impressed me by showing them how to do the crowns. That's the boy scout I married. He was amazing!

There was a HUGE playground at this place. There was a corn maze type thing made out of willow sticks. There was a boat to play on, several sandboxes, a hike, & all sorts of other fun things. Taya liked crawling through a giant redwood trunk.

At the top of the hike was a big bell. The kids all took turns ringing the bell. They loved that.

After our trip to the museum, we stopped at the lookout point in Sausalito to get a spectacular view of the city & the golden gate bridge. It was GORGEOUS up there.

After our adventures in Sausalito, we went back to Pete's apartment & played in the hot tub for a while while Trek & Pete picked up pizza & Chipotle. We had dinner together & then we were on our way home again. It was one of the best weekends EVER.

Thanks again Tylee & Pete for an AWESOME WEEKEND.

Lo's Student of the Month

2012-02-02T19:59:00.000-08:00

Our sweet little Lorien was awarded Student of the Month for the month of January. Trek & I were SO proud of her. Only 3 first graders out of the whole school got selected & she was one of them. She was awarded a certificate as well as a bag of goodies & prizes. She was SO happy to be recognized.

Congrats Lorien. We are SO PROUD OF YOU.

Trek's Birthday Party

2012-02-02T08:41:00.000-08:00

And what's a birthday without a party? After Trek got home from school, we watched him open all his presents.

Lorien made him a new laptop out of a diaper box (SO SWEET) so he could have something to "play with" after school.

Cadence made him a home made picture frame for his favorite pictures. (again, how sweet are my little girls?)

Trek got some fun things from family & friends. He got some money to buy a computer program he's been wanting for a while now, an outdoor fire pit from his sister, a jigsaw tool from me, some candy from the kids, & some new clothes from Nancy. There were also several nice cards for his special day. Thank you everyone for everything. He loved it all.

And the ONE THING Trek HAD TO HAVE for his birthday was

CAKE POPS.

I don't know what it is with cake pops, but he's obsessed with them. This time around he wanted funfetti cake mix & cream cheese frosting (for the cake ball itself). Then he wanted it dipped in milk chocolate & rolled in Heath Bar crumbles. Spoiled boy!

He's SO happy to be 33.

And then with the cake pops we enjoyed Heath Bar ice cream with Heath Bar chocolate topping. We're just a Heath Bar kind of family.

YUM.

Happy Birthday Trekkie.

Trek's Birthday Breakfast

2012-02-02T08:05:00.000-08:00

Happy 33rd Birthday to Trek.

Trek's birthday is January 25th & we always start his special day with his favorite thing:

BIRTHDAY BREAKFAST.

Trek loves biscuits & gravy. It's his favorite thing in the world. Bacon is a favorite as well. The Potter family always does Ding Dongs with birthday breakfasts, but not Trek. He wants Hostess CUPCAKES. He's SO FUNNY. So his every wish was my command . . . he had some delicious biscuits & gravy, bacon, a hostess cupcake, & a glass of orange juice!

(This was supposed to be a picture of Trek's Breakfast, but for some reason I took a picture of Lorien's plate. I blame it on waking up at 4 am. ha ha ha. Lorien doesn't like the gravy so I always do biscuits & jam for her. . . but try & picture gravy on the biscuits.)

Trek was SO surprised when he walked into the kitchen. (not really, but we like to pretend for the kids)

Surprise!

He made a wish & then ate it all up.

Happy Birthday #33 Trek.

Once upon a time there were 3 little princesses . . .

2012-01-31T09:57:00.000-08:00

The girls begged me to do their hair like princesses with crowns for church on Sunday. How could I resist? They are such

beautiful little princesses.

"Toothless"

2012-01-31T09:48:00.000-08:00

Lorien has been making BANK off the tooth fairy lately. She just lost another tooth on the bottom so she really is beginning to be TOOTHLESS. The other night, we had her favorite food in the world:

Corn on the Cob.

She started crying half way through dinner because she COULDN'T eat it. Poor thing. I couldn't help but chuckle. The hardships of a six year old. What a cutie.

The Mystery Spot

2012-01-30T12:15:00.000-08:00

I love it when a holiday comes around. The kids & THE HUBBY gets out of school. For Martin Luther King's Birthday, Trek & I took the kids up to Santa Cruz to

"The Mystery Spot."

It was in a beautiful area of the Redwoods, & though it was freezing cold, it was fun.

I've been to places like this before, but the kids haven't & they thought it was the coolest thing they had ever seen before. At the bottom of the hill they had a level slab of concrete where nothing LOOKED level at all. Then we hiked up this little hill, but it felt like you were climbing a steep mountain. It was crazy how hard it was to go up.

At the top of the walk there was a cabin that someone had built many years ago that had literally slid down the mountain & hit a large redwood tree. The pull of gravity on this hill was SO off. It was really bizarre. You CANNOT stand upright because it feels wrong. Gravity is pulling you down & it took ALL YOUR ENERGY to stay upright.

It was bizarre. There was a piece of wood that LOOKED like it was going DOWN into the cabin, but when you put a level on it, it was completely level. But when you put a ball on it, the ball rolled UPWARD & OUT of the cabin. At first I thought it was a trick ball, but then the tour guide did the same demonstration with a water bottle (rolled UP) & then poured water on the board. I about died when the water ROLLED UP & off the high end of the board. It was SO STRANGE.

Then we went INSIDE the cabin which made everyone laugh. My first instinct was to throw up everywhere. The actual pull of gravity literally was making me lose my lunch. Poor little Bladen didn't know how to deal with it & kept falling into the wall. He learned you can't fight with gravity & win. ha ha ha.

It was really weird standing on a completely level floor, but be standing at an angle because you felt like something was going to pull you to the floor. Or you could have been like Bladen & just stood with your face in the wall because you couldn't move period. The best way to describe it was like being on the "Gravitron" ride from a carnival. You literally had NO CONTROL of your body.

Because of the gravitational pull in the cabin, you are able to bend backwards without falling over. Cadence was LOVING this.

Trek was the only one of us that wasn't feeling nauseous. He was having a blast playing on everything.

The last area of the tour was the kids' favorite part. They had a bench that looks off balance, but was completely level. They had 5 kids stand on the bench from shortest to tallest. You could very visibly see the height difference between them all. Lorien was the center kid. She was SO excited to be part of a demonstration.

Then they had the kids change places to show that even though the bench is completely level, somehow it's NOT. Now the tallest kid looks like the shortest & the shortest is the tallest.

They did the same demonstration with adults & I was chosen to be a shorty. Surprise, surprise.

At the end there was one more area that was similar to the last area. It had a slab of concrete that was completely LEVEL, but had the same effect. First Cadence is taller, then Lorien is.

Cadence wanted to takes pictures of Trek & I doing it as well.

We all got "Mystery Spot" bumper stickers & we let each of the kids get a treat at the gift shop before we left for home. It was a fun little afternoon for us. I'm glad we have holidays every now & again that allow us to have fun little adventures as a family.

Random Fun

2012-01-27T06:19:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it is just fun to take some random pictures of my cutie pies. I bought Bladen a cute little shirt with a beanie the other day for $2 at Walmart & it is SO cute on him. He looks like a little snowboarder. SO CUTE. For some reason he thinks he's all tough when he wears his beanie. I love it.

And there's nothing like getting your kids in a green room photo booth where they think nobody is watching them. (They didn't know we had cameras on them.) HOW FUNNY.

Such cutie pies.

A Very SORENSEN Christmas

2012-01-26T09:42:00.000-08:00

So the day after we got home from our Christmas adventure in LA, we got to have our 3rd Christmas (ha ha ha). All the gifts from my side of the family were still under our tree so we got to have another mini-Christmas. What fun!

My mom & dad got to watch us open all of them through our TV/computer. I love that technology allows us to do this. I was SO SAD I didn't get to go see my side of the family for Christmas, so having them watch was almost just as fun.

The kids opened all sorts of fun things from my parents (Mimi & Baba), my grandma Cherry (Mamoo), & my brother's family in UT. We miss them all SO much.

Cadence's favorite present was the sewing machine from Mimi. Now she can sew like mommy.

Bladen LOVED his Toy Story playset. He plays with this thing for HOURS.

My mommy bought me a doll for Christmas. I've always loved Belle & these dolls are gorgeous. She now sits on my bed every day. I love her.

After we were done opening ALL OUR GIFTS, we laid out each of our piles of treasures & took pictures with them so we could always remember what we got for Christmas in 2011. We were VERY BLESSED this year with LOTS of fun things.

Craiger didn't want to be in his picture. ha ha ha.

Bladen got a lot of sports toys & action figures this year. Oh & let's not forget his GUN. Such a boy!

Taya, who was sick the entire time, got lots of pretty pink princessy & girly things. She was VERY happy indeed.

Cadence's favorite thing was her telescope of course, but that sewing machine took a close 2nd. She also got lots of legos, art things, & jewelry which she loved.

Lorien was THRILLED with her Heely's & her BIG GUN. Such a tomboy! She got some fun legos & games too. She was happy as she could be.

Trek got some nice clothes, some techy things, & lots of TOOLS. Hooray! Let's build something.

I felt SUPER SPOILED this year. I got a HUGE pan set with a ceiling pan hanger, a carpet cleaner, & LOTS of other fun things.

After we cleaned everything up, we opened stockings from my side of the family. It's a family tradition we've done since I was a little girl & it's probably my favorite Christmas tradition to this day. I love stockings. My mom hand made every single stocking. They are the most beautiful stockings you will ever see. I love them SO MUCH.

And that is it!

Merry Christmas from the POTTER FAMILY.

A Very "Nancy" Christmas

2012-01-24T13:01:00.000-08:00

My friend Nancy is hilarious. She LOVES to buy presents for people. She is such a generous person. She'll pick 100 angels off the angel tree each year & supply all 100 of them with the Christmas of their dreams. Well, her generosity doesn't stop there. She has friends all over the world that she "takes care of" throughout the year. We are one of those special families she loves to spoil.

We met up with her over Christmas & she supplied us with our "Christmas gifts" for the year. We loaded them up into the empty van & brought them back to Trek's parent's house. We waited to open them until we got home to be fair to everyone else. So when it was time to go, we TRIED loading them all up into the car top carrier. NO SUCH LUCK. She bought a TON this year! We couldn't even close the car top carrier & it's HUGE.

The first thing we did when we got home was pile it all on our living room couch. I HAD to take a picture because it was CRAZY. She is SO funny.

My personal pile consisted of over 30 gifts including a beautiful tanzanite necklace. She really makes our Christmas' really special. Nancy is such a blessing in our lives.

Trek had 12 special gifts from her this year. His new nutcracker is beautiful & he loved all the clothes she sent him.

All the kids got 6 gifts each. All of Nancy's presents are always color coded for each person. Craiger had the penguin wrapping paper & Cadence had the Poinsettia.

Bladen had the retro Santa, Lorien had the green Santa, & Taya had the red Santa.

Poor Taya was still dealing with the whole Hand, Foot, & Mouth disease so we had socks on her little hands so the blisters wouldn't get on everything she opened.

The kids loved everything they opened. They all love their pillow pets & their new clothes. Thank you Nancy for spoiling them rotten.

My two favorite gifts were my tanzanite (rare purple gemstone) necklace & the hand embroidered angel she made me to commemorate our time in Germany. She loves embroidery & makes beautiful things. I always love handmade gifts more than any of the others. It was beautiful.

Thank you Nancy for a FABULOUS 2nd Christmas!

Potter Family Pictures 2011

2012-01-19T16:11:00.000-08:00

The Potters are very rarely all together. We haven't had a family picture taken in over 3 years so this was MUCH needed. Dad had his friend come over on Christmas morning before church to take our pictures. Such a gorgeous family right?

Triskin & Phil. This is the sister we very rarely see. We LOVE being with her when we can. They live out in Alabama so we're never together except at Christmastime. We miss them SO much.

Trek's baby brother Talon & his beautiful wife Carolyn were there as well with my kids' very first cousin on the Potter side. . . Emery. What a cute family!

The SINGLES. ha ha ha. Tylee, Tuhk, & Tarrish are not yet married, but still huge part of our family. They are the best Aunties & Uncle in the world. The kids adore them.

Christmas Morning 2011

2012-01-17T20:05:00.000-08:00

There's nothing quite as magical as Christmas morning. No matter who you are or where you are, Christmas is exciting. I love the anticipation in the kids' eyes as they wonder what Santa Claus has left them under the Christmas tree. This year was no different. They couldn't wait to see what Santa brought.

Santa brought Cadence a telescope with an astronomy book. Cadence is so much like me it's scary. I remember getting a telescope from Santa when I was about her age. I couldn't wait to teach her all about the stars & constellations as soon as we got home. I think she now thinks I'm the smartest person in the world because I can name most of the stars in the sky, (even though I'm not. . .) I'll take any adoration my daughter will give me before she realizes she knows everything & I know nothing! ha ha ha. She LOVED it! She is like a sponge & absorbs information like crazy. She has learned SO MUCH even over just a few weeks.

Lorien is a crack up. When we went downstairs to see what Santa brought she walked straight to her area & found a hat near her stocking. She put it on proudly & beamed at her Santa gift. There were a pair of NICE HEELY'S right next to the hat, but she didn't see them. (She's been wanting Heely's for some time now, but they're just so stinkin expensive.) She turned around & noticed Cadence's telescope & I thought for sure she was going to get upset. Nope. . . "Cool! Cadence got a telescope. Cadence look at my pretty hat." At that point Trek & I had to point to the REAL Santa gift. She was giddy with joy of course, but I couldn't help but marvel at the gratefulness she has. Any NORMAL kid would have seen the telescope as opposed to a silly little hat & complained & maybe even cried. She was SO HAPPY. (Watch the video. . . it really is amazing.) She loves her Heely's. She's fallen a few times, but she's always good to get right back up & try again. She's a real trooper.

Taya has been asking. . . more like BEGGING for a baby doll for months now. Santa managed to make her the most beautiful Cabbage Patch Doll EVER. It looks EXACTLY like TAYA. She was thrilled with her gift. She loves that doll more than any toy she has ever gotten. I love that it looks just like her. It's like her mini-me.

I love that we've got boys now. Sometimes you just want to play with something BOYISH. No barbies, no ponies. . . just guns or trucks or BAT CAVES. How fun is this? Santa Claus brought Bladen a 4 story batcave with a Batman & Robin action figure. This thing is awesome. You can play from the front of the toy or from the back (which has 4 stories of exciting hands on action). He loves it. I love sitting with him & capturing the bad guys in the prison. Who knew boys could be so much fun?

Craiger is still a little guy so Santa brought him a little alligator that sings when you push him around. He has six little blocks that Craiger LOVES to suck on. It was the perfect gift for such a cute little guy.

This year was the first time we had a Potter cousin to share in the Christmas morning fun. Emery, who just turned 1, had a fun gift from Santa as well. She got a Princess ball pit to play in. It was ADORABLE. The entire morning, Emery & Craiger were playing together with all their new toys. It was SO CUTE.

Everything was a hit. Christmas morning was as fun & as magical as we all remembered it being.

All the adults just sat around & watched the kids play with their goodies. I think we were having just as much fun watching the kids as they were playing with their new toys.

For stockings this year, everybody bought a little something for everyone's stocking (instead of buying gifts for everyone). I bought all the adult boys a nerf gun & we had an AWESOME battle on Christmas morning. They loved acting like a bunch of kids.

We all loved seeing what was in our stockings. It was extra special because everybody put stuff in the stockings this year.

Christmas was on a Sunday this year so we went to church before opening presents. I know, crazy huh? But the kids were SO happy when 2:00 rolled around so we could start opening gifts. Lorien was SUPER excited about the nerf gun Daddy got her. She's such a tomboy!

Cadence got lots of girly things this year like earrings. She loved it.

Bladen got all the typical boy things. . . cars, trucks, & guns. He was HAPPY AS CAN BE.

It was a great day. We opened presents & stockings. . . got family pictures taken, had a fabulous Christmas dinner with deep fried turkey (thank you Phil for frying it for us all), & were together as family.

Merry Christmas from the Potters!

Christmas Eve Surprise

2012-01-17T12:08:00.000-08:00

After our Christmas Nativity play & Trek's story about Silent Night. . . Trek's dad started to tell us a story when all of a sudden we heard the sound of Jingle Bells upstairs. The kids took off running for the stairs. Much to EVERYONE'S surprise, the fireplace in Opa & Oma's room was wide open & there were 6 little gifts wrapped perfectly underneath. The girls were CRAZY EXCITED. Santa had come a little early to bring a Christmas Eve surprise for each of the grandchildren.

What could those little wrapped gifts be?

PAJAMAS OF COURSE.

The kids looked adorable in their brand new pajamas. What a perfect way to end the night before they crept into bed & awaited Santa's REAL visit. Would he leave them toys or lumps of coal? We'll find out soon . . .

Christmas Nativity 2011

2012-01-16T20:17:00.000-08:00

Every year on Christmas Eve, we let the kids put together a

Christmas Nativity play.

They assign every family member a "part" in the play, & then dress & direct them for the special event. It always turns out somewhat hilarious, but it's a good way to bring Christ & the true meaning back into Christmas. Here is our lovely play for the year 2011.

(And for the first time in Potter history, I didn't have to be a pregnant Mary. Hooray for NOT being pregnant!)

Pizza Party & Beach Football

2012-01-16T19:16:00.000-08:00

After watching movies & shopping, we all headed back to Grandma Kinsfather's house for a fun pizza party with an ice cream sundae bar. YUM! It was SO FUN to see Auntie Marc, Auntie Char, & Uncle Jay. We don't see them very often so the kids had a blast talking with them.

Tylee broke out a couple Christmas Eve presents for Craiger & Emery. She gave Emery a cute kitty cat hat & Craiger an ADORABLE OWL HAT. This had was MADE for this kid. It's as adorable as he is, & the two put together. . . PRICELESS. What a cutie pie.

After filling our bellies to the brim with pizza & ice cream, we all walked down a couple of blocks to the beach. (I LOVE THE BEACH.) The Potter family played a fun game of football on the sand. The best part of the whole day was watching Trek plow Tylee into the sand face first. It was HILARIOUS.

Taya opted out of football, but enjoyed walking along the beach with the sand between her toes. She was so sweet all by herself out there. I was watching her like a hawk, but enjoyed letting her be her own person & do things HER way. What a sweetheart.

Bladen was exhausted from everything so he decided to take a little nap on Oma's shoulders. What a cutie.

After lots of fun at the beach, we all piled back into the cars for the hour long ride home to Santa Clarita. Now the REAL Christmas Eve fun begins. . .

Christmas Eve Movies

2012-01-12T19:13:00.000-08:00

What would a Potter Family Holiday be without seeing a movie? Christmas Eve we woke up EARLY & drove down to Redondo Beach where Grandma Kinsfather lives so that we could all go to a movie together as a family. Trek's parents, Tylee, Emery, & my family all went to see "The Muppets Movie," while the rest of the family went to see "Mission Impossible." I'm almost certain their movie was more exciting than ours was. . . ha ha ha. But we had fun watching the kids laugh at all the muppet jokes.

After the movie we walked around the mall for a little bit of Christmas shopping fun. Opa & Bladen were best buds the entire time.

But the cutest part of the whole day was watching Craiger & Emery play together. They are only 2 months apart in age, but they were best friends the entire time we were down there. They were ADORABLE.

Carousel Fun

2012-01-12T15:41:00.000-08:00

The day before Christmas Eve, all the brothers & sisters got together & went to the mall to do some last minute Christmas shopping. One thing I LOVE about the Valencia mall is the fun CAROUSEL for the kids. The kids were SO good while we shopped so we let them all ride.

They were SO excited, they could hardly contain themselves in line.

The girls opted for the spin around area. Figures. My kids are just asking to puke. They crack me up.

Craiger rode on the cheetah with Auntie Tylee. I think she was more excited about riding than he was.

Bladen decided that spinning around & around & around with his sisters looked fun so he joined his sisters & Uncle Tuhk in the spin around.

Opa chose to ride with little Taya who was finally feeling a little better after having a sick day the day before. We were happy she was smiling again.

About 1 minute into the ride, Craiger realized that it wasn't as fun as he thought it would be. He screamed for the remainder of the 5 minute ride.

The girls & Bladen were LOVING spinning around & around & around. . . until Bladen's little face went pale & he looked like he was about to lose his lunch. POOR KID. He was SO SICK.

Taya & Opa enjoyed their little ride together.

The rest of the day we spent at the house getting things ready for Christmas Eve. It was a nice slow day to relax & enjoy each other.

Ice Cream Sandwiches

2012-01-12T15:32:00.000-08:00

So what should you do on a freezing cold CA night? Go get monster-sized ice cream sandwiches of course. ha ha ha. Not far from the temple. . . down in Westwood . . . is Diddy Riese, a famous cookie shop to the rich & famous. We waited in line for what seemed like forever, but these ice cream sandwiches were truly divine. You get to pick your cookies & then your ice cream & they make it there right in front of you. They are HUGE & only cost $1.50. I had mint chocolate chip ice cream in 2 divine chocolate chip cookies! We will DEFINITELY be going back there again. SO GOOD.

Bladen sure thought so!

The Los Angeles Temple

2012-01-08T18:36:00.000-08:00

I love visiting the temples at Christmas time. The church always decorates their temple grounds SO beautifully at this time of year. After eating a FABULOUS dinner at Tito's Tacos, we drove down a little bit to the Los Angeles Temple to walk around as a family & enjoy it's beauty. It was GORGEOUS.

We had 3/4 of the whole family there. Talon & Carolyn (& sweet little Emery) were on their way & Triskin & Phil would be flying in on Christmas Eve. But we got a great family shot with the family we did have there. I just love family.

The Christmas lights were beautiful, but they were nothing in comparison to the temple itself. I just love the peace & happiness I feel when I'm at the temple. It's like all the problems in the world disappear, even just for that moment.

I like to take my kids to the temple often. They are starting to recognize that peace that you feel. It makes me SO happy to share that with them.

TIto's Tacos

2012-01-05T12:32:00.000-08:00

I just love family traditions. One of my favorite Potter Family traditions is "Tito's Tacos." Tito's Tacos is this hole-in-the-wall fast food Mexican joint down by the LA Temple. Yes, it's a dive. Yes, it's in a scary part of town. And TRIPLE YES it's got some of the most fabulous taco's you'll ever eat. So of course we HAD to make a trip down there to have some fabulous Mexican food.

It's always packed so we sent half our group to go order food, while the rest of us started rounding up empty tables. Bladen chose Tylee as his partner in crime. He knew she'd feed him well if he snuggled up to her.

Craiger hung out with Oma & loved every minute of it.

The food was a great as I remembered it. We had tacos, tostados, burritos, nachos, & TONS of salsa & guacamole. It was a FABULOUS dinner.

Poor Tuhk. Bladen kept eyeing his burrito & snuck a bite. Poor Tuhk couldn't even think about eating it after Bladen slobbered all over it. So, Bladen ate his ENTIRE Tito's Tacos Burrito & they're NOT SMALL.

Cadence enjoyed some one-on-one time with Uncle Tuhk while everybody else stuffed their faces. I love family bonding time like this. We've got a great family.