9.29.2014

Everly's Fifth Month

Well hello again!
It feels good to start catching up on some posts after a very, very busy holiday season.
Not that life slows down much...

Its mentioned minimum twice a day by random passerby that I...
"have my hands full."

So glad they notice, now only if they lent a hand! :)

Anyway, moving on....
Everly had a great fifth month of life and here are some of her highlights:
She became a proficient roller and even started doing some scooting
&
She mastered the art of holding her bottle!
halleljuah!

We love you little E.
you're doing great!



morning sissy cuddles

yeah, she's a pretty good eater ;)

my cuddle partner


scooting around

doc checkup
height: 25 1/2 in (75%)
weight: 14 1/2 in (50%)
head circumference 16 1/2 in (70%)

sunset walk with mommy





sad everly :(

happy Everly!




9.21.2014

Violet's first trike-a-thon

This was Violet's first Little Angels Trike-a-Thon, and Pen's last (sniff).
Violet is in the ladybug class room (2-3 year olds) and Pen is in the Pre-k room, the Butterflies.
Violet was a little freaked out by the whole thing so she actually refused to participate.
But we had fun nonetheless.
P had a great time and afterwards all the families hang out and have a picnic.
Its a great way to get to get reacquainted at the start of the year.

Violet was super excited Auntie Isabella showed up


Pen and Evia


9.13.2014

Celebrating Eric

Groupon is a wonderful thing, and for my birthday we had planned on taking a harbor cruise with my brother and sis-in-law.
Well since it was Fiesta and I didn't plan for gnarly traffic... we missed the boat!
There were tears yes.

So we decided to treat my brother instead for His birthday a few weeks later.
It was an amazing day with great weather.
We kicked it off with a little wine and jenga at the Deep Sea Winery on the pier.
The cruise was awesome. We relaxed in the sun, drank cocktails, listened to Jack Johnson, admired the Santa Barbara views and saw tons of dolphins.






9.04.2014

Back to School and all the trimmings...

Last week I was super busy getting the kids ready for back to school.
Now, some of this stuff wasn't exactly "necessary" I know I know, but in true Welsh fashion we like to celebrate even the littlest things (and people) around here.

Pre-K and the first day of preschool are both big milestones so it was fun to start a few "back to school" traditions, and get the kids participation in making teacher gifts.

Now I realize teacher gifts are totally unnecessary, but I LOVE giving gifts and I want to teach my kids that one way to show love is to do nice things for others.
So this curtailed into a fun morning activity with some friends.

Making Magic Cookie Bars
... or "christmas crack" as some affectionately have nicknamed it. ha!
This is one of my "go-to" treats for several reasons...
1. its like 4 steps. so easy=I'm doing it
2. because they're so easy that makes getting the kids involved a little more realistic for me
3. they're highly addictive delicious little magical chocolate buttery graham cracker goodness. 
My kinda "crack"

My recipe?
It's not exactly some super secret, there are many variations out there, but here goes...
melt one stick of butter in a regular sheet cake pan
(I just throw my pan in the oven until its melted)
then spread about 3/4 box of graham cracker crumbs over the bottom of the pan making a crust
spread one bag of chocolate chips evenly over the crust
Here's the kicker: 
now evenly spread one can of sweetened condensed milk (the other "liquid gold") 
over the chocolate chip layer
sprinkle chopped walnuts

Pop it in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes
Let cool and voila!
Anna.... you're welcome.
I have just changed your life.

Now for some kiddie pic(k)s:

these kids have to take ownership over these presents!
now that they're old enough they had better have some kind of participation in this,
 or I'm telling their teachers its just from me! shoot!
and here are the lovelies
It was late when I cut these so yeah the pics aren't the best (no natural light here!)
I have to do things on "mom time" right now
found these adorable printable gift tags here:
thirtyhandmadedays.com/2014/08/teacher-back-to-school-printable/
I always keep an assortment of sizes of brown paper bags on hand
so in this case all I had to do was wrap a few cookies in parchment paper
put them in the bags and attach the printable with a cute mini clothespin...
(which I already had too!)
No trips to Michaels=a happy momma
weeeeeee!

gettin' her hair did, it will be a back to school tradition since we do this like twice a year
gives me the motivation to take her
Violet will start when
a. her hair is long enough
and
 b. she doesn't adamantly say "no" to the idea


Penelope is a girly girl who also loves playing in the dirt and is fascinated with bugs
So she can pretty much make a friend anywhere
She's been begging to get her nails done, but hey these kinds of splurges are for mommas
So I like to wait for a special occasion to treat her so this stays a super fun splurgy kind of thing
I was fully expecting Violet Mae to hop on a chair too and she did... until the lady came over and her "stranger danger" kicked in
She decided to kick it on the couch with me and baby E instead
Good call, saved me like thirty bucks right there

There was also new shoe shopping but that was the craziest mad dash you've ever seen.
Three little kids in a shoe store- or any store for that matter?
Bad bad idea
;)