Thanksgiving in Paso Robles

We spent Thanksgiving 2013 at a ranch house in Paso Robles, CA. It felt like Eastern Washington meets Texas. John's dad, Granny Franny, Uncle Jenks, and the cousins joined us! The cousins played surprisingly well together, we made lots of yummy meals, and took in the landscape.

King Hank

Our local Llamas

 Afternoon walk

Uncle Jenks, Lily and Xander

Felix on the loose

Baby Gus exploring

Not so happy Baby Gus

Super sad and sick baby Gus

Cousins bath 

Morning breakfast

Levi's made me a clothesline

Brothers in their element

Grandaddy and baby Gus

Thanksgiving Dinner

Xander (6) and Levi (5)

Levi and Xander made this fort

Gus almost 1 and Felix 2 1/2

Our favorite parkin Paso Roblas

Levi and the Big 5

Levi turned 5! John and I are a bit amazed at all that has happened in the last 5 years, and we have loved watching Levi grow. Levi requested a party at our local park complete with a bounce house (slide attached), pinata, red velvet cake and pizza. That is exactly what we did!

What I love about Levi at 5...

1. He is insanely funny. He not only makes up his own jokes but he has a fabulous sense of humor

2. He is incredibly passionate about art and is particularly good at orchestrating ideas in his head and then building them out of paper, tape, wood or any material he can get his hands on

3. He's a lefty and it shows in sports

4. He definitely is the oldest child. Likes to take charge and get things done

5. He's very sensitive

6. Levi's very compassionate, particularly for his brothers 

7. He's a simple eater. His favorite foods are Mac and Cheese, Risotto and Mickey Mouse Pancakes

8. He loves books

9. Levi loves to cook and bake

10. Levi has a major sweet tooth. His favorite ice cream chocolate chip mint

11. Levi is an early bird. He wakes up at 5am most mornings (just like his Mama and PopPop)

12. He loves movies. Favorites include: Charlie in the Chocolate Factory, 101 Dalmations, Bustor Keaton silent films (narrated by Dada)

Birthday Breakfast

Cake #1

Cake #2

Levi's pinata

The bounce house complete with slide!

Candy and baby Gus Gus

So Cal Holmes

Cuzzie Sadie Blue!

Grandad in town from Houston!

The loot!

Frankie and Ava!

Artie and Levi!

Levi and Grace!

Baby Gus doing his thing

LENS 2013

We kicked off the holiday season with my Children's Hospital Guild raising $250k from this year's concert LENS. I'm so proud of everyone in my Guild. This year's concert was themed around the idea of 'what happens when you take the busy out of life and what do happy and sad moments actually look like.' It was hands down my favorite concert!' I can't wait for the boys to be old to volunteer and experience the concert. There really isn't anything else like it!

Celebrating with my family

Octopi and a baby Lobster

Levi wanted to be an Octopi and requested we make his costume. We searched online for DIY, and we found the simplest costume. We decided to make one for both he and Felix. The boys helped as did John, so it was painless and fun. Baby Gus celebrated his 1st Halloween as a lobster. This was the 1st year the big boys were really into trick-o-treating, so we had a big night out with friends. Halloween really has taken on whole new life again now with little children. 

Levi and Garland (carpool buddies) at the school parade

Miss Morgan one of Levi's teachers and Niamp

Special lunch out with Niamp and April at Benihana

3rd time carving pumpkins this year (they all rot in LA weather)

Penelope and Levi singing Funky Chicken to Felix

The crew hanging out scouting houses!

Levi continues to paint and build

Levi continues to passionately love creating art. Not a day goes by that he doesn't create something at school out of paper or paint a picture.  He's also really into photography and often takes my phone or his camera and snaps pictures without me knowing. I love coming across his work and learning about what he finds interesting. He seems to love coming up with ideas and how he can create them, often using wood, tape, paper, string...anything he can get his hands on! 

Recently he painted an underwater scenery, inspired by a project he did at school. Here are some of his most recent works....

Painting his sign for his club house he and John are building (inspired by Bernstein Bear book 'No Girls Allowed'

Levi took this of his bath water after he go out. I love the composition and the color of this picture so much. It almost reminds me of a Rothko painting. 

The Pumpkin Patch

We took the boys to the pumpkin patch with our lovely English friends Frankie and Ava. It was an afternoon chock-o-block full of chasing children and eating fair food!