Christmas Day!

Christmas Day was as relaxing as it could get with 3 boys, 5 year and under. It was so nice to be in our own home and celebrate with family and dear friends. This was one of my top 5 favorite Christmas Days!

Levi woke up 1st and was so delighted with his teddy bear Santa left him. He actually was very patient since his brothers chose to sleep in until 7am (which never happens)!

Felix opening gifts with me (this one's a nose picker)

My newest piece of art John gave me which I'm in love with!

Gus got right in the mix helping everyone open this pressies

I made the boys Santa pancakes for breakfast

We took a late morning walk to the bluffs and tried to snap a family photo. By now, the boys were exhausted from the Christmas hype. These pictures tell it all...

Everyone took a nap including John

I can't get enough of Baby Gus Gus!

The boys at their special Christmas dinner table

Steve made his amazing homemade french onion soup for appetizer

Pop Pop enjoying a rest

We loved having Abbi join us too!

Slicing up the Pork Belly, which always reminds me of London because I learned how to cook it at an amazing place in Notting Hill

   The boys chatting up Steve during dinner 2.0. We finished the night off with a viewing of 'The Way Way Back' which was a cute, indie film. It was the end to a super relaxing, genuinely fun-filled day.

Christmas Eve in LA 2013!

It was so fun to have Messie and Pop Pop in town for Christmas Eve. We took the big boys bike riding and then had a lovely dinner over at our friends the Mannings who also have 3 children. Needless to say it was a bit of a zoo, so my pictures aren't  great, but they surely capture the highlights. The food was delicious and the company was perfect. 

Levi's Christmas present!

Levi's Grangmommy, Grandaddy and John and I decided to give Levi an experience as part of his Christmas gift. I was the lucky one who go to take him to lunch in Hollywood, followed by the Lion King.  I must say, it was the best money ever spent.  First we went to lunch at Blue C Sushi (a favorite restaraunt of ours in Seattle), followed by the show. He LOVED every minute of it. He couldn't stop talking about the costumes and the music. It was so magical to see his mind racing during the show as he tried to piece it all together. 

Since there were a couple of scary parts, he had a few questions like...

"Did the Lion King really die in real life or just in the show?"

"Can we get an elephant for home?"

"They let birds in the theater?"

"How did they get the mountain inside the theater?"

It reminded me again how much our children learn from artistic experiences. This will be the 1st of many productions we take him too (soon to be accompanied by Felix)!

Levi's Holiday Concert

Last year, I was terribly ill and missed it, so it was extra special seeing him sing amongst his school mates. Even better, Messie and Pop Pop arrive just in time to join John, Felix, and I at his school songfest. It was absolutely adorable.

Levi's good friends from the Sunflower room

So sweet and innocent (well innocent for 5 years old) 

Christmas Dinner w/ So Cal Holmes!

The cousins came over for a delicious dinner w/ us and my parents.  I just remember thinking at one point during dinner, "Our kids are growing up fast. The girls were naturally partaking in the conversation and Levi and Felix were too.' In fact, Levi was telling his one and only joke about trains: "How do you know when an engine is hungry? You hear it choo-choo'ing!".

Granmommy and Grandaddy pop in for a weekend!

The boys loved having their Granmommy and Grandaddy in town for a long weekend. While I had school that weekend, the rest of the gang hit the park, LACMA, went for walks and read lots and lots of books. The boys were sad to see them leave!

Holiday Cheer!

We decorated our tree right after Thanksgiving this year and got a lot of our shopping done early, so the past couple of weeks have included DIY art projects, lots of walks around the block looking at Christmas lights, making cookies and reading Christmas books. It's been unusually relaxing and really fun now that the boys are getting old enough to understand Christmas!

The big boys were quite into decorating the tree this year, which made it so much more fun

The Christmas train was a blessing and a curse. The boys go bonkers for it, but also fight over it. Felix prefers to take it off the track and sadly the train couldn't handle the run very well, so it's back up in the attic until next year. 

One final ride before we had to retire it 

We took the boys to annual tree lighting in our neighborhood!

We've even had some rain this month and the boys have LOVED it, and so have we!

We're still taking our morning walks to check out Xmas decore and repeat it in the evening too!

Every morning Gus tucks into his spot in the carrier. I don't know what I'll do when he doesn't fit in it!?!

Levi and I made these very cool snow globes for his school mates at school!

The boys continued to spend a lot of time at the park playing king of the hill, despite the Fall/ Winter weather

Gus is obsessed with the tree and taking the ornaments off! It's so hard to believe he's now 1!  He's taking steps and walking 5 - 6 steps by himself. It's soooo fun to see! All though, I will miss his baby crawl.