Christmas Day

It's Christmas morning!

Can you feel the magic?

Can you see the pair of "Members Only" shorts 

waiting excitedly behind the girls to get downstairs and make coffee?

The girls' big gift this year was a giant swing from Nonnie

I should add, this is not the way the manufacturer intended for this swing to be used!

While mommy's blessings were doubled in the world of the electric mixer (oops!)

And, finally, the true gift of the holidays came with some family time.

The kids exchanged real gifts with each other this year, 

while the adults exchanged sock monkeys and ugly sweaters.

Merry Christmas, Mon!

Coronado Butterfly Preserve

Monarch Butterflies are pretty smart insects.
For one thing, they can circumnavigate the globe,
and for another, many of them opt to overwinter in Santa Barbara.

Since all of the cousins on mommy's side of the family were in town for Christmas,
we decided to spend the day hanging out with butterflies.

Oh! You Better Watch Out!

 You Better Not Pout!

You Better Not Cry...

I'm telling you why,

 Because Mommy will keep on making you pose

with various Santa Clauses until we get...

The Perfect One!

Moving in to the Back 40

When we bought our house, we got a deal.

It was a dipped market, and our house was underpriced,

but there were some obstacles to overcome.

The greatest of these obstacles had to be our back hill.

It's really steep.

I have to physically and emotionally prepare myself

each time I decide to get up there.

So, we (read: I convinced Nick who faithfully obliged and) 

decided to build destinations worth visiting.

Last Spring, Nick built me a dream potager garden,

which today looks like this:

Thank you, Nick!

On the other side of the hill, we had some rail-road tie raised beds,

which were overrun with blackberries and spider-webs,

and we converted into this:

We love it!  The story of getting to this is kind of crazy,

but we neither want to disparage or endorse the greenhouse company,

so if you want to whole story, either call me

or swing by and share a few drinks, 

and I'll be happy to dish the dirt!

The very warm, very fertile, green-house dirt, that is.

Grandma Flo Passed Away

My Grandma, my mom's mom, passed away.  

My mom, who's in her seventies, 

doesn't have either of her parents anymore.

Just writing that makes me cry.

There's no picking up the phone - even if just to check in.
It's hard on grandchildren to lose their grandparent,
but it's really hard on children to see their parents lose their parents.
It makes everything in life seem more fragile.

She was a strong, opinionated, and Godly woman,

who always emphasized the greatness and grace of God 

to her whole family and community.

She had six kids. Taught school without a college education.

Started a school, which became a bigger school.

If you're inclined, the story is here: 

http://www.littlecountrychristian.org/our_history.html

Her legacy lives on in each of us.  

Not just her six kids, 18 grandkids, and umpteen great grandkids, 

but it extends into the community.

She had to have taught thousands of children to read.

I love my Grandma Flo, and miss her greatly.

She was a great, great woman way before she was a great grandma.

I love you Grandma!

The Wedding Girl

From here on out,

my cousin Nicole will be dubbed,

"The Wedding Girl"

The girls were in love.

She was fancy and beautiful.

The two most important traits to a two and four year old.

But she was not alone in her beautiful fanciness...

Thank you to the Wedding Girl and Chris for inviting all of us

to be part of this very special day!

1,000 Steps

Right up there on my list of favorite places to parent, 

right next to the Backyard, 

I have to put 1,000 Steps Beach.

 Bonus Note:

There are (not quite) 1,000 steps back up to the car,

which means most of the sand has been knocked off feet

and most of the energy is fully drained.

The Backyard

"We could never have loved the earth so well

had we no childhood in it"

-George Eliot

The Backyard at Santa Barbara's Natural History Museum

is easily one of my favorite places to parent.

There's something soul-filling in having your kids

play in mud, trespass a creek in bare feet,

build forts,

 and spend time with some of the world's

greatest people.

We love it here &

love it more when we get to go with friends.

Santa Barbara Fiesta 2013

I. Love. Parades.

I don't know if it's my Louisiana roots,

or my tolerance for standing in one place for a very long time,

or my general desire to just gawk and holler, "Viva La Fiesta!"

at everyone who trots by on a horse.

Fiesta is marvelous.

Truly, I mean it when I say,

"Viva La Fiesta!"

 Plus, there's lots of time between horses

for cousin hugs.

and of course a group shot.

"Viva Los Primos!"

When Nonnie Babysits...

Lots of great pictures get taken!

Nonnie and Payton got to hang out

while Charley and Nola got their 6-month and 4-year check-ups.

 Dr. D'Andrea has given the green-light on solid foods,

 Charley thinks that's a great idea,

but decided to leave us guessing on her preference.

Nola, at 4, is very brave -- 

and very deserving of any and all stickers earned for her shots.

Nola is a Happy Camper

 For Nola's Fourth Birthday, we had a "Campout Theme"

We tie-dyed, ate hot dogs,

knocked out a pinata,

(Alright, so Nola didn't hit the pinata with the death blow,

but it was her birthday, so let me just give this one to her for now)

hung out with our sweet family,

 and finally got our screen up

 for a little Summer night outside movie watching

which was optional for some...