Owen's Monkey Business

We decided to take Owen on a beach outing Sunday, January 23. Little did we know it would be our last outing as a family of three!

The Christmas season was full of traditions new and old, and lots of fun activities. It seems like we didn't take too many pictures on Christmas itself, will try to remedy that next year. But the flipside is we were all present in the room and not stuck behind a camera so we could enjoy it all. The main thing for O. this year was that he learned lots of Christmas words, like Santa "hanta", tree, stockings, and reindeer, and that he enjoyed unwrapping things. He really wanted to enjoy and play with each gift as he opened it, so gifts took about four days to get through. We had saved all the packages mailed from out of town friends and relatives, and next year I think we will open them as they arrive, so he can enjoy them as much as he wants right away. We picked out our tree before daddy left for a week in Chicago. Owen went to a special four session holiday/winter music class with Miss Moira. When daddy went to Chicago, Grandpa came along and pulled him in the "...

We had fall break all week, so I got to be a stay at home mom and catch up on playdates, fun with O. and household chores plus get a jumpstart on the holiday to-do list! Here is a run-down of our week: Monday: playdate with Tia Alice and cousin Oqwe. The boys had a blast and enjoyed eating lunch together at O's little table. I brought out the second chair and all week since he's left he keeps pointing to the chair and saying "Otwe". It's so cute! After O's nap Tuesday afternoon I took him with me to HomeGoods. I'd been wanting to get there for a month or so just to see and finally I decided to just take him along. He did great! Tuesday: O. and I were up and ready early (by 8:45) to head over and pick up Hannah and Liam so we could all head to Yucaipa, (about 100 miles southeast) to visit Carmen, Jesse, and Camilla Rose. We had such a fun visit. O. ate so much chicken, potatoes and fruit at lunch I could hardly believe it. Wednesday: Up and ready by 9:15 ...

In October we also attended the B'nai Mitzvah of my cousins Ben and Sam. B'nai Mitzvah is the plural of bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah (in this case one of each!) It was a beautiful weekend full of family, food, and fun celebration as Ben and Sam became adults in the Jewish faith. The readings were from the story of Noah's Ark, and the whole celebration had a rainbow theme. Friday evening was a service with beautiful music and kiddush potluck dinner at the temple. Saturday morning we went to the ceremony, and later that afternoon everyone celebrated at a local Boy Scout camp with conversation and lots of games for the young people, followed by a delicious BBQ, evening bonfire, glow party, and of course s'mores. Sunday morning there was a farewell breakfast at a local Panera. So much love and planning went into the weekend, and we were so pleased to share in the celebration.