Christmas Day

 Christmas morning!

 Tree, fire and pj's.  The best!!

 Gift from Grammy!

 Before the mayhem!

 Peace sign purse from Aunt Cindy and all the Yareds!

 School toy from The Yared's!

 Santa brought a cool baby car seat!

 Pa-paw and Kayla Christmas hug:)

Tanner and his windmill...looks like a hot wheels track in the background too!

Dressing up the Bitty Babies for the Holidays

These are the holilday doll outfits that Catherine Craig gave Kayla.  

Our Wintermint in the Nutcracker

Kayla REALLY wanted to be on stage and asked if she could do a ballet class with our neighbor, Priscilla, so she could perform at the end of the session.  Since we did the fall/winter session, Kayla was able to be in the Nutcracker performance.  She absolutely loved it and was confident on stage.  Kyle and I are very proud of our little girl who we THOUGHT was shy.  She is really coming out of her shell! (This was also a really nice opportunity for the Perez Sisters to get together during the holiday season! I am so glad that Orinda is not too far away from my sissies)

Our Little Winter Mint

The Gang...Jane, Priscilla and Kayla (not sure who the 4th is - ha ha)

The Stage Crew: JoJo and Tanner bonded as the support team!

Practicing her ballet positions.

Waiting, waiting, waiting to perform.

The ever present and supportive Aunt B! 

Jackie and Natalie (and Brian)made a special trip for the performance!

The Perez Family!!!

Decorating the Christmas Tree

We decided to get the tree a little earlier this year even though I am convinced that an "early" tree equals a dried out tree for Christmas.  Kayla and I came home from a birthday party and set to work decorating.  Tanner and Kyle joined in for a fun family night.

HALLOWEEN 2012

This was our first Halloween in Orinda!  Can you say AMAZING? The Martini's had us over for a pre-trick or treating dinner at their house.  Then we trick or treated around Estabueno Court with the Martini's and the Lindberg's.  Grammy was here visiting and joined us for all the festivities.  The trick or treating in San Francisco was good but being in our own little neighborhood with friends is a LOT better. 

Pumpkins are carved!

Little Pumpkins 

Big Personalities

Clayton Valley Pumpkin Patch

We made a 40 minute drive out to Clayton to find some pumpkins.  Grammy is with us for two+ weeks and we are soaking up her time with many outings.  The kids were excited to pick out pumpkins and loved carving them later.   This is the first year that they are both very capable of carving.

At the Pumpkin Patch in Clayton with Grammy!

Winter Mint

Here is a sneak preview of Kayla in her Winter Mint costume - she is preparing to be in the Nutcracker in December.  Kayla has been in ballet for a while now but she has never performed on a stage.  Since she repeatedly asked to be on stage, I found a ballet class that includes a performance at the end.  She is so excited for the performance in December that she can barely stand it!

What is going on?

We are not quite sure how our kids learned this trick?? but it's pretty darn cute watching them both do it at the same time.

First Day of Pre-K and Pre-Pre-K

Our two little buttons are ready for their first day of school!  Mulberry Tree Preschool has been such a blessing since we moved to Orinda.  The kids LOVE it!!

Our First 4th of July in Orinda

Our neighbor, Jami Martini, motivated us to be IN the parade.  Usually Kyle and I would just opt to watch but our very FUN neighbor was on the ball, signed us all up and shared her hot glue gun to help decorate the kids' bikes.  Kayla could not have been happier.  She got to ride in the parade with two of her best friends, Priscilla and Annalise.  Tanner was excited too and it turned out he was a great candy thrower.  We attached a basket to his bike for candy and he stopped every few feet and threw out big handfuls.  It was pretty coordinated for a little guy and so cute to see his little face intent on getting that candy to the curb!

 Strand family in full regalia!

Jami's brother Levi, Crick, Kayla, Tanner, Annalise and Maureen back.

 Kayla Sue - happy as a clam!!

 I had to keep Tanner on track because he was forgetting to ride his bike - he just wanted to throw out candy!

 Jami in the background in the red shirt throwing out loads of candy with Annalise, Kayla and Priscilla on bikes.

 Kyle and Kayla...awwww.

 Cool bike!

Tanner - determined!

Train Town

We decided we needed a change of pace for the long weekend and headed to Sonoma to one of our favorite places - Train Town. We rode the train to the little petting zoo where there is a kid size ghost town. Both kids hopped on the ferris wheel with their dad. We wrapped up with a little airplane ride for the kids and then we were off to the Square for some yummy Mexican food. It's getting so much easiser to take the kids out to lunch so the day was really nice and a great getaway!!

Oakland Zoo!

The Oakland Zoo is a cool zoo. I mean, they have Elephants! San Francisco does not have Elephants so already that means Oakland wins. Oakland is set on a hillside and it is really, very pretty. Other than that, I have no idea anything else about the Oakland Zoo because after we saw the elephants, which I majorly hyped up and tried to get my kids excited about, all the kids wanted to do was go on the rides. So, another reason Oakland beats San Francisco is that there is practically a carnival going on in the front of the zoo. We rode the choo choo train, picked up some concessions and went on the car ride. The kids were thrilled. I have a membership so we will definitely be returning but the rides are extra so I guess I'm going to have to pony up for rides each time and try my best to get in some animal time if they'll let me.

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! Here is the "before" picture. I forgot to get a picture of the kids when they came home after school and saw the table. They both said "Wow" sort of in a whisper like they just couldn't believe their lunch table had so many treats on it. It was adorable. Kayla and I made heart sugar cookies while Tanner napped in the afternoon and Kayla said "this is the best day ever".

The New Art Studio

The art studio has officially moved outside!! Yeah! My dining room table can now be spared (okay, it's too late for that). On this particular day, I was able to cook in the kitchen while the kids played outside. It was unbelievable. I think I must be in heaven!