arghhh

happy birthday daniel!  what a fun day of celebrating.  it was the perfect party- kids running around, friends chatting and warm weather.  it didn't hurt that asher stayed behind with my mom, giving us a break from chasing:)

most children would go for the frosting, not ryder. 

my hunky little pirate!

he did fall off the ship, but jumped up and said he was ok.  nothing like boys to make your heart skip a few beats. 

happy birthday sweet daniel...

weekend fun

friday morning gaga spoke at SFC for grandparents day.  every time she mentioned isaac's name, he blurted out, "big woody(they call her big woody due to the fact that she was woody from toy story for halloween.  asher is little woody. ) said my name!"  it was awesome!  way to go mom:)

that afternoon we ventured to art soup for the first time.  our sweet friend, hayden, turned 5.  we joined him in celebrating with LOTS of paint and fun!  i can remember when hayden was only a few months old and in attendance at isaac's baby shower.    happy birthday hayden! 

these kids had so much fun!  

saturday, we spent the morning sprinting through sea life.  apparently our kids thought we were running the great race.

then a little celebration of cinco de mayo- see the flag?!

friday phone dump and then some

we were invited to meet the chefs of del mar- oh my delicious!  we ate our way through the afternoon(nothing new for us).  i seriously ate enough food for an entire week and then some.     

thank you huffmans!  and thank you allison for watching all the boys:)

these four are full of life...  running in and out, up and down stairs and finally taking a breather  for a little movie.    amanda and i were certain we have this same shot from a couple of years ago.  good times. 

this character managed to gather a pile of snails for his "collection."  boys are interested in such different things than girls.  i used to collect betty boop memorabilia (don't judge)-- my how my life looks different with boys.

i looked back at 12:15pm,  driving home from preschool, to find that i had a quiet car.   don't worry, they were just recharging their batteries!  

on the evenings when daddy is out late, we do what it takes to survive.  this usually means pulling out the trundle,  jumping on the beds, climbing, body tackling and maybe a visit from auntie allison or gaga.  these days aren't as hard as they once were.  i anticipate them getting easier and easier (stew won't let me use the word easy when it comes to children. probably a good call.). 

the chameleon(in ryder's arms) was on loan from isaac's class for a few days. 

auntie bonnie came down to watch the boys while we headed out for a little birthday party at a winery.   thanks auntie! 

loved getting to celebrate sean at the orfila winnery- happy birthday sean! it was seriously this relaxed and this enjoyable.  we'll be returning. 

the boys love playing at the mattingly pad.  it's full of toys, games and lots of room!  julie busted out the  where is sock monkey game.  have you ever seen 3 and 4 year olds play this?  what a riot!  they would hide the monkey and then promptly tell each other where it was hidden.

thank you mattingly family!  we love our time with you all!

this fool was just thrilled to be included in the festivities.  i am not going to lie, we leave him behind whenever we get the chance.  he's at a very busy age and it makes it hard to enjoy a good conversation.  don't feel too bad, he usually stays behind with my mom or aunt, getting plenty of much needed one on one time. 

isaac is a huge fan of bradley's electric four wheeler!

strawberry picking

a couple of weeks ago we headed out for strawberry picking- thank you grandma chris!   it was a great way to spend our friday morning.  the boys had a blast!

ryder took the strawberry picking seriously. 

isaac warmed up to the idea of sloshing through the mud and rotten strawberries and got busy picking. 

it wasn't asher's first trip to the strawberry fields, but this round he actually awake and ready to pick.

the strawberries were delicious, especially after we covered them in milk chocolate. 

catching up... kinda.

i am so behind on blogging.  i tell myself that at least our boys will have the books we make from these blogs as a document of their childhood.  turns out they might miss seeing a lot of the memories if i don't get my act together.  can i blame it on the fact that there are so many of them and the fact that they are busy keeping me busy?! here's a glimpse at the past few weeks via my phone.  more to come.

our neighbors moved to china.  the boys miss their bike riding buddy, ethan.

nothing says "happy birthday" like vg's donuts!  happy birthday sweet addison!

if this isn't the cutest and tastiest cake!  we had a wonderful time.  of course i failed to bring a camera, but this gal didn't. 

more birthday celebrating!  

happy birthday matt! 

just when we needed a big break in our day, the reviers let us come over to play!  thanks friends!

asher gained THREE molars in two weeks(can you see the little thing on the bottom right?)!  that was fun. 

happy birthday dear friend!

lots of water table time. 

asher is back to this now that those teeth are in.  PRAISE THE LORD!  

so fun to play with our friends!  thanks for letting us bust in!