Tia

Tia is our neighborhood dog.  She is so good with the kids-loves to give big wet kisses to them!  She makes the kids so happy with her unconditional love!  That is why dogs rock!

Bye Bye Christmas Tree

This is how we get rid of our Christmas trees!  Much easier then when it arrives!

Great Grandma 2013 Moments

Zackary is lucky that he might remember these precious moments with his Great Grandmas.  I remember my ProBaba and those memories I hold close.  Zackary is very connected with his "GG"-above.  Emeline loves to dance with her.  It's really sweet.  Living with her has helped each of them develop more compassion and gentleness with the elderly, and they aren't afraid.  ProBaba, below, gets visits a lot from Emeline.  Zackary is usually in school when we go visit her, but Zackary has fun visiting her as well.  Enjoy each moment.

Christmas 2013

Christmas 2013 with the Zotovich's!  Good times!  Here are all of your second cousins and your aunt and 2 uncles on mommies side.

The Excitement was surrounding our home!  Christmas Morning had come!!!  With Pj's on we headed to the prime Santa scene...what did he leave us? Well Emme got a slide!  Zackary got drums!  And they both were equally in heaven.  There were many more gifts to open but after these two biggies there were satisfied!  So we didn't push it...we had breakfast and then Ben and I opened up our gifts to each other!  Fun!

Eventually we got around to our stockings and all the other gifts.  It looked like a bomb exploded in here after opening up everything...I loved it!

Time to head off to our Christmas dinner at my Uncle Steve's house.  Aren't these two cute!

Pictures with Baba...sweet.

I love you two so much.  Merry Christmas.  You are my best gifts ever.

Bubbles

Charles came over with his family and brought some presents for the kids.  One was a bubble machine and the kids wanted it open with urgency!  What better place to chase bubbles than Grandma's backyard.  "GG" was there too watching all the excitement.  

I love this picture below.  Zackary was really into catching that bubble up high!  The bubble machine like most only lasted a couple of months, but it gave us some smiles!

The First Steps

Every once in awhile I have this overpowering surreal moment...and finding Zackary sitting quietly, calmly, reading one of my stepdad's books was one of them.  These are the stepping stones to his life...learning to read and igniting passions for travels and the wonders of the world.  Love.

Personality in this One!

Emeline is constantly bringing a huge smile to our face.  She just looks cute in anything she wears, anything she sits on and anything she is playing with.  She loved my old tricycle and as long as she could she used it.  Flashback to 34 years ago and it's me.

She loves to wrap herself up in blankets and cuddle.  If Mommy or Daddy are laying down she finds us and joins!  I love the cuddle moments.

She is literally better at my i-pad then I am.  Not sure if that is a good thing but I am glad she is smart, and will be right there with everyone else technology wise as she grows up in this era.

Santa Scary or Sweet?

Emeline was so excited to meet Santa and take a picture with him and her brother.  Ya not so much in person...she literally freaked out...so scared.  Santa did good though, tried hard to entice her with a Christmas song, toys and just slowly feeling safe, but that would have taken forever and there was a long line.  So he just held on tight and the picture turned out perfect.  I would not want to take away from the moment that really happened, and this picture touches my heart...I love it.
Zackary looks so angelic, happy and comfortable.  Santa and Zackary had a chat after about what Zackary wanted for Christmas...it was quite lovely as the Santa's in the past haven't spent this much detailed time with my kids.  Zackary even was holding his hand, and enjoying every moment even with his sister crying.  Thanks Santa for the perfect magical Christmas picture.

Heaven?

If this is what heaven looks like, I am in!  Of my 10 years living at the beach, this is probably the prettiest sunset I have ever seen.  The clouds were rippling in covered in all different colors of yellow and red and orange.  Breathtaking moment.  Thank you God!

Tumble Bugs Fall 2013 Group Picture

Notice Emme in the middle of the picture.  Haha, she was perfect!  Great shot!

Christmas Pics 2013

There is something about the green of the fairways and tees, and brown of the trees that makes pictures pop and seems to capture a family moment.  I am in love with taking pictures at Ben's golf course.  It is so beautiful.  You certainly do not feel like you are smack dab in the middle of a city.  The kids had fun hiding behind trees, posing in front of Christmas lights and smiling for the camera!  And we found a perfect picture for us to share with our friends and family!

Zackary's First Drawn Face

We went out to dinner tonight and the cool thing about this restaurant is they provide etch e sketches to the kids.  So we have ordered, the kids are drawing and all of a sudden Zackary says, "look at my face.."  I was shocked, I didn't even know that he could draw a face...and it was such a cute one.  His first official face (that I witnessed).  It was a good evening.

Kids Yoga

The kids are having fun doing a yoga pose and they don't even know it!  So cute huh...

Reptiles!!! Best Birthday Party Ever!!!

Zackary was invited to a 6th birthday party from a boy in his class.  I almost didn't take him but I am so happy I did because it was a REPTILE PARTY!!  We both loved it.  This man brought every kind of reptile big and small and the kids were in heaven.  Zackary's curiosity for each creature, wanting to hold and touch them, reminded me of his Grandma John. Above he is holding a Madagascar cockroach.

I don't remember what this lizard but below is obviously a frog-ew.

Below is one of my favorites, a bearded dragon.

This is an orange corn snake.  One of the best snakes for young kids to own.  They are gently and come in different colors.  Of course Zackary loved this one!

This is a python.  Look how crazy long it is...the kids were in awe.  Look at that smile.  It was so cool!!!

First Annual Harvest Faire

What a production Harvest Faire is.  Each November Zackary's school puts on a huge faire to bring in money.  There are booths set up all over the campus to buy things from fairy houses, to hand made hair clips to wood chopping, to fairy dust making and so much more.  A band, food trucks, home made sweets with a whole separate table dedicated to gluten free baked goods.  It is sort of a medieval/granola festival in a way, you can try your hand at a whole bunch of different games and trades.  I worked at the baked goods area for part of the day just to stare at all the treats and see what people buy (chocolate chip cookies are peoples favorites) and all the time keep it looking appetizing and clean. 

My mom and I also worked at the walking sticks booth.  Each family has to bring 10 large, sturdy sticks to the school.  You buy tickets and I believe 3 were for a walking stick that you decorate yourself.  There is yarn, bells, ribbon, feathers and all sorts of stuff in baskets set up for you to use.  I loved it, what a great idea.  Then on your next hike, you have a walking stick to help you.  My mom at the time with her bum hip used Zackary's stick the rest of the day!

Here are the troops.  Daddy, Emme, Grandma and Zackary.  Of course I am taking the pic!  Zackarys' teacher walked around with an apron on with like 25 pockets in it.  You gave her a ticket and you got something special from a pocket...genius!  Zackary got a marble and a shell.  We had a really fun day helping set up and work the booths and raise money for this amazing school!

Daddy's Solution

So what is your solution when you are getting all wet from splashing and are sick of saying, "stop splashing I am getting wet?"  I thought Ben handled it well.  It caught Z way off guard, stopped the splashing and gave us all a good laugh.  He's a creative daddy...watch out!

Mommy and Me Class

I signed Emeline up for a Mommy and Me program to see how well she would do in a structured setting and if she was ready for preschool.  She loved it.  She played with all the toys that were set up at each station.  She listened to the books, sang the music with Mrs. Hoppy and ate the snacks.  As you can see below she made herself right at home.  I think she is ready...am I?

Tiger and Minnie

Okay so, last minute I found this cute Minnie Mouse costume at Target.  It was so perfect on Emeline and she looked adorable. Zackary was a tiger, I found this at Land of the Nod.  He wouldn't put the mask on his face because it itched, but I had to show you the tail (picture above). 

The kids did so well walking up and down the streets of Balboa Island.  They loved getting the candy (especially Emeline, she was not shy).  There were several houses that were decorated to the max.  The amazement on the kids faces, and some houses brought some fear, was priceless.  We were lucky to have some help with parking and spend a wonderful night out as a family gathering candy that we promptly gave to the Witchy Witch in place for a toy the next morning. 

 My little real live Minnie Mouse!  She was a proud Minnie.

Cuteness

 Always trying to make people laugh and succeeding. 

Carving Time

Second year in a row Emeline did not want anything to do with getting her hands dirty and carving the pumpkins.  She helped coordinate and oversee the production while remaining clean!  Zackary on the other hand had so much fun with the pumpkin guts and carving with Daddy.