GRASS!

We are going on two years of owning our little Santa Barbara cottage and we STILL have not finished the darn place.  If  it weren't for my ultra talented husband wanting to do the entire thing himself (and the fact that we haven't won the lottery), we would be finished.  But it is a labor of love, right?

Well someone must have sensed my frustration with the dirt yard because all of a sudden we have GRASS!  It could not have come at a better time of year.   Rain + Dirt = Mud and on our dark hardwood floors with the dog and kids, it creates quite a mess. Thank goodness I don't have to deal with that this year!   Hmmmmmm, perhaps there is a kitchen fairy who wants to surprise me too?! 

Todd says it grew because he has been weeding the dirt for 2 years.  I am not even kidding when I say that I woke up one morning and we had a lawn.  And it was FREE!  It isn't perfect and we are not sure it is going to survive but I am willing to do whatever it takes to make it last. 

"Now son, go mow the lawn!"

Post Christmas

My parents stayed the weekend in Santa Barbara so we decided to take a little excursion up the coast on Sunday.

3rd row seating came in handy for this trip where our first stop was.......

  

Next we headed up to Los Olivos for lunch and then back to Solvang for some Danish treats before heading back down the coast for naps.

For dinner, we dined at our neighborhood Mexican food joint, Los Gallos.

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Then Todd took us on the Christmas Light Tour sans Trolley.

We returned home to sit by the fire, eat Apple Pie and watch "The Sound of Music".

Perfect end to the Christmas Season. 

Now someone please come and remove our tree, take down the lights on our house and box away all the Christmas decor! ;) 

Christmas 2010

 We kept Thatchey contained since on Christmas Eve he consumed a healthy amount of wrapping paper already

 We let Thatcher loose and he went to town

 A major highlight (besides the pack of gum she got in her stocking, which by the way, she said was her favorite gift out of everything) was the Wipey Dipey doll.  She goes #1 and #2 as evidenced by the yellow and brown light that appears in her diaper after you feed her.  She says all sorts of diaper changing related phrases that are sure to make your little one laugh. 

Later that evening I hosted Christmas Dinner at our house for both sets of parents. I felt so ADULT doing this, sort of like when our 21 year old babysitter called me Mrs. Fallon the other day, okay, that made me feel just plain OLD! 

 On the menu:

Caeser Salad

Brussels Sprout Au Gratin 

(Thank you Jessica for the recipe)

The Pioneer Woman's Mashed Potatoes

 (Thank you Pioneer Woman although I could not bring myself to add as much butter as you do especially after the block of cream cheese that went into these potatoes)

Horseradish and Herb Crusted Beef Tenderloin Filet

 

 Towards the end of the night Samantha had collected quite a bit of change

and Thatcher got closer and closer to taking his first steps.

Christmas Eve 2010

We had such a nice Christmas Eve at Dancing Grandma and Papa Ward's house. 

Enjoy the pics!

 Samantha was enamored with Uncle Drew and wouldn't leave him alone the whole night.  I don't think Drew minded and it gave us a break ;)

 Marilyn made a FANTASTIC dinner. Everything was superb especially the Chipotle Sweet Potatoes!

 Ward always surprises us with something fun underneath our dinner plates.  Here you can see everyone is busy working away on their Lottery Scratcher tickets.  No big winners this year, YET....  I won a FREE ticket and still need to redeem it. 

 Present Time!

 This was the biggest hit for Samantha.  She got a digital piggy bank from Uncle Drew and Auntie Justine.  You have been forewarned, she is now going around begging for money from everyone. I am so proud. 

On a more serious note, I LOVE THIS PIG!   

Me: "Sam, please clean up your toys and take them to your room."
Sam: "I don't want to."
Me: "I will give you a penny for your pig."
Sam: "Okay Mom, and what else can I do for another penny?"

Earning money or bribing, either way, I am sold.

Thatcher had us on our toes all night following him up the stairs.

After a nice evening we arrived home, transferred the sleeping kids from the car to bed and made sure Santa paid a visit to our house.

Preschool Christmas

On Thursday it was Pajama Day at Samantha's preschool.   It is tradition for the kids (and teachers) to wear their p.j.'s the last day of school before the New Year.  They get to watch Christmas movies, do special holiday crafts and Santa pays them a special visit too.

One of my favorite parts of picking Sam up from school is checking her cubby for artwork.  How cute is this?!  This was her present to Todd and me for Christmas.