5 Days with Grandma and Poppy

Last weekend, while Todd was working on the kitchen, I headed out of Santa Barbara en route to Palm Springs for some R & R with some girlfriends.  I had to make an important stop on my way, dropping the kiddos off at my parents house for 5 days because R & R plus a 1 and 3 year old do not equate....  This is the longest I have ever left the kids (technically it was only 4 days since I stayed the first night with them) and the first time I have ever left Thatcher overnight.  I missed them both so much!! When I would talk on the phone to Samantha she sounded so grown up and her voice didn't match her little face in my head and I was nervous little Mama's boy Thatchie would be upset without me for so long, but out of the two, my parents said Thatcher was the easy one and had no issues at all.  In fact, when I picked them up, I expected Thatcher to run into my arms and give me a hug, instead, he ran towards my dad and hugged him......

My parents didn't give them a lot of time to miss Todd or me by packing in full days of activities:

 Several trips to the golf course

Golf Cart Rides

Buddies

Hair Salon (both kids got hair cuts)

New clothes and shoes for both!

Tea Parties

Knott's Berry Farm

Balboa Beach

And dancing!

Thanks Mom and Dad!  Next time, a full week, ha ha j/k

What We've Been Up To

While the kids were at my parent's house doing a whole lot of this:

I was in Palm Springs, doing a whole lot of this:

And Todd was at home finishing our kitchen (almost).  He put in black granite counter tops and finished painting the cabinets. There are still a few things left to be done, but all in all, I feel like we are as close to finishing one room in this house as we ever have been. 

See how far we have come:

Side Note: This is me 3 months pregnant with Samantha and seeing the house for the first time that Todd wants to buy.  I look thrilled, huh? 

One day, I will post the rest of the house "before" pictures, trust me, they are worse than this.....

What do you think?

Father's Day 2011

The kids and I had big plans to take Todd to Santa Ynez to find some sunshine and enjoy a picnic up at a winery, but unfortunately, I woke up with the flu.  :(   Poor Todd, instead of being celebrated and pampered, he had to take care of the kids all day because I could not get out of bed.

In typical Todd-fashion, he never once complained.  In between taking care of me, he took the kids out to breakfast, they went and got me medicine, went out to lunch, went to the beach and out to dinner so that I could get some rest. 

So, on our next free weekend, we are going to have to do a Father's Day redo.

Todd did get the most adorable picture frame that Samantha made at school, which came with two options of photos.  Ms. Katie said Samantha couldn't decide which one she looked better in so she wanted to give him both.  It is a tough job being so beautiful ;)

This photo was taken by Ms. Katie at the Father/Daughter Valentine Party at Preschool

So, stay tuned for the Father's Day redo because any guy who works all day, comes home and cleans the house (yes, you heard that right) and THEN does the nighttime routine for both kids (baths, teeth brushing, stories etc.) deserves a break. 

We love you Todd!