A few cuties from Kate.

Mom: I love you, Kate.

Kate: I love my blankie, Mom.

Kate: I need my sippy cup.

Mom: What do you want in your sippy cup?

Kate: Marshmennows!

That's my kind of girl :)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning is so exciting! I still get just as excited as the kids do, and find it hard to sleep. We told the kids that they had to stay in bed until 6:30, so we got a wake up call promptly at 6:31.

Looks like Santa made it to our house:)

Kate was not super happy about waking up so early, until she saw that her stocking had been filled.

The kids must have been very good this year, as they got most everything on their wish lists plus a few extra surprises!

Emily and Tyler both asked for a DS and spent lots of time playing!

Are you surprised that a Harry Potter wand was on the top of Gavin's list?

Kate was loving ripping the paper off of her presents.

This shirt just screams Tyler!!!

Emily with Kate's Zhu Zhu pet. She liked her sister's better than her own. Oops!

Sing-a-Ma-Jigs for everyone!

Look at the eyes on the kids in these pictures. There is, indeed, something magical about Christmas!

Gavin really wanted Tangled characters. I thought that was such an interesting choice! Come to find out, it was really just the horse that he wanted.

Kate loves her baby.

And Gavin loves his Webkin.

Tyler was really excited and could hardly wait to give his gift to Travis. He worked really hard getting this #1 dad key chain just perfect.

We had a really fun and relaxing day. We had Grandma and Grandpa Paul over for breakfast and spent lots of time playing with toys and games.

After Kate's nap, we headed to Grandma and Grandpa Shorty's house for more fun!

Harry Potter made an appearance at the party. Gavin was so excited when Ty and Jess gave him this Harry Potter gear. He is now convinced that he looks EXACTLY like Harry.

Tyler loves to organize his gifts before he has to put them away, and take a picture of them so he will never forget what he got that year.

Gavin thought that was a great idea!

What a fantastic Christmas! We are already counting down to next year!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

The kids decorated the tree all by themselves this year. All I did was string the lights. A little cluttered and unorganized, but that's what it's all about :)

Here they are with their favorite cookies that they chose for Santa. Kate missed out on frosting the cookies. She was too tired and went to bed early.

No post is complete without something silly about Gavin. The kids insisted on 8 carrots for the reindeer. Gavin caught Travis eating a carrot, to which he replied, "DAD!!! YOU ATE DIXON'S CARROT!!!!!"

They are all ready and excited for Christmas to come!

I'm a runner

Granted, I have never ran a marathon, and chances I probably won't, but I thought this was super funny and can definitely relate to this :)

Look Who's Two!

I can hardly believe my baby is two years old already. She is such a joy and is definitely the princess around our house. She has each of us wrapped around her little finger.

We started out by opening presents. There's honestly not much that this little girl needs, and I found it hard to find something worth buying. She ended up with a Sing-a-Ma-Jig, a sorting farm toy, a Lucky Ducks game, new clothes and PJs. We put the rest of the money we would have spent in her savings account.

While we waited for everyone to come for cake and ice cream, we had a busy and fun day. We went to lunch, did some shopping and decorated her cake. She loves Minnie Mouse and was thrilled to see her cake when she woke up from her nap.

Throughout the day, she loved to hear me sing Happy Birthday to her and even sang several times to herself.

Kate is such a fun baby! She loves to hide in cupboards, read books, fake asleep, suck her thumb and snuggle her blankie. In fact, she loves her blankie so much and constantly drags it around, that my sister bought her a new one. We told her that she got a new blankie to which she responded, "That is NOT my blankie". She'll definitely tell you how it is. She is a very girlie girl. She loves to wear "pretties" (bracelets) and changes her shoes several times a day. She's got a bit of a stubborn streak and knows exactly how to get exactly what she wants. Heaven help me ;)

She loves her grandmas and grandpas and "calls" them several times a day on her telephone.

Kate and her girls, Bree and Lexie.

Did I forget to mention that this one is a sweet tooth? She ADORES the sweets. This was a perfect ending for her day. Her farm, Sing-a-Ma-Jig, sippy cup of milk, smarshmallows and new jammies. What more could a girl ask for?

Sea World

We took a break from Disneyland on Wednesday and headed to Sea World. We really enjoyed seeing the ocean from the car, and I was wishing we would have had a little more time to visit the seashore. Sea World was a fun, relaxing day. A totally different experience than Disneyland.

Who's excited for Sea World? Gavin is!

The first thing we saw was the Beluga Whales. Kate and I spent quite a bit of time learning all about these fascinating mammals while Travis and the others were on a ride. I really was intrigued. It was very relaxing to watch these animals move so effortlessly through the water.

The penguins were next. All of my kids absolutely love penguins, so it was a lot of fun. A little stinky, OK, a lot stinky, but fun.

The shark encounter kind of creeped them all out. I'm not sure why. I think they were afraid of falling into the tank to be devoured by some ferocious creature. I was hoping for a HUGE shark!

The Fresh Water exhibit. The kids thought the transparent fish and the piranas were amazing. Tyler was disappointed that we had to miss the feeding of the piranas.

The Sea Lion show was very good. The kids thought it was hilarious! I have to say that I impressed myself with my vast knowledge of sea lions. Following the show, they did a question and answer session about sea lions, and guess who knew all the answers? Yours truly :)

The dolphin show was pretty disappointing. They tried to make it into some sort of musical something or other and there was very little focus on the dolphins. Bummer.

The Shamu show is always entertaining and we weren't disappointed. Maybe in my next life I will choose to be an animal trainer ;)

We got the opportunity to pet sting rays. Gavin and Tyler were extremely nervous. We were told that the stingers were cut off so Tyler decided to give it a shot. Gavin, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with them.

Tyler and Emily loved riding Atlantis, Gavin cried throughout the entire ride. Gavin and Kate enjoyed the Sesame Street Bay of Play.

My kids and I love walruses, but they are truly disgusting animals. They use their whiskers to feel for their food, gulp it down and spit out the remains of the fish. They were also puking and pooping all over the place. Gross!!!

Kate loves her daddy! Daddy loves his Kate!

What cute girls I have!