Halloween 2013

Halloween is always a holiday I have mixed feelings about. I hate the origins of the day and how it is associated with spooky evil things, but since having kids it is SO MUCH FUN! This year was a great day and I feel like we fit so much in.

First thing in the morning was trick or treating at the Child Welfare office to see Dad and Grammy. Jose was waiting for them with donuts. Ezra quickly started gobbling his up, but I couldn't believe Aubri declined. I asked her a few minutes later why she didn't want a donut. She said, "I want to eat candy later and I don't want you to say I can't have anymore sweets." I was so proud of her!

Next the kids went to Nana and Papa's house while I attended the church staff meeting. My mom doesn't work on Thursdays, but she wanted to attend her work Superhero lunch party. The kids got to tag along with Super Nana!

After their morning fun, it was nap time and off to Arroyo Grande Village for trick or treating! We have  made the Village a yearly tradition. The street shuts down for a few hours, and all the businesses hand out candy. We have a blast seeing families from church and even friends from high school. It gets crowded, and is a little slow moving, but we don't mind!

With so many dress up clothes, our kids were able to have a couple of costume changes. They were Team Velazquez (football player and cheerleader).

All the kids were excited to see this group of ladies from the hair salon.

 We met up with some friends and had a blast together!

Our friend, Sarah Ortega (blog link on the right) took the next two photos of our kids. I love them! She is such a gifted photographer!

 After the village we all drove to our Pastor's house. One stop trick or treating! Every room in their house has candy, and the kids had fun filling their treat bags with their favorites.

   

Our night really could have ended there, and we considered heading home, but instead stopped by Grammy's house for more fun! Silvia had invited all the family over, and we got there in time to see some of our little cousins. 

 Halloween only comes once a year, so we made one more last minute plan! We trick or treated around the neighborhood with Aubri's best friend. It was already after 8pm, and the streets were pretty quiet (I mean aside from our screaming kids ;-). I wonder what people thought opening up their door for the "late crowd" and finding  1,2,and 3 year olds!

 Of course we had to come inside and check out our loot!

 I can't believe how much we fit in one day. It was so great to be able to connect with close friends, and see our kids have a blast!

18 months

Our little man is 18 months! I was remembering my 18 month blog post for Aubri- which was also Ezra's pregnancy announcement- and felt bad for Ezra that I never make time for blogging his milestones.  Life sure is a bit crazier with two kids! Aubri had her first overnight trip with daddy to San Francisco. It  felt so weird and easy to just have Ezra with me.

After a day apart they wouldn't let go of each other! 

Ezra makes us laugh every day. He loves to make funny faces, do silly things, be mischievous.  If he does something disobedient he will often put himself on time out and fake cry with a smile, pretending to be remorseful.

His vocabulary is increasing daily, and he is at the point where he will repeat anything if he really wants something. His favorite words are still "that" "snack" and "no". We taught him a few signs (something we didn't do with Aubri), and his please and more are used a lot. He knows lots of animal names and all the animal sounds. I contemplated making a list of his words, but I think they've exceeded the amount I can remember!

Ezra finally has the attention span to read books! We don't always make it through an entire book, but he has a few he will sit and read with us over and over again. I catch Aubri reading to him often and it is the cutest thing.

At 18 months, Ezra is crazy about Mickey, or "Ha-Ha" as he calls him. Aubri always says, "Don't even say the word Mickey or he will go crazy!" By crazy she means he will start singing and marching around, while drumming on anything (or anyone). He will not sit to watch more than a minute of any TV show, but will watch all 16 minutes of the Disneyland Soundsational parade on YouTube. When I sing him to sleep, he stops my from singing any song, and says "Ha-ha la la la la!" meaning I have to sing the Mickey parade song.  We bought Disney annual passes and have  made two trips already. He is so brave meeting the characters, and will go on any ride.

licking his plate clean!

He still has the biggest appetite. This kid can eat! He would literally snack all day if food is out. Luckily he has no problem eating his fruit and veggies, and there is very little he won't eat. His biggest aversion is milk! I weaned him last week, and we had a couple of sad days. It was much easier with Aubri because she already loved regular milk. The first day Ezra actually found a bottle in the cupboard (he never ever used a bottle) and insisted on me pouring milk from the fridge. He didn't take more than a sip, but he carried the bottle for an hour. It was so sweet and smart of him to realize he missed mom's milk, and thought he could figure out a way to like milk! Since last week he has been so funny at bedtime. One night he found a pair of baby socks balled up and wanted to cuddle the socks while he fell asleep. Another night he insisted on falling asleep with his hat on. It blows my mind how he is figuring out to find something to comfort him aside from nursing to sleep. He has slept better too! Very few night wakings- whew!

Falling asleep with his hat on!

He fell asleep with it on!

He loves cars, and crashing, and sound effects. He loves music and dancing and instruments. He doesn't walk when he can run, and he doesn't sit when he can stand. He is all about wearing hats and likes to dress up. He gets so excited to go to his grandparents house and play, but doesn't want to be left in Tiny Tots at church.  He is a momma's boy, but loves when Daddy gets home from work. He is always ready to leave the house, and loves being out and about.

Ezra, you are a special boy! We love your cheesy, silly grin and you light up a room. Your enthusiasm for everything is contagious.

 We love you with all our hearts. We pray for you daily, and know that you are capable of doing huge things for God's kingdom. I can't wait to see how God is going to use you!

Hay Day VBS

This year, Five Cities Vineyard Church had our first ever Vacation Bible School! It was a daunting undertaking, but went so well! I had a lot of volunteers who lent a hand, and everything came together.

 I could share so many awesome stories of kids having fun and learning about growing in friendship with Christ. I have hundreds of pictures of the children having a blast, worshipping, and getting to know each other. But, this post is simply about the "details" and the Pinterest inspired projects. It was so fun to follow and be followed by Children's pastors across the country who had their own Hay Day Pinterest boards. I'm pinning these to help those who still need ideas!

Stage for Moosic and More and Friendship Finale.

We were able to borrow most of the props! The back drop is a painted drop cloth, and the silo is 2 trash cans stacked and wrapped with red paper!.

 Entrance to church.

 Zacchaeus stage made with PVC pipe and a sheet.

Stained pallet wood signs for stations.

Picture backdrop station for crews and families to pose.

 Snack. Night one: hay bales (rice krispy treats), Night two: Fresh eggs and straw. (eggs were filled with chickadee crackers).

 Night 3: dessert following  a BBQ dinner.

One wall in Bible Adventures.

Fire pit for Night 1 Bible Adventures. We actually added more flames, and wrapped them around flicker battery operated "candles". It looked really great lit up at night!

 Super dark picture of our trees in Bible Adventures. The middle is made out of real oak branches and a carpet roll tube.

Little Peeps Preschool wall. The chicken crafts were made by the preschoolers a few weeks prior. 

Hay Rides on Night 3