Christmas Dating...

You see… rules are rules….and rules are,

that you have to be 3 years old

in order to go out on the

Official Christmastime Daddy- Daughter Date,

not that we are purposely mean to our 2 and unders,

but truth isthey usually dont give a rip at that age.

But this year... Charlotte was 3 and she was ready!

They kept it simple with dinner, chocolate ice cream

and plenty of Christmas lights

in downtown Santa Barbara.

(note to self: steer clear of white outfits on future 3 yr. old dates involving chocolate ice cream)

Daddy came home smiling saying,

"Our girls are so completely different".

They both had so much fun. Char likes to party.

Nevaeh requested the same date spot as last Christmas.

Stick with what you know, thats the safest way,

besides who wants to deal with the unexpected?

surprises?...way too much stress for this 5 year old.

In the minutes before they headed out the door,

conversations in are house were as follows…

"Soooo, this is My date, right? So that means I'm the boss, right?

So I can order lemonade if I want to, right?

I'm the boss? Am I the boss?

I am a princess and the princess is always the boss." :)

They had dinner in Thousand Oaks and then visited the

outdoor ice skating rink again.

This year she says she was "a SO much better ice skater"

and of course thrilled

that she needed a bigger skate size then last year.

Daddy always brings his dates home way too late

and completely exhausted!

They wake up a little when getting them into bed

and they fall back asleep with

little smiles on their faces…it's so precious.

I think its my turn next!

Charlotte Turns Three!!!

Few things in life have brought us more joy than our Charlotte.

She has us laughing all the time.

Her blonde wild curls match her personality perfectly

and we are always asking ourselves where this child came from.

Often shy around people, few get to see the real Char.

She is smart, sneaky, funny, and always up for a good time.

She loves to dance and sing.

Her night time prayers are so long we almost

always have to cut her off gently. She loves her daddy.

She is always looking out for #1 and nothing and no one is sacred,

the girl will turn on you in a heartbeat!

She usually strips as soon as she walks in the front door

and plays dress up daily,

complete with a knife tucked in her chonies, to fight the bad guys.

She wants nothing to do with babies

and has made it clear she does NOT want one in our house:)

She asks almost everyday to go to the candy store.

She thinks the world of her big sister,

but makes it perfectly clear who rules the relationship.

We love you Charlotte Elizabeth and couldn't be more thankful

to God for making you so wonderfully special.

You are perfect for our family!

Happy Birthday Cheese!

Kindergarten!!!

The post you've all been waiting for…right?!

Monday, August 30th Nevaeh got up bright and way to early to go to her first day of Kindergarten! Can you believe it?! She was so stoked she couldn't sleep the night before. And now here we are at the end of the school week and she's totally bummed that its friday and that she doesn't have school tomorrow!

…I wonder how long that will last? So does she like school? …YES! She loves it

and actually requested to sleep there and I could pick her up on her birthday next year!

Al and I dropped her off together and I joined the group of Kindergarten mothers as we hovered over our little ones while they made their way into their classroom. We huddled in the corner in a photo snapping frenzy as the most adorable group of babies in uniforms took their

seats marked with their names and a pencil box filled with school necessities. I feared I would be an emotional wreck, but to both Al and I's surprise we were completely at peace and felt as

though we were leaving her with family, and now, just one week in, we are confident that we did:)

WARNING:

If you are uneasy when it comes to cuteness you might not want to look at the photos below

Check out Nevaeh's amazing school here:)

Carousel…check!

I believe this was the last box that we checked on

Nevaeh's Dad Vacation checklist.

Summer vacation was a success! So fun!

Yosemite…check!

We took a fairly quick turn around trip up north to find ourselves some "really BIG trees". We went to Yosemite with Al's grandparents for the day and had a fabulous time!

We are so thankful for them and for this trip!

Bike…check!

Nevaeh has been itching to take her training wheels off, because she's 5 and all. We tried a couple months ago….no go. The girl will swing her leg over the back of giant beast of burden, grab the reigns and kick him to 'Giddy Up', but she is scared to fall off a bike where her feet touch the ground….go figure:) So anyways, Daddy(my more patient other half) took it upon himself to teach her to ride her two-wheeler before school started. It took two days of practice, a patient daddy, lots of encouragement, a video camera and she was off and riding in no time!…."Giddy Up"

Zoo…check!

...white sandy beaches, wide open enclosures, carefully simulated environment

…this could very well be the Santa Barbara Zoo!

The ant hill was the highlight of our visit,

you grab a piece of cardboard, climb to the top and

weeeeeee!

Beach Picnic…check!

The girls and I go to the beach often,

but you see apparently Mommy is boring and Daddy is fun,

so this trip was especially…special.

this is Char's "having a blast" face

Dog Beach...

re-named by me, in light of the buttzillion unleashed dogs that ran full

speed up to my children,

and were almost were wrangled by my protective husband.

They were all nice dogs of course, but "you never know".

One sneaky lil devil swiped our tennis ball from between my feet as I lay there pleading for the the sun to come back, literally blowing at the giant cloud in hopes of giving it a little boost.

I had sworn to protect Nevaeh's ball from the dogs. Mommy fail:(

Phase 2

"Surprise! Happy Last Work Day Daddy!"

…the girls and I yelled as he came through

the door last friday evening.

We threw him a lil party with homemade pesto pizza and cookies and all of his favorite things. The Lord has been faithful, the body of Christ so generous, the season so sweet. My 'Mover Man' can rest for a bit…we move on to phase 2 of our roller coaster ride.

We're up, we're down, we're uncertain what's around the next bend,

but we are having a blast and we would totally get in line all over again!

Al will start on Staff with Reality Carp On Sept 1st.

Hungry for a little Daddy time, Nevaeh had been praying for Al to have 10 days off work before she starts school, Jesus answered her prayers x3!

We now have 31 days of Daddy time, and we couldn't be more thrilled!

Thank you Jesus!

Nevaeh made a list of things she wants to do during Daddy's vacation

she was persistent that her list needed a bow

…"Why?" i asked impatiently

…."because its a gift from God" she said

(enter heart melting here)

I hope to keep you updated on our adventures

…buuuuut you know me…

"Now that I'm FIVE….

...I need to take my training wheels off"

...I should be in school"

...I can pour my own milk"

…I can wear a regular seatbelt"

…I can roller skate"

...I can put my own clip in my hair"

…I can swing…I'm FIVE, why isn't it working!?"

...I can enter the password by myself"

…I can go to horse camp…I need cowgirl boots mom"

...I need a real backpack"

…I need a new bed…do u think mine is long enough?"

...I can reach stuff"

…I need a two wheeler scooter, the fast ones"

…I can play on a baseball and soccerball team"

…I can move up to the five year old class"

...I need five year old clothes...what size do five year olds wear?"

Nevaeh Jane Abdulla turned FIVE on March 27th, and in the past two weeks I have heard all of the above and a gazillion more I have forgotten. This girl is stoked to be FIVE. She has changed so much in the past year, from a shy and quiet introverted lil preschooler into an active FIVE year old, real life kid, who will hug anyone who looks nice and rarely stops talking EVER!

She already has a list of things she wants to accomplish in life,

that is getting increasing longer as I type this.

She wants to be a veterinarian, a cowgirl, a painter, a really good artist, walk dogs, own a horse and a unicorn, go to horse camp, build houses, ride a bird, go for a hay ride, be a farmer, be a princess, fix things, work at the zoo, work at taco bell, work at the dog pound, train a puppy, work with Shamu, act in movies, build a snowman, change a babies diaper, play guitar on stage, sing, drive a car, be a ballerina, ride in a boat, a train, a plane, a helicopter, a hot air balloon, and a dog sled, go to school, read, go on a water slide, sew stuff, fix computers, paint our own house, sleep in mommy and daddy's bed, pet a lion, be a mommy, cut her hair, never wear jeans again, and she asks every single day for a dog.

She is brave where she was once so fearful, she is strong where she was once weak, she succeeds where she once failed, she is constantly discovering new things and is completely fascinated by each one. She is a volcano of questions every time we leave the house.

A week before her birthday, as we were saying our night time prayers, Nevaeh told Al that she wanted to pray to ask Jesus to be her Shepherd and her King. It was so precious. As I was saying goodnight and reminding her of the party in heaven that Daddy told her about she began to cry. When I asked her what was wrong she said,

"I dont know... you know how some people cry even when they're not sad, like when they're happy about stuff?"

"Yes" i said, "what are you happy crying about?"

She answered, "You know just about Jesus and stuff"

She's amazing…more than any mama could ask for.

Happy Birthday Goose.

PART TWO