A Fine Fall Day. . .

The day after M's 5th Birthday, just a few days before K's Big Haircut, we were lucky enough to have some fall family photos taken by the incredibly talented Leif Brandt. It was a typical So Cal fall day -  in the mid-90s (phew!) - thankfully our shoot was scheduled for the afternoon and it had started to cool down. Leif & Erica found this awesome large trunk and he brought it along for the shoot. Leif found a location in Bonsall with some nice trees and open fields, great for pictures. We had a lot of fun, even if we did have to bribe the kids with candy :-p And thanks to the always-stylish Erica Brandt for letting me shop in her closet for the top, sweater and necklace - I now have inspiration for what to look for when I'm shopping for myself. I love our family :)

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The model shot :)

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Gettin some lovin :)

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They do love each other (especially when bribed with candy) :)

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She sure does look up to him. . .

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Showing us his sweet side - and making sure we see it, haha

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The money shot :)

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I love this one, tickling the kiddos :)

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Our handsome boy!

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Another one I LOVE - so much fun :)

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Our sweet girl :)

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Had to get a pic with her puppy!

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Love it :)

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Fun times :)

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Thanks again Leif for the fun shoot and the incredible images - can't wait to get them printed!

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Another post to check out - our Spring Family Photos, taken by another amazing photographer, my brother Greg Helton!

A Roooooaaaarin' Good Time!

We're just spreading M's birthday experience as far as we can! haha ;) Sunday we celebrated with a family get together - and what a great time it was. Lots of raorin' good times for our Matthew-saurus - yummy food (for the carnivores & herbavores alike), a few crazy kiddos and fun times with family.

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The Invitation (had to include this, just too perfect :)

 For a Roarin' good time, join us in celebrating as Matthew-saurus turns 5. We'll chomp on some yummy finger foods and gobble up some cake, while enjoying some dinosaur sized family fun. Hope to see you there!

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We tried to keep the party fairly small, just family at first, but we ended up letting M invite just a few of his buddies last minute.  (If any of our friends reading this didn't get invited, I'm so sorry - I wish we could have invited ALL of his friends this year, but we just couldn't - next year for sure!!!)

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Matt, AJ & Sammy, being crazy and playing w/ dinosaurs!

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I thought it would be fun to make some extra dinosaur sugar cookies and let the adults decorate them. Then Matthew got to be the judge and pick his FAVORITE cookie, and that person got a prize :) He picked Sammy's mommy's cookie - way to go Jessica!

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Pinata time - Kaylie was on FIRE hitting that thing ;)

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Next year I need to be more intentional about getting group shots, or pics of different people at the party. Here are just a few pics. . .Had to get a belly shot of Auntie Brittany and Baby Emma - just one more month!! K and Grandma Nancy, Gigi and then David, Simone & baby Shiloh (7mo) :)

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Others who made the party that much more awesome: Grandpa Scott (OUR AMAZING PHOTOGRAPHER!!!), Grandpa Eddie & Grandma Sandy, Cher, Emilio & Devynn, Rudy, Alex & Melissa and Jessica. What a blessing each and every one of you are in our lives, thanks for joining us in celebrating Matthew's special day!!!

The Big Cut!

Kaylie is blessed with such gorgeous hair.

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She was born with it :) Unlike many babies, her hair never fell out or even rubbed off in any spots - it just kept growing, at an amazing pace, really. . .

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At one year old she had her first official "haircut", really just trimming here and there, evening out the "mullet" her natural hair growth from birth had left her. I think it was about that time that I decided we would grow her hair out until we could cut the minimum requirement for hair donation. She has such gorgeous hair, we should share it! Over the past few months (probably 6 months, actually) I've been ready to make the cut - her hair was at the point of getting caught under her armpits all the time, and almost reaching the toilet water when she looks up at me sitting on the toilet - yuck! I REALLY wanted to cut it when the first heat wave hit during the summer. . .but when I measured her hair, 8 inches (the minimum requirement for most charities) was just too much to cut off. I got an email from our favorite kid's hair place, Sharkey's Cuts for Kids, saying they were having a Hair Donation Day in November - so I jumped on it and made an appointment!

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At Sharkey's, pre-cut pose. . .

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And here we go. . . .

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Ta-Da!!!!!

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I had to close my eyes a little while they cut that beautiful ponytail off, but she still looks so stinkin' cute :) She seems so much sassier now with her cute little haircut :)

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While all kiddos get a lollipop and balloon at Sharkey's, one of the perks for little girls is hair glitter, a mini manicure, and her very own ring! She picked two shades of blue :)

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Look at me!

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We sure love our sweet & sassy little girl :)
What fun - here's to a long life of beautiful hair and hair donations!

California Adventure!!

To really celebrate M's 5th Birthday in style, we decided to take him to Disneyland for his first time ever! Considering time and cost, we ended up choosing to go to one park on his first visit, and since he is all about Disney Pixar movies (Cars, Monster's Inc, Nemo & Bug's Life, to name a few), California Adventure it was! He was so excited the night before he had a hard time going to sleep, and woke up ready to go the next morning. This little boy was SO excited to visit Disneyland for the first time, and meet Lightning McQueen! I'm so glad we decided to wait until he was 5 - he really knew how special of an event this was, and I know he'll remember it for years to come. . .

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Tickets in hand, about to enter California Adventure!

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First thing we did when we got there (at 10:30 or so) was make a bee-line to the Fast Pass line for Lightning McQueen Racers. Rumor had it that Fast Passes for the racers sell out FAST, and the stand-by line is always at least 60min. We got up to the front of the Fast Pass line at 10:45 and we were one of the LAST ONES to get Fast Passes for the entire day!! Mind you, the park opened at 10 (just 45 min prior) - and our callback time was 7:30pm! With that taken care of. . .

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It's a Bug's Life! 

Thankfully the Bug's Life pics turned out smiley. . .we made the mistake of going to the "It's Tough Being a Bug" show in Bug's Life Land first thing - it was a TERRIFYING show to our sensitive little guy - we had to leave the show early, and it took a while to coax him into having fun. . .

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Next, the reason we chose California Adventure in the first place. . . Cars Land!

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Downtown Radiator Springs was PHENOMENAL - just incredible Disney's attential to detail, to make something on an animated movie screen come to LIFE. It really was awesome. And M loved it :) All three rides were a blast - we did end up waiting in the stand-by line for the Lighning McQueen Racers, because we wanted to be able to enjoy that one twice (it WAS a 60min wait). There are two versions of the ride (left or right side) and we lucked out and got to do one of each - and our car won both times, woohoo!

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Matthew got to meet Lightning McQueen!

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The Cars were really awesome. We also had the opportunity to see Mater and the Fire Truck out and about - they talked and moved just like in the movie. Really so cool. Matthew was so excited to pose with his buddy Lightning :)

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Perfect CA Adventure shot, with the Mickey Mouse Ferris Wheel and California Screamin' in the background. Such a beautiful day!

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We proceeded to ride on the Little Mermaid, got some ice cream and walked the boardwalk. Later in the day, we coaxed M onto the Toy Story ride, Goofy's Flight School roller coaster (he LOVED that one, only ride we rode two times in a row - it kinda terrified Josh and I though!) and more. 

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Enjoying our boy :)

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While the day started out a bit bumpy (the scary show really threw him for a loop, we didn't think we'd be riding ANY rides that day for quite a while :-/) we ended up just having a BLAST and hearing him talk about it now, with such excitement, we know he had a blast as well :) Can't wait to take him to the REAL Disneyland next time ;)

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And here's K, enjoying her treasures brought to her from our day at Disneyland - it'll be her turn next! :)

F-I-V-E!!!

5! Our crazy, awesome little man is FIVE!! Boy does time FLY! Matthew is currently really into dinosaurs - so this birthday is all about them! He got a few dinosaur t-shirts, a few sets of dinosaurs to play with, and his first Wii game - Ice Age Dinosaurs! (he loves Ice Age, too :) His family birthday party will be next weekend, and what's the theme? You guessed it - DINOSAURS! Love the phases they go through :) We spent the morning relaxing and celebrating Matthew, went exploring at the park for a bit, then after naps picked up Gigi and went to dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. He got many Happy Birthdays sang to him throughout the day (including a tribute from one of his best buds, AJ, here) - made him feel extra special :) Happy Birthday to our FAVORITE little boy EVER, we love you Matthew!

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Make a wish!

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Exploring at Guajome Lake Park

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Special Birthday Dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory - M sure loves his Gigi!