Christmas Memories

It was the 2nd Annual Howorth-Whittaker trip to Roger's Gardens in Newport Beach... and we had a fabulous time! The evening began with Sprinkles cupcakes and Peet's Coffee to warm us up. We met Santa for a great photo op and made some more memories...

Drew was not pleased with this seemingly benign Christmas Tradition...she would have no part of Santa:


The kids with their best friend- Sarah Howorth:


The happy family...making a memory...


Merry Christmas to all!!!

Long Time No Post...

It has been quite some time since I have added a new post- life just gets hectic, you know? Three kids, work, school and just life in general gets in the way.

Thought I would post a few pictures of Drew...welcome to the "The Drew Show"...
She loves shoes already:


She loves to be a big girl and feed herself spaghetti:


Our pretty girl...


The kids are very patiently waiting for Santa to "make all the toys", as Luke put it today. They helped decorate the house, as is the tradition, while Christmas music played on the IPOD. They also love to eat their piece of candy off of the advent tree that counts down the days for them.



It is a fun and magical time of year for the kids and it is good to try and see it through their eyes, even if times are hard in the "real world".

XOXOXO to all-
Lauren

Time Flies...

Time flies...how do kids grow up so fast???

JACK IS 9!!!
How did he ever get to be 9 years old? I remember bringing him home from the hospital in San Diego (he is a proud native San Diegan). I remember pushing him in the stroller along Mission Bay. I remember Michael driving him around the streets of Pacific Beach at 2 in the morning to get him to fall asleep (before I learned how to be a "sleep nazi").

And then there is Luke- he can READ! How did he learn to read? I just went to his first school conference..how did we get here? He is adding and subtracting and writing word families on lined paper...how did we get from Dora the Explorer to reading?

And, of course, there is Drew...new words come out of her mouth every day. She can now say "Lynney"...(Ninny) for her Aunt Lynney and "Night Dad"...she is learning so much. She also has her own very strong opinions...now how did she get that kind of personality, hmmm, not sure...:)

Kids..they grow up too fast...here's to slowing down and enjoying it...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

We had a wonderful Halloween...lots of candy, goodies and fun memories!

We got into the spirit by carving pumpkins...

...eating LOTS of candy and having a blast with our awesome neighbors! Check out our baseball player, zookeeper and pumpkin!





Looking forward to a wonderful Holiday Season...Turkey Day is my fave- YUM!!!

Happy Belated Birthday

Well, Lukey turned 6 this month and we had a great time celebrating at Universal Studios Hollywood! Hard to believe he is a big 6-year-old already. Time sure does fly.



Papa Bruce and Grandma Margie with the grandkids...


Aunt ShellBell got a photo op, too!


The family...


Hamin' it up with Spongebob!


Uh-oh...Luke's nemesis...JAWS...can you hear the background music???


We had a great day at the park and we ended up with a wonderful dinner and "cookie cake" with candles on the City Walk.

Great memories...a fun 6th birthday...

Soccer and Taking a Spin

Here is a picture of that Star Soccer player we mentioned previously:

He is always ready for a soccer challenege!

Jack and Drew like taking a leisurely spin around the neighborhood...

Jack takes care of Drew very well. He is a wonderful older brother...Lukey is, as well!

Signing out for now...

Plugging Along

Luke scored 2 goals today at his soccer game! "Two" seems to be the magic number...he scored 2 goals for his team last week, as well.

Jack has been doing well in baseball and has been making the most of school, as well. He has scored a 100% on his first 2 spelling tests! These tests are 20 words each!! He is 2/2- way to go, Jack.

Drew has been making friends and learning new things at her "My Gym" class. She goes Wednesdays with Mommy and she loves it- lots of dancing and climbing...it is right up her alley!

Tonight is Aunt Lynne's 40th birthday bash- we can't wait to go have some adult fun! The kids are being watched by their Uncle Matt and his girlfriend, Avanti. I have left copious notes (of course) and I am sure it will go well.

Cheers to Lynney and another fabulous year!!
Until next time...

Keeping Busy

The kids have really been keeping busy this September! Here are the kids "hanging out" on mom and dad's bed...Drew had to sit back like her brothers, it was too cute!

Here is a cute one of Luke in his baseball uniform. He was waiting for his game to start...playing at the park with Drew!
Drew is learning to enjoy the finer things in life...like donuts!!

And...how precious is this little girl? She makes us double take...but she is a pistol, do not be fooled!!!

Pitching Debut

Here is Jack's first pitching experience in baseball. A crazy coincidence- we have an awesome black and white photo of Jack framed in our home of when he was about 18 months old, winding up on a pitching mound...8 years later, his first outing as a pitcher was on the SAME EXACT pitching mound as that photo! Kind or wierd huh?

Successful First Week

The kids had a great end of summer! They had a neighborhood root beer float party and played the last night of summer away.

And Drew did not get any root beer but she loved the vanilla ice cream!

Drew takes after her mom- she likes to "cheer" at football!

She also loves to read the magazines...gotta keep up on fashion and Hollywood!

Guess you could say at this point, she is a "mini-mommy"!!

The boys had a great first day of school. Luke got Mrs. Williams and he really likes her. Jack has Miss Brem and he is enjoying himself, as well! Aren't they handsome?

Here is Lukey in line on his first day!


This week has been a success!!
XOXO

The End is Near

Summer is winding down and we are excited for school to begin! I will be working just 2 days/week this school year- let's hope that is enough time away from the kids! Jack and Luke are in full swing football and we are trying to like it but it has proven to be a dificult task! Here are some cute football pictures...



The kids went to Sea World recently! They had a blast- even our resident "scaredy cat" Luke, had a good time (Jaws in not his friend). Drew really paid attention to all the animals, it was neat to see-


And finally, I could not resist- Michael bought me a fabulous retro apron at Anthropologie, which I wear to clean and sometimes to cook. I saw them in miniature sizes and had to get one for Little Miss Drew. They did not have a matching one, or I would have swooped it up but I picked a rather darling one...


We are getting in our last days of swimming, BBQ's and sunset watching. Even though we know we will be able to swim, BBQ and walk the beach through September...it just is not quite the same as carefree SUMMER days!!!

Kindergarten

Luke started a Kindergarten "Jumpstart" class this week. He is a slow warmer-upper (as is his big brother) and we thought this was the perfect opportunity to have him warm up to the idea of kindergarten and a new school. He was nervous at first and he kept saying he missed his old school and friends, but he has really enjoyed it so far! He is learning very important things, like where the bathrooms are, what recess is all about, and names of "new friends". Hopefully he will see familiar faces that first day and be prepared for the new routine!

We think Luke will really do great this year! Kindergarten officially starts September 2nd...be on the lookout for updates!

11 Years and Counting

Michael and I celebrated our anniversary yesterday (8/8/08)! We had a great evening- we got rid of the kids (thanks mom and dad) and we headed to the beach. We stopped off at Gelson's Market and got a gourmet sandwich made for us, picked up a few sodas and a water and a bag of chips and tossed it in our waterproof picnic basket (thanks Leslie) along side our bottle of wine. We drove down PCH to Laguna Beach and had a wonderful picnic at the Montage Resort, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We listened to Dave Matthews and John Mayer while we watched the sunset- with NO KIDS!!! Then we headed down to Main Beach and walked around town and stopped off at Hennessy's Tavern for drinks and conversation- with NO KIDS!!!

It was a relaxing, simple evening- with NO KIDS!!!

FOOTBALL

Well, we are officially in full-swing with football! The month of August is "hell week" times four...we just keep thinking, "if we can just get through August, we'll be okay". Jack did not like it too much at first and Luke was loving it. We have now done an about-face and Luke is not so hot on the practices and Jack is finding he likes it quite a bit. I am not sure what the future holds, but the Whittaker's are not quitters...we will see the season through and hopefully find that it was all worth it! I can say that it surely took me on a trip down memory lane when I saw the boys in football jerseys with "WHITTAKER" in big block lettering on their backs. They are too cute (I mean so buff) and I am excited for the games!

Surprise

Michael pulled off a last minute surprise last night and took me to my ultimate favorite (that is big, since I have many, many faves)...John Mayer! He was playing last night in Irvine and we went, last minute, no plan- and it was INSANE!!! He was so awesome- he played out of his mind- I could listen to his guitar playing for hours and hours. He also played some fun covers- Free Fallin' by Tom Petty and Panama from Van Halen- it was so much fun and a night I will never forget! Michael is the BEST!!!

Okay, Drew is annihilating my living room and the boys just finished reading to me and now I have to think of something to do to stave off the boredom...until next time...

We're Here

Hi all-
I have decided to have a central location where all of our family and friends can get updates on the kids, etc. I will try to update the happenings of the Whittaker Family often and get new pictures on here as they are taken.
Jack is 8 and starting 3 rd grade, Luke is 5 and starting kindergarten and Drew just turned 1 on June 13th. This summer has been a busy one, filled with swim lessons, library trips, pool and water park extravaganzas, Disneyland and Angels games. The parents even got out on an adults only trip to Vegas.
The summer is about to get even more crazy with pop warner football starting on August 1st- wish us luck with that. The boys are also signed up for "Fall Ball"- baseball over the Fall.