a week in sc

busy boy at work in nani's kindergarten classroom

so the boys and i are in santa clarita with my family for the week while hubby is away for business for work. the upside. lots and lots of extra helping hands this week and not having to be alone for three days while hubby is away. the other upside, is a date night (nursling along for the ride) in woodland hills at the hilton and cheesecake factory with hubby on his business trip. the downside. missing my hubby. but we've had a nice week. my sisters are living at home and going to school, so they have been home a lot and a huge help. my mom is home everyday at 3 and caleb's her little helper from then on. my dad has been enjoying his special movie time with caleb before bed (this is their special thing. ice cream and a little bit of movie time (lady and the tramp, and happy feet.) talk about getting spoiled down here! so i've posted some pics of the week.

 nice to have aunties around to help with naptime and bedtime ;)

our barnes and noble field trip (one of mom's favorite places!) they had a cute kid area set up that caleb went right over to.

 while aunties are sleeping, and nani and papa are working...mom and the boys have morning playtime :) lucas and caleb we were really into the beaded necklace (can ya tell lucas can't stop staring)

 lucas was all dressed up for our date with dad :) it was fun just having one on one time with our baby boy! he's very easy to take along and was a champ for the drive to see dad, our dinner date, and overnight hotel stay. caleb got special one-on-one time with nani and papa and auntie jen.

 still swaddled my friends...hoping to break this soon :) but he's just such a good swaddled sleeper!

 the boys getting their movie time on ( a very special treat) because this doesn't happen with mom and dad!

 a walk through the neighborhood

so tuckered out after a fun night with daddy! snoozing on the drive home :)

here is a video of caleb enjoying happy feet. i've never seen it and didn't realize how much dancing and music was in it. of course any type of music and dancing..and caleb's all over that! he really loves to get his groove on. my mom sent me this clip of him watching and dancing to the movie with papa. (this movie time and staying up a lil past bedtime is their special time together) he's not allowed to watch much tv with us. i'm pretty particular about that. his shows are reserved for certain times of the day if at all. so this is a special treat for him!

I almost forgot to mention the most exciting part for me about being down here! besides a lot of extra sister bonding time and some nice breaks ;) i was able to go to my mom's kindergarten classroom and get a lot of her extra school supplies (that she had and doesn't use anymore, after 30 years of teaching!) let me just say, i was seriously about to pee my pants with excitement. you know how people get excited about movie stars? chocolate? certain tv shows? dancing? etc.....children's books are my high in life among other things; swimming, hiking, camping, beach, date night with hubs, time with my family...etc. books. books. books! love them. i am a book worm. and when it comes to children's books! i. melt. and i just go balistic with excitement. anyway....beyond all that! back to my point. she has an entire library full of childrens' classics. great authors. my favorite books i read when i was little (i do remember all those wonderful classics she read us!) here are a few: dr. seuss, leo lioni, eric carle (a personal favorite), here are some titles: little miss spider (a few of these) some great counting books, alphabet books, books about colors, shapes, i could go on and go, you get the idea. we have a wonderful library of books at home, but i've been wanting to get my hands on some more books...cause i'm kind of a childrens' book addict. and now i have a bunch more! the best part is that i now have a felt board with pieces that go with these books. brown bear brown bear what do you see. polar bear polar bear... and miss spider's tea party. the very hungry Caterpillar. all have a complete set of felt pieces to do the story with! caleb's pretty excited about those, we've been doing it all week. we have some fun other things. some construction paper, some foam shapes to practice with, stickers. counting pieces, lots more! i'm just tickled pink i tell ya! now i am willing to share ;) for all those mamas out there! if you'd like to use any of the above, just let me know. i also have some fun craft ideas i'd like to do with some of these books, and i'm hoping to do some weekly/monthly themes with caleb and lucas. such as: ocean themes/with books and a fun craft. colors, shapes, counting, etc...spring themes, etc! and then i have a fun little set up for a calendar that includes days of the week, months, weather, and some other things. i'll be taking pictures of all this fun stuff soon ;) how can i not? i'mcaleb's at the age where he needs a little bit more...or maybe i do? i just am so excited about all this! and i just can't wait to post some pictures of all the great stuff i have my hands on now :)

p.s. i realize auntie jen's not in any of these pics from the week...but she does have her own post below featuring her quite amazing and talented dance moves ;) lol. so i don't feel too bad :)

happy almost friday!