The Buhls

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Olivia Rolls Over...

On September 11th Olivia took me by Surprise and rolled over! As you can see from her darling grin, she was very proud of herself!

Family Pictures

During our Summer Erb Family Reunion, my Aunt Antia took some family pictures at Forest Lawn, where my Grandparent's were married. Liam was a month shy of turning one and Olivia was 3 months.

Friday, September 28, 2012

Liam's first movie... and on the lawn!

Our city hosted a movie on the lawn night, at our local park. I rallied together Grandma and Papi and our dear friends to make an evening of it. We staked out our spots and had a potluck dinner before the movie. Then we dressed the kids in their "jammy- jams," and watched Puss in Boots on the lawn. This was Liam's first official time watching a movie. I am not sure how much he watched, he was running around, rolling on the grass, and plain just going out of his mind with excitement. He loved playing and laughing with all his little buddies and being out past 6:30pm. Sweet Olivia went straight to sleep in my arms and never made a peep the entire time.

Liam "helping" prepare some sweets for the potluck

Potluck at the park

Our little sweetie!

Liam watching his first movie!

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Rock-a-bye babies...

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.

You make me happy when skies are gray.

You'll never know dears how much I love you.

Please don't take my Liam and Olivia away.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.

You make me happy when skies are gray.

You'll never know dears how much I love you.

More and more with each passing day.

Bathing Buds...

We have spent a large part of summer playing in our hose on our back patio. Liam has absolutely LOVED having Olivia's company.He loves when I dip her toes in his little pool. Liam cracks up at everything Olivia does, he really does love and adore is sister. Often times he does not even want to share her with me...he says "NO! my baby sister and runs to her to hug and kiss her and says "I hold her, I hold my Olibia!"

The Berries are Back!

True to tradition, we have been picking bucket fulls of wild blackberries this summer. Liam feast daily on the plump berries during his morning bike rides with Daddy. The juicy berries have been staples in our morning smoothies and motivation to try new recipes. Liam loved the mini blackberry and mint tarts we made in

midsummer. He ate his little tart so quickly I couldn't even snap a picture in time. I have decided there is no better flavor combination than wild blackberries and fresh mint picked straight from your summer garden! Fall is my favorite season, so I am never one to see summer end however, I will miss seeing Liam's berry stained hands.

Liam and Daddy in the berry patch

Sweet Olivia rested beneath the shade of the eucalyptus trees while we picked berries

On our way home with a wagon load of berries

Liam eats the berries all the way home!

Picking berries in the summer heat can tucker a girl or girls out!

Often we will pick while we are on our morning walk and Olivia is taking her morning nap

Liam making the tart filling

Bam! Liam's tart was devoured in a blink of an eye!

Play group: Pizza Making

On July 6th we had a large group of friends over to make pizza and lunch together. I made a large batch of whole wheat dough, each family brought a favorite pizza topping to share. It was a fun way to experiment with flavor. The older kids chopped veggies and assisted the younger children until each and everyone had their own unique version of yummy pizza. Liam's pizza ended up having a small dab of sauce, a sparse sprinkle of cheese and one olive, as he ate all his toppings before they made it onto his pizza!

My Little Mr...

Liam has been growing increasingly more independent.He loves to copy his Daddy. As a result, I started calling him my "little Mr." On this day, Liam took it upon himself to do his own hair, just like Daddy. We are so proud of his independent spirit, but had to make minor interventions before leaving the house!

4th of July 2012...

We celebrated the fourth of July holiday with our dear friends the Williams. They extended an invitation to stay the week-end with them at Tyson's parents AMAZING beach house, it took us no less than 2 seconds to accept. The house was truly breathtaking, located right on the harbor side of the Balboa Peninsula. We woke in the morning to the view of every kind of sea transportation heading out to sea for the holiday. There were magnificent yachts, stunning sailboats, large party boats, speed boats...really the whole works! Desi and I hit the board walk for a morning jog and let Liam and Lexi play on the beach playground for a bit. Then Adam cooked us up his famous pancakes and we ate on the patio, taking in the views and salty air.

We then got the kids dressed in their reds, whites and blues and walked to balboa park to participate in the community parade. Following the parade we grilled up some hot dogs and and got ready to plant ourselves at the beach. Adam and Tyson head out to explore the hustle and bustle of the harbor on paddle boards. Desi and I loaded the kids and beach gear into the wagon and embarked upon the long journey...all of 100ft to the private "Tiny Beach." Here, we spent the day watching the boats pass, paddle boarding, playing in the sand, and looking for starfish that happen to frequent this beach alcove.

Once warm and dry, we whipped up an indulgent dinner and frolicked on the patio. We played games, talked about everything under the sun, and found great delight in Liam and Lexi's efforts to entertain us. Just as the homemade ice cream was ready, fireworks started exploding over the water. We watched the fireworks from the comfort of the patio. We were able to see about 4 cities fireworks. Liam saw all of one firework erupt before he feel fast asleep in my arms, exhausted from the day's activities.

Though we spend our week-end surrounded by the extremes of over indulgence we could not have been with a more laid back, down to earth family. We had good old fashion, simple fun!