TIto's Tacos

I just love family traditions. One of my favorite Potter Family traditions is "Tito's Tacos." Tito's Tacos is this hole-in-the-wall fast food Mexican joint down by the LA Temple. Yes, it's a dive. Yes, it's in a scary part of town. And TRIPLE YES it's got some of the most fabulous taco's you'll ever eat. So of course we HAD to make a trip down there to have some fabulous Mexican food.

It's always packed so we sent half our group to go order food, while the rest of us started rounding up empty tables. Bladen chose Tylee as his partner in crime. He knew she'd feed him well if he snuggled up to her.

Craiger hung out with Oma & loved every minute of it.

The food was a great as I remembered it. We had tacos, tostados, burritos, nachos, & TONS of salsa & guacamole. It was a FABULOUS dinner.

Poor Tuhk. Bladen kept eyeing his burrito & snuck a bite. Poor Tuhk couldn't even think about eating it after Bladen slobbered all over it. So, Bladen ate his ENTIRE Tito's Tacos Burrito & they're NOT SMALL.

Cadence enjoyed some one-on-one time with Uncle Tuhk while everybody else stuffed their faces. I love family bonding time like this. We've got a great family.

Visiting Nancy

It's always a lot of fun going down to Orange County to visit my dear friend Nancy. I only see her maybe once or twice a year so I cherish those few visits we get. She spoils us ROTTEN for our birthdays, for Christmas, & just for random times during the year. The kids are always excited when a Nancy package shows up in our mailbox. She always buys TONS of stuff for Christmas & we meet up & exchange gifts. The kids came with me this time & were able to say hello. Of course they were ready to jump out of their skin when Nancy handed each of them a large gift to open RIGHT THERE.

Yup, Miss Nancy bought each of the kids their very own PILLOW PET. My girls have been begging for these things for about 9 months now. You should have seen how their eyes lit up. They were so excited they were CRYING.

Bladen got a bright blue Triceratops Dinosaur as his pillow pet. The whole ride home he was "CHOMPING" at the back of my seat. That kid & his fascination with dinosaurs. . . he's crazy.

Cadence was equally excited about her new Ladybug Pillow Pet. She's really into "red" right now so it was a perfect pal for her.

Lorien was thrilled with her pink & purple Butterfly Pillow Pet. She couldn't wait to sleep on it for the hour drive back to Opa & Oma's house.

And Taya got a pink, black & white Zebra Pillow Pet. The sassiness of the pet matches Taya's sassiness perfectly. They are a match made in heaven.

For the next hour we proceeded to load all the gifts from Nancy's car into our new van which THANKFULLY is bigger & holds a LOT more than our old van did. I guess wrecking the old van really was a blessing in disguise. I just LOVE our new van. It was SO nice seeing Nancy.

While Nancy & I were talking to each other, a huge limousine pulled up by us. It was completely decked out in CHRISTMAS. There was a Christmas village on the dashboard, a North Pole sign on the side, & a reindeer hood ornament.

And guess who hopped out of it? Yup. Good ole St. Nick. My girls started screaming & he immediately came over to our van for a little chat with the Potter kids. The girls were so excited they could hardly talk. Santa was SO good with them. He asked them how they've been this year & asked them what they wanted for Christmas. They loved EVERY SECOND of it.

Then it was time to head back to the family. The kids said good-bye to Santa & Nancy (who are very much alike). Then they cuddled up with their new friends & we started off on the trip back home.

Thank you Nancy for the wonderful morning. We miss you.

Grandbabies' Christmas Trees

This year was the Potter Family's turn for Christmas. The kids couldn't wait to get to Opa & Oma's house. One of their favorite Potter Family traditions is their very own Christmas Trees. Oma has a small Christmas tree for every grandchild at her house. As soon as we arrived, the kids got their creativity out & decorated their trees the way THEY wanted them. It was SO MUCH FUN for them & also for Oma. It's a fun tradition.

Lorien's 1st Grade Christmas Program

One of the best parts about having kids in school is all the cute little programs they do. This year Lorien had a cute little Christmas program with her 1st grade class. She was ADORABLE as always.

Here is a video of her 2 performances. First is "He'll Be Comin' Down the Chimney." Don't mind the music. . . some weirdo did the piano for it & kept messing up (aka ME). And that is followed by "8 Tiny Reindeer," a cute little poem the kids memorized.

Merry Christmas Lorien. Mommy is SO proud of you!

Christmas Goodies

Christmas just isn't Christmas without all the yummy goodies that go along with it. Every year I make a TON of goodies & we make several plates to take to friends. We drive to their houses & then carol to them as we give them their goodies. The kids LOVE it. If you haven't been caroling in a while (or EVER) GO!!! It is SO MUCH FUN.

So this year, I made a LOT of sugary loot.

Muddy Buddies are always a favorite in our house:

Cake Pops! If you've never had one of these, you're are missing out! They're easy. . . just bake a cake like normal. Then crumble your cake up into a million crumbles in a bowl. Add one little tub of frosting (you buy at the store) & get it all mixed up & gooey. Roll into balls & insert sucker sticks. Then put it in the fridge for a while until it's nice & cold. Dip your pops into chocolate melts & sprinkle with sprinkles.

FUN STUFF & FABULOUS TO EAT!

Who can resist FUDGE? I made MINT FUDGE & PEANUT BUTTER TOFFEE FUDGE.

My favorite Christmas treat is HOMEMADE CARAMELS. I made about 500 of them.

Trek especially loves Peanut Butter Balls.

I had forgotten how fabulous the Krispie Caramel Marshmallows are.

And to finish it off, we made lots & lots of Sugar Cookies.

It was VERY yummy. We made about 25 plates & took them around. We love our Christmas tradition.

A visit from Tylee & Pete

There is nothing better than being with family. Tylee & her boyfriend Pete came down from San Francisco to visit the week before Christmas. It was our first time meeting Pete & we're always happy to see Tylee.

Tylee got sick on us & threw up most of the time she was here (poor thing), but we did manage to get out for a little bit of Christmas shopping. We went down to the beach & Cannery Row & Santa was there. He was SO cute with the kids (& the adults!)

Then after shopping we took the kids to the lake & had good old McDonald's for lunch. Bladen LOVES watching (and CHASING) the ducks.

Later that night we all went caroling together & had a blast. I love family time.

Monster (aka Craiger)

All the kids have inherited a fun nickname from Trek & I. Cadence is "the Boof," Lorien is "Bug," Taya is "Squick," & Bladen is "Manos." Craiger has finally fallen into his special name.

Craiger will forever be known in the Potter household as "Monster!"

He's not a monster by definition. . . in fact he's the sweetest mild-tempered kid in the whole group, but for some reason he is meant to be "Monster!" He even answers to it better than he answers to "Craiger". So, in celebration of finding a good name for a fun little boy, here are some CUTE CUTE CUTE pics of our little guy!