white

dreaming of a white kitchen.....

{image via}

mani/pedi

3 dollars bought Lucy:

- 12 nail polishes in a variety of colors

- a purple, plastic, sparkly purse to store them in

- true bliss to the life of a 2 year old girl

She paints and paints and REPAINTS every day insisting that she can do it better than me. Who knows? Maybe she'll be the first white girl to work at Happy Nails?

Christmas (cliff note edition)

Every year I try to figure out how I can extend Christmas. I am (or I think I am) a firm believer in waiting until after Thanksgiving. This year I almost didn't. I just love to see how magical it is for the kids and by the end, we are never ready to put it all way!

Jack helping Troy put up Christmas lights.

The final product....

Sugar cookies, of course!

Annual Gingerbread House Decorating

Jack starring as Frosty the Snowman in his preschool musical.

Elf on the Shelf (Twinkles) & Christmas Advent

Treats for Santa and the Reindeer. A hand drawn picture of Santa - by Jack.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Morning

The kids were up at 6. We had to hold them back to get our cameras ready before they plowed through the Santa Trap in the hallway. Jack was very disappointed when he didn't see light sabers right away. He tossed everything out of his stocking in about 3 seconds flat, while Lucy sat with her stocking for a 1/2 an hour examining each item. It was fun to see the differences between them this year.

Lucy loved:

-her Rapunzel dress

-new shoes

-Snow White slap bracelet from Jack (thanks Dollar Tree)

-Ladybug pillow pet

-new pj's

-cheerleading doll from Grandma LaWanna

-pink big wheel

-fingernail polish

Jack loved:

-his new lightsaber/gun combination (he would have been satisfied with JUST this much)

-red big wheel

-new pj's

-Perfection game

-Mr. Potato Head

-penguin pillow pet

Already?

I know parents always say, "Where does the time go?"

But seriously, "WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?"

I am having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that I'm already registering my oldest for KINDERGARTEN!!!

The other day in the shower I wondered to myself if I had made the most of this time as a mom? You know, there's something precious about the first 5ish years before you start sending your kids off to school. They are all yours! You get to be the one teaching, playing, shaping, and protecting. Then it's off to the big leagues where other influences start to infiltrate their lives.

I sure hope we're ready for this.

I'm really going to miss our lazy, schedule-less days of parks, play dates, impromptu vacations, pajamas til 10 and no homework!

(Jack's first day of Preschool - Sept 2010)

ballerina

Given my natural born height and girth, coupled with a serious lack of grace and coordination, I suppose my parents figured ballet was not at the top of the list of talents they wanted to encourage I develop.

Once I participated in a school talent show with my much smaller, more dainty friend Julie where she took me under her wing and tried to teach me some ballet skills that I'm sure had taken her years to learn.

I'm sure I felt like a bona fide sugarplum fairy, but the video tells the whole truth of matter...stiff, deliberate movements, awkward pauses, turns that looked robotic, missed steps in the choreography etc, etc.

Which is why I, too, have my reservations about Lucy's lifelong ballet career.

But holy cow! Who can resist an almost 3 year-old in this outfit? I sure as heck can't. And it's even cuter seeing her with all her girlfriends prancing around the floor. When they stretch they do fluttering butterfly wings with their legs. To learn first position, they open and close their feet like a storybook. Then they dance and jump to beautiful music for the rest of the class. So precious!

Lucy doesn't have big reactions to anything, but I can tell that she LOVES going to ballet and having her own special thing.

We've been sick

(Jack 4.5 - requested I color him a picture to keep in bed with him while he was sick.)

Two hours before we were scheduled to leave on a week-long Disneyland/Beach vacation, our Dr. called to confirm that Lucy's sickness was indeed PNEUMONIA! We wrestled with what to do in this situation. Would responsible parents leave anyway on vacation with a very sick little girl? Probably not. However, sometimes we live on the edge of things and so we decided to pack the car with a humidifier, antibiotics, and lucy in tow hoping that in a few days we'd see marked improvement. It was a risky move, one that I doubted a few times along the way, but it turned out to be a good gamble.

We were able to spend two VERY low-key days on the beach, with lots of hotel rest during the day, and nightly visits to the hot tub. Lucy's nights were horrible with lots of coughing sessions that ended in vomit, but we made sure she got plenty of rest. By day three she had turned a big corner. Just in time for Disneyland.

When we arrived at our new hotel in Anaheim Jack exclaimed, "You've got to be kidding me" after seeing the hotel lobby decorated with a faux rockscape, streams stocked with Koi, and a mountain lion perched atop the highest rock. It was indeed a dream come true for a little boy and clearly the highlight of his trip because that is the part he continues to recount.

Disneyland was wonderful as always, though I really felt like a visiting tourist rather than a southern california rookie. As long as we still have So. Cal addresses on our license, we will continue to renew Disney passes. We managed to ride everything we wanted and more! Jack has become much more aware of his fears this year, so he opted out of a few of his old favorites that were more adventurous and fast! It was just as fun to see his reactions on Winnie the Poo as it was on the Tower of Terror.

On our last night, after the amazing new water show, we headed back to the hotel to discover that Jack had a fever. After a night of 103 temps, we decided to cut the last two days of our vacation short (which included visiting some great friends) and head home. See, we are responsible parents! Turned out he was battling a sinus and ear infection, and had a fever that lasted 5 days!

So now we're back, almost completely recovered, and ready for our next trip down south!

Christmas Outtakes

I like to think I get more brilliant through the years. This year I worked up a trade with my friend, Kasey. An I'll-take-your-pictures-if-you-take-ours kind of trade. It worked out perfectly. We hauled out our 5 kids among us into a glowy field and shot away. Wa-lah! Christmas card pictures done (and I am actually in them with baby in belly)!

Here is the result of Kasey's brilliance behind the camera. Note: the light was soooo gorgeous that very little editing was needed. I love those kinds of days!

Jack's 4th Birthday

These recent posts are as organized as my brain. Which means NOT organized much at all. This video is from Jack's 4th birthday in August the week before we moved to Sacramento.

He misses his old buddies!

Lookin' like a fool with your pants on the ground

A few tips to make your sledding/snow trip more enjoyable:

#1

BEFORE heading up to the snow 6 months pregnant, check all your snow gear. Don't assume your husband's snow pants are going to fit your blossoming belly or you'll spend most of your time holding them up with one hand.

#2

Wear a snow hat that is sort of reminiscent of Where's Waldo. In fact, the uglier and more mismatched the clothing, the BETTER!

#3

Let your children eat snow until their heart's content. (you know you like it too)

#4

Beware of cheeks the color of Jack's! You should know when it gets to that shade of RED, the defrosting process is going to be VERY painful.

#5

Steer clear of any creepy lurkers in the woods.

#6

Try to create photo ops like this where it looks like your kids are candidly sitting by each other throwing snow and having a great time. (they really were, i promise)

#7

Like Tip #3, let them suck icicles. It's only dirty water run-off frozen over time. Big deal.

#8

Bring an awesome dad along who is up for anything! The kids love it and mom can stand snow-free with her camera!

pumpkin patched out

Pumpkin patch 3 times in one season? I guess we did make the most the Fall harvest.

Here is Jack with his preschool class. They all look very engaged. I think 3 of them knew we were taking a picture!

Lucy also came along for the ride.