3-in-1 Post - MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I'm going to take this time to summarize the pre-during-post Christmas events here in California. With 2 toddlers and 3 nephews, there was no lacking in excitement.

Pre-Christmas:

Like I said previously, the stockings were hung and presents around the tree. Here's the evidence:

Grammy and Papa Floyd were in town

So was Papa Duck and Grand Jan

Even Chase and Xena were feeling extra "snuggly". (yes......that's 86 lbs of pure love curled up in a tiny ball - Chase thinks he's a lap dog)

We even had a surprise visit from far away family (Aunt Kathy and Uncle Ed - my mom's cousin and husband).

Matt, Kell and Kait entertained us with tunes on the piano.

Kellyn was even an angel in the Church Christmas Program. But due to poor lighting and a slight "wardrobe malfunction" - we didn't get any good pictures.

Christmas Eve/Day:

Finally........the big day was upon us.

Christmas Eve we all decended upon Chris, Lisa & Co for haystacks and presents. All the kids had so much fun just being together - then add presents to the mix.......it was crazy excitement!

The highlight of the girls night was their matching sleeping bags. Kellyn insisted on her and Kait crawling in and going to bed right at that moment. It was so funny to see those 2 little toe heads all curled up in their sleeping bags pretending to "sleep" while everyone around them continued on with Christmas.

Kell and Kait even shared a rare moment with Uncle Chris - Kait looks like she's pledging allegience!

The next morning, bright and early, the girls woke up ready to tear into the presents under THEIR tree! A short time later, it was time to play!!!

Santa treated the girls to a dollhouse and they've had a blast filling it up with all their new toys. Doesn't matter if it fits or not.

Even Chase and X got in on the action.

After the girls were down for their naps - we adults took part in a friendly (although VERY competitive) match of ROOK. - p.s. My dad lost in a BIG way!

Later on - the entire famiy got together for Christmas dinner at our house.

Post Christmas:

With our bellies WAY TOO full and the weather full of sunshine - we headed to the local zoo/sanctuary the day after Christmas.

The girls absolutely LOVE the zoo and decided the Tiger was their favorite animal this trip. He was quite cool.......lounging on his back with all 4 feet spread open wide in the sunshine. Total relaxation. Oh to be a cat!

The bear exhibit is always a big hit.

But NOTHING beats the choo choo train ride. Kellyn even brought her own train whistle she got in her stocking. She was quite the competition for that little train.

And talk about lounging.......later on that evening after the girls were in bed, Jim and I were once again "schooling" my dad and Jan in a friendly (yet VERY competitive) game of ROOK when Chase decided to just make himself at home on the bean bag. I swear that dog!

Today I thought it would be cool to take the girls and Papa Duck and Grand Jan to the Foresthill bridge (tallest in California). Jan decided to wait in the car since it was quite cold. On the walk over the bridge - I noticed my Dad hugging the inside part of the walkway. It dawned on me that perhaps he's not that fond of heights. So I thought - no better time to ask. Sure enough.....boy is scared of heights. OOOPS!

His pale white face went un-noticed in this pictures. I was concerned perhaps he would need a diaper change when we got back to the car!!! :-)

Santa Has Officially Arrived!!!

Just when I think I have things under control............the Christmas tree is alive with light, the stockings are hung and the wreaths are on the door. Each of the girls have just enough presents too open. Just enough to be fun and exciting but at the same time, just enough to keep the REAL balance of what the TRUE spirit of Christmas is and not filling the kiddos heads that it's all about presents.

Then.....

The packages start to arrive. And they don't stop. The UPS guy has officially ruined Xena's day (boy does she hate that guy) for the past several days. Between Grammy's and Grandpa's, Aunts and Uncles, and long lost friends..........our tree has just EXPLODED!!! It's insane!!!

Don't get me wrong. I can't BEGIN to tell you how thankful we are to have so many people that not only love us, but love our girls in such enormous ways. THAT really is the gift of Christmas. I just can't get over how in 3 days, I have no room under our tree!!

THANK YOU and I can't wait to start snapping pics of all the excitement that will be in the air come Christmas morning.

The only thing that would make it better, is if we could actually BE WITH all of our family and friends over the holidays. It's so hard to live so far away.....but thank you UPS guy for bringing us closer together!!! Everyone in this house thanks you - minus Xena of course! :-)

Now I'm in the Spirit

I was beginning to dread this holiday season. Partly due to the fact that it just didn't feel like winter. Seriously, just last weekend we were hiking in shorts and tank tops. Not to mention, I've been so consumed with work lately that December just arrived with no warning, and as you can imagine........there's been NO preparation for Christmas. No decorations, no gifts list, no Christmas cards, NOTHING!!! I'm beginning to panic.

So today was one of those days that just set it all in motion.

We started the morning with fresh berry pancakes (from yours truly) and then headed into town for a winter festival. Dad, Jan, me and the girls enjoyed street music and the talents of a local Clogging group. Kellyn studied their moves and tried to mimic them on her own while her and Kait "tore it up" on the street.

I felt sorry for the cloggers b/c my 2 little toe heads just stole the show. Amazing how much they love music. But they've been cursed with their Daddy's rhythm (LOVE YOU JIM).....luckily they are cute no matter what they're doing or how they're doing it!

Big Sister Kellyn holding Kait's hand while taking it all in

Finally the girls mustered up the courage to break off on their own......with the help of Papa Duck and Grand Jan of course!







"The ladies" in pink and red





Even Santa showed up to kick start the day. Kellyn TOTALLY knows who he is right now and she got even MORE excited (if possible) b/c THIS Santa arrived in a fire truck......her favorite thing to see on the streets! I thought she was going to burst from her skin!!!

Kaitlin wasn't too interested in getting a picture with Santa so Jan was being a good sport and proving to her it wasn't all that bad.

But obviously to Kaitlin..........it really is THAT BAD!





1 year ago Kaitlin was much more fond of Santa (a.k.a. Papa Dennis)

But in December of 2006, Kellyn had the same aversion.....must be in the genes!! Even her cousins weren't enough to sway her ideas of Santa!

After recouping with some afternoon naps, we headed into town once again for the big Holiday Lights Parade. It was COOOOOOOLD and really got us in the spirit. Tatyana joined us with little Odin snuggled against her chest to stay warm.......we never heard a peep out of that little guy. Next year he's going to REALLY start loving the parade!

Kaitlin eating (of course) a healthy snack of Cheetos's (I know.....BAD MOM!).

The girls kept Grand Jan busy with the constant "on the lap off the lap" behavior kids LOVE to do!! But overall, they were in awe of all the creative floats that sparkled with lights and decorations that just screamed out MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

When we got back to the car after the parade.....I got the girls loaded up and we started heading back home. As I pulled out of the parking lot, Kellyn sighed and said "Mom.......this was a GREAT day"!!! I just about cried it made me so happy (and sounded hilarious).

Finally......it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Is it December yet??

Nothing beats California weather.......let me tell you!!

No better way to work off those Thanksgiving calories then heading out on foot in 70 degree sunny weather with "my ladies" and good friend Tatyana and the new man in her life (Odin).


We started off adventurous, hoping our stroll would actually lead us to the river, but as we started going down, down , and DOWN.......we realized at some point, we would have to walk back up, up and UP!!! With kids in tow we decided to enjoy the scenery from 1/2 way down and save the REAL exploring for another day when the men can join us and push the pounds of kids up the hills!!! :-)

Not only did we have fabulous conversation, but we had a great little picnic in the most amazing weather with the most spectacular scenery. LOVE IT!! Too many things to be grateful for this time of year.

And Mr.Odin (a little over 2 months old now) was the perfect gentleman (minus spitting up all over me - MISS THAT). He slept the whole time, enjoyed his bare bottom in nature as his diaper got changed and ate like a champ. I just love that little baby and he's making my ovaries hurt!!! Jim's not very happy about that!!! :-)


The girls were enamored with him too.....constantly trying to feed him everything from kettle corn to carrots. All they wanted to do was touch him, like he was some mysterious creature on display. I'm thinking Kaitlin wanted to pick him up and carry him around like she does her monkey, so we had to keep a strong eye on that girl!!!


Here's some pics from our walk:

Once afternoon naps were done, we headed into town to meet Jim for dinner. We got Chinese food and I just HAD to share Kaitlin's fortune.....it's SOOOOOOOO Kaitlin:

"A great pleasure in life is doing what others say you can't"

Unfortunately, this type of fortune is going to lead her to the "time out" chair quite a bit, but luckily that's a place she's very familiar with and seems to be growing fond of. :-)

There's much more to catch up on - I've been very neglectful to my blog these days. SORRY! However, I'm in need of sleep and have a very busy day ahead of me that requires quite a bit of planning yet. More to come!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

A Birthday "Experience"

The word "experience" doesn't ALWAYS mean a good thing. And tonight was a perfect example.

First of all: HAPPY BIRTHDAY Kellyn and Jim!!!!!

I'm still having a hard time understanding where the last 3 years went. What I wouldn't do for another sleepless night rocking my newborn to sleep while feeding her. Although, I love reading to her now, putting together puzzles and just completely interacting - there's something about that newborn that I just miss. Don't worry......I'm not getting "the bug". It's just hard to see Kellyn get older. She makes me so proud though and everyday is another exciting chapter in the beautiful life known as Kellyn!!!

Today STARTED out good. We met Kellyn at school with cupcakes and photo collage. They did this little "celebration" for her and she walked a circle around the "sun" (a.k.a. candle) and carried a flower for each year of birth while we all sang a song to her. It was too cute.

Afterwards, all the kids came and gave her hugs (boys shook hands - it was HILARIOUS) and then we had yummy carrot muffins that I was happy to see them all eat considering I had snuck cauliflower and prunes in them!! :-)

Afterwards, we took the girls out to lunch then back home for naps.

It's the latter part of the day that got tricky to say the least. After they were down for naps, I headed into work for a little bit. Jim and I planned on meeting at The Cheesecake Factory for a birthday dinner (just the 4 of us). During dinner, Kellyn mentioned she wasn't feeling good but we forced broccoli down her throat nonetheless. Kaitlin was making dinner difficult (to say the least) so Jim took her outside for a mental break (a.k.a. timeout). At this point, Kellyn came over to me and before she could get the words "my belly hurts" out of her mouth - Vomit EVERYWHERE!!!! Not once, not twice........but THREE TIMES!!!!

Poor things..........I felt SO BAD for her.

So I'm trying to clean up the massive amount of broccoli fragments while trying to console her too. As soon as Jim came back - I grabbed both girls and took off to home. 2 of us covered in vomit. Oh yeah - we smelled GREAT!! Jim was left there alone to take care of the food we had barely touched (and the bill - SORRY BABY) along with cleaning up the remaining mess.

On our way out the door, I have both girls in my hand and struggling to get the door opened. What did I do? Totally pinch Kellyns arm in the door. Now I REALLY felt bad!!! She's feeling like crap, covered in vomit, being held in mom's "death grip" so I won't drop her and Kaitlin, and now I go and pinch her arm. She was wailing with tears and there was nothing I could do.

Ahhh......what a lovely birthday!!

I'm just hoping she's young enough NOT to remember this one. Promise to make it up to you next year sweetheart!!!

There was some redeeming grace however. Jim, being the most awesome dad that he is, brought her home a slice of strawberry cheesecake - something she was SOOOOO looking forward too before she blew chunks all over the table.

We put a TINY amount (in case we had to see it again later) in a bowl and had our own little birthday celebration. Even Kaitlin help us sing to her.

Then magically, she perked up for all the presents. We ended up missing bedtime by an hour just to get in time with all the new toys and books.

After this crummy birthday, I was willing to stay up all night and read to her. Nothing better then holding your "baby" in your arms before putting them to bed. There's something very sacred about those moments and I hope they are forever alive in my memory.

Despite the lackluster of the birthday these 2 deserve, I'm hoping good moments were had amongst the mess.