it's christmas time!

now listening to: o come, o come emmanuel by sixpence none the richer via rhapsody

xmas pirates

more trouble

Guess who is trying to pour his own milk now?


We need a lock for that fridge...

today

I know I shouldn't be, but sometimes I am amazed at how different our kids are. Take today, for instance. One child spent the entire day reading and playing quietly in her room. Another child followed us around, asking us to play Legos with him, read with him, play a game with him, watch a movie with him, etc. The third child was somewhat self-sufficient, though he was a bit like a tornado, causing mayhem and destruction wherever he went.

Truth be told, sometimes I wish they could all be like the one who can sit and read all day. But, then I wouldn't get so much snuggle time with the 5-year old and I wouldn't be constantly amazed and entertained by the 2-year old and his industriousness.

gingerbread houses

A's class made gingerbread houses today.


It was like a candy explosion.


This one was very, very excited to be at school.


Evidently, she spent almost the entire day working on her house. Gotta love 3rd grade!

i am macgyver

Well, almost.

Z locked us out of our bedroom today. It's never dull with him around. Of course, we realized this right as we were on our way out the door in the morning. Of course, it was also the one time I left my purse, coat and shoes in the bedroom.


I spent the day trying to break into the room. I almost managed to fulfill my childhood ambition of becoming MacGyver by getting the vacuum cleaner cord under the door and around the doorknob in an attempt to pull the cord thus turning the knob from outside the room. Sadly, it didn't work.


Mr. D managed to get the back door off at the end of the day.


This is how he felt about the whole situation.


I got to wear these super fashionable sandals all day since all my shoes were locked in the bedroom.

auntie b

We heart Auntie Becky more than words can say. She and A had a little mani-pedi session last week...



now listening to: holy holy, etc by sufjan stevens via rhapsody

sleeping at nana's house

We went to visit Nana and Papa last week for Thanksgiving. We walked into the bedroom one evening and found our two social sleepers all snuggled up together...



now listening to: o come o come emmanuel by sufjan stevens via rhapsody

monday thoughts

1. I can see my breath in my house. Brrr.
2. I love that the kids are back in school, but I hate being back in a routine.
3. I want a Christmas tree.
4. I loved Harry Potter 7 more than I can even say.
5. I'm glad the sun is out.
6. My hands hurt.
7. I don't know what to feed Z for lunch.
8. It's Advent. Hooray.
9. I love stocking hats.
10. I need to vacuum under my couch cushions.

now listening to: what's left of the flag by flogging molly via rhapsody

advent

Love this article about Advent.

::sigh::

now listening to: we speak no americano by yolanda be cool & dcup via rhapsody

a bicycle built for 5...

We spent Saturday in the city. A started circus school (and learned how to do a bit of plate spinning along the way). We then proceeded with step 2 of our Awesome Day in the Sun which was a picnic by the lake. After the picnic, the kids wanted to rent paddle boats. Luckily, the boats were all rented out and they only seated 4 people (because honestly, pedaling 3 kids around a lake sounds kind of like a nightmare to me). We compromised and rented one of those ginormous bike surrey contraptions and pedaled around the park for an hour. Well, pedaled and pushed at one point when someone, who was navigating, missed our turnoff and we had to push it up a steep path. (They key thing in this story is that the kids weren't tall enough to help pedal, try as they might, so it was just the two of us making this enormous thing go.) We followed the "bike" ride up with some Icees and tree climbing.

It was a really, really good day.







now listening to: sesame street theme by elmo via rhapsody

it's not even december yet...

J already has his Christmas list done and hanging on the fridge. Among the items he's asking for this year are:

- Star Wars sheets
- a Star Wars sticker book
- a Star Wars poster
- an Ugly Doll
- a globe
- a Millennium Falcon that really flies
- and a little penguin statue

(A few thoughts here... a) evidently the Pottery Barn Kids catalog was open while he was writing his list, b) this kid kind of likes Star Wars and c) I have no idea what a "little penguin statue" is.)

J and I were reading "Where's Waldo" tonight (wait...is that something you can actually say you are reading?) when I noticed one of the pictures had Santa in it. I told him he had to think about what to ask Santa for this year. "Well, I already made my list" was the reply. "Yes, but Santa only brings you one thing," I countered. "But I want Santa to bring me everything!" Then the tears came. For 5-minutes. Sigh. We tried to convince him that other people would buy him gifts (hint, hint to any grandparents, aunts or uncles out there) and that Santa had far too many kids to deliver toys to, with a limited amount of space in his sleigh. "But Santa's toy bag is SO big!" How can I argue with that?

Meanwhile, A successfully cleaned her room by throwing everything into her closet and Z had reoccurring meltdowns for 2.5-hours straight, with a small break to tuck Curious George into bed (thereby looking completely adorable and helping us to remember that we actually like him.)


now listening to: i'm yours by jason mraz via rhapsody

falling back

I used to love daylight savings (in the fall at least). Then I had kids. Now it just means small children start crawling on us even earlier than normal. (And let me just say, my kids get up too early as it is.) So...today we're up at 4:30. Fun.

now listening to: viva la vida by coldplay via rhapsody

dia de los meurtos

J's class celebrated Day of the Dead on Tuesday. (Kind of appropriate that it took place on election day, given the results. That's another post, though.) Anyway...this is what it looked like at the end of the day...



now listening to: jailbird by m. ward via rhapsody

verb conjugation

Like all 5-year olds, J was asking us about verb conjugations this week. (Not that he was using that term. If he was then he would be even more brilliant than I already think he is.) Anyway, he wanted to know if he added a "t" at the end of a word to change it. Nope, we said. It's actually an "ed" and it will mean it happened in the past. Judging from the message I found on the fridge, he understood what we were saying...



now listening to: fisher of men by m. ward via rhapsody

breakfast

Today I learned that this frosting tastes fabulous on these pancakes.

(And in case you are wondering, that frosting also tastes fabulous on the cupcakes that accompany it. Seriously good. Like, eat 3 in a row good. Not that I would eat 3 in a row or anything.)

Don't forget to vote, kids.

now listening to: governator by green day via rhapsody

ugh. candy.

The Sugar Sprite came and took the kids candy last night (leaving Legos behind). Unfortunately, she is working from home today so the candy is still in the house. There are also carrot cake cupcakes. And pumpkin brownies. And yummy soup full of cream.

I need to get out of the house and go for a walk.

now listening to: i'm yours by jason mraz via rhapsody

we were in a parade!

This was our first Halloween in our new town and it turned out to be our best one yet, hands down. I gotta say, we kind of love Halloween. I mean, you get to dress up and then people give you candy just for knocking on their doors. What could be better?

We had our 2nd Annual Z-o-ween party, which was much smaller this year but just as much fun. We have cool friends. When we saw people in costumes walking down to the business district a block away, we headed down and joined in the parade. Literally. It was pretty magical - gypsyish violin music, crowds of kids and their adults marching down the street, costumed dogs everywhere, the Giants game on radios all over the place - it couldn't have been better. A and J hit the neighborhood for candy (and toys) and then we came home to find our friends had returned and had brought more friends back. We watched the Giants win, ate more food, then put the kids to bed (all crying from candy overload). So. Much. Fun.


Buster Posey, Cowboy, Flamingo

now listening to: the boogie monster by gnarls barkley via rhapsody

when the kids get the camera

now listening to: mercy by duffy via rhapsody

today i learned...

that a) the county bus is always at least 10-minutes late, b) showing up 15-minutes early will not help it come any sooner, c) waiting 35-minutes on a busy street corner with an impatient toddler is not fun for anyone, d) getting trapped head first behind the bus stop bench makes the already impatient toddler even grumpier, and e) playing with the newspaper boxes makes a grumpy toddler happy again.



now listening to: undisclosed desires by muse via rhapsody

important life lessons

Me: J, tell me something you learned in school today.
J: I didn't learn anything. But in Kung Fu I learned how to jump if someone wants to kick you in the privates.

(At least he's learning something in the one place that actually costs money.)

now listening to: radioactive by kings of leon via rhapsody

two

Z turned two today. I would say it is hard to believe, but he's been acting like a 2-year old since his last birthday. We celebrated by riding the bus ("dus") to school (the bus being one of his favorite things), watching Curious George with Mr. D, opening presents (the Elmo lunchbox and obnoxious singing camera being his favorites), licking frosting off of three cupcakes, and four screaming, head banging tantrums. A perfect day for a kid who has already mastered being two.

Happy Birthday, Z. We kind of like you. A lot.

now listening to: you can close your eyes by james taylor via rhapsody

pumpkin patch 2010

now listening to: little lion man by mumford & sons via rhapsody

diet fail

Is it bad that I just ate half an apple pie for lunch?

Oh...and this is the new blog. Welcome.

now listening to: home by edward sharpe & the magnetic zeros via rhapsody