A Christmas Photo Shoot

Now we all know how easy these things are. You get all the kids dressed just so, then you realize while you were working on the hair assembly line someone has laid down on the couch and gotten comfy with all the pillows or decided this would be a great time for a quick round of WWF Smackdown. They never go according to plan. My orginal plan was to take them down to the beach in the beautiful dresses for a barefoot Christmas...If you read the previous post you are laughing out loud right now at the thought of my distress over everyone soaking wet in their gorgeous silk dresses! As you can imagine even without the threat of saltwater things were still impossible stacked against me!

I'm spent!

Cold & Wet

The Friday after Thanksgiving, while the rest of the world was getting up at 4am to go shopping we were loading the kids in the car for a family bonding roadtrip. Bagels and coffee at 5:30, the sun at 6:30, gas at 7:30, one last stop for lunch around 10 and we're there! Carlsbad. Ahh the beach.




We had a great weekend, legoland, visiting with the neighbors, the beach. Good friends, good times! The place looks nearly unrecognizable since the transformation Bill & Bette have put it through. Looks fab, I must say! The kids crack me up, it was cold and overcast and who would want to get wet in those conditions? So, genious that I am...not a towel or change of clothes or anything redeeming at all. I never thought they would want to get wet. I thought we would walk on the beach while it was quiet and how quaint would that have been. Then I was rudely awakened from my idyillic family dream only to realize they are all now soaking wet and poeple are wondering what kind of incompetent mother I must be. No worries, there's towels and blankets in the car, hmm what's that you say? Oh, that's right....NO there isn't! Pleasant ride back to the house for those salty babes. Fortunately it's just around the bend....

Happy Thanksgiving 2008!

This Thanksgiving we decided NOT to do the double-dip thing and chose just one family to visit. When you see the family you might be tempted to think I had a hand in the decision making, but I assure you I AM a fan of the double-dip holiday. If we can't all be in the same location then we should be in EVERY location. It's a terrible burden to bear.... This year Travis decided he was going to relieve me of this stress regardless of my preference. He chose Megan's (I think he's afraid of me). She does live so far away and this year Aunt Louise was in town, so all is well that ends well. I did however, have to take a piece of the Deatsch tradition's to her house even though she insisted we need not bring anything. Brocolli cheese casserole, ymm.

The kids had a great time which is pretty plainly obvious, well all but one kid anyway....

sentimental thoughts...

So I was thinking the other night all sentimental thoughts because I was up all night, for the the third night in a row, rocking an ill baby. For the record I think now we're officially done with the ill part, not the baby rocking! But, as I was saying, sentimental thoughts....Your mind tends to wander at 3am. A few things I wanted to write down so as never to forget. Things like baby language because I am sure the older you get, the more removed from your memory it becomes. This is why no one, but mom of course, understands the special speech impediment. For example; when Emi was little there was "cactus" (fact-us), "hospital" (host-i-pol) and "ahh sugars!" A personal favorite. When Billy was little he called strawberries nummalies. Or how about how he says "to infinity and beyond" and "all aboard". It's not recreatable, it's almost as if he can do it with only vowels through his nose. Or how about how completely easy all three of them have been to put to bed! On a healthy night of course. Just little random thoughts that pass through your head while you have a completely totally sweet baby draped over your shoulder like a lovey all your own.
Then I started thinking about our new president-elect...And like most "wanna-be" upper, middle-class suburban moms I must disclose that I voted for the other guy. (I'm wandering down a really sketchy road here, but I am for the record writing all of this not to impose my political will, but because I started this blog thing for my own personal posterity and I think someday I might want to revisit these thoughts. So excuse whatever your about to read, please!) I voted for the other guy not because I don't hope for change, or believe our country could do better, but simply put, dare I say...because he's a republican. I am comfortable with the right to bear arms, earn what you work for (and get to keep it, DUH) and keeping government out of every nook and cranny of my life. All those crazy republican things. However, I am excited to see what happens now, what Obama is able to deliver on... What an amazing thing for him and his family. I really hope he is the change we all needed right now, regardless of party affiliation. Crazy thoughts at 3am, while I think of how sweet my babies can be and what the future I feel so helplessly out of control of holds for them. Can you imagine the crazy thoughts running through Michelle Obama's mind at 3am lately? WOW. Behind it all they are the parents of two sweet little babies all their own. So, I hope, for everyone's sake, that keeps the new administrations hopes for the future at the forefront of their thoughts too....

Emi's 1st Tennis Lesson

Well, it has begun....The extra-curricular activities I mean. Emily started her tennis lessons this past week. So cute, if I do say so myself. Much to my surprise, or maybe not, understanding Emily's social calling, she walks up for her very first lesson and knows every single kiddo in her class. She was a little apprehensive walking to the court and then all of a sudden she goes, "there's so and so and so and so and so on..." She knew every one of there names, where the were from (church, school, etc. ) and for the most part who their moms were. Apprehension be gone! She loves it, I love it!

Trick or Treat!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Here are some candid pics of the festivities! Gracie and Kate stopped by before trick or treating to show off their Dorothy before and after OZ costumes. They are so cute. Squish doesn't quite know what to make of them in matching outfits. Kinda funny!


Billy - "So you're telling me, if I knock on this door someone's just gonna open it and give me candy? Well alright, if you say so."
Emily and Billy with their fab cousins Hayden, Chloe & Ellie aka Anqwon, Sleeping Beauty and Tinker Bell x2.

They picked it up pretty quickly and were off......

Emi, checking out her "treats".

Billy, just about ready to call it a night. He couldn't eat the candy and walk to trick or treat at the same time so he figured he would go home and hang out with Dad & Squish who were handing out candy. See that way he could replace what he ate.....He's no fool!

Then & Now

Look closely. This year Emi decided she wanted to be the "Princess Bride" (yes, like the movie) for Halloween. Oh Sure! There's a lot of those costumes floating around out there. But, Grandma to the rescue. In an effort to appease Emily and be fiscally aware she pulled down some Halloween costumes from when my sister and I were little. The girls had a blast digging through them all and Megan, Mom and I got a nice jaunt down memory lane. Zoe picked out the black and orange Halloween cheerleader and Emi picked this one. For the record these are all costumes that my Mom made for my sister and I when we were this size...WOW!.

I can't get Squish to stand still for anything, but above we have Emily (5) and Abigail (1). Below are me (4 or 5) and Megan (1 or 2). Hilarious, if I do say so!

Carving Out the Good

My perfect PUMPKINS!

Very SERIOUS Business!

The Jack of all Pumpkins!

We carved 3 pumpkins this year and colored one. We got Squish a pumpkin, but we chose to carve them at the witching hour, so she didn't get to participate. Odd choice of words one might think, "witching hour", but that is exactly what you get with all 3 of these kiddos now that I think about it. Every night without fail they are/were kinda monsters from 3 til Daddy comes home and then again, in Squish's case, from about 5 til bedtime. Which keeps getting earlier and earlier thanks to the shorter days!! All in all it was a fun adventure this year. The kids actually helped and everyone got to carve their choice. Emi picked a big heart shaped mouth, upside-down heart shaped nose and eyes with eyelashes. Billy just wanted to cut the top off of his and color it and Trav & I carved one too! Tons of fun. I LOVE Halloween!!

Mmm Cupcakes...

We went to Ryan's 2nd Birthday party at the park last weekend. It was fun, the kids enjoyed themselves. Kelly thought the Halloween themed cupcakes would be a good idea.... You can see a couple of the boys thoroughly enjoyed them!

So here is the piece Nicole did of So Inviting. It is not all bad, not nearly as embarassing as I had imagined....I think... There are a couple great shots of Max and Law, not as many of the girls as Nicole would have liked, she says. But they were still really excited to see themselves on the news, even if it was only for a second. (Gotta love TiVo!) All in all I give it an overall thumbs up. I was way nervous I wrecked it for Megan, but I think even she is happy with the outcome!

Holy Frioles!

Holy Beans! So Squish has recently made the "I'm no baby" move from her highchair to the big kids table. She is pretty proud of herself. Dad thinks this means she can eat whatever the big kids are eating, in the same fashion. Cereal in a bowl with milk, rice from a plate with a fork, or, as in this lovely example, refried BEANS. I whole heartedly loathe refried beans. They are a Dad exclusive treat in our house. I would rather clean up poo than beans. That being said, think Daddio learned a valuable lesson here????