Thursday, December 22, 2011

Birthday Bliss

Today I am 29 years old.  It's been another happy birthday.  Here are some reasons today has been especially nice.

1.  It was a beautiful, sunny day!  Cold as heck, but I am very thankful for that mood-boosting sunshine.

2.  I got to open up cards and presents from my kids first thing in the morning.  I have some pretty talented children by the way.


Carlos took the girls shopping yesterday to let them pick out my gifts.  It was so sweet to see how excited they were to give them to me, and how proud of themselves they were.  Love, love, LOVE those kids!

3.  I got held down by Carlos while many tiny hands gave me 30 birthday spankings.  (They got a little carried away, but I can assure you that the last spanking didn't count.)  Which brings me to my next point...

4.  I still have one more year to enjoy my twenties.  (At what age do you start feeling like an actual adult?)

5.  Carlos made panko-crusted halibut for dinner by my request.  It is awesome having a husband who can cook.

6.  Ava played "Happy Birthday" for me on her violin.  Followed by cheesecake with family.

7.  I ate a bag of gummy bears.

8.  I am the very grateful owner of this:



Do you love that I'm using the dealer's photos?  I'm too lazy, it's too cold, and the car has already become too dirty to take my own pictures.

Carlos and I decided we wanted/will eventually need a bigger car so we sold our old one a couple of weeks ago and upgraded.  I am completely in love with it, which is good because we have dubbed it both my birthday and Christmas presents.   So Happy Birthday to me!  And Merry Christmas.  For the next 3 years.

    

Friday, December 9, 2011

Christmas Cookies

Earlier this week we went to Grandma's house (who happens to live right next door) to decorate Christmas cookies with my sister and her kids.  I'm pretty sure the best traditions involve food.


Please endure the following photos...













By the way, no one can pull off a mullet quite like Fiona.



We did our best to ensure that the whole cookie decorating process was sanitary...







Repeat Offenders



Mission: Failed.  Don't worry friends and neighbors; These cookies were made for private consumption.  Luckily I have become immune to grimy, sticky little fingers all over my things.


I'd say the kids' decorating skills have improved since last year.  But they have yet to master the art of "sprinkling."  


Exhibit A




We (meaning the adults) all agreed that Ellia's plate of cookies looked the most appetizing. (Not that I refrained from eating Exhibit A.)
  


Also this week, Ava was in the newspaper twice.




It took 5 years, but she finally sat on Santa's lap, voluntarily.
It's a Christmas miracle.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Fa-la-la-la-la

Today is the day...we fulfill a Christmas tradition--the decorating of the Christmas tree.  Anyone who knows me knows that traditions are right up my alley.  They're organized.  They're predictable.  And they're so much fun!  (I'm not completely lame!)  So turn up that Christmas music, please.

Are you kidding me?!




They just can't help themselves







Carlos doesn't believe me, but I actually let the girls have complete control over where they put the ornaments.  (I may have had a few suggestions.)  I have also figured out that the spacing between the kids means that every other year I get an undisturbed, fully decorated tree.  This is an off year.
  

Fiona can not keep her hands off. (But really, can you blame her?)  I am pretty certain that within the next few days the bottom half of our tree will be completely bare.  


Part of our tradition is the making and eating of shortbread cookies.  (Carlos is the official cookie maker.)



Some are eaten...

Others are purposefully smashed into the floor.

Add some hot chocolate and the tradition is complete.



Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Snow

Today is the day...I will begin to have 2 wet coats, 2 wet hats, 4 wet mittens, and 2 pairs of wet boots strewn throughout my house.  That's right, we experienced our first snow of the season, and it took .2 seconds for the girls to start digging through the box of winter accessories and suit up for the occasion.  (In all fairness, it actually took more like 20 minutes to get them in full snow gear.)  I'm not a huge fan of snow, but clearly they are.







Sweet, naked Fiona watching and longing from the window


I will say this; Having snow outside really creates a holiday spirit, and who doesn't love the holidays!


P.S. Expect my Halloween post soon.  I am just a little bit (okay, a lot) behind.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Home

The month of October flew by so quickly.  I doubt I relaxed for one moment.  I spent a lot of time preparing for our big family vacation to Disneyland and Las Vegas with Carlos' family.  The girls were so excited that they were going to spend Halloween at the happiest place on earth.  This of course meant that I had to prepare some awesome Disney character costumes.  After much consideration (I think way too hard) I began my annual "Despite-All-My-Good-Intentions-To-Finish-The-Girls'-Halloween-Costumes-Early-Here-I-Am-Sewing-Them-At-The-Last-Moment" event.  We decided on Perry the Platypus for Fiona and Candace for Ava.  (Both from Disney's Phineas and Ferb.)  Here are the girls at my aunt's Halloween party.  I could just kick myself for not sitting them down for some actual decent photos.    




I can't begin to tell you what a pain in the behind
it was making that darn hair!



Ellia was Jesse from Toy Story.  I committed one of my personal Halloween faux pas by purchasing her costume.  However, it did decrease my stress level by 33%.


  

The day of our departure arrived and, long story short, after the chaos of getting through airport security with a group of 13 people and about 1,000 bags, we finally arrived in L.A.  (Me with wet jeans from a leaky diaper.  Thank you, lap child.)  And the vacation began!  We spent the next three days Trick-or-Treating through Disneyland (Halloween night), enjoying the rides, meeting Disney characters, spending way too much money on food, and visiting the many restrooms, as there was always someone in need of a potty break.  We also enjoyed coming back to our vacation rental, soaking in the hot tub, and eating a garbage bag-full of candy.  I was a little worried that trick-or-treating at Disneyland wouldn't bring in as much loot as we'd get back home (I take candy collecting seriously), but I should have known that Disney would not disappoint.  In fact, Ava and Ellia's carry-0n baggage on our trip home consisted mainly of candy.

Now, how do you condense 3 days worth of Disneyland photos into an amount that others are willing to sit and scroll through?  Stay with me...  


Candace (wearing a jacket that covers her costume),
 Perry (with hiked-up pants) and boring old Mom




Perry the Platypus, meet Agent P




 The Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique...




 ...and the resulting divas


 Fiona was completely mesmerized by Tinker Bell


 Lots of princesses








I may have a small (completely normal) crush on Flynn Ryder.
Check out that "smolder."


  
And I couldn't not post this one. Sorry for the horrible quality; I got it online.




Ava sacrificed the last morning at Disneyland to go with Carlos to Hollywood to visit the Nickelodeon Studios where her favorite show "Victorious" is filmed.  From what I hear she was pretty thrilled.  She was unable to meet any of the cast, but did end up with an autographed photo and a signed script from the pilot episode, given to her by one of the show's producers.





Re-creating a photo of Victoria Justice 
and the Hollywood sign



From L.A. it was onto San Diego to visit relatives for the day before we made the 5 hour drive to Las Vegas for Carlos' cousin's wedding.  The first night there we got to stay at the mansion where they were holding the reception that weekend.  Ava was a huge fan of the "fireman's pole" in our bedroom.  That was my first indicator of what was to come during our Vegas stay.  Our hotel for the next two days was located right on the Strip and as we walked around later that night it became very clear that I do not desire to visit Sin City ever again (as much as I love half-naked women, losing money, and second-hand smoke.)  In contrast, the wedding at the Bellagio was beautiful.

By the end of our 9 day trip I was so ready to be home!  (I didn't even mind that I was peed on once again on the flight home.  Yes, really.)  Goodbye cramped 15-seater van.  Goodbye living out of a suitcase.  Goodbye sleep-deprived, cranky children.  (Actually, we had to bring them back with us.)  Nothing like a good, long vacation to make you really appreciate the routines and comforts of home.  (And nothing like being woke up at 3 am by a barfing 3-year-old to really snap you back to reality.)  Home, Sweet Home!