Happy New Year!

Christmas has come and gone, and here we are in 2009 already.

We had a nice Christmas, spending the holiday win NYC with John's side of the family. Traveling with a 2 and 5 year old is not easy, but we managed to make the flight, get our luggage, and adjust to East coast time. The fist day we a bit hard, due to the time change. I think everyone was grumpy. I know i was. It was a rough day.... but we had a lovely night, going over to John's parents for dinner, where my children magically turned into angels.

Here are a few pictures from the first day. The are from Riverside Park and the grandparents.





Needless to say, there was alot of eating on this trip.... all good, I might add. So thankful that we walked everywhere. It was also chilly, especially compared to Southern California. Such a nice change for us. Bundling up in coats with mittens, stopping to get cocoa. Such fun, since it is just not the norm for us.

Michael and Henry loved spending time with the family. I am not sure who he wanted to spend more time with... he was thrilled to be with everyone. It was really nice to see. I miss not having family closer to us. We get a hint of what life might be like if we lived closer.

Here are a few more, sort of random pictures from our visit. The eating pictures are from one of our favorite breakfast spots on the West side called SaraBeth's. Everyone ate, which was initially a problem for us on this trip. A few more shots are of Michael and his cousins putting a puzzle he received from his Granny, together. And finally, there is the cocoa, coffee stop for us. It was chilly... need I say more.






The flight back was so long... I mean 6 hours on a plane with 2 kids.... john and I were not seated together, and the movie projector was broken. Painfully long. I should not complain, because the boys both fell asleep right as the plane took off, and slept for 3 hours. But still, it was looooooooong.

We were happy to be home, in our own bed. Waiting for the luggage was again, a long wait. But John kept the boys entretained by carting them around on this.



Santa had visited out house, of course, so we came home, to open presents and see what surprises were in the stockings. The boys were thrilled that Santa had not forgotten them, which I had assured them would not happen.

Our new years was nice. We met friends out to dinner, whose son happens to be Michael' best friend from school. The boys ate, then ran around outside for a good hour. We were home by 8 pm. and the house was asleep by 10 pm. I do not think I have seen a new year actually happen in years.

Hoping 2009 is a good year for everyone!

Tis the Season

The past 2 months have gone so fast. I can not keep up. I seem to be playing catch up here. Perhaps I can be better about blogging in 2009.

Where to begin.

I covered Michael's 5th birthday. Lots of fun, with family and friends. I will start with Thanksgiving.

We stayed here for Thanksgiving. It was just the 4 of us. We planned a full menu, which meant we were in the kitchen all day. John and divided the meal with each taking 3 entree's to be responsible for. This plan worked very well.

I had the turkey, beans and torte. John and the stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy.

Our time was thrown off a bit, because I did not realize how long the turkey had to brine. So our 3 o'clock meal, turned into a 7 pm meal. Everything turned out great! Even the boys ate!. Here are some pictures.






We were doing dishes for the next 2 days straight, but it was worth it. It was a very yummy Thanksgiving!

December was full of birthday parties, all girl parties. I think we went to 7 parties total. In between the parties, were school functions, one being ice skating. Here is 1 picture from Michael's first spin on the ice. John was holding him up the entire time. It was a good work out!



Maddie's 5th birthday party was 2 days after the above picture. She had an ice skating party, and to our surprise, Michael did really well!!! He went out on his own, did not want us to hold his hand. He was really proud of himself and so were we. We have no pictures, so I am hoping to get some from Maddie's mom.... because the kids were so cute, holding hands, making a train... it was fun!

We also saw Santa. This is, of course a big deal. We went with out friends, the Creightons. I have just a few pictures, sadly, since my camera battery died on me. John showed up with another camera. i took a few pictures with my cell phone, which I have not down loaded yet. Regardless, it was fun. The kids did great. Michael and Henry sat on Santa's lap, gave him their list, smiled for the camera. It was a nice moment. We all went to The Farm after, were we all had a nice time. They stuck us in the back, where the kid were able to roam and play a bit, with out disturbing others.







After The Farm, we walked around a bit. There were various brass groups playing holiday tunes. The kids loved the music. My boys stood right in front, gazed at the instruments and conducted, while Maddie... Sweet Maddie, danced. It was one of those lovely moments. Pictures do not do the moment justice. Jack milled in and out, and was his normal cherubic self. It was really fun.

It "snowed" before we left, which L.A, are soap flakes. The kids had fun. And if we had brought water, we could have suds them up then and there!

On December 10th, I got the phone call we all dread. Michael fell badly at school, and that I would need to take him to the ER. I got to his school, to find him being held by his teacher. He was covered with blood, had an ice pack on his face and was just the saddest thing. He fell running up a play structure. His foot just clipped a step, causing him to fall flat on his face. He did not put his hands down to break the fall.... I wish he had. His upper teeth went all the way into his bottom lip causing an ugly and big cut. and half of his upper teeth were pushed up and back into his gum. After racing to the ped, we ended up in the ER.
We were there about 4 hours. We decided not to do stitches. A hard decision to make, given what I was looking at. The next 2 days were filled with dentist appointments and ped follow-ups. A week has past now, and his mouth is practically healed. Amazing. His teeth.... a wait and see situation. No pictures, for good reason.

I do have a picture of Michael at a birthday party 3 days after the fall. His lip is still pretty swollen, and he is wanting to just sit... in this case it was fine, because we were at a place called Art Zone. In this picture, Michael is painting a bird house, that he is rather proud of.




The last big thing were the boys school holiday party. They are pretty simple parties with book exchanges, pizza, and a hand crafted gift they present us. I bopped back and forth between the 2 boys classes.





We are off to New York City this year to spend Christmas with the Puccis. We are hoping the flight is quick and easy... I can dream.

Wishing everyone a safe and peaceful holiday!

I Am Full.

Literally.

We have had a very busy month. Busy with the normal things going on with 2 young boys. School, homework, meal battles, bedtime battles, toy battles, park outings (no battles there!), my volunteering at the boys school, running.... but the big events this month was Michael's 5th birthday and of course, Thanksgiving.

Alot of planning went into Michael's birthday. We had a party for him this year, which he was very excited about. And we had alot of family here for the celebrations. My in-laws flew in from NYC, and my mom came in from Texas. The morning of Michael birthday, my mom and I went to Michael's class for his Earth and Sun Ceremony. It was really fun to see this, and we got a few okay pictures. It was hard to really capture, so you will just have to believe me. Here are a few pictures of Michael orbiting the sun, which he does 5 times this year.



Michael requested dinner out that night. We went to one of our favorite family pasta places in Hermosa called Fritto Misto. Everyone ate and had a good time. The real fun came after dinner for cake and presents. I have no pictures of present opening, because it got a bit out of control. Like wild dogs attacking.. I will stop, but you get the point. Michael got ALOT of gifts. And he was very excited. Henry was also excited. Everyone was very generous.

The cake was really yummy and totally cute. Here is a picture.



The party was Saturday at My Gym. It was really fun. We had a great turn out, and it was money well spent. Michael was exhausted by mid party, due to soccer that morning, and a few late nights. But he managed to keep it together. Here are a few pictures of the party. The ball picture shows a very tired Michael.








A very fun weekend full of good food, good company and just a few gifts.... on to Thanksgiving!

It was just the 4 of us for T Day. But we cooked! We cooked alot. We cooked all day! And am happy to report that my boys ate turkey. I took a few pictures I have yet to download, so stay tuned. We had leftovers for dinner tonight, and they ate alot more! The were not too keen on our stuffing, mashed potatoes or beans, but I think that was do to the seasoning on those items. Because it was all really, really good.

We started Michael in a soccer camp, so he could learn the sport, verses just sticking him a club. He has really done well and seems to enjoy it. Henry is begging to play, so we will look into that the next session. He has had 3 classes so far. Here are a few pictures from the past 3 weeks.





Henry news. He is 100% potty trained. He will still have the random accident, but he has done really well. And quickly! I am amazed and counting my blessings!

Me. I am still running and almost running 3 miles. It has gone really well. I feel really good after the run, and can not say I really enjoy myself during the run.

That's it from this end of the world. Hope everyone that comes across this blog and actually reads had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Last Week in October

Clever title, huh!

We had a really nice October, with the boys being very excited about all things Halloween. Between all the art projects, cooking projects, spooky songs, costumes, and of course the carving of the pumpkin, I feel like I have lived Halloween.

Our Halloween really started the weekend before Halloween.

We went to brunch at one of our favorite brunch places, called Truxton's. We can have an adult meal, but they do a great job with the kids. Everyone is happy. This was the case again for us. We walked into the door, and they hand the boys tiny pumpkins and markers to decorate, and seat us right away. They also provide paper to color on. The boys did not really want to decorate the pumpkins, but did color very well. What was really fun about this trip to Truxton's was Henry's scary eyes. Here are a few pictures from that brunch.






The image of the drawings are Michael's. He drew WALL-E and EVE. John drew teh middle picture, but the others are Michael's. Pretty good, huh!

So Truxton's was Saturday. Sunday we went to the Pumpkin Patch. Again, this was something the boys were very excited about. We had wanted to go to a bigger, prettier patch, but given the time it would have taken, we opted for something closer, and it was fine. The boys selected their won pumpkins. Michael was picky, looked at all of them, not sure what color he wanted or what size. Henry went straight for the green ones, picked one out and was done. John also selected a big orange pumpkin. Michael did pick one.... a nice white pumpkin. Here are a few pumpkin patch pictures.







So we came home and got to carving. Sadly, we lost all our pictures except for these 4 pictures. The carving was messy, but fun. It also took alot longer than we thought. But we had a good time, and the pumpkins looked great! They did not last long.... on Halloween, we noticed they odd an odd coloring in the holes, and they looked alot flatter... it was mold. Yuck. They were tossed when we returned home Halloween night. Here are 4 carving pictures.






Halloween day was fun, and started early. The boys wore their costumes to school for the Harvest Festival. I worked the festival, we all had to be dressed and out of the house by 8 am. It rained that day, which never happens here in SoCal. But it looked more like Halloween, which I found nice. The boys had a GREAT time. It is just a fun day for them, and lots of parents around. Here are a few pictures from that morning.





Halloween night, we went over to friends. It was really nice to be in a neighborhood, verse what we had done the past 3 years. Our host was gracious, the food and company pleasant. The kids all had a great time, and so did we. Here is one pick from that night.



The boys got alot of candy, that I bagged and hid. They will get some here and there. But they got more then any one child needs. Can't wait until next year!

News!

Do not get too excited. This is just an update. You know, the things that go on every day, that somehow get forgotten in a conversation. We shall see if I get everything in!

Michael: Growing like a weed, and terribly sassy. He is pre-reading, counting up a storm and bring home homework. He is actually pretty excited about homework, and so far, it has gone really smoothly. Michael is full of questions. Why. How. When. I am amazed at how detailed he get be, and how far he is wanting to take a conversation. We recently talked about instruments. He named all the instruments he liked, then want to know other instruments, what the did and how they sounded. It must have been a funny conversation to hear, with me mimicking how an instruments sounds. Michael is a very enthusiastic reader. And his choice of books is broad. One of his favorite books is still The Body Book, and his favorite section is cells. I admit, I am done with cells, but I go along with his desire to learn.

Henry: AKA, The Bull. Ole Hank has adjusted to school and is a popular lad, just like Michael. He is learning so much, it is hard to keep up. From counting, to singing songs, to spelling his name (he just started this and it is not very good, but he is trying). I am in awe. His teacher thinks he is ready to be potty trained, so I am gearing up for that little adventure. I am not convinced he is ready, but I was not with Michael and I was wrong! One of the fun things in Henry's class that just arrived is Snow White. Snot White is a rat. A white rat. The children love this rat, and take care of it. Henry is also 100% done with bottles. Yes, he still had a bottle at night. He LOVED.... let me repeat. Henry LOVED his bottle. Last week, I was just done. I bought special "milk" sippies for him, and just did not cave. It was gone pretty well. He is not drinking the amount of milk he was, but that is okay.

John: Well, let me start by saying that he has lost 15 pounds! He is still working alot, but is doing a better job about balancing everything.

Me: I am doing alot with the boys school. That takes up more time than I thought. I am also running, and it has gone very well so far. I am at about 2 miles, which is hugh for me. I can not say it is really fun ot run, but did get a bit of the thrill of crossing a finish line last week, when my run was part of a 10K. I was wondering why all these people were around me. I had only gone about .5 mile, when I got to cross the 10K finish line to cheers, posters, well wishers. I was fun! So I got a bit excited about crossing finish lines, giving me something to work towards.

Michael is having his first official birthday party this year. Invites have been sent and the location booked. I just need to do everything else.