Handmade for Christmas

The girls made some handmade gifts this year for Emma and Sara, and we are all so happy with them!

We thought of a few things we could make out of bread dough: ornaments, etc. We settled on picture frames. We decorated the frames with braids, twists, and hearts, and then put them in the oven to bake.


When they were done, we coated them with sealant.


We added personal touches to the backs of them.


Then we added the photos:


Voila! Adorable best-friend gifts!

Katie's violin recital

It was one of the highlights of the many December performances. She really looked so comfortable and capable up there, with her instrument. I've seen her practicing, so I know her playing, but seeing her in the context of Yvette's other students was quite instructive for me. She is doing a fantastic job learning music!



She played a few pieces from her lesson book: "French Folk Song," "Baa Baa Black Sheep," and then the finale with all of the students, "Bile 'Em Cabbage Down" (she was one of the students playing the harder part). Yvette had them play in small groups by ability level, diving the song up into solo sections. Katie's group did "Baa Baa" twice: the first time in solos, then as a group.

Great work, Katie!

News from Katie

It was a Christmas filled month! First of all a few weeks ago I made a Mrs. Claus Christmas decoration. But on friday when Itook her home she fell apart so just today I finished glueing her back together.What a funny story! I also made a silouette Christmas card for my family.A few Christmas presents for my parents totalled it up.We read lots of funny or sierious christmas books.I am so excited for christmas. Excactly four more days! Just yesterday I made a little handmade present for Mommy! I am so proud of myself!


Miss U all!:)

See U all in a snowy Oregon!

Katie

December Happenings

We sure have been busy around here!

Early in December, the girls' school had its Christmas Concert. Eric, Nick, and I got a great seat near the front, and enjoyed listening to the singing of our favorites: the kindergarten, third grade, and the school choir!



Just a few days later, the parish choirs had their annual Advent Concert. I sang with the 9:30 Choir, and Katie sang with the school choir! It was a real treat to have the school choir there - that has not happened before. I enjoyed the concert much more than I usually do!

Our family was also happy to help out at Mass by lighting the Advent Candle for the Second Sunday. We got to process in at the start of Mass, and then Eric read a short statement about the Second Sunday and we lit the candle. It was nice for our family to be able to participate in the liturgy in this way.

ALso, we got our Christmas tree! Do you notice that it does not have any ornaments on the bottom 25% or so? Let's think why that might be the case. Oh, yeah. The New Kitten. That's also the reason why we left all of the breakable ornaments in the box. Good thing we have so many ornaments that it's still a pretty full tree without the breakable ones! It was also a good thing that we just set it up the first night, and didn't decorate it until 24 hours later. That cat was completely obsessed with the tree. Now, he just bats at the ornaments he can reach and crawls around in the bottom branches. Christmas is fun for kitties!



Nick's preschool had their Christmas program, too. This was our sixth Calvary Preschool Christmas Program in a row, but the first one when we had no kids sitting with us in the audience! What a treat! We were happy to see Nick go up on the stage with his class and actually (sort of) sing! He was even well-behaved with his classmates in the pews while the other classes sang!

Continuing our string of December performances, the girls had a dance recital. It was all dances from "The Nutcracker." I enjoyed Katie and Julianna's dances! Katie was a snowflake, and Julianna was one of the "children under the skirt." They got a good reaction from the audience when they kept popping out from under that big skirt! Julianna gets a little nervous on stage, and her response to that feeling is to get giggly. It's so cute!



So, between Parent-Teacher Conferences, the girls' dentist appointments, Eric's Dads' class field trip on the light rail to Union Station and Olvera Street with all three kids, caroling with the Brownies, classroom Christmas parties, and third grade Posadas, it's been quite a whirlwind! Katie will be performing in a violin recital on Sunday afternoon. The fun never ends!

Nick's birthday

Nick's birthday celebrations began on Friday the 12th, which was his designated birthday day at preschool. We brought in the snack, including special cookies to share: snickerdoodles with "4"s made out of butterscotch chips!


When he got to school, he got to choose and decorate a birthday crown!




(Also at school that day: the school's Christmas Program! Nick's birthday cookies were taken from the room and put out on the buffet tables for after the concert, but we found them and brought them back in for his birthday snack time!)

On Saturday, we had lots of friends over for Nick's Birthday Party! The theme was "Nick's FORE-th Birthday!" Mommy did invitations by evite.com, since she had run out of time for making invitations by hand :-( . The evite invitation had a picture of a golf tee, and said:

"Please help us celebrate Nick's "FORE"-th birthday!

Join in the fun at the "Nickolympics!"

Get ready to race, throw, and kick!
(And build, bowl, and putt!)

We hope you can join us!

At the "Nickolympics," we had plain white flags for the kids to decorate with marker, paint or pictures of sports for gluing on.

We started off the party with "free play" in the backyard, while kids were also decorating their flags. Then we had a parade to officially begin the "Nickolympics!"




Events at the "Nickolympics" included "kick a soccer ball under the little bench," "knock down the pins," "race the car down the ramp," "jump off the porch and onto the grass," and "throw the bean bag into the ring."






Then it pretty much just turned into "Chaos in the Backyard."




Nick's cake, as requested, was chocolate. Mommy decorated it with a golfer and a basketball player on top, and baseball and football candies around the side. On the top, she wrote "Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday! Nick is 4!"



Mommy also made a vanilla cake in case anyone didn't like, or couldn't have, chocolate. Because she had some extra blue frosting in her piping bags, this one she doodled on in the "Nickolympics" theme.





On Nick's "actual birthday," we went to church, and the Sunday School kids (Julianna and Nick included) came into Mass to sing us a Christmas song. Later on, we went to Julianna and Katie's dance recital (all dances from "The Nutcracker") and then Darell and Kathryn took us out to dinner!


If there's one thing we've noticed about our newly-four-year-old boy, it's that he has become very LOUD and very, very SILLY!



He spent most of his "actual birthday," and the days since, playing with his presents! He has really been enjoying each and every present. Here are a few photos I've captured of some of them:




Nick already had some of this train track, but he got the airport (in the foreground) and more track for his birthday.

Well it surprised me!

The Amazing Race ended in Portland!

What FUN (capital F. U. N.) it was to see them racing in Portland! And for the final pit stop!

The airport, with its green and blue carpet!

Then, "Go to the Bridge of the Gods..." We yelled "It's out 84!"

The Portland Building!

"We don't call it 'Fifth Avenue,' it's just Fifth! Alder! Morrison!"

Some doughnut shop I've never heard of! But is that Berbati's Pan down the block?

Look, gas was $4.11 that day!

And finally, Pittock Mansion! Woooooo!
_____

Well, I guess this explains why Mom has been watching it this season! But she didn't give me any inkling about it. Good job keeping it a surprise, Mom!

THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN TO WATCH!

One for the Ages!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving - it was a special day!

We loved having people at our house for Thanksgiving for the first time. It was fun finding places for everyone to sleep on Wednesday night!

We had Darell, Kathryn, Grandma, and Noni here. We got started with the food on Thursday morning, while the Macy's parade was on. Many games of Sequence Jr. were played.

We made considerable use of our two ovens, changing their temperature settings between dishes, and it seems that one got turned off while the turkey was cooking. Eric and Darell improvised by putting it on the grill, and it turned out delicious! Darell and Kathryn made most of the sides, as well as a scallop appetizer, a salmon dish, and a small version of Kathryn's family's traditional cheese course. Mashed sweet potatoes, green beans, brussels sprouts, zucchini, AMAZING gravy, just to name a few! So much cooking that one oven's heating coil died on Friday morning and had to be replaced!

Kathryn made an apple dessert, and Grandma and I tried out a new recipe: maple pear pie. Grandma made her pie crust, and I did the filling and oatmeal crumb topping. I think it's a keeper!

Before dinner, the girls read "Thanks for Thanksgiving" to us and we talked about what we are thankful for.

After dinner, the cleanup crew was busy while the kids watched the Kit Kittredge movie with Grandma and Noni. Tearjerker!

On Friday, Grandma and Noni took the kids to the movie theater to see "High School Musical 3." The girls' third time, Nick's second! A fun one. Later, we drove out to Redondo Beach to walk around the pier with Darell and Kathryn (couldn't pass by the arcade without going in!), getting some dinner, and visiting their apartment.

On Saturday, it was dance class and saying goodbye to our visitors. It was shorter than we would have liked, but it was truly a fantastic holiday weekend for us!


I have a few photos to share, but I admit it's kind of a disappointing number. I was too busy enjoying the days - I didn't think about taking pictures!

(Grandma made a special mid-day snack platter for the kids!)

(Darell had a very attentive audience while he was cooking. "This is better than the Food Network!")

(I captured the table before dinner - looking so nice - but then while we were eating, my brain became soaked in gravy and I forgot my own name, much less the fact that cameras had ever been invented)

On Monday, I took Turbo back to the Veterinary Dermatologist for the second injection of the antibiotic. Unfortunately, his paw was looking even worse, and we decided we needed to add another antibiotic as well as an ointment and a rinse, both with further antibacterial agents. And... the vet wants to make sure he doesn't chew at it and aggravate the tissue further:


He HATES this thing.

My Hero

In the same breath that I announce that Nick deserves the award for "Biggest Whiner" (he's at that age where EVERY SENTENCE comes out as a whine), I also announce that he deserves the award for "Mom's Hero of the Week."

Isn't that an interesting pairing.

He goes to preschool on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. Tuesday and Thursday mornings are our time alone together. Isn't that a nice schedule?

Well, this week, our time alone together sure was a drag.

On Tuesday, I had to run a very small errand at IKEA. A $13 errand. And... you know... whatever else I found in the Marketplace...

IKEA is about 30 minutes away (and.... hey! I just looked it up on Google maps and it says 18.7 miles, 27 minutes! I was actually right about a driving-related estimate!), so we left our house at 9:30 am to get there right when it opened at 10:00.

By 11:20, I was not quite all the way to IKEA, and I had not been able to get a hold of anyone to pick up Julianna from Kindergarten for me. I had to turn around and head back. Nick, who at this point had been sitting in the car for almost two hours, was thirsty, so we pulled into the first thing I saw (Target) and visited the drinking fountain and potty (that was smart of me). Then we drove back home to Julianna's school.

There was an overturned big rig blocking all but one lane of the freeway. We had been stuck in the traffic for over 90 minutes. Whee! Great use of time and gas: altogether a 2.5 hour trip in which I didn't even get all the way to my destination, let alone obtain the $13 thing I needed. No, I have not tried again.

Then, on Thursday, our other day of Time Alone Together, I took Nick to a boring meeting at church where he entertained himself with the Leapster and some snacks. Also crawling around under the conference table. (Looking at people's shoes? Their toenail polish colors? Who knows.) We had to leave the meeting before it ended to take Turbo The Kitten to his appointment with the Veterinary Dermatologist.

The Veterinary Dermatologist was running very late. His first appointment of the day had been over 30 minutes late and he was backed up. This was terrible news to me, since I had already put Nick through a boring meeting! Now he had to wait in the waiting room for what turned out to be 45 minutes! I had paper and pen in my purse, so he did practice writing his letters, and he visited the potty a few times, but whoo! that much waiting in one morning is A LOT to expect of an almost-four-year-old boy.

Dear Nick,
Thank you for putting up with boring, extra-frustrating-and-long errands TWO MORNINGS IN ONE WEEK. I would guess that you appreciate your school days much more after that! The good news is that Grandma and Noni are coming to visit, so next week's days off school will be SO MUCH FUN!
You make me feel like a lucky Mommy for having you.
Love,
Mommy.


Even though the wait was long and difficult (see: almost-four-year-old boy who already sat through an hour-long meeting), I think it was a very good thing I took that crazy kitten to the Veterinary Dermatologist.

Turbo's swollen paw didn't really respond to the two antibiotics the other vet tried, and an expensive fungal culture showed no growth, so I was dubious that it was an infection.

But I was wrong.

The Veterinary Dermatologist took a little sample and looked at it under a microscope, discovering that it is "teeming with multiple types of bacteria." Yes, that is gross, you are right. But I was nonetheless glad to have the start of an answer about this swollen paw that we have been dealing with since October 6! He did a culture of the sample so we can find out exactly what bacteria we are dealing with.

The best part of the story happens now:
He gave Turbo some kind of new, special antibiotic. He took pictures of the paw and told me to come back in 14 days for the next dose and more pictures. He did not charge me for the antibiotic and will not charge me for the next dose or the re-check fee, because if this antibiotic works, the pharmaceutical company will pay him for the photos! TRA LA TRA LA TRA LA!

In other news, he did say that this kitten is quite a handful. On top of that, the other vet had written the following in Turbo's file:
"Feisty."

Ha! I'm right! He does have above-average energy!

Perhaps we should have been more careful when choosing a name... was it a self-fulfilling prophecy?

A future in interior decorating

As I rounded the corner to head upstairs, I came across something...





Nick has quite an eye, don't you think?

Hide and Seek

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty!
Ready or not, here I come!"

"Not ready! Not ready!"

"One, two, three, four, ... Ready or not, here I come!"

"Not ready! Not ready!"

Both sides seem to be missing the point of "Ready OR NOT!"

_______

"...Ready or not, here I come!"

(Loud whisper heard from under the living room sofa:)
"Hey! Find me last! I'm supposed to be the counter next!"

_______

(Strange banging noises coming from the living room.)

Someone is tired of hiding, getting worried, and giving the counter a clue!

_______

"I'm not playing Hide and Seek any more! It's boring!"

(It took a while to find them this time. Someone got tired of hiding!)

Halloween 2008!

We awoke very early, excited to head off to school!


(Nick's school doesn't allow costumes, and in fact calls the day "Orange and Black Day," so he is dressed in orange and black for school.)

Nick had fun at school, playing in the yard, sharing a special holiday snack (including the cupcakes he made!), and participating in the sing-a-long.


Julianna and the rest of the Kindergarten enjoyed crafts, cookie decorating, trick-or-treating in the Parish Hall, and lots more during their big party day.

Then, the whole school had the Halloween Parade!


Our girls (Felicity, Elizabeth, Nan, and Mary from American Girl's Felicity story) marched in the "Groups" category.

We put out some last decorations (the luminaries and the spider web) and got the candy ready for trick-or-treaters!




Darell arrived in time to help Julianna carve the pumpkin Nick got from school. (Julianna's original jack-o-lantern collapsed in a moldy, mushy heap, right before our eyes.)




Kathryn, the Bakers, and the Condits came over to have dinner (pizza!) and go trick-or-treating.




Half of the grown-ups took the kids out, and other half stayed home to hand out candy.

Last year, the marching band was practicing during trick-or-treating, and this year there was a football game going on! Apparently, the high school marching band provides the soundtrack of Halloween in our neighborhood!

Katie and Catherine thought the "Spooky House" was AWESOME! while the other kids were too scared and stayed back. Other than that, all seven kids (including Nick!) were enthusiastic trick-or-treaters.

Arriving back home with heavy loot bags, the big girls headed upstairs to do some trading. I don't know who came up with that idea, but they were very serious up there going through their candy and trading with each other for their favorites!

It was such a great day and night, with beautiful costumes, happy kids, and a fun group of adults!

And now: SO MUCH CANDY.