Watching airplanes

Spur of the moment, the girls and I are having a lunch picnic by LAX. We found a great place to park and watch airplanes land... Right over our heads! Amazing- this will be a regulate event for us since we're so close now and it's pretty easy. Btw, it's bright out here and I can't really see the pictures I posted. Hope they're decent!

See the airplane? Top center of the picture:

Coming in for a landing:

SO close! An airplane blocking the sun for us:

Sunny but cold:

December 23rd

Today's Christmas break day started off with a little vacation just for mommy... meaning that I went to Trader Joe's all by myself! It was wonderful. I got a teeny little cup of coffee all to myself and nobody spilled it. I came home to little girls all dressed (mostly) and ready to go to Denny's for some hobbit pancakes! We had fun with some family activities, and delivered our Christmas cards to a few neighbors.

Violet was as decorated as our cookies:

I'm not sure her cookie-decorating vision was realized:

So many cookies! One of my very favorite Xmas activities. I love decorating them, I love eating them! (And can you see our pink gingerbread houses? Top left?)

We all got some running in playing bad guys and super heroes. I'll let you provide your own narrative for this picture:

We (er, Erik!) built our fire pit! (And can you see how clean the garage is? Gooooooo Erik!)

That, friends, is a packet of chestnuts, wait for it, roasting on an open fire! I will not stop in my quest for the perfect Christmas break! Very fun, and it turns out... I like roasted chestnuts!

SAN-sa! And a great day all around

I think I've finally done it- I may have figured out how to do Christmas! I'm only making a very few gifts, and those are for or with my girls. I have majorly minimized baking and candy-making, except what I can share making with the girls. We are staying home for Christmas, and while we will miss all of our family, we really needed to eliminate the stress of packing the car with presents and little girls. Santa is grateful, too. He's tired of reading the redirect notes to come find us somewhere else.
So that leaves us HOME this weekend with NOTHING that we have to do. Shopping is done, we aren't going anywhere and no-one's coming here! (Though like I said, we will miss our family! And we always welcome visitors!) And today was worth it. It was worth all of the "no"s, it was worth buying gifts instead of staying up nights to make them. This is exactly what I want to be doing... this year :)
Just because I want to remember today forever... I woke up an hour before anyone else, and read with a cup of coffee. Then Violet woke up, and we read for half an hour. Then Daphne woke up, and the three of us read for another half an hour. Yes, that's right, my day started with two hours of reading, half of that snuggling under a blanket and chit-chatting over stories with my favorite ladies. Then we woke Daddy, who took the girls out to play bubbles in the backyard while I made pumpkin pancakes. After breakfast, we cleaned out the garage, and sold our bunch of cardboard moving boxes for $20- they were gone within 90 minutes of being posted on Craigslist! Erik took a load to the Goodwill and picked up burritos for lunch, then cleaned the garage a little more while Violet and I went to get our hair cut. (Violet took it upon herself to cut her hair *for the very first time* last weekend, so we had to get it evened out). We came home, I made some popcorn mix for neighbor gifts, then we all got cleaned up and bundled up to go to dinner. We tried a Brazilian BBQ buffet which was fun, then we headed to Starbucks to get some hot chocolate to drink while we drove around looking for Xmas lights. And it was amazing! The girls BOTH loved it! Daphne kept saying "Moe, moe (more)!" I asked her what she wanted more of and she replied, "SAN-sa, peeese (Santa please)!" It was so cute- any time we were on a main road with no houses, she kept pleading for "Moe Sansa peeese!" And Violet decided that she wanted to see as many snowmen as possible, so they both had a favorite character to spot. It was just magical how they both ooohed and ahhhhhed at every light display, joyfully clapping and calling out, "Frosty! Sansa!" So magical that Daphne, who didn't nap today, stayed awake for the ENTIRE trip looking at lights. Amazing.

Anyway, today was exactly what I was hoping for this weekend. Extended pj time, fun with the family, traditions, memories. I have had overwhelming patience with my girls since the horrible tragedy at Sandy Hook last week. Something changed, and I just haven't really lost my temper or patience since. I assume this surge in patience is somewhat temporary and circumstantial, but here has been a change in me that will remain, even when the season is over and the headlines change. I am overwhelmingly grateful tonight for a perfect day with my little family.

Craft Round-Up

A few crafts we've been working on--

Crafters-in-training making salt dough ornaments. 

I recovered our chairs, which had been badly abused by children at mealtime!

Yuck!

Much better!

Keyfobs for Violet's teachers' Xmas gifts:

Picture coming of Violet and Daphne's stockings!

21 Months and a Big Surprise

Happy 21 Month birthday, Daphne! Cutie pie, you are saying so many words together now. One of the mysteries of the world for you is why eggs go night night in their cartons. The answer is that I need you and the eggs to ride safely in the cart together without you taking out the whole dozen for inventory. Spur of the moment while shopping one day, I told you that you had to keep the lid closed because the eggs needed to night night. Now, every time you see eggs in a carton you proudly proclaim, "Egg! Night Night!" while carefully nodding your head, "yes." And when you see an egg out of the carton, you ask, "Egg? Night night? No?" You also said "Vi Vi" the other day instead of sissy, which was cute. You do everything that Violet does, and she's a pretty good example. You love to bring play food to mommy and daddy, and as soon as you hand it over you immediately say and sign, "More? Yes?" while carefully nodding your head. You still don't sleep very well, but you go to bed without a problem. You take off your shoes and socks in the car. You still love nursing and I have no idea how to wean you. Although you're starting to get the drift. Sometimes when you ask for milk (which is now "Muk" as opposed to "Muh" which it was a couple of weeks ago) you follow up with, "No?" while shaking your head. So funny. Mommy milk is "Muk" while signing milk, milk in a cup is "Muk" while patting your mouth which is sort of the sign for water. You're such a funny girl- you like to tell jokes, and are currently cracking yourself and everyone else up by saying, "Ho ho ho!" While skyping with Mimi and Papa, you say, "Out? Out?" asking them to come on over... now! And also asking for whatever treat Mimi might be showing you. You are a very sweet big girl baby. I love you.

Here's what we did this afternoon for fun- Violet really got a kick out of it! I'm going to take a little tangent here about Violet going along with my crazy plans sometimes... One of her teachers told me a while ago that she likes Violet so much because Violet likes to do everything. She's such a participator! Really, pretty much anything you can think of, she's ready to go along with it. She's happy to go shopping, to try a new restaurant, always up for a park, ready to go for a visit, meet a new friend, play with an old friend, take some pictures, watch a video, make a craft, cook dinner, help with laundry, explore a new area, whether it's the produce section at an ethnic grocery or a theme park... anything at all, she's ready to try it. I see such great things in her future because of this love of action. Because she's so good at trying everything, she's become pretty darn good at actually doing a lot of things! For example, the other day we were baking together, and I left her with four eggs and a bowl to crack them into without really thinking about it. I went digging in the fridge, then turned around and all four eggs were in the bowl with no shell and very little mess on the counter, the shells were in the (otherwise empty) carton, and she was ready for the next instruction. She's only four! And when she was baking a play cake in the backyard the other day, she told me she made it out of sugar, flour, butter, eggs, and vanilla. I'm serious. She came up with this! She loves to DO, she pays attention, and she gets a lot done. She's seriously so fun- no wonder she has so many friends in her pre-k class! So no wonder she was my big helper and totally on board for our surprise for daddy:

Daddy came home to an extra-large present under the tree... Surprise! It's children!

Now, Daphne, will you please sit on the box so I can take a 21-month picture in your cute Christmas jammies in front of the tree with your matchy matchy sissy? No? Ok. Hold her down, co-conspirator Violet.

Violet was willing to be a Christmas pjs model for me. It's possible that Daphne is captured in the box at this point. I don't remember. But looking at Violet's face, I kind of think so.

Santa 2012/Katie and Sarah's Super Weekend

Erik and Joe spent the weekend at Kurt's bachelor party so Katie and I took the weekend to hang out with our kids at Knott's Berry Farm and see SANTA! 

He was a super nice Santa who really listened to what the girls had to say:

Violet, Jack, Claire:

Daphne is not impressed:

Violet was so happy:

Oh my goodness, Daphne- her "Put your arm around your sister" pose:

Hee hee hee:

Merry Mommies:

Merry Christmas from the Lima Ladies! (And Jack!)

"TUM!"

Knott's has the most awesome candy for Christmas! This is cooked maple syrup poured over ice/snow to make a chewy lollipop of maple-y yumminess. It was SO FUN to watch and so delicious to eat. What a treat! I guess it's a winter tradition in the NE US:

They were nice enough to split our lollipop in two:

"Where's mine?"

Cousins- we are so lucky:

The circus came to town:

Splash:

One last ride, and we got to see the Camp Snoopy lights, too!

Sunday morning dress-up, proper ladies:

Not pictured: our adventure at Souplantation Saturday night. Hee hee- four kids at a table is a lot! What a fun weekend in December. Everyone slept pretty well on Saturday night (ahem, Jack!), and played well all weekend. We are so grateful to have family whom we love... and like!

Super Heroes!

We celebrated cousin Cameron's 5th birthday this weekend with a super hero party. Daddy helped the girls pick out super hero costumes, even convincing Violet that her underwear were supposed to go on the outside of her pants. (Daphne didn't take any convincing once she saw that big sissy had her undies on, too.) Here are a couple of cute pictures from the day.

Superhero Sissies:

(Notice Daphne's now infamous "put your arm around her" pose)

I was so surprised- Daphne sat in Violet's lap for a large part of the reptile and bug show:

Sissy gets brave:

We Chopped Down a Christmas Tree!

We had such a wonderful morning together! We drove way out to Thousand Oaks this morning to... chop down our own Christmas tree. About halfway there, Erik and I started voicing our concerns to each other: "Is this even safe?" "Why is it raining?" "How on EARTH are we going to get a tree all the way home on our Civic???" But, we had already psyched Violet up to go get a tree, so we continued on our way. When we got there the staff was very friendly and it wasn't intimidating at all. We hopped in an open-bed Jeep with another family and headed over the hill with a saw. We had perfect cool weather and a great time. And now our house smells like a tree. Score! Here are a few pictures from our day:

Violet and Daphne stand in front of a contender. Earlier in the day I asked the girls to put their arms around each other. Daphne must not understand "around" because for the rest of the day she insisted on putting her arm ON Violet.

One of my famous balancing timer pictures:

He answers to Paul Bunyan now.

THE JEEP that takes you up a ridiculous hill and drops you off in the forest. Violet's favorite part by far (mine too- it was very fun!). Truck driver: "When do you want me to come back for you?" Us: *Blinking*

We made it! An hour-long drive on L.A. freeways!

It fits. It's perfect. We love it.