Hid Did Came!

Lauren had been misbehaving on Christmas Eve Day, and actually went to bed wondering if Santa would even come, or if maybe he'd come but leave coal in her stocking.... But as she came out of her room on Christmas morning, she announced excitedly that 'he did came!' The best however, was when she looked around, saw what Santa had delivered and said 'I thought I were gonna get coal in my stocking but I didn't. I think I were good!'


Lauren opened all her gifts in record time, and here she tries on some of her new dress-up clothes. She has been enjoying playing will all of Cole's gifts too.


Cole was really excited too - Santa brought him a Spiderman bigwheel, and a big cuddly Elmo. He kept saying 'Santa, Santa!' and also enjoyed the Frosty the Snowman 'choo-choo' (aka train) that Santa brought and placed around the tree. He loves everything and anything Frosty.


Merry Christmas!

Cookie Exchange

Lauren requested chocolate cookies for her school cookie exchange this evening. I used my favorite chocolate cookie recipe, and substituted M&Ms for the chocolate chunks, for a little holiday flair. Looking forward to hearing the kids' Christmas carols - they've been practicing a lot. The best is Lauren's interpretation of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' - including the 'two turtle ducks' that 'my tulip came to me'.

Movie Night

Popcorn and Frosty. How can you beat that?

Chandler Day of Play

Last month we dropped by the Chandler Day of Play at Tumbleweed Park. It was to promote health and fitness, and had many local vendors and free activities. Although on this particular day, it was super hot - which made some of the activities a little less attractive.


Lauren enjoyed the obstacle course, one of those huge inflatable slides, and a cherry snow cone.


Cole enjoyed rounding up the soccer balls at one of the vendors.

Happy

Note also his "Cheese!" at the beginning of the song.

The Pickle Store

Lauren's class had a Thanksgiving potluck (kids only), and each of the kids came up with something they wanted to bring. Lauren chose green peppers - interesting. But in talking with her later, it turned out that she really meant green pickles. Now she doesn't actually like pickles, but she was pretty set on bringing them. So I told her to remind me to buy pickles over the weekend. And she said 'Oh yes. I think there is a pickle store or something, where they have pickles'. We settled for Target. And I also made cranberry orange sauce, since a jar of sweet gherkins just didn't seem very substantial....

A Shout Out

To my bro, who completed his first Ironman today, in Tempe, AZ. All 140.6 miles... 2.4 mi swim, 112 mi bike, 26.2 mi run. Way to go Chaz!!

Brussels Sprouts

Cooked brussels sprouts for the first time last week. Mixed them with sauteed shallots, olive oil and salt/pepper, then roasted at 400 deg for about 30 min or so. They carmelized very nicely, and tasted better than I expected. Still, the kids were not fans - although Lauren actually did try them, but promptly spit them out....

Serenity now

Weekend indulgence - especially enjoyed during the kids' naptime - a homemade version of Starbuck's Carmel Macchiato (shot of espresso, steamed milk, and a few pumps of vanilla syrup). Yum.

Happy Halloween!

Picking out pumpkins at Trader Joes. At $2.99 each, a much better deal that the $10 ones at the 'pumpkin patch' near I-10.


Carving pumpkins. Cole is transfering the pumpkin guts back into the pumpkin.


Ready to trick-or-treat. Lady Bug Lauren was still quite shy with her 'trick-or-treats' and 'thank-yous' but had a blast. Dr. Cole on the other hand was gung-ho, and really got the hang of this trick-or-treat thing. He also enjoyed handing out the candy to the other trick-or-treaters at Grandma's :)

ABCs and 123s

Cole started 'school' last month, at the same Montessori school as Lauren. He is in Lauren's old classroom, and really enjoys it so far. He has learned how to drink from a cup, wash his hands, and he loves to carry his lunch box. His favorite work is 'washing clothes', or really anything that involves water.

Stormy Weather

Cole and Lauren check out the hail left by the storm that hit the valley today. Amazing to have such cool temps after a week of 100+ deg weather. I missed most of it while at work, but later saw the flooding, downed trees/branches, and even some power outages (including at the kids' school).

Mealtime Antics

Another of his recent favorites is to dump his food on his head....

Hanging at Home

So Cole and Lauren had Fri off from school, so it was a day of fun at home :) I honestly don't think I'd be a very good stay-at-home mom, b/c I struggle with activites to keep them occupied and out of trouble. But we managed to get through Fri with minimal whining, fighting, and injuries. First off was an 8am walk around the neighborhood - Lauren brought an extra pair of shoes to change into while she rode in the stroller. Then bubbles in the backyard - Cole only put the bubble wand in his mouth once. We headed back indoors, Lauren spread out a blanket, and we had a tea party - she was serving chocolate tea with a sprinkle of salt, yum. Then onto a real snack, followed by some Sesame Street - 'word on the street' was 'concentrate'. Cole only sat still for about 5 min of the episode though.



Cole was starting to fade, so we had a quick scavenger hunt to keep him awake till lunch time; Lauren couldn't wait to cross the items off the list. Lunch was enjoyed by all - meatballs and corn for Cole and quesadilla and plums for Lauren - followed by an all-too-short nap... Ah well. We did some puzzle 'work' after nap and had bunny grahams for snack. Then, since I was running out of ideas and Lauren was actually behaving quite well, she got to watch another episode of Sesame Street (with appearances by Norah Jones and Tiki Barber) while Cole and I played with Thomas and the trains. We had one more scavenger hunt - Lauren shows off her found loot above - then closed out the afternoon by playing with McDonalds happy meals toys (boy, we have way too many of these...)

San Diego Favorites

To complement Stew's post about our recent vacation to San Diego, everyone has chosen a favorite (or two) from our trip. Here they are:


Stew's pick: Our hotel, the Courtyard Marriott at Liberty Station. Newer hotel, beautiful grounds, excellent location, restaurants/shops within walking distance, very clean, free parking, great staff, nice breakfast. An A+, would definitely stay there again.


Christy's pick: Dinner at Mitch's Seafood in Point Loma. The food was super fresh and delicious, reasonably priced, and we arrived just at the right time. As we were finishing up, we noticed the line extended out the door and then it was pretty much standing-room only.


Lauren's pick: Playing in the sand at Torrey Pines State Beach. She could not wait to get to the beach. She carried around her sand bucket all morning.


Lauren's runner-up: Ice cream at the Seaport Village - she enjoyed every last lick.


Cole's pick: Running around with Lauren in Balboa Park. He spent a lot of time in his stroller, and was always so excited when he was finally set free to roam.


Cole's runner-up: Eating fried food. Boy, this kid sure does like chicken nuggets. Snapped this photo at our McDonald's stop on the drive out.

The Invasion

We have scads of these white-lined sphinx caterpillers in our neighborhood. You can see them up our street, all heading down the hill on a mission: to find some earth in which to burrow into and pupate. I'm surprised we've never seen or heard about them before in all the years we've been in Arizona, as apparently they can have some serious population explosions. Can't wait to see the ginormous moths take flight in a few weeks... eeewwww. In the meantime, watch your step.

Swimming 101

Lauren and Cole recently started weekly swimming lessons at the Gold Medal Swim School in Chandler, and really seem to enjoy it.


It actually took Lauren a few lessons to get comfortable in the water, but now she loves it. Her favorite part is going (slightly) under water to retrieve the diving rings, and she is also working on perfecting her float.


Cole seemed to enjoy the water from the start. He's in the Baby & Me class, and loves the 'torpedo pass' (shown here) and knocking over a row of turtle-shaped kickboards one by one.

State of the Art

Lauren did some watercolor painting yesterday. Her resulting artwork was very colorful, and amazingly, all the paints remained as their original colors :)

Baking Withdrawal

It's been so long since I've baked. I made this batch of cranberry white chocolate scones on my birthday, way back in April. May need to whip something up this weekend....

Mr. Clean: Part 2

Vacuuming is another one of Cole's favorite activities. Go figure. I hate to vacuum, so Stew is pretty excited to finally have some help.

Addicted to Words

Stew found this free Scrabble-like app, 'Words with Friends'. It's pretty neat because you can just take your turn whenever you have a spare moment. So far I'm 4 for 4 :)

On Cloud Nine

View of the morning sky on my walk into work today.

Mr. Clean: Part 1

Cole likes to help out with the chores. He is great about putting stuff into the garbage - cheerios that have fallen on the floor, used tissues, shoes (?!).... He takes his job very seriously; I've had to rescue many a thing from the trash.

Wise beyond her years....

Quote of the Day: "Mommy, do you know that [eating] chicken grows us up like parents?"

Chillaxin'

Turning One

Cole had a blast on his first birthday. He started off the festivities with his 12 month check-up, measuring up to 19.7 oz (5-10%) and 30.5 in (75%). We also got back the results from his allergy test - he is allergic to eggs (both yolks & whites).... Never fear! Grandma Pennie prepared him a yummy egg-free cake for his party with all the Grandparents on Saturday. Didn't get much reaction from him w/r to the cake (although he did like squishing the icing in his fingers), but he certainly enjoyed tugging on his balloons, and ripping the paper off his presents. He received lots of fun gifts - including a Thomas ride-on toy, some adorable outfits from Gymboree, fun books, a toy CD-player, and a pair of sunglasses (from Lauren). Party on!

Happy Easter

Easter was a lot of fun this year. Lauren colored a few eggs on Saturday, while Cole watched from the comfort of his high chair (while snacking on Cheerios). Sunday morning the kids checked out their Easter baskets,
and Lauren went in search candy-filled eggs in our family room (the two blue ones must have been for Cole, as they contained Cheerios). Then we dropped by the egg hunt at Rawhide, and Lauren (and Cole)picked up a few more candy-eggs. After a nice long nap (woo hoo!), Lauren helped decorate some cupcakes for another Easter treat, by placing jelly beans on top. She had a little trouble falling and staying asleep at night though -I'm guessing because of too many jelly beans!

Tight Squeeze

There comes a time when it's handy to fence Cole in. We've been using 2 ottomans and a wicker basket to keep him in the family room, where he can play with his toys while we cook, eat, etc. However between these objects there remains a little gap, and he has managed to escape once or twice now....

High Hopes

We went to the Chandler Ostrich Festival a couple weeks back, and Lauren really wanted to go on the big swing ride. She was quite disappointed to learn that she didn't meet the 42" height requirement. Alas, she finally settled for the Jumbo Dumbo kiddie elephant ride. (As a side note, since then, she's been 'pretend-checking' her height at home against the wall - probably hoping to grow a foot or so taller before the festival returns next spring....)

Hired Help

For Valentine's Day, Lauren and I baked heart-shaped sugar cookies. Although, after rolling out the first batch of dough, she grew bored after cutting out only the 3rd cookie.... So I finished up the rest, but she agreed to pose for this picture, and to sample the results.

Taking a Stand

Cole figured out how to pull himself up and stand in his crib a couple weeks ago. He also likes to bounce and chew on the rails a bit while he's up there - he thinks it's party time. This, however, makes the transition to nap/bedtime a little more challenging...

Produce Galore

I decided to place an order with Bountiful Baskets last week, and I was pleasantly surprised with the selection this go-around: asparagus, cauliflower, romaine lettuce, zuchini squash, corn on the cob, jicama, garlic, tomatoes, a pineapple, mandarin oranges, pink lady apples, asian pears, and bananas. What a good deal for only $16.50.

4 weeks and 40 necklaces later...

Last month Lauren started in a Montessori school. It was a little rough for her the first week, but she is now more comfortable and is enjoying herself. Her favorite school activities (aka 'work') are making bead necklaces, gluing, sweeping the floor, and 'nature' walks. And she also likes to find out what I've packed in her lunch box each day :)

Weights and Measures

Cole went for his 9-month check up last week, measuring 17 lb 2 oz (10%) and 28.5 in (50-75%) - up a pound and an inch from his last vist. We also learned he has an ear infection, which was the reason for a lingering runny nose/congestion :( That hasn't slowed him down much though - he's learned to sit, crawl, and pull himself up in the last month. He loves to grab anything in reach (e.g., Lauren's hair, a pair of sunglasses) and is quite squirmy when it's time to change his diaper or clothes. He has two teeth so far, and many on the way - what a drooler! He started day care last month, and continues to be a very happy baby - enjoying peek-a-boo, laughing with Lauren, and a good tickle.

On Second Thought....

Lauren wanted to wash Elephant and 'White doggie with black spots' along with her weekly laundry, so she tucked one on either side in the washer. But before we even closed the door, she changed her mind and pulled them out... That doggie is really due for a bath though.... it's probably time for a swap with one of the 2 backups we have on hand :)