Another Disney day

So we got Disney passes again this year with some Christmas money, and we've been able to go a few times as a family. I went once with a friend and that was exhausting. Not sure I'm going to try that again until Claire is a little older. Anyway, here are some cute pics from our trip a few weeks ago.






Poor Parker. We love our Joovy stroller, but the back jumpseat isn't exactly a comfortable place to sleep. But I guess after a day at Disneyland, it'll do.

Maren and Tyson

Have you guys missed me? Well, I have posts coming every day this week, ending with Scott and Brianne's wedding!

But for now, let me go back a few weeks to when my brother-in-law and sister-in-law came to visit us. We had a great time going to the beach, swimming at their hotel, and going to Disneyland together! If I ever get less lazy, I will go get some other pictures off our desktop, but for now, here's the Disneyland ones at least.

Help Kurt and Stacey

You may have noticed I added a link to our sidebar. My friends Kurt and Stacey are adopting a little boy from Ethopia, and are doing a fundraiser to help with costs. Please help them out if you can!

Here's the link to their adoption page, so you can check out their cute family and their story!

ADOPTION PAGE

A Little Sprinkling of Rain

Okay, so I still have some posts to catch up on, but I'm going to write about our crazy rainstorm we're having! Sorry, this will be long.

I realize that it rains way more in other parts of the country, but the thing that makes it so miserable in Southern California is that we are so ill-equipped for the rain. I don't even think we own an umbrella, and we definitely don't have rain boots, raincoats, etc. Not to mention serious drainage problems in the roads and, apparently, our yard.

So yesterday we are going to Joanie's for Brianne's bridal shower, and it is POURING. I stupidly took the back way because I thought the freeway would be just a parking lot, since it was rush hour and the middle of a rainstorm. Oh man, no way can I convey how terrifying the drive was. The road was so dark and curvy, and I couldn't tell where the huge puddles were, or where my van was going to skid. It was horrible. I got even more scared once I passed a car stuck in the flood water, and then the car in front of me drove into it too. I think they had to wait for the fire department; there was no way they could have opened their doors. Then we got to Joanie's, and the power was out, so we had the shower by candlelight! It was definitely an experience we'll always remember!

Then today right after James left for work, it started pouring. Our yard floods occasionally, so we had the pump set out, and I turned it on. But it didn't help, and it was raining harder than the pump could get the water out. Closer and closer to our two back sliding doors came the water, and I got more and more nervous. Finally the water was all the way up to our sliding doors and getting higher. What was I going to do with three little kids and a house about to flood? Go to a playdate, is the obvious answer, obviously.

So I went and my awesome friend Whitney fed me and my kids lunch while I was on the phone trying to figure out where to get sandbags, who could help me with them, etc. Finally we got a break in the downpour and I left my kids with my friends and went to get the sandbags myself (fire department, who knew?). Then I got to set them up in the backyard in the pouring rain. It was really good times. And then, of course, it stopped raining for the night. *Sigh* But at least now we have them. James was working so late, and I didn't want to be caught without them in a storm tonight.

So anyway, we're safe. The house didn't flood. But it was a long, long day.

Let's Get This Over With

I was going to skip posting Christmas pictures altogether, but since someday I intend to get these blog posts printed into a substitution for a scrapbook, I thought I'd just do a quick post and get them up.

Christmas Eve:
We had a picnic at the Club, where my kids sported some super fancy Christmas gloves.


Then we went over to the RB Inn, where they had a life-sized gingerbread house. That was cool, but the free hot chocolate and cookies may have been even cooler.


Then we continued our tradition from last year of doing a talent show. Kenley and Parker's talent was to do a puppet show with some finger puppets they had opened earlier in the day. Please believe me when I say it was awesome. But perhaps not as awesome as this:


Then Santa came by for one last visit.


Christmas morning brought a Batcave for the boy, and a Barbie car and salon for the girl.



Claire was there too.


It was exhausting.


My sister doesn't read my blog. Too bad for her.

Adventures in Gingerbread

Whenever Erin comes to town, we love to get our girls together. Erin and I can visit and catch up, and the girls love playing together. They are bummed that they live so far apart from each other, and always miss each other when it's time to go home!

Last week Erin brought her girls over and the kids all decorated a gingerbread house together. It was actually more like 15 minutes of decorating and then eating themselves sick with all the candy, but they had a great time!

Christmas Fun!

We had such a fun time over Christmas! Here are some pictures of the week leading up to Christmas! :)

Visiting with my friend Stacey and her family


Snuggling


"Helping" me make some yummy peppermint brownies


Posing proudly with their gingerbread men (see, I told you Parker loved googly eyes)

Christmas in Southern California

I am behind in posting, but I'll catch up later. Maybe.

We had a nice day today. In the morning we had a Christmas party for our playgroup. My sweet husband was nice enough to whip up a batch of homemade peppermint marshmallows when I decided at 8:30am that I wanted to participate in the goodie exchange which started at 9:30am, despite the fact that we had no eggs and no butter. :) At the party, we had a visit from Santa. My kids were shy, of course, but eventually managed to stand in a picture and smile. Kenley told me she's embarrassed for me to post this picture because it looks like she's going to skip out of the picture. I'm glad she can't read.


Then when we got home, I let the kids play outside for a while since it was so nice out today. Kenley planned a "Christmas party" with jello (actually leaves) and rolls (actually rocks). She was dressed in such a random assortment of things from her dress-up box, and Parker looked so funny in his pirate patch, of course I had to take some pictures.

Love. This. Kid.

Lately I've been wanting to blog about my little guy Parker. In our family, Parker is sort of the eye of the hurricane. He is such a happy, mellow kid. Most of the time. Well, you know, comparatively. I treasure him right now because he rarely needs anything from me. My girls are both pretty demanding of my attention, and Parker just has love to give. If he gets attention, that's great, but if not, he's cool. He tells me he loves me "so, so much" several times a day, and comes over and wraps his arms around me for a hug. He just has the sweetest personality that I could ever imagine. This morning it was after 9 and he still hadn't moseyed out of bed, so I peeked in to check on him. There he was, sitting on his bed, just reading a book. I think with most two-year-old boys, long periods of silence generally indicate troublemaking, but with Parker, he's usually reading in his room.

An odd Parker quirk? He loves eyeballs and googly eyes. We occasionally stop by Lakeshore on Saturdays to do their weekly craft. We've done door hangers, pumpkins, flags, etc. For Kenley it is a glorious crafty, artistic experience. For Parker, it is merely an experiment to see how many vessels he can glue googly eyes onto. I currently have a construction-paper Christmas card on my fridge with a Christmas tree on it. Decorated only with googly eyes.

I LOVE that he honestly believes that my kisses heal his owies. He honestly believes that those skinny stick arms of his can pull me up off the ground. And I'm pretty sure he honestly believes that Claire's actual name is Claire-bear.

Look at that face. This picture makes me laugh out loud whenever I see it. How could anyone not adore this kid? He is the best. Oh, and even better? He's potty-trained! Good job, little buddy!

Four is Funny

I swear Kenley gets more entertaining every year. Here are some of her latest and greatest (sorry, lots of repeats from Facebook):

* When Parker was copying her: "Mo-om! Parker is following my voice!"

* "I smell good. Parker smells like yucky pickles."

* "Mom, Taylor Swift knows EVERYTHING. And so do I."

* "UGH! Wa-alllll! Why you always bang my head, wall? Every single time I run into you, you bang my head! EVERY TIME!"

* For a frame of reference for this quote, a few weeks ago we had someone come to our home to do a speech evaluation for Parker. I think that's what Kenley was thinking about when yesterday, in a fit of despair over not being able to draw a pumpkin, she told me sadly, "I think I need someone to come out and test my body. I can't say marshlellow, I can't say lellow, and I CANNOT draw a pumpkin!"

* Aaaaaaand, my newest favorite. Minutes before I took the picture below, she wheeled that stroller into the bathroom where I was doing my makeup, and asked me, "Mom, can you watch Pepper for me? Just text me if you have any problems. Okay? My number is 1-2-3-4-5."

Claire's Blessing Day

We blessed Claire this week, again surrounded by family. Because of various travel arrangements, we decided it would be easier to bless her during the week, so we did it on Friday down at the church. It was a beautiful blessing, and such a special night to have so many family members there to share it with us. We had all three sets of grandparents (including the Hamptons, who came down from Utah), and both my siblings. I was extra excited that my Grandma Teddy was also able to be there, all the way from Alaska!

Thankful for sweetness

The thing I love most about my kids is the tender relationships they have with each other. They are so sweet and loving.


First, these two. They are just two little peas in a pod. They spend all day together, playing, laughing, fighting, wrestling, snuggling, encouraging, and loving. Kenley makes up all kinds of crazy games and activities, and of course Parker willingly follows along. My whole day sounds like a variation of, "Parker! I frow this ball and you catch it! Parker! I play these Polly Pockets and you be this dog!" "Otay!"

They are just lost without each other. A few months ago, right before Claire was born, they had been fighting a lot, so James and I each took them separately out on a date. By the time an hour had passed, they were asking for each other and wanting to go home.

They also love to do nice things for each other. Today Kenley decided to clean her room, and made Parker's bed for him (note the Elmo wrapped in a washcloth, my favorite part).


I hope that they will always keep the sweet closeness they have today. I know having kids 18 months apart isn't everyone's cup of tea, but they really are best friends, and I truly feel blessed at how close they are.


They are also both enthralled with Claire. I knew Kenley would be loving and nurturing, but I didn't anticipate how sweet Parker would be with her. The other day when she was crying, he went and got her little book, and put it in front of her and started reading to her.

Seriously, if that picture doesn't make your heart melt, you are made of stone.

Here's one of Kenley yesterday. I made Claire a bottle and then went to do something, and when I came back Kenley had taken it upon herself to help me out by feeding Claire.


Kenley and Parker ALWAYS want to be around Claire. When I was trying to take a picture of Claire in her blessing dress, they were just swarming around trying to make her smile. I had to step back and take a picture of what I was dealing with. The poor kids just could not understand why I didn't want the backs of their heads in the picture.


I am thankful for my kids, but even more thankful that they have so much love for each other. It'll give me something to hold onto during the next ten years of fighting, biting, scratching, and crying!

Halloween

I am under serious threat of death from my mother to update my blog. So here are our Halloween pics! Parker was Luke Skywalker, Kenley was Taylor Swift, and Claire was a pink leopard.




Total vent but seriously NONE of our neighbors said ANYTHING about the kids' costumes. Didn't tell them they looked cute, didn't even ask who they were dressed up as. So since I worked so hard on their costumes, if you want to tell me they looked cute, I'll totally take it.

Oh, and just for fun, here's Kenley crying in the same costume when she wore it, and then Claire on Halloween. Apparently if you have to wear the pink leopard costume, your life sucks.