starting traditions

we're in full holiday spirit around here. christmas music, christmas cookies, crafts (oh the crafts), discovering the meaning of solstice, and santa. the kids have been sugared-up pretty much every day.

this year i made an advent stocking garland (see picture below) for the kids. i didn't decide to do this until november, and had to whip up the 24 mini stocking pretty quick. if i had taken longer to do them i think some of them would have turned out cuter and i wouldn't have gotten so bored. anyway, the kids, or i should say kai loves it! each day there's something little in there for them, or a note of something we'll do that day. this morning there was a note leading kai to a big ball of green glitter playdough i made last night. i'm pretty sure andy is tired of this because kai wakes up about 5am to see what's in the stocking. i owe andy about 4 yrs of early wake ups with kai. early mornings and me don't mix so well. i'm grumpy. so thank you daddy!


anyway, we're leaving for south carolina in a few days and we have two parties to host this week so this may be the last post until after the holidays.

so .... merry solstice, hanukkah, christmas, new year, and whatever holiday your family may celebrate. peace.

we're all tired of being sick

it started around kai's birthday with a cough/cold thingy. and several weeks later we still have it. i'm starting to get really pissed at this virus. i mean, it is the holiday season. so now due to this, my usual procrastination of gift buying, making, doing, etc. is again happening. even though i started off swearing it was not going to happen again this year. looks like those christmas cards will be new year cards. especially if i fail to get a decent picture of these two kids in the same picture! i'm not even looking for a posed picture, not being too picky.

[usually i don't like to use this blog as a venting vehicle. but i am cranky lately]
aside from this sickness and tiredness, we have definitely reached the sibling rivalry stage. our gentle soul kai? .... well not so gentle anymore. zaiah has taught him (or maybe forced) to hit. and, yes, she hits back! and the words and tone that come out of this 4 yr old's mouth. oy. makes me want to fly away sometimes. whoever coined the terrible twos was terribly wrong. when we reached the 3's i thought oh this is what they mean. they were just a year off. now i'm thinking the fiercly fours.

this picture below is kai having a semi tantrum because i wouldn't let him have a snack while i was cooking lunch. he's hiding in the cabinet trying to sneak a snack.


but he is still adorable and fun, especially at moments like these:

a day in the life of zaiah

if she could have it her way:
play in the water in the bathroom, taste the water, yep likes it. play with water some more, nurse a bit, go back to water, try out the kitchen sink water and 'wash' dishes, nurse a little more, go back to bathroom sink water, etc etc etc. if water were free, i'd let her do this all the time because it makes her happy. but, i also get tired of changing her wet shirts.

o christmas trees, o christmas trees

we have christmas trees everywhere ....

love the crown with the christmas tree!

grandma bought kai a set of arty scissors, tape dispenser, and a new stapler .... so this little elf has been very, very busy making trees. last night kai asked grandma if she could stay for a year. she said, "if we do something besides make christmas trees." i tell ya, no need to buy holiday decorations once your kids get old enough to 'hang' things around the house. all done. presto! things added in a blink of an eye. some day we'll see sunlight through the windows again. (and see the window below, stockings. another passion.)

aside from decorating, i'm surely enjoying one of my most favorite times of year sitting by a lighted tree. merry december!

strange new header & blogging pattern

i know, i don't blog for 2 weeks then i come back and blog 3X in 2 days. can't really explain it, but sometimes uploading pictures is such an easy, tedious task.

and my new header, i love it! even though it's a bit strange. in case you can't tell, we're hoola hooping and kai is with a lighted one. i love how the light appeared around him, and also like that we are all in this photo. andy looks alittle buff the way he's standing which makes me laugh because he's not (which i'm happy about). you all should see him, he's lost more than 20 lbs in the past 2 months. wahhoooo daddy!

zaiah likes to pose

the lighting in these pictures is a little wonky, but i love all of them. mainly because she put this outfit together and she's wearing this crocheted hat from a friend of ours that she looks adorable in.


when she figured out i was taking pictures of her, she began to walk around and pose, asking me (non-verbally of course) to take more photos of her.

kai is 4!

it's taken me a while to post pictures ..... we celebrated kai's 4th birthday last week. on his birthday he said to me: "i don't feel like i'm 4." i guess he was hoping for some great growth spurt, or big jump from toddler-hood to boy-hood or something.

anyway, the celebration was memorable. a make-your-own pizza party and a pumpkin carrot cake. that ended up not really looking like a pumpkin, per the birthday boy's request.


when he woke up from his nap, we had this waiting for him:


a gift from us and many of our family members - thank you! luckily the weather has been mild and sunny this week so he's had some riding and digging time with it before winter sets in.

kai attends a montessori preschool, so we got to see how they celebrate birthdays. it's really a very sweet celebration. the entire class sits in a circle, and a candle is lit in the middle. the birthday child places each month around the circle and then walks around however many years he is. as he's doing this, the teacher reads the story of his life including accomplishments/ milestones for each year (we wrote this out). smiling, sitting, walking, driving :), riding a bike, writing his name, going to the potty, etc. etc. when she was reading, it was so shocking to think how much he has learned in 4 yrs! it makes it easier to understand the difficult stages and the fits, all that stuff that drives them and me crazy.

after this, the class sings to him. and the birthday child passes out a snack to each person and gives each person a hug. so sweet!


so hard to think that just 4 years ago he was a small infant that snuggled in my arms. so little. thank you for being in my life my sweet kai.

oh, and a happy belated thanksgiving to everyone!

friday night, pizza night?

we babysat my friend's kids the other night and we made personal pizzas. kids love this. and they can really do the whole thing except putting it in the oven. it was my first time making pizza dough from scratch. i'm thinking of starting a family tradition: friday night, pizza night. i can make a bunch of dough, freeze it, then defrost when needed. making it super easy.

one of my childhood memories going to grammy's house is she had so many traditions around meals. saturday night was steak night, saturday morning pancakes, friday was fish. i want to start traditions like that. so maybe i'll start with this for our little family. and when the kids get older it could turn into friday night pizza and movie night - yep, i like this idea.

he really thinks this works

andy brought home two flashing pens a couple weeks ago for the kids. one has mysteriously disappeared. i'm sure we'll find it some day under a dusty couch, or in a bush or tree. today zaiah asked to play with this flashing pen, and kai claimed it his. of course. so he quickly drew his name on the pen with a sharpie. this cracked me up because he has only recently discovered sharpies and the fact that they are permanent. and in a very matter-of-fact-brotherly way, told zaiah what this proclamation meant.

the moments of mine, mine, mine and sibling quarrels are a pain. yes. but when approached this way, it makes it kind of endearing. don't you think?

Hijacking the blog

Happy Birthday Mommy!!!!!!!!!!

We love you very, very, very, very much.

a big thank you

pure cuteness! that's all i have to say about these. thank you steph for making these for our little ones. i hope you're reading this. i was going to snail mail you a thank you but figured you are probably traveling by now.

a pink ghost & a pea pod

i couldn't stop taking pictures last night. they are so adorable! and as i sit here this morning, they still are wearing their costumes. and it's a miracle zaiah kept this hat on. in this photo, the body part is not on.

i have many more pictures i'll post later. i just wanted to get one of my favorite up.

hope your halloween was fun and tasty! and enjoy a weekend full of sugar high kiddos if you have some.

more photos by kai

(see the train above?)

besides taking pictures, kai has been super busy brushing his teeth. yep. he and andy bought identical electric toothbrushes on saturday. all charged up, and ready to go (finally) kai started brushing sunday morning. all day yesterday and today, switching the attachments: brushing, flossing, tongue cleaning. the charge is suppose to last 2 weeks. his died after one and a half days. so now he's on to andy's. hilarious!

kai's been playing photograher

(self portrait)






happy sunday!

not much to say today

i swear i let her out. she was the one who shut the door.


have a great weekend.

we're back

i could say we're unpacking, doing laundry, etc etc. but not really. i like the unpacked bags to sit around for a bit. there are piles of clothes every where. really, between switching over to cooler weather clothes, organizing the kid's too small clothes, catching up with the before-we-left laundry and the now added back-from-vacation clothes. it never ends, does it?

here are some pictures from our trip to virginia.



kai very much enjoyed two seats to himself. when the flight attendant was starting the drink rounds i asked him what he wanted. he replied "i'm not going to tell you, i'll tell her myself what i want." love that.


at the pet a pet farm.



my mom and two aunts.

blue skies

that's what it's been around here this week, along with 70 degree weather. heaven. so, after a long summer hibernation kai and daddy cleaned out the hot tub. ready for lots of fall and winter use. today was the first dip. the babes are thrilled.

i won't be writing for another week or so. me and the kids are headed to virginia. i have my 20 year school reunion next weekend - yipes!

more camping scenes

world's largest & fattest caterpillar:



this girl would go upside down all the time if we allowed. she absolutely loves seeing the world another way.

jolly weekend

our weekend took off friday night with the annual balloon glow. we've managed to go to this every year since we've lived here. and saturday morning while we were eating breakfast, kai yelled HOT AIR BALLOON!! yes, they went right over our yard. it was as if we climbed our tree we could touch them. too much excitement here i tell ya.

then off for another camping trip. to gear up, this happened on the way there:


a couple friends who were in town from california joined us. kai had a blast getting some extra play time.


oh, and this sweet hat. i hope he wears it. alot.


our campsite was on the river. note: see our friend on the swing rope. he was the only one so eager to jump in.


ugh... more photos in a separate post. i cannot figure out how to load more than 5 photos per post.