The kids really don't get the whole concept of Santa and him bringing presents and all that. So before Christmas Isabelle and I were talking about what she hoped Santa might bring her for Christmas and I suggested that she write him a letter to let him know. 

" I should write him a letter? " she asks me quizzically

"Yes," I reply " you know Santa is a busy man and it's a lot of work to think  about what each kid would like the most for Christmas, so sometimes it helps if you write a letter."

" I should write him a letter and he will bring me presents?" she asks again

"Well, you have to be really really good too, " I say.

"OK, mommy, I will write Santa a lot of letters! I will write a I and an O and an S and a T and a..."

you get the idea : >)

Today we picked up our Christmas tree.  We had a fun morning at the farmers market, then headed to the lot with all the boy scout dads and a few boy scouts.  We visited this place last year, as they have lots and lots of trees to choose from.

The kids liked to run on the ground through all the trees, but we didn't let them.  When you're carrying a tree that is taller then you, its hard to see little things darting out in front of you.  So they helped us select trees.  Although, I think David just said, "That one!" for every tree we walked past.  We eventually selected a Douglas Fir that matches me in height.

We tied it to the top of the car on home we went.  The kids went down for naps, which gave me the opportunity to get the tree off the car, and trim the lower branches to leave room for all the goodies.

Then came the decorating part.  Now, as many of you know, the time it takes to decorate a tree rises in proportion to the number of children taking things off the tree.  So we pretty much spent the rest of the day applying ornaments.

Well Autumn is certainly here.  This weekend we got all bundled up, since we had a gust of the ol' north wind, and headed to the park.  Boy, was it still cold.  And all that wind blew most of the leaves from the trees.  Well, there's one thing we remember from childhood and cold autumn days.....

David is almost potty trained!! On December 4th, he just ran into the bathroom at the same time Isabelle went in to take care of her own business.  We have had a little training potty in the bathroom for a few months to get David used to it.  He's been sitting on it almost every night before bath time, but that's all he would do, sit.  Well, on Tuesday, he followed her in there, pulled down his pants AND took off his diaper, (which itself has been a whole new game of put-the-diaper-back-on-the-partly-naked-little-boy-as-he-runs-around-the-house,) and pee'd into the little potty!  After that we've been keeping him in underpants, and only diapers during night time and naps.  He's so proud of himself, and so are we.

Then he did himself one better, and went poop in the potty on Wednesday!

We still have a few accidents, maybe once a day, but he's really getting consistent about this little milestone.

Sorry, no pictures.  ;-)

Last weekend we took a trip to the railroad museum in Old Sacramento.  They were having a special train ride with Santa called "the Polar Express".  In reality, it was more of a leisurely run south along the river, but the kids, and most grown-ups loved it anyway.  
The museum brings out many of its classic restored rail cars from the 20's-50's, although not all are completely restored.  We didn't get to ride any of the real old (pre 1900) though.  But each car was unique nonetheless.  The kids had a blast!  Getting on a big train, pulled by an actual steam engine was almost all they could stand.  When we were waiting to board, the train pulled up, and you never saw so many fingers pointing and hearing so much "Look, look, look!"

The inside of the cars were also decorated with the usual holiday fare, and each car had a conductor which would point out some of the sites and history as we passed.  Then, of course, Santa came through.  He also had an entourage which provided a little light humor for the adults, and led everyone in a sing-along of a few Christmas jingles.  And the kids got a little present too, even if they didn't know what the guy in the big red suit was all about.

couple more...

Here are some pictures I took when John and David were playing around. I should have had the video going, but got some sweet still photos...

Here are some pictures from a dinner party with John's work group,

and a silly one of Isabelle

Happy Thanksgiving! This year we had a quiet day at home. John's sister and Mom came in the afternoon and spent the day with us, which is always a great treat for the kids! We did miss his other sister and brother-in-law, but it was good for the kids to have some one on one time and we were happy to get together with whomever could make it.




We had lots and lots of good food, but the kids were a little too excited to eat very much. After dinner and bath they settled down to read some books and get some quality cuddle time in.

Today I went to the grocery store to shop for Thanksgiving dinner. Taking both of the kids to the store is always an adventure and I have to time it just right to get out of there before David's patience and weariness (because he gets up at 5am every day) causes him to have a big scene at the store. So anyway, needed to buy lots of food and different than the usual list today, which required extra concentration and time so I needed a little leverage. I brought the raisins in a box and some cookies just in case and told the kids that if they were my big helpers while I shopped we could get a balloon at the end.

So all went well, aside from a little pushing in the stupid car cart, and they both got balloons. Very happy little kiddos... until on the way home David squeezed his balloon a little too much or something and, "POP!!!" no more balloon for him. Isabelle immediately goes into her mommy voice. "See David? That's why we don't squeeze our balloons like that 'cause then it pops, " and then mean Isabelle " I'm not going to share my balloon with you... you can't have my balloon."

"Isabelle" I said "you don't have to say that to him."
"But I don't want to share my balloon!"
"And I didn't ask you to and neither did he, but he's sad that his popped and it's not nice to say that you won't share, especially if he isn't even acting like he wants yours."

So we get home and I'm unloading all the groceries, and Isabelle is asking over and over if she can play 'ants in your pants, 'and for some reason, I've had to tell her 12 times to take off her jacket. So I get them all set up and they are playing happily when Isabelle walks over to David and says " I'm sorry I hurt your feelings David, here..." and hands her balloon to him.

My heart melted.

A few days ago we were out at a restaurant, and David was really interested in a lemon which came in our glass of water. So we gave him a slice to play with. He just couldn't stop biting it, and then making his face do all sorts of contortions and shakes. Then he'd smile at us and try another bite. The pictures are a little bit blurry, 'cause I was laughing so much.

Today we went for a quick trip to the Nut Tree Family Park! What fun that was!! The park is pretty small and just perfect for something to do outside on a nice day when you don't want to make it an all day ordeal of driving someplace and then not getting to see everything before you have to rush home for lunch and nap.



They have various rides there and unlike Traintown all but one could be ridden by both kids. We rode the carousel, which was a beautiful reproduction from an 1864 carousel in San Francisco... and it had all different kinds of animals on it and not just horses. Although Belle loves horses, so she rode horses both times we rode.



They had a little train there too that just cruised around the park. My favorite part was when you go through the tunnel and the bubble maker shoots bubbles at you. I think the kids liked that too.



We also rode Rescue vehicles, which are sort of like those rides you used to see outside supermarkets. I think they are still around, and now cost fifty cents instead of five or whatever they used to be. But these rescue vehicles were bright an shiny and had buttons to make authentic sounds and flashing lights! And instead of only being 3 on a turning base there were about 10. This also adds to the noisy fun! Very, very fun, unless you have a headache or a hang-over. We were fortunate enough not to have either one.



Isabelle and John rode the rollercoaster too. David was too small to ride, and I don't think he would have liked it. Isabelle said later that it went too fast and was scary. She's funny about these things though... she didn't seem traumatized by it or anything.



After this we went to a plcae close by to have pizza. They gave us 4 tickets for a free ride so we went back to ride the train. That was a good way to end the afternoon.

Halloween gets to be more fun every year!! Isabelle and David are old enough now that they like dressing up and are less afraid of the other costumes. This year Isabelle was a horse, or rather rode a horse since I couldn't find an actual horse costume; and David was a bear. (That was a costume Isabelle wore a couple years ago.)

We took them to daycare to party with their friends, who were also in costumes, and then they got picked up early from Grandma Jeanne and Dad to trick-or-treat downtown. Davis does a big downtown thing were all the stores hand out candy from about 1-5pm. It's great because they kids get to see a bunch of other costumes and they get candy. Candy is a relatively new treat in our house. The kids really like candy!


After trick-or treating we went home to have Chinese take-out for dinner and then out again to see some of our neighbors. We live in a pretty friendly neighborhood and also one with lots of other kids. Isabelle thought it was really neat to be out walking around at night!

Last weekend, we went to a bounce-house birthday party! It was great fun! The kids always take a little time to get used to all the people, but once they were warmed up... look out! They were bouncing maniacs! Isabelle was very concerned that there might not be cake. I asked her if that's her favorite part of birthdays and she agreed that it was!

I'm trying out a new layout for the blog. Let me know what you think.

It's animal imitation time at the Team Kirby household! Yes, Isabelle is trying to be a horse about 80% of her playtime, and a dog about 15%. That other 5% will be anything from mermaid to cat, with an occasional bird thrown in to give the shoulders a workout. David is having a good time pretending to be either a cat, dog, or bear! Grrrrr!

Speaking of animals, we went out to the pumpkin patch again, and went to the petting zoo. Isabelle has been saying since the last time that "when she's a grown-up she can hold a bunny all "mybyself" without your hand on top helping, mommy." She was so excited to hold a bunny, I think she was about to explode. She did eventually sit down without her fanny wiggling, and we got a nice white bunny out for her to hold. She was so good about holding it on her lap and petting it gently, but then the bunny would want to explore, and she hasn't mastered complete bunny restraint yet, which is OK, so we would pick the bunny back up and return to Isabelle's lap. She thought this was funny. David was eager to see the animals too, but he was a little too busy, and a little annoyed by the wind that day, so his visits were shorter. They were more of: pet pet, let go to grab hat and look around at who's making all that wind, bunny scurries away...

No tractor rides that day, as it was a windy day, and the wind kept the farmers busy fixing fences, and stacking haybales. :-(

Isabelle says some of the cutest and funniest things.

When she smells a distinctive aroma, horses perhaps, she takes a big nose full and says, "I smell like horses" instead of saying what stinks or I smell horses.

She has learned to say "What?!" as it would be said in disbelief or doubt. Which is pretty funny to hear, but what makes it really funny is when she just blurts it out completely out of context. "Isabelle, did you have a good day at daycare?"
"Whaaat!"
Or, "Honey, don't forget we need to get milk this afternoon."
"OK, I'll swing by after I pick up the kids."
"Whaaat!"

She's also picked up, "No way, Jose"

The other favorite thing I hear her say is a kind of phrase anagram. Instead of "I'll do it by myself." She says "I'll my byself!" But she says it so fast and so naturally that it's hard to notice unless you really listen.

David has a few little funny things too. He's become more independent about walking by himself, so now if we're carrying him and he wants down he'll say" Mamma get down, walk like big boy." He also likes to run everywhere, but has started to learn to check with us. He'll look at us and say "Da-did run fast" and if we say it's ok, he'll hand over his zebra (you can't get up to maximum speed carrying a zebra!) and off he goes!

He has a bit of urgency in his talking now too... as though he has so much to say in his little mind that his mouth can't say it fast enough. And if you don't pay attention when he calls he says, " Mommy, mommy, moooooommmeeeee"

Oh, and both of the kids say that everything tastes like chicken. "Mommy look I ate a bubble. Tastes like chicken" "Mommy, I'm a puppy and I licked you... tastes like chicken"

We're so proud.....

Last weekend we were feeling the chill of Autumn in the air. Or maybe it was the 15 tons of pumpkins outside the supermarket. In any case, we decided it was time to head out to a pumpkin patch. We had though about going to the same place we had been last year, but we were a little bit afraid of how Isabelle would like it. Last year, they had a great time, but as you might remember, Isabelle saw a monster on a shed just as we were leaving, and that's all we talked about for the rest of the weekend.

So this year I was looking a page about all the pumpkin patches around the county, and we thought we'd try a new one. We picked Impossible Acres, which is a farm just outside town. I don't know what the name means, maybe because the farm we visit is more of a fruit stand and small event area, that couldn't possibly grow all the fruit and veggies they sell. But they know we don't really want to see all the rows and rows of tomatoes, or corn, or whatever out at the farm proper.















And boy was it a good choice! They had a nice sized pumpkin patch, and then two additional great attractions for the kids. A petting zoo with lots of little animals to hold and pet, and a tractor ride around the farm. The farm also had a few other fun things around for the kids, such as a couple of hay bale stacks for climbing on, and one which had tunnels and a sky port, for lack of a better word, which was a vertical tunnel to the top. They had a hay bale maze for children, wheelbarrows for rides to and from the pumpkin patches or just fun kid rides.

The petting zoo was the most fun for Isabelle, and I think David had the most fun on the tractor rides. Yes, rides. There's no way we could get away with just one!