We did have very sad Christmas night, however. About 4 p.m., one of our cats, Loopy, started to seem very lethargic. Then her condition turned for the worse at bedtime for the kids. We had the kids come into our room to visit with Loopy as she lay on our bed, and had them say goodbye. We told them that Loopy's sickness was really bad, and that she wouldn't be with us in the morning. They knew that she was sick (myxosarcoma ), and they knew she was going to die, but they still didn't really understand what that meant. Isabelle understood it best, but David asked to see her in the morning after Christmas.

So anyway, Loopy faded away at our bedtime later that night.

Here it is, the Christmas post, with all it's present laden glory. Actually, there will be a second post of pictures I think.

We started the celebration a little early, after dinner on Wednesday night. We were informed by a little elf from Missouri that one certain box had some Christmas themed pajamas which would look great on Christmas morning. So we opened that up before baths, and the kids wore the warm flannel PJs to bed.

Then we had to get the cookies and carrots out on a plate for Santa and his reindeer. Done.

Onto Christmas morning. Thankfully, the kids slept until about 7:3. Then David came in, scooting into bed right next to Julie, and laid there for about 30 seconds. Then he jumped up and ran down the hall. THUMP THump thump went his feet on the floor. Followed shortly after with thump thuMP THUMP. "Mommy, Daddy, the cookies and carrots are gone!"

THUMP THump thump....thump thuMP THUMP. "And the stockings are full! Come on, get up!"


So we got up, and David was standing guard next to the Christmas tree, all jumpy and hoppy. Julie went in to wake Isabelle, who grunted, "I'm tired. I didn't sleep enough, but I guess I'll get up anyway." A few minutes later, she was up, and inspecting her stocking stuffers.

Then, of course, was the tree. Or should I say, all the pretty boxes under the tree, and tucked behind the couch arm a little bit? Sometimes, just ripping open presents is the best part. Sometimes, it the actual gift. Isabelle and david were very happy about this fine morning, and had some shortbread cookies as a pre-breakfast snack.

Later that morning, Grandma Jeanne, Aunt Susan, Uncle Greg and Aunt Joan came by for a Christmas brunch, and a whole lot more presents! And a whole lot more fun! David and Isabelle were great helpers at passing out all the presents for everyone. They were also very good at helping to tear apart more presents. And we never have enough batteries, but the kids still had lot of fun with the new toys, especially a talking dinosaur, and a set of mini 4X4s.

Isabelle made a great Gingerbread house in Kindergarten today! Actually, its a graham cracker house, but thats just semantics. She was so proud to show off her creation. And we are pretty proud of her too!


Now, where can we keep this away from tempted fingers and kitty-cat whiskers? (No, we're not gonna eat it all tonite!)




(I think one of us had a finger over the flash with that one picture)

David is a sucker for store displays. Every time we walk past a store or even an end-cap within a store, David finds something he needs. Or at least WANTS. Badly. Most of the evening after visiting a store, I am reminded of a train, or bear, or car, or candy bit he would like.
The funniest bit of 'reminding Dad' was the other day at dinner, when he mentioned he again wanted, "The train we saw at the farm store."
"Farm store?" I said. "Do you mean the farm we visited around Halloween?"
"No."
"Farmer's Market?"
"No."
Then he reminded me that we were there a day or two ago, and got some cleanser and some stuff for my work. Ohhh...The Pharmacy!
"Yea, Dad. Can I get that train?"



(p.s., we have like 8 trains, so he's not getting that one.)

We just got our Christmas tree, and it is up and shinning. We actually picked it up yesterday, but it was all wet as we have had a rain storm for a few days now. This is one is about 5' (150 cm) tall and maybe 3' (95 cm) round. And it was clearly cut down in August. At least, the number of needles on the floor of the garage, where I placed it to dry, would lead me to believe it was an early harvest. It didn't look so dry in the yard, but again, we had a rainstorm. Some of the other trees looked a bit worse.

I placed it in the corner after moving the couch over a bit, placed a couple strand s of lights on it (why do strings of lights always loose the ability to light up when they are placed in a box for 11 months? We have 5 sets, 3 work!) And when you have two kids with ornaments in hand, it sure takes a long time to string lights around a tree!


Eventually it got done, and hanging of ornaments commenced. For a while there, I thought all we really need to do for Christmas is bring out a tree and let the kids decorate. They loved doing it. And they really would have loved to decorate, and re-decorate, and re-decorate all night long! Then Isabelle and David wanted to take their favorite ornament, and bring it to their room to play with and admire. David wanted to play with a glass double-decker bus, Isabelle found a purplish glittery swan. We convinced them to keep everything on the tree, with the breakable stuff up and away from the reach of the daycare kids. So the tree is ready for the pretty boxes to go underneath!

David had his 4 year annual check up. 4 YEARS! Wow. He's doing great. He is very healthy, and David is also still above everything on the growth charts. He is such a brave and strong little boy, when he wants to be, as he had 4 shots at this visit. And not one whimper.

I brought Isabelle along too, so she could get a couple of vaccinations as well, for the H1N1 and seasonal flu. And I think she cried and fussed more before the actual shot then after! She also got a nasal version of the seasonal, and was just a little annoyed with that.


We stopped by a drive-thru Starbucks and the kids got a madeleine, which they love, and everything was OK, ....with David. Isabelle wasn't too quick to let this go, and as soon as we got home, she told Julie that she does not like getting shots AT ALL!

Ah yes, Thanksgiving! Our great American harvest festival. This year we headed down to my sisters for the local west coast family gathering. The morning started out pretty good. I think David slept most of the hight in his bed, so we were fairly well rested. And no one had any colds or flus! Yeaaa! After a lazy morning, we packed into the car, and headed off.
I had checked the traffic maps much of the morning, and it was going smooth, so I wasn't too worried about the holiday drive. But it looks like a lot of other people were thinking the same thing, as after about 10 minutes on the road, the slow down happened. I think it then took us about 40 minutes to go about 10 miles. And with no idea how much longer it was going to continue, it was time for an alternate route. Fortunately, we were right near the perfect exit for just such an excursion, so off we went.
This route was a smaller two lane road, with a few more bumps and twists in it, and after about 40 minutes, Isabelle informed us that she started to feel a little sick. After another 10 minutes or so, we were back on a highway, and zooming along, and Isabelle's belly settled down. The rest of the drive was uneventful. Whew!
Once we arrived at Joan's house, the kids were very happy to see everyone. And of course, everyone's happy to see everyone else too. This Thanksgiving confirmed a long running suspicion I have, there are never enough stove top burners, nor ovens. I think 8 burners are needed, and 3 ovens.

Isabelle is becoming quite the photographer. Every chance she sees to grab a camera and shoot until the battery is dead, she takes. We have lots of pictures of things up way too close, and lots of photos of book pages, but I guess she has to start somewhere.

Halloween! Yes, the kids had a great time. David was going to be either a bat or Batman, until he saw Isabelle dressed up as a cheetah a couple of days before Halloween. Then he wanted to be a big cat too. So luckily, we had another big cat costume from last year, and then we had two big cats with pumpkin shaped buckets, eager to know on some doors.


Grandma Jeanne came up again, and the kids were super happy about that. We headed out in the darkness, and started to knock on some doors, with a bit of trepidation. After a couple times of hearing and seeing the goods drop into their buckets, those fears waned, and we couldn't get to each house fast enough! A couple of times, David couldn't wait for the doors to open fast enough, and would knock, wait 15 seconds, then ring the bell, wait a few more seconds, and ring or knock again.


The other hard part was after we turned a corner onto a certain street. It was a fairly wide street, with lots of kids on it, and lots of houses with their Halloween decorations glowing brightly. We couldn't stay to just one side, and yet we didn't have enough time to go all the way down one side, then turn around and come back on the other side! So we zig zagged about one third of the way. Why only one third? Well, before we left, we asked the kids to go to the bathroom. I don't know if they did or not, since we don't stand in there with the kids. But both kids said they did. And off we went. It turns out, the bladder doesn't lie. So we had to make a quick detour home to take care of the business which may have been missed 30 minutes before.

In hindsight, it was probably a good time to head back anyway. They still wanted to do lots more trick or treating, but it was good to get off the road before the tired bizzies or fussy we-didn't-get-to-that-house whines.


After we got back home, Isabelle asked David to come over to the center of the living room, and they dumped out their loot to survey just what it was they were so happy about. They were very diligent about separating all the different types of candy, and even the chocolates amongst themselves.

Later that evening, just before bed, they played Trick-or-Treat with all sorts of things they grabbed in the house. One would go to the door, and knock, and the other would pretend to open a door, and the re-enactment continued for 15 minutes as they each took turns.

Gladly, they both slept very well, even staying in bed until 7:30. And even then, they just came in to our room and jumped on us. That was rather kind as they didn't wake up Grandma too soon, or jarringly.

David, smile for a picture....

Isabelle, smile for a picture...

Today was a return to the barn and pumpkin patch.
The kids have been asking to go since last weeks birthday activities. After a hearty pancake breakfast, we eventually got in the car and headed out.

Sidenote: Sometimes, as any parent will attest, simple things like getting ready to go out, can take an extraordinarily long time. I think it actually took us 40 minutes to have the kids get dressed, brush hair, and put on shoes and socks. Seriously!

So we get there, and there are about 200 people there! This place is getting too popular. But we got in and both David and Isabelle went right to the bunnies. Then after about 60 seconds, David was up and ready to move on. There are so many animals to pet ans things to do! I really thought he just had to pee, because of the little dance he was doin'. But he just wanted to move on and catch everything right now!

Isabelle loved holding the bunnies, and the baby kittens. I think in the first 45 minutes, she and I only saw those two pens, while David and Julie ran all the way around the farm, petting piglets, ducklings, goats, a pony, a cow, more ducklings, kittens, chics, and chickens. Eventually, we all got to see all the animals, and go on a tractor ride.


Then came a wheelbarrow and a trip to the pumpkin patch. Of course, both kids wanted to get all the biggest pumpkins they could hardly lift. Eventually, we convinced them to find good solid round pumpkins that would make a good face for when we carved them.
"Are we going to carve pumpkins, Daddy?"
"Yes, Isabelle."
jumping up and down and smiling lots...
"Well, you guys will draw the faces, but I'll probably do the only carving."
"Oh. Can we get this big white one?" says Isabelle.
"Put it in the wheelbarrow." I say.
We ended up not getting it, but I did get to haul it around the farm for a while first.

Then Isabelle saw one of those little tiny pumpkins, about the size of an orange. And she had to have it. So each of them got one of those little pumpkins. (pumpkinettes? pumpkinis? pumplet?) And we got two Mommy and Daddy sized ones, and two David and Isabelle sized ones.

Carving will commence later tonite.

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Now playing: Mixed by Chris Aidy - Welcome 2 My House Vol 29
via FoxyTunes

This weekend we had dueling birthday parties to attend. The first was at a mini amusement park called 'Funderland'. We were there early, and the kids wasted no time getting to all the rides and the roller coaster, again and again and again. Then there was the picnic lunch, which we ate in a bit of a hurry, as at the same time, birthday party number two was starting about 30 minutes away.



Sadly, we had to skip on the birthday cupcakes. (There was no way we were going to have two tired, hot, and sweaty kids in the car all amped up on frosting, with a little bit of cupcake and juice box to wash it down!) But we were at the second birthday site soon enough. This was at a place called Impossible Acres. There was a hay bale maze, hay bale pyramid with tunnels, regular climbing hay bale pyramids, hay bale animal pens for baby animals. Yeah, hay bales all around. We also went on a tractor ride. I know, not a hay ride, just a platform pulled behind a tractor. Kids still have fun. They had fun pointing out the occasional scarecrow or farm animal in the pasture as we meandered by.

Then came the birthday stuff: pizza, juice boxes, and cake! The kids also got to pick a 8" pumpkin which then decorated with Mr Potato head parts, which later turned out to be recalled items! Well, not exactly the brand we had, since ours were more of an animal design, and we now have two cat themed pumpkins in our front yard.

My favorite part of the day was when I asked the kids what their favorite parts of the day was, and Isabelle said'' "holding the bunnies."

Kids at the ArtBeast in Sacramento:

One year gone, and I thought I'd update this blog again. There is no way I can cover everything we've done in the last year, but here are some highlights.

Isabelle has started kindergarten! Yeah, she's 5, and did pretty well at preschool. She really enjoys kindergarten. They do lots of singing and movements and of course the random art project. She's learning the alphabet, or relearning it actually, with a big interactive mode called zoophonics. http://www.zoo-phonics.com/ One night last week, Isabelle, and her class mostly, put on a show as they all sang a song and did hand guestures matching the letter/animal. They also performed a good morning song and a couple of interactive social greeting songs. Then came the finger food and play time outside. That got David very excited to go to kindergarten next year!

Speaking of David, he is now in preschool, which he started during the summer, and he loves it. I think he mostly plays on the swings, but every now and then he brings home some art that he made or tells us about story time. We're waiting to see what activities he gets involved in during the rainy season.



The kids are continuing their swim lessons, and doing very well. Isabelle is in level 4 of 10. ( 10 is equal to competitive swimming) She's swimming freestyle over 15 feet (4.5 m), jumps in, and can reach to the bottom of the pool to grab toys. She also swims on her back, and is currently learning to do an 'otter' roll. David can also swim 15 ft, when he really wants to, and is learning to swim on his back. He's prety good, but not quite at the level that he can do both by himself. David gets SOOOOO excited just to be in the pool, sometimes he just splashes and jumps around wih his classmates so that no lessons are taught, nor practiced. Davis is at a level 3, which is kinda a really dangerous level, as he'll jump right in a pool, but then only be able to swim a few feet before needing help.



We've moved to a new house, which is a bit bigger, and has a better layout. We're also right next door to a park. Unfortunatley, David has had a bad dream with something being right outside his window, and he now has frequent dreams about that same topic. Anyone have any ideas how to help kids get over recurring scary thoughts?