Picture Time

Yep, K&A got thier pics taken at the local photo place. It's amazing how a child's smile can cover-up pretty much any naughty crimes of late.

Speaking of late, I have been working late too much. Time to take a break, cmon' holidays, hurry up!

First Tree

Tis' a a year for many holiday firsts for us. You are now looking at our very first Christmas tree! We spent the day yesterday listening to holiday music, putting up the tree, hanging lights and decorations, and getting well into the holiday spirit. I continue to develop thankful appreciation for the women in the family that hold onto things like ornaments and keepsakes. I was quite surprised at the amount of ornaments that we had dating back to the early '70s. All this nostalgia had me looking at my house with a little more value, things felt a little more like home than they have before.

Elf'd

OK, this was too funny not to do...

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9592478060

(Thanks Mike & Rachel for this!)

Thanksgiving

I realize this is more of a Halloween pic than a Thanksgiving pic, but around here, every day is Halloween. This is how we spent Thanksgiving, with some good friends, a lot of turkey, and about 20 wardrobe changes from the dress-up box. It was our first Thankgiving here at home by the way! Jen worked real hard to make our first feast a memorable one, and I must admit, she did an amazing job. Turkey with all the trimmings, and we even got to use our china that we got at our wedding.... (First time ever lol.)

Hardly Working

Katie has become increasingly interested in having her own 'work area' so she can color and cut-out things. She sees me working from home sometimes and I think she wants to replicate the 'importance' of having personal space when she is concentrating on something. (I think she just likes the idea of having a work space that guarantees some level of "you can't interrupt me, I'm busy working") I guess I need to think a little more about the impact of saying that to my kids when I am working at home...

So when Nana offered this little roll-top desk, it seemed like a great fit for Katies needs. She really gets into her coloring and crafts and especially loves her new desk. Thanks nana! This is nana's desk from when she was a littel girl, and was also used by TL and your's truly.

We were up in SB this weekemd. Got to see Nana, Papa, and Great Grandma. Highlights: Natural History Museum, Dinner and Woody's, and Ice Cream and McConnel's.

My favority mispronounced word of the week: Andy saying "Aliens", pronounced "LAY-LIE-ENS".

Oh one last quick story, tonight I'm giving the kids a bath. Katie says, "Andrew, pretend you are a boy in ballet and put your arms like this..." (She poses like a ballerina while sitting in the tub.)

(Andy looks at her confused and then his eyes get big as a new idea enters his brain...) Andy replies, "No Katie, pretend I have a lightsaber, and it's stuck in my back and I'm dead."

Charades

Tonight:

Me: "Hey guys, lets play Charades. It's where you pretend to be something and we guess until someone guesses right."

Kids: "Yay!"

Me: "OK, I'll go first..." (Pretends to be an Elephant)

Andy: "Erua-phunt!"

Me: "That's right, OK your turn Andy."

Andy: (Thinks for a few seconds, then takes the center stage of the living room.)

Andy: "I'm a Lion, RRRRAAAAAAWR!!!"

Me: "Ummm, a LION!?!"

Andy: Yeah!!!

Katie: (Whispers in my ear giggling) "Daddy, Andrew dosen't listen very well."

Sing Sing

Today, Katie had a special Thanksgiving Pageant at her school. She sang 3 songs with her class for the parents to enjoy. I swear I'm not being one of those parents that thinks their kids is the best when I say, "she really was the best". No really! (To be honest, I can't say with any certainty that there were any other kids in the pageant, as I spent the entire time watching Kate and taking pictures.)

Unrelated story: On the way home, Andy said something funny:

Andy: "Dad, Obee Wun Kenobeee is a good guy and Genwal Greee-vus is a bad guy right?"

Me: That's right.

Andy: "But sometimes Obee Wun Kenobeee cares for Genwal Greee-vus."

Me: "What?"

Andy: "He takes care of him"

Me: "What are you talking about?"

Then I realized that Andy had taken the dialogue in the movie too literally... At one point Obi Wan says, "I'll take care of General Grevious". Classic.

You are never too old to be a Jedi...

Grandma Kari came to visit recently and help us out with Halloween. (Anyone who knows Kari, knows that Halloween is one of her favorite days of the year) and she helped us make the most of it. In addition to giving mommy and daddy extra rest during the week (which we really really appreciate!) Kari was all over the decorations, sweets, and costume preparations -- and especially the all important light saber training exercises.

We also picked up Star Wars Episode 1 this week. Katie got a little bored with it after Queen Amadala stopped showing up with her fancy costumes, but Andy was riveted throughout the entire show. He is at that age where he is constantly asking questions during the movie to where I can't even follow what is going on due to all the inquisitions...

"Is he a bad guy?"
"Is she a bad guy?"
"Are they bad guys?"
"Is dat a good guy?"
"Is dat Jen-Wal Greeeee-vus?"
"Is dat Obeee Wun Kenobeee Daddy?"
"Where is Luke?"
"Ann-I-Kun is Darth Vader right daddy? But hes not a bad guy yet right?"

Where the Sidewalk Ends

We dug out the ol' Shel Silverstein Where the Sidewalk Ends book this week. We had read some of the poems to Katie when she was younger, but Andy had not yet heard them. The book has been quite a hit with the kids, especially "Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too". Andy finds the concept of three guys in a flying shoe so hysterical that he cant stop giggling for about 15 minutes after the story has been read. This incites some mania in Katie as well, and is making the whole bedtime story reading experience more than a little rambunctious.

The kids usually select the stories/poems based on the pictures along side. Some of the pages however, don't have any pictures. I was flipping through these overlooked pages after the kids went to bed, and noticed one poem that resonated with me, and made me feel a little younger than I normally do each day, and I thought I would share it with you all...

Where the Sidewalk Ends

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

Comfortable with her PC

Katie has a laptop in our home office that she uses to visit various kid sites. She really enjoys the interactive element and is able to navigate all over a site and play games, etc. It's interesting considering she can't read yet, but the 'intuitive' elements of the internet are a language that she completely understands. She spends a lot of time at PBS Kids and at the Barbie site.

This picture was taken on Sunday (Game day as can be see from the Charger Jersey), I guess Katie got a little bored with the game and decided to check-out on me. She did inspire me later on when she came out to watch the second half. Andy was still napping and the Chargers we losing at that point... Katie decided that if she ALSO wore Andy's jersey that she would be showing extra spirit and that it would help the Chargers win. So, she put on 2 jerseys, one of top of the other. Sadly, her rallying effort was not enough to prevent the Vikings from clobbering the Bolts at the end of the day. :)

Encore

Well, since I had so many nice comments about Katie's costume, I thought I would post a little encore. Here is a second shot where she is pretending she just lost her glass slipper (notice the expression and the shoelessness.)

Beauty and the Sith

Here they are, Darth Vader and Cinderella. We sure had a fun time trick-or-treating last night. I was surprised at how into-it Andy got. This is the first year where he really grasped the concept of Halloween. He was CHARGING from house to house and did not want to stop, even after completely filling his candy bucket with goodies. Needless to say, we got tons of treats, and must have visited at least 30 houses. Fun fun fun.