Snow day!

Weather here is generally pretty mild--slightly colder in the winter and a bit warmer (and more humid) in the summer than the Bay Area. Snow isn't as rare, but still big news. Last night, we only got 3 inches, but apparently that's the most this area has seen in 6 years.





















It was enough to close schools and offices, and since not all the roadways would be cleared, I decided we'd just hang out here all morning. Mabes was so excited to play in snow for the first time that she tried run outside before breakfast, insisting she wasn't hungry.





















She forced down a pancake, and protested the layers of clothes I insisted she wear, but then we were on our way out.





















We spent the morning running around and playing in the snow. When we were too cold and wet to stay outside, we came in for some warm chocolate (Mabes doesn't like hot chocolate) and watched the inauguration.
I'd like to say that Mabes understood the gravity and historical significance of the day, but I think she tuned most of it out as she sat next to me with her crayons and coloring books. Every once in a while, she'd look up and point out the White House, Capitol building, Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial ("where I missed Rocket"), and I'm glad the few short days we had in DC made such a big impression on her. The political side of me is trying to instill in her a respect for our country, our democracy, the office of the President, and the hope that so many throughout our country and throughout the world are celebrating today. The realistic side of me says, "she's three. The highlight of her day was the marshmallows in her warm chocolate." I hope that she remembers more than that. If nothing else, she may just remember the fun she had and think that "inauguration" is a fancy word for snow day.

Merry Christmas to me!

After 4 1/2 years (and seeing Laura's new camera), I decided I really wanted a new camera. So I started looking, reading, researching, and checking Slickdeals about 18 times a day. The model I wanted is a few months old, and since Canon should be releasing new cameras soon, I figured I could get it for $150. The best prices, at Amazon and Costco.com, were in the $180 range, so I was just biding my time, waiting to jump on a great deal.

Yesterday, Mabes and I went to Costco with some friends (sad, I know, socializing while loading up on bulk food--this is my life) and saw the camera--$184. Fine. Last night, Dave, Mabes, and I went to a different Costco (two Costco trips in one day--even sadder) and I decided to check the camera price--$99. WHAAAAA? Dave checks his blackberry and sure enough, Amazon and Costco.com still list it as $182 and $185. This has to be a price mistake, right? Nope. That's the price. I learned that they had gotten two different SD790s; one came with a 2 GB memory card and one just came with the standard 32 mb (? whatever 10 pictures is!). They had a ton more without the 2 GB card and were clearing them out, but if I really wanted the bigger card, I could pay $184 for it. No thank you.

I'm a little sad to say good-bye to my first digital camera, the camera that captured a trip to Hawaii, a cruise, my pregnancy, and the first 3 1/2 years of Em's life. Out with the old:




And in with the new:

It's been good, but it's time to move on. The new one is tiny and light and can easily fit in my purse and not feel like a brick. And the screen is huge!

So thank you, Moom and Pappy--I had decided to use some of the Christmas money for a "fun" present before I use it for something practical (like a new carseat--I won't blog about that, though). I'll be posting pics from the new camera soon; I need to get a bigger memory card, though! I'm thinking all the fancy features will be great in capturing Mabes' crazy antics. And seriously, I don't know if many other Costcos have this deal, but if anyone is looking for a sweet deal on a Canon 790, I'd be happy to go back and pick one up for you. $99.97+tax+shipping+churro. (Consider it a $1 convenience fee.)

How I spent my Christmas vacation...

Summary (because this could get long and let's face it, you're here for the Mabes pictures): My family is awesome. We had a great Christmas in California with my whole family under one (newer and bigger!) roof. I was telling Mabes this morning that Grandma was sad now that almost everyone has gone home and her house is too quiet. Mabes said "Don't worry! We will hop on the plane and see her and make her house loud again!" Unfortunately, I think Louie is still tired from all the chasing, so we'll have to wait a while until we make Grandma's house loud again.

It started with a direct cross-country flight with a strong headwind, so that was a loooong 6 hours. Mabes did well, though, and as we got off the plane, one of the flight attendants said to her "I never even saw you! You must have slept the whole time!" Heh, not exactly. I think that's more commentary on the other kids on the flight--but as long as it's not my kid, I'm happy. Her only freak out was as we were landing. She looked out the window and was suddenly panic stricken. I told her we were just landing, we'd be down in a minute. She starts yelling "No! Don't land! Up! UUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPPPP!" while raising her eyebrows, head, and hands, as if they somehow controlled the plane. "We're going to land on water! We can't land on water!!!" Now, I agree--one of the worst things about landing at SFO is that you fly in over the Bay and can't see the runway until right before touching down. This can be a little disconcerting, and I had no idea that Mabes would notice this, especially in the dark. She cheered when she saw the runway, though, and practically ran through the airport until we saw Becca and my parents waiting at baggage claim. She was very excited to see them.

We were there for 10 days and spent most of the time eating, talking, playing games, eating, hot tubbing, eating, laughing, and eating popcorn (Pappy's popcorn deserves special mention--it's not "just" eating). The highlights, as a photo essay:

Christmas Eve, with Becca, Krissy, and Laura. Mabes was wearing an adorable, festive Christmas dress but insisted on covering it up with a mumu. She loved the crown from the Christmas crackers, though. I'm sure when she gets around to it, Laura will post the food pics. The prime rib was fabulous and surprisingly easy (easy in that I just watched my mom do it, but it seemed pretty fool-proof and simple, especially compared with my stupid potatoes that refused to cook).


Mabes opening the traditional Christmas Eve pajamas. She asked for a hippopatamus for Christmas, and since we don't exactly have the space for one, hippo pajamas and these princess pj's were an acceptable substitute.

Christmas morning: Mabes is quite pleased with her new tutu.

Mabes opens ballet slippers, while Jeff makes no attempt to disguise his boredom.

A Cinderella dress!

And she quickly figures out how to wear both the Cinderella dress and tutu. My dad is betting that she's the only 3-year-old who got a Cinderella dress, tutu, and Lincoln Logs for Christmas. He very well may be right.

Mabes kicks up her heels in her new tutu and ballet slippers.

Making cookies with the cousins and Grandma. Em had a hard time learning to gently roll the cookies in the cinnamon sugar--those poor cookie dough balls were the rabbits to Mabes' Lenny. We managed to save them, though.

One of the highlights of the trip was Aunt Nancy's birthday celebration: we went to the Castro Theater in San Francisco for the Sing Along Sound Of Music. Not only was everyone encouraged to sing along (they had the words on screen for those who may not have all the songs memorized), but we were also encouraged to hiss for the Baronness, cheer for Maria and Captain Von Trapp, awwww for Gretel, and just yell out whatever you wanted. It was like watching a live version of MST3K--it was hilarious. If they did a Sing Along Slipper and the Rose, I would probably have to fly out for it.























While we were doing that, my mom and Sarah babysat the kids and kept them entertained with Wii Fit. Em needed some assistance with hula hooping, and she and Dono really didn't get the idea of running in place. Sarah helped them out, though. (Yes, Em's wearing a nightgown over her dress. Why wear just one dress when you can wear an even longer one over it?)


My parents' new backyard has a brick sidewalk going around the yard. My dad figured this would be the perfect Big Wheel track for the grandkids, and sure enough, Santa brought one for them to share. It's also big and long enough for Jeff to rollerblade around. One minute, Jeff was rollerblading around the backyard, Dono chasing him on the Big Wheel, Mabes was chasing him, and we were inside talking (and eating and laughing) and then I look out and see this:

Jeff later admitted that when I came running out, he thought I was going to yell at him, not take pictures. That was actually my first thought, but then I figured taking pictures would be more fun. And Em loved flying around the yard.

And a bunch more pictures:

A couple of times throughout the week, I had a flashback to sitting in Primary singing "Families Can Be Together Forever," and thinking, "That's great and all, but f-o-r-e-v-e-r?!?! That'll get old, right?" But now I'm thinking I really couldn't find a better group to spend the eternities with. Lots of laughter, some tears, good talks, and plenty of hugs--perfect.

Strange little girl...

Quiet Time recently has consisted of Mabes dressing up and either dancing to The Nutcracker or re-enacting Cinderella. Who knew she'd be such a girly girl? Up until 2 months ago, I thought I had a total tomboy. But after ballerinas or princesses get boring, she plays trains, builds things, reads books, etc., and comes out every so often to tell me what she's doing.

Last week, Mabes comes running into the family room. "Mommy! I found a bucket!" Yeah, I know, it's been there for a while--go back to your room. "I made a bucket like the man at Hee Teeter!" (Harris Teeter, our grocery store, for the non-Southerners) Uh-huh, great! Go back to your room. "I need a bell."

Sensing that I wasn't giving her my full attention, she brought this out:
"See, I need a bell. And you can give me money and I will say 'Meeeeeeerry Christmas!' and I will DANCE!" (Our Salvation Army guy is very enthusiastic.) Interesting. Some kids play doctor, some kids play school or house. My kid plays Salvation Army Bell Ringer.

And because it makes me laugh:

(she's a very serious, somber child)

Rah-rah-rah for Rocket!

When Laura came to visit last May, she warned me that she had a present for Mabes, assuming it would fit in her suitcase. It did (only after taking it to work with her, right Bora?), and Mabes was delighted with her new giant plush Rocket from Little Einsteins. She had a blast with him for the next couple of days, but after that, it just sat on the chair as more of a decoration than a toy.

In the last few months, however, Rocket has become one of her favorite toys and her best friend during quiet time. She talks to him. She plays hide-and-seek with him. They have quite loud conversations, and it sounds like they re-enact her favorite episodes of Little Einsteins during quiet time. Still, I didn't understand her level of attachment until our last night in DC.

Like most nights, she asked "what's going to be tomorrow?" I told her Thursday, and she asked what we'd do. "Well, we'll go to a museum in the morning to see dinosaurs, and then we're going to drive for a while in the car, and then we'll be home." She thought for a minute, "Not the hotel house? But Mabes' house? My green house?" Yes, is that alright? "Yeah, I need to go home, because I miss Rocket." Really? Okaaaaay...

The next morning, as I was getting ready, she decided she needed to make some phone calls, so I unplugged the phone and let her have at it. First, she called the "man at the restaurant" and told him to make us some breakfast. We'd come get it soon. Then she decided she was going to call all her toys at home and tell them she missed them and was coming home. And then she needed to talk to just Rocket for a while. They had a heart-to-heart and she was fine the rest of the morning. The whole drive home, she talked about how much she missed her toys, especially Rocket. When we walked in the apartment, I asked her if she was going to go see Rocket. She slowly walked to her room and peeked in, with that shy "I know I like you and I'm happy to see you but I'm going to play coy for a minute" act that she does with family members she hasn't seen in a while. But this is a stuffed toy. She got over it, greeted all her toys, and was happily playing with them and everything is back to normal. To this day, we can't talk about our trip to Washington or see a picture of the Capitol or Washington Monument without her mentioning that that was when she missed Rocket.

I'm kind of nervous about our trip next week. Considering baggage fees, luggage space will be at a premium so Rocket will not be going with us. (Unless of course he flies himself.) I'm hoping she'll be too distracted by family members to notice Rocket's absence, but fam: if she starts whining about missing Rocket, you'll know why. Blame Laura.

Sunday

On Saturday, Mabes got two packages in the mail: a new Christmas dress and sweater/skirt combo from Aunt Nancy and my mom (aka her fashion benefactors), respectively. People at church often comment on how well-dressed Mabes is, and I'm sure they think I spend a small fortune on her wardrobe. But the truth is, thanks to gifts like these and Ainsleigh's hand-me-downs, I have purchased very few dresses for Mabes.

I tried my best to get a decent picture, but Mabes was in an uncooperative mood. The best are:

Too bright, though that pose was completely uncoached

or

Forced smile with crazy bright background.

I just got Photoshop Elements as an early Christmas gift, so maybe someday I'll figure out how to fix the background. Or just crop her out and put her on a beach in Kauai for funsies.

And because I don't learn, I decided to try again after church, when Mabes has a permanent Louie-like buzz until bedtime (though she paused briefly to give me the stink-eye):















Mabes was particularly excited about having a new dress, since Sunday marked the start of the Nursery-to-Primary transition. Though she won't be with the big kids full-time until January, this month, all the incoming Sunbeams get to go in to Primary for Singing Time. We had prepped her pretty well, so by the time the big day arrived, Mabes proved the naysayer ("I can't believe she's going to Primary--she's crazy in nursery and is always playing and running around!" Yeah, well that's because it's nursery, and they expect them to play and run around.) wrong.

When they brought in Mabes' class, the primary kids were sitting in a big circle and singing "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam." They led them to chairs in the middle of the circle, and when Mabes realized they were singing for her, she abandoned her reverent arms-folded-walk in favor of a huge grin and Miss America wave. She did a great job of sitting still, though later reported that she didn't know the song and therefore wasn't able to sing. I don't think they sing "Give Said the Little Stream" anymore--we'll have to work on newer songs.

If the rock fits...

As we were walking out to the car yesterday, Mabes found a rock that she had to take in the car with us. "It's my magic rock!" I wasn't sure what was so magical about the raisin-sized pebble, but hey, she likes to hold random things in the car so why object?

We got in the car and I called my mom (with my bluetooth, so it's safer, right?) to tell her about holiday plans. We were talking for all of 5 minutes when Mabes starts yelling, "My nose! My nose! My magic rock is stuck in my nose!" Oh you're kidding me. I know there comes a time when kids discover that their nostrils seem to be the perfect size for many things, but why? Thankfully, my mom was already on the phone and could hear the mayhem in the background. "You'll need tweezers," she responded with a matter-of-fact, been-there-done-that tone. I quickly got off the phone with her so I could pull over and deal with Mabes.

As luck would have it, the first place I could pull over was the park. As soon as we pulled in, Mabes gets really excited and starts saying, "Park! We're going to go to the park! I want to swing and slide and run!" Sorry, Mabes, you stuck a rock up your nose. You can't swing with a rock up your nose. I jumped in the backseat with her to see if I could get it out. Nope, too high up. She sneezed a couple of times, and even with me covering the other nostril, the rock wouldn't budge. So we headed back home for tweezers, with Mabes upset about the no-playing-with-foreign-objects-up-your-nose rule. Then I hear, "Yaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy! My magic rock jumped out of my nose!" I turned around to see a beaming Mabes pointing to an empty nostril. "The rock is gone! Now we can go to the park!" Well played, Mabes.

We went to the park. It hadn't been part of my plans, but since the only objection I had given was the rock up the nose, I figured we could squeeze in a quick trip. And then I promptly called Sarah, only to find out that I'm in for all sorts of things-up-the-nose fun, and that a 3-year-old's nose can apparently also hold several peas.