Twinners

For my 4th birthday, my very clever Aunt Alyce went to Goodwill, purchased a few random articles of clothing, jewelry, a purse, a hat, and shoes, and wrapped them up in a decorated box. Genius! Those dress-ups survived all 6 of us kids (because let's face it, both brothers were occasionally dressed as girls--it's what sisters do), and at some point my mom separated them from the mess of old dance and Halloween costumes and put them in a box for me. Yesterday, that box arrived and Mabes was thrilled.
























I'd ask you to guess who is who, but I think it's pretty obvious. And if not, the lovely late 70s/early 80s linoleum is a dead giveaway.


I'd love to know how much Aunt Alyce paid for those dress-ups in 1983, and if she knew just how much use that gift would get. Even after all these years and so many uses, everything is in surprisingly good condition. And I'd love to know if the lady who sent the 1970s purple pettipants to Goodwill ever thought they'd still be getting use in 2009.

Suggestions

Apparently I'm a creature of habit, and those around me are picking up on it. And making suggestions. Specifically, Mabes:

It rained yesterday, and I love rain. As I was buckling Mabes into her carseat, Mabes said "It's raining today...maybe the sun will come out tomorrow and dry up the rain and then I'll be happy." You don't like the rain, Mabes? "No. I like sun. I like to run and jump and play in the warm sun!" And sure enough, the sun came out today, and left me pining for Oregon winters. At the end of the constant 6 month drizzle, I was ready for the sun to come out in May, but come October, I was ready for clouds and fog and rain again.

So as we were driving home, Mabes was still disgusted with the rain, and I was still enjoying it. Suddenly, Mabes brightened. "Hey, I have an idea! We can make chocolate chip cookies!" I laughed, wondering if she had picked up on the pattern. "Oh really, why do you say that?" I asked.

"Because it's raining, and we make chocolate chip cookies when it rains!"

For those that aren't aware, it's a sort of family tradition to make chocolate chip cookies when it rains. My mom does it, and I think some of her sisters do, too. Maybe that's why I like rain so much--I'd be at school, it would rain, and I'd know there was a good chance there would be fresh chocolate chip cookies waiting for me when I got home. It's a tradition (or Pavlovian response) that has stayed with me, and gave my KitchenAid quite the workout after 2 1/2 years in Oregon. There are few things better than rainy days and fresh cookies, so even if she hates the rain, I'm glad Mabes has already seen the connection. Maybe she won't complain next time.

And my Tivo:

We've had our Tivo for over 5 1/2 years now. We love it and treat it like a member of the family (almost), we've converted many friends to Tivo, and it has recorded I don't know how many hundreds of hours of shows for us. It knows us. Tivo has a "suggestions" feature that records shows it thinks you may like based on what you typically record. Tivo has picked up some interesting documentaries, TV shows, news programs, and even a few movies that we've ended up watching and thought, "Hey, our Tivo really does know us!"

So imagine my confusion when I turn on my TV and see this:

Seriously, Tivo? Jerry Springer? While we don't watch any of the other shows listed, based on what we normally watch, I can see how Tivo would say those are similar. But Jerry Springer? My heavens, if I didn't know any better, I'd think my Tivo was making a joke. Perhaps after all these years, it feels like we have reached a level of comfort where it can mock me. I'll admit to watching trashy TV--maybe since I stopped recording The Bachelor*, Tivo felt it needed to compensate for the lack of trash on its hard drive. But come on, Bachelor is nowhere near Jerry Springer.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little embarrassed by how my Tivo has judged me.


*Since Bachelor conflicts with 24 and I don't have a dual tuner, we of course tivo 24. I can watch Bachelor online.

Fiesta!

There's a Latin American-themed shopping center here with the most ridiculously huge playland I've ever seen. It's fantastic. Dave takes Mabes in to play, and I get to sit and read or just watch. Once she's tired out, we head to the food court for some fantastic Mexican food. I always get a steak quesadilla because they are perhaps the best quesadillas I've ever had, so why mess with a good thing? Dave branches out and tries something new each time, because apparently quesadillas are too gringo for him.






















Above left: The massive play structure. Above right: Dave and Em, many levels up. Below: Dave and Em race down the slide. She won.

We finished our evening with a stop at the Churro Station and got a Nutella-filled churro. I would have taken pictures, but I didn't want to get Nutella all over my camera. The churro was delicious, though.

And Mabes is still dancing up a storm. She's worn a hole in her new ballet shoes, and her "leoturd" (totally her pronunciation!) is the first thing she puts on in the morning or when we get home from running errands. She'd wear it all day if I let her. Dave decided that perhaps she should have more variety in dance styles, so he introduced her to the Jarabe Tapatio, a.k.a. the Mexican Hat Dance. She loves it, and fortunately already has the skirt for it. Here she is, dancing along to a youtube clip:

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)