The Unbelievable Uncle Stu

Uncle Stu has been staying with us for the last six weeks, using our home as a base of operations as he situates himself in his new home. Six weeks is a long time, but only for poor Stu stuck in suburbia, for us it was easy to have him around. Uncle Stu, you are awesome in so many ways...

You're always up for a park picnic playdate.

You make an excellent morning resting place (and Zoe loves you above all others)


You make excellent (homemade, not Bisquik) pancake people.


You'll even give up watching Kentucky basketball for an afternoon of black light indoor miniature golf.

You trust this little girl with your iPhone,

...are excellent at fixing little girls' hair

and download princess games on your iPhone making it even more desirable.

And you spent hour upon hour designing the next edition of the blog book

a creative effort that we will have for years and years,
cementing our family memories in a beautiful hardback book.

Not to mention all the times you got up with the baby (when you had to share the same room with Jack over Christmas) and rocked him back to sleep (without waking me), and told me to "go shopping, have fun!" while you took the girls to the bounce house, and borrowed my car to run an errand and had it cleaned before bringing it back, and cooked dinner and washed the breakfast dishes and everything else!

Baby brother it was awesome to have you around, we'll miss you but are so excited that you and Jen are relocating to San Francisco (just a four hour drive away) now that your European adventure has come to an end. We'll get to see you so much more!!!

Back to Bloggin'

I don't know what it is about this month...but every January there is a bloggy lull. Maybe it's the difficulty of getting back into routine after such a busy and delicious holiday, or the sickness that always plagues our home around this time, or the massive NEA deadline that haunts the third week of the month. Maybe I'm just embracing the simplicity and blankness of the winter days and enjoying having nothing to say. I'm not sure the reason, but this blog is too quiet and I need to get it started again. Getting started again is the hardest part and we've got alot to catch up on before we can move forward.

At the beginning of the month, Yiayia and Poppop traveled around the Central Coast looking for places to retire. They are not sure where exactly they would like to settle down, after they sell their homes in snowy New York, but plan on living and renting in Bakersfield while taking weekend excursions to the Coast.

Which means we'll see alot more of these faces next year!

With just a a day or two in between to refresh the guest bedroom, MorMor flew in for a post-holiday visit. First stop was Fun Friday at Athena's school.

I informed Athena's teacher that MorMor was an artist so she was given the complicated project which involved painting little hands gold and cutting out heart shapes...whereas I was given the sticker activity.
Back at home even more art projects were enjoyed. MorMor has found a kindred spirit in Athena. Athena is not the type of child to sit still or really focus on something for a long period of time, unless it is art, then she can sit for hours.

Also in January we spent a day with very special friends from Kentucky who are on an amazing journey with their three little girls. I love this family and am so in awe of their remarkable adventure. Jill captured some great moments from our day. And totally understood how it was possible to bring one of your children to the park without shoes, and still be okay with it because two out of three of your children were fully clothed. It was beyond great to spend time with people who just get you...I hope their travels will find them back in this area again sometime!

Immediately after our shoeless park incident, and hopefully not related, little Dude was diagnosed with a double ear infection and bronchitis. His lungs were so funky and congested that he wasn't getting enough oxygen to his blood. His pediatrician prescribed an immediate nebulizer treatment in the office, which frankly was really scary, and then sent us home with our own nebulizer, requiring four treatments a day for a week. There will be no pictures of our little dude with his tiny oxygen emitting vapor because it would break his grandmothers heart. It was a rough week, we were concerned that it might be asthma related to the new kitty in our family, but thankfully it cleared up and his lungs are perfect again.

I took 312 pictures in January. This is one of them.

And here's another. 312 is nothing compare to the 1,200+ from the month before.

Still the chaos continues and the days tick by. Time is slipping away and I will get back to blogging if only to staple a few moments onto a virtual wall before they are lost forever.

Be back soon!

Some Assembly Required

Each time I counted the gifts in my closet and agonized over whether what the kids were getting would make Christmas "special enough" Chris reminded me: "They're getting a swing set and a kitten, no other gifts will matter."

Thanks to Baba and Nana, the kids got a faboo swing set this Christmas that is just the right size for our petit backyard. But as anyone who has ever had one of these things knows, it doesn't come preassembled.

The first step is lugging the 200 pound box (previously adorning my living room) outside. Luckily we had some muscle hanging around the house.

The instructions said it would take two men 6 to 12 hours to assemble, depending on their ability. This was Day One, Hour Two.

By the end of Day One it looked like this!

Day Two, Hour Ten.
Although it was an arduous chore, there is a small part of Chris that enjoyed it.

End of Day Two, Hour 14.
The guys completed the job just as the sun was going down.

The next morning we had two happy little girls and a yard that has been transformed into a playground. Perhaps next we can download some blueprints for a do-it-yourself playhouse or kids picnic table? Because how awesome would that be?

Comfort and Joy

Christmas if over until next year. The last of the chocolate treats have been eaten, the leftovers crowding the fridge have been tossed, the house is oddly quiet and I'm filled with a lovely warmth, tired but happy, and popping the buttons of my jeans.

It was an awesome Christmas, relaxed, easy and full of family and joy. Like the last two Christmases, my family came to us and the traditions were strengthened.

Just like the last two years, Yiayia made the traditional French Canadian Christmas Eve meal of Ragout and Tortierre.

Followed by a homemade Buche de Noel, which made Athena and Zoe lick their plates.

The table was set with the fancy silver, holiday tablecloth and homemade place cards.

Before dinner we went to the candlelight service at our church

then posed the little girls in front of the Christmas tree (the Dude wasn't having any part of it).

After a delicious meal and dessert, everyone was allowed one present. New jammies mostly.

And some personalized towels for Baba and Nana.

In their new Christmas PJs, the worn out girls left milk and cake for Santa and then didn't wake up until past 8 on Christmas morning. We got up at 6:15 to prepare for the morning and then waited around, drinking coffee, until the sun hit their rooms in the right way and they finally woke up.

We used the early hours of the morning to get to know the darling present Santa left.

Finally awake, the kids jumped on their Santa toys. Zoe just knew she was getting a kitten, she was certain of it as Santa had promised her last year, so there wasn't that much surprise on her part, just joy. Athena was thrilled with her Rapunzel dress and stuffed animals and the Dude would not let go of his Batman car.

Fresh, homemade cinnamon rolls were prepared while the kids played. Mmmm.
PopPop consumed some coffee (in his Christmas jammies).

But we couldn't linger too long as there were many, many presents to get to.

It took the better part of the morning to get through everything under the tree and we were all spoiled beyond belief.Lots of Giants gear, Tangled items, a swingset!!, wonderful clothes, princess stuff, Sing-a-ma-jigs, toy cars, etc...

But some special gifts outshadowed all others.

It was truly joyful celebration!
Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Totally 80's Outtakes

Totally 80's Christmas Music was the theme of our Christmas CD this year. We fashioned the minis like 80's rockers and attempted a group shot...which is, of course, impossible. I forgot about the chocolate trick! Instead I just barked orders to stay still and look at the camera and hold your brother and stop moving - which is always so effective. In the end we had to go for the trio collage cover, which worked out perfectly.

Next year, we'll have to have a back cover to include all the great pictures we didn't use.

Zoe says "Merry Christmas and Rock on!"