Christmas Tradition

One of our Christmas traditions is to walk into one of the most decked out Christmas stores we can find, and walk around until our eyes are glazed over and we can't take one more minute of holiday cheer.

A store where we can turn around every corner and find ornament displays that beckon us with their candy colors in every possible shape you can think of.


I want to eat them up they look so yummy. Maria and I took a picture of our selves in front of the poinsettia tree.

What am I going to do when the day comes that she maybe doesn't want to do this with mom anymore??

Every table top was covered in some sort of insane cuteness and holiday themed cheer. After only 30 minutes of being there, I think I was high on peppermint and fir. I was convinced I too could go home and create anything with a little moss, hot glue and poinsettia leaves.

I was also convinced that I could hang brightly colored garland ever so perfectly and come up with this:

Some things were just a bit ridiculous. How big of a tree would you need for this ornament?

Perhaps we should go with just one color, and make a winter wonderland out of our greenhouse...I mean living room, with snow owls and penguins.

We oohed and ahhed over every little item- especially the tiny villages.

By the end, we even thought the upside down tree, decorated in an aquatic theme was pretty. That's how brainwashed we were. Who doesn't need a pink metal flamingo at the base of their tree?

I can't even tell if there is a tree under all of these decorations:

But I do know what someone wants from Santa this year!

For her to NEVER get any older, for her to always think shopping with Mom is the bomb and for her to live in my pocket where we can go everywhere together.

Dear Diary (in pictures)

Dear Diary,

Please let Isabelle always want to hang out with me, because I don't think I can not have these moments with her. We had a sleepover together and watched Arrested Development and laughed until our sides hurt.






Dear Diary,

Today Maria's cat tried to swipe my legs out from under me while she was hiding in a cat bed. I don't think I have the patience for this animal. I am trying to find my receipt so I can go and get a refund.

Dear Diary,

Maria and I are reading The Help. I read out loud to her and change all the bad words. She thinks it is a great book. Wait until she goes to school and tells all her friends to read it. By the way, my Southern accent is coming along nicely. Sometimes it is hard to break out of, and I frequently find myself having conversations with Morrie where I am apparently still in the deep South. He is looking for his receipt on me.

Dear Diary,

This dog can't be any cuter.

'Nough said.

Dear Diary,

We hung up the kids artwork over our bed because we had such a big space to fill and nothing to fill it with. The picture right behind me with the bright blue background is a picture Maria drew of Morrie and I. We are super heroes, wearing capes. She drew it when she was 7. When she still thought we possessed super powers. I like to look at it and pretend she still thinks of us that way. Then I ponder what kind of super powers I would really like to have. Then Morrie walks in and sees me deep in thought and asks what I am doing and tell him I would like to be invisible and be able to transport myself places. Then he sighs and walks back out of the room.

Dear Diary,

I would like Five Guys Burgers and Fries in my kitchen. They are french fry nirvana.

Dear Diary,

When the girls and I have too much time on our hands...thing can get out of control.

Dear Diary,

Maria ran into her old gymnastics coach tonight at Isabelle's school. Maria and Nancy love each other. A lot. Nancy may be the single best coach I have ever seen in my life- across all sports. There isn't a more encouraging, loving, kind, and enthusiastic person out there. I think she wants Maria to come and live with her. Do you think she would take Maria's cat too?

I bet she would.

This Cat is W.E.I.R.D.

Maria's cat, Ming, is quite the character. She tries to balance on the back of chairs, hangs upside down from a railing, and generally causes trouble.

Does this remind anyone of the Princess and the Pea?



She thinks she can fit into any box that we have lying around. Sometimes I put an empty granola bar box on the floor just to see what she does. Then I giggle as she sticks her front legs in and can't figure out why her head can't fit as well.

It kind of seems like she wants to tryout for Cirque du Soleil.

I kid you not, she was just laying on the ladder here, hanging out if you will, having a rest. Waiting for something exciting to come along.

She is everywhere, all at once. Maria walks upstairs, and by the 3rd step, Ming is under her feet. We turn on the washing machine and before we can turn to grab the clothes, Ming is up on the edge, sticking her foot in the water. We try to take out the garbage, and before we know it, she is in the cabinet.

Once in a while, I get a little fed up with her antics. She is no cup of tea.

She thinks she's a cup of something, though...

Girls Night Out

A few weeks back, on a cold and windy night, the girls and I headed out for some coffee with our favorite barista, Cousin Sam. We looove us some Starbucks, and don't mind saying so. We were thrilled that when we walked in, as Sam was just going on her break.

This confused my girls.

Sam said she was going on her "lunch" and it was 8:00 at night. I told them to wake up and smell the hourly wages already. I remember when I had a job that was 5:30am-1:00 shifts and my "lunch" was at 9am. So we made Maria and Izzy scrub the floors and restock the coffee beans just for fun.

Then we had the most delicious drinks made for us.


Since Sam was on her "lunch" another barista helped us and let me tell you, this barista almost fainted when I told her I was taking pictures of the drinks for my blog. She couldn't believe that there were customers who appreciated how pretty the drink was and all her skill and knowledge that went into each creation. She was giddy with pride. I think she actually squealed at one point. I didn't have the heart to tell her that only 8 people read my blog.

My Izzy really really appreciates a White Mocha in all it's glory.

I wanted a picture of everyone drinking their coffee, but it's more like a picture of my girls shoving whip cream up their noses.

Until next time oh Starbucks. Our fondness for you knows no bounds.

Christmas Parties

We had two big parties to attend this year. The first required me to buy a new dress. I am not sure there is anything I hate more than shopping for a dress. Hence the reason I don't really have any. I had already attended 2 recent events where I should have bought a dress, and didn't, and ended up feeling a little less than spectacular.

Although I was dressed up for these previous events, I felt like I was wearing old sweats and a coffee stained hoodie when I stood next to my friends. I really didn't want to go through that again.

So I did what any normal mom would do. I went shopping and when I was down to 2 dresses...let's be honest, I could only find 2 dresses that even remotely fit and didn't look like I had on a sausage casing...I took some quick pictures with my phone and texted them to Isabelle. She and Maria then made the call on which dress was best. I can't be trusted with these types of things.

I think wearing flannel pants and an old t-shirt of Morrie's looks best.

There was extra pressure for this event- I can't believe I almost forgot to tell you! This same party last year is the one where I sat at an 8 person table with Kasey Keller, his wife, Adrian (General manager of the Sounders), and Morrie's cousins. It was awesome. It would have been even more awesome if I hadn't felt like a slob in my 10 year old skirt and lame sweater.

So this is what came together for this year's party.


Just when I was feeling it, Maria snapped this photo of Morrie and I. Hmmm...why do I look like some Amazonian woman here? Seriously- could my head be any bigger? I look like a cartoon character next to my cute husband.

Okay, it's too late to change. We will have to make the best of it.

We went to the party. The decor was superb, the food -from what I was told- was fantastic. We looked. We peered. We craned our necks. For over 3 hours, we didn't see Kasey Keller anywhere! We had told the girls we wouldn't be out late and before we knew it, it was time to go.

Heavy sigh.

We had great company, but no Kasey. We picked up the car from the valet and our night of fancy hob-knobbing was over. As we drove away, I kicked off my shoes, and maybe was a teeny tiny bit sad we didn't see him.

Ten minutes later, we were texted. Kasey had just arrived at the party.

DANG-IT! We kept on driving, because even though we didn't get to see him, we spent a great evening with family. We got to see one another dressed up- which we don't usually see- and had actual conversations without any children interrupting. I guess that's what the holidays are really about...

but I still wished we would have chatted with Kasey!

DANG-IT! I'm not over it yet.




A few weeks later we dressed up in a different kind of way. This involved fleece, lots of down, and many layers. I was very happy with this.

Morrie and Maria prepared for their first snowboarding lesson.

One of them is super stoked. The other is perhaps more worried about long term injuries and hazardous terrain.

Isabelle and I preferred to spend some quality time at the hot chocolate bar.

A what? Yes, a hot chocolate bar. With whipped cream, candies, mints, sauces, marshmellows, peppermint, sprinkles and more. It was delightful.

We did eventually make our way out to watch the snowboarders. Even though Isabelle is wearing 2 coats and a hat, she was still cold. I reminded her that we were actually in the mountains. I know we haven't hung out there a lot, but it is known for being a little more chilly than the city.

Her hands were so cold, she almost couldn't text.

Almost.

Luckily she came through okay and was able to keep her friends updated by the moment. It was a close one though.

Our 2 snowboarders survived the evening with smiles and we trudged back to the car with all of our gear. The kids fell asleep on the way home as we headed back to the lowlands.

Am I glad I wore a new dress? Yes. Am I more comfortable in layers of cotton, fleece, down and more down? Most definitely.

Oh Snap!

I wanted to share just ONE more story about our trip last weekend. I promise you this, it WON'T be sad.

Seriously.

Honest!


Why are you looking at me like that?


I was going to take a picture of Maria with the cove behind her, but I realized that the sun was behind her and I couldn't see her face in the picture at all. So I told her to move out of the way and I took a picture of just the water.

She may have been slightly offended.



After we parked on the front of the boat, we ran upstairs to watch the cars load on, just like we did when they were little.

Wouldn't you know, she thought it was just as fun as when she was little.


Did you see that car Dad? It was this long!

The people who work on the ferry and direct traffic are very good at puzzles. They know just how many cars will fit on, where to put the big trucks to balance the boat, and keep everyone moving.

Except for last Saturday.

They may have over estimated the amount of space they had left.

They squeeeeezed on one more pick up truck.




Just barley getting the safety net around the back and narrowly missing scratching up the truck when they were directing him to park.

But wait!

Oh Snap!

There is still one more truck waiting to get on. They had directed him all the way down the dock to the boat. Then they told him to back it up and get back in line!

Guess you can only sandwich so many pick ups on the back of a ferry boat.

The girls just loooved "watching the water" when they were tiny as the ferry moved away from the dock. They would watch the water swirl and turn white and make waves. Guess what?

This girl still enjoyed it!

(Dad, stop telling me to look at the mountains! I am looking at the water!!)

Time Travel

On Saturday we drove a few hours to a soccer game and as we took the long way back, we stopped by our old neighborhood. We lived in a very small town that was pretty rural. We were sandwiched between the Olympic mountains and the Puget Sound. Everywhere we went there seemed to be amazing views. This is where we lived from the time Maria was born and Izzy was 2 until Maria was 4 and Izzy was 6. It is where I was a stay at home mom and snuggled my girls close and listened as they said their first words. It is where I hung up a list of all the states in the kitchen and Morrie asked if we were running a preschool. It's where we had our first dog. It's where we listened to frogs croaking late at night and took walks in the woods and had the best neighbor friends we have ever had.

Just driving into the neighboring towns got me choked up. I wanted look down the street and see us driving our car in 2002 with giggling little girls singing along with Toddler Tunes (a CD we nearly wore out). I can still hear Izzy asking me questions in her sweet little high voice and Maria agreeing with everything her big sister said.

How am I not still with those little ones?


I never thought just driving by the old house would bring back such strong feelings. I remember every inch of that small house. The trees I painted on the walls, Sesame Street playing on the tv, the girls coloring at the kitchen table, and me cooking dinner in the smallest kitchen you can imagine.

I so badly wanted to walk up to that front door, nudge it open, and peek in on those girls and maybe sit down with them and play for a while.

This is the park where we would go to light off fireworks with all the neighbors on the fourth of July.

This view I probably saw a million times, getting ready to go visit the family on the other side of the water.



It was a lot to take in and absorb. I am not really ready to have the girls be so old and mature. I think I super enjoyed 18 month old Maria and 3 year old Izzy. I think I would like to have them over. I think I need a hug.

Sigh..

Sniff*

Can I just lay down on the sand and wake up in 2001?

Meanwhile, Morrie thought I was off my rocker and went to look at starfish with Maria.

Isabelle couldn't be with us that day as she had more pressing issues. Like hanging out with a bunch of other teenagers.

I really missed her. Really. I would have liked all 4 of us to have been together so she could share her memories with us. Maybe she could have held my hand.

As it was, Maria had to continually hug me and hold my hand everywhere we walked.

Where are these girls???

I need a tissue.

I think I know why some families just keep having kids.

Because if you don't, you will wind up curled up under your blankets moaning about how much you miss your babies. Then you teenager will roll her eyes and ask you to stop holding her so tightly and if she can go do her homework, or text someone, or do ANYTHING else. Then your almost 12 year old will get you a tissue and giggle because she thinks you are funny. She will ask to use your iphone flashlight app and blind you in the process. Then you will get up from under your heavy emotional blanket of memories and wonder if it will always hurt this much.

Yup, I think it will.

I will just keep my sunglasses on to hide my weeping and ask Morrie to hold me a little longer. Then I will probably tell him that I want the girls to live with us forever.

Fall

It was really cold this morning!! The dog even looked chilled, so we threw a blanket in the dryer and made her into a burrito.


Morrie and I went for a walk last week while Maria warmed up for her game, and the trees were amazing! What is even more amazing is that we took pictures with our phones the whole time and looked like the nerdiest couple ever.

EVER!

Maria runs into fall like you wouldn't believe.

There is no way I would look this stunning after running a race.

Can I have what they're drinking??




Turns out, if you hold your phone up to a kaleidoscope, and take a picture, it really works!

Turns out, if you miss 9/10 of your daughter's 9th grade soccer season, you will curl up in a ball and cry every night (she's in the back row on the right).

She really wanted her goalie to have the opportunity to play on the field for once. So before the last game, Izzy asked her coach if she could be in goal so her goalie could start the final game as forward.

Can someone get me a kleenex?