Christmas Party #1 - Dutch Style

After leaving San Luis Obispo early Saturday morning, we were able to make it down to San Diego by early afternoon. Linda, the incredible hostess-with-the-mostess, planned a small Christmas party for that evening, with a few of her friends. A few of her friends were Dutch, so there was a lot of conversations that I was lost during, but I was not lost during fun games!!

I have no idea what this game was called but it was very similar to skeeball, or maybe shuffleboard. I have never been on a cruise, so I have no idea how shuffleboard is played, but apparently it is similar.

The goal is to get the little pucks through the "goals." There are a few more rules, but its not important. The game was handmade by one of Linda's friends and it was SO MUCH FUN. There was a lot of laughing and shouting and Luke not sleeping. Surprisingly, I was not too bad at it!


You really want to line the pucks up so you can shoot a lot in at once. Todd said he would make a game for me, so *cross your fingers* it is some good times!

We also played Left, Right, Center which I had never played before. There was a lot of laughing and having a good time. They have made a few changes to the game, instead of using chips, they use quarters. Everyone becomes very invested when the game involves money!

The party was an awesome way to start our vacation - in very "Linda style."

The MAN.

So Santa is the man. We built him up for a good month or so with Luke to get him stoked and willing to work towards staying on the "nice" list.

Todd and Great-Grandpa were installing a new faucet, so, thinking that I am a brave, strong "mom" type, I declared that I would single-handedly take Luke to see Santa.

I'd like to review that statement again:

I thought that I, by myself, would take Luke, by myself, to see Santa, by myself.

*sigh*

I am nutso.

So I called my parents. I needed backup. Luke is not a bad kid, he is just intense. Like, super, textbook "active" child intense.

We even arrived early, but there was still a huge line. My parents were able to swing by the mall and we all took turns standing in line and taking Luke for walks. Yikes.

But when Santa Claus arrived, it was like the Beatles landing in America. Or like Will Ferrell in "Elf." Luke's arms shot out and he yelled at the top of his lungs, "SANTA CLAUS IS HERE!!" It was pretty epic.

But when the moment came, the time to approach SANTA CLAUS, he actually became a little gunshy, which is terribly unlike him. But Santa, bless his heart, raised his hand and said, "High Five!" And then Santa was speaking Luke's language and all was well.

I put him on Santa's lap and asked Luke if he was on the "nice" list or the "naughty" list. Let's just say there was a really long pause and a really deep breath and some staring at the ceiling and eventually declared "the nice list." Santa, being the awesome Santa he was, said that he was sure that Luke was on the nice list. *ahem*

Luke told Santa that he wanted tools for Christmas:
"A-saw-and-a-hammer-and-a-wrench-and-a-pliers . . ."

The pictures were not awesome, mostly Luke looked like he was in some serious pain. Oh well, he wasn't having a tantrum, so we're good.

After getting off Santa's lap, Santa whispered to me, asking if he could give Luke a mini candy cane. After saying yes, Santa gave Luke the candy cane. Luke was absolutely shocked (free candy! I can't blame him . . .) and adoringly looked at Santa and said, "Thank you Santa. Thank you for the candy cane."

Mommy was proud.

The candy cane was gone by the time I paid for pictures. Good job, Luke.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and yours a happy, safe and relaxing Christmas with your family and friends.

Winter Program

There is always a winter and spring program at Stratford - whether you are 2 years 9 months and in a preschool program or 10 years old and in 5th grade. I have my show that I do every year ("Charlie Brown Christmas" which is adorable, if I do say so myself) and now Luke gets to do a show, too.

Some background information to note:

• Luke is not yet three.
• Luke has been going to preschool 2 afternoons a week.
• Luke began preschool at the end of November.
• Luke has no freaking clue what a "program" is.

And now, the story of Luke's show.

Luke was dressed up as an elf (a very cute one at that) and was placed at the end of the line with all the other "standers." You know the "standers:" the kids who don't do anything and just take up space. They don't sing, they don't dance, they stand. Please look at the background information above to note why Luke is part of the "stander" group.

So Luke is absolutely bewildered, wondering why he is dressed up as a freaking elf. He keeps saying "Mommy? Mommy?" while I keep smiling and waving with my cameras (plural) and being a super obnoxious preschool mommy. (with all the rest)

He immediately starts making goofy noises and being very Luke-ish to the adorable little girl next to him and she is so incredibly irritated. She shushed and shushed him and finally, I kid you not, "hmphed" him, tossed her hair and turned away. It was awesome.

So the music started, the kids were (mostly) singing, minus the standers, and Luke looked like he had been dropped on some strange, mysterious planet wondering what he was supposed to do. At least the kid next to Luke was the "chewer" of the "standers." The kid who chewed on his shirt, then the bells, then the kazoo around his neck.

After a few songs, Luke decided he was completely done with this whole performance and started walking towards me. I, being the director of my own show, waved my hand, said "No no Luke! Go back to your spot!" Dang, did I get a dirty look. He pouted back to his spot and promptly . . .

pulled his hat down completely over his face.

What did I do?

Laugh, of course.

Then he really yanked down the hat, to make sure his face was good and covered.

I continued to giggle, as did many of the other parents. Luke pulled the hat up a little, to check to see if the attention was on him, caught my eye and the hat went down again. Really, really pulled down.

Nice work, Luke.

We have it all on video, which is really cute. Granted, out of a 20 minute boring performance of Luke, this is the 2.5 minutes of good film. So I won't put up the whole boring thing. This is the only still shot I was able to take, as the battery died on my camera. Bummer.

He just looks so disappointed in me.

"Why Mommy? Why would you allow them to dress me up like this? I thought you liked me? I thought we were in a good place."

Because these are the moments (videos) I can embarrass you with when you're 16 and bringing home girls. That's what you get for pulling down your hat over your cute, pouty face.

Wrastlin'

I love how much Luke loves his cousins - it happens to be a nice bonus that his cousins love him, too. So here, Gracie and Luke are having a hug fest. I think everyone won. But especially Todd and I: Luke was so exhausted from the "wrastlin" that he crashed pretty quickly that night.

Juliette's Birthday Party

Luke was lucky enough to attend his buddy Juliette's 5th birthday party at a gymnastics school. Wow - did this kid have fun! It's all about action for Luke and he was able to run and climb and bounce to his heart's content.

Though he did not appreciate me tossing him into the foam pit. Oh well.


Luke did a great job sitting and listening to directions. It was a miracle. Thanks preschool - we're already seeing an improvement! Hooray!

The obstacle course:

climbing the ladder

a somersault down the ramp


crawling through the tunnel



bouncing along the long trampoline

Luke had such a fun time - he is just a little boy who needs to run and be active. Shock and awe, right?

A Very A's Christmas!

On our way down to San Diego to visit Nana, we decided to stop off in San Luis Obispo to visit Uncle B and Auntie Sam in their new home. It was nice to get out of town quickly, but not have to do the full drive in one shot. They were kind enough to let us stay with them for the night.

Luke was so excited to have an early Christmas - Luke could hardly stand the excitement of opening his gifts.

What could it be?!?

Its an awesome A's jersey!


Put it on! Put it on!
Mommy and Daddy also got A's t-shirts with their NAMES ON THEM. I know - cool, huh? So Todd's says "Bickel 01" and mine says "Bickel 02." Now I'm ready to face all the Giants fans on Sports Day in the spring.

Another try . . .

So, a while ago, we had attempted our first "Mommy/Son" outing for donuts, but it was not very successful. I thought we would try it again and head to someplace new.

Success!

Much better selection and they were delicious!! Hooray!

I'm so glad we finally found a place that is fairly close by that has delicious donuts. This is an excellent reason to eat donuts without feeling the guilt. Its about bonding, not about donuts. I swear.

Life of a teacher.

This was what my responsibility was over Thanksgiving break.

That, my friends, is grading. That is 5 1/2 inches of grading. (I measured.)

And I only have a dinky class of 14. I'm sure if I had a full class (like the rest of the school) I would never see my child. Ever. They will have to drag my lifeless body from that little mini-classroom if they ever want me out of there. I don't know if I could go back to a full size class, verses my little 2/3 class in my (ahem) "cozy" classroom.

Freaking grading. Teaching would be awesome without it.

Poor Miss Helen

These two boys are nothing but trouble together. I mean seriously. They spend three mornings a week at daycare with Miss Helen, and as she tells me, "I don't get to sit. Not even for one minute." Yeah. I know. Sorry about that.

So the Gartins and the Bickels have been making an effort to let the boys hang out more outside of daycare to make the three mornings a little less exciting. Please note: it has not worked. They are crazy together.

We took the boys to look at the Christmas lights in Vasona Park (The Festival of Lights - its very festive) but were able to get pizza and then go to Starbucks for coffee before the drive through the park. Clearly, I don't have a point and shoot camera with a fast enough shutter speed to capture these boys.

Poor, poor Miss Helen.

On that note, Luke is going to be starting 5 full day Preschool starting in January (still not potty trained - but let's not go there) and we had to say goodbye to Miss Helen. I completely cried like a baby. Todd rolled his eyes at me. It really just means that Luke is no longer a baby and is growing up. Miss Helen was such a blessing in our lives, being a "third parent" for the last two years. Her husband was on the brink of tears and asked us to please bring him back to visit.

While I know he will be missed, I'm sure that Miss Helen will have a little bit of a quieter day without Luke there. :)

Timber!

So I made the executive decision this year: we had one weekend to get a Christmas tree, so while Todd stayed home with a sick little Luke, I went with my parents to pick out a tree and cut it down. I picked out the keeper and took him home. It still took us another week or two to actually decorate - but we eventually got around to it.


One of the first things I noticed about our house when we found it last year was that it had the "perfect" Christmas tree spot. And it fit perfectly. And by perfectly, I mean we had to cut off the top of the tree to make it fit. Apparently, I imagined more glorious, lofty high ceilings than we actually had.

I'm no longer allowed to Christmas tree shop by myself.

Venturing North

I really should have taken pictures of our shopping adventures the day after Thanksgiving, but alas, it was not to be. Way to cold for pictures standing outside Kohls at 3:30 in the morning. Yikes!

But we traveled up to Novato to visit Auntie G for breakfast that weekend and see where she was working after moving up from San Diego. After that, we figured we might as well head up to Russian River Brewery.

Oh glorious delicious Russian River. You are a beautiful place with amazing beer and food. We were rushed - mostly just picking up a few growlers and taking off.

I enjoyed a glass of my Supplication. Yum Yum Yum. If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend it. True deliciousness.

Thanksgiving

I know, I know. It's December, it's almost Winter Break . . . and I'm behind. Shoot.

So here's Thanksgiving in a nutshell.

Luke went to school on a Wednesday to celebrate Thanksgiving with his buddies. All the boys were Indians, all the girls were Pilgrims. The boys wore feather headbands (not shown here - you think Luke would keep that on?) and the girls had little bonnets. Luke had war paint. He liked the war paint.


Oh, and he really only ate fruit and the cornbread I bought. He's so picky.

For dinner on Thursday night, we headed up to Todd's grandparents house for dinner. As always, it is the most delicious meal of the year and I had to be rolled out of there!

Beautiful placecards!
Luke played happily outside with Frankie D - his "just-my-size" dog. They run around together and have a great time. Every time he sees his Auntie G - he always asks where Frankie is.


After dinner, we celebrated Grandpa's birthday.

And then we ran. And ran. And ran.

Mostly, that's what my kid does: run.

He was completely wrecked after Thanksgiving, but did not fall asleep on the ride home. We had such a wonderful time, just as well always do. And of course, we were thrilled to take Linda home with us to get ready for the annual Post-Thanksgiving Day shopping extravaganza!