Explanation . . .

Hello, mid-t0-late January. Here are my December posts.

Life has been crazy hectic due to going back to work (vomit) and Luke being sick (bleh) and an overall feeling of being behind in all aspects of my life. I will eventually be preparing a pie chart to show exactly what my life is like at this time.

Wait . . . no, I'll do it now.



This is a serious unbalance in my life and I cross-my-heart I'm trying to fix it. I know I'm not the only one, but dang, this year, my kids are impossible and the support from parents, et al. is somewhat lacking. So every day is a struggle: emotionally and physically. Today was a good day (compared to what it has been lately) so I'm doing pretty good.

Is this how I want my life? No. I'm sure that I'm not the only one out there, though, being the martyr that I am (or feel like these days) I like to think so.

That being said, my little green "me" section is certainly getting better. I'm still going to trivia weekly and I'm getting back to scrapbooking with my buddies. More talking than scrapping, but that's what I need. I'm working on shrinking the blue and expanding the other categories. Perhaps that is what my New Year's Resolution is. Oh, that and losing 20 lbs.

And we just got word that one of the kids in Luke's class has whooping cough. Perfect.

But tomorrow is Friday, so I'm trying to be positive about that.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled blogging.

Family Pics

Detour (again)

We haven't taken family pictures since Luke was . . . 6 months old, I think. So it was high time to get together, dress in coordinated but non-obnoxious clothes, cross our fingers and hope for the best.

Luke made it through the first half of the photos cheerfully, but then just lost it. Meh. At least the family shots were right up front. And due to sales, coupons and gift cards, I was able to get a CD and the rights to the photos, so that I could print them (more affordably) elsewhere.

So I'm not breaking any laws, okay?

My boys:

Apparently, I no longer have a baby. Apparently, I also do not even have a toddler. I have a preschooler. How did I end up with one of those? Man, time does fly, doesn't it?

This is the sweet picture for Mommy:


This is the real Luke:


Me and my not-baby:

If we didn't have a car/truck and Sally, we never would get anything done. So here he is with his truck.

Perhaps I should have put him in the little bit smaller pants.

I was so pleased with how the pictures turned out. As any photographer knows, quantity of shots can have a huge impact. You really need to take a lot of photos to get just a few really spectacular shots. And man, were there some bad photos. But there were enough great photos to have really been worth it.

And I will think back to Luke's 1 year photo shoot where we bought a few pity shots because we had to have something. Looking back now, they're pretty funny and definitely him.

Here's the family photos now, and in another 3 or so years!

Practice

Picking up where I left off: in San Diego.

So, yeah, the weather was terrible and there were still more places to go, so . . . we played in the car while one parent ran into wherever for whatever.

Of course we played with cars. Cause that's what we do.

And we practiced our happy face.

And our mad face.


And our sad face.

Okay, he really does do a better sad face - but he really struggles with sad. He always wants to laugh and smile.

I've discovered that Luke really will calm down and focus when he starts getting out of control in public if I ask him to practice his faces. He is such a ham.

The range of other faces:

1. lizard face
2. "hubba hubba" face
3. thinking face
4. surprised face
5. cute face

These faces will eventually be captured and posted, I'm sure. (Just wait for "hubba hubba")

Happy 2011!

Okay, I'm going out of order, this is party #4, but I'm going to attempt to stay current. Christmas is going to take some work/organization, so I'll focus on New Years instead.

Todd had been feeling under the weather the last few days, so we kept it quiet and easy this year. Linda had wanted to babysit, so we could go out, but we decided to stay home. She had already asked if she could have a get together with her friends at our place, which was totally fine. She is a wonderful hostess - it is awesome to see her in her element. It is apparent that the Bickels are quite social, which is where Luke gets it from.



There was enough food for a army platoon, including delicioso ribs, pork butt and tri tip smoked by Todd earlier in the week. (There will be another post on Todd and his Christmas smoker)

The party was actually rather tame (hurrah!) and I stayed up until midnight (barely) and everyone seemed to have a great time. This was the first time that many had seen our not-so-new house, as well as meeting Luke.

I hope you all had a wonderful time ringing in the new year - I always love the idea of starting over fresh in the new year. Here's to 2011!

Cute Face: 2011.

Post Office Adventures

Todd needed to mail a package before Christmas, so we were off to visit a San Diego US Post Office. (These were our San Diego adventures on this trip) It had been pouring for days and we were tired of hanging around inside, so we decided to accompany Todd on his trip.

I always forget that there are people who can go to the post office during the middle of the day. You know, people who work "normal" jobs and can take a longer lunch to go run errands, etc. I don't have that job (45 minutes for lunch, but most of it is spent working/grading) so I expect that nobody else does either.

The line was insane. Keeping Luke contained and not tearing through the post office was insane. So we pressed our faces against the glass and played hide and go seek and still ran. *sigh* But we played "Make That Face" and "Find the Shape" and other fun games that Luke enjoys while we're out.



And like all line standing, we tag team walking Luke around while the other stands in the line. Gotta work the system.


Luke discovered on the San Diego trip that he really liked his rainboots. He had been so resistant to the idea before, but I think the promise of stomping in puddles helped encourage the idea.

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.