I Had a Best Christmas Too!

Not to be outdone by her big brother, here is a post from Eliza:

I love opening presents. I love the Christmas trees and everything I love. Gold and silver.

Santa ate both of the milks and all of the cookies. I love Santa! Yippee! Hooray! I love Santa! I love his reindeer. I love all the presents he brings to all the sleeping girls and boys. I love everything. I love everything that Santa brings me for Christmas. Polly pockets and everything!

Did he bring you polly pockets? Yes - last weekend when it was Christmas.

Do you want to say what you got for Chrismtas this year from Santa? Yes. Kit. I got Kit. I got all of her clothes. Hey mommy, slow down slow down slow down slow down. Let me think!

I have one more present under the Christmas tree and it's for Sydney M. I love everything. I love my Mommy. I love my Daddy.

Best Christmas Ever!

Well,it took a while for my little brother,Ben,to wake up,but I got what I wanted for Cristmas again this year.I knew I was in for a lucky day when I opened all of my presents from Santa Clause.THOSE were mostly Bakugan stuff.One thing I wanted was this new Bionicle movie called THE LEGEND REBORN.I didn`t get that,but the closest thing I got to that was ICE AGE.When Isaw what it was,I didn`t even know what it was about.I didn`t even decide to feel sad about.My parents gave me this LEGO STAR WARS thing called REBUBLIC ATTACK SHUTTLE.My grandma gave me CLONE WALKER BATTLE PACK and ECHO BASE.All I can say is,I`m glad I`m not in middle school yet,because I`m pretty sure all you get is clothes.Anyway,another thing I got from my grandma was a magic set.And today I`ve realized that Christmas is pretty much over when my mom said that she`s going to start taking down the decorations. And you know,it was a smart move to stick with my original plan and stayed inside this year,because all my luck started when I got inside.All I know is,it`ll be hard to re-adjust to school.Here are a few pictures.

Piano Recital

Ben goes to a music therapist for an hour each week and spends many hours playing the piano in the days between. Friday night was his very first piano recital and he was very excited. I'm assuming the other kids have special needs and so am hopeful that the families at the recital are understanding of "different" behavior because Ben was in full spazzo mode. The only satisfaction was that he played way better than the other kids =)

Here's a video montage for your enjoyment. It's only 1 minute long, don't worry.



So though Jeff and I were sweating, waiting for his behavior to reach a breaking point, we were very proud that he showed a better side at the piano. Phew!

Thanksgiving

Back in January, Jeff started suggesting to his parents, siblings and some aunts/uncles/cousins that all should gather in California for Thanksgiving at our house in 2009. Well, he continued, throughout the year, to invite and reinvite and reinvite and then the day finally arrived and everyone showed up! Jeff was ecstatic and I was relieved that my now 2nd trimester pregnant body was feeling up to the task.

We had guests from Oregon, Utah, Virginia and California. One cousin and his family of six stayed at our home for the week and they were perfect guests. We got to visit with a total of 34 family members and even fed them all a delicious, sit-down, traditional Thanksgiving dinner. We only missed Aunt Laura who injured her shoulder the day before and so couldn't make it for the big day.

Monday and Tuesday were filled with cleaning (thanks to Aunt Janell and Grandma Joan!), cooking and grocery shopping. Tuesday night we helped Grandma Joan make her famous apple pies for our feast. It took 3 hours of peeling, cutting, measuring, rolling to make 5 beautiful apple pies! The Ullmans arrived from Utah that night and immediately pitched in to help finish.

Jeff kept Ben busy in the garage playing air hockey, using only their hands to hit the puck.


On Wednesday morning, we'd finished most of the Thanksgiving prep work, so we took the Ullman family to San Francisco for some tourist activities. Here's Ben on Lombard St. - he loves this place, especially because even on maps it's curvy.


We went to Pier 39 and watched the sea lions fight for space. They always remind me of me with my children in my bed early in the morning -- get off!!! Here's Eliza with her cousin Cathy. They played perfectly together for hours and hours on Tuesday and then again on Friday.


Also at Pier 39 we watched a (mediocre) magic show and Jeff and cousin Christian and son Connor were selected for the grand final act. And Eliza, well, she just can't stay off a stage.


Look at this gorgeous day on the Golden Gate Bridge!!! I include this photo because you can see Ben making a u-turn around the "no u-turn" sign.


These four walked across the entire bridge and we tired folk picked them up on the other side. Jeff and Ethan with Kayla and McKena:


The Ullman family with San Francisco in the background:


And then it was home to prep for Thanksgiving Day! All the family started arriving in the afternoon and just as everyone was accounted for, the turkey was done ... 2 hours early ... so it had to wait. Meanwhile we all enjoyed an appetizer spread orchestrated by Jeff's mom.



Then, with the help of MANY hands, we all sat down for a delicious (if I dare say so myself) Thanksgiving meal.
Table 1:


Table 2:


Table 3:


Table 3 other side:


This is Table 4 but with the wrong people sitting there. It was the kids but they all ate pretty fast. Except for Eliza. She stayed at the table by herself and ate and ate and ate.


And here's Grandma Swickard (we call her "GG" for Great Grandma) with the 15 great grandchildren who were at our house that day. Yes, she has even more than this!



So a big thanks goes to my mom for being a kitchen slave, launderer, housecleaner, and event planner extraordinaire. She's pretty amazing. The funniest moment was when on Tuesday night after working hard for two straight days she actually thanked me for letting her help. What?!

Sing With Me ...

O Christmas cards, O Christmas cards,
My husband longs to send them.

O Christmas cards, O Christmas cards,
But I still lack the vision.

A festive portrait we haven't got,
'Cause Eliza's face is chapped with snot.

O Christmas cards, O Christmas cards,
Is photoshop the solution?

I believe in blogs with pictures. Since I've been babbling instead of illustrating of late, here's a make-up picture post. I'll start in October:

Soccer - Ben played in the VIP league again this season, but this time in the U8s which play actual games against other teams. Thanks to hours playing soccer on the arcade game at the Sunriver house, Ben was ready for team playing. Here's assistant coach dad leading Ben through warm-ups:

And a throw in during the game:

Ben's favorite: the after game cheer (2 4 6 8) ... though he always cheered for his own team.

Happy soccer player in front of the Flame Throwers banner. Ben loved pointing out his name on the banner when he arrived at the game each Saturday morning.

A Month of Halloween - It always seems that Halloween fesivities go on and on and by the time trick-or-treating rolls around I am Halloweened out ... We made our annual visit to the Clayton Pumpkin Farm. Cute place.
Eliza spent most of October wearing this 75cent witch hat and making witches brews. She even renamed her favorite cat, from Snowflake to Blacky.

We enjoyed the "Trunk or Treat" at church where, in only fifteen minutes, the kids can load up on candy by going car to car in the parking lot. Here's Ben, Dominic (friend) and Ethan gorging on their take.

Thanks to Granny and Papa, our lucky family was treated to Disney on Ice on Halloween day. Eliza was captivated, and the boys enjoyed it too. I'm always impressed by the production elements - lighting, set, and costume design - Disney always does it to the hilt.



And at last, trick or treating.
Little Red Riding Hood:

Boba Fett (from Star Wars):

and an Elephant (for the second year):
Ben was our best trick-or-treater. He led the family and rang the doorbells and said in his loudest, Forrest Gump voice, "Trick or Trayaet"

Then on to November. It started on an emotional note with the passing of my Aunt. My sister and I flew to Utah and spent a couple of days with family, remembering the vibrant life of Aunt Taffy. I love my Carlston cousins, all of them, and adore my dear Uncle Wayne.

Swimming Ben is swimming! Since early this summer, he's been taking private lessons and is getting so close to being completely independent in the pool. No more under the water phobia! The lessons are in a private backyard - they put a bubble over the pool for the fall/winter months so the pictures are a little steamy.


MARBLES I'm participating in a research study with the UC Davis Mind Institute. It's a pretty extensive commitment of paperwork, interviews and samples of various body fluids. Here's Ethan generating a saliva sample - all three boys gathered around the kitchen table to spit together ... this time with permission =)

Bear Cub Scout Ethan, with the diligent help of his dad, completed his requirements for the Bear rank in Cub scouts. Somehow, at the pack meeting, mom always gets the credit for helping him. But in our family, we know it's really thanks to good old dad.

Life Keeps Going

Well, it's been a month since my last post, or rather, announcement. I'm vomiting less, accomplishing more, and have a little bit of a better attitude ... most days.

So what's been going on?

Ethan is consumed with Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He gets a good laugh out of that mischievious Greg, as do I, and all three kids love to chant "somebody farted farted farted farted farted" everytime any gas flies. Just to warn you -- you can't get away with it around these kids ... anywhere.

Ethan and Eliza play together for hours in their pretend world of the good animals vs. the bad animals. They've just been such buddies over the last couple of months. Even when they are not playing together, the pestering has decreased dramatically. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh .... I'm just enjoying this phase.

Benjamin is loving the piano, and we love hearing him play. I'll play through a song that I think he'll like and then he'll spend the next week sight reading and learning it and pretty soon he can play it all the way through.

In the last three months, Jeff has officially achieved sainthood. He's definitely clued in this 4th pregnancy that my apparent uselessness is not by choice. He takes the boys to school in the morning and goes to work and then comes home to restore some order to our home. He indulges my cravings and shrugs off the number of receipts I pile up from dining out. And that's only the beginning. I'll spare you all the details, but just take it from me, my husband is a saint.

I've been watching more television in the last 3 months than in the last 3 years combined. At night, instead of trying to eat (again!), I curl up in a ball in my bed and catch up on the DVR material while trying to ignore all the physical woes of pregnancy. I've found that as soon as I'm done watching a show, I pretty much forget about it. My life is no fuller or more satisfying with tv. But it does provide a "getaway" experience and then I close my eyes and find a few hours of relief. But a few shows have grown on me ... Community ... Glee ... and I still enjoy good old Monk.

This may be my longest ramble on blog record.

5 + 1 = 6

For months now I've been getting used to the fact that my children are getting older and more independent and my life is changing. I've come to love the place I'm at and all the places I can go now that we're past the infant/toddler stage and getting into the school-age stage. It's a wonderful place to be.

But, somehow, it's not to be. Because this momma is pregnant.

I owe a sincere apology to all you beautiful women who would love to be 10 weeks pregnant with a so-far healthy baby because I've been feeling very depressed and ungrateful.

Does it ever seem like just when you get used to one way of life, everything changes????

Fortunately, there's a little humor to brighten my long, wallowing days:

A couple of weeks ago, we told the kids about "the baby growing in mom's belly." I was lying in bed while we had morning family prayer. Jeff spilled the news and immediately all three kids swarmed me. Eliza rubbed my nipple and said "the baby will drink milk!" Ben patted my head and said "headache." Ethan said, "Human gestation period is 40 weeks, mom, how many weeks are you?" then ran to get his human body encyclopedia to educate us all on reproduction.

Since then, Eliza's play themes have changed to include lots of stuffed animals having babies. One day in the car she was talking to some imaginary friend about how babies are born. I started tuning in when she got to the part that you have to "squeeze it like a pimple and then they cut open your belly and pull out the baby and then you take it home and put clothes on it."

Today in church, I was holding a friend's baby boy on my lap. Ben, sitting next to me, hadn't noticed the handoff. I said to him, "Ben, who's sitting on mom's lap?" He looked and pondered for a few long seconds then said, "Did the baby come out?"

Oh, if it were only that easy!!!!! I've got a lot more barfing, aching and waddling to do before that May day.

Back to School

No first day of school pictures on this blog because this mom just can't pull it off. Everything went smoothly on the first morning out the door until the last 5 minutes. That's when we:
1. woke Eliza
2. tried to get new shoes on Ben

But even with a couple of screamers we made it out the door and arrived happily at school (with the new shoes on). Ben is in 2nd grade at Mtn. View (same class/teacher for the third year) and Ethan is in 4th grade at Westwood. Oh how I wish they could be at the same school ... instead I'm just grateful that the two schools are near each other.

I do have a picture of Eliza on her first day of preschool at Walnut Country. No tears from this 3 year old on the first day.

When I picked her up from her first day, she:
1. yanked her backpack from the hook before I could finish getting it for her
2. swatted my hand away when I reached to open the door to the car for her
3. climbed in the car and shut the door in my face while declaring (in a not so nice voice) "I can buckle myself."

Little Miss Independent:

Yosemite

Feeling the need for one last summer getaway, Jeff and I took the kids plus Grandma Joan to Yosemite National Park. We stayed at the housekeeping camp. Yes, we took (a willing) Grandma Joan camping for 3 days, 2 nights.

A fire in Yosemite NP meant we had to take the long way around to get into the Valley. Which meant more time in the van which meant unhappy Jennie. Did you know I'm the worst car traveler in the family? Actually, I was, until Eliza came along.


On the way in we stopped to hike to Bridal Veil Falls. It was fun to remind the kids of when we did the same hike in January in the icy snow. Now that was memorable. Here's Grandma Joan and the bottom of Bridal Veil Falls (couldn't get the whole falls in the frame):


We arrived at the "housekeeping camp" and found it to be even less inviting than the photos in the advertising. We enjoyed watching Grandma Joan's face when she saw the sleeping arrangements for the first time. Of course the kids were thrilled with the set-up.



Forget about bears, we had a harder time keeping Ben out of the bear box.


Ethan celebrating a lit match and a self-started camp fire.


While the dinner cooked, Grandma, Ben, Eliza and I took a walk to the Merced River, just adjacent to the housekeeping camp. The trees opened up to the beach and we got a glimpse of where we really were.


After a night of rest in our cozy "tent house" (though Ben woke up at 3am ... and thus so did I), Grandma Joan went to a watercolor class to paint for the day and the rest of us hopped on the bus and rode to Happy Isles for our day's hike. The bus may have been the highlight of the trip - "NO seatbelts and we can stand up??!?!?"


It was slow going up to the Vernal Falls Footbridge. Ben was mad because he got in trouble for running in front of an approaching bus as Jeff and I yelled a panicked STOP (of course, he didn't stop)!!! I've lost count of how many times that boy has eluded Death. Anyways, he made it and here's Jeff and him plodding up the hill. Beautiful Yosemite!


We made it to the footbridge and I was thrilled when Ethan said he wanted to continue up to the top of Vernal Falls, and that I would be the one to accompany him!


There are a bazillion steps up and up and up and I was so proud of Ethan for pushing along, even when he was sick, to reach the top of the falls.


Here we are! We enjoyed the view for a few minutes, cooled off in the river for a few minutes, then descended the mountain. We pretty much jogged most of the way down. Why was I the only one with sore muscles the next day?


We went back to the camp and went to the riverfront for a swim. That was COLD water!!! Jeff and I laughed as we watched Ethan and Eliza play with talking sticks. When I told Ethan that was a creative idea to make the sticks talk, he told me, "it wasn't an idea, we just met them."


Meanwhile, Ben took a turn wearing the pedometer and walked around and around the beach announcing his number of steps at every break. By the end of the afternoon, he'd reached 10,000. Then he was done.


We took showers (YES!) and headed to Curry Village for a little free theater. The kids will definitely remember this cute show.


Another night of rest (this time interrupted by our bozo neighbors who left all their food out overnight and were awoken and fined by a ranger). Then a morning meal of oatmeal, hot chocolate, bananas, and pop tarts. Just a little sugar to kick off the day.


We spent our last morning at Yosemite Village - visited the Museum and Ansel Adams Gallery - then took the bus for a short loop. Here we are at the bus stop, enjoying the view. You can't really see the bed heads, but they were pretty impressive.


Ben was pretty sad. He knew we were packed up and heading home, and yet we weren't going home.


We took the long way home so we could drive through Wawona and visit the Mariposa Grove for one last hike. Here's Eliza at the sign for the Grizzly Giant, though you can't see the tree itself, it is very giant.


Jeff and Ethan at the California Tree.


Goodbye, Yosemite! We'll definitely be back.