Santa Cruz Weekend

This past weekend we decided to leave Friday afternoon and drive an hour and 45 min. to Santa Cruz. As I've mentioned we'd been having some unusually warm weather and it was even about 8 degrees warmer in Santa Cruz. We arrived as the sun was setting and though the temperature was cooling very quickly it didn't stop anyone from checking out the frigid water and playing on the beach for a few minutes.

Saturday morning while it was warming up we explored the Boardwalk and Pier. Couple of memorable moments:

The night before at dinner Kohen had eaten much of everyone else's food and so had half a leftover hamburger (leftovers are rarely known when it comes to Kohen). He insisted on putting his precious to-go box in the fridge in our room and asked repeatedly, "Can I eat my food tomorrow when I want?" So after breakfast Saturday morning first thing he did was retrieve his to-go box and he was putting it down for nothing. As we walked and explored the Boardwalk he carried his food. As he climbed a tree, he held his food. As we walked down the Pier he carried his food. At one point I turn to make sure he was still with us and find him cradling his to-go box in one arm and eating his burger with the other, happiest boy EVER. We wondered what had inspired him to finally eat. Was it the seagull poop that covered nearly every inch of the Pier? Or was it the stinky Sea Lions we'd been watching from above? I guess we may never know what makes our little guy want to eat. Other funny thing was this one-legged seagull. Kohen took off toward him- all the while eating his food- to get a closer look. The kids thought this Seagull was the coolest.
Some friends of ours (our oldest girls are in Kindergarten together) decided to meet us at the beach on Sat. They are from Romania and are fun to chat and hang out with. It's fascinating to hear about their lives growing up in a different country. And I think they find the way we live (i.e.-religion, more than 2 children) fascinating as well. Mostly we just enjoyed watching our kids play together in the sand.

A bathtub full of sand when we got home was a small price to pay for the weekend. It was a fun way to make use of a warm day in the winter.

Kennedy's Date Night

Taking a page out of the Jon & Kate + 8 book Nathan and I decided to do a date night with each of our kids separately. So tonight we got a sitter for Aly and Kohen and took Kennedy out. There is the cutest most quaint little outdoor Ice Skating rink they put up for about 2 months in downtown Walnut Creek. Kennedy has been dying to go (so much so that I actually avoid driving past the rink just to avoid hearing her beg to go) so we knew what she would love to do and we were game seeing as it's been so warm lately...

Kennedy could not have been more adorable in the car on the way to the rink. She chatted us up telling us all she's been learning about penguins watching parts of March of the Penguins (pronounced March "off" the Penguins) at school. The detail she has retained is incredible but she cracked us up telling us all about how the Mom Penguin very carefully passes the egg to the Dad Penguin so he can put his "Blump" over the egg to keep it warm. Calling blubber "Blump" was her one and only inaccuracy but gave us a good laugh and a new word for blubber.

Initially we went around the rink with each of us holding one of her hands. Below is her signature move, when she loses her balance she shoots her one leg out and skates on one foot until she regains her balance, it was cute and occasionally effective.
About 1/2 way through she no longer wanted to hold our hands and was determined to get it on her own. Nathan and I kept saying to each other "is this normal? Do most kids get this their first time?" *shrug* we don't know but we could see another little girl about Kennedy's size with a private instructor and that little girl was having a rough go of it so we were glad Kennedy caught on enough to really enjoy herself.

She chose "China Food" for dinner and there is a P.F. Changs near by so we headed there for a special dinner which she inhaled and loved. They have these little mini desserts now that are in a shot glass so we each picked one. Kennedy chose Red Velvet Cake and was pretty much in heaven from the dessert + attention. Nathan and I enjoyed her so much and what a treat to just soak up one child and their unique personality one at a time.

Golden Gate Bridge

Maybe some of you've heard but we have been having unusually warm weather here in Nor. Cal. and so this last Sunday after church instead of naps we loaded up the car and headed into San Francisco. We hadn't checked out the Golden Gate Bridge yet so we were excited to see it up close. Kinda looks like the background is fake in some of these pictures...I think that'd be an elaborate blogging ploy even for me :)

A few sillier pictures: Kennedy showing us how old she is, Aly actually looking at the camera and smiling (not normal) and Kohen doing some sort of defensive moves....


We did walk across the bridge for part of the way but the sun had just set and it was getting chilly fast and the coolness of walking across a bridge quickly diminished into being just cold and hungry. We got the idea though. Great bridge...Great day....

The Darndest Things...

Kohen's 1st Day of Preschool

Random:

The other day I discovered where Kohen had missed a bit in the bathroom. I told Nathan I would get Kohen and he could you know, go over the basics of aim/clean up again because as far as I'm concerned that's Nathan's jurisdiction. So I go get Kohen and he gladly comes back to the bathroom and Nathan says, "Hey bud! Let me show ya something cool!" and they lean in and Nathan shows Kohen what happened and how to clean up after himself. Kohen gets right in there and cleans it up telling us he's "Sorry 'bout that"...so cute. Then before he leaves the bathroom he turns to Nathan and asks, "But why did you say you had something cool to show me?".... Okay this doesn't really sound that funny but Nathan and I laughed so hard because um, good question Kohen, why did your Dad say that??? Cleaning up rogue pee off the bathroom floor does not = COOL. 

Other Cute Things Said Lately:

I find Aly sweetly wiping and playing in the dust on our piano.

Me: Aly, what cha doing?

Aly: I jus' payin in da snow!

Aly found a pine cone at the park and she was carrying it all around calling it her 'baby'. Kennedy thought this was pretty cute and told me, "Mom, Aly thinks it's a baby but it's really an Acorn-el."  (I'm pretty sure that was hybrid for Acorn and Kernel)

In the car lately Aly will cry out in frustration when light shines on her that "Da sun is lookin atta me!" 

Kenna: Mom, what's a Migraine?

Me: It's a really bad headache.

Kenna: (pause) Is that how you fell in love with Dad?

Snowboarding '09

Reason numero uno I will not apologize for a 1/2 dozen pictures of generally the same thing is because I haven't gone snowboarding in probably 4 years and who knows when I will get to go again so I would like pretty much all of it recorded for posterity. (above: Brandon & Tara, Amber & Mike, Nathan, Kysa and me. Most of my BILS & SILS)

Okay, so as much as I want to lie right now I'm just gonna be straight with you...I am not an amazing snowboarder. oh close your mouths, like it's that big of a surprise. Between being preggers with babies and then nursing said babies how often do mom's really get to go anyway? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say I have the potential to be a good snowboarder if I got a little more practice. I haven't even gone more than 7 or 8 times. At any rate I was super excited when my FIL and most of my BILS & SILS decided to go up to Bogus the night before our fam left to come home. The company was great, the snowboarding came back to me fairly quickly and those things helped all of us to ignore the lame-o conditions: crazy wind, no real snow- in fact it was largely ice as far as my backside could tell. Night skiing is cheap and that's about the only good thing I have to say about it right now :)

As a blogger, for better or for worse, you have moments in your life where you think, "this would be the best blog..." Well, our first run was down Showcase and about half way down I find I've inadvertently been left behind. No big deal, I'm taking my time enjoying myself and focusing on not catching an edge because I swear 1/2 of Showcase was straight up ice, quite crunchy. There is another lift half way down that wasn't running but you kind of have to keep up speed to get over a little incline there and I was avoiding speed at that point because of the ice. Well I was a little too cautious and I slowed so much I couldn't make the small hill. I try jumping, I try shifting my weight quickly, I'm goin' no where. Before I know it I find myself crawling (no simple task with a snowboard attached to your feet) towards the lift area where there is a fence I could pull myself along on and get over this teeny incline and back down the hill. It can be described as none other than a blogging moment. All these more experienced people screaming past this ol' mother of 3 whose crawling along like a bafoon, in the freezing cold at night...I was laughing so hard at myself I was snorting. It was only a few minute ordeal but man if you could have had that on tape...blogging gold I tell ya.

Anyway, the night was a success even with the bogus Bogus conditions which prompted Nathan to vow to take me somewhere "real" to see what it's like to snowboard on snow vs. ice and the CAT tracks that are 75% of the runs up there I swear...again, my sore backside doesn't lie. *sigh* It's always fun to hang out with fam, especially doing something fun like this.

Christmas Highlights 2008

Highlights of Christmas 2008!

*We wrapped up a live lobster for the White Elephant exchange at the annual Wilcox-side Christmas Party.
*Making Unicorn Princesses (from The Office) with my SILs to give to our husbands. "Her Horn Can Pierce the Sky!"

*We met up with cousins at a Carl's Jr. one night. Having witnessed some extremely GROSS stuff go on in the play places I don't usually let my kids play in this one but I full on made my kids wear mittens while they played. Yes I did. And the gloves were black when we left *yucky shiver*
*The FESTIVUS MIRACLE! that was my sister Natalie and my BIL Robert surprising us on my parent door step all the way from Florida. Yay! Best surprise ever!
*When Natalie took her sweatshirt off and had a strapy tank top on and Aly admiringly told her, "I like-a your soup!" (swimsuit) lol
*On Christmas Eve day Kohen couldn't find his stocking and Nathan discovered his solution hanging with the other stockings on the fireplace. This kid is a problem solver...
*Kohen was also EXTREMELY concerned Santa wouldn't know where he was so Papa John came up with this Santa sign to clear it all up. Kohen was so relieved.
*Acting out the Nativity scene at Bonnie and Norm's house on Christmas Eve with almost all 18 grandkids participating.
*Watching Kohen holding his new baby cousin Davis and listening to him teach Davis all about Pirates, including how they say "arrghh". (notice the pirate he whipped out of his pocket and is holding about an inch away from the baby's face)
*"Tricking" Santa (tracking Santa) by GPS before bed on Christmas Eve.
*Christmas morning when the phone rang and it was my brother Justin, on a mission in Taiwan, speaking Chinese to Nathan.

*This picture has been 18+ months in the making with Kenna trying to convince us she was deserving and old enough for such a doll. Apparently it was worth the wait...

Update On Aly P.T.

Success!!!! and failure. I gave up (at least for over the holidays) for about a dozen reasons, most of which are sitting, soaking in the laundry room sink. She never did have luck with #2 but Nathan comes home and in less than 24 hours he's helped Aly conquer this challenge on the first try- where as I had been sitting 45 min+ in the bathroom reading books etc with no luck. So when the unexpected happened tonight before bed we threw an absolute party- all of us crowded in the bathroom afterwards and Kennedy, Kohen, Nathan and I were cheering, clapping and chanting, "ALY! ALY! ALY!" The girl was absolutely intoxicated on all of the positive attention (stark contrast from the negative kind she got when we were rushing to get out the door to a Christmas party tonight and find Aly had rubbed A LOT of conditioner all over her head and shirt...I performed the fastest re-bath/dress/hair you've ever seen, it was like I was working the Pit in a car race 'vvvvt', one pig tail in, 'vvvvvt' 2nd one in...).
I had promised Aly a surprise for when this big moment occurred so I gave her this most adorable clock that is a replica of the one I had and loved as a child. I found it on clearance one day at, yep, Target. It was well received as you can see. At any rate- can you tell why I wanted Nathan's help for this stuff?!

T.M.I. im"PLY"ed (Pun intended)

I just want to say for the record: I had a plan. I had a well timed and thought out plan but apparently Aly couldn't wait another 2 1/2 weeks. She just had to exert her agency at the most inconvenient time you could conceive to try and potty train.

In mother's circles everywhere when the dreaded and feared topic comes up an oft repeated phrase is, "YOU have to be ready," implying the mother. Having done this song and dance twice before I know these words to be ones steeped in wisdom. That would be why I haven't really tried to P.T. Aly. Sure she may be 'ready' but she is also smart as a whip and strong willed- like most 2 year olds- and I had a sneaking suspicion she may try to teach me a few new lessons. So Nathan and I devised a plan. He would be home for a stretch after Christmas, we would be through traveling for a bit and as a team we would put Operation P.T. Aly into effect.
So this last week with Nathan out of town we were watching one of Aly's friends from church who is newly P.T. When this little girl went potty Aly wanted to go too and I thought nothing of it since she will go before bath and bed, etc. What I wasn't expecting was the absolute meltdown she was threatening when I tried to put her diaper back on. Aly was NOT having it. I kind of sat there stupidly on the floor of the bathroom trying to mentally digest what was going down. At 6pm on a Thurs. night with Nathan a world away and we are leaving for my Mom's newly re-carpeted house in a week- Aly wanted to start wearing panties. Insert mental swear word here. Totally begrudgingly I got the girl a pair of panties and she had success for a couple of hours before bed- which was just long enough to remind me of how exhausting the vigilance of potty training can be. Friday morning I totally woke up with a P.T. hangover. Yeah, I didn't know there was such a thing either but apparently I had worried and fretted and dreamt about it all night. I laid there in bed trying to ignore the headache I could feel coming on, cursing my daughter for her desire to be self-sufficient and independent and trying to focus my positive thoughts on getting her to wear a diaper that morning when I went in to get her. What? That was my plan okay? Pretend the whole thing never happened. It was a solid plan I felt. Then we could do a re-do after Christmas on my terms. But it didn't go down how I'd visualized (proving the "Secret" is a joke) because Aly took one look at me casually holding a diaper and said, "I want pan-ees. I not wear diaper." Mental swear word again. There's been a lot of that going on the last few days.
Anyway, she has had some success but she is still having lot's of 'spills' as she calls them and (and she is still holding #2) it made our already difficult weekend considerably worse. I.e. our Ward Christmas party was largely spent running back and forth to the RR. Maybe I'm just not remembering accurately how the other two did but I know Kohen only really had one day with accidents and that was it. That and the time he peed in my mouth...At least Aly hasn't done that, though there's always tomorrow. It takes 'em a while to get the hang of it right? I really just can't remember. Just picture yourself trying to do all the seasonal and Christmas-y stuff this time of year is stuffed with, while trying to P.T.- and please pity me...

Santa 2008

I don't know if you remember last years post with Santa but Aly was not all about sitting on Santa's lap. So I didn't force her this year because I don't want to permanently traumatize her...though she kind of seems to already be. Check her face out in the picture (try double clicking on the pic to make it big). And that was as close as she was gonna go. period. Kennedy was thrilled that Santa told her he 'knew' she'd been good, which in her mind confirms she is getting her "Molly" doll. And Kohen explained what he would like and then was sure to tell Santa he would be in Boise. He is super concerned Santa won't know where he is. The aftermath of Aly's brief Santa meeting is that now Aly repeats over and over, "I not like Santa" all the time. She says it with such sincerity I do believe she is telling the truth. I wonder if a present from him would help :)