Xmas Card 2012

Christmas 2012

 The American Girl doll. I did not see this coming. My girls have never been as much as into dolls as other girls her age. But…bang, that all changed. I had never even heard of an American Girl doll until a few weeks ago. Now when I mention it to people they all know about their little sub-culture and the store in L.A. and the American Girl restaurant. 

We’ve done a great job shielding our girls from fast food. I realized this yesterday when shopping for Laura with the girls. They ran across this in the toy aisle and were unfazed. They could care less about McDonald’s. Exactly what their marketing department does not want. Ha! Take that you soulless product-placement advertising bastards.

We’re Hamburger Habit people.  

Every year is the same and I feel it again. Answering the question, "what do you want for christmas?" Well, here are some thoughts...

Disneyland

We finally took our kids to the Magic Kingdom.  We held out for a long time and I'm glad we did.  This was a good age for the girls to experience Disneyland.  Although I think Georgia was scared on most of the rides.  I didn't realize how scary the rides were until I actually went on them as a parent.  Even the skeletons and gun shooting on Pirates of the Carribean seemed too disturbing for a 4 year old.

Just in case she got lost.

 I was surprised that Georgia was the only child (that I saw) with a phone number pinned to the back of her shirt.

 Parker was a super trooper on all rides.  She really got a kick out of them.  She even went on California Screamin' at California Adventure.  I couldn't believe it.  Afterward, she ran up to me and said "I'm definately not going on that again until I'm an adult." She said she was really scared and had her eyes closed the whole time.

The 'Finding Nemo' Submarine Ride

  Both of the girls were obsessed with going on the Monorail.   We ended up leaving it for last but we were too late.  The girls were disappointed and made us "pinky promise" we'd go on it next time.

Going down the big drop on Splash Mountain

After seeing Georgia's face in this picture, I felt like a very bad mom.  This was the ride that finally made her cry.  And I don't blame her.  That was a very steep drop.  Poor kid.  We didn't do any more scary stuff after this.

Georgia recovered quickly  from the scare.

Peachy wearing the dollar store Mickey ears daddy picked up before the trip.  The price tag for Mickey ears at Disneyland: $22.50.

Thanks to Grandma Powers for the souvenir money.

We stayed at the Howard Johnson across the street from Disneyland.  I thought this would allow us a restful night sleep before we went to Disneyland the following morning.  Boy was I wrong.

I think Parker expected the room to be like Grandma's timeshare condos.

 Parker voluntarily journaled about our stay.  It was very difficult sleeping in a room with Georgia.  For a girl with such a tiny little nose, she sure does snore loud.  In addition to that, we could hear the roar of the abominable snowman on the Matterhorn until midnight.  We all slept terribly and then Georgia woke up at 4 in the morning, only to fall back asleep at 6.  Fortunately we still made it to the park as soon as it opened at 9am.

The pool at the hotel was awesome though.  Very nice!

Farewell Jack

It has been a very sad few months.  The Hawleys have moved back to Colorado leaving a big empty space next door and in our hearts....especially Parker's.

These two were inseparable in the days before he left.

Jack has been Parker's very best friend since they moved in when Jack was 3 and Parker was 2. Really it was like losing a brother.   

Jack - age 3, Parker -  age 2

  I have been especially sad on Parker's behalf.  One evening about a month after they had left, Parker said to me, "Mom, I don't want to be pen pals with Jack.  I just want to be real pals that can play together".  Parker also asked me if instead of getting her ears pierced for her 7th birthday, if we could go to Colorado to visit Jack instead.

Jack & Ella at Georgia's 4th birthday party

The Neighbors - Michelle, Sara and Gina.
 I will miss our impromptu gatherings at Sara's for a glass of wine and girl talk.

Jack was such a good sport even when he was the only boy at the party.

Parker, Jack and baby Georgia

We spent many holidays with the Hawleys

Halloween

Jay and Jack pulling Georgia at Push 'em Pull 'em Parade 

Jack is one of the sweetest little boys I know.  I don't ever remember a time he was mean to Parker.  They rarely fought.  He was an easy kid to have around.  He and Parker just clicked.  Parker has been handling the loss pretty well. But Jack's absence is noticed daily. Parker doesn't have the constant playmate that she used to. I have to say I feel bad when I see her trying to play with Georgia and Bella; something she rarely did when Jack was around.

The girls love Sara

Our final farewell to Jay and Charlie.

Jack and Sara left in August so Jack could start school on time. Jay stayed until September and got the house ready to rent. The night Jay left, Georgia cried. I think it finally hit her that the Hawleys were really gone. We will miss our neighbors and friends. We wish them only the best as they start a new chapter of their lives in Colorado.

Little House in the Suburbs

This was taken at the Santa Paul Ag Museum; a very interesting place. I've yet to figure out which one these two is going to be Nellie Olson.

Becky Wicks won't get this reference because she's never read nor seen an episode of Little House on the Prarie. She's missing out. Michael Landon was on the show!

Consider this my annual plea for my wife to return to this blog. Her priorities are somewhere else. I know she watches t.v. every night so she has the time. Is Dancing With the Stars more important? I guess it depends on who's competing. Laura, come back and contribute. I can't be the pillar of posting (blogs) for too much longer.

Phallus in Wonderland

Parker made this little piece of "art", or as she emphallically refers to it as..."Admiral Winky." I'm afraid to confront her on it. I'm afraid of what she's going to tell me about it.

I hope this is her...

1) artistic rendering of the Empire State Building
2) way of recognizing the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (nuclear bomb = mushroom cloud)
3) ode to NASA's space program
4) portrait of Dick Cheney (as imagined by her father)

Parker is no longer allowed to be artistic. At least not until she's 24 years old.

The Whole Kitten Kaboodle

We have kittens. And for some reason they like Georgia. I can't figure out why, she's the roughest with them but they still enjoy her presence. We still have a lot to teach them about how to treat animals. Parker has already dressed them up as dolls which is not cool. 

Naming the cats hasn't been so easy. The grey tabby's name was immediate. The minute we took her home from the shelter and took her out of her carrying case she jumped out of the cardboard box. Since then nothing has been able to hold her, she jumped out of any contraption I put together. Her name as determined by Parker is Hopper(initially it was "Hopper Heart" but was later shortened).

Naming the white and gray cat wasn't as easy. She was the least comfortable with us when we first got her and would immediately hiss at anyone coming near it. Soon enough that subsided and she'd let you pick her up and pet her for a while; but when you put her back down she'd look at you and hiss then run for cover. Hence her initial name of "Hisser." Hisser and Hopper - easy to remember. Then her name started changing, nobody liked the name "Hisser." Renaming her became difficult. It started with Parker calling her "Rainbow Heart." I don't know where that came from. I picture a member of the Chumash tribe who had an affinity for people of the same sex. "See that kemosabe over there with the short shorts who's dancing to the Pet Shop Boys? That's Rainbow Heart." 

Then the name morphed into "Bunny." I tried to deflect the name "Bunny" by offering up "Zelda." That didn't work. Then I tried with "Beyonce." Parker partially accepted this offer and renamed her "Bunny Beyonce". As a long-standing fan of Cheap Trick, I call her "Bun E. Carlos".  

We kept them in the extra bedroom when they first got home. Parker made this sign and taped it to their door.

 I broke out my Enigma machine to decode this sign. It says...
Kitten Room
Hopper Heart
Hisser Heart
Owned by Parker and Georgia and Dad and Mom

So far so good with the little ones. The kids love them and they're pretty good socialized young cats. They're venturing outside and having a good time. The shelter was overrun with kittens at the time so we did our part. Plus, if we don't like them I can always drop them off at my mom's house. 

I am So Glad This Didn't Catch On

Random Pics

     "Excellance"?

Dishes...ugh. Unfortunately there's nothing that turns Laura on more than seeing me washing dishes. Can you see my calves glistening with manly sexiness? According to Laura this is more titillating than those men in the movie "Magic Mike".

Just wait until I take up dusting.