traditions

this year we decided that we will not travel for the christmas holidays anymore - so that we can be home together as a family and begin our traditions now that the girls are getting old enought to "get" them.

we started tonight with christmas eve - one of my memorable traditions as a child. we each get to open ONE gift on christmas eve - and amazingly it happens to be new PJs for each of us.. every year! stella and sammy enjoyed this - stella got some cozy flannel thomas the train pj's which she is LOVING... sammy got some monkey pj's which she seemed impressed with (minorly) too! daddy got some that weren't such a hit (too hip for him, yoga pants) and mommy got some lovely ones as well!

we also had fondue for dinner and enjoyed making some cookies!

puppet mania!

today stella and mommy had a lovely girls afternoon... we busted out of school/work early and headed up to the Drake hotel downtown SF and had a lovely tea - so many treats and cider and... a very fancy tea indeed. then the show started - we watched an elaborate puppet show - cinderella - and stella got to meet the puppet masters and the intricate puppets after the show. it was a great little treat and she was SUCH a grown up little girl during the tea and the performance. a lovely afternoon, indeed.

15 years...

this is a picture of taylor this morning - her last day on earth. it's so sad, I can hardly type, but I need to get it out there and then get past it. i've had taylor for about 15 years - since I was a sophomore in college. she was my best bud- people used to make fun of how much I loved my dog.... she was fond of running errands with me. when we lived in dallas she'd hop into my convertible and sit there nicely in the passenger seat while I made a deposit at the bank, or picked up the dry cleaning, and she loved the wind in her nose while we drove.

in the last couple of years though, her health has seriously deteriorated and she's become more my arch nemesis thanks to the trouble (and MESS) she causes since she's blind, deaf, and very incontenent. i feel really guilty - like we shouldn't have the right to decide when her time is up, but I also know that running into things because you're blind, and being totally in darkness with no hearing or eyesight and having old limbs and joints that make the stairs a feat, and having no control over your bladder and bowels so that you step in your own business isn't a fun life...

so, today i worked from home and hung out with her... we went out back and played a bit (and I use that term "played" loosely since she doesn't really get around very fast) and i gave her a bonus bowl of food. we also snuggled a bit and then charlie came to get her. he took her to a park and she rode/slept on his lap the whole way. she sniffed around the park a bit and then they went to the vet and she got a sedative and then she got another injection.

we both cried and i'm thankful to charlie for being strong and taking care of the actual trip to the vet. tonight we'll explain to stella that taylor is gone and get rid of her bowl, bed, etc. so that i'm not too sad everytime I see them. pretty soon lucy will probably figure it out too, and that will be sad for her too, since she and taylor were buddies and loved to spoon.

gift wrappers anonymous

if there is such a club, I'm going to submit stella's name to giftwrappers anonymous - for immediate membership. she helped me wrap a bunch of christmas gifts for her friends and our family, and now she's addicted to wrapping things! if you can't find something in our house, check "stella's pile" - she has likely wrapped it up! good news is, she shows great potential, has great patience, shows pride in her work, and worse comes to worse, we'll find all of our things on christmas morning when we open the gifts!

holiday lights and miami hurricanes

today stella's preschool class took a field trip and i was a chaperone. we all walked many blocks from their school to the hyatt regency, downtown SF. it was quite cute with all the little ones hanging onto their "rings" and walking two by two down along the streets of downtown san francisco. we passed the hall of christmas trees and lights in One Market plaza, and checked out the ice skaters at the embarcadero center... then we made it to the hyatt where we rode a glass elevator up and down 17 floors - like our own personal 6 flags ride! we ran into the miami hurricanes football players, who were staying at the hotel for their bowl game this week against Cal. the thousands of lights hung from the 17th floor all the way down to the lobby were gorgeous and the elaborate holiday displays with trains, planes, santas, reindeer, "snow", christmas trees, cars, people, etc. were quite fascinating for our group of 3 year olds!
they did a great job walking back and never whined about their little feed being tired - until we got back to school and they all needed a rest...

rainy days

today was a really rainy, dreery day.. sammy and I were out and about running errands (like christmas shopping and returning daddy's tux). and we got quite wet - but actually liked it! as we were walking from the car to the store, sammy pointed her head up, opened her mouth and tried to drink the "wa wa" that was falling from the sky!

fancy pants

tonight stella and sammy went over to franny's for a sleepove, as mommy and daddy got all dolled up in a long gown and tux, respectively. stella said I looked "fancy" as she studied me closely while I got ready for the Webcor Holiday party. it was such a nice event - held at the Cal Academy of Sciences in the city -such an amazing spot, the architecture, the finishings, the animals (I liked the albino alligator). we had great food, mingling with co-workers and friends, and it was nice to see the exhibits and get so dressed up for a date night!
the only sad part was hearing the score of the cowboys/ravens game after we left the party at 1am...

jingle bells & not-a-box

today was the holiday sing-a-long and cookie exchange for stella/sammy's school... all the parents come pick up the kids and walk across the street to the Gap offices - to a big conference room. then we all gather round and sing holiday songs while alodiah (sammy's teacher) and a couple of the dads play guitar. the preschoolers were particularly jolly - as they created a holiday "mosh pit"! i don't know what it is about these cuties, but instead of groovin' to the music (like sammy and her friends were doing), they all jump around - just jump, jump, jump! that's how they dance and feel the groove!
also, we got a big box in the mail (diapers and wipes!) and stella decided that it was NOT a box, afterall, and was actually a BOAT! she and sammy in their jammies decided to go for a ride... then they made mommy and daddy get in too - believe it or not, we all fit!

arghhh matey!

today we went to marin for kai & jack's 3rd birthday party... it was a pirate theme and stella and sammy had a great time seeing their friends and playing games with the live pirate chick... she did face painting and animal balloons and sang songs, etc. the goody bag was quite well received - with a treasure map and lots of little pirate treats!
after we got home, stella and sammy decided to eat some snacks and share their stool while mom and dad were busy cheering on the cowboys to their victory over the ny giants!

boswick diaper head

this morning i took the girls to studio grow to play and see a show- boswick the clown. he was quite funny and stella really got into it, she especially liked the part where he put a diaper on his head like a hat and called himself boswich "diaperhead"! when we got home, stella decided to re-enact it for daddy, by using a bandana for her very own "diaperhead"!

rock star

sammy seems to want to follow in her uncle danny's footsteps and become a guitar playin' fool..

stella and I went shopping for the family that we adopted for the holidays, and picked some toys and clothes for the little boy Tony and his family. at the end, i was so proud of her for being so excited to give these gifts and never asking for any toys for herself, that I offered to let her pick out ONE thing at target. she picked this guitar and brought it home where sammy promptly confisgated it - she decided that she was the rock star of the family and stella has never gotten the thing back! she was cool though, did a great job of sharing (aka "giving" it to) with her sister -- which reinforced my reasons for buying her the treat in the first place. she's a good girl. and sammy's apparently a rock star...

ice skating in california!!!

today my team at work had our holiday fun - we all went ice skating downtown, right off the embarcadero, near the water/bay bridge.. it was lovely and also humbling- it's been a while and I should be better skilled at this, based on my wisconsin roots! i didn't fall at all, but I wasn't exactly speed skating either. great part is that my team was showing up! jennifer and david and becky were all kickin' butt, easily the best ones out there!
then we had hot cocoa and baked goods, and then drinks and snacks at a local restaurant.

the carousel

tonight i took the girls with franny and her parents to tilden park to visit santa (who looked strangely different from the santa stella sat on a couple weeks ago, but she didn't seem to notice) and a really creepy elf. we also went on the carousel there - it's decorated so nicely during the holidays, with tons of christmas trees with all kinds of fun themes (one was covered in cupcakes - a stella favorite!).. we couldn't find the reindeer who were supposed to be there live in all their glory - maybe next week we'll try again.

gingerbread fun

this morning stella and I went with aidan and christine to build gingerbread houses at the bay area discovery museum. i'm quite impressed with stella - she exhibited magnificent restraint and didn't eat any of her candies til she was done decorating the house with them! much better than I could have done- it was a battle for me not to eat hers up!
later we went home and watched the cowboys game with daddy and sammy, while sammy sported her tony romo jersey!