Christmas and Kids

Here are some pictures from our photo day at Matthew's school and some stories from tree cutting day.

Kids are so much fun, especially during the holidays. Yesterday we drove out to Half Moon Bay to get our tree. As soon as we turned into the entrance the kids faces sparkled with joy. Trees shaped and painted like snowmen and a train with Santa inside. Matthew noted that we just saw Santa on top of the firetruck at the parade on our street, so this one MUST be pretend.

We headed up the hill and into the valley to find the perfect tree. They squealed with excitement as they jumped out of the car and ran to the trees. Madeleine loved standing on the stumps and jumping off. Matthew liked carrying the saw by himself for the first time this year and pointing out "the best tree EVER." There were lots of them. :)

Matthew observed that some of the trees were really small. Marc explained that they had to grow and that each year we come back they will be bigger and bigger, just like him. Matthew responded, "Dad you're a genius!...and then we'll cut me down?" Then he laughed like crazy. Not sure how that makes Marc a genius or why that was so funny, but we all laughed with him and Marc seemed to have a proud fatherly look on his face. That comment surely secured his train ride on the way back down.

The train ride was great, complete with Christmas songs and antidotes about the different types of trees. Did you know it takes a Nobel Fir the longest to grow (12 years) and that's why it's the most expensive. It was lots of fun and when we finished, we were greeted with snow coming off the roof of Santa's Workshop, teenagers caroling and hot apple cider.

The kids continued to have a blast later that night when we put up the tree and decorated it. They were very excited to see all the Christmas things that have been packed away for a year. The Christmas clock, the talking Santa Claus, their Santa hats, their stockings, the Manger scene, etc.

Before we went to bed, Matthew mapped out where he thought Santa should put his gift in the living room..."do you think he'll put it over here or over here, Mommy?" He added, "I don't like Santa, I LOVE Santa." It was a great day. Now we have to spend some time teaching him more about the reason for season to cap it all off.

Merry Christmas!

Did You Miss Me???

Chalk it up to holidays, knitting and leaving my camera in my mom's car. I've gotten behind in making a post. Plus, my friend Margaret made the BEST post ever. Check it out. I didn't think I could ever top it, but a girl's gotta keep going.

Here are some highlights from my hiatus.

Many people may have crashed parties when they were younger. Marc and I did it for the first time this weekend. Technically, Marc is not yet a Sony employee (in the works) and so we were not technically invited to the holiday party. However, we got in!!! We got all dressed up...suit and cocktail dress and walked right up to the door, looked straight into the doorman's eyes, smiled and kept walking. He never even motioned for our Sony wristband. We couldn't have crashed a better party. It was AMAZING! 25 upside down 7 ft trees in the shape of a chandelier, and a full circle of white table cloth tables with 4 bar stations underneath. This was just the beginning. We had a blast. We need to crash more parties.

A couple of weeks ago Marc got a pumpkin pie. Matthew had a piece one night after dinner and LOVED it. The next night he asked for another piece, only to find out Dad got to it first. Lesson learned. This weekend he asked to stop at the store for Pumpkin pie. He suggested we get 2. A pie for Dad and a pie for the rest of us to share!!! Matthew is so funny! Even made his Dad crack up...his mentor.

The other day, Marc and I had a debate about who's the funniest in our house. For some reason Matthew woke up at 4am that night. Marc took the opportunity to ask Matthew who is the funniest. He said "Daddy". Bummer. Marc reminded me relentlessly the next morning. Matthew continued to say Daddy was the funniest for the next several days. Finally, I said to him that I wanted to be funny sometimes too. That request alone is VERY funny! Anyhow, Matthew conceded...he now assigns days for us to be funny...but I think Matthew is the funniest (most funny...my English teacher would say).

So, we participated in the annual field trip to the fire station. Here's a picture of Matthew on the fire truck.


Here's all the kids listening to the fire fighter tell us all about life at the station. Did you know that there are big black pipes that hang down from the ceiling? What are they for??? Well, they hook them up to the trucks and the exhaust goes up and out so that the station is exhaust free.


Then GAD (Great Aunt Diane) came over to make a Christmas tree decorated with gum drops. What child wouldn't get excited about this prospect? Go GAD!


I saved the BEST for last. The day wouldn't be complete without buying a new car!

Isn't it BEAUTIFUL?

Too bad it's not mine!!! See, I AM the funniest!!! It's GAD's new car, but I want it! Just love the color. Shimmery light blue. Lot's of room inside and it's TOTALLY loaded. She said it took an hour for the guy to review the computer screen capabilities. We could even see my real car parked behind it with the rear end camera that comes up on the screen. I realized my real car needs a bath!