I'm still awake

I wonder why? oh yeah - It's Christmas, and I had to make sure Santa's note was ready, and that he ate his cookies and milk. Thank you family for all the goodies for my kids. Merry Christmas to all of you. Have a wonderful weekend, and fabulous New Year. Thanks Becky for watching my kids all day while I stayed home sick trying to figure out how to bake while feeling a bit shabby. I promise to write before the year ends... but just wanted to wish my friends and familia a superb Navidar. (that's what Celia calls it... Navi-dar)

Saw these and they made me so happy.

Can't wait for summer again. I hope you are well. We are dealing with the sickies that I just mentioned last week we didn't have. Whateva. But all is good in our hood.

Except for that the other day a bottle of Fish Sauce broke in my kitchen. That was the nastiest thing ever ever ever ever ever. I'll never buy fish sauce again, no matter what the recipe says. Just ask Lety.

We did Disneyland this week, and the dance between Celia and Effie by the fountain in the Tiki Room made me crack up so hard. I'd never laughed so hard watching my kids. They acted out the most dramatic choreography between the two of them, holding each other close when the girl birds sang, then dancing like drumming mad women when the music got crazy, and ... well, it was just too good.

I gotta go - cuz I'm tired but those beach pictures just made me so happy I had to share. Have a beautiful day.

poor thing

ugg... I thought we had made it this far in the clear. No one had been sick for weeks, then all of a sudden, Celia can't stop coughing. Yuck. Send up your prayers that it doesn't take long for her to get better - cuz everything is just that much nicer, and easier when you're healthy.

I think we may have pushed her a little bit - maybe with school, violin, swimming lessons, musical theatre, birthday parties, music class.... wow. Poor kids never get a chance to just chill out.

But she's ok - and happy - when she's not having a coughing fit.

And Rosey Cakes is ok. Hopefully she doesn't get the bug. She's extra cute though. I think she may fulfill what was my ultimate life long dream of becoming a comedian. She is seriously one funny lady. If you have had the chance to hang out with this young little funny one in the past week, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Her mannerisms, expressions, and choice of words all fall into one category. Funny.

Despite the sickies - we've had such a fun past few weeks. I had to leave my Saturday job for other opportunities that arose. My Fall Music with Sara class is done till January. My Brand class is also done till then... so for awhile- I'll enjoy everything - and especially enjoy how much nicer everything else is, and how much easier everything else seems.... when the dishes are done. (for now)

Celia started swim class. They just threw the child in the water... (did I mention that in the last blog?) Effie was too shy, so I'm forced to go with her now to Mommy and Me swimming - which is cool, but after swimming in a salt water pool all summer, it wasn't fun swimming in chlorine.

Celia has memorized all her Musical theatre lines and it's a riot. Effie has memorized them too. Their best buddies moved outta town, so that was the excitement for the whole week before. They left behind a gas grill that has proven to be a wonderful, soul healing addition to our family. Grilled veggies and meats make for a happy home with happy and bountiful leftovers that keep everyone in a good mood.

We made it to the Fesitval of Lights again last night for the first time this year. Don't know if the cold played a roll in Celia's illness - but she was warm and bundled from head to toe... and the walk... was... long. But FUN!

Effie has been blessed with outings with her Nina... shopping, movies, and Santa. She raved about her day all night. She told her Nina (Lety) that a woman's shawl would "definitely look great on my Dad". Luckily, Lety didn't take her advice and buy it for him. Her Santa pics are too cute with her cutesey wootsy little chin on top of her other cutesy wootsy chin.

And let me not forget to mention her "confession with Santa". The man asked her if she had been good and she went off to tell him sadly that she "broke Celia's 101 Dalmatian's Dvd", and thats what she needed for Christmas to get her a new one. Man - she's gotten the guilt complex already without having experienced CCD yet! Hahahaha.

I can't stand how cute they are. I still am boggled by the idea of making real humans... and every time I look at my own, and I can't believe how great my little humans are.

I'm gonna enjoy the fact that it's 9:22pm, and no one is awake, and there's no laundry to fold, and that there are no dishes to do. I may just watch a movie. I may just have some cereal in peace. I don't know. The possibilities are a select few, but right now they all sound good to me. Crawling into bed early with my 3 warm humans doesn't sound too bad either.

Would Rather

Would rather blog than do the big big pile of dishes... and I don't know about where you live, but it's like we are living in a sand storm. All that debris from the fires that blew around stinks, and there's so much dust, and so much dirt outside that it's giving me extra work to do around here. Oh well.

And the dishes man... I don't talk about them much anymore, but I don't get where they came from. Oh yeah. Now I remember. Effie took out every pot and pan and utensil she could find to make some kind of a potion yesterday with water. At least it wasn't the kind she makes with parmesan cheese, paprika, flour, salt, sugar, and an entire bottle of chocolate syrup. At least she won't drink the potions.

So after a LONG week of:

Thanksgiving dinner once.
Thanksgiving dinner twice.
Pre-wedding party (Yeah Neal and Jasleen!)
Wedding ceremony.
Wedding reception.
Thanksgiving baking.
Monica's birthday.
My birthday.
My almost last day of work.
My vacation from work.
Celia's first violin lesson.
Effie and Celia's first swim lesson.
Birthday parties.
Moving friends.
Moving friend's leftover stuff.
Work.
Writing songs for Celia's class.
Visiting.
Not visiting.
Cleaning up.
More cleaning up.
Broken/clogged plumbing.
Getting plumbing fixed.
Not finding piojos.
More work.

Yeah, so after a week of all that - plus more... and more that I can't think of, I'm so drained that I don't want to do those dishes. All I want to do is write this out so that it's official - and that everyone knows I'm busy. I think I like to sound busier than I really am, but ... if I sit and think about it for more than 4 seconds, I always conclude that yes - I am really freaking busy. But I don't mind. I like it. And I like being ok with it. But honestly, I prefer not-busy - to busy. For sure.

Ok. Enough rambles... how are you guys? Where are you all at? I haven't seen many of you in a long long time?! Well, let me tell you how exciting I was today to see Celia jump into a pool. Her first swim lesson was a success - (for her) and she overcame her fear of water in her eyes or on her face, and jumped twice into a pool, and even let the swim instructor toss her into the water. It was so cool. I mean - I haven't had many of those "I'm so proud of my big kid" moments, but I definitely had one of those. The reason I haven't had many - is cuz my kids are so small, and usually have only small victories - like Effie saying sentences with 16 words. Small victory? Ok. Maybe big.

And Rosey Cheeks is fast asleep, after telling her over and over again the story of a Sneaky Weasel. Or as she would say "A stowee of da Sneekee Weeso" So Cute.
She was sure a handful today. Lots of tears. Lots of whining. Lots of sadness. Poor Effie. I think she knows that she's a big girl now, and that being a girl means you whine and want everyone to know when you feel bad. She just can't suck it up! But thinking back, her big sister had many moments like Effie is now having, and Effie isn't even half as emo as her sister was. We never had terrible twos.... just kinda tiring threes. Oh Effie Rose. You are the cutest wootest... still.

Ok everyone. I'm gonna go. My eyelids are falling and it's only 9pm. I'm gonna put on the radio and listen to something awful that I would be embarrassed about listening to if you walked in the room. Wish me luck. The pile is enormous. Until the next one.