Roger the Elf

Roger is a Christmas elf that lives at our house and watches the kids during the day, then gets into mischief while everyone is asleep. He also reports back to Santa and makes naughty/nice recommendations to the big man.

I picked up a little DIY foam elf kit and the kids helped me put it together. We've been having fun with Roger the Elf ever since. Here are some of his adventures:

Made lunches for the kids of ridiculous foods

Played a board game with Barbie and Superman   Fell in love

Went on a few dates and left photos for the kids to find

Sprinkled flour around his house (it's a Santa's Workshop box of Kleenix) and made snow angels
  Toilet papered the kids' rooms

Decorated our Christmas town with their underwear

Invited the kids to a tea party

The donut tea party is my favorite so far, those donuts were so tiny and cute!  I made them out of Fruity Cheerios dipped in chocolate syrup/sprinkles, powdered sugar and cinnamon.  Idea here: Emma's Tiny Treats.

Most of these ideas only took me a minute, and when I'm really feeling lazy I just leave 2 Hershey kisses at Roger's feet.  They like those mornings as much as they like his escapades. 

Click HERE for my second post on Roger's adventures.

Vegetarian Turkey

Made this to take to someone's house for Thanksgiving appetizers.  It was easy and turned out so cute!

Be Super!

Tomorrow Olivia starts second grade and Alex starts preschool, so it's a big day for both of them.  I know they're a little apprehensive and I wanted to do something fun and memorable to help them get ready.

A blogger I've long admired writes every year about her family's back-to-school traditions.  I followed her example and planned a family dinner with fun decorations, home-made crowns, fresh flowers, and a family motto for 2011. 

Coming up with a motto was easier than I thought it would be:  Alex loves superheroes and makes us all "play Batman" with him, and Mike and I work at a game company that makes a superhero game.  I knew I wanted to encourage the kids to do their best, and eventually ended up with our family motto for this school year:  Be Super!

Dinner was simple, just pesto over tortellini (it's their favorite), and we talked about ways they can, "Be Super," this year at school.

The sides of the crowns didn't stay glued down, but the kids were both thrilled to get to wear a crown during dinner, and I wouldn't be surprised if Alex wants to wear his to school.



Tomorrow when the kids walk out the door they'll see this little reminder on the wall:


And when they get to school they'll find this caped crusader in their lunch:

4th of July - 2011

I just wanted to post a couple of pics from our trip to Idaho for the 4th of July:

 We spent the day with my Grandpa Rudd at his house on the lake.  It was a beautiful day and we got there in time for lunch and then sent most of the kids and the dads out on a boat ride around the lake.

 The weather changed so fast though, and it started to rain... then Hail!  It was a scary few moments for the moms back at the house as we saw the huge hail coming down all around and worried about our kids and husbands out on the boat.

 Everyone got back safely though, they said it didn't even hail where they were.  The weather was nice for the rest of the evening.

 Looking at bugs on this tree trunk.

 Alex and Mike exploring the lake.

 Here are my brothers and sister-in-law enjoying a fire (we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows) while we waited for it to get dark enough for fireworks.  Grandpa's house is one of my favorite places to be.  I have so many happy memories there.

There was a beautiful sunset that night. Of course my brother took this. He's so much better with my camera than I am!
 

We stayed the night and went home the next day, back to the house in Shelley where I grew up. We had more fireworks - Alex loved them.

I wanted to show the kids the (semi) wild places where I used to play as a little girl and tell them stories about the canal where we weren't allowed to play (but we did anyway!), and about the time I hid in the fields to avoid a doctor visit.

Even though I love where we live in California, it's all very developed where we are and it's just not the same. 
I'm so glad when we can escape for a while.

Two Poems

by Olivia

ho Skrap
I love you!
Your tikle wiskrs
Your vary fun
You look so cute!

ho Brokle
I hate you!
You tast so gros
I have to eat
you or I can not
have dezrt!

Happy Memorial Day

Today we went to a park for a church picnic. The kids had SO much fun. Olivia got to play with her friends, explore a creek, get pushed on a rope swing and eat treats. Alex tried to keep up (except on the rope swing)!

We were there for about 5 hours, so by the time we got home it was time for dinner. I made some corn on the cob and had to take this picture of Olivia trying to eat her corn without her front teeth. It's been over a year that she hasn't had front teeth and I have to admire how she has adapted to the inconvenience without a single complaint.

Alex was supposed to go in the bathroom and get ready for a bath. Usually he celebrates liberation from clothing by running all over the house, but tonight it was strangely quiet. This is what I saw when I went to check on him.

Looks like he got one shoe off before he had to take a little nap on the side of the tub.

Sure do love these guys!

Halloween 2010

The kids got to go trick-or-treating a couple of times this year. On Friday night they went with a good friend to our church Halloween carnival. Olivia was a bride and Alex was Buzz Lightyear. Olivia loved getting to wear make-up!




On Sunday we took the kids to a few houses in the neighborhood. Liv was Batgirl and Alex was Spiderman.


One cute thing was that Alex got his first bag of candy and moved on to the next spot. When he got there they held out their candy bowl for him to pick one, and Alex tried to put the candy he'd just gotten into their bowl. =)

Santa Cruz

Mike and I took the kids to Santa Cruz a couple of weeks ago. Olivia loved it. She played in the water, dug in the sand, chased birds and had an overall great time. She was an absolute joy to have at the beach.


To say Alex isn't a huge fan of large quantities of sand or water would be an understatement. However, he can't get enough baseball so we distracted him from how much he hates beaches and oceans until he forgot himself and started having fun.


The boardwalk was garish and crowded and overpriced, but still fun to see.


Afterwards we went to a yummy restaurant with an amazing view (we sat outside in the perfect weather, but I liked this image).


Liv got an upset tummy and Alex threw pancakes at the seagulls, attracting an aggressive bird mob, yet it still managed to be a satisfying close to a lovely day spent celebrating our 6th anniversary.

Smelly Lunchboxes

Last spring while I was learning how to pack school lunches, Olivia was practicing how to spill food into the lunchbox. Her lunchbox was a soft bag that looked something like this.


After just a week or so of using it, I noticed it was smelly.

I'd been wiping or shaking it out every night, but I hadn't realized how smelly and gunked up the crevice that goes around the interior seams can be. I won't even tell you how gross it can get.

Despite my best efforts to keep the bag clean, there was no way I could keep up with the child that insisted on bringing home a half-eaten yogurt with no lid, loose in her lunch box.

Luckily, Liv was only in school for 5 weeks, and the smelly lunchbox went into the trash soon after.

This year I'm looking for something insulated, easy to clean, and preferably with a shoulder strap. Anyone have any suggestions?

Baseball Game

Our church offered tickets to a family baseball night last week for a Giants v. Orioles game in San Francisco. The stadium was really nice and we had a great time. The kids especially loved getting a big bag of cotton candy!

The tickets gave us free admission and 5 free rides at the county(?) fair next door to the stadium so we spent a little time there before the game.

Mike had told me it might be cold, but I stubbornly refused to believe him. I knew we were in for trouble when I saw people going into the stadium, staggering under the weight of their sweatshirts, wool blankets, and space heaters. Ah well, lesson learned. The kids were too excited to worry about the temperature anyway. Or maybe all that cotton candy kept them warm. :)

A Stroll in the Park

Last weekend we took the kids and met up with friends in Golden Gate Park. This photo is Olivia trying to fly the smallest kite in the world. My favorite part is that in the background there's a yoga class in session. There was a little bit of everything at that park.


It was our first time seeing the ocean since we got here which was fun (though this photo is technically the Bay).


I didn't get many photos that day: no one would hold still! We had a lot of fun at the park and then driving around the city afterwards.



My sister and I decided to start a new blog for fun. It's called City Mouse, Country Mouse and it's about the differences between our lives right now.

Courage

Some days
there aren't any
trumpets,
Just a lot of Dragons.

Courage doesn't always roar.

Sometimes Courage is the quiet voice
at the end of the day saying,
"I will try again tomorrow."

Simply persisting is sometimes
the most Courageous
act of all.

Big Cinderella

When Olivia was three she was in love with all things Cinderella, so when some friends offered us this child-sized doll we took them up on it. "Big Cinderella" joined our family on Christmas morning, about three weeks before Alexander came along.


She's been a pretty fun toy, especially because her clothes are made to fit children, so Liv could swap outfits with her.


Sometimes though, she's a little creepy. I’ll feel like someone’s watching me and see her out of the corner of my eye, not realizing for a second it’s just Big Cinderella. Or I’ll walk into an empty room after the kids are in bed and she’ll catch me off guard. Like this:


A few days ago the kids were playing Cinderella Ball, and I told Xander to dance with her so I could take their picture.

He is so not going to Prom. Ever.

Snowpocalypse 2010

Here are some pictures taken during and after the huge snowstorm we had this weekend.