A Christmas Story, 2010

I'll admit that Christmas Eve was a busy night, with setting out Christmas cookies for Santa, spreading reindeer food on the driveway so Donner and Blitzen would have a snack while they waited, last-minute wrapping of gifts, and mentally preparing for Christmas morning, but I thought I had at least tidied up the family room before I went to bed.

Oddly, I was the first one up. I awoke at 6:30am, thought about going back to sleep, and then resigned myself to getting out of bed and (hopefully) catching some of the childrens' Christmas joy on video. I went downstairs to start the coffee and open the curtains, and nearly tripped on this:

I thought for certain I had blundered and left unwrapped gifts on the floor, until I looked closer and realized that two of the stockings appeared to be empty, with their innards strewn about the floor. Upon closer inspection, I saw that someone who shall remain unnamed (but who has a bedroom on the first floor) had unceremoniously dumped out the contents of Kate's and Claire's stockings. Luke's stocking, which clearly had uninteresting Matchbox cars and a truck coloring book in it, was untouched. I also noticed an assortment of candy wrappers next to the Barbie that had been in Claire's stocking.

I suspected that this midnight snack had filled the little belly of the child who had rummaged through Santa's gifts, and realized that I probably had plenty of time to make coffee and breakfast.

Sure enough, although Claire and Luke were understandably enthusiastic and excited about Christmas morning and all of its tidings, Kate was more difficult to rouse out of bed.

While attempting to wake Kate, Tim asked her if she had had any part in the stocking annihilation. She told him an engaging story about how she had missed seeing Santa, but that she had woken up when the clock said 4 and also 5, and that the reindeer food was all gone. She also mentioned that the stockings were so heavy that they had fallen down to the floor. He asked her if she had a snack of candy, and she admitted she had.

Not realizing that she had relayed the story to her father already, I asked her if she was the one who had opened all the stockings. She told me, "No, it wasn't me," with a smirk.

My favorite part of the story: the candy wrappers were from the Rolos in my stocking.

Prized Barbie clothes from Uncle Bob.

Slippers!

Santa Luke and his awesome 'twaktoh' book.

Luke proved to be surprisingly adept at opening gifts. He would tear off a small piece of paper and hand it to the closest person, demanding, "bin", meaning, "kindly throw this in the garbage bin for me". Adorable.

Halloween Recap

The children were super excited about Halloween this year. The parents, somehow, were woefully unprepared. Not as in "indoor decorations not up in time", but more like "carving pumpkins while the children rush through dinner so they can go get dressed" unprepared. Partly, it was the demands. No more triangle-eyed, toothy jack-o-lanterns here. One girl wanted a haunted house and the other a bat. During dinner preparations/pumpkin carving time, the boy one demanded to ride his sisters' bike, regardless of the fact that he cannot climb up onto it by himself (thankfully), nor can he peddle. The shrieking that ensued ensured that his demands were met.

It was another warm Halloween, so Barbie and Tinkerbell were comfortable in their frilly costumes. The fighter pilot was just excited that he got to wear patches. Each carried their own candy bag, walked nicely to the front door of each house, rang the doorbell, and said "trick or treat!". Or at least that's the theory. Luke managed to say something in the order of "tika tee" and then looked up with expectant/wary eyes. Each time he appeared astounded that complete strangers were giving him treats, and that this experience was apparently parent-sanctioned. At one point he stopped suddenly on our journey and attempted to eat a candy, wrapper and all. It was adorable.

Barbie cops an attitude while Tinkerbell curtseys.

The girls told the boy not to pick his nose, which inspired him to do just that.

She's 5

Her favorite song is You Belong With Me, by Taylor Swift. Every time it comes on the radio, she and Claire yell their favorite (incorrect) lyrics at each other: "She wears short skirts, I wear sneakers, she's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers!" She reads fairly well, and has a pretty good grasp of math for her age. She has an incredible imagination, and loves to lead her friends and siblings in new games, usually with a good degree of bossiness. She stands with her hands on her hips and a gleam in her eye and says, "Mo-om..." in her best 13-year-old voice. She is the youngest in her class, but is not the tallest, somehow.

Kate is obsessed with art. Any kind of art. She will occupy herself for hours, drawing complex pictures with detailed storylines. I am continually amazed by her artistic talent and her creativity. Give her some scrap paper, a cardboard tube and some crayons and she will come up with something I wouldn't think possible.

A short interview with the birthday girl

What's your favorite color? "Red, white and blue and purple and pink." Me: "That's it?" Her: "Yes."

What is your favorite thing to do? "Ummmmmm.........play. My favorite toys to play with are Legos and Barbies."

What is your favorite food? "Ummm...favorite food is...macaroni and cheese."

What is your favorite dessert? "Ummm...s'mores." [certainly this has nothing to do with her father's breakfast treat this morning: s'more pancakes.]

What is your favorite part of school? "My favorite part of school is art."

What is your favorite movie? "The Twelve Dancing Princesses."

Who is your best friend? "Annalisa." [I have no idea who this girl is.]

Who are you going to marry? "CJ." [I was informed of this fact yesterday. Have not met said boy.]

What is your favorite book? "Barbie in the Mermaid Tale, and The Island Princess." [Thankfully she can mostly read these by herself.]

What is your favorite thing to do outside? "Draw with chalk and exercise and play."

The Barbie Princess cake, hastily put together by a still-jet-lagged mom. At the time of its construction, purple was on her list of favorite colors. Oh, wait. I just re-read her index of colors above and purple is indeed on there.

Kindergarten is a time of constant learning. For instance, we are working on manners these days, and learning about etiquette. She opened many art- and Barbie-related gifts, and then unwrapped the one from us. "That isn't a very good present." It was a boom box/CD player, which she now loves and listens to all the time. Ah, five-year-old attitude. We love you, Kate! Happy Birthday, Baby Girl.

Celebrating Freedom

My sister, Jessica, and her family joined us for the 4th of July weekend. It has been more than a year since she was here, and we were glad they were the ones making the long and mentally agonizing drive to be spending time all together, cultivating such relationships that only blood relatives can enjoy.

The weekend was fraught with shenanigans.

Despite Tim's continual, and insistent, marshmallow-roasting instructions, a semi-intoxicated Jessica managed to light her marshmallow on fire at least 8 times. My stove. It might never recover.

One evening, after watching the Star Trek movie (surprisingly good! Yes, I am aware that I am freakishly enamored with sci-fi!) Jess and I spent an excessive amount of time "evening out" the all-American chocolate cake we had purchased at Costco for the weekend. In our defense, it looked much more uniform when we were done.

The children (read: Kate and McLaren) agreed to watch a movie other than Chicken Run (see previous post), which turned out to be Enchanted. During the ballroom dancing scene, Kate and Tempie re-enacted the frolicking as seen through their eyes.

We were all relieved to see that the girls were getting along, especially after it was determined that Lucy was keen to establish her superiority over Luke. The first time it happened, we thought it was clumsiness. Lucy and Luke were casually walking along the edge of the pool, and all parents were focused on the children in the water. Suddenly Luke splashed in, unexpectedly, by the look on his face and the wailing that ensued. Mike and I joked that Lucy pushed him in. Not hours later, however, Jessica caught her red-handed. Lucy was indeed pushing Luke down, attempting (hopefully minor) bodily injury. All weekend, every adult kept the blue-eyed beauty under close observation for more blatant physical violations against her younger cousin.

After movie night, it was time for fireworks. There were a few tears (Tempie), some shrieking (Lucy, who LOVED the whole production), and lots of hands over ears (Kate and Claire). As for Luke, he was mostly wide-eyed throughout the whole event, unclear what it was we were trying to accomplish.

I am so ready for this. Bring it.

Luke's first exposure to fireworks. He is clearly stunned by our lack of grandeur, and yet also concerned by his father's apparent role in purposely lighting things on fire.

The whole family, minus Tim, the pyrotechnician, as they sit in awe of the minuscule sparks and illuminations cast by our paltry firework show. The children still managed to spend most of the time covering their ears and appearing alarmed.

Happy Father's Day, Father!*

A short interview with the children, on their favorite subject: Dad.

1. How old is Daddy?
Kate: Um, 40.
Claire: 40.
Luke: Da!
Actual answer: 40.

2. How old are you?
Kate: Um, 4. And a half.
Claire: 3.
Luke: suh-suh.

3. What is Daddy's favorite food?
Kate: Um, um, um, it's supposed to be....I know what it is. It's....hmmm. Beans in a pot with sausage and he also likes rice with beans.
Claire: Grapes.
Luke: Uh dee duh dah deh.
Actual answer: red beans and rice. And steak.

4. What is Daddy's favorite color?
Kate: I don't know. Maybe black.
Claire: I think green.
Luke: Nuh dah.
Actual answer: blue?

5. What does Daddy like to drink?
Kate: Soda.
Claire: Coffee.
Luke: Nun dah dah.
Actual answer: Jack Daniels.

6. What does Daddy like to do when he's not working?
Kate: Play with us.
Claire: Uh, play and stay home.
Luke: Waaaaaah, ahhhh aaaaah!
Actual answer: Play with the kids.

7. What does Daddy do for work?
Kate: Um, he talks to a lot of people.
Claire: Drives.
Luke: Don neh dun.
Actual answer: flies the A-10.

8. What is Daddy's favorite song?
Kate: Three Blind Mice.
Claire: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.
Luke: Plb buh duh.
Actual answer: Can't Take My Eyes Off of You (Franki Valli).

9. Does Daddy have any brothers or sisters?
Kate: He has a lot of brothers and one sister.
Claire: Us.
Luke: Down nah dah.
Actual answer: 2 brothers and 1 sister.

10. What is his favorite thing in the world?
Kate: A-10s!
Claire: Going to work.
Luke: Eeeh aah!
Actual answer: Jen.

*A note of thanks to Carrie and Dorothy for unwittingly sharing this idea with me.

MJ

Dear Claire,

You are three today. Although time has probably not flown by for you, it seems like just last month that it was snowing in Tucson days before you were born. You are your own little snowflake; beautiful and unique, and everyone loves you. Your smile makes your little brother break out into a grin, and your big sister would rather play with you than with anyone else.

Sometimes you make us crazy. You are still sneaky, and we have learned to keep a close eye on you, as you are likely to get into lotion and rub it on the walls, or color on my nightstand with pens I have mistakenly left within your reach. Even when something is out of reach for you, you have no qualms about finding something to climb on to get to what you want. I have little doubt that you will use this skill in less devious ways in the future. At least I hope so.

You say the funniest things. Last week I told you we were going to fly in an airplane soon to go see Grandma, and your eyes got big. You said, "Really? Are we gonna fly upside down?" You are your father's daughter. And, like him, you are a night owl. You would be happy to stay up until 10pm, if you could sleep in until 10am.

You also remind me of myself when I was little. You are shy when you first meet someone, and you did not at all enjoy being the center of attention at your birthday party. You looked a little scared when everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' to you. And yet you have little fear when it comes to physical pursuits. You climb exceptionally well, and you love to run and jump. Your sister talks big, but you actually do big things, often without making a big production of it. You are also extraordinarily stubborn. You like what you like, and you are not inclined to change your mind, once it is set. I am still trying to figure you out.

You have an interesting taste for food. You like to dip your chicken nuggets in caramel sauce, your apples in ketchup, and you will eat almost anything if you can dip it in something. In fact, you have a bit of an obsession with dip. A few weeks ago, you decided you like lettuce, if dunked in ranch dressing. Your dad and I were very impressed, as we were sure none of our children were ever going to like salads. Your favorite food is probably cheese. A year ago, you ate aged bleu cheese and loved it. We often call you our little French girl, as you could live off grapes, cheese and bread. Once you decide you like something, you usually stick with it.

Often, it takes a lot of effort on our parts to 'help' you decide you like something, though. You are very particular about what you wear, for instance. You hate jeans, or anything that is "too tight", as you put it. You have a large closet full of clothes, but will only wear a handful of outfits. Your favorites include stretch pants, your gymnastics t-shirt, and a skirt with an elastic band that you got for your 2nd birthday.

You have recently decided you do not like green, and you have your own slang. You say, "suh like", and I think you mean "it's like" or "so, like...". It's very endearing. You also have some cute phrases we dub "McLarenisms". These include:

"Mommy, can I please have more fruit cottontail?"

"I want to watch Starburst for movie night."

We love you, Claire bear. Happy Birthday!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Stockings.

First present, ever. Mostly he just wanted to eat the paper.

Ms. Sneaky. Playing with her sister's new toys while Kate was busy opening other gifts.

Kate and Vovo.

It's been a whirlwind of a month: parties (real and pretend), Santa, gifts, arguing over new toys and old, learning new skills (Kate: bike riding, Claire: Rody riding, Luke: climbing everything), and lots of family time.

We somehow made it until 7am on Christmas morning. Once the girls saw all the gifts under the tree, there was a lot of squealing, tearing of paper and hurried handing out of presents. The kids made out like bandits. Kate is the proud owner of approximately 14 Barbies, Claire got a new booster seat for the car, and Luke finally has some boy toys to play with. The day after Christmas, my dad and family came to stay for a couple of days. The girls were thrilled to have new people to play with, and Kate was ecstatic when her Aunt Ana offered to have a Barbie party with her.

The girls go back to school on Monday, Tim leaves for a short TDY on Sunday, and I'm trying to get back into a running routine. Right after I take another nap.

A week of parties

First visit with Santa, at the 561st Christmas party.

The school Christmas concert. Kate is the tall blonde in black on the left, and Claire is in red and white on the bottom row, turned around to look at her big sister. She spent most of the concert in this position.

Erika, Megan and me at Blue Martini on patch night.

A pile of sugar on a red cookie. Gross. Even she must have thought it was icky, because she later licked the frosting off and left the cookie.

The 422 Christmas party.

Candy canes. They love them.

Books from Santa at the 422 party.

At Pure on graduation night.

Thanksgiving in Tucson

I have barely unpacked, let alone found the camera and cord to download our photos from last week, so that will have to come later. Right now I'm in a tizzy trying to figure out how to pack approximately 2,548 things into the next 3-4 weeks. The holiday stress fun has begun!

We drove to Tucson the weekend before Thanksgiving, and spent the whole week with my sister and her family. The kids were in HEAVEN. The parents were mildly amused. All in all, it went well, minus the sleep thing. The title to this post could also be:

• Does Not Sleep Well Away From Home (mostly Luke)

There are a lot of other good titles out there, actually. Maybe I'll just use titles to tell you about our trip.

• Birthday Parties and Turkey, Oh My! (Happy First Birthday, Lucy!)
• Our First Black Friday Shopping Trip, by Jessica and Jennifer
• Mmmmm, Good Beer
• Mmmmm, Excellent Mexican Food
• Mmmmm, Turkey, Stuffing, Habanero Mashed Potatoes...you get the idea
• Oops, I Messed Up My Running Schedule; I hope 9 Miles Instead of 10 Will Not Destroy Me Next Weekend
• Yay, Bookmans!
• WHY Do We Always Get Stuck at the Hoover Dam?
• Seriously, We Have to Drive All the Way Back to Kingman to Go Around the Damn Dam?
• Tucson to Las Vegas: the Longest Trip Yet (30 Hours)
• Can Everyone Just Be Healthy For Like a Week? Please?

I finally ordered our Christmas cards. Hopefully you will receive them before Christmas.

Christmas shopping! Aggggggghhhhhhhh! Christmas tree? Not yet. Maybe next week? Why does everything happen at once?

Now we're off to the dentist for the girls' first teeth cleaning. I've been trying to talk it up. There are movies there! The dentist is so nice! He will tell you to say 'aaaaahhh'. Can you say 'aaaaahhhh'? Yay! I'll let you know how it goes.

Christmas photo FAIL

Last night we went to a Christmas village with more lights than I can ever remember seeing at a Christmas display of this sort. It was military appreciation night, so not only did we get in for free, but we also got to experience the festivities without half of Las Vegas elbowing their way through the forest - the night was only for military cardholders. We froze (it was in the 50s), but were thankful for the dry weather, and for the fact that although we couldn't feel our fingers, we couldn't actually see our breath. The girls LOVED it.

One of my goals was to get a picture worthy of our 2009 Christmas card. Total failure.

Where's Luke?

Merry Christmas from the Red Eye family! No amount of photo editing can get Luke's eyes to turn an actual color. Glowing white is nice, no?

Lost Luke again.

Kate and her beloved hot chocolate. "It's also called cocoa, Mom."

Tim with "spirit hands". Yes, that's a princess coach adorned with lights. They had everything there.

Ornaments!

My favorite display.

The girls really "got into" the decorations.

I cannot remember the last time Luke fell asleep on someone. He was just adorable. And such a good sport.

The party

We had a berry-squishing good time at Kate's 4th birthday party on Saturday.

Simone, Kate and Jen.

Reese shows off her shirt.

Claire just wanted to eat the berries. Standard.

Who's four years old?

The princess army.

8 years

Happy Anniversary, Tim! As a certain card says, "Once upon a time...happily ever after."

Dropped off the face of the blogosphere

Tim got back two weeks ago, and we've been non-stop busy ever since. He was home for about 24 hours before the Oregon contingent of his family showed up (a surprise to him) for his 40th birthday.

Bekah holds Luke.

Our first family trip to the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign. It was 110* outside, but we took the obligatory photos and then moved on to the Bellagio.

Tim's birthday celebration (and Buji's and Tom's, for that matter) started at Battista's for dinner.

And ended at Mandalay Bay's Foundation Room.

Then there was the surprise birthday party the next afternoon...

Tim held up well through all the surprises, especially given the fact that he had four flights in a row the week after he got back, one of which was a checkride. Thanks to all who came to the party, to the 12 family members who drove 20 hours each way in a crowded 15-passenger van, and Happy 40th Birthday, Tim!

Hey, it's only July 9th

And here are my 4th of July pictures! It's been a full week. Tim had a long weekend to celebrate Independence Day, and we were busy almost the whole time. We invited friends over on Friday night, as they are ready to PCS. The kids swam and swam and ate and swam and lit fireworks and cried and covered their ears. Then they slept.

Saturday was a party at another family's house. The kids were up until 11pm that night...and crabby. Kate tried her first sparkler, and just as I was telling her not to touch the end of it (it had just burned out), she started crying. She had already grabbed it. I did the same thing when I was little, which is why I knew to tell her not to touch it, but I got to her too late. She is fine - just small white burns on three of her fingers.

On Sunday, we went to Max's birthday party at the gymnastics gym (is that redundant?), and they ran and jumped and ate cake. They slept pretty hard that night, too. We took Tim to the airport on Monday morning so he could go to "fanistan", according to Kate. We've been keeping pretty busy since then, so they are holding up fairly well.

Bandages.

Three months old: 25" and 16.5 pounds. WOW. Someone's been eating well.

The kitty is ready for fireworks.