The Polar Express

 Last Sunday we took OM and our nephew AJ on the Polar Express: a train ride from Hood River to the north pole to see Santa. 

When they finally opened the train station doors and the conductor bellowed out, "all aboard" Owen and AJ's eyes widened in amazement and I tell ya, it was the most endearing sight ever. They were SO excited and couldn't believe they were there. 

The fella that took our picture here made us all say 'I believe' and no one was having it. I said it to be polite. :)

The helpers handing out cookies and hot cocoa (very tasty btw, I wasn't expecting much but they were just right).

Collecting tickets...

O holding out his ticket...

The conductor excessively punching holes in the ticket and showering O with them...

AJ getting a better view of the snow and Santa...

The hobo from the book/movie...

And finally, Santa. He gave all the kids a jingle bell:)

They jacked around for most of the car ride but in the end their little bodies were tuckered...

Happy Holidays!

Ho, ho, ho happy cwis-mas evwee-body

Thanksgiving 2010

Turkey was in fact on the menu this year. It came close to not happening but it felt right to include it. 

I came home one day from the gym and our entire kitchen table was covered in leaves, feathers, glue, construction paper etc. as OM and Woody made name tags for all our TDay guests...

Maya wrote mine...pretty great "m's" for a 3-year-old!

The kid table...

Owen got pretty sick on TDay but this was early in the day when he was still hanging strong...

Elee made FIVE pies! Yum:)

I haven't been sewing much but I finally whipped up a banner (see it back there?). Next year it will say 

H-A-P-P-Y T-H-A-N-K-S-G-I-V-I-N-G.

It's kind of a hodge podge assortment of materials but I love how it's all scraps from projects from my first year of sewing. And where the 'G' will be is on a blue piece of felt (from Owen's super hero birthday cape) with orange stitching. That's me paying homage to my Gator loving roots. :)

Everyone here is getting ready to watch Polar Express...

We're taking OM and AJ this weekend to Hood River to board the Polar Express and check out Santa up at the North Pole while we munch cookies and sip cocoa. 

Hope your TDay was delicious and filled with LOTS of love too!

Too much Thanksgiving

 Too much excitement for my angel-faced 3-year-old.

p.s. camera is back. more photos and posts coming soon...

Veteran's Day

Today and 9/11 always choke me up. 

Thank you veterans. 

Remember this post about my grandfather? I ended with a note about Taps and today NPR has a story about it. It's worth listening to. 

Especially today.

the original pebbles

I still don't have my camera back so I haven't been able to upload Halloween photos.

But, Maya's teachers create a daily page with photos of the children's doings and I asked them to email me this one of Pebbles. [Along with Maya's classmate, Berkeley.]

Last night Maya was inconsolable and I couldn't figure out what was wrong. After about 10 minutes of hysterical crying she finally explained that she hadn't been able to go to the studio that day and thus, never got to see Pebbles. 

Oh boy. I see a guinea pig in our future. 

Last week Woody took the day off with Maya and they ran a few errands together. I told Maya to remind daddy that I needed more green tea. Woody got me the one I usually drink but Maya insisted on getting me this one:

I haven't tried it yet but it makes me smile every time I see it. Picturing the two of them together @ TJ's makes me smile wide as well.

Off to dinner...

Debbie's bday, Dia de los Muertos, Halloween, & SYTYCD

Happy Birthday lil Deb! 

You know how I just love wedding photos. Debbie got married two months after I said 'I do' and it was so much fun...as you can see. That's me and MBH back there. 

(Yes, MBH was rockin' the sweater vest.)

Yesterday was Day of the Dead (o, en espanol, dia de los muertos). 

If you watched Project Runway this season then you were probably blown away by the fabulous Mondo and this day of the dead outfit he whipped up.

I LOVE it!

My Halloween photos are actually from Spiderman's mom. 

We split up H'ween and Woody took Owen to Nigel's house and I stayed with Maya and Aunt Elee and AJ & Brook. I also left my camera @ Aunt Elee's so I don't have any photos of M to share...yet.

Spidey and Batman face-off.

Check out that pumpkin!

The boys hit the swanky PDX neighborhood and got full size candy bars while the parents were offered hot coffee, hot cocoa, and hot toddy's. 

Nice.

I've been meaning to post this dance ever since I saw it. It blows my mind every time I watch it. I love this show and this was the best routine I've ever seen. The guy in red is a classically trained ballet dancer and this was his first hip hop routine. AMAZING!

And this one is from Jeanine who won last season, this was her solo in the finale. So, super good!

Maya had a substitute teacher at dance class this week who let the parents stay during class to watch. Maya squeaked w/ glee while bouncing and frolicking across the dance studio. The new teacher told me she could see her on So You Think You Can Dance one day! 

Oh yeah...I can totally see it too :)