Thanksgiving and The Tree of All Trees

We had a very nice Thanksgiving this year.  Somehow we lucked out and became a hub, and two of Todd's sisters and their families came to us.  We loved it!

I made cranberry sauce from scratch and must say it was sooooo much better than the canned stuff (that nobody really eats).  And it was easy.  Dissolve one cup of sugar in one cup of orange juice, then add 12 ounces of fresh cranberries and stir on medium for 10-12 minutes.  Chill and serve.  Voila!  I was spreading this stuff on my rolls, it was so good!

Erika and Steve came down from Oakland and were gracious enough to hang out with the kids during dinner.

.

Missy and Burke and their four girls drove out from Utah and stayed with us for the weekend.  We loved it!

Missy was disappointed that we didn't go Black Friday shopping the next morning, but we had a bigger fish to fry.  Tree hunting!  Todd has been talking for the past 12 months about this year's tree.  We've got vaulted ceilings and he wanted to use up every single inch of space possible.  I agreed, based on an understanding that the tree could be as tall as he wanted, but couldn't be so wide that it took up half our living room.  We went to the Four Winds tree farm with three measurements in mind: height (at least 14 feet), width from trunk to outer branches, and width of the trunk itself (to ensure it fit in our tree stand).

I am thrilled to report that we were most successful!  Our tree is amazing.  Final stats: 13'2", and it scratched the ceiling on the way up.  Todd had to stand on his toes on the top of a ladder to put lights and ornaments on the top portion.  It is the tree of all trees.

My kids loved having "the cousins" over to play.  I actually got lonely for Hazel.  She's usually my constant shadow, but while Missy's girls were here, I barely heard from her.  She loved constantly having a playmate and can't wait to see them again.  

movie night

Saturday we went to Half Moon Bay for some beach time.  We played in the sand for a while, and then headed over to the tide pools at low tide.  It was hands-down the warmest, sunniest day I've ever experienced at HMB.  It was perfect!

Hazel loved sticking her fingers in the sea anemone and feeling it suck on her.  

Jacko found a starfish.

We had fun staying up late with Missy and Burke every night, playing games and talking.  Burke challenged Todd to try to break an egg by pushing only on the ends.  Who knew eggs were actually terrifically strong?  Try it!

Happy Anniversary

Monday was mine and Todd's eighth anniversary.  We celebrated all weekend long.  Our good friends watched Jack and Hazel overnight Friday so we could have a get-away.  We ended up staying local and sleeping at home, but it was a gift in itself to sleep in until 8:45!  (Jack's been coming in our room about 6:15 every day since Daylight Savings Time ended.)

Friday night we went out for a couple's massage.  I was really looking forward to it, as my back has been hurting a lot lately and I've had two fabulous experiences with professional massages.  Unfortunately, this experience was not fabulous.  It's our own fault for trying to book an appointment last minute (the day before).  The only place that could get us in at the time we wanted was half price - and you get what you pay for.  At the end of the hour, I stood up and the first thing I said to Todd was, "My back still hurts."  He said his experience was pretty good, but that he never needs to go again.  Either Todd really, really doesn't care for back massages, or his guy wasn't that great, because when it's done right, you feel like you're made of butter for the next twelve hours.  It is heavenly! 

We went out for steak and were back home by 8:30.  We spent the night reading The False Prince aloud, munching on popcorn and feeling weird that the kids' bedroom was empty. 

As I said, we slept in the next morning.  Then we grabbed some fresh bagel sandwiches for breakfast and drove up to Oakland to do sealings in the temple.  Afterward, we snagged the kids.  They had nap/quiet time, and it was over to a friends' house for dinner.

 Sunday I taught about temple marriage (coincidentally enough) to the 12- and 13-year olds at church.  Preparing that lesson throughout the week beforehand, along with our anniversary coming up anyway, gave me a lot of time to reflect on the gift Todd and I have been given to be sealed together, and what our temple covenants have done to bless our marriage.  I am grateful for the long-term perspective we have of being together for eternity, and for the respectful and joyful way we treat each other because we know our relationship is a forever one.

I'm overwhelmingly thankful to be married to a man so courteous, so hard-working, so fun-loving, and so darn good looking. 

Chicago

Last weekend I went to Chicago to visit my sister Emily.  Just me.  Todd and the kids stayed home.  That was strange for me.  I've never left them all before.  It was nice to spend the plane ride reading and listening to my iPod, but more so, it was a gift to be able to spend three happy days trying to focus on my sister.  She and I were the very best of friends as kids, and I cherish the little time I get now to be in her presence. 

water taxi with Sears (now Willis) Tower in the background

authentic Chicago-style deep dish pizza - yum!

the "El"

Emily and her husband Doug

 We went to the Field Museum, which is huge, and had two hours to see what we wanted.  Emily and Doug let me choose any exhibits I was interested in, and all I wanted to see was the stuff I wished I could show Hazel.  We spent all our time checking out dinosaur bones, mummies, and African animals.  Haz could have spent a week inside that place! 

T-rex skeleton

real mummified human - check out the peeled back layers!

We had just learned about skeletons in preschool and seen a picture like this of a snake with all its ribs. 

Cloud Gate, aka the Bean

We had a blast playing MASH for all our single siblings.  Ha ha!

We toured the Skydeck of the Willis Tower and got to stand on this glass outjutting 103 stories in the air.  

Thanks for letting me visit, Emily and Doug!  I had a wonderful time. 

Pumpkin Patch 2012

Yesterday was a perfect October day.  We spent the morning searching for gorgeous pumpkins in Half Moon Bay.  It was a foggy, drizzly day on the coast.  That, combined with the Halloween music we listened to in the car, induced Hazel to tell spooky stories and Jack to make great "oooooo" ghost noises as he pointed at every decoration or dark patch of trees.

We snagged our lunch at Barbara's Fish Trap, which has the most delicious fresh fish and chips we've ever had.  Hazel's been asking to go to "the fish restaurant" for a while now. We were happy to oblige.

The kids both took nice, long naps when we got home, and woke up just in time to get ready for our church congregation's Halloween party.  Jack was a hit as "Mini Smee."  There's not a great view of it in the picture, but I love the super girly pink and purple, glitter covered dagger that our Peter Pan had tucked in her belt.

More and better pictures to come, we hope!  We've got a lot more costume activities to attend before the end of the month.

This and That

Hazel is full-on riding her bike without training wheels now.  She is still wobbly, but she can start on her own and turn around and man, she is fast.  She is too fast.  She hasn't dared to coast yet, so she is always pushing the pedals if she's not breaking, and if she's on a slope, she just blows past you.   I thought I was going to have a heart attack watching her today, but part of the problem was that my heart was already bursting with pride and joy for her.  She is loving it. 

Growling up in the tree - she was being a jaguar.

 

 

 

I got a sewing machine and have been using it to prep for Halloween.  Hazel asked a month or so ago if she could have a Peter Pan dress-up, and I told her I'd make her one as a costume if she was Peter for Halloween, and she could keep it in the dress-up box after that.  She was sold.  (I love that - last year it took weeks for her to choose between Rapunzel and a bat.  It's been awesome to have a solid plan with time to get everything ready.)  Anyway, I bought her leggings and sewed the top, but I chose the wrong type of material; it's ripped already and I'm going to have to make another one in a stretchy fabric.  But she wears it, and just says her clothes of leaves are getting worn out.   

It's pretty typical to catch Peter and Smee jumping on the couch around here.  Good thing we still have ghetto newlywed furniture so they can live it up. 

 Jack's taken a few super rough spills lately.  This lovely lump was the result of getting accidentally bonked by Hazel into the outward-poking corner of the wall as he headed up the stairs.  Then not a week later he got another goose egg on the other side of his forehead when we were camping. 

 Speaking of Jack, he is his father's son.  He lives for a reaction and is learning to be quite a pest of a little brother to get those reactions.  He totally does stuff only to bother Hazel, like drink from her water bottle when his is right next to it, or steal food off her plate and quickly stuff it in his mouth to set her off screaming when he's got the same thing on his own plate.  Hazel has no grasp of the concept of ignoring him, either.  I'm trying to teach her, but so far it only results in her covering her eyes and peeking at Jack through her fingers, while she says things like, "I am not thinking about Jack right now.  I am not talking to Jack or looking at him."  Mmm, hmm.  A couple days ago they had an awesome fight at lunch time that I so wish I had recorded.  It consisted basically of:
J: Uh-uh.
H: No, don't say uh-uh anymore. 
J: Uh-uh.
H: No more uh-uh!
J: Uh-UH!
H: Don't uh-uh anymore!!!
J: UH-UUUUHHHH!
Hazel was fully agitated, and Jack could not wipe the grin off his face.  Fun times to come, folks.  Fun times... 

 

We set up bunk beds for the kids almost two weeks ago.  That's been  ..... interesting.  I thought we'd made a deathly mistake the first couple of days and almost asked Todd to take it all apart.  Jack's been a maniac, out of bed and into everything, and doing it all (we finally realized a few days ago) just to hear Hazel saying, "No Jack, get back in bed!" for two hours every night.  There's a child lock on the door so he can't get out, and the last three or four nights we've put Hazel to bed on our bedroom floor and then put her in her bed when we go to sleep.  Parenting, it's such a cycle of re-learning concepts again and again.  Todd and I finally put two and two together and decided we needed to sleep-train Jack, so he's been solo and we've been ignoring his cries and knocks at the door, and sure enough, all it's taken was a few days and he's doing much better going to sleep in there now. 

 I was even able to put Hazel to bed with him tonight.  We've been re-reading J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan and tonight we read a part where Peter climbs onto the pirate ship making a tick-tick sound and Hook thinks Peter is the crocodile and is super scared.  After reading that, Hazel wanted to pretend to be Peter pretending to be the croc while she climbed into bed tonight, and she was brokenhearted that I wanted her to sleep on the floor in my room again.  I caved decided to just give it a go and put her back in their bedroom.  And it worked.  Just a couple bumps, but they were both asleep in half an hour or so, which is quite reasonable, so I think we're making it there with Jack-o and the Bunk Bed after all. 

Alright, one last thing.  It took a while to get a picture because I had to snag one from a friend (Todd had drill and wasn't there and I didn't bring my phone) and then I forgot I hadn't blogged about this.  I ran my 5K on September 8th! 

I was so proud of myself for accomplishing this (huge and monumental for me) goal.  I had never run a 5K before.  Heck, I had barely ever run at all before.  But I was bound and determined to do it (striving for an 8-pounder here).  I trained well: 30 minute runs three times a week for two months before the race.  It helped me gain weight more slowly than with my other two pregnancies.  Assuming I gain a pound a week from here on out, I'm on track to gain 29 or 30 lbs instead of 36 (Hazel) and 37 (Jack).  So the running did me good. 

But no, I'm not still running.  I hurt my back right before the race, and prayed fervently that I'd feel better for the race, and did.  But then the next week I went running again and threw my back out and it kept me out of commission for four or five days.  My belly's just too big, yo.  So I'm back to walking and pilates and Jane Fonda aerobics.  ;)  However, if running can melt my love handles when I'm pregnant, I'm looking forward to seeing what it can do when I'm not with child.  I will definitely be giving it another shot next year. 

Camping at Big Basin

We went camping again last weekend.  This time we stayed in a little cabin with a wood-burning stove at Big Basin.  There were pros and cons to the cabin.

Pro: We had a table to eat at in the warmth and beds to sleep on.  Also, the cabin made it possible for us to give Jack a real nap.
Con: The "mattress" sank down to nothing and it felt like sleeping on a wooden board. 

 Pro:We didn't have to take our shoes off to come in or out.
Con: Jack easily figured out the latch on the door and was in and out all the time, instead of being bound to where we wanted him like with a tent.  Also, two or three times he left the cabin while we were inside it and latched it from the outside, trapping us in.  Thankfully, Todd quickly figured out how to wiggle it free.

 Pro: We had somewhere warm to hang out when it got too chilly outside, especially at breakfast time.
Con: There was a serious learning curve to discover how to keep the cabin at a moderate temperature throughout the night.  Our first night we were either sweating or shivering almost the whole time.  The second night was quite pleasant.  

The kids climbed everything they could see.  Or rather, Hazel climbed everything and Jack tried to follow her and whined when he couldn't.

 We brought the kids' bikes and they spent most of their time riding the campsite loop again and again. Jack face-planted it our last morning and ended up with a sad goose egg. 

 Todd took Hazel to town to buy more firewood during Jack's nap and she fell asleep in the car.  After her nap, she snuggled with me for a while.  I loved it! 

 

Jack got really, really dirty.  

 We still found ample opportunity for make-believe.  Peter, Smee and Captain Hook had an epic sword fight. 

 We went on a guided night hike and learned about local nocturnal animals.  Hazel stood about two feet away from the guide and drank up every word about bats, raccoons, skunks, owls and mountain lions.  It was a huge hit for her. 

She's holding a rubber bat.  The guide had plenty of visual aids and let Hazel touch everything.

 The boys spent plenty of time by the fire.  Todd cooked every meal and I mostly corralled Jack away from danger and rested my huge self whenever I could. 

 

Todd's dad said Todd was either brave or crazy to camp with two little ones and a pregnant wife.   It was both, I think.  Definitely our last run for the year, but it was worth it.  Jack was an animal and we sure wished he was a year older and less of a danger to himself.  But Hazel was just right, loved every second of it, and I feel like she became closer to both me and Todd, and that makes it worth it all.