Happy Birthday Hazel!

 Hazel's fourth birthday was on Saturday, December 1st.  Todd had drill that weekend, and Hazel's savvy enough with a calendar by now that we couldn't get away with pretending December 1st was a different day.  After a lot of thought, we decided to explain our situation to her and suggest we celebrate her birthday the following Saturday instead.  She was all for it.  I love that she cared more about having her dad with her than she did about celebrating on the actual day she was born. 

We still took care to make the 1st a significant day.  I still called her "birthday girl" and gave her extra attention.  I made homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast, per request. 

She went to a friend's birthday party, and I wasn't sure how she would take that.  Other than one sad revelation after the party that she had felt like her friend was opening all of her presents, she took it like a trooper, running and playing, eating cake and having a ball with all the kids.  It was a superhero party, and I let her wear her favorite dress-up dress along with her cape and mask.  She was pretty stoked about it. 

When we got home from the party, Hazel wanted to ride bikes, and I said she could.  That in itself is huge.  We haven't been biking much the last few weeks because we've had visitors and rain, and I'm so big it's uncomfortable for me to corral Jack on Hazel's path and try to keep up with them. 

That night, we got burgers for dinner and had a movie night at the house before bed.  And that's all it took to make this little firecracker feel extra loved even though her dad was gone. 

Yesterday (Saturday, December 8th) then became Hazel's "birthday."  Todd's sisters Laura and Beany were visiting for the weekend, and they made Hazel feel like they had come just for her. 

 

Hazel woke up to streamers and balloons at her door and a pile of presents on the table.  We had blueberry muffins and sausage for breakfast (and steak for dinner).  

 Hazel had her first birthday party and invited a handful of her best buddies.  We were so glad they could all come.  I was especially touched by the handmade cards several of the kids made to go along with their presents.  Lots of love! 

The party had a dress-up theme, since that is Hazel's top obsession.  I made capes and masks for the boys and tutus and necklaces for the girls.  They were on and off throughout the whole party, but everyone took theirs home.  Hazel never even put her tutu on, but I can't really blame her, as she's more of a gown girl anyway, and she had just received several new additions to her dress-up collection that she wanted to sport. 

 We did a few crafts (that only the girls were interested in) and played a few games: musical chairs; balloon hot potato; Duck, Duck, Goose; freeze dance; Simon Says.  Everyone was happy to just run free and play with our toys, which was a relief, because we finished our planned activities twenty minutes before the end of the party!  Times like these, man, they make me wish we had a backyard! 

 Everyone had sweet moves for freeze dance, but I've got to say Nova had the most heart. 

 The cake was ... a step down from last years'.  It was very child-driven, so maybe that's why it turned out soooo much less cute than I had imagined, but maybe Hazel will remember and love it more for that.  I tried to be fancy and add some purple swirly detailing to the frosting, and Hazel got excited and thought it made it look like water.  Hence, she insisted that her featured princesses were all swimming.  Face down. 

 Note the double dress-ups you can see in this picture.  New Nana dress on top of new Jasmine dress-up. 

 

Todd was an incredible party runner.  He led out in most of the games, played with the boys when all the girls were busy coloring, and had the entire crew entranced by his dramatic storybook reading.  (You should have heard the silly voice he used to sing Down By the Bay!)  

 Our major worry for the party was lighting.  We got notice about a week ahead that our power company was shutting down our electricity to work on the power lines right at the same time we were having the party.  We borrowed a camping lantern from Jefferson's family, and Aunt Erika brought one with her from Oakland.  The lights were on and off throughout the morning, so we didn't sit in darkness the whole time, but it did make for some interesting ambiance.  Actually, not a single kid mentioned it, so I don't think they even noticed, but the adults sure did! 

Erika

Julena

 The Aunts did a great job of loving on Jack so he didn't feel ignored or bored or left out.  He got lots of love this weekend. 

Laura

 We sure are thankful Hazel (aka the little fireball) is a part of our family.  She is wild and creative, smart, curious, imaginative, energetic, and funny.  We love you, Hazel! 

The Kiddos

Not too much to report here.  I just wanted to toss in some of my pictures and document that Hazel and Jack are playing really well together lately.  I love those guys and am so thankful God gave them to me.

tired one afternoon at snack time

Jack is finally getting brave enough to go on the rides at Happy Hollow.  

The hour after we come home from the library is bliss for me.  

Hazel is starting to want to write words and will do a great job if we feed the spelling to her one letter at a time.

Jack is loving gym class, especially the circle time they do at the end.  He gets so excited about the songs they sing and blowing bubbles.  He also loves to hang out in a big tunnel tube while I roll it around on the floor.  He laughs and laughs and refuses to come out.

Hazel is constantly dressing up.  That is, when she's not running around in nothing but panties pretending to be Mowgli from Jungle Book.

being an old, but still beautiful, princess

an unplanned nap during quiet time

being a mermaid - she always puts her feet in one of my slippers to make her fin

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.

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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.