General Merriment

Red Fish has been working hard to decorate the house with her holiday arts and crafts. Yes, I realize there is a big turkey in the middle there but she isn't ready to pack him up.

The Christmas season is well underway for us. We've already bought our Christmas book for this year. We will put the girl's handprints in it on Christmas eve. We picked the Children's version of the Forgotten Carols this year. It has a narrated CD with some of the music included and we've already read it a couple times. We try to read a bunch of Christmas stories together on Sundays.

We also did a sub for santa for two little girls. It was fun taking New Fish and Red Fish to pick out clothes and toys. I know they didn't totally understand what we are doing, but it's a tradition for us and hopefully it will start to make an impression on them that not everybody has what we have and it is important to share your blessings with others. Plus I'm working on teaching them about the true meaning of Christmas and the spirit of giving. Hopefully they will get a little more out of this season than a sugar high.
We went to a Christmas tree festival yesterday afternoon with some friends. This was my favorite tree. Unfortunately it was WAY TOO CROWDED and New Fish hated it. She screamed the entire time and I felt like we had survived a horrific nightmare by the time we got back in the car. But on the upside- maybe I can try and replicate this tree for the dive shop next year? Probably not, but it would be cool. The dive shop had an underwater scuba diving santa today and we wanted to go get our picture taken with him again like last year, but there was just too much happening this weekend. December is crazy already.

Last night, we went to M&A's house for an evening of candy making and movies for the kids. My kids know that M&A spoil them rotten so they pretty much think they are in charge over there. They were all over the place. Lovely N and Kid A came to join us so it was especially fun. We made chocolate popcorn, dipped pretzels and made all sorts of goodies.

Tonight, we had our annual O family gingerbread house party. We hosted it this year at our house. All of the grandkids come with their houses and cover them with obscene amounts of candy. I constructed little houses for Red Fish and New Fish ahead of time, and didn't consider the fact that Blue Fish is notorious for his habbit of eating anything he get near. So New Fish ended up with half of a house and all of the gingerbread people from the front yards disappeared. Good thing I caught Blue Fish before he finished the houses off with his wickedness.

Cousin E working on her house. Now that a lot of the cousins are getting older, it's fun to see how creative they get with their houses. And we actually end the night with houses that are standing. A few years ago everyone would go home with a pile of gram crackers covered in candy.

Cute cousin S is Red Fish's little buddy. They are inseparable whenever the family gets together. It's adorable.

Cousin S and Red Fish sat at their own little table to decorate their houses.

New Fish, our resident candy addict was thrilled with helping to stick a few pieces of candy on her house. She promptly took them right back off and chowed down. She was a happy girl.

Impromptu Party

Yesterday we ventured out with friends, Buddy and Co. to see a Christmas concert at the mall. The kids got bored pretty quickly so we took a few laps around the mall and then stopped to see Santa for a minute. There are no pictures with Santa because he was charging $25.00 a pop and I just can't justify that.

Today my friend asked if we could do an art play day and so we invited Buddy and Co. to come over and we ended up having an impromptu party. We decorated paper Chirstmas trees and had treats and lunch. Gotta love fun that just comes together like that.

One Fish's tree. I painted the tree with glue so she could just stick stuff to it.

Red Fish's tree has so many sequins on it you can't see the tree anymore!

30 Before 30

When I was 18 I made a list of 30 things I wanted to do before age 30. I just dug up the list to see how I'm doing.

1. Play my violin in something cool- DONE I've played in several very cool big venues and on a few films.
2. Learn to play the drums better- I've forgotten everything I ever knew.
3. Spend more time skiing- DONE but I can ALWAYS ski more
4. Buy a piano- DONE
5. Have my own art show- I still really really want to do this. Doing it in the next year is probably unrealistic
6. Become a scuba instructor- DONE
7. Run a marathon- No longer interested.
8. Get married- DONE
9. Have children through birth and/or adoption - Have done both
10. Learn a Foreign language- Never gonna happen
11. Write a book- I just helped a family member write their life history and completely lay it out with pictures etc. so I'm saying DONE but I'd like to write a book entirely on my own.
12. Make a film- I made several crazy ones in college and that's the closest I'm going to get.
13. Write music- I own part of a music library does that count? Sort of. Not really but I'm counting it anyway.
14. Learn to sew- I can sew straight lines.
15. Learn more about sound studios. DONE but there is so so so much more to learn.
16. Learn to cook- epic fail.
17. Go rock climbing- I've been but not for a long time and I'd really like to make time for more in the future.
18. Go hangliding or sky diving- Who wants to help me fulfill this one in the next year?
19. Travel to Spain, Italy, France, Australia and Africa- I haven't been any of those places
20. Backpack through Europe- my one big regret is that I didn't just do this when I was young and not tied down with responsibility.
21. Go to the theatre and see several cool things- DONE
22. Learn to tap dance- DONE - well as good as it is gonna get
23. Live in a big city- DONE
24. Learn to play tennis- haven't done a thing.
25. Learn to draw better- I haven't drawn nearly enough
26. Become a professional artist- DONE
27. Open a graphic design agency- It's here. It's small but I've done some cool things.
28. Make a lot of time for art making- I make something almost every single day. I'd like to do more art for myself rather than clients though.
29. Learn more about computers- sort of.
30. Own a home- DONE

I've accomplished 19 of the goals. Several I don't care about anymore. I could probably accomplish a few over the next year. Some are just never gonna happen.

Red Fish's Christmas List

When asked what Santa should bring her for Christmas this is what Red Fish came up with-
Shoes
Milk
A haircut
Leaves
Snow
Something to eat
Another baby New Fish
A Flashlight
A bumble bee
A new lid for her cup
A cell phone
Some cottage cheese
A new movie

It's quite a list don't you think?

Futility

Anyone else out there have REALLY stubborn and noisy small children they attend church with? Sometimes I feel like every Sunday is a lesson in futility. I've given up any hope for reverence. Now I'm mostly going for keeping the screaming to a minimum. We can usually make it through the first twenty minutes of sacrament, prayers, and songs before Pandora's box opens. Then it is a battle to the end of sacrament meeting. Red Fish loves nursery so that saves us but taking New Fish to the last two meetings is torturous. She gets bored without her sister and she is an especially noisy child (both her happy and her sad noises are LOUD.)

Every Sunday morning it is a scramble to cram toys, snacks etc. into a bag while we try and keep every one dressed and force them into the car. I've been dreaming of a gospel themed church bag for years but it's been hard to find the right items for it. I bought a few things this week and collected stuff I've been saving from all over the house this week to try and find a solution to our problem. Hopefully having a bag of special things that only come out on Sunday will help ease the futility of attending church meetings I can't hear or concentrate on.

I've divided the stuff into a few bags so we can rotate. If they know what to expect every week in the bag they will get bored too quickly and if there is too much stuff in the bag it gets too difficult to pull things out for them. Cross your fingers for me that this helps!

Coloring books (yes I know I am opposed to them but it's a quiet activity they can do in church that doesn't get too out of control so I'm relenting.), lacing cards, gospel themed books, Children's version of the scriptures, paper, washable markers, small puzzle, I spy gospel themed book, animal finger puppets, magnetic scripture pictures/games, and a small nativity set.

The Christmas Tree

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas ornaments. Decorating the tree is one of my favorite things every year. I spend all year collecting the perfect ones for the year from everyplace we go. We got a new tree this year to replace the $20.00 one we've had since we got married because the lights have never all worked. My parents stopped by for a few minutes and the girls showed them their best dance moves while Two Fish got out the new tree. I thought hanging the ornaments with both girls would be really stressful since I was worried about things getting broken but it was actually lovely. They weregood about taking the nonbreakable ornaments I handed them and they loved getting to hang them on the branches. They both wanted to be on the stepladder the whole time but other than that everything was perfect. A nice family evening in with Christmas carols and my beloved ornaments.

Even Blue Fish, the dog was good for the decorating.

Blown glass from Florida, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Snorkels from Cayman

We used to get an ornament every year growing up, but I love the tradition too much to stick with one ornament per year. So we get one from all of our travels so we have a fun keepsake to remember the trip and it still fulfills our tradition.Red Fish also made this little Reindeer garland today while New Fish was sleeping. She did a really good job gluing the pieces together and drawing on some of the faces when we ran out of parts. I think it turned out really cute. I think we are going to have a lot of fun making decorations this month.

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It's Me, Not You.

For some reason, I've been struggling. I haven't been connecting to my kids as much as I want to. I was blaming it on stages they are going through. New Fish hasn't been wanting snuggles or hugs and she doesn't sleep through the night still. Red Fish is kind of demanding with all her appointments and her constant need for an activity. So I prayed about it and asked to be able to connect more. The answer I got was- It's you that is the problem. Slowdown and concentrate on just loving them and nothing else. So I decided to concentrate on them more and suddenly New Fish wants to be held and snuggled. Red Fish is easier to entertain. I guess everything else will wait.

Thanksgiving

My little family.

My mother in law had cute little turkey cupcakes for the kids to make. My kids kind killed theirs as soon as they were constructed but playing with food is a little too tempting.

I Forgot The Best One

7. When I tell Red Fish I love her and she says: "I love you too Mommy!" Best new sentence ever.

Random Gratitude

Today we went to the aquarium after a speech appointment. One of the sting rays jumped halfway out of his tank and let my girls pet him and kiss him for a good twenty minutes. It was like playing with a slimy puppy. Of course, I didn't have my camera. So to start off my list of random things I am grateful for today- I'm thankful for fish, aquatic life and the aquarium. And little girls who giggle their heads off and kiss sting rays.

2.For a husband who will play babies and puzzles at the same time. I'm especially grateful when his cell phone stays in his pocket ;)

He is an excellent baby snuggler and gets tackled on a daily basis.

3. For these two little goobers and the opportunity to be their Mom.

4. For all of the baby smiles and giggles I get to witness.

New Fish drawing/Red Fish drawing

5. For all of the development my girls have gone through this year, artistic and otherwise. I love seeing every change they go through. Their little minds amaze me everyday. Red Fish is suddenly very into marks and is very opinionated about which color she needs and how often she needs to switch. Red Fish is constantly coming up with new games and I love seeing her imagination at work. They have both made huge physical and developmental milestones this year and it amazes me how quickly they change.
6. For foam stickers, markers, crayons, glue sticks, play dough, puzzles, blocks, dress ups and tea sets. They make my world go round. I would never get anything done without them.

I hope your weekend is filled with random happiness and gratitude. Happy Thanksgiving!

For Those Of You Who Require More Pics of My Hair

This is what my hair has looked like since I cut it. A funky bed head monstrosity.

Apparently, I am related to Sampson. My strength and health were contained in my hair. Once I cut it off, I had to stay in bed for a solid 8 days. I got strep throat, a staph infection, and a gnarly virus. My face and mouth have been rotting off for the last week. Awesome. I'm feeling better today, slightly more human. I think it was the most sick I have been since I got mono in highschool. In highschool I didn't have tiny people who were dependent on me so this was worse. I took care of myself one day last week and it made me so ill I called my Mom bawling in the middle of the night and made her swear to come take care of us the next day.

No I do not have a better picture from the front. I narrowly missed the generation of people who photograph themselves daily on their phone to update their profile. Taking pictures of myself makes me feel goofy and it shows in all of the pictures. A goofy face combined with a Dr. Seuss haircut just looks silly. (Today was my first attempt at actually fixing my new hair though and I was semi-successful. That is saying a lot since I'm hair handicapped.)

I don't really get texting either. You should just lump me in your mind with the crowd of people who are upwards of sixty because I don't really text. I respond sporatically or communicate a few times with people who REALLy love texting but the subculture is entirely lost on me. I definitely do NOT speak acronym. Now I'm just rambling... cue the children's artwork.

Red Fish has been very into drawing enclosed shapes lately. She fills pages and pages with them. She says she is "writing names."
New Fish is getting interested in using paint brushes more. I let them do some ink paintings the other day while I laid on the floor.

Here is Red Fish's painting.

Red Fish got some cute stamps, stickers, and a Crayola color explosion coloring set. It comes with special paper that makes the markers appear really bright. I like that she gets to draw on a dark surface. It's something new and fun in the world of markers and Red Fish spends ALOT of time drawing with markers.

Both kids survived the week. There was a whole lot of Barney and Dora The Explorer, both of which are painful to watch but seem to hold some kind of magical spell over my kids.

Red Fish got to attend the bi-yearly trombone choir concert again. She loved it as usual.

It's late and my brain still isn't fully functional so please forgive the rambling post.