Super Dad.....

Today C performed for what he might consider his toughest audience yet. The great Dad that he is, he volunteered to play Christmas carols on the guitar for M's class. He chose all the classics... Rudolph, Jingle Bells, O Christmas Tree, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, and Frosty. The kids sang along loudly and mostly on key. It was extremely cute to watch and I must say that I was every bit as proud as I used to be watching him play for a few hundred drunks. He did mention that it wasn't quite as easy to master Xmas carols not written for guitar as it was to master his usual faves of 80's metal. Apparently Frosty is tougher than Master of Puppets, who'd have thought it?

That's one Jolly Elf....

What a cute audience....

Of course the Bug was loving hangin with the "big" kids.....

One last glimpse of M's class as a whole. Today was the last day for three of her best buds whose families are moving soon. It's always hard to see friends go, but it seems especially tough to say so long at Christmas.....

That's one happy teacher. That's the smile of a woman who just received a $225 gift certificate from her class. Beats another "World's Best Teacher" apple ornament any day....

Jack Frost nipping at our nose...

Apparently it's rare for the daytime temperatures to drop below 60 degrees here. I am not complaining because I love to get outside with the girls throughout the year. I also love to be able to wear flip flops EVERY day (never mind the other few dozen pairs of shoes I own....)

I also love what I call "football weather". This requires being able to wear a big sweater and jeans without breaking a sweat (flip flops optional).

Recently we have had a couple of days of football weather. For my two little princesses, both born and raised in the deep south, this translated into a chance to break out the snow gear....

Heaven help us if we ever get stationed in Minot...

Has Anyone seen Frosty?

I have mentioned my love for Christmas decorations. A few years ago, I won a Frosty as a door prize. He became our bathroom Frosty. He is cute and off white and matches our guest bath decor.... Our new home has a rather small guest bathroom. Funny how a bathroom seems small when you cram the washer and dryer in there. Who designed this place? Welcome to our home. Welcome to our guest bathroom. Check out our dirty unmentionables..... So anyway, because the room is so small, the only place to put Frosty is on the back of the commode....

A certain friend, who shall remain nameless, he knows who he is, has a problem with utilizing the facility with an audience.....





"Someone" has it in for Frosty...
I will never look at Frosty the same way again!

Kitchen Elves...

So, this morning M and I were making brownies to take to an open house at her gymnastics center.

Very quickly "the Bug" jumped in to assist.

This is the work in progress....

Why do we use Egg Beaters in our brownies? Because they are much healthier of course....

Oh and because we must do this.....and Egg Beaters are pasteurized...healthy schmealthy!

That's a happy Bug!

Adventures in Napping...

As adults, especially those of us who are parents of toddlers, I believe most of us would pay BIG money to be "made" to take a nap.

Why is it my toddler likens it to water boarding? You know, not really torture, but darn sure not fun!

On a recent lovely afternoon, yesterday to be exact, it took me 55 minutes to get my beloved down for a 90 minute nap. You do the math. If I sound desperate for that little slice of heaven during the day when no one is yelling, and the kids are quiet too, so be it! I feel compelled to share with you the limits to which L will go to avoid the dreaded "n" word. Never let it be said that my girls are not slaves to a routine. We already have a 15 minute ritual, unique to each child, that must be strictly adhered to before every slumber. L's involves being tucked just right, under the only acceptable blanket, and kissed on exactly the right spot. This never takes less than 3 attempts "NO, not there, right here" with a finger firmly planted on said spot. After finally planting an acceptable smooch, you must then make sure that every last hair is meticulously brushed back from her face, exactly. So back to yesterday, I completed the ritual, and went on my way. The first callback was to re-tuck the blanket. The second call was to remove the bunny-eared Carebear from the room all together. The third call was to return the bunny-eared Carebear. The fourth call was to remove the giant M&M, not one to be a pushover, I refused. The fifth call you ask? I removed the M&M and threatened to remove the one and only acceptable blanket if the little manipulator didn't lay down and go to sleep! I'll show her who is boss..... Ultimately she went to sleep, but funny thing about a kid who has to be awakened from her nap at 4:45pm? For some strange reason, they resist going to bed at 7:30pm. Go figure.

I have discussed this conundrum with a lot of other moms. Some of whom have had the gall to suggest I should just concede and give up the naps. I do believe they have lost their minds. I may not be able to out will her forever, but for the time being I will prevail. Sanity demands it!

A few months back she caved...

Last week when this one was sick with strep throat, I couldn't resist....

They look so cute and harmless, when sleeping.....

Ghosts of Christmas Past....

I love Christmas.

I love Advent Calendars, Santa Claus, Nativity scenes, Inflatable Rudolphs, Carols, The Grinch, etc., etc., etc.

You get the picture. If it's red and green, I love it. I am a Griswold (Christmas Vacation anyone?) when it comes to Christmas. The rest of the year, I try to maintain at least a smidgen of decorum... Not at Christmas! In my opinion, it cannot be overdone. I spent $37.00 at the Dollar Tree today. That means 35 more absolutely necessary Christmas items.

Generally, we try to return to KY at least every other year. The adage is true. There is no place like home for the holidays. However, we quickly learned that the USAF would give us a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the holidays in style at each new "home".

I thought I would share a couple of samples of some of our past Christmas moments.

This was a Christmas village sand sculpture at the mall near our house in Florida. I was pregnant with M. These were our first USAF friends.

This was Christmas on The Riverwalk, You can't tell from this shot but Texas really does do everything BIG. They use over a million lights to illuminate the river. Hopefully you can tell that again, I am pregnant. This time with L.

In OK City, Santa arrives on a wagon driven by extremely rare black Clydesdales.

Last year we took a trip to Disney World to celebrate the season. M would have waited all day for this....

Epcot knows how to decorate a tree.....

MGM was my fave. We went at night to see the city streets sync'd up to Mannheim Steamroller music. It was amazing!

Here's hoping you all are enjoying the season as much as we do!

Monterey's Finest....

One of the things I have found most surprising and interesting about our latest home is the population of California Sea Lions that live here. These guys pop up everywhere along the coast here and are incredibly entertaining. They are quite mouthy barkers and we often hear them at home in the evenings. I have heard frequent warnings that they can be unpredictable and less than friendly toward humans.... As you can tell from the following pictures, I have taken this warning to heart.... kind of.


This guy looks too sweet to mind if I hang over top of him to snap his pic while he snoozes...


I nicknamed him Snaggletooth.... Handsome devil isn't he?

This is the local US Coast Guard Pier. It's obviously misnamed because you can tell who it really belongs to...

This is the best action shot I could get the day Dad and I went whale watching. Captain Noel guessed we were among about 200 sea lions. They didn't seem to mind.