Year in Review [Summary: A Good One!]

This is my year-in-review post to close out 2011. All in all, a good year here in Kansas. It started off snowy. When I think of January 2011, I think cold. And snow. And not being able to go anywhere because it was so. darn. cold. Why does January have 31 days again? February started out GREAT. It was my birthday! I had a party! My awesome husband set up a LIVE trivia game for the grownups upstairs, and the kiddos watched Toy Story 3 in the basement. My team (fueled by three babies) won!

March was OK. My dear friend had medical issues and a very premature baby (who is doing great now), and my other dear friend lost her mom. So maybe it wasn't really OK; it was a worse month than most. But we pressed on. In April, we celebrated Trucko's big #1! I took the day off with him on his actual birthday and the two of us had a great day. We went to Wonderscope, followed by lunch at Fritz's, where your food is delivered by train:

Happy boy, happy mom. In June, we spent a week at the beach and in July, we flew to California for a long weekend for my grandmother's memorial. Lots of time with the extended family. It was fun. Truck did set a new family record of length of time crying on a flight (55 minutes straight; from here to Chicago). He got more and more teeth. My big boy celebrated #8 in July. He had a joint birthday party with a friend and we took 20-some boys to a minor-league baseball game. We had bought the suite at the elementary school auction. It was approximately 110 degrees. Thank goodness we had air conditioning in the suite!

August is back to school time here in Kansas. TOO EARLY if you ask me. But back to school we went. It's been a great year. Third grade is absolutely transformative, and the big guy has perhaps the world's greatest teacher (second only to MY third grade teacher) (and maybe his grandmother!). Noodle started kindergarten at 4 1/2 (private). She'll repeat kindergarten next year at the public school. She loves it, which is making the year magical. She's gone from knowing her letters to reading chapter books in a few short months. It's so fun to watch her think. She and I took a girls trip to San Diego for our cousin's wedding and had a blast. A definite highlight was getting room service and eating pancakes in bed!

September and October were blurs of soccer and baseball games. Halloween came quickly, our house filled with candy, and my dream of having all three kids wear the same bear costume faded away when our Truck was (AHEM) too large for the costume (at 18 months) that his sister wore at almost-3. We had a full house (all four grandparents, and one great-grandmother) for Thanksgiving, and then it was Christmas! Both of the big kids performed in Christmas programs at school, and it was great fun to go and watch them sing and dance. And now we're knocking on 2012. The year flew by impossibly fast - it's true what they say: the days are long but the years are short!

Oh yes, I've discovered Pinterest

I had dinner with my old book club the week before Christmas, and one awesome friend had made each of us a super-cute snowman that she saw on Pinterest. That was all it took for me. Another friend sent me an invite that night, and ever since, I've been hooked. OK, I now GET what everyone was talking about. So, without further ado, my very FIRST Pinterest-inspired project! This is what gave me the idea: I bought a paper mache canister at Michael's, cut some scrapbook paper to label it "12" (for 2012), cut some more paper to stash inside, and I plan to write funny things I want to remember that the kiddos say on the paper throughout the year. We'll see if I stick to it, but I think it could be an easy way to keep track of things, and when the year is done, they'll all be stored in my nice #12 box.

Thank you, Pinterest. I think we will be having a long and happy relationship!

Christmas Eve Day

We went to Union Station on Christmas Eve. One member of the family was less than happy about having his picture taken:

We rode the train (well, the two under 48" did), explored Science City, had lunch at Panera, and let the kids spend some of their own money at the candy store. A wonderful, wonderful Christmas Eve Day.

Slick

I took Noodle ice skating yesterday with her kindergarten class. It was her first time on skates, and my first time in, oh, 10 years or so.

The first time around the (very small) rink took us about 20 minutes. But she got progressively better, and by the end, she wasn't even holding onto the wall! And me? Well, skating while holding a 5-year-old up is definitely a challenge, but it was great. I actually am ready to do it again!

How Could I Forget?

I forgot to mention the most awesome part about Noodle's birthday party. THE CUPCAKES. Or rather, I should say (as requested SPECIFICALLY by Miss Noodle) the purple and pink swirled, white frosted with sprinkles, RAPUNZEL CUPCAKES:

I started with 2 boxes of white cake mix. Then I added food coloring and made pink and purple cake batter:

Then I put some of each batter into an ice cream cone cup and used a skewer to "swirl" the colors together:

I baked them at 350 for about 20 minutes, and voila! This made plenty of cupcakes for my 17 guests, as well as assorted brothers, dads and moms. And each guest got her very own Rapunzel ring (I ordered these on Amazon):

FiveFiveFiveFiveFIVE!!!

Our Noodle is five! Here she is, waiting for her pajama party to start Saturday night:

She celebrated on Friday at school with Rice Krispy treats and princess fruit snacks for the class. After school, we whisked her away to her dream destination: Chuck E. Cheese. Because she is a second child, she had NEVER BEEN. Don't tell her that we took her big brother when he was 8 months old (before we got smart). She had a blast playing games with her brothers, getting a million tickets, and then we let her use ALL OF THEM to pick the prizes (she picked a few for each brother). After dinner, we went to Krispy Kreme and everyone picked out a celebratory donut. She got a snowman one. WAY better than cake, if you ask me.

Saturday night was her birthday party. Seventeen, yes, seventeen, DON'T JUDGE, little girls came over for pizza, cupcakes and to watch the movie "Tangled." THREE HOURS OF BLISS IN OUR HOUSE. Ha ha ha. Noodle had a blast, though, so it was worth it. Next year, though, we are totally adhering to the "age plus one" rule. SEVENTEEN GIRLS. What were we thinking!?

Santa, Part Deux

Santa came to the bank last weekend. We were there at 9 AM sharp to see him arrive on his fire truck. Noodle went first and asked him for the cleaning cart that she saw LAST YEAR at Toys R Us next to the vacuum she asked for last year. Perhaps she thinks Santa only does cleaning supplies?

Squash went next and almost crushed Santa. This might be his last year that he's invited to sit on Santa's lap. He was totally undecided on the ride there about what to ask for. He started by suggesting a "micro particle accelerator." But he was just kidding, because GOSH MOM, they're liek $60 million. So then he pondered a microscope. In the end, he settled on a Spy Gear Trip Wire, to guard all his stuff from intruders, and a video camera. A VIDEO CAMERA? Apparently he and his buddies have plans to make movies of themselves playing baseball. Good luck with that Santa!

Last but not least was Trucko's turn. This is the face of a sweet boy who asked for candy canes.

Hope Santa brings him a whole stockingful!

Basement

All he wants to do is go in the basement [that's the basement door, hence the child-proof handle he can't open]:

And dump out a bin of toys (all my bins are VERY well organized [in theory]: animals, musical instruments, balls, etc., and no, they never ever get mixed up) (ha) and say "Mommy, help please, clean up time" OVER AND OVER AND OVER until I help him clean it up. Repeat. Repeat. At least he also likes to play air hockey, so occasionally I get a reprieve of "BRUDDER! AIR HOCKEY PLEEEEASE!" Brudder usually obliges.

Claus Tales

One of our holiday traditions (even though we're Jewish) is going to see Santa. It started when Squash was just a little Squash, and looked like this:

[Santa and Squash, December 2003] Unfortunately, things soon progressed to this:

[Santa and Squash, December 2004 (guest appearance by Mommy)] But then this:

[December 2005] And then this:

[December 2006] 2007 is the year that shall not be noted because my computer crashed and I lost several months worth of pictures. Poor Noodle, no shots of her first visit with Santa. But fear not -- by the time she turned two in 2008, we were torturing her as well:

[Santa and Squash and Noodle (with Mommy!), December 2008] Noodle was still terrified in 2009. Daddy did the honors of leaning her in toward Santa:

[Santa and Squash and Noodle (with Daddy), December 2009] And then there was last year -- our first Christmas with three kiddos. Truck promptly told Santa what was what:

[Santa with the brood - Squash, Noodle and Truck, December 2010] Which brings us, in a long round-about way, to this year. Our bank does a meet-and-greet with Santa on a Saturday morning. It is very low-key, not crowded, and they give you free pictures, so we always go. It's next weekend. BUT -- the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we needed a couple things from Wal-Mart (light bulbs, bananas, the basics), and I remembered I needed gift tags. So we went into Wal-Mart Christmasland, and who was sitting there on a big display of Pepsis but MR. CLAUS HIMSELF! He was there all alone. His elf asked us if we'd like to say hello, and Noodle marched right up and sat down with him. They had a chat. Then Squash went over and relayed his requests (I told him to sit NEXT to Santa, not ON Santa - he's 8, after all). Finally, it was the turn for our skeptical Truck who had been in the cart the whole time. Luckily, he had watched his brother and sister be rewarded with candy canes, so he was totally cool as he walked over, sat on Santa's lap, smiled for the camera, then grabbed his candy cane (shouting "MOMMY, OPEN PLEEEEASE! OPEN PLEASE!") They gave us a free 5x7 print of each kid with Santa, plus another one they did of all three kids with Santa. I was impressed. And did I mention NO ONE - NOT ONE KID - cried? Bonus. We'll see how it goes at the bank next weekend.

Yes, Badminton

In case you ever wondered how people in Kansas spend their Thanksgiving day, here you have it.

Badminton. What can I say? The weather was gorgeous, and when it's like that in late November, you take advantage. One of the things I love about the midwest is how much people appreciate the nice days (because we know they're few and far between), which was very different when I moved here from California, where people complained if it "got down" to 60. In any event, badminton. Gotta love that.

Sending Cards and Letters to People...

Just ordered my Christmas cards! I did a montage, including one group shot where you can see the adults (it's been a year or 2 since adults made the card). This one is my favorite, and of course, it got included:

I order 125 cards every year and send out around 120. I like to have a couple extras. A couple years ago, I ordered 100 and boy, was I sorry!? How can I only send ONE HUNDRED CARDS? Yes, I realize the crazy in this paragraph. Also, I don't pre-print my address labels. That's a lot of addressin'!

Gobble Gobble

Thanksgiving is blissful when you are a little Truck who only wants "more butter! MORE BUTTER!" We accommodated him.

Pin the Tail

You know what kids' parties don't have enough of these days? PIN THE TAIL ON THE DONKEY.

So when this showed up at a party last weekend, I was very excited. And then very miffed that the Noodle, almost FIVE YEARS OLD, did not even know what to do. I watched as she and her friends all got blindfolded and then tried to pin the tail. And then I watched my daughter be the biggest Pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey-cheater I have ever seen. This is her tail, yes, EXACTLY where the tail should be (apparently Joseph -- whose tail is on top of hers -- is a cheater too).

She totally peeked. We will have to work on this Pin the Tail on the Donkey thing. And perhaps incorporate it into her birthday party, which is fast approaching!!

Indian Summer

Here we are...November 12 and 65 degrees! The sun was shining today, so we were outside as much as possible. Trucko got a few more swings in on his baby swing that he is (sadly) almost too big for.

Fall Has Fell

It's gloomy, cold, rainy and dreary today.

So I thought I would put up this picture to remind me of one week ago, when the munchkins were heading out to gather candy! Maybe I'll just keep posting Halloween pictures until spring...

Woof (by Truck)

I am in awe of this picture my dear friend Kristen took of my little Truck last night. Woof! Halloween in Kansas was fabulous this year. Seventy degrees, no wind, gorgeous gorgeous night with so many fun friends and adorable kiddos running around. Facebook was lit up with pictures of the snow back east and I was thanking my lucky stars to be sitting on the porch in my tee shirt handing out candy, sipping my wine, and chatting with the neighbors. Daddy took the three kiddos around (actually, the big one got to go with two friends and their big sister; how is he old enough for that!?) so I handed out the 600 pieces of candy (all but 20 by the end of the night!). Storm is headed for us tomorrow from Colorado, but our picture-perfect Halloween was one to remember!

I am the 99%

And this post is not about politics! Rather, it is about pumpkin carving. You see, I do 99% of the pumpkin carving in our house. This year, we had five, yes FIVE, pumpkins to gut and carve. I am not gonna lie, that is a lot of pumpkin guts to be scooped by the 99%-er (me). My wrist hurt the next day! But we did an Angry Bird pumpkin for my big, opinionated 8-year-old; a starry-eyed smiley one for my almost-5-year-old; and a classic, triangle-eyed smiler with teeth for my jolly 1.5-year-old. I do love carving pumpkins!

RenFest

Here is something else we have in Kansas: the Renaissance Festival. It is only 15 minutes from our house. My husband scored some free tickets, and we had never been, so we decided to take one precious, unscheduled Sunday to hit the Fest.

It was HUGE. I think we probably saw 1/4 of it in the 3 hours that we were there. I took Noodle and Truck to the kids' area while Dad and Squash watched a magic show. (here is our Noodle chatting with a Hungarian princess):

We ate. We watched jugglers. We saw a LOT of crazy costumed people walking around. We watched a joust.

I am not sure if we will go back next year. It runs for a couple months in the fall, weekends only. Maybe in a couple years, when we feel the need for some jousting!

Pumpkin Pickin

We went to the pumpkin patch in Lawrence, Kansas last weekend. We have been going for the past 5 years, and it is always a good time. This year, we remembered to wear old shoes, because it is ALWAYS muddy. But guess what? This fall of gorgeous sunny days has left pumpkin patches with no mud and well, a lot of dust! I am not talking a little bit of dust. I am talking Dust Bowl, teeth-full-of-grit dusty. Blech. It was so dusty, that as we were leaving, Noodle actually asked if we could stop somewhere so she could wash her hands.

The pumpkins were not their heartiest this year. We ended up just picking two small ones to take home, along with a promise to take the kids to the grocery store so they could pick out some REAL pumpkins. Ah well, still a good trip to the Patch!

Label Maker

I was testing out my camera the other day and took this picture (to see if the flash was working)

I just uploaded it and it cracked me up. Yes, I labeled my label maker box with a label that says "label maker."

Flower Girl

In case you are wondering, 4 1/2 is the perfect age to be a flower girl.

Little Noodle and I went to San Diego a couple weeks ago for our cousin Julia's wedding in La Jolla. It was a perfect, beautiful wedding and we had so much fun being a part of it. Noodle made best friends with the three bridesmaids and has not stopped talking about the whole event.

One of the neatest things was her flower girl gift. Julia had a dress made for Noodle's American Girl doll Kit that matched the flower girl dress perfectly! It was so precious. And they even had matching hair bows and shoes. What more could a 4 1/2 year old girl want?! Incidentally, Kit has been wearing her dress ever since we retuned home!

We got to see lots of our relatives, meet new ones and generally have a lovely time in the California sun. It could not have been a more perfect weekend!