So Zachariah informed me that if you're not good, Santa will bring you stupid underwear.   Now, you could get cool underwear like Spiderman underwear if you're good, but if you get on the naughty list, he'll bring you stupid underwear.  I tried to explain about the coal, but he wasn't buying that.  I finally figured out this comes from The Polar Express where the boy opens his present and says, "All I got is stupid underwear."  Hilarious.

Another Christmas kiddism: We're driving around listening to the radio, and the song, "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas" comes on.  (Remember that, Diana?  Or do you have no memory after the large pole?)  Monica listens for a few minutes, then asks, "Mom, what's a pickle-bottom-us?"  I burst out laughing, so of course, now the only way to sing the song is with a picklebottommus. 

In other news, we're planning on leaving sunny California on Christmas afternoon and arriving in freezing Utah on the 26th.  And yes, we'll be eating Christmas dinner in Denny's because I looked, and, other than casinos in Vegas (which we avoid like the plague, because, really, they're like the plague), nothing is open between here and Ogden except Denny's and IHOP and we've never been that impressed with IHOP.  So while we're enjoying wearing shorts and complaining of being chilly, we will attempt to channel our Rocky Mountain inner-heaters, long suppressed in 110 degree heat, and come visit you all.  And not freeze. 

So...Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Sickness

So I guess I'm becoming a bit of a blogger now--don't expect it to continue though.  Maybe when we get  a new keyboard for our laptop.  It has the faster internet, and is more convienent (you can pick it up and walk into a different room to escape children), but typing by using the mouse and on-screen keyboard is no picnic.  (If that were a picnic, you'd leave pretty hungry.) 

So anyhoo, Cassandra got the stomach flu Tuesday and then Eric caught it and last night I got it.  And guess what went out on Monday in the middle of wash day?  (If you guessed the fridge, you'd be wrong and not that bright since that has nothing to do with wash day.  Duh.)  Yes, the washer went out.  And since in this crazy world, it costs more to repair something than buy a new (or, in our case, fairly new) one, Eric is buying one now.  Craigslist is great. :)  So now I can wash that mound of stinky poopy vomity laundry on our p atio (it was smelling up the laundry room and I didn't think the washer repairman needed to smell that) that is now all soggy because it rained last night for only the 2nd time this whole year.  (Nice timing.)  More info than you wanted to know, but isn't that what blogging is all about? :) 

Speaking of the rain, my neighbor commented that it feels like Christmas now because of the cooler weather (in the 40s).  I kept my mouth shut, but I was thinking, "No, it feels like October."  But I do love October weather and I'll take it for Christmas since it's better than 80 degrees. 

Cuteness

So, I'm always reading other people's blogs about cute things their kids do, so I'm posting some of my own.  Zachariah today found some moss and dug it up and was walking home with it and asked, "Mom, can I keep this moss as a pet?"  I said, "What would you do with it?"  He responded, "I'd walk it and feed it, just like a dog."  So there ya have it, folks.  A sad day for dogs, good day for moss.

Max the lab

So we're driving down to San Diego to the Wild Animal Park and we see this dog with sunglasses on hanging out in the back of a truck  with a sign saying Max the lab is on Facebook.  We thought he was pretty cool.  

But what's really amazing is that, driving home, later that night, we pull into a McD's in Temecula and pull up right behind Max the lab.  What are the chances?? 

Summer 2009--a compendium of sorts

The afghan I made for Diana's baby, Sophia.  I think it turned out quite cute, if I do say so myself. :)

Grandma and Grandpa Galli came to visit us--the kids loved it, of course.

Monica's birthday cake--not my best, but it was what she wanted and she loved it.

I can't believe my little girl is 7! It's really true that the days are long, but the years are short. (And boy, are some days loooooooooong.)

The invite to Monica's birtrhday party.  She specified what she wanted and I (dare I say it?) actually had fun making the cards.  Not that I want to make it a habit or anything.

Monica's pool party. Totally the way to go--I didn't have to entertain at all!

This is a typical face of Zachariah's when he doesn't think you should be doing whatever it is you're doing at the time.

We pay for an HOA pool, but really, kids just love playing in the backyard wading pool. (Notice our lovely green grass Eric put in.)  Who needs water to chill out?

This is a typical Cassandra face no matter what you're doing. Happiest child ever.

Zachariah when he's agreeing to have his picture taken.

Love this boy!

My girls.

Monica on the first day of 2nd grade. She actually matches! It'll probably be the only time this year. I buy her cute outfits and she promptly mixes them up, but fails in the matching department. Perhaps I should just select a color scheme so everything goes together. Oh well. Pick your battles, right?

Zachariah on the first day of preschool. Also in a matching outfit and also the last time he'll wear nice clothes to preschool--he came back so filthy he had to have a bath. At least he had fun! He's been soooo excited to go. And I've soooo been looking forward to him going, but I was actually a little sad dropping him off--he's been my little companion for a long time and I love that boy. Okay, now I'm tearing up at the computer. Sheesh!

Monica is student of the month this month (she's always the first one chosen in her class each year--but I'm not bragging.) :)

Zachariah's new room scheme: outer space. I even made the quilt myself! He loves it. Even though As I was sewing, he was saying, "when we move to our next house, we can throw this stuff away and do...yada yada yada." That's when I had to leave the room and put myself in time out.

I think you're a good mother if you make a cool "yocket" ship for your son's bedroom.

And now a montage of all the places Zachariah has fallen asleep in the last little while. (Please see earlier posts for several others.)

The stairs.

The bottom bunk with the toy basket on top of him.  (Note the chameleon nature of this boy.)

This one's the best: falling out of a box at the bottom of the stairs.  The box was like that when he crawled in--he actually positioned himself on an upside-down slope and announced he was going to take a nap.  Classic Zachariah.

Cruisin'

This whole post is in reverse, but oh well. We went on a cruise with Eric's whole family--it was supposed to go to Ensenada, but because of the swine flu, we went to Catalina Island instead. It was really fun and the kids loved seeing their cousins. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Baird!
Cassandra's present from Grandma and Grandpa Galli

The kids really had a blast.

Cassandra had her birthday on the cruise and all the waiters (plus the 30 of us) sang to her--I thought it might scare her a little, but she just loved it.

Again, the pictures are in reverse order, so this is after she finished her cake.

Ode to cake.

Eric off the coast of Mexico. Even though we didn't get off here, we still had to stop and hang out awhile.

Cassandra in the stateroom--she loves shoes.

Zachariah on his bunk.

Daniel's family

David's family and Arlan and Judi

Carl's family, Patrick and Anna, and Rebecca

Zachariah on Catalina

Monica with her cousins

Judi and Arlan on the way to Catalina

Zachariah on the way to Catalina

Monica and cousins