Christmas

We had a pretty low-key Christmas this year. I know it seems hermit-ish, but I really like just staying home for the holidays. I love relaxing with the kids and not having a time schedule to deal with. It starts to get stressful (for me anyway) when we start putting unrealistic expectations and arbitrary timelines on the kids. So this year we opted to just stay home, as we have for the past couple of years. And let me say, it was perfect. The boys are at an age where they can understand that the MEANING of Christmas isn't presents, and while they were pretty excited about their presents, there was plenty of talk about Baby Jesus as well. After we opened presents, we got to spend the day enjoying them together. (Disclaimer: I did not actually enjoy the indoor scooter riding, but I managed to tolerate it for three whole days before banishing the scooters to the garage.)


























Oh yeah, and the boys stayed in their pajamas ALL DAY, in case you couldn't tell!

The Road Home

After almost 4 weeks, we were all ready to be home. Archer kept saying that he wanted to sleep in his own bed, which is slightly ironic considering that he doesn't particularly like sleeping in it when we are at home. The drive was long, and I was slightly (okay, REALLY) jealous that John got to fly, but the boys enjoyed the extra time with their grandparents.


Archer and Woody


Preston (and Bryton, but he was perpetually camera shy...) went exploring with Poppa and came back with lots of treasures.

Perpetually Behind

And not sure if I'll ever catch up again! Since getting back from our marathon road trip, we've celebrated Christmas, our 10th anniversary, Preston's 6th birthday, and the start of a new year. On top of all that, John was offered a new job that after much deliberation, we decided was just too good of an offer to turn down. Soooo...while we don't HAVE to move, we are planning to put our house on the market and if it sells, we'll move south of town to shorten his commute by about 20 minutes each way. I have about a bazillion pictures...still some from the road trip, Christmas, and Preston's birthday...they're coming up! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Disneyland

I know I have been so incredibly absent from the blog. The boys and I were gone for almost a month, then we got back and frantically prepared for Christmas (and our anniversary & Preston's birthday which are still coming up...). Add to that clean-up from having the interior of our house painted while we were gone...and yeah, you can see why I've been absent!

So back to the vacation. After a couple of days in L.A., of course we had to go to Disneyland. Unfortunately it was a bit of a let down compared to other times we've been there, but we had fun despite numerous rides being out of commission, a less than stellar Holiday parade, rain, and lots of people. Apparently the boys weren't hampered by the things that irritated me, and they have already started saving money for our next trip.

The boys' favorite rides:
Toy Story Mania
Gadget's Go Coaster
Buzz Lightyear
Thunder Mountain Railroad (for Preston anyway...B didn't like it!)

L.A.

We've been busy: walking around, navigating the metro on a search for a double stroller so I can (safely) explore the city with the boys while John is in meetings, taking in a King's game (well, as much as Archer and the people around us could tolerate), and playing at what seems to be the only kid friendly area of downtown L.A.: the park. (And on that note, there are seriously NO kids around. It's bizarre.)

Mostly pictures for now, more later!

On the Farm

The boys and I have been staying with my parents since a few days before Thanksgiving. John flew back home to work, but we stayed to #1 say goodbye to Auntie Kristen (who just moved to Lithuania), and #2 go on a big road trip to Cali where we'll meet John (who gets to fly instead of riding in a car with 3 little boys for 16 hours)

The boys are super anxious to get started on the road trip, but in the meantime they are having fun helping Poppa on the farm.

"Duck in a Pond"