A Nice End to the Weekend

This morning, we had brunch at Izzy/Ethan's friends Drew/Serena's house, and another friend of Izzy's, Jackson, was there to play too. The kids all had a great time together.

And then the kids helped Mama in her weekend baking adventure (9 different recipes!):

Haircuts & Candy Cane Lane

Iz & E-man got their hair cut this weekend, and it was a drastic change for both of them!
Izzy before:

Izzy after:

E-man before:

E-man after (you can see his ears! And his goofy smile!):


As Izzy kept saying, "He doesn't look like Ethan, but he sounds like Ethan!"

Then we went to our friends' Christmas party where they had horse-drawn wagon rides to lead us through the lights display on Candy Cane Lane. Unfortunately we forgot to take a picture of the horses, but here are a few from the ride and playing in the pile of fake snow:


Drew and Izzy got to sit together:


with Smitha & Serena:

Izzy's Debut

Izzy played Mary in the school Christmas play this year, and she did a wonderful job! (She certainly doesn't have the stage fright that her mama did/does!)




Ethan did a great job dancing and shaking his maracas to Frosty the Snowman and We Wish You A Merry Christmas:

Happy Birthday, Momo!

video-2011-12-14-19-06-42.mp4 Watch on Posterous

Special birthday song for Momo on her special day. We love you! (You narrowly missed the monkey version of Happy Birthday to You, by the way. :))

It's finally starting to feel a little like Christmas

It's been a little chilly in SD lately (30s at night!), which means that it's frrrreezing not only outside but inside the house, too. The bright side is that it's feeling more like Winter, so it's easier to get in the holiday spirit. We've also been doing some festive activities.

Holiday Night at Sea World (see all of the photos here):



Tea cup ride:

Playing in the fake snow (sad, I know):

Real reindeer:

Ethan's idea of getting close for a picture:

Real life nutcracker:

Waiting patiently for Shamu:

Shamu:



Decorating a tree for school (and writing a very nice letter to Santa):

Trimming the tree:


Showing Izzy the ornament I made for a work ornament contest when I was pregnant with her (December 2006):


Nutcrackers:

Running and Moving

Saturday was a day for running and moving. First we went to watch the Footlocker High School Cross Country Championships nearby at Balboa Park. Iz & Ethan played at the park as the runners zoomed by us:






The leaders (talk about nice form!):

Then we helped Porter move into his new digs:


(some helped more than others)