the last 10 days of xmas

So I know December is a busy month for everyone, but this year it has seemed crazier than usual.  

First of all we have a lot of birthdays in December between our family and close friends -- Me, Kaitlyn, my little brother, both his kids, Grandpa John, Papa's best friend Chris, Chris' son Noah, Greg, a slew of Kaitlyn's friends (Hayley, Cody, Lia, Amelia, etc.), my friend Jeni, my cousin Lisa -- you get the idea, right?

The last ten days looked something like this (the photography is haphazard because that's pretty much what our life has been like)

We visited family up in the Bay Area.

Friday, 4:20 p.m. -- Me on the phone with a client sitting in the King City Taco Bell while looking at these two mugs, "No, I'm not going to be able to look at the document today."

While the trip was short (we drove back on Sunday) we did get to see some family and one of our favorite toddlers -- Miss Ariana.

We came back just in time for my birthday which was a nice little day with the family.

Then the next day we headed down to Legoland for Kaitlyn's birthday (she chose this over having a party).

We checked out the surf in Carlsbad.

Then, headed up to the O.C. to see our brand new two-week old niece -- Violet.

And yes, she's as little and perfect as she looks!

During dinner we hear over a police loudspeaker that Santa is coming outside.  And, sure enough there he was on a flatbed truck to visit the neighborhood kids 50 feet from Uncle Scott's door!

My thought:  score!  I don't have to take the kids to see Santa at the mall two days before Christmas.

But, they were so hurried they didn't have a chance to tell him what they wanted.

The next morning Mo had a tap performance, her blue sequined skirt popping quite nicely in a sea of red.

Some video...

And, fate would have it -- Santa was there too!  And, we had enough time for the girls to chat with him about all their lego wishes.  Kaitlyn also told him that she wanted a soccer ball with all the Galaxy player autographs on it (gulp!)

And, lastly tonight the girls sang at church.  Kaitlyn and Mo got up and did a little holiday ditty...

Whew!  Only one more week to go in 2012...

Merry Christmas everyone!

kaitlyn the red-rimmed reindeer

crafting

For those of you who know me well you'll understand the irony of the post's title.

Making things + Becky = not always such a good result.

This seemed like a very Becky-able project, so we took it on.

There are generally a bevy of pinecones at a lot of the parks near us.  However, it seemed as though other people had decided to get  crafty as well, because we actually had to hunt for them a bit!

The Little Wickies love doing crafts.  You would never know it from their faces though.

Our little pinecone Christmas trees.

seven

My intense little uke-playing, fast-talking, cold water-braving, sparring partner and mini love of my life will be seven tomorrow.

We may push each other's buttons, but I have to admit, she's pretty awesome (I know, I'm her mom -- but still).

Self-portrait

She impresses me repeatedly and often.  For example, her strumming has been coming along quite nicely.  Here is a little sample...

 

She is a crazy little puzzle of a girl -- scared out of her wits during a Disney movie one day, then charging into 50 degree surf the next.

I love the whole package.

Happy Birthday Babygirl!

flash back to summer

I've begun my annual race: going through the year's pictures in order to make calendars for holiday gifts. This year it's just plain embarrassing.

How bad, you ask?

I'm only in July.

Yes, July.

So, I present to you... a couple of snapshots from Mo's rainbow party.

Mo turned four in July.  The girl loves rainbows.  

Let me give you an example.  Every day when the sunlight shines through the decorative beveled trim -- which acts as a prism -- in our sliding glass door she shouts "Look, a rainbow!" and points to the place on the floor, arm of the chair, etc. where there is now a rainbow.

Every day.

Activities included rainbow necklaces made of Fruit Loops (the off-brand seemed not as colorful).

A rainbow "pass the package" game where every rainbow colored layer had a small prize.

There were rainbow snacks.

And, reincarnated rainbow decorations

I made an attempt at the rainbow cake that I'd seen floating around the blogosphere/pinterest world.

It was a hit with the kids, some of who swore the layers tasted different from one another.

Serving the cake without the thing tipping after halfway cut proved to be a challenge.

But this girl seemed happy, which was all that mattered.  Because that's why I do it.

a final special monday

Papa has been fortunate enough to work a 9/80 schedule for the last couple of years giving him every other Monday off.

We call them "Special Mondays" in our house.

Unfortunately, Special Mondays are going to be put on hold starting this month.

On our final Special Monday we were treated to spectacular 80 degree weather, so we celebrated it at the beach our favorite family place.

We picked up a pizza and then KT up from school and headed straight there.

KT loves boogie boarding right now.

The water is pretty cold now, so Mo opted to stay mostly dry sans wetsuit.

KT at sunset sporting her new grin minus yet another tooth!

A day after we set the clock back, sunset came early.

Bye for now Special Mondays.  Sniff, sniff.

hope everyone had royally super halloween

oh, go boo someone

Yesterday KT had her last soccer practice.  I've been coaching this season and frankly, was somewhat relieved that the season is coming to a close.

KT who loves soccer + Mama who loves soccer = surprisingly little love during practice.

The majority of our practices have been well, frustrating.  There has been a lot of whining and crying, whining and crying that I don't believe would have taken place if I wasn't coaching.

After a somewhat painful afternoon/early evening we went out to "Boo" some friends with treats and I have to say -- it was the BEST remedy for us all being irked at each other.

I have not laughed with my kids that much in awhile.  Yes, they regularly say/do something funny, and I chuckle but this was in the all-three-of-us-pointing-at-each-other-laughing-so-hard-we-were-almost-crying category.

This morning Mo told me, "That was fun what we did last night."

So thanks T, A & E for boo-ing us.

wish this little face lived closer to us

Was (finally) going through pictures from (early) July and found some I took of little Ariana.

We did a little trip this summer with her to Monterey in August (still haven't even gone through those pictures) which was really fun.  Her mom Lyndsay and I said we need to plan a little vacay with our families annually (I didn't forget) which I am totally committed to.

Because it's way too easy to lose track of friends who aren't in your everyday life of school, Daisy scouts, swim lessons, soccer, etc.

friday kind of cookie

I'm not really a recipe follower.  

Okay, truth be told I'm not really a directions follower in general.  I consider myself industrious.  Some very notable inventions -- including the chocodilla and the dessert pizza -- have come out of my somewhat unorthodox style in the kitchen.

I'm known on Fridays to serve what we call smorgasbord dinners which is basically a hodgepodge of things -- mostly reincarnated leftovers.  

Today, I present the melange cookie (because using French words make it sound fancy).

We're talking cake flour, leftover mini Easter (yes, Easter) M&M packets, chocolate chips and almonds.

I belong to the more-stuff-in-your-cookie-the-better school of thought.  Basically, I work to have just enough dough to keep everything in it -- namely chocolate -- together.

I usually make about a dozen cookies the first day, and freeze the rest into little balls and keep them in a ziplock bag in freezer.

At first I thought the whole freezing thing would stop me from consuming so many cookies, but not really.

It just allows me to make 5 fresh cookies a day -- which I generally consume by myself.

Happy Friday!

boogie on down

KT has been the reigning boogie boarding queen in our house for some time now.  But, looks like she might have some real competition soon for that title.

one on one

Over the last couple of years I have slowly implemented my plan (muh-ha-ha-ha) starting with getting my kids to watch soccer with me on television.

Now, I'm happy to report I am well into phase 2:  Molding a partner in crime to watch professional soccer games -- live.  

It's become our Mama and KT time to drive into L.A. to watch the Galaxy play.

I was a little nervous the first time as I know football games around the world can be a little "rough" and not necessarily somewhere you want to take a six-year old.

But, they have a lot right up KT's alley. We get there early and get her face painted.

She gets an airbrushed tattoo.  She makes signs.  

We take pictures with the mascot, the MLS cup trophy, spin the different wheels at the sponsors booths for tchotchkes.

Sometimes David Beckham is her favorite player.

Sometimes it's Landon Donovan.

We get dirty nachos and an Icee.

Just love that happy face.

music monday

KT and her uke are still at it almost daily.



playing Taylor Swift's "Mean"

loving

all the zinnias in our garden right now.

they have to be the easiest flower to grow from seed.

cure for the weekday blues

If you've experienced half of the whining and crying I have this week, you may be in need of some chocolate therapy.

Enter the Cornflake-Chocolate Chip-Marshmallow cookie.

They are chewy, chocolatey, have a bit of crunch from the cornflakes -- and, they are huge.

Win. win. win. And, win.

Cornflake-Chocolate Chip- Marshmallow Cookies
from Christina Tosi's "Momofuku Milk Bar" Cookbook

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 cups of Cornflakes
• 2/3 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1 1/4 cups mini marshmallows

1. Cream together butter and both sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium-high, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl and add egg and vanilla; beat for 7 to 8 minutes.
2. Reduce speed to low and add flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix just until dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute. Scrape down sides of bowl with a spatula.
3. With the mixer on low, add cornflake crunch and chocolate chips; mix until just combined, 30 to 45 seconds. Add mini marshmallows and mix until just incorporated.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a 2 3/4-ounce ice-cream scoop or 1/3-cup measuring cup, portion dough out onto prepared baking sheet. Pat tops of cookie domes flat. Wrap baking sheet tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 1 week. Do not bake cookies from room temperature or they will not hold their shape.
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line additional baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats.
6. Arrange chilled dough at least 4 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Transfer to oven and bake until puffed, cracked, spread, and browned on the edges, about 18 minutes. Let cool completely on baking sheets.