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!