ice skating!

On Sunday we went to Ani's 9th birthday party - she's the daughter of one of my friends who lived in Fremont, then in Vancouver for a while where we visited her before one of our Alaska cruises, and who is now back in Fremont. There are probably pictures of her earlier in this blog somewhere!

Ani's party was held at an outdoor ice skating rink in Palo Alto, so it was kind of an adventure for all of us. I don't think I've been on ice skates since maybe high school, and of course Charli's never been. She was super into it, though, and not intimidated at all! We first got on the ice and slipped and slid and almost fell down, and then we just held onto the wall until we got to the next exit, at which point Charli went right back to the entrance and was ready to go around again! By the end of the 2 hours (which included dinner) we were going around without the wall, and she was asking if she could take lessons. Unfortunately we can't, because Palo Alto is 30 minutes away and I really can't commit to that every weekend, but there's a gymnastics club right down the street from us that I've been meaning to check out for ages. I hope that will be a good distraction!

Raincoats

It finally started raining out here last week, so in our standard preparedness timeframe, we went yesterday to get Charli a raincoat that fits. Or rather, we went to get her a raincoat that doesn't fit, but in the too big direction instead of the too small direction. This is the one she said she loves. They didn't have an XS, or even a S, so she's got a girls M, thus easily filling the "too big" requirement. This raincoat should fit her for the next 5 years!

who is supposed to take care of the children now?

My parents left Sunday morning. Brian's parents left Monday afternoon. Monday evening, we let Buster eat beads, and this morning we took him out with no food and no diapers. I hope someone comes back to take care of us soon, otherwise we may all die.

Jerry Lawler entertainment kit secured...

In preparation for my mom & dad's visit next weekend, I went to Costco to secure bulk provisions, pictured here. That oughta do it for dad! Mom, do you have any requests?

so crafty!

For Christmas this year I felt like Charli and I could really do some projects together, so I went a little nuts and made an advent calendar for her (based on this blog post) with a different activity for each day. I'm not really very crafty, but it turned out so cute and I had fun doing it (and stressed out about it, too. This advent calendar was way more stressful than my job). Here are some of the things we did!

the advent calendar itself

We made hot chocolate with these fancy chocolate sticks I found. You are supposed to swirl them in hot milk or water, and they melt and make hot chocolate! Well, that DID happen, but it took a while and in the end it just devolved into being a chocolate lollipop (which might even be better)

We painted nails, and established that I own enough nail polish to throw out a few bottles that had completely dried up into uselessness, and yet still have more than enough to paint every single fingernail and toenail a different color.

We made banana bread! This is a yearly thing, and really it's a big girl thing as opposed to a little girl thing, but Charli did help out at the beginning, and she's getting very good at cracking eggs!

We made these super cute paper ornaments! We put six or seven onto each long string of fishing line and hung them in our windows, and they look so nice! We also made snowflakes and paper chains. So fun!

happy days are here again!

The family all came here for Christmas again, since Mom and Dad were flew back into SF after their trip to Thailand anyway, so only Kim and Brent had to travel. As usual, everything was lovely and we had lots and lots of food, and presents, too! Here are a pile of pictures and a video for you to enjoy!

Buster helps decorate the tree

Daisy and Jim visit from Hong Kong

Buster enjoys his present from Nina, both wrapped and unwrapped

they love Nina

opening presents from Kelly on Christmas Eve

Hooray! Hat, jammies and hat, both jammies!

the tree, some presents, and a random balloon

traditional breakfast

this gift was the cause of much contention (on my part)

some particularly favorite presents

mad scientist carefully measuring sour beer

brush paintings from China

what kind of holiday would it be without visits from more family?

Charli decorates both of us

Buster discovers a fondness for rice, ribs, and fruit punch

Sam makes New Year's Day breakfast, including love toast!

obligatory family photos - happy + pirates

And last but not least, on New Year's Eve we found out that Charli loves Rock Band!

Sick. :(

Well, we made it 4 years and 1 month without Charli ever getting really sick. Sure she has had colds and sneezes and sniffles, but never the barf in the middle of the night type of sick. I was starting to wonder whether kids still get that kind of sick. Well, now I know. And yes, they do. Just in time for our eggnog open house tomorrow! Hopefully she'll be feeling better by then. She's in good spirits, drinking lots of water, just can't hold down any food. Such a bummer...