Who's the Ugliest of Them All?

Finally - celebrating the Ugly.  The Friday before Christmas, Dave and I went to my brother and Sister-in-Law's house for their 3rd annual Ugly Sweater Party.  This was the first one I've been able to make (thanks to a sick kiddo the first year, and then being out of town last year).  I have to say, it was kind of fun shopping and creating our ugly sweaters!

We were especially proud of Dave's upside down snowman (notice the jingle "bells/balls").  I can't claim this as an original, rather it was inspired from Pinterest.  We also found out that someone wore something similar last year... oops.  We weren't there so it doesn't count. LOL

Then we had to get a picture with the hosts...

Yes, my brother is wearing thermal underwear for pants....

There were roughly 25 or so of their friends who enjoyed the apps and adult beverages.

Oh and then the parent chaperones.... Kent is Rana's dad, and then Grammy and GrampC.  Everyone was proud of GrampC because he didn't fall asleep on the couch.  He's known to do this and then Matt and all his friends like to draw on his face with permanent marker.  I do believe that trend started one Christmas here at our house.

There was a contest for the ugliest sweater... plus the "bead" game where you can't say sweater, beer or wine.  And the winners are....

Dave 2nd place, the guy in the middle is the bead winner (his wife gave him her beads) and Jimmy won the ugly sweater (but his was for the pants... there was a discussion about whether they were coral or salmon colored).

I think my brother actually won, but being the hosts, they didn't feel it was right to win the prize.  We came home with some booze.

Santa: Caught on Tape

Is he real?  What does Santa do when he comes to your house?  Will Doodle (our Elf on the Shelf) fly with Santa? These are the things that a 5 year old thinks about at Christmas time.  So we decided to set up a "hidden camera" to see if we can capture Santa's arrival and Doodle's departure.

Here's what we captured: (Doodle the Elf is hidden in the tree, about mid-range.  It's hard to see with the lighting, so look carefully.)

A Day Care Christmas

Drew may have "graduated" from his home day care nearly 3 years ago, but you're never too old to celebrate Christmas with Ms. Stephanie and her present and past day care kids.

Drew is in the back left - some of the kids weren't watched by Ms. Stephanie, but they did have siblings who are/were watched by her or are part of the Preschool where Drew went.

Ms. Stephanie singing with all the kid in preparation for Santa's visit.  Love how they're all screaming rather than singing the various songs.


And finally Santa appeared.  Drew got some presents.

I have to say this was the first year that Dave wasn't Santa, and I don't think anyone figured out who it was - which was the Preschool Director's son...

We always look forward to the very nice dinner and hanging out with everyone, thankfully it's everyone we know.  It'll be strange when the day comes that we won't know any of the parents because we (and Drew) are that old.

Our Little Angel

Two days after the tragedy at the elementary school in Connecticut, there was an emotional Children's Program at our church, and Drew was part of the Angel Band.

 That's part of the Angel Band - grades Pre-K through about 1st grade I think are in this photo. The entire Children's service was grades PreK through high school, so quite the ages spread.

What made this program special for us was that it was Drew's first speaking part!

And here is the video:


What you can't tell by this video is that Drew spoke loudly and very clearly.  His lines were:
"We pause, reflect and give thanks for his sacrifice - redemption's price."

We have some additional videos, but I must apologize for the bouncy photographer. Dave was busy filming and trying to help Drew focus and do some of the hand motions...

Here's Away in a Manger:



And I'll share one final video (we had about 20 minutes of the hour long program on video.  This was their final song - Jubilee.


We followed the service with a Chili dinner and some conversation with Grammy, GrampC and GG who also saw the show. We were so happy with how Drew behaved and performed for the service - especially after a weekend full of rehearsals, he was so over it.

Merry Christmas!

I'll share posts about the Holidays over the next few days (possibly weeks if I don't get my act together).

Just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas from our family (including Doodle the Elf on his last day with us - he's hiding in the tree).

We are blessed with our friends and family - much love to you all.

Sometimes Your Husband is Right

Here is a case why you should actually listen to what your husband says...

On December 8th I ran my fourth half marathon of the year (13.1 miles) and I did so 24 hours after getting over a stomach bug.  Not my brightest moment.  Not by a long shot.  And before I left for the day - he warned me it probably wasn't a smart move.  But I paid $80 and already had my race bib etc.... I just had to do it.  Plus I felt pretty good - even if I knew my time would suck.

So once again my neighbor and I had a 7am race start - this time in Walnut Creek.  Sorry about this photo, I handed my phone to some old guy who had technical difficulties (he was just excited he got the cop car in the background).

So while it was cold and foggy just past the start line, I did pretty well in the beginning.  Especially for not being able to run except for one or two times in more than a month!  I ran the first 3 1/2 -4 miles before starting my run-walk plan.  I was going to run for 4 minutes and walk for 1 minute before repeating.

I did that until I got to the big - and I mean BIG hills around miles 4-7.  The last hill which started around mile 6 was a killer, I could barely walk up the sucker... and it was Foggy!  But the reward at the top was great!

This was after we rounded the corner after the super steep hill - what you can't see is that we're finally above the fog and in the background there's just a blanket of it.  I was able then to run the full downhill portion - roughly miles 7-8 1/2.. in which we ran right back into the chilly, wet fog.

Once I reached the 8 1/2 mile point I went back to my run walk combos, but the 4:1 ratio turned more into 3:2... then into 2:3... until it was more like 30-45 seconds of running for about 4-5 minutes of walking.

Turns out all that running kicked up the tummy troubles... uh oh.

Around mile 10 I found a porta potty and went in not sure which end it was gonna come out... I figured if nothing a porta potty's gotta be good for a little relief.  Well it was a no go, so I decided to just keep going - at this point I only have a 5K left to go.  I figured I'd do more walking than anything.

And that's what I did.  I ran into my neighbor just shy of the 13 mile mark - she finished 30 minutes ahead of me.  Only about 2-3 minutes slower than our race in October.  And she hasn't run once since that race due to shin splints!

My final time was just under 3 hours (2:59:05) my worst time ever.  But this race wasn't about time.. it was just about getting to the Finish Line which I did not before nearly losing my shoe in the mud at the finish line.

My reward - to walk in the door and throw up for the next 13 hours - constantly.  And then have those "other" stomach troubles all day Sunday.  Apparently I wasn't really over that bug....

I was in bed the rest of the weekend, minus the two hours I needed to be at church.  I told Dave the thing he loves to hear the most (and rarely does) - that he was right.  I shouldn't have gone.  It wasn't worth it.

The Perfect Child

I have a bit of a Mommy brag - but I have the world's best child. Seriously.

Let me preface this blog by saying you probably don't want to read while eating...



Let's start with a little background. Wednesday night/Thursday morning Drew woke up in the middle of the night spewing everywhere. This went on every 30 minutes for hours!

Needless to say he ruined his perfect attendance at school that Thursday. I planned to stay home with him in the AM and then head to work while Dave took the afternoon shift.

Trouble is, about 30 minutes before Dave's shift started, this Mama caught the "Drew Bug". So I ended up working from home the next two days.

Friday evening while Dave was making dinner and about 15 minutes after bragging he was overlooked by this illness - BAM!! He spent the better part of the evening into the morning in the bathroom.

So back to me, Saturday I had a 1/2 Marathon scheduled and despite not being able to train due to weather and illness (sinus and other stuff) I decided I'd still go out there and know it won't be my best time... I just wanted the medal. Big mistake. Big. HUGE!

The second I walked in the door I lost it all and couldn't keep anything down. all. day. long. So I was bedridden (minus my runs to the bathroom) and Dave was bedridden most of the day.

Poor Drew was in his PJs all day long left to fend for himself. He did pop into the room looking for attention periodically and we played a couple of games, but for the most part our 5YO was fending for himself. And he was an angel! No harassing. No whining. No complaining. The perfect child.

Thankfully Dave turned a corner later in the day and made everyone dinner (which I managed to keep down). And gave Drew some much needed attention.

Sunday I was still only at 30% but had to take Drew to Sunday School - they are practicing for their Christmas Show and I had to set up the altar (hopefully I didn't share cooties). I came home and stayed in bed the better part of the day.

Dave was at about 75% and took Drew out for lunch and a bike ride to the park - poor kid had cabin fever. When he's home he's been doing his workbook (the picture above). Still never once complaining about anything.

When I picked him up at school tonight, he was so happy I wasn't going straight to bed. He said "mommy I take care of you when you're sick and give you get better powers. Just like you did for me."

See? Perfect child.

Remind me of this story the next time I complain about attitude problems....


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Cookie Monsters

The ladies in my family were at it again last weekend.... we were a couple of cookie monsters.  Well cookie baking monsters that is.

It's our annual tradition, the first Saturday in December the ladies gather to make more cookies than any one person can consume - ever.  In fact by the end of the night I was sure I was going to throw up if I saw another cookie.

Oh and that's just 1 of three tables and a refrigerator filled with cookies!  I got there around 9:30am (earlier than normal since I skipped my typical 5K) and didn't leave until after 10pm.  I think I pulled the last batch of cookies out of the oven around 9:30, so that left dividing up the mountains of cookies.

With one burned batch - we won't say which one of us did that one - I think we ended up with about 21 or 22 different varieties, some of which were double or triple batches.

This is why I bake only once a year... I don't have the patience to do this more than once.  But it's an awesome tradition that I look forward to all year.  Makes perfect sense right?

Brought to you by your bakers..
L-R: Rana, Mom, Me, GG

We Are Thankful

Every year we alternate where we spend Thanksgiving and Christmas - this year Thanksgiving was with Dave's Family (which means his family has Christmas next year).  So we headed to Los Angeles to spend it with Tata and Abuela. 

While we were expecting not to make the 6-7 hour (non-holiday weekend) drive at about 3am Thanksgiving morning - we managed to get an early start on Wednesday since we both got off work early and I found a killer hotel deal in Bakersfield.  It was nice to break up our trip - even if we were driving with the crazies.

So we pulled in to Tata and Abuela's on Thanksgiving afternoon and we were able to help out setting up and preparing everything. It was a smaller gathering this year. 

That would be our little Jedi  - we brought his "light saber" to LA with us (just the cardboard wrapping tube) but when we got to the hotel and he whacked it against a light post, the light saber came apart.  Tata fixed it with some red duct tape.  Drew is a happy Jedi.

Or is he an Angry Bird Star Wars nut?

I didn't get many pictures expecting to see all the family again on Friday, so the only other Thanksgiving picture I got was Drew with his cousins.

L-R: Drew, Summer, Henry

The kids played so hard together and all had a great time!  I think this was the first year everyone played together as well as they did.  Here's to many years to come!

Dessert anyone?

On Saturday just before we left, we managed to meet up with Tata at the park to get some of Drew's wiggles out.
L-R: Tata, Daddy, Drew

Abuela went to visit family in Mexico after Thanksgiving dinner.  I wish I'd have gotten more pictures, but I guess I was too busy being Thankful for the family we were surrounded by.

Halloween - Trick or Treat (Post 2 of 2)

Post two of two about Halloween - this time the big even Trick or treating!

Now Drew was counting down until he could go Trick or Treating from the moment he came home from school.  He was disappointed that I forced him to eat dinner first.  Dinner gave me time to spot treat his costume following his school party - there was a mishap with some frosting....

So we made arrangements with our neighbors to team up and trick or treat this year.  What you can't see are that the moms are equipped with a large glass of wine.  The boys were super excited to get started, but we made them pose for the obligatory photos.

 I introduce you to Gingka (from BeyBlades) and Iron Man.

And the boys were off... we started with our closest neighbors. 

Drew went to the first 5 or 6 houses singing:
Trick or treat,
kiss my feet, 
give me something good to eat.
If you don't,
I don't care.
I'll pull down your underwear.

Yes, we're aware he got the song wrong, replacing the word kiss for what should be "smell", but whatever.  After a few of these houses we told him to shorten it to just "Trick or Treat".  Oh the things they pick up at school!  I think some of the older kids told him he needed to say it at every house, so he did.
 
We noticed we were being followed by some crazy dude.

Oh that's just Dave before he started scaring the neighborhood kids.  He loved that he lived up to his title as the "Scary House" and even better that there wasn't any competition from another neighbor who is known to go all out.

Mommy, Daddy, and Drew are still enjoying the fruits of Drew's labor.  Nearly a month later, there's still some candy left.  That's what just under 2 hours of trick or treating will do - Drew's friend Christopher went home around the 1 hour mark.

Halloween: School Fun - Post 1 of 2

Since I'm on a crusade to get all Halloween blogs posted before Halloween I'm going to give you a double dose of postings today.

First up - Drew's Halloween party at school.

Since Halloween fell on a Wednesday, also known as Wacky Wednesday for his TK class, there was some extra fun for his class and teachers.  On Wednesdays Drew who is an afternoon TKer goes in the morning so the teachers can participate in meetings etc.  Because of this the afternoon class was able to participate in the school parade and have a dual party in their class.

I wasn't able to help out for the party, but Dave and I did come for the all-school parade.  I dropped Drew off at his before/after care facility and then waited around for the 30 minutes or so before the fun started.  I did get to see him dropped off at school.

I introduce you to Gingka from BeyBlades - one of the "in" toys for Drew.  They also have a cartoon on the Cartoon Network that Drew loves to watch.  I have to admit that this was a back-up plan for a costume, he wanted to be an Angry Bird and I personally thought those costumes were horrible and I'm wasn't creative enough to put something together, and Gingka was on sale and a happy replacement.

So Drew waited with his best bud in front of class waiting for the teachers to let them in.

That's the pose Gingka makes when he's ready to battle.

They then dismissed the parents to the blacktop area so we could line up for the parade.

You can see Gingka aka Drew showing off his BeyBlade among his classmates.  And then the parade began!

As Drew passed by us, Dave's yelling in the background and this is Drew's embarrassed reaction.  I have to say it was so cute to see all the kids.  I thought it was really clever too that the 5th graders (the school goes up to 5th grade) were all dressed in historical costumes. 

After the parade the kids went back to their classrooms for the party.  Thanks to Shutterfly I managed to see pictures from the event. 

Here's his class photo:

Adults Only Halloween

Since this week is Thanksgiving I probably should finally get around to blogging about Halloween...

The Saturday before our friends Brian and Stephanie held their annual Halloween party - but this year it was adults only.  Oh boy did that definitely kick things up a notch! 

The only appropriate photo I've seen of Dave and I was taken by our neighbor who was watching Drew for us that night.

Dave was a cartoon-like mobster and I was Sporty Tinker Bell.  My costume is serving a dual purpose - Halloween and I was testing things out for the Tinker Bell half marathon in January.

After dropping Drew off we made our appearance to the party - it was an absolute blast!  It started out with a guest appearance by the Village People performing YMCA.

And we had some politicians stop by...

Costume contests....

It was great hanging out with friends...

But of course Dave knows how to find trouble.  He was busted by the police.

Thankfully Sporty Tink was a good girl and the other officer on the scene (Stephanie) had no reason to make any arrests.

Around 10pm the party really got started as a group of us started dancing to some old school music.  I think this was the most fun part of the night.

Of course it wasn't long after we started dancing that some friends came in to tell me I needed to take Dave home.  He'd had enough and was outside getting sick.  That'll happen when you don't eat anything since lunch and you start drinking like a fish.

I took Dave home, got Drew into bed then went back to the party, but when I arrived around midnight everyone had cleared out.  I guess they were afraid of turning into pumpkins.

The consensus is that this party is a hit without the kiddos.

Our Little Carnie

Being the good parent I am I volunteered our family to work a shift at the Carnival PTA fundraiser for Drew's school.  We worked his classroom's booth - the Lollipop Tree.

If you're not familiar with this game, kids paid with tickets to pick one lollipop.  If their lollipop had a colored dot on the bottom, they got to pick a stuffed animal prize.  If they didn't they just got to keep the sucker.

We worked our one hour shift and then let Drew run wild playing all the various games put on by each grade.  Guess which game was Drew's favorite.

Angry Birds of course.  While Drew had fun with that booth, it was nothing compared to the fun at his birthday party.

I have to say we all had a great time at the carnival.  I don't know why we haven't been to one before.

First Report Card

I have a backlog of blogs to post, but I wanted to get this one out ASAP since it's fresh on the brain.  This morning Dave and I had our Parent Teacher conference with Drew's TK teacher, and we also got his first Report Card.

The short version, Drew's an intelligent but emotional kid.  While scholastically he's ahead of the game, but socially/emotionally he's a little behind and there are areas of concern - which ultimately were the reasons behind our holding him back into TK.  The teacher said we made the right call - you could hear the sighs of relief from Dave and I.

Here's how he's "Graded"
P= Proficient (highest achievement possible)
OT = On Track (age appropriate)
E = Emerging (needs a little work)
AC = Areas of Concern (serious problems)
X - Not Yet Taught/Assessed

There were four categories in which he's graded:
1. Social/Emotional
2. Language Arts
3. Math
4: Physical Development
5: just teacher comments

1. Social/Emotional:

• Seeks adult help when appropriate - E
  Notes: Working on this. Sometimes waits too long. (this was the biggest area of concern and I'll touch on this at the end)
• Engages in cooperative activities with peers - E
• Exhibits impulse control and self-regulation - E
  Notes: working on this (this goes along with the first bullet point, again to be discussed later)
• Works Independently - OT
• Participates in group activities - OT
• Demonstrates caring for others - E
• Follows Playground Rules - OT
• Follows classroom rules and procedures - OT
• Separates from parents/caregivers without stress - P
• Follows Directions - OT

2. Language Arts

• Writes own first name in Titlecase - P
• Uppercase letters 5 10 15 - P
• Lower case letters 5 10 15 - P
• Exhibits beginning sound awareness - P
• Exhibits rhyme awareness - X
• Listens while others are speaking - OT
• Shares ideas with others - OT
• Actively engages in writing activities - OT
• Actively engages in reading activities - P

3. Math

• Understands that numbers represent quantity - P
• Recognizes numbers in random order (0-12) - P
• Uses one-to-one correspondence to count objects (12) - X
• Recognizes common shapes - X
• Counts orally 1-20 - P
• Sorts by one attribute - X
• Extends simple patterns - X

4. Physical Development

• Demonstrates gross motor skills (balance, jump, run, climb) - OT
• Demonstrates sense of body in relation to others - OT
• Demonstrates fine motor skills (cut, color, draw) - OT
• Performs basic self-help/self-care tasks - E
  Goes back to the behavior issues mentioned earlier 
• Uses Small Manipulatives effectively - OT

5. Trimester Comments

• Drew is a serious, eager student who loves the learning process.  He was very sensitive at first but now is doing better most of the time.  He is a strong reader and enjoys sharing his great ideas in both a large and small group setting.  He also loves a leadership role.  His math skills are strong.  We are focusing on following directions, working with others and problem solving.  He makes great connections from our stories to real life experience.  Good work Drew!

 So the discussion was 70% about Drew's inability to be assertive and explain what his "problem" is before losing his cool - usually resulting in a floodgate of tears.  His teacher mentioned a few incidents - one in which he freaked out about his shoe coming untied during a classroom activity and she just had to have him sit to the side until he calmed down and the activity was finished (he was being really disruptive).  Another incident was about his backpack and not finding his library book inside - it was under the popcorn we were supposed to bring for his Halloween party.  Rather than take out the popcorn and look for the book he just lost it saying he couldn't find his book.  Another example yet, when he was paired up with a partner and they had to find a pencil (or other tool) in a box and there weren't two... Drew started crying and the other kid gave him the "tool" and raised their hand to get a new one - rather than Drew doing that to begin with.

We told Mrs. Ferren we see the same reaction at home for times where he can't find a particular toy - even if it's right in front of him or even buried in his toy bins/box.  We both think this is coming from laziness (my word) and his ability to cry and make whatever he wants happen, happen.  For example kids and parents jump to his rescue at school when he cries making his "problem" go away.

She said this was a major area of concern that she (and we) need to continue focusing on as it could be a major issue that may need intervention if this continues in the coming two or so years.  She says it's over the top - and I sort of agree - that if he doesn't get over it, other intervention may be needed - whatever that may be.

While I'm ending on a "negative" note, it really was a positive discussion. She said he is definitely one of the smartest in the class and she knows he has it in him to excel, he just needs the extra boost emotionally.

Cousin Chloe

Last month Drew finally met his newest cousin - my sister's daughter Chloe.  While she was about 5 months old at this visit, this was the first opportunity everyone's schedules worked out to get together.  This also happened to be big sister Kady's 4th Birthday.

Drew was intrigued by her (ignore the mid-blink shot)

He "held" her for a few moments until Chloe began to fuss.  And then he was over it.

Drew and Kady had a great time together playing puzzles and running around the house.

We thought this was the sweetest thing, GG decided to nap with Chloe.

Can't believe how fast a few months flies when they're so little.  Hopefully it won't be another 5 months before we see Chloe again.

Back to the Beach

Every year for Drew's birthday present we do an event - rather than give him a gift.  This year we played it cool (and inexpensive) and took him back to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk - where we also celebrated Daddy's Birthday.  Since I'm a little late in getting blogs posted, this trip was almost a month ago.

This time the big hit of the day was Drew chasing waves.  I think he did this for about three hours!

We did take a break from the waves to eat a picnic lunch.

And at least we don't bury our heads in the sand... although sometimes I wish I could.

And then it was back to wave chasing...

Needless to say the chilly waves won and after pulling/rolling up his pants for 2 hours we finally decided would could be those "klassy" people and let our 5 year old run around a public beach in his underwear.

Clearly Drew wasn't phased.

Our attempt at a family picture.

We did make it for a few rides - we had some leftover tickets from the Boardwalk the month before.  Drew was adamant he only wanted the kiddie rides, not the Log Ride this time.

Back by popular demand, after the Boardwalk we hit up the same pizza joint in Santa Cruz for dinner.  We of course had the same result - food coma.

I think our 5 year old had a BLAST.  He still talks about his days at the beach.  Perhaps we'll need to make more trips next year  - and hopefully getting warmer weather.