The Nativity

 The girls, especially Jilly, have been making Nativity scenes during play time since we started the Christmas season. They will shut themselves in their bedroom, pull out the dress-up stuff and other needed props, and start acting. Evelyn is usually boss and tried to get Gordon to be baby Jesus, but that obviously didn't work.

Evelyn, as Mary, looks just like her Halloween counterpart, the Very Scary Sugar Plum Fairy Dracula Princess Witch.

 Gordon and Jilly don't differ much in weight these days, and Gordon is finding more opportunities to clobber her. He loves her tons.

 One of the stakes in Rancho Santa Margarita does Living Nativity shows along with a Creche exhibit each December for 3 nights. Being the genius that I am, decided this would be a great FHE activity. So we pack up the van for a 40 minute drive Monday night, enduring, "Are we there yet?"  "This is making my arms tired mom!" "Why is it so far away?", and endless squawks and yelling from Gordon. We finally see the stake center in sight. 

There is nothing but a stake center there. 

I know I got the directions right. 

Then, an epiphany: the shows were from the 3rd through the 5th. Friday through Sunday. Not Saturday through Monday. 

Duh. 

Much disappointment and fidgeting because the kids realized they would not be freed from their car seats. 

We drive home a different way, avoiding the freeway.

Stop at Wal-Mart to buy and eat an entire bag of mini-Twix bars. The children are pacified. 

We still fulfilled the goal of FHE, to spend time together. We just spent it in an unexpected way. 

Grandma Chickens gave the Nativity a needed boost today by telling the kids she would ship her kid-size Nativity costumes to us. Much rejoicing, especially from Jilly.

Now all I need to figure out is how to read my calendar correctly and how to avoid the girl's impending shouting match over who will play Mary. 

Thanksgiving

 We did Thanksgiving at our house this year, and I cooked everything except the pumpkin pie and the stuffing, which Uncle Dan took care of. It really wasn't super stressful, but then again, I was just cooking for my family plus one. It's more work when you're cooking for a small army I'm sure.

The spread. My goal was to not make too much food. I failed miserably. Just yesterday I was cleaning out the fridge and found the forgotten leftover turkey, which had started to mold. Dang. I have to add that I am not a fan of candied yams, so I found a recipe for a sweet potato dessert with a streusel topping.  Divine. At least as good as the pumpkin pie.

The girls got their own table. Gordon was sleeping when this affair went down so all diners could eat in peace.  I love that boy, but making soup with his water cup and splattering it all over anyone or anything within 3 feet of him is not what I would call a satisfying dining experience.

Later in the evening we made an "I am thankful for..." paper chain with Christmas themed scrapbook paper to kick off our Christmas season. It was a great way to end Thanksgiving day and start decorating for Christmas. I definitely want to do it again next year.

Fall Highlight

Aunt Lyndsey came from Washington to visit for Jilly's birthday, and the kids were excited to have her here. Evelyn asked her a few times when the rest of the family was going to show up. Sadly, they couldn't. :)

The weather warmed up just in time for her visit, we spent the first afternoon she was here at the beach and it was GORGEOUS. Probably the best beach day out of the year for us. Few flies, the tide was out, little smog, there wasn't a lot of seaweed on the beach, and it was warm. Just fabulous.

Nice 5 o'clock shadow there, boy. Eating and sand, I just don't get it. 

They spent most of the time, as usual, digging in the sand. I was excited we got to see the tide pools this time around, the tide was so low. We saw a few of those large, red pacific starfish, which we have never been able to see other times we've checked out the tide pools at our favorite beach.

We visited the Great Park the next day, trying to get a ride on the hot air balloon, but they'd already reached their quota for the day, so we couldn't go. Lame.

We played at the playground there, which is supposed to be an educational experience about the native animals of Orange County. Hence, the bats in this cave. 

These last two caught my interest because Lyndsey caught all three kids in the same stance, quite by accident I think.

Lyndsey, in her graciousness, watched the kids Friday night, and Ben and I got a 15 hour date. Here's the morning ritual of PBS Kids, chocolate milk, and dry cereal.

We went to Balboa Pier to eat chile cheese fries at Ruby's, on a much cooler and windier beach day. Jilly didn't come with us on this trip, she's super scared of the size of the waves at Balboa.

Dinner entertainment provided by Gordon. Black beans and rice rubbed all over his head, showering the dining room carpet. Hate that carpet. He was trying to laugh and smile, but had to keep rubbing the beans out of his eyes.

We visited Cenntennial Farms in Costa Mesa, it's like an old-time farm, lots of different animals, and large gardens where you would have grown all your own food. It was fun, except for Evelyn's repeats of, "Mom, this place smells!" That's what the above facial expression is for.

Piglets, about 6 weeks old. There's supposed to be a brand-new batch of piglets when my parents come to visit, so we'll have to come back to see them.

I thought the coolest part of the Farm were the large vegetable gardens. We just acquired a community garden plot, so this little trip gave me a good gauge for what I can put in our garden for the "winter" here.

Thanks for visiting Lyndsey, we loved it!

More Halloween

Ben and I have never carved a pumpkin in our entire time together. Crime? Maybe. Less messy? Definitely.

 I've never been a fan of the slimy entrails of a pumpkin. The girls were NOT interested in sticking their hands in. Ben was operating the camera, so of course he wouldn't do it.

Yep, Gordon. "EWWWW!" is right.

Here was our trunk for the tri-ward trunk or treat. The kids made out like bandits. I'm still sick of sugar and it's almost Thanksgiving. I'm thinking beef jerky and fruit for stocking stuffers instead of candy this year.

Evelyn was having a Halloween identity crisis and couldn't decide if she was a fairy, princess, witch, Dracula, or the Sugar Plum Fairy. Jilly kept it simple and went as Cinderella. Gordon was the monkey. So appropriate for him. 

The Great Park Pumpkin Harvest

 This was the best event we've been to at the Great Park yet. Love this place!

Straw maze, great for the little kids. 

This is all Jilly wanted to do, ride the carousel. 

The new playground about the water cycle. 

Happy Halloween on November 1st!

18 months

This is the price I paid tonight for doing dishes while talking to my mom-in-law on the phone. I noticed he was creating kitchen catastrophe, but I really didn't notice. I was standing 3 feet away from him. I do not profess to be a super multi-tasker, and this is obvious proof. I can't talk on the phone, and do the dishes, and do something else at the same time. The plastic is my roll of garbage can liners, unrolled. That boy is an efficient mess-maker.

At the dinner table, he must be served whatever someone else is having, even if he won't eat it. If his cup is full of water, and someone else pours a glass, he wants his topped off. If Jilly gets more Parmesan cheese, Gordon wants more, despite the small mountain of cheese already on his plate. You get the idea.

This week he started shrieking for the first time (up until now it had just been an insanely loud "Hi!" and "Bye!" in Costco to whoever he made friends with). Whenever something is happening he doesn't like, the volume in the apartment starts rising. I'm fairly certain anyone in our quad who has seen me with the kids knows right where we live, due to the crazy noise coming from the windows. Gordon also mimics my countdown when the girls are in trouble. He gets to 4 all by himself, while slapping the shut door to the kid's room. The girls won't open until I start counting with him though.

Gordon still climbs everything. He doesn't even really need a footstool anymore to get onto the bathroom and kitchen counters. The kid is good. He hardly ever slips or falls. If he can get a good grip on the surface he's trying to top, he can muscle his way up there. I suspect he'll be trying to climb trees before long. He gets on top of our tall-ish dresser all time, and he could get on top of the fridge, no problem. He hasn't done that by the way, and I hope he doesn't.

He started nursery on Sunday, and got part of the way through it, but melted down after a while and sat with Ben the last hour of church. 11 am is a bad time for us. 1 pm will be more manageable in January.

He eats ice cream cones from the bottom first. Major drippage. He gets it mostly on himself, but what gets on the office-grade carpet I don't care much about anyway, they're gutting our place when we move out.

The 3 of them are definitely becoming a more cohesive group, instead of the girls off playing, and excluding Gordon all the time. I'm hoping it's a pattern that continues.

Water and Sand

 On one hot day last week, we emptied out some toy containers and put water in them to splash out on the balcony. The kids had fun, but I think the extra water on the balcony may have had something to do with the ant infestation we found on Saturday morning. 

 Another morning while Evelyn was at school we headed to the mall to play on the splash pad and do a little shopping, for me. It's been quite a while since I bought anything new.

Jilly has entered the "I can't make a normal smile for pictures" phase. Evelyn is just starting to come out of it, for now. Because the girls are so close in age, I don't really get a break between developmental phases. I'm always surprised to see Jilly begin a phase that Evelyn is just leaving. I can't believe this little girl is growing up so fast. 

 After General Conference ended on Sunday, we went to our local beach to see the results of the annual sandcastle competition. These ones were my favorites. 

 Another statement about the housing market? Our economic reality? 

 A replica of Minas Tirith, from J.R.R. Tolkein's, "Lord of the Rings". (Great movies, haven't gotten around to reading the books). 

 The kids enjoyed Thomas the Train, the girls are standing here with a favorite friend. 

Someone poking more fun at Bret Favre.