I'm just a regular Stormtrooper, working hard to support my family while trying to be a good Dad

The internets are alive with images such as this one: a depiction of a Stormtrooper father and his son enjoying a day out:

This clever and unexpectedly touching series of photos is the work of one Kristina Alexanderson, a Swedish photographer;here is a link to her blog  (http://www.kristinaalexanderson.se/). Since you probably don't speak Swedish and can't read/navigate her blog, I suggest you check out the entire photo series on her Flickr site.

One photo I especially liked is that of the father and son Stormtroopers fishing:

It reminded me of a moment I shared with my son last summer, one that happened to be captured on film. The photos are surprisingly similar:

December

In December, I was mostly hanging on to the fact that Christmas break was coming, finally. It had been such a crazy fall for all of us. 

A lone piles of leaves near our apartment. There are quite a few trees that lose their leaves here, but maintenance or the wind keeps them from forming piles. 

 Gordon managed to get outside in his Buzz Lighyear costume. He wore that thing almost everyday for a month, and slept in it over his jammies about half that time too. 

 Playing in the gigantic fleece blanket Grandma Cows made for my bed. I need that extra layer under my quilt so I can be warm enough. It's been quite cool for SoCal this year, although it warmed up over the holidays. But with single pane windows, a humid 50 degrees seeps in all night through the glass and makes me chilly. 

 Ben can put me to shame in the photography department any day. 

 Evelyn showing off her monkey bar skills. She's so proud to be able to do these now, and she can swing like a champ. 

 A view from one of Ben's many bike rides. This is part of why he rides. 

Ward Christmas party where three kids wouldn't let go of me so I could take a picture of them with Santa. None of them would go up by themselves either, much less talk to him. 

 One night some friends in our ward pulled out their white screen and projector and played a movie on the lawn next to our building. It was so fun, I hope we can do it again! 

Evelyn's really been getting into helping me cook in the kitchen. And she actually is helping, whereas Gordon is usually trying to throw some sort of toxic spice combination into my baking. Jilly is still at the stage where she only wants to sample my cooking. That policy applies to meals as well. But if chicken nuggets are served, bring 'em on! "I want more Mom!" 

Christmas

 This year we had someone doing "Secret Santa" for us. It was something the kids looked forward to each morning as Evelyn would jump out of bed first to see what had been left downstairs. They left candied popcorn, Christmas decorations, cool toys, and more. Evelyn and Jilly wrote thank you notes to them a few times. On Christmas Eve, our friends the Bramwells stopped by and brought out the thank you notes the girls had written. The look on the girls' faces was kind of hilarious as they wondered how in the world the Bramwells had gotten a hold of their notes for Santa. I don't know if Jilly ever figured it out, and it took Evelyn quite a while to, but those 12 days made our Christmas a bit more special this year. 

 On the 23rd, we drove up to Ben's old stomping grounds to eat dinner with his high school band teacher. He's retired now, and enjoyed the company and seeing the kids. He even gifted them a few movies, "Enchanted" and "Finding Nemo," which Gordon is scared of we found out. Then we went to see "Christmas Tree Lane." My favorite part is driving down the gently sloping hill and seeing all the trees on either side of the street decorated with sweeping lines of white lights. This house we took a picture of was outside the neighborhood, but had the light display coordinated with some "Manheim Steamroller" music. The kids thought that was pretty cool.  

Uncle Dan came to visit and stay on Christmas Eve. We had tri-tip steak, potatoes, etc. It was all yummy, followed by the traditional opening of pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa Cows. I got a half-snuggie as a joke from Dan. It's an L.A. Dodgers blanket with attached sleeves. It is nice for watching movies with though. Ben got a set of Lord of the Rings Pez dispensers. (He used to collect Pez dispensers in high school.)

I think the present pile gets bigger each year and we feel more than spoiled rotten just looking at all of it. People do love us I guess. :) We found a recording of a hearth with a fire in it and played that during dinner. Santa left a big bag of Marshmallow Mateys for breakfast, which I loved because I didn't have to make a fancy breakfast. I'm asking Santa for another bag of that next year. (Our kids don't get cereal like that usually, only at Grandma and Grandpa's house).

Flashlights for reading at night. 

Gordon having a light saber fight with Uncle Dan. Gordon got a lot of superhero dress-up stuff, Evelyn got books to read and a few bead kits, and Jilly got lots of Littlest Pet Shop toys and beads as well. And plenty of other gifts. I had all the kids write thank you notes this year for the first time. It's something I've been wanting to do for a few years now. It was a good Christmas. 

minor frustrations

I love my children. I really do. I love the way they fill my life, teach me, remind me, and make me a better person. Each of them is different, and I still feel I am on the road to discovering their differences and unique personalities. Every day is different and interesting in some way.

But.

One of the few personality traits they all share makes me crazy. It seems to provide no end of frustration for them or myself, and that's pickiness. They are all very picky about what they eat, what they wear, what they do with their time, where they're sitting in the car, how they're playing a game, how close, or not close they are sitting with each other. It's just crazy. I don't know if my kids are closer to the extreme end of things, or if they're just normal kids and I need to take a chill pill. Probably the latter. I read a book recently where the author encouraged trying to relabel a negative trait like this into a positive trait. Being very discerning, discriminating, having an eye for detail, knowing exactly what you want, etc. This still is not helping me when Gordon screams that the socks he's wearing don't go as high up his leg as he wants, or the hair clip Jilly's wearing isn't one centimeter higher diagonally on the side of her head as she'd like.

Clothes are one of the biggest battles we fight. I have learned to not care if they match at all, how many layers are worn or not worn, or how they wear their hair. The only rules we have are it has to be clean, modest, appropriate for the event, and on family picture day or weddings, I get full, total, and complete reign over clothes and hair. The girls understand this and were surprisingly cooperative on our family photo shoot this summer. Gordon didn't care yet. Now he does.

Evelyn's favorite clothes are t-shirts, leggings, and a skirt. She'll wear blue jeans when the leggings are dirty, which wouldn't have happened last year in Kindergarten. So it seems she's relaxing her expectations a little (for which I am very thankful).

Jilly has about 6 pieces of clothing she loves to wear, and if I suggest she has to wear anything else, we can be in full nuclear meltdown in 30 seconds or less. She'll wear these favorite things until they are filthy dirty, only then are they allowed to be washed. She'll keep digging them out of the laundry. Don't get me started on fixing her hair.

Gordon only wants to wear blue jeans, even when it's 85 degrees outside. He's not so picky about his shirts (yet), and of all the socks he owns, he only wants to wear 2 pairs of them, and one favorite pair of shoes anywhere. He's my only child that matches most of the time.

This pickiness came raining down on me yesterday when I was getting dressed for church. Evelyn wanted to help me pick something to wear. She would pull something out, and I had an excuse for not wearing nearly everything she pulled out of the closet. That's when I told her, "you know where you guys got your finickiness about clothes from - me."

Ben isn't exactly easy-going about what he wears either. Yay for genetic inheritance!

So beloved children, someday when you have your own kids, and you call me in complete frustration about your crazy children who want to wear the same shirt for a 72 hour stretch (as I have done with both sets of parents), I will listen sympathetically, and wish you loads of patience. When I hang up the phone, I will smile wistfully, thinking on these fun/frustrating days. And be a little bit glad I don't have to deal with pre-school pickiness anymore!

Thanksgiving

I'm about to catch up the blog and I realize that I never posted about Thanksgiving. Drat.
This year Thanksgiving was at Uncle Dan's new house. We (all the the adults) were tired and agreed to make this a tasty, but simply-put-together event. So out came King's Hawaiian rolls instead of homemade ones, Kentucky Fried Chicken, pizza, Costco Pumpkin Pie, and Martinelli's. I did make the potatoes and gravy from scratch, as well as the vegetable side dishes. It was yummy and way too much food, as usual.

 There was something appalling about the pumpkin pie for dessert though. This picture makes me laugh every time I see it.

 Uncle Dan showing the kids his remote helicopter. Then we watched a movie, and then we went home, and then everyone caught up on the sleep they'd been missing since September. The End. Of Thanksgiving.

 Another afternoon at the park in late November, the last pictures from this particular park are over a year old. It's amazing to see how much three kids grow in a year.

 Gordon always plops his head like that on Dad when he rides on Dad's shoulders.

Oh, the power of the smartphone with a YouTube app. Donald Duck cartoons galore! This kid would do that all day if I let him.

Tomatoes in December

 I've been meaning to get a post up of my garden outcomes this year, it being the first time I've done my own garden. And up until mid-September, things weren't looking so great. Everything, except my beets, had really struggled to thrive through the spring and summer. When I got back from vacation, I just about gave up. A friend of ours kept watering my sorry-looking plants, and once the warmth and humidity started to calm down, they exploded with new growth. So these giant tomato plants, with multiple cages to support them, are heavy with ripening tomatoes in our cool fall weather. They are 4 feet tall, and would easily be 6 feet if I had the vertical support they need.

Any one want fresh basil? I'm loaded. There's lettuce growing in the back of the picture, and I just planted a mix of flowers, peas, green beans, carrots, spinach, and broccoli. We'll see how it does through these short sunny days of winter. I'm just hoping the impending rainy season doesn't drown the garden. I would be so sad!

Let Christmas begin!

 We spent Black Friday at home away from retail chaos (I do not enjoy shopping in crowds). As soon as we got home from Uncle Dan's house, where we had eaten Thanksgiving dinner, Evelyn was begging to get the Christmas decorations out. So all Friday afternoon, that's what we did.  Evelyn glowed all afternoon and gave lots of random hugs and when they viewed the Christmas lights we had put up in their bedroom window from outside, Jilly said she felt warm and fuzzy inside. I loved seeing how much the kids were enjoying everything. Christmas is by far my favorite holiday.

Gordon got to stay up for a little while after the girls had gone to bed, and he took a few choice ornaments off the tree (these are both ornaments from when Ben was little). He carries them around like little treasures. My favorite thing that evening was when I was taking Gordon up to bed, and he gave me a big, squeezy hug and said, "I'm happy Mommy. I'm happy." Nothing like that to make your heart melt, and just a simple reminder to be happy with what we have and where we are in life. Jilly asked last night if Christmas was going to be today. No dear, you have a month's wait (thank goodness!) I'm very much looking forward to this holiday season.