Super-Faster!!!

Allison Ririe should be able to appreciate the skill in this...having been a drum major...I originated this "ride" and we taught it to Uncle Michael at Thanksgiving!

Our little Gilligan

She RUINED the fronts of her shoes doing this, but I was getting such a kick out of watching her go around the driveway that I didn't notice until too late! You can hear her panting throughout because she's so out of breath!

My second attempt at Kate's 1-year photos...a little late, but done. And this session was noteworthy because it was the first time a photographer has ever taken a half-way decent picture of the kids together...believe it or not, 13 months later, I finally ordered a print of the 2 girls in the same photo...way to go Target lady...

Ice Skating in Pershing Square

We took Lauren ice skating at Pershing Square on Saturday and had a great time, even though it took WAY longer to get her ice skates on than she was actually on the ice. The ice rink is right in downtown across the street from where my dad used to work. Lauren was very excited to go and really enjoyed herself. Her ankles were turned in the entire time, and Andy had to basically support her all the way around the rink, but she is still asking when we can go ice skating again, and I reply "not now, it was an expensive 5 minutes." We then let the kids run around Pershing Square...Kate's main curiousity was chasing the gazillions of pigeons. Even with the massive and beautiful fountain, we managed to leave with 2 dry kids...an accomplishment.

Mom, I Do Like Santa!

We met some friends in Old Town on Friday night for the Christmas tree lighting and arrival of Santa Claus...and despite my apprehension, it was a success! The last 2 years have been a disaster when it came to introducing Lauren to Santa Claus's lap...some of you might remember from the last Ward Christmas Party--the 2 year old literally climbing to the top of my head to get as far away as possible from the big red man. It was the same the year before that when she was 18 months. But not Friday night! You should have seen this kid's eyes when she spotted Santa clear up on a balcony above the Laemmle Theater, and then he descended and walked right by her...she even touched his arm! We stopped in at Johnny Rockets for milk shakes and hot chocolate (notice the irony) and Lauren kept wanting to be picked up so that she could see over the throngs of people to catch a glimpse of her new friend...that was enough to get me in the holiday mood...let the season begin!

Black Friday...A not-free trip to many stores

"But Andy, we're helping the economy, and thus helping the stock market, and thus helping our investments, and thus helping our kids go to college and us have a comfortable retirement, and thus not be a burden to our children in our old age...so you see, I had to contribute to Black Friday and spend lots of money...it's good for our world."

Black Friday...Free trip to Descanso Gardens

Lauren and Kate may not be able to fully appreciate the beauties that Descanso Gardens has to offer, but they sure did enjoy the train ride, the train tracks, the ponds and fish, the pumpkins and hay, the "jungles" to climb through, and running along the paths together...

Thanksgiving

We had a great day...it's amazing how much easier it is to keep track of your own kids when there are other kids around! My 3 younger cousins have been here this week, and Lauren and Kate had a ball with them! All Andy and I had to do was make sure Kate didn't eat cat food or fall down the stairs...easy. We had a fabulous meal, and I'm embarrassed to say that I wasn't asked to provide anything except strawberries and avocados (which turned out to be tasteless anyway) for the green salad..I did help carry all the table extensions back downstairs after dinner though! In the picture you will find...my mom, dad, brother, his girlfriend Mai (who we all really like), my sister Laura, my aunt Nancy, my uncle Ryan, and my little cousins Joel and David. Not seen, but very present were Andy, myself, Lauren, Kate, my other cousin Chris, and my grandmother. It was a long table...my mom basically sat in the hall on one end, and my dad and uncle basically sat in the entry on the other end. Something we all found funny was that my mom miscounted the number of people...the table was beautiful and perfectly laid, but when Andy took too long to come to the table, he found that there was no seat for him! Don't feel badly Andy...it would have happened to whomever was last! My mom was embarrassed, but we quickly shifted everyone down and set a new place. There was plenty of food for everyone, and then some...

A few of my favorite things (people)...

Sarah and Shelley took me to lunch for my big "3-0." Good Mexican food, great conversation, no kids...happy birthday to me...I'm sure gonna miss Shelley when she runs off to Japan...

Odds and Ends...

I'm still dilligently trying to figure this blog thing out...I still can't add photos in along the sidebar...I'm sure it'll happen miraculously one of these days. Because I've taken so long to become an official "blogger," I thought that I would post some photos of the previous few months...when I was still in the pre-existance of blogger world. Here are some Halloween pics of the kids...


And I'll post this one below from an adult Halloween party Andy and I went to, but it may get yanked once my husband views our blog...we were old ladies...didn't know I could get Andy to wear a woman's dress and knee highs...

A family hike in Eaton Canyon a few weeks ago...


I think that's it for tonight...I'm tired and the kids will be up, fed and possibly dressed before 6:30 tomorrow morning...they definitely didn't get that tendency from me...Happy Thanksgiving!

Noah's Ark at the Skirball

The Skirball Cultural Center off the 405 has a new exhibit called Noah's Ark and it is fabulous. My Glendale MOMS Club had a field trip today to check it out, and since I've been pretty MIA with MOMS Club in the past several months, I decided to join in. I was nervous about the 101 freeway in the middle of the day (always stopped and not much fun with 2 screaming kids in the backseat--a new Strawberry Shortcake DVD took care of that), but the exhibit was well worth the drive and ticket price. Noah's Ark consisted of four large gallery rooms designed to help you feel the "ark" effect...animals, wind, rain, and water. It's definitely geared for children, and Lauren and Kate had the best time exploring everything. We finally left because I didn't want to be stuck in even worse afternoon traffic. I was told that the exhibit is now a permanent attraction at the Skirball, so we will definitely go back...it's best to be the first group when it opens at 12:00, because they let in a new group every half hour, and it was a total zoo (no pun intended) by the time we left.

Audobon Center at Debs Park

I'm really making an effort to try out new things around the city...this was a cool place! It's very kid friendly, and the facility provided tons of sand toys of all sorts for the kids to play in...all Kate needed was a shovel and bucket, and Lauren was perfectly content with a small watering bucket and a drinking fountain! There was a kid-size dollhouse with pretend food, the perfect tree for Lauren and Mia to climb all over, and best of all---tons of benches for us moms to sit and chat. Actually, the best thing was the free admission...we'll definitely be going back!

I'm retarded...and Andy agrees

So, I've let my guilt at not sending pictures to Andy's family force me to finally start a blog...I have no idea what I'm doing. I don't know how to put in a picture or a video (I can barely record a video), and I certainly don't know how to put in all those little "extras" that everybody else has on the sides of their blogs. I've spent 30 minutes online trying to find some sort of template for the blog, and finally announced to Andy that I have no idea what I'm doing...he laughed out loud at me, and rather obnoxiously, I might add...It's just confirming to me that yes, I am retarded when it comes to this sort of thing...if you see a picture show up, just know that it comes with a lot of sweat equity behind it...we'll see how this goes...