Snow!

This is for you, Sari! I just added snow to my blog! It's the closest I'll get to snow on Christmas, but I'll take it. See if you can catch a flake or two! :)

Let There Be Lights

Last weekend we participated in our annual tradition of driving around to check out the best Christmas lights our city has to offer. Also, per tradition, we made a stop at Starbucks for a wildly sweet and decadent coffee (Brendan), a super rich hot chocolate (me), and a giant chocolate chip cookie (Nathan). Next year Evan can join in the obligatory sugar rush.

This year was made extra interesting, if not somewhat treacherous, by the fact that it was raining during our trek. I loved it and think it added to the wintry feel, but then again, I wasn't driving. Many of the homes and streets we visited were similar to previous years, but that didn't take away from the awe we felt staring at the thousands of twinkling lights, colorful cut-outs, and giant (if not slightly windblown) inflatable Christmas characters decorating many a front lawn. We were also thrilled that our new camera let us capture some very crisp pictures of the lights--a great improvement over the blurred streaks we came away with in previous years. The highlight had to have been one house which had not one, but TWO, mechanical Santas gyrating away at the end of their driveway. Fabulous.

I can greatly appreciate the work it takes for one household to deck their halls, but I'm amazed at the effort, coordination, and camaraderie it must take for an entire street to do so. We can't even get our neighbors to put their dog on a leash. Geez. Anyway, it was another fun outing, made less stressful by the GPS application on Brendan's phone. The boys had a lot of fun, too, even if they couldn't quite stay awake. Next year: more sugar!

Cameras

Brendan and I were recently reminiscing about our very first communal purchase (other than pizza and movie tickets in college). It was right before our wedding, and we spent, oh, probably the better part of an hour in Target deciding what camera to buy. Frankly, I don't remember what kind of camera it was, but it was probably the same type of simple film camera everyone had back in the Dark Ages. It was with said camera that we headed into marriage and the new millennium.

One decade, four cameras, and two little boys later, the world has changed. A lot. It's hard to remember life without a digital camera. Nathan and Evan have seen very few days without some antic, some smile, some little moment being captured forever in a digitized image. Some people might say we're a bit obsessed with photographing our kids and our lives. No. We're a lot obsessed. :) And I wouldn't have it any other way.

So, in line with our obsession, Santa came early for me and Brendan this year. We treated ourselves to a new Canon camera, a digital SLR that would make that old camera from Target seem like it belongs in a museum. We have a lot of learning to do, but we couldn't think of a better investment in the one thing that means so much, especially this time of year: memories.

This is one of the first pictures I took with the camera.

Deck the Halls

Thanks to much help on the part of "the boys," we were able to get all the Christmas decorations put up this past weekend. Phew! Well...at least all the ones we were willing to put up. Our lack of space combined with Evan's "almost crawling" and rolling all over the place precluded us from putting up the big Christmas tree this year, but we still decorated a tabletop tree with all of Nathan's ornaments. We included a few new additions this year: more LED white lights for the outside and some festive ornaments for our tree out front. The LED lights do look white as long as you don't have non-LED lights next to them, in which case they look blue. :) Here are a couple of pictures of our tree outside. Brendan insists I call these "large ornaments" rather than "big balls."



We also had the pleasure of hosting my friend Sam, her mom Debbie, and her son Jake for a visit this week. Debbie and my mom grew up on the same street, and after losing touch for some years, they stumbled upon each other in the parking lot of the preschool where they had, unbeknownst to each other, enrolled their same-age daughters. Sam and I have remained in touch off and on throughout the years, but we've become considerably closer and stayed in touch since becoming wives and mommies. Sam and Debbie are at the very top of my Favorite Persons list. (If you're reading this, I'm sure you are, too, dear reader!) Sam makes you feel comfortable the instant you're in her presence. Not many people have that charm. While they live in Northern California, we've been lucky enough to receive several visits from them, since fortunately Southern California is home to both Sam's grandma and Mickey Mouse. I hope Sam doesn't mind my posting this picture of Nathan and Jake this week. So cute!

A Cornucopia of Fun

No, I didn't make those. I really, really wish I could say I did. They're the adorable creations of my mom's friend, domestic goddess, and all-around wonderful person, Pam. She dropped them off for all the munchkins attending our family's Thanksgiving dinner, and they couldn't have been a bigger hit!

This year, the stars aligned and my dad's birthday happened to fall on Thanksgiving. Not only did he get to clean his entire house in advance of the incoming Thanksgiving onslaught, he also got to give wheelbarrow rides to two very enthusiastic preschoolers, take out the trash, and do all the dishes. I think he needs a birthday do-over. You're the best, Dad! And ditto to my mom, who created another typically-wonderful Thanksgiving meal. She makes it look easy. We all brought dishes to share, and it was great having Aunt Lynn's awesome mashed potatoes and the Robinsons' roasted veggies. One of my favorite things to eat on Turkey Day is the stuffing, at least the way my mom makes it. No freaky turkey bits, thank you very much.

Nathan and his second cousin Gavin frolicked in a world of their own imagination (which included piling toys on my cousin Eric while he napped on the couch), little 14-month-old Vera showed everyone what a good eater (and dancer) she is, and Evan...well, he enjoyed sleeping, eating, being cuddled, and chewing on a toy helicopter. He turned eight months old on Thanksgiving Day.

Here is a picture of Nathan and Evan in their matching outfits. That's right--matching outfits. Brendan's lucky I didn't make him the third Musketeer.



How can I not be thankful when I get to look at these faces every day??

Comments

I just wanted to let you know that anyone can comment on my blog now, at least theoretically. Let me know if you have any problems with this. The comments won't appear immediately because I have to approve them first. You know how my family is with profanity. ;-)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD! We can't wait to celebrate...

Thankful

Today Nathan came home with this little gem from preschool:


They were, obviously, discussing Thanksgiving, and his teacher transcribed all the kids' answers to the age-old question, "What are you thankful for?" I guess they had turkey sandwiches (with mustard) at snack time, which probably accounts for the last item in the list. Be that as it may, as Nathan and I revisited the subject of thankfulness this evening, he remarked that in addition to pumpkin pie, turkey, and mustard, he is also thankful for his house, his ears, and, oh yeah, Mommy, Daddy, Evan and Pumpkin. I think he gets it. :)

But I must say that I agree with his praise of mustard. It really is the best condiment around, hands down. I'M LOOKING RIGHT AT YOU, MAYONNAISE.

There's Still Hope Out There

So, you all know I'm a grammar freak. Last week I posted this disturbing picture on Facebook. It was on a door at Nathan's preschool. Look away now if you want to.



Well, lo and behold, when I passed by said door today, this is what I saw!
















YAY! I swear it wasn't me. :)

All I Want for Thanksgiving...

Is my two front teeth!

You wouldn't know by looking, but Evan woke up with the very slightest smidgens of his two top teeth coming in today. He just got his second bottom tooth a couple of weeks ago! Let's hope this leads to more peaceful sleep...for all of us. I'll miss his gummy smile. :) Here are the boys this weekend. You can see his bottom teeth really well:



Soon, he'll look like Nathan did at about 10 months:

Not Grapes...Nor Nuts

I'm sitting here eating warm Grape Nuts while the house is still quiet. Cereal. Ahhhh. I have a Jerry Seinfeldesque love for the stuff. My very small pantry usually contains no fewer than half a dozen unopened boxes just in case I run out. If you haven't tried peanut butter on cereal, you just haven't lived.

I'm really happy this morning because Evan had a great night! After weeks, if not months, of waking up crying multiple times a night (even multiple times an hour), he slept all the way until 5:00 a.m. this morning. I woke up with a start at 4:00 a.m., terrified by the fact that I had just slept six hours in a row. I had to dash into Evan's room to make sure he was still breathing or hadn't been kidnapped by The Wild Things. But no, he was fine, sleeping like that proverbial baby. His two top teeth are ready to come in, so this surely won't be a typical night. But I think he and I are happy to have had one good night's sleep. Now back to the Grape Nuts.

OK, here's a cute picture of my baby, too, in case the awesome Grape Nuts box isn't doing it for you.

Anywhere Is Here

In my first post on this blog, I thought I'd explain the title, "Anywhere Is." It happens to be one of my favorite Enya songs, and like most Enya songs, it makes very little sense yet still manages to inspire, entertain, and take you to "another place." I don't know if this blog will do any of those things (except maybe the making no sense part), but I had to pay homage to my girl, who has created an ethereal soundtrack to my own "Book of Days" for twenty years.