"Simply having a wonderful Christmas time!"

    Today is one of those days where everything seems speeded up and "televisiony." I blame the school Christmas pageant. When I was a kid (at a medium sized Catholic school), the teachers would parade each grade across the stage (and those metal risers!) and we would sing 2 Christmas carols per grade. We would wear uncomfortable clothes and do our hair in new ways and basically be miserable for the 1 hour it took to rush everyone across the stage. I remember marching in. I remember the badly curled hair. I remember little else. I do remember that it meant that it was almost Christmas break.
    Buck had his Christmas plays today. These are now full-blown musicals. Every student was asked to show up for 2 shows - one at 1:00 and one at 7:00. I went to the 1:00 alone (nap time for the little boys) and RKZ is at the 7:00 alone now (bedtime). I had never heard most of the songs which were sung (3 or 4 from each grade!). There was a plot focused around a young boy who'd received $100 from his grandma for odd jobs he'd done in the summer. First of all, that's not a Christmas gift - it's a salary. Second of all, even the Bible only asks for 10%. But the Angels who showed up to preach about "giving" were basically asking the kid to give the entire $100 to the nearest homeless shelter. Call me cynical, but I think that the kid's parents should have offered him the chance to give $10 to the shelter and save the rest. That would be the lesson for today's economy. It just sounded off to me and not very realistic for the families watching. Honestly, what's wrong with focusing on Baby Jesus and His Birthday? Do we all need a lesson on giving too? Maybe I just have a bad attitude. On the positive side, the kids were really great. The sound was incredible and there were a few genuinely gifted singers. Also, I sat next to a mom who is becoming a good friend and we talked through a lot of the show. She leaned over at one point and said, "at least we have 8 more years of this. Or even 11!" (We both have 3 year olds too). I said, "I think I have 14 more years" and we both burst out laughing.
I'll have pictures tomorrow.
I really am glad it's Christmas. ;)

"Joy to the World!"

My boys wrestle. They wrestle a lot. It is literally like living with a crowd of puppies and their young, active dad dog (that's RKZ). You'd think that H-P would still be a bit timid at barely 7 months. You'd be wrong. H-P is all over his older (and larger) brothers. The baby has started to roll and scootch and basically use all of his energy to get to the nearest hunk of flesh and grab or bite it. That nearest hunk of flesh is normally 3 year old Thunder, who responds accordingly. This is only more crazy when Buck is home and jumps in. I caught myself saying, "Don't shove your brother's head into the floor unless he actually bites you" last night (not the baby that time. Only Buck and Thunder). Nominal mommy. 

We are grinding into Christmas this year. Buck has school up until the 21st (seems to be the only school in California with that schedule). His school puts on a 1pm and 7pm Christmas show on the 20th and all of the students are required at BOTH (not the most convenient for us). Thunder is still in the thick of potty training. H-P has some kind of problem digesting vegetables and rice cereal and so he's up all night if we change from anything but prunes, oatmeal and apples or pears. Freekin' Irish/Bohemian systems!! Gladly, RKZ is home from Houston...and did I mention that it's VERY warm here? Our first warm Advent in 6 years (Buck wore shorts to school today! On Dec. 16!!)

"Everything I am, everything I long to be, I lay it down..."

It's been exactly a month since my last post. I promise I haven't disappeared but I have been super busy (admit it, you've been too busy to read it too!). I am promised a new computer for Christmas, which will help with speed and a host of other technological (read: boring) promises. So, I will renew my blogging commitment around the first of the year! Promises, promises. We recently returned from a great trip to Colorado for Am. Thanksgiving and we're off to Reno for Christmas at the end of this month! Here are a few pictures of what we've been up to...enjoy!  

 These are two sisters-in-law on RKZ's side (his sister HAB and our newest s-i-l, Smarty-Sally). HAB was gung-ho for "black Friday" (Day after American Thanksgiving) shopping. So, we all woke up at 4:30 am to hit the sales. It's sad to admit that I was so enthusiastic because it meant a morning without kids. I also didn't miss the sleep since I don't sleep these days anyway :) But we did have a GREAT time.

 H-P is 98%ile in both height and weight. He can't wear anything but 12 month clothes and he's only 7 months. Here, he shows his eagerness to crawl away. Help!!

 The big boys and Buzz. Thunder is reaching the age where he loves all things Pixar. He's also obsessed with Finn McMissile from Cars 2 and loved Animal from the recent Muppet movie.

 Our family is not ashamed to admit that we've loved Tim Tebow from the beginning. We were a little embarrassed that all three boys had "15" jerseys on at Mass on Sunday. We looked like a Denver Broncos commercial on the way to Communion. People were literally pointing and laughing (in a nice way). RKZ did not wear his jersey to Church - just to be clear. We think our loyalty paid off with yet another 4th quarter win (this is NFL Denver Broncos football for my Canadian friends :).

 Buck was the 1st reader in the school Thanksgiving (US) play. He was also one of 5 "fat turkeys". It was very cute.

More H-P. He's a doll of a baby: fat and happy.

These days, we are just trying desperately to reconnect to local friends and family. We have a multitude of dinners and lunches and coffees planned to say hello. Time before Christmas is going too quickly! I will try to blog tomorrow.