Cousins' Christmas

Phil's brother, Taylor, and his wife, Anne, spent their Advent season awaiting the birth of baby girl #4. We joined them for a couple days before Christmas, and spent Christmas Eve with them. Little Hazel was born on the Monday before Christmas, and Anne arrived home with the new babe to a house FULL of Longs. I cannot imagine! She's much more gracious than me and just took it all in stride. Who knows, maybe she was doing quite a bit of crying on the inside, as Teya likes to say ("Mommy, are you crying on the inside?"). Here's the crew taking a break from playing ballerina and dress-up and torturing eachother.

Upon our arrival, snow blanketed the ground, and it only kept coming and coming....and coming. The kids enjoyed about 5 minutes in the snow before Teya took a snowball in the face and Lily's hands froze. Phil pushed them down the front "hill" on a sled into the street, and fun was had by all.They call her "The Lil" because of her "spunky presence." She refused to wear a coat, and I took this picture just before she pulled off the gloves and froze her hands.

Fun times with our sweet family who we never get to see.

I'll be home for Christmas

First flight for David was an eventful 5-hour wresting match. Of course, we won by sheer force, determination and brainpower. Overall he was a trooper and handled no real naps and a LONG trip really well, but we're glad not to be making that trip again until....June 13, which is not long off. Looking out the window placated him for all of 26 seconds before he started squirming and screeching. Yes, he's a screecher.

Teya was an angel, as usual, though the novelty of flying on an airplane wore off quickly, and we were forced to begin pulling out the airplane Christmas presents in the course of the first hour. A slinky (yes, they're still as great as when we were kids), a mini magnadoodle, one of those awesome 4-color pens. When the wonder of new toys wore off, we pulled out the i-pod, on which we had downloaded 37 Sesame Street episodes. What did our parents do with us on long trips other than let us roll around in the backseat without seatbelts or carseats?

I'm it

So my college buddy, Elizabeth "tagged" me on her blog. This is new to me, and I have no idea if anyone actually reads this blog, but here goes.

I believe I'm supposed to tag someone else who has a blog and who might possibly be reading my blog. Once again, another stretch.....just in case, I tag:

1. Anna Leggo-Reithmeier (see you soon, Anna!)
2. Sarah Hager
3. Rachel Jimenez
4. Holly Welch
5. Amy Tolson

The tag is to share 6 unique things that make me happy, aside from the usual.

1. Time with good friends....we spent this evening with Amy and Clay Tolson, and it was soooo fun and refreshing to be with them and their small army of 3. We always come away from evenings like tonight resolved to put forth the effort more often because it so fills up our hearts!

2. Eveningtime, just before bedtime when my kids have the gigglies and just want to play as a family.

3. Gardens.... The butterfly garden at the Chatt. Aquarium is a balm to my soul. Unfortunately, my Teya has the attention span of a 2 1/2 year old so we don't spend much time in one place.

4. Vancouver in summer....mmmmm....love it, love it, love it. Long walks by the water, hikes in the mountains, picnics on the beach into the long evening, visits to Pender Harbor, the drone of fans keeping the inside world cool WITH NO AIR CONDITIONING.

5. Experiencing life's firsts again through my childrens' eyes.

6. Brisk walks, with or without the kids (without is even better)!

All things Fall....

This past weekend, we were invited to a birthday party. This was not just any birthday party; it was an EXTRAVAGANZA for Nancy's great-grandson, Usher Raymond, V (Cinco)! Nancy affectionately calls our kids her "vanilla" children, and she wanted them to meet and mingle with her "chocolate" kids, one of whom happens to be the hip-hop musician, Usher. Daddy and Teya enjoy one of the massive inflatable slides under the big top.

Teya DEVOURED her very first cotton candy. Her lack of restraint left her covered in sticky, slimy purple sugar. She certainly enjoyed herself and the sugar held on the entire way home from Atlanta!

Other Fall notes.....

A new swingset for the kids.....David, the swinging boy

Beautiful sights.....The splendor of fall on display in one of our backyard maples....I'm now spending afternoon naptime raking up the golden carpet before it kills all of our grass!
Halloween.....Four little munchkins, all ready for "Boo in the Zoo!" The cousins scavenged as much candy as they possibly could, Teya clung to Nina in terror of Scooby Doo, and David slept comfortably in the mei-tai. Teya loves her poodle skirt dress that I found at a consignment sale for $4, and David's pumpkin is the one donned by all 4 cousins for their first Halloween.

Exersaucer Partay

At 4 months, David has moved into the next phase of babyhood: the exersaucer. Teya has apparently reverted back to the exersaucer phase with her peculiar desire sit and play in it for long periods of time. No complaining here - captive children enable me to get something, anything done around the house. She also likes to sit in "David's little Bumbo chair" - her words - and his bouncy seat.

Taking turns in the exersaucer....never thought I'd need two of these enormous contraptions.As of Monday, David no longer tolerates time his back. As soon as I set him on his back, he pulls his knees up and rolls to his tummy. He's able to scoot backwards & is interested in pulling his knees underneath, so I suspect we'll have an early crawler. I suspect, too, that with another mobile little one, our life is about to change again.

Teya the artist. Much to my dismay, over the past couple days, Teya has a new favorite color: black. This picture doesn't show it, but she's been choosing to use black paint rather than the rest of the palate. Oh well. I guess I can't control everything, particularly my daughter's choice of color.

Potty Thanks

"Dear Jesus, thank you for the potty. Amen." Enough said.

Hugs for Mama

A much-deserved day off of work for my mom took us on an adventure with her to Coolidge park today, where we enjoyed a coolish, crisp couple of hours this morning.

These are days to remember. The skies are crystal clear, the sun is just warm enough & the breezes are frequent enough to dissolve any fleeting thoughts that I might begin to sweat. As David sleeps peacefully in his baby carrier, his sweet arm hanging limp out the side of the carrier, Teya chatters away about how God made the boats on the river & giggles when the grass tickles her toes. She points out, too, that the flowers on the bank of the river are zinnias. Note that every flower is a zinnia since that's all we grew in our pitiful flower garden this summer. A walk up to River Street takes us to the River Street Deli, an authentic New York deli, where I enjoy a mix of salads & Teya begs for "one more chip," while I encourage her to have one more bite of something other than chips.

We head back to the carousel for one more look at the animals before turning toward home for naps. While we teeter in the rocking chairs with the drone of circulation fans and cheesy carnival music in the backround, a drowsy baby falls asleep again on Nina, much to her delight. Who can pass up the sweet treat of a baby falling asleep in your arms, even if for a few fleeting minutes. The taste of salt & vinegar chips lingers even as I write, as do the memories of a sweet day together.