Merry Christmas!

With lots of love!

Lucas dances with baby SpiderMan

Just click on the "Play" button ( > ) on the bottom left corner to play the video.

Snow Day Fun!

We had more snow yesterday, then freezing rain overnight that added a layer of ice on top. So today, we sledded! John blew up our inner tube and we sledded down our driveway. It was more fun than I thought it would be for a relatively small hill, we had a fun time! It is really cold out there though, especially when the wind blows!

A view of our frozen trees:




The boys in their ski bibs before we headed out:



The front yard's snow. The boys are sitting on the retaining wall but you'd never know it from all the snow piled up under them:



Josh starting a trip down the hill!

Snow day fun video!

Turn your head, I couldn't figure out how to rotate this video, sorry!


It took me several tries to just get it uploaded, I've been having a lot of difficulty getting videos up on Blogger since August. Hope this one works!

The Holiday Express

Last year, Josh had two train rides with Santa. First, we took the Polar Express out of Hood River, a two-hour round-trip drive from Portland. The Polar Express followed the story from the book, with servings of hot chocolate, a reading from the book, and then our arrival at the North Pole, where Santa and his elves got on board and came through the train, taking pictures and visiting with each child, and handing out bells as well. Josh loved it. (Lucas was only 6 months old, so he could take it or leave it).

But then, he was also invited on a second train ride in Portland with his buddy Ben, in which Santa also came through and handed out candy canes. It seemed to us that he loved them equally, and really only remembered "Santa" and "train." So this year, we saved ourselves the drive and only booked the local Holiday Express ride. We went last weekend, on a frigid night that seemed much too cold at the time, but it has been snowing ever since (a rarity in Portland, which hardly ever gets snow and never gets 7 days of snow in a row!) so I guess we were lucky.

Here are Josh and Ben after we boarded:



and Mommy and Lukie:



Here comes Santa!! It was very fun seeing him make his way toward us, the boys could barely contain their excitement:



A big hug from Josh:



And nothing but tears from Lukie! (again--he also cried when we saw Santa for their picture earlier in the month)

He still got a candy cane from Santa though, which he loved (me, not so much, what with the exceedingly sticky hands and face afterward):



Josh and Daddy were pretty happy too:



Overall, a very cold but very fun night.

Then, as it turns out, Josh does remember the Polar Express ride. As we've read the book at bedtime this month, Josh has talked about when we rode the Polar Express, on the "other" Christmas (he doesn't use temporal words like "last year" or "yesterday" yet; it's just the "other" one). He remembers getting the hot chocolate and, especially, getting his bell. But he isn't disappointed this year, the Holiday Express was satisfying enough and he's thrilled to have ridden with Santa again. But next year, it may be back to Hood River RR for us.



Brothers. They kill me with their cuteness sometimes (lots of times).

Tis the season

Well, before the snow hit we had plenty of Christmas activities planned to carry us through the holiday season. But a couple parties were cancelled due to the snow, and we stayed home and warm instead of seeing Zoo Lights or the Christmas Ships (although there's still time). But even at home we found some holiday fun.

Here is our tree, now inside, lighted and decorated. We had to keep the glass ornaments off the bottom, after Lucas' curiousity broke several right off the bat. My Aunt Pat sent the boys some stuffed ornaments they could color, so those are taking care of the bottom, where nothing can be broken! Thanks Aunt Pat!



When the first boxes arrived, Josh thought that meant it was Christmas--after all, there were presents under the tree, which meant there were presents to open! But we explained the wait and made a calendar so he could count down the days, and then the boys moved on to the second best thing about receiving boxes of presents: the box! It's a spaceship, it's a fort, it's everything they need it to be.

The Christmas Tree Farm

We made our annual trek to the Christmas tree farm Saturday. It was a dry day here, which is somewhat rare in December, so it was busy. We found our tree right away, but kept looking a bit to make sure. But we didn't want to wander too far and let someone else sneak in and take our tree! We are very pleased with it. It has great color, proportions, and size, and looks fantastic in our house.

Here is our chosen tree, still in the ground:


Daddy makes the first cuts:


Josh is helping out with such determination (while Lucas wandered all about, eating branches):


Josh's turn at the saw:

Success!

Miscellaneous unposted photos

Things have been busy here for any number of reasons, and I haven't posted since my birthday, I think. We had a great celebration with some friends on the weekend before, then celebrated Thanksgiving at home, caught the Macy's Christmas parade in Portland Friday morning, and then went to some friends' house at the Oregon coast for the rest of Thanksgiving weekend.

Josh has really been into wearing my boots. They make him feel like either a cowboy or a rock star or a rock star cowboy. He is surprisingly mobile in them, despite a 3 or 4-inch heel. He runs all around and feels so cool. Here he is rocking out on Dad's guitar with Mom's boots and his favorite groupie: (and just look at that face!)



This was just a super cute picture of the two of them bonding and watching what was probably Spongebob. They get along so remarkably well. Which is not to say there aren't fights over toys, but they really love and enjoy one another. Every night after I get Lukie ready for bed, I tell him to go out and kiss Josh goodnight, and to my surprise now he just does it (he is starting to follow a lot of instructions, which caught us off guard because we didn't really realize he understood what we were saying). It is so cute to see them kiss and hug goodnight.



Here we are at the coast. Gary and Elizabeth live one block inland from this stretch, which was just gorgeous.





And finally, like the instructions we were surprised to see Lucas follow, he also surprised us when he started doing the movements as baby Spiderman sang "the itsy bitsy spider." Here he is doing the spider part, with his little fingers together. He also does the "wash the spider out" movement, and then the "up came the sun" movement (arms in a circle over his head). So, so cute.

Marshmallows roasting on an open fire

We made our first fire last week, followed by two more this weekend at the coast. It was so nice! I love a fire! Lucas was in awe, but also was very good about keeping a safe distance (most of the time, anyway). Josh was all about the marshmallows. But all the joy was in roasting them, he didn't really eat many and he refused to even try a smore. But John and I were more than happy to eat them for him! Lucas enjoyed the marshmallows too, and then we all had to change out of our sticky clothes (thanks to some little sticky hands).

I actually meant to post this pic of the boys in their pjs. Rather than take the time to edit my last post, I'll just post this one too. I think they look so cute!

Happy Thanksgiving!

After stuffing ourselves with John's homemade Thanksgiving dinner of turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, and a scampi/pasta/quasi-stuffing, we decided to break open our gingerbread man kit and get to work.

Josh was so excited to hear that he had to put his hands in the dough. Until he had to actually knead the dough, which he found sticky and not very fun. He liked using the rolling pin though, and was great with the cookie cutter (although not very efficient--he spaced his men out, getting only about 4 per roll).

Gingerbread man-making is hard! They kept stretching; they stuck to the pan; they were hard to decorate in such small proportions. We didn't realize the difficulties. It will be much easier next time now that we know the tricks.

They taste terrific though!

Here is Josh kneading the dough:



Studiously applying a button:

Pleased with his work:

The final products:

Mmm Mmm good!

We hope everyone had a very nice and happy Thanksgiving!!

Yes We Can!

We are overjoyed here tonight. I was so happy when they called Virginia for Obama, because I never felt like my beliefs were really shared broadly there when I lived there, and I am so happy that the state has grown more accepting and progressive and voted to elect Obama! And also because (at least on the channel we were watching), it was about 2 minutes to 8, and I knew when the California results posted at 8 pm, its 55 electoral votes, combined with the updated total from Virginia, were going to result in the election of our new President. We watched in awe, smiling and crying tears of joy.

I've sat here trying to put my feelings into words, but I can't yet, so I'll just stop here. I am so happy, and proud, and hopeful, and optimistic.

And, I was very pleased to see the reference back to the "Yes We Can" theme from (then-)Senator Obama's New Hampshire primary speech. A high-water mark in my book, and a certain call to the work and yet the optimism we have going forward.

I should also say that my boss, Eli, had a great night. Oregon has had, until today, the one and only Death With Dignity law in the country, allowing terminally ill patients with less than six months to live the right to a lethal prescription that will allow them to control the time and manner of their passing. Eli drafted the law and was instrumental in its passage, and in its legal defense, all the way to the US Supreme Court. Tonight, with Eli's help, a similar law was passed in Washington state, by at 58-42 margin. Good work, and congratulations!

Much love to everyone who has supported us and listened to my pitches for President-Elect Obama, and to everyone who voted today (even if you didn't vote for my candidate).

Yes We Can heal our nation
Yes We Can repair this world
...
We will remember that there is something happening in America,
that we are not as divided as our politics suggest,
that we are one people,
that we are one nation,
And together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story,
with three words that will ring from coast to coast,
from sea to shining sea,
Yes We Can
Yes We Can
Yes We Can

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY

Vote!

At last, election day is finally here! If there is any silver lining from the vicious virus issue we've been dealing with since Saturday, it's that it kept me from seeing exit polls and renewing all the anxiety I've felt over the last two weeks as this election finally draws near. So get out there and VOTE!

We've been teaching Josh (well, trying to) about what it means to vote and select your leaders. He used to say that he picked Mommy or Daddy as the new leader, but now he is fully on board with Obama. I've seen a lot about kids liking Obama, actually. Obama won the Nickelodeon kids' election, and lots of children seem to respond to him. So Josh is not alone.

To help Josh try to understand elections, we let him "help" fill out our ballots (for fear that he might make a stray mark and invalidate my vote, I didn't actually let him mark anything, just pretend to!). Oregon votes entirely by mail, which I love, even if I miss my "I Voted" stickers. Voting at home gives you time to really consider all the candidates and ballot measures, and removes obstacles such as work, lines, rain, and malfeasance.

So here we are casting our votes. Obama '08!!!





We're all wearing our "Oregon Democrats" temporary tattoos today to get in the mood, and to make up for our missing "I Voted" stickers!

Vote! Vote! Vote!

And one last time, I will plead, please vote for Senator Obama.

Halloween, continued

Sorry for the delay in continuing this post. We had a malicious virus invade our computer Saturday evening, and spent the rest of the weekend, and several hours today, dealing with it. With the help of tech support seizing the screen today to manually remove the virus (after all else failed), we are finally back up and running. What a pain!

So here are some more photos from Halloween!

This was our first stop, next door with our neighbors Jason and Heather. Lucas didn't know what he was supposed to be doing.





The house at the end of our street, on the Alameda ridge, goes all out for every holiday, even the Hallmark holidays. We are in awe of their decorating. Without exaggeration, it is safe to say they must have at least one room, and probably several, in their house completely devoted to storing and managing decorations. So, of course, Halloween is no exception, and we snapped some photos in their lawn.





After not really understanding what he was doing at the first few houses, by the end Lucas really had the hang of trick-or-treating. He would toddle on up to the house, tail wagging behind him, climb the steps by himself, walk up to the door, and stand there until someone gave him candy (he only knows about 8 words so far, and "trick-or-treat" is not among them--although I did catch a crystal-clear "pumpkin"!). He loved it! You will notice that there is no "Batman" on the porch in this picture as Lucas makes his way up the steps. Josh had already collected his goodies, yelled a "thank you" belatedly over his shoulder, and run off to the next home. But Lucas no longer needed to follow Josh, he was in it for himself by now.

I forgot to mention that John and I dressed up this year too (as you can see above in the picture of me with the boys on the neighbors' lawn; I don't wear full-length leopard print on an average basis). Last year we wore theme t-shirts, but this year John called around 3 on Halloween and asked if I wanted a costume, so we dressed up with the kids. It was fun!

Of course, when the boys and I first got home from work/school, John was already disguised in his makeup and cape, and scared the crap out of everyone. Both boys stopped in their tracks and were afraid to go inside. Surprisingly, they were most freaked out by the cape, not the makeup. Once they heard John talking to him and knew it was him, they were mostly okay, unless he put the cape up, then it was game over--crying and hiding behind me. Weird. But seriously, that makeup was creepy looking. John did a great job. And watching him and Josh walk down the street together in the dark, their black capes billowing behind them, was cool looking.



This is our next door neighbors' house. Another one that freaked Josh out. They go all out every year, with lots of decorations, and Mike always dresses up as a monster and hides among the decorations, to jump out and surprise the trick-or-treaters upon approach. Despite seeing the decorations going up all month long, and knowing the neighbors well, Josh took off running when Mike made his move and would not go back. Patsy ended up walking his treat down to us on the sidewalk out of pity.



Back at home after a fun Halloween night, all smiles:



While John put Lucas to bed, Josh sat out on the porch with me to await our trick-or-treaters. He peeled away his official costume to reveal his batman pajamas (which we put him in as a thermal layer), and kept the mask. Because we are up a small hill, some people seemed to debate whether it was worth the trek up. Josh would call down to them, "Hey guys, wanna come and trick or treat me?!" He has a real future as a carnival barker.



All in all, it was a really fun night. Both Josh and Lucas were fun and well-behaved, and we all had a great time.