Santa visits

Finally, this year's Santa pictures. Kenzie's was taken (from a Polaroid, gasp!) when he visited her school, so the quality isn't great.

Elevator escape

Grampy nudged me to post this, I had all but forgotten it. It was one of many near-misses that we have with Mason on a daily basis. This day was Sunday, Christmas Eve. We were heading back to the car from church, in the high rise across the street where we park. Mason ran ahead, took a right turn toward the elevators as I increased my step. As I rounded the corner I saw him dart into an open elevator and the doors began to close. I bolted toward him, saying "excuse me" as I nearly ran over a fellow parishioner, lunged toward the almost-shut doors, barely reaching the end of my church bulletin into the opening, just in time to cause them to reopen and see Mason's "duh, what?" expression. Grammy and Grampy peeled themselves off the floor in time to join us for the ride to the car. No worries...just another dose of adrenaline.

Christmas 2006

Grammy and Grampy arrived shortly after the creatures in the house began stirring this morning. The kids were excited and anxious to open their stockings that were stuffed full (...of junk they don't need and will soon break or lose their parts, Bah Humbug).

Next we turn to another tradition: Christmas breakfast with Mom's Eggs Benedict. We all chowed down on my favorite meal of the year, the one full of fat and cholesterol that makes me even more resolved to begin the New Year fresh. Since Grammy brings this recipe each year, I thought I should have a copy for myself. And, since I have no other filing system, I shall share it with all of you. Enjoy!

Christmas Benedict, Blender Style
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons lemon juice
pinch of paprika
dash of salt
1/2 cup of butter

Put the egg yolks in a blender with lemon juice, salt and paprika. Melt butter in microwave until boiling. Turn the juice on the blender, then slowly add butter. Voila, hollandaise. Put on top of an English muffin, 1 slice of Canadian Bacon, and a poached egg. Yum, yum!

After breakfast we slowly opened presents. We were all surprised by how much Mason was into the spirit. He quickly picked up on the fact that his presents were green and his sister's were red, then pulled all the green ones out and dug in. The picture below shows what he was thinking: "You can make me stop opening a present to take a picture, but you can't make me smile for it. On with the gifts!"

Kenzie dressed herself in some of her new clothes. She was decked out with a denim skirt with pink lace trim, a pink sequined shirt, pink and brown patterned tights, and, of course, her metallic pink cowboy boots. Oh, and the one pony-tail in the back with four (no less, no more) bobby-pins. (I receive careful instructions on where to put the pony-tail.) Meanwhile, Mason caught his limit with his new favorite toy from Sarah and Kyle.

We then went to cousin Sandy's, another Christmas routine. Cindy went to see her folks as they are leaving for Las Vegas for a couple of months. Finally, we landed at Grammy & Grampy's where the kids dug into leftovers, wrestled with each other, did yoga with Grammy, and flew Grampy's indoor (very cool) helicopter. I thought they would be worn out for the ride home. But, no. Mason's mouth didn't stop moving the entire ride. We just tuned him out after a while, but he jabbered and yacked the entire 40 minutes.

Alas, it's 10:00. I hope all of you, our friends and family who read this, have had a Merry Christmas. Here is our holiday card. (Please let me know if you follow our blog and didn't receive a card. Did I mention my poor filing skills?)

Christmas lore

Do you remember last year's Christmas when I had a tough time keeping my Christmas stories straight with Kenzie? I thought for sure this year that Santa's cover would be blown. But, it seems that she's very interested in keeping it going. She almost defies her otherwise very practical, curious obsessions and just lets Santa live. In other words, she's bit hook, line & sinker.

Yet, she's not overly hyped about Christmas. She likes the lights and the spirit of it, sings the songs (over and over) but hasn't asked for a single present. She doesn't talk much about it and is otherwise going on with daily activities.

Tonight we decided to have a movie night, so we had cookies and watched Rudolf on DVD. I thought I was going to be busted when, at the very end, the reindeer were flying off into the sky and she said, "Mom? How do those reindeer fly without wings?" Wise parents have taught me this line as the catch-all for stumper questions: "um, what do you think?" She replied, "well, maybe they just jump. Maybe they use their hooves." (Yes, hooves.) Ok, that's better than I would have come up with, so let's go with that.

Mason, on the other hand, is still a bit confused and frightened by the dude in the red suit. We went to the mall the other night when Kenzie was at Grammy & Grampy's, and took the opporunity to let Mason see Santa. I asked him if he wanted to sit on Santa's lap. He nodded yes. All the way up, it was "Dan-ta, lap." So, we waited. We were two away from the front when the story changed, "No Dan-ta Lap." But, we were so close, too close really to turn back. With moderate compliance, and a whole heck of a lot of effort on the part of a very patient Santa, Mason finally sat on a knee and gave us a luke-warm grin. But he got his candy cane and all was well.

Christmas angel

In today's church service Kenzie was the only angel wearing pink cowboy boots. She was a beautiful little angel...who didn't mind the spotlight one bit.

Early Christmas Eve

We had our Christmas over at Grammy & Grampy's tonight, where Donald played Santa Claus. I think at some point in the night each of us came to the same realization: man, we have a heck of a lot of little kids in our family. With Devan, Emily, Jacob, Nathan, Kenzie & Mason (and Crystal & Mike's on the way)...there was more than the slight pitter-patter of little feet. (A herd of elephants would be a better metaphor.) The did sit quietly, however, for the brief instance before the presents were disbursed.

Mason got a new train set from Grammy & Grampy. He and Jacob had fun with it...and with Stefano.

As always, Sarah and Mason spent a bunch of time together...mostly with Sarah trying to get Mason to show her some affection, and him only rarely giving in.

Ballerina

Who's the boss?

Kenzie is staying with Grammy & Grampy for a couple of days. In prior visits, they have reassured me that Kenzie always behaves "like an angel"...as long as they "don't cross her."

She rules the roost down there, so this time I told him, "don't let her boss you around."

He was offended, indignant: "she does NOT boss me around. [pause] She leads me."

Yeah.

They took her to see Charlotte's Web today. She enjoyed the movie, except for the part where Charlotte died. And the parts where Grampy slept. She slugged him frequently, I hear.

Monkey

As Kenzie was drawing her dog and girl picture, Mason brought me this and told me it is a monkey.

Okay, honestly, he said it was a "mo mo," which can either be "monster" or "monkey." I said, "oh, you drew a monster?" He set me straight by nodding "no" and scratching his arm pits.

The Mean, Mean, Mean Owl, by Kenzie

Once upon a time there was a little girl that had a little dog. The little girl had a house and the little dog always got into trouble because she could reach stuff that the little girl put somewhere. And so it was in a pantry and the little dog could reach up in the pantry because she was so tiny that she could only reach at the bottom shelf. And the bottom shelf in the pantry was only jewelry and she got into it and it broke. She put it into her mouth and then spit it out.

And then she went to bed, but the doggie still got up. She opened the door with her paw because the little girl liked to leave her door open so the kitties could get in there in the middle of night. The little dog had a dream in the middle of the night that she was a hero. And she still got up and dressed up like a hero and then went out to save people. All by herself!

And then she got lost with an owl. A mean, mean, mean owl. And the mean, mean owl had a sword. When the owl went "hoo hoo," it meant "come on you're going to my house to go in the fire!!" But the little dog didn't want to go in the fire because the little girl would be sad. The little girl went out and found the little dog and brought her home and they slept. And then the owl woke the little dog up AGAIN. And then the little girl found the owl so she found the little dog, then she saw that the owl was trying to put little dog in the fire trap. And then the little girl found the dog, then the owl could never get her again. And they slept happily ever after. The end.

[She drew this picture afterward so that I could "take a picture of it and put it on the blog." It is the little girl "and that thing on her waist is a skirt, a very long skirt" with a little dog. "The little girl is holding the little dog's leash and there's a rainbow flower."]

Cheesy pose in front of Christmas tree

School picture

Report card

Besides the fact that it crackes me up that Kenzie gets a report card at preschool, I'm seeing some familiar trends with her results. Strong in the cognitive skills and has some "opportunities" on the social side. All told, though, she's doing pretty great! (Click on the report card to see a bigger picture.)

No Way

A favorite saying.

q, r, s, teeth

Mason likes to work on his alphabet, but sometimes doesn't make it all the way through.

Blankie time, by Kenzie

I went to my grandparent's house. I stayed there for two days. And then I came home, but they ate dinner at our house still. And then they left. I hope I'll stay the night with them again. And then I'll come back home. The end.

What's wrong with this picture?

Mason climbed from his crib during nap time, found some diaper-rash cream, climbed on top of the speaker (possibly on top of the dresser), painted an area of the picture with the cream, and then stuck the puzzle pieces on the picture.

I preferred it when he couldn't get out of his crib.

Bath and towel time

Fun in the bath and after...

Random relative fact

Kenzie and I were talking today and she said, "Mom, you know Uncle Bill?" I wondered what she was going to say next, knowing that she hasn't seen him for at least a few months. She continued, "he's the hugest teaser. He's a bigger teaser than Grampy. Grampy likes to tease, but Uncle Bill is such a way bigger teaser. He told me that our plant was his plant. I pulled a leaf off of our plant and he said to me, 'that's my plant. You don't pull leaves off of my plant.' [laughing] But that was our plant. He is the biggest, hugest teaser."

Is this the North Pole?

We took a mini vacation/early Christmas this weekend to Leavenworth with June, Bob, Kevin, Kathy, Marissa and Morgan. June was going crazy with all the "M" grandkids, continually either swapping one name for another, or going through the whole list. "Mason, MacKenzie, er, Morgan, I mean Marissa...."

As we were heading over the pass the kids were amazed by the snow on the hills, the trees, and piled on the side of the road. Kenzie asked us with awe, "Is this the North Pole?"

They loved the snow. Mason's cheeks were chapped, his nose runny, and finger tips frozen. Kenzie's other cheeks were so red we had to put her in the bath tub on defrost cycle. Still, they didn't want to come inside. I believe that sledding was the favorite event of the weekend. Neither kid has an ounce of fear in them when being shot down (a slight) decline.

Sleeping was perhaps a bit improved over our last outing. As a matter of fact, the first night both kids were asleep by about 8:00 and woke about 12 hours later. Last night...not quite the same. Mason climbed out of the playpen at 10:30 and didn't return until 2:30. In the meantime he crawled over his sister twice and banged heads with her once. Needless to say, they were both a little sleepy on the ride home, but neither would give up the good fight and take a nap in the car. What's up with that? Aren't kids supposed to sleep in the car?

We stayed at a cabin that Bob has done a lot of work for. It's called the Bear Mountain Lodge. If you go there, check out the hot tub cabana that Bob built.

More snow!

Let it snow

We woke up this morning to snow. It melted during the day, but is once again sprinkling white. They're saying we have a possibility of a couple of inches - I'm waiting for a good dumping so we can put this sled to real use on our hill!

A little sass with the turkey

Becka cut Mason's hair yesterday. Gave him a cut that has a bit more attitude - how fitting.

Aunt Carol in our hearts

Last night Kenzie and I said a prayer for Aunt Carol as she prepared for surgery today. Thankfully, we got good news that she is cancer free! As we were heading home from the hospital today Kenzie said to me, "Mom? I just knew that if I held Aunt Carol in my heart that she would be just fine. God took care of her. We did it!"

Peek-a-boo

Yellow showers

I attempted to censor this post, but Grammy and Grampy insist that it is indeed blog-worthy. Judge for yourself.

Kenzie's in the bath tub. Mason just got out.

Kenzie: "Mom, I just felt something sprinkling over my back."
Me: "Mason, did you do something to your sister?"
Mason: "yah."
Me: "Show me what you did."

Mason points said instrument squarely toward his sister and says, "there."

Kenzie: “Mason pointed his weenie to me and PEED.”

Oh boy – it’s fun around here now.

Girls lunch out

Last weekend Kenzie and I met up with the ladies in our family for shopping and lunch. She's the short one in front. I'm the tall one in the back.

We all were invited to bring Christmas memories. Grampy, sadly, wasn't invited to the "girl's" day out - but Grammy represented his story well. Here it is:



Trees at Christmas Time
Grampy

I have many pleasant memories regarding Christmas time at the Averill’s when we lived on upper Pine Street in Snohomish. We had a fairly large living room that was not used much during the year but at Christmas time it was full of activity, not all of which was productive. One of my most memorable events involved mom asking me to retrieve the ornaments from the room in the attic which was accessed through a removable opening from the bedroom that Les and I shared. As I recall, I was not in favor of doing it at that particular time because it was early evening and it was dark in the attic. In order to get to the ornaments you had to balance on the joists because the kitchen below was only a lath and plaster ceiling. I recall going in through the attic and retrieving the rather large box or ornaments and returning toward the opening. I wandered off the rafters and the next thing I knew I was hanging by my elbows above the stove in the kitchen. My elbows were on the joists but the ornaments were falling one by one or more through the hole I had created. Mom and dad both came to the commotion and dad wanted to beat my butt. Mom was yelling to get the kid down. I don’t quite recall how I was rescued but little damage was done to my body. The hole was rather inspiring. Even after I was safe on the floor, ornaments continued to flow from the attic. There was an article in the Snohomish County Tribune about the event with the headline that Santa had come early to the Averill household. Mom always decorated the tree. The ceiling in the living room was 9 or 10 feet high. She liked to save ornaments from year to year and usually purchased additional trimmings each year. One year she purchased a couple of dozen very large bright red balls. Dad purchased a cork gun. Before long there wasn’t a ball in sight but there were little piles of red broken ornaments all over the living room hardwood floor. As a family we always had a couple of dogs, Don and Rock. We also usually had an array of kittens, mostly one at a time. One little cat we had was really more than rather playful. The cat was always up to something and was quite a joy for us to tease and play with. The old paper bag was always good for a laugh as this cat would come from far away and dive into the bag, regardless if you placed it in front of a solid cupboard or not. It also took a very fond liking to the Christmas tree. The cat discovered that if it went near the top and started shaking, funny sounds appeared. Those sounds were that of the ornaments flying from the tree. Dad nearly always gave mom money for Christmas. He would put it in an envelope or place it under the tree or onto a branch. After I became of driving age, dad would give me money to buy mom her present. I would head toward the Bon Marche in Everett. I would stroll through the store and look at everything and I’d virtually always end up in the ladies lingerie. I can’t remember how many slip, etc, I bought for mom. Those ladies got so they knew me from year to year. There was a small bedroom on the main floor that Les used while he was working his way through his bout with rheumatic fever. There was an open closet in that bedroom that mom used to store presents. There was never an item in that closet that didn’t get the snoop treatment. Les and I always knew every item we were receiving a month in advance. Christmas was always the time that mom and all our aunts used to make candy. Divinity was the choice of most. I think Aunt Valera did the best on the divinity. Cookies were another favorite. Not too much of the dough was made into cookies if mom wasn’t on her toes. Christmas presents were always opened on Christmas morning. We were allowed to open one the evening before, but we already knew what was in the packages. I think the only surprises came if something was in the garage and I am not sure about that either. Mom always cooked the Christmas dinner, complete with all the trimmings. Dad usually took several of us to visit close relatives as the toddy was always brewing near any Averill. People showed up at our door at all hours of the day or night and there was always enough for everyone. Dad and mom had several friends who made our home their regular stopping off place and it usually was around dinner time.

Patient cat

I thought this video would be a tender moment. Mason was cuddling Madison and the video camera was nearby, so I attempted to seize the moment. Unfortunately for the cat, tender moments don't tend to last too long with Mason--especially with Big Sister chirping in the background.

By the way, I can't interpret her "guss up on you Booty" warning...she's picking up some hip-hop jive talk that I already don't understand.

International dance

I took Kenzie up to Seattle U tonight for the South Asian Thanksgiving celebration. It was hosted by the International Club and was rich with food and dancing from Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. We didn't know anybody, except for a few students here and there. That didn't stop Kenzie from taking full advantage of the opportunity. She wormed her way to the front of the line for a henna tattoo and sat patiently while the lady carefully painted an intricate design on her hand. Once she got a little more comfortable, she joined in the dancing. By the end of the night the floor was filled with college students, all packed toward the middle jumping and dancing...and who was in the epicenter...Kenzie and a temporary best friend (another four year old that she found on the sidelines). I got a little nervous because I couldn't really see her through the dense crowd. But every once in a while she would emerge to make eye contact and show me her super-sized grin.

"Mason, go get your PJs on"

The result: diaper on the head and two legs crammed in one side.

Pictures

We got our pictures taken for the church directory...

Fall read

Kenzie is really trying to read, as you can see in this video. Watch her bluff her way through and then slow down and use her finger to mark her way.

Mason, on the other hand, we call "one word wonder." He communicates quite well, but usually with only one word in a sentance. He picks the word that he believes is key to his point and says it repeatedly. For example, "eat" or "frog" or "bike." He says most words, but likes to let them stand on their own and not get mixed up with others!

Whatcha working on, Sis?

Kenzie's on the computer. Mason's intrigued.

Breakfast with Frog

Bath mischief

Moderate truth

It's beginning. I guess Christmas is approaching, but we haven't even gotten through Thanksgiving yet and the questions have begun. Remember last year? Tonight, out of the blue, Kenzie said, "Mom, is Santa Claus real?" I said, "what do you mean?" She replied, "you know, is he REAL?" I tried avoidance one last time, "what do you think?" to which she responded directly, "I think I want to know if he's real." I literally just ignored her until I could think this one through a bit more. Typically that's not a successful technique, but thankfully I was able to buy myself some time.

It's a similar strategy that Grammy employed last week when babysitting. Kenzie befuddled her with the question, "but how do the babies get IN the mommy's bellies?" Grammy warned me that she avoided the direct question and suspected I would get hit with it the next day. So far, so good. But...I have a feeling this technique will not work for too much longer.

Sore toe

I think Mason may have broken the middle toe on his left foot today. He fell off a folding chair while watching the frog/fish, and reaching for a piece of sushi that he wasn't supposed to have. Usually he's Mr. Tough Guy, but is obviously in pain this time around. (He held the guilty piece of fish clenched in his hand for minutes after the crash.) After icing it and holding him for a couple of hours, he was able to walk, first with a limp and then almost normal. The toe is purple, but he's doing fine now. I called the doctor who said that they don't do much for broken toes anyway, so I should just tape it to the neighboring toe. I couldn't convince Mason that was a good idea, but we'll try again tomorrow. Not looking forward to trying to put shoes on him tomorrow...

By the way, one of the frogs died a couple of days ago. If you ask Mason about the frog, he'll give you one of two answers: "up" (pointing up to indicate that the frog floated) or "die." It was sad, but the fish and surviving frog are doing fine and providing ample entertainment. (I have to clean the fingerprints off the tank's glass every day.)

Dot-to-dot bird

Kenzie did this without assistance (except for the date) and presented it to me for Tiffany, a person I work with and Kenzie has met at most four times. Every day Kenzie tells me to "tell Tiffany hi." Sometimes she makes art projects for her so that Tiffany can decorate her office.

Happy Halloween!

From the purple princess and the puppy! I have to publicly take credit for Kenzie's hat - I'm afraid that Kenzie will grow up thinking her mother can't sew, especially when compared to her Grammy's sewing wizardry. While that may be true, she has a lovely purple hat (constructed with hot glue--I have the matching blister) to offset the memory of me hiring someone to hem my pants.