Happy New Year

We are going up near San Fransisco to visit with Nicks Aunt, Uncle, cousins and their families for New Years. So not sure I will be online or not. I am busy trying to clean and pack at the same time which i do not recommend doing. I am excited about this trip and getting to know family I have only met a handful of times. Being "banished" to California has turned out to be quite a blessing after all. I have been able to spend time with my uncle (whom I have only seen once or twice growing up) and he has been able to get to know the girls. All the more reason for MY family to get their behinds out here!! ( Nicks family too, Vera you know you can do it!!!) Anyway, big congrats to my friend Amy who FINALLY had her baby. This baby, like my niece kept its bits hidden and was a lovely surprise..... girl after two boys. ( I KNEW it though!) Welcome to the world of girls Amy! Thank you again for all the cards and thoughtful gifts that were sent to us and the kids. Everyone was pleased with it all. Well, time for me to keep packing. Have a happy and safe New Years!

Boxing Day

I like to call this lazy day. We had ( and are still having) a wonderful visit with Uncle Ray and the men are working on finishing off the ham. I had some lobster bisuqe and think I have finally had my fill of junk food and sweets. No one got sick, a real Christmas miracle! The kids are busy (yay) using their gifts and Zoya is fighting fatigue hard. ( so is mommy, but I am losing!) I almost had her asleep earlier this morning but the doorbell rang and that was that. I am doing no chores unless absolutely necessary ( or I can't stand the mess any longer) because the rest of the weekend is gonna be for cleaning. I plan on giving everything a good scrubbing as I take down the decorations and yes, it will take me a few days to do it. I am also suffering from what I call WII fatiuge as we had to try out all the new games and I played my fav carnival games.
Thanks Nicole for being understanding ( and not sharing!) that e mail meant for Nick. I guess I have to not touch the computer when I have only had two hours of sleep. I was just wondering if anyone esle had done the same thing? Then I won't be so alone in my embarassment.
Well that about wraps up our Holiday. I better rest my aching arms to get ready for tomorrow. I wonder if I can get Zoe to nap again so I have an excuse.....? Pics coming soon when I find the camera among the mess! Ok now for me to enjoy my "day off". Can you believe I actually craving healthy food??
Have to add on here, I DID end up cleaning the kitchen and vaccuming. Don't want to leave food for mousie whom we have yet to catch a glimpse of. The older girls are STILL playing WII , I am still sore!! We had a great time watching movies and Zoe did fall alseep on Uncle Ray, so sweet. It is so nice to have family here when we are so far away. Have a great weekend and check twice before you hit send, ha ha !

Merry Christmas

Although it was quite an early one ( Sophie was up from 2am on, and apperantly , so were the neighbors) so far it has been great. I tried to put great thought into my gifts this year and everyone was pleased. The only drama is Sophie got a "puppy" ( a stuffed one that comes will all kinds of accessories) and Zoe wants it. There is another gift coming for Zoya which will hopefully distract her. This year I let the older two open their big gifts first so they did grasp that their few were equal to what the younger kids got. It worked out great, they were so excited they could have cared less about opening any others. Now we have to see who gets to put baby Jesus in the manger, yes, it is a FIGHT every year. sigh. Poor baby Jesus. One year he got put in the manger four times. The girls did do a pageant the other day, pics of that coming soon.
Well once again my hope of a Holiday bonfire is rained out, in CALIFORNIA!
Hope Everyone has a great holiday.

Cookie dough 101

I can't get over how Katey and Sophie were doing nearly identical things. Even the expressions on their faces! Katey had been to a fun fair so, that is a snowman painted on her face. This is the first year she did all the cookie dough. And YES i have on video her WASHING DISHES!! The girls have all been a big help but the rule is , you want to bake, you clean up too! Its been making it much eaiser for me, especially with everything else going on. I have to note, Zoe pouring in the sugar was the LAST help she did because it got everwhere! Don't you love Sophies little mixer that looks like mine?? Does anyone feel sorry we have to try and do all this baking in this teeny useless kitchen?? ( you can't roll out dough on the tile countertops!) We still have plenty to do, have spent most of today cleaning. Somehow toothpaste magically got all over the bathroom. I shall never know who the culprit ( ZOE) is....
Oh yes, I pretty much had cookies for dinner. Empanadas turned out great this year but took...three hours to roll/bake. No wonder I only make em twice a year!! I also realized I have been concentrating so much on the sweets, I really don't have Christmas Eve/Day food ! oops. I will send Nick and Emily out to brave the crowds at Costco or something, when he gets back. Oh everyone is over their tummy troubles thanks goodness. I wasn't even thinking as I fed them cookies. WHEW. everything stayed where it belonged. Ah, sugar cures everything right? ( next to chocolate that is) Well Happy baking to the rest of you. Tonight is my favorite dinner, potato pancakes. Now. who is gonna peel all those potatoes, hmmm?? ( I have to note that Emily is doing lots of baking too, just can't fit more than four pics at a time. She also took all of these pictures)

Decorations beware!

Well, we have had another loss in our blow up family. Our little polar bears motor blew. I think it got knocked over and the motor got FULL of water. Such a bummer, he was a cute little guy. Cheaply made though cuz he was getting moldy. So we are not stuffing him like we did poor Santa. Santa is actually pretty cute all stuffed although Zoe threw a fit when I used an old blanket of hers . She doesn't like the blanket, puts in back in the closet if I put it on her bed, says its for babies. ( how she came up with that I have NO idea!) But suddenly the blanket can't be used for anything else. Oh well. I told her I would take it out when we put the deocorations away. ( I might have to umm operate on Santa to use the fiberfill for future projects.)
Well my friend came over and said," wow, there is snow all over your yard". I was oblivous going," no, we haven't done the insta snow yet." ( thanks btw Nicole and Jim!!) She is like, "NOOOO it is SNOWING in your yard, your thing has a giant hole in it." I am STILL not getting it. I say " no I fixed that." So i go out and sure enough the daggone snowlgobe had a hole in the top and all the fake snow was blowing right out. The neighborhood kids were quite impressed though! So we patched it up ( I had to sew a seam in it already) and I guess I will have to look for fake snow eventually. THere is enough left so it still looks cute. I have had several strings of lights go on me too! So if you are Christmas Decoration and our house... beware!!
So my amazing sister in law and brother sent the girls the BEST gifts this year. We have actually had the insta snow before, ( i donated it to Zoes pre school and it was a hit) so I knew just what is was. You mix it with water and....snow!! Yahoo. The kids are begging every day to use it but of course, me being me, am saving it for..... CHRISTMAS!!! Unfortuneatley, the picture on the can shows a kid making snow angels. My kids seem to think it will cover the yard. It will make a good amount but not THAT much. I was wondering if I sprinkle it on the grass and the d@$n sprinkers go on.... well ok, I won't waste it trying that. So yes the snow, puzzle (so cute a pic of them at their wedding ) and etch a sketch ( hooks up to tv) are a huge hit. Also thanks mom and dad for your gifts, the little ones LOVE the "beauty kits". They now have their own brush and mirror and a puzzle in our house always gets put together. The big girls loved their stuff too! WHEW better go this post is getting crazy long. I will write tomorrow about our cookie making drama.

The Chrismouse

Well so far I have not seen or heard from our little visitor since Monday. I think few chocolates have dissapeared but that could be one of four ( well, ahem five) culprits! We had quite an adventerous day as we were puppy sitting! Yes, me the anti dog woman baby sat a pug puppy. The kids fell so in love. Zoe ended up sick today but at least her accident was on the tile. Puppy blessed my carpet but I have potty trained for kids, I am kinda an expert on cleaning up pee!!
So I have also discovered that Sophie and I are pretty allergic to dogs. What a bummer. No pets in this housing area, which is fine with me. I wonder if the darn mouse knows that? I did not have the heart to get a trap. Mostly because they had "no touch" but none that you " don't see" the dead thing. I could take it but I worry about the kids. I just pray he ran out into the garage and didn't crawl up in the couch and, well, pass on. YUCK. I don't smell anything, but then I always think it smells bad and am forever lighting candles and spraying febreeze everywhere.
Poor Zoe wanted to know where baby puppy doggie was and if he was coming back. She was slighlty terrified but delighted at the same time. Poor Chrismouse got abandoned for doggie! That is good because I was tired of her peering under the couch with a crumb of food calling " heeeere mousie mouse! ( kissing noise and a whoo hoo since she can't whistle yet) Here Mickey mouse clubhouse! I have a snack. Lets find your presents!" She has forgone all thoughts of Santa ( whom she is terrified of anyway) and is fully concentrating on the magical mouse who leaves "presents" . Who knows, we may have a whole new Holiday tradition! Lets hope poor little mousie got back outside or in the walls where he came from and Zoe soon forgets about searching for the magical mouse.
Sigh.
Could be worse, could have been a snake!

For Baba

As most of you know I heard the devestating news last night that Nicks Grandmother (known as Baba, the Ukrainain word for grandmother) passed away. Almost 10 years ago I lived with her while Nick was away for a year at various schools. ( this was right before we moved to the UK) I have so many wonderful memories. We did get a chance to see her before we came out here, one of the main reasons why we went from MD up to Rochester and then headed to Cali from there. Nick is is MD right now because of what we thought was somone being a stubborn idiot. ( like whoever made the roster that put him on this trip) Seriously, he was sent to Ft Meade for something that he already did. The good news is there are many buisness flights from Baltimore to Rochester and he can get back to Baltimore to fly back here. If he was here, there was no way we could affoard a ticket back east. SO this trip that we have been griping about and shaking our heads over actually turned out to be a blessing. Thank you to all you for your messages and support. I am doing ok, just very fustrated that I am stuck here and cant be with Nick and his family. I let Katey and Emily take a "rain day" but had Sophie go to school. She had missed a day last week and it is half days today. She really isn't greiving being too young to grasp it all. That is fine with me, she is happier at school. The girls are going back tomorrow. IF we were in MD we would have taken them out to go up to Rochester so I felt they deserved at least one day of mourning. I had last night and most of the morning but now its back to normal really. Lots to get done! Emily I feel for you becuase I awoke to SCREAMING this morning... a mouse!!! I think the rare Cali rain drove the little guy inside. if you read this... HELP!! What do I DOOOOOO. As long as I don't see the thing or his "presents" I am ok. ( Till it gets in our food)
So I was telling the girls this, about the mouse leaving presents and Zoe pipes up all excited." It is Santas mouse for cwismouse!!! Can we open the pwesents? Are the under the tree? Oh boy i so asided!! ( ecxited) " She of course ran off to look for this wonderful "Christmouse" and his presents. Gee how am I supposed to kill the thing now?? Katey spent the morning trying to trap it while Emily cowered in my bed refuisng to leave the room. Now, what trapping involved I am not sure. I heard banging, a "OH MY GOSH< AEEEEEE" more banging and then I peeked over and she was playing the WII!! SO much for a mouse hunter. Somone suggested leaving the back door open but it IS raning and windy and I am not inviting more mouse friends over. Oh well, the whole thing was pretty funny ( except for me screaming, a MOUSE? are you SERIOUS< and freaking out while on the phone to my sister in law) I also laughed when Katey said ( all breathless with extiment and panic) oooooh it was cute, but scary. Kinda scary but it was cute!
I will keep you updated on our Christmas visitor, and thanks again for your prayers for Nick and his family.