When Christmas Ninjas Attack

Hazel had a great time decorating the Christmas Tree this year.
We were taking turns putting ornaments up when she grabbed something sparkly from the big red box and ran to her room. A few moments later the Christmas Ninja appeared and, arms flailing, began to embellish the tree with such style and force only Santa could keep up with her.
Let's hope the New Year's Ninja is equally as energetic when it comes time to put all the Christmas items back in their storage container on January 2nd.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!
I really had good intentions this year...I was hoping to get a Thanksgiving card in the mail but time just flew by and here it is...Thanksgiving.
Hope you are with friends and family and that your stomachs are full and that you can see the all the good in your lives.

Birthday

Happy Birthday Hazel!
Your dad made cookies for you to bring to school today.
We are going to a Mexican Restaurant with the families you've invited- Aunt Kat, Uncle Justin, The Bazan Family and Jonah.
You've been talking on the phone non-stop with all your grandparents who love you so much.
I can't wait to see what year 8 brings you.
You are loved.

Hazel Many

Hazel is celebrating her birthday with some girlfriends today after school. I'm walking them all home with Penny. Tank, who loves jumping up on folks is spending the day at work with Trey. The girls will love walking with pretty Penny...she's so petite and is always happy to be with people...she'll make the journey home seem shorter than it is.

I did a whole lotta running around this morning. Picked up a dozen balloons, cookies and a few more party favors for her friends. Hazel decided on a home party (woo-hoo!) this year and wanted to watch the new Tinker Bell movie (thank you Netflix!), eat pizza, do some shrinky-dinks and share some cookies from Specialty Bakery. Done and done.

On the way to school this morning (we drove so that we could enjoy a nice pre-birthday breakfast) this song was playing on the radio...now I am not a fan of Ray La Montagne , but the chorus was a pretty good way to start Hazel's pre-birthday. She has made my life so much better. I love holding that girl's hand.
I love dancing around the living room with her. Her voice on the phone is one of the best sounds I can think of. But I should stop- it's not even her birthday yet...we'll save the real mushy stuff for the 17th.

What We're Reading

My son August was quick to pick up reading. I think once he figured out that letters form words and that words form ideas and that ideas can bring him new worlds...he was hooked. He read through the Harry Potter series book by book. If you asked him about a particular HP book he could tell you each character's story line today. He read the series in 3rd grade. His memory is good.
He's the first born. He's good at reading. He eats books. And best of all? He's excited about reading the books and shares them with me. He will often finish a book and hand it to me saying, "Mommy? You're gonna love this book...do you have time to read it right now?" I love this about him. I love that he wants to talk about the books he's read.
Recently he handed me The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. I bought the book for him a little while ago but he had a huge stack of 39 Clues and the Percy Jackson series to keep him busy so it took him a while to get to it. He read it in less than a week.

Last week I subbed for the Librarian at the kids school. As it happened, both the kids' classes came to the library that day which was a very nice surprise. August's class came through and were instructed by the teacher that they needed to check a book out for their free reading time. I fielded many questions about what book they should take out. I loved every minute of it. We walked around the library and looked at book after book depending on their interest. It was lovely.
August was one of the last students to grab me for a suggestion. We looked around the library and noticed that he had read most of the current novels so we went to the 'A' section. Avi. Have you read any of his books? He's been around for quite a while. After looking at the school selection we narrowed it down to Crispin. I read the summery on the cover and he gave out a short laugh and grabbed it from my hand, "Oh, yeah! That's the one I want to read!!"
He read it that weekend and brought home another Avi book, this time a graphic novel called City of Light, City of Dark. I'm not kidding, he just walked into the living room and handed it to me saying, "This book is in chapters. I know you're reading a book right now but you should really read the first chapter of this book...you'll love it."

He reminds me of another first born son I know...my big brother Scott. I know that one day August's uncle will be passing books on to him. Books that he's eaten in a weekend, just like August.

I Know I'm Not the Only One

My mailbox has been over loaded with catalogs lately...tis the season I suppose. Some of them are immediately recycled but every once in a while I take a quick peek and am surprised at the treasures inside.
Here are some super cute (and crave-worthy items) I've been sneaking peeks at lately:
Night Owl Sateen Bedding from Garnet Hill. What?! These are so cute...Trey would HATE them!

These clay owls also from Garnet Hill, so cute they're all sold out...how did I even get on the mailing list for Garnet Hill?

What about these knit sleeve candles from anthropologie?

Or this amazing cardigan also from anthropologie?
But really, have you looked through the new anthropologie catalog? Holy smokes!

Wouldn't August look so handsome in this sweater?

Um...yum!

And...yum!

And...can you tell that I wish we were going to have the opportunity to eat at our favorite deli this holiday season?

This is our year to stay home for the holidays. We try to get back to Michigan every other year. Staying home is a bitter-sweet thing for us. I do love decorating the house and really getting into the spirit of Christmas...it's so much easier to do it knowing that we'll be in our own home on Christmas morning. We do need to establish our own traditions after all.
I'm really hoping to go to see the PNB put on the Nutcracker. We've always thought it would be a good thing to look forward to on the years that we stay home...we've yet to go, but I'm really hoping that this is our year.
We are really looking forward to having Thanksgiving with the Bazan family this year. D and A really are like family to us here in Seattle...it's so good to have them around...and with their new baby...I just can't get enough of them.

Christmas is creeping up on us and I've started ordering things for the kids. A few years back I found these super soft sheets and bought the kids each a set. They. Love. These. Sheets. And they were on sale! So I'm eagerly awaiting the delivery, a new set for each kid. Hazel currently has the light purple one so I picked a light green for her new set. August has a dark blue set so I just picked another shade of blue for him. They'll be so excited when they open them on Christmas morning.