Ho, ho, ho...they grow

These darn kids just won't stop growing up. The holiday season is flying and in a few days, it'll all be over again until Elena is six and Michael is two. We'll never get five and one back again and it's a downright infuriating and impossible fact. Before I launch into the holiday fun, an Elena-ism of late is one I had to remember. In her perfunctory manner, she told us that, "I know a lot of big words." {Oh yeah? Like what, La?} "Shiva Frentzen for Supervisor." Oh that girl and her unending hilarity. And Michael...this morning at the very wee hours, he called for me in his first real sentence...."Mama, Aw you?" (Translation: Mommy, where are you?) My sweet boy - I love this stage and all the new words. His favorite are: No, shoe, hat, up, num-num, paci, Mama, Dada, Lala, Nigh-Night, Bye-bye, Hello, hi, ball, puppy, and many more. He's learning quickly.


Now, for more holiday fun...Michael won't keep an ornament on the tree and Elena wakes every morning in anticipation of finding Caleb, the elf. We had the annual Santa Run in the hood again and our children welcomed Santa with a lot of excitement. This is the first year Elena has been so open to talking to and sitting with Santa and Mrs. Claus. We also went to Santa's Secret Adventure on Sunday and what a magical experience THAT was with Elena's first voluntary Santa-lap (kind of...they have a chair between Santa and the head elf these days) experience. Michael wanted nothing to do with sitting near him, but we kind of figured that. We also had pony and carriage rides, helping the elves wrap gifts, a petting zoo and special hot chocolate and cookies with a story around the fire. The horse ranch they turn into this is a wonderland and was something we'll certainly do again. The magic of the holidays is alive and well in the Grohs house and it's going way too quickly. Merry Christmas to all.

Bucky and the boots

The true meaning of Christmas

There is nothing like watching your children to remind you of the real spirit of the holidays. Elena joined me for the annual Holiday Adopt-A-Family program I organize every year. Almost 200 local families received gifts galore from Sutter employees/friends/family and Elena was right there in the midst of it all, helping hand out candy canes and even load gifts onto trucks when she could. She was a doll and the gift-givers were tickled with the littlest elf. Michael, on the other hand, is fairly oblivous about the holiday, but couldn't be happier with the music to which he busts a move, the ornaments with which he plays 'throw' and with the musical snow globe that he just watches with wide eyes. My mom got it for Elena last year and both kids love the magic it holds. And speaking of magic, we have a new magical member of our family. Caleb, the Elf on the Shelf, travels every evening to tell Santa about the state of behavior in the Grohs house. We can't touch Caleb, or his magic will disappear. We can talk to him though and he will tell Santa about our hopes and dreams when he travels overnight and magically resides in a new place every morning. The thrill of the hunt for Caleb every day has become our new Christmas tradition. My wish for Caleb? That this lasts forever. I hope he can deliver.

For posterity

For posterity sake, I am posting the Christmas card so we'll always remember the fun we had doing it all. And of course, I can't help giggling...The funnies in us come out during the holidays.

Mo' family

Those crazy kids

Christmas is here again, stand up and cheer again.

The house dons its gay apparel and we are all feeling awfully festive. I wonder where the year has gone as we were just at Disneyland a minute ago, drinking in all the Christmas joy. And it's been a year already. Our little girl is so excited about the season and its offerings and Michael is eager to mimic every sound and motion his big sister makes. When we decorate the tree tonight, we fully expect his 'boy-ness' to take over and throw every ornament we own. I wouldn't have it any other way. This season, this family, this life: Thank you, God.

Fantastic Attitude

Our little soccer player received the trophy for "Fantastic Attitude" in her first season of soccer. She greatly improved over the course of the season and learned to 'attack' the ball more. For the most part though, La enjoyed talking with her friends, dancing and really running after the ball, only to stop short of it and enjoy the crowd around it. But all the while, the child had a smile on her face. Especially when Mom and Dad were cheering from the sidelines. Who could want more than a gal out there having fun and keeping the grin on her face? That's my girl.

Gobble, gobble

How thankful we are for our beautiful turkeys. If Michael keeps growing though, we're going to have to stuff and baste the lad.

Beautiful

Here's a sampling of our family Christmas photos because I haven't posted anything in awhile and I'm feeling out of sorts. I don't want to post more until our Christmas cards are out, but we are beyond happy with the results. Our photographer, Courtney McCollum, is a genius. We think our family ain't so bad either.

Roaming gnome and his bride

Our Bucky was the source of many giggles in his Halloween costume and Elena was nothing short of stunning in her bridal garb. The day was full with our family portraits and a rush home to eat and dress for the festivities. I love these days of still picking their costumes (Michael mainly. Elena has her own ideas), as you don't have a 15-year old garden gnome very often. Happy Halloween, beautiful children of mine.

The Patch

We finally made our way to the 'Patch' this year, despite some rain and illness delays. Just missing today's rain, we chose our pumpkins, took a wagon ride (which was infinitely more enjoyable for Mommy than the year two years ago when I took the nauseated ride, pregnant with Michael) and Daddy and Elena braved the corn maze (which Elena reported to be "Not much fun at all"). It's awfully cute watching Elena so intent on choosing the right pumpkin for her and watching Michael enjoy anything and everything about being outside. He didn't dig the actual pumpkin patch much, but the vast area where pumpkins were piled, was a playground for him.

The holidays are officially upon us.

Hiiiii....

"Buck or Bucky" as he's known these days (stemming from Wyatt who couldn't say Michael at first, so called him Buckle) is becoming such a big boy. His new arsenal of words includes clearer versions of "hi, thank you, hot and please." He knows when he is being a stinker and he intentionally makes you laugh. Food remains his constant joy and he'll walk to his highchair when he is hungry and say, "Pease." "Nice-nice" prompts him to give you the sweetest hugs, though he has a lot of stranger anxiety these days and only give them to us. And since I'm not sure I've ever mentioned it, it's important that I say it so I remember how strangely and sweetly Michael loves to fall asleep holding a fistful of my hair.

He is our heaven-sent little Buck.