Our Budding Chopin

Elise had her first piano recital in December. She did so great! She has been playing for about a year now and is really turning into a great little piano player. She even got a keyboard from Santa so she could begin writing her own songs on the computer.

Bring it!

Well, it has arrived with a vengeance....DeCeMbeR, that is! I always dread the hoopla that comes with December and the emotional crash that follows in January. However, last year I decided to embrace December a bit more and try to enjoy all it brings. Although the holidays are very stressful (and I still do my fair share of complaining), I am trying to embrace the season and enjoy it to the fullest. We have some fun things on our calendar for the month and I plan to relax (a little) and enjoy them (a lot)!!

I'm trying to look at the holiday season through my childrens' eyes (while keeping the true meaning in my head and heart at the same time). And so, with that said....it's beginning to look a lot like ChRiStMaS!!

Plus, when you have kids who look this cute in Santa hats, how can you not enjoy it??

UGH!!

So, I absolutely love my Ugg boots!! But, as I was putting them on for the first time this season, I was painfully aware of how appropriately named they are....

UGG! (Or Ugh, rather, is a great way to describe how I feel about transitioning into Winter!)

Good Weird

This post is random, but so are some of the conversations I have had with Elise lately, so I thought I would post them (mainly so I can remember them):

The other day, while being down with swine flu, I was having an especially severe coughing spell. The conversation that followed went like this:

Elise: Mom, please don't do that. It hurts my ears to hear you cough like that.

Me: I know. It hurts me too. I feel like my heart is going to explode.

Elise: Then you would die.

Me: Would you miss me if I died?

Elise: Yeah - dad doesn't do my hair right.

That very same day, I accidentally "lost" one of Elise's fish down the sink drain while cleaning the bowl. (I know, I had no business trying to clean out the fish bowl while sick with swine flu). Anyway - when Elise got home, I broke the news. She was upset for a minute and then she started asking questions:

Elise: Do you think the fish is still alive swimming in the sink?

Me: I don't know. He is probably swimming around in the sewer somewhere.

Elise: What is the sewer?

Me: It's where all the dirty water goes, like the toilet water and stuff like that.

Elise: So, he's swimming around with the poop? (Giggle) He probably thinks the poop is a piece of chocolate cake.

Needless to say, she wasn't terribly broken up over the beloved fish passing through to the other side.

These are just a couple of MANY funny things Elise says. From the time she could talk (actually, even before that), she has always had that way about her. She has a very quick wit (like her father), and she is slightly weird (like her mother AND her father). One day I was telling her that she was weird, and she said, "but if I wasn't weird, I wouldn't be Elise!" And to that, I had no argument. So, instead I just said, "you are weird, but it's a good weird." Gosh, I love that kid!!

Halloween 2009

Here are a few pics from this Halloween. We had a Snow Princess (Elise), a Clonetrooper(Ian) and a Prize Fighter (Connor) this year. We managed to get over stomach flu just in time to go trick or treating, and the kids had a great time. The weather was FABULOUS - I vote for the same weather every Halloween, please. We have candy coming out of our ears, but mom will take care of that! (I'm not saying how, by the way...)

Rockbandapalooza '09 - Oh, Heck Yeah!!!

So, given our love for Rockband and socializing (especially Chris on the socializing part...insert sarcasm here), we decided to throw a Halloween party Rock Band style - a.k.a. RoCkbAndApaLooZa '09 (cleverly named by Chris). We had a great time rocking out with fabulous neighbors and friends all decked out in their rockin' 80s wear (as shown in the pictures). We had so much fun that this COULD be the start of a - dare I say - tradition... Actually, I guess I better check with Chris before making that prediction. I don't know how much socializing he can handle in one year!!!

(Oh, and yes, that IS Chris in the red skinny jeans...)