Ski School

Anthony LOVED ski school. We arrived a bit early the first day to watch him in action. I was pretty impressed with what he accomplished in one short (exhausting) day. He was shuffling around on his little skis and could glide down a short hill under his own power.

At the end of the first day he graduated to level 2. The instructor warned me that level 2 was hard as 4 year olds don't really have the muscle development to snowplow. She was right, we're going to do at least one more round of level 2. That's okay, he's having a great time and we are thrilled to death!

Snow!

Sometimes I think Anthony is leading a very deprived childhood. When we were in Omaha, he saw a small pile of very old, very dirty snow and wanted to touch it; it was the only snow he'd seen in a long time.

We headed up to Tahoe for a weekend skiing. Anthony woke up just as we pulled into the resort (11:30 pm) and was SO EXCITED to see snow out the window.

There wasn't much snow, its been a remarkably dry winter. However, there were a few piles of it and we let Anthony play for awhile before ski school. He refused to wear gloves leaving the condo. One touch of snow, though, and he wanted them on his hands!

Monkey Boy

He made it across the monkey bars all by himself!

Surprise Birthday Party

We had a surprise party after church today to celebrate Pastor Mark's 60th birthday. Anthony was VERY excited to see the pinata, but then a little worried about how it worked. At his parties, the kids can see the pinata, its stationary and then they try and hit it with a bat. Then, they don't make a dent in the thing and the grown-ups finish it off.

It was pretty funny watching Anthony watch Pastor Mark hit the rafters of the fellowship hall rather than the pinata. He was very concerned about the whole thing. He was also a bit reluctant to take his turn at bat until I reassured him that he didn't have to wear a blindfold.


I was actually quite impressed with the behavior of the other kids today. Generally I think that pinatas bring out the worst in kids with the greedy scramble for candy.

Three highpoints:
1. Anthony randomly started near the front of the line with a few of his little friends behind a bunch of ten(?) year olds. The bigger kids saw the little ones and pushed them to the front of the line.
2. Another big kid gave Anthony a piece of his candy. I assume it was with parental prodding, but it was still nice.
3. Anthony was chewing away on his lollipop and holding two pieces of chocolate when I noticed that his girlfriend M. was out of candy. I asked him to share with her and he did so willingly.

I mean it when I say that M. is his girlfriend. They are SO cute together. She looks forward to seeing him as much as he's excited to see her. (The other day they had a rough time getting out the door. M's mom said, "I bet Anthony will be there" and out she skipped.

First Place!

We rode the tandem + trailer in the Los Gatos Street Scramble today. Despite our late start and our team member who wanted to abandon the race for the playground we passed, "Bob, the Babe and the Boy" came in first place!

I'd hoped Anthony would be able to participate a little more than he did. Most of the "clues" were too hard for him. The numbers we had to spot were too high, or finding the last word on the first line of the plaque was just too tricky. And, of course, it was a race and Mama has a brutal competitive streak. (Even when I knew we had no chance due to our late start.) Well, we managed to beat the other team in our field of two. Yep, stomped the Boy Scouts.

I'm actually pleased with how we did. Bob and I worked well together as a team** and my navigating skills improved significantly over past events.

We're bit of a Street Scramble Powerhouse, if I don't say so myself. We won our first race with Janet (Bob and the Babes). I know we placed in our 2nd Millbrae Street Scramble. We're choosing to forget the San Francisco Day and Night (3hr, 6 hr and 12 hr options) where we were so late that we had zero points.

**If you overlook the part where we put the tandem rack on the car.

Special Student

This week was Anthony's turn to be special student at preschool. We made a poster to share with his friends. It included pictures with his friends and family (Mommy, Daddy and his cousins) and pictures of his favorite things to do like riding his bike, playing dress-up and camping.

The Special Student gets all sorts of privileges including doing the calendar, counting students leaving the playground, and of course, ringing the bell.

Fun in the Pool

Ask any child what the best part about staying in a hotel, and they will respond "the pool". Anthony is no exception, he was a veritable fish. Or shark, actually, as demonstrated in the top photo.

He's gotten pretty brave. He had a great time jumping off the side of the pool. He kept making me back up so that I could no longer catch him! Basically he'd just jump in the water and then I would scoop him up.

I'm really looking forward to swim lessons starting next summer!

Pop-up books

A few years ago I became aware of the work of Robert Sabuda. His pop-up books are AMAZING and The Wizard of Oz is no exception. Anthony LOVES the copy Joshua gave him for Christmas. It even came with a pair of green spectacles.

Twins!

Bob's Aunt Kathy gave the boys matching Huskers shirts for Christmas. When she gave them the packages, she told me that they wouldn't actually like the presents. Safe assumption, what kid likes getting clothes? She was so wrong, the presents were a HIT! The boys really liked their matching shirts.

Second Christmas

Anthony was a little confused when we had Christmas AGAIN at Jessica's house. Grandma and Grandpa were FAR too generous. Most of the presents are going to be mailed, but we brought home some of the favorites including a new airplane toy and Bigsby, an interactive story book from Auntie Jessica.

Bouncy Boys

It was a long trip to Omaha. 9 hours in a car for Joshua and almost that long in airplanes and airports for Anthony. Our first full day there a trip to Pump It Up was in order to burn some energy. The boys had a blast and played nicely together the whole time.

Anthony made it nearly to the top of the climbing wall this time!

Reindeer Food

When I was kid, back in the dark ages, the reindeer were lucky to get carrots. Now there is apparently a whole institution surround reindeer food. Anthony brought home a bag of it from preschool. Evidently modern reindeer eat a mixture of oatmeal, marshmallows and colored sprinkles. You are supposed to sprinkle this stuff on the lawn, but we decided they'd prefer to eat off a plate. I added in carrots for good health. (You'll notice that Anthony ate a number of the marshmallows.)

Minor parental screw-up Christmas morning. It was cold and dark Christmas Eve, so neither of us wanted to go out and make the reindeer food go away. Next thing we know I was desperately trying to distract Anthony, who REALLY wanted to go out while Daddy was dumping the food. It was pretty cold, the water was frozen over!

Ho Ho Ho!

Merry Christmas!

We had a very nice Christmas. Anthony got all sorts of great toys and books. Santa was VERY good to him. He managed to eat ALL of his Christmas candy before breakfast, which he didn't eat. Surprise!

Daddy's big present was a scooter, so he could keep up with Anthony on his bike. Of course, he still can't keep up!

This year's Christmas Cookies

The gingerbread men are nearly gone, so I decided to make Spritz Cookies to help along our cookie platter. The recipe is from my new favorite recipe source--the King Arthur Flour blog. Anthony was very helpful mixing the dough and pressing out the cookies.

(He also can't be trusted with the unbaked dough.)

I think they came out looking quite nice!

Gingerbread house

Tonight we decorated our gingerbread house. I bought it a few weeks ago, but we finally had both the time and the temperment to decorate it.

We had a really nice time. I piped on the icing and Anthony and I decided together where the decorations should go. I asked him where Santa should go. His response was, "On the roof next to the chimney, of course." So, we constructed a chimney and put Santa on top.

Now if I can only get him to stop trying to pick the candy off.

Gilroy Gardens

While Gilroy Gardens is known for its amazing gardens and circus trees, the highlight is the rides.

Our first time on the cars, Bob asked Anthony if he was going to drive. Anthony's response was that he didn't know how to drive a car, and he seemed a bit worried about the proposition. Daddy reassured him that he'd help and they had a grand old time. 2nd time though Anthony wanted to drive all by himself. Bumpiest ride ever! Oh, the ride showcased the 12 days of Christmas, all in lights.

Holiday Lights at Gilroy Gardens

Tonight we went down to Gilroy Gardens for their annual Holiday Lights event. The park, which is always beautiful, was just magical with all the lights. We couldn't stay until the laser show at 8:30, way too late for a boy who goes to sleep at 7:30.

We were thrilled to find the Peanuts gang greet us as we walked in. Anthony really doesn't know who they are. He drives Bob crazy by calling Charlie Brown "Caillou". Still, he was happy to greet the characters and give them hugs. They put on a stage show during dinner and Anthony was enthralled.

Daycare Christmas Party

Tonight was Kathleen's annual Christmas party. She really puts on such a nice party for the kids. They started out with outside playtime while the adults chatted. Then they all came in for some singing while her son-in-law played the guitar. Then who should come but Santa Claus with presents for EVERY kid, including a bunch of alumni. After Santa we then had a nice potluck dinner.

About dinner… The kid darn near drove me crazy. I was in line for food, and every time I turned around Anthony had another handful of cheetos. I'd move the bowl to the very back of the table, but then it was up front again. I'm thinking a big kid helped him, "Here Anthony, let me help you reach the bowl." I can't imagine an adult indulging his habit. Between the cheetos, Christmas cookies and the frosting off a Sprinkles cupcake, he didn't eat much dinner. Oh well.

My contribution was Gingerbread Men, made using my favorite spice cookie dough. They were beautiful and taste fabulous!

Up on the rooftop

Step in time!

Chimney sweep, gutter sweep, what's the difference?

School Christmas Program

Today was the annual Christmas program at Anthony's preschool. He wasn't quite on his game as much as Halloween. I know he knew the songs, we certainly practiced them. He spent a good part of the first few songs being a busy-body, looking around, checking things out… Eventually he got down to some good singing, though.

After the program was over we all went back to his classroom for snacks and then a special visitor came. Thank goodness we were near the front of the line.

Christmas Caroling

Sunday night was our neighborhood's annual Christmas Caroling party. The group started at Miss Sharon's house** and went down our street. Anthony had a GREAT time. He loved singing, but he really just enjoyed going door to door seeing everyone. He turned to me at some point and said, "this is just like trick-or-treating".

Our exit from the fun went brilliantly. I told Anthony at our last house that we had to leave to rush home so that we could answer the door for the carolers. Sure enough, we went home, changed into jammies and then they were at the door. Then it was straight to bed.

**Miss Sharon is the children's librarian. It was quite a trip for Anthony seeing her outside of her natural environment.