no dress

Yesterday we had breakfast with Santa. We went with some friends and the kids had a great time.

They decorated Christmas cookies:

Wrote letters to Santa:

Got their arm/face painted:

And got to talk with Santa:

Obviously, talking with Santa was the highlight of the day. Santa was so cute. Santa loved that Zach also had on a Santa hat. He took Zach's Santa letter and read it, telling Zach those were fun things to ask for. Zach was shy, but you could tell he just loved the experience.

Halle didn't want to sit on Santa's lap, but she did throw her Santa letter at him. It contained scribbles that I'm sure Santa understood. She had asked that he bring her a Rapunzel dress for Christmas.

The kids then got to choose a stuffed animal from Santa's toy bag and a candy cane from his elf. After we left, Halle started to cry. I was a bit perplexed until I deciphered what he was upset about. Halle was crying and saying, "Santa didn't give me a Rapunzel dress!" Apparently, Halle's mother didn't explain real well how Santa works. Halle thought asking Santa for a Rapunzel dress while in his presence would yield a Rapunzel dress immediately. In fact, after seeing the pictures from yesterday, Halle said, "I gave Santa my letter, but he didn't love me." oops... so I explained how Santa works and she okay with it. And unlike the other things she's asked Santa for (i.e. moose, kitty), Santa's got that Rapunzel dress covered... it just won't be delivered until Christmas.

dear santa

The kids wrote letters to Santa today. I know Santa pretty well and I'm pretty sure he isn't bringing one thing the kids asked for. Ugh... maybe we should have done this little activity a few weeks ago. Halle wants a moose and a kitty. Zach wants a train, train table, and a drum. Yeah... pretty sure Santa's not making those things in his workshop for my kids. Hopefully, Zach and Halle will be flexible and happy Christmas morning.

my halle

Halle, Halle, Halle. This girl cracks me up. She is 100% unique. She’s feisty, hugely independent, and is just as sweet as can be.

Halle is a diva. She wants to pick her outfit. She wants to pick her hairdo. She wants to pick her shoes. She even wants accessories – today she went to church with a necklace, two rings, and a purse. She was very upset I made her wear a jacket – it just did not match her vision. Her favorite outfits are dresses that allow her to be a princess – she typically adds a crown and high heels to the ensemble. She twirls often.

Halle cannot keep quiet. She comments on everything she is doing throughout the entire day. Lately, I have had a hard time understanding her. Brandon thinks it is because she has just sped up the speed at which she talks. Halle loves to sing and makes up her own songs in the car: “My favorite colors are pink and purple and yellow and orange and orange and orange and orange…” over and over again until we reach our destination. If she is listening to a song and is singing along, she is always at least a half beat behind. It doesn’t deter her. She continues singing the lyrics a second behind throughout the whole song. She has a high, little voice and a lady at a restaurant once commented that Halle sounded just like a Smurf.

Halle is sweet. Often during dinner, she will lean over, give me a hug, and say, “I love you, Mom”. Ah, melts my heart. She calls Brandon “my daddy” and me “my mommy”.

She is at a great age and I wish I could just bundle her and keep her like this forever.

Grandma Hurst

The other day I was reading my mom's Book of Lectures when I ran across the family history section in the back. It contained, among other things, an interview of my Grandma Hurst. I loved it. It made me laugh. I even cried. It sounded just like Grandma. It made me miss my grandma like crazy. Thought I'd share a part.

Do you play an intrument?
Grandma: Well yes, glad you asked. I recently perfected it. My automatic, instamatic, dramatic bed. Our new bed is so large, Grandpa and I call it our winter playground.

Do you and Grandpa play games?
Grandma: Yes, Hide-n-Seek. At night, Grandpa takes off his glasses, and he can't see well. He takes out his hearing aid, and he can't hear very well. He lost his sense of smell a long time ago, so he can't smell me. He can only find me if he stumbles across me. When Grandpa hides, I just go take a nap and eventually he comes out of hiding.

Does Grandpa like that?
He forgets he's playing a game. He doesn't remember why he's hiding, but he gets even. He puts the dishes away, and he hides my dishes, my pots and pans, and my utensils, and I search for them for weeks before I come across them again.


Miss you, Grandma. Hope you're still laughing in heaven!

pajamas

I wish this picture did it justice...

We have transitioned from summer PJs to winter PJs at our house. My kids have resisted. However, it gets cold at night and they are horrible at keeping blankets on, so I pulled out my Mom Card and put the kabosh on summer PJs. The above picture shows Halle's coping mechanism. She'll put on the warm PJs as long as her summer PJs are on top. In the picture, she paired a Minnie PJ shirt with lime green pants. Every night is a new ensemble. I think tonight was footed pajamas, a princess nightgown, and shorts.

Well, at least I know she's warm...

5!

For the past couple weeks, I have been trying to convince Zach to stay 4. Honestly, it made me a little teary-eyed to think of Zach growing up. It didn't work. Zach was as excited as ever to turn 5. In fact, now that his birthday has passed, Zach is already counting down until he is 6.

One of my most favorite things about Zach is that he laughs hard and loud when watching movies. Watching Despicable Me with him is hilarious. I dare you to watch it with him and keep a straight face. His happiness is infectious.

Zach's actual birthday consisted of waffles for breakfast, peanut butter sandwiches for lunch, and macaroni & cheese for dinner - a totally gourmet spread. He brought cupcakes to preschool and we had our annual Movie on the Lawn.

On Saturday, Zach had his party!! It was such a big day, I even weeded my yard. The party was robot-themed.

Each kid got a robot mask.

And of course, no robot party is complete without a Robot Freeze Dance. Brandon was in charge of the music in which Mr. Roboto played a heavy role. I was pretty impressed with the robot moves.

We had a little robot laser shooting in which the kids shot a robot with marshmallows. The kids loved this! Halle enjoyed picking the used marshmallows off the ground and eating them.

The robot pinata we named Wall-E (I know, we're not very creative with names).

Patiently waiting for candy from Wall-E.

Zach opening presents.

The robot group!!

Blowing out the candles on his birthday cake - to another wonderful year! Don't you love how Zach's two buddies are helping with the blowing!?!

Oh man, how I love this kid!

some important milestones

We've hit some important milestones over the past couple weeks here at the Tucker house.

1. Halle is potty-trained. Hallelujah! The key for Halle was character underwear (of course, Minnie Mouse and Disney princesses), treats, and a big brother who cheered her on. Halle is a pro and will do her business all by herself without telling Mommy - good for being independent, bad on the thorough hand-washing. She HATES using public restrooms, however. Today, we were at Zach's soccer game and Halle needed to use the bathroom. After many protests of "it's too yucky" and many tears, I finally told Halle she could have anything she wanted if she'd just go. "You want ice cream?" I asked. Halle immediately stopped crying, nodded, and went potty. That little stinker - she's got this treat thing figured out.

Something somewhat related: When Halle's underwear is inside out, she will say they are "upside backwards". Cracks me up everytime.

2. Zach is riding his bike without training wheels. I'll admit it, I pushed him to do this. He could have cared less. I just knew he had the skills and lacked a bit of courage. Once we moved him to his smaller, more manageable bike, he got the hang of it quick. He's a fast rider - I was panting trying to keep up with him. What a big kid!

The video is long because frankly, I didn't know how to edit it.

Pictionary

Zach is really into games lately. His favorites are Battleship and Sorry. Brandon asked me once if I ever let Zach win. To which I replied, "Heck no." Zach's a worthy opponent.

Today we played Pictionary. He was cracking me up with his drawings. He refused to give any context to the picture. He'd draw exactly what was on the card and nothing more.

See how you would fare in guessing what Zach's pictures represent:

:

Last night I met another one of the neighbors. After telling him we'd lived here for a month, he asked why we hadn't been out of the house. I emphatically explained that we had - mowing the lawn, pruning the trees, weeding the flower beds, fixing the sprinklers, etc. He then told me he'd seen us, but he thought we were the hired help.

We've been busily working on the house. It has been years since every extra moment we had got consumed with house fix-up, but that is again where we are. We are slowing chipping away at the to-do list. I have a bit of house ADHD. I'll start one project and while doing it, I'll notice five other things that need my attention right away. My attention gets diverted and soon I'm cleaning the cold air returns instead of sealing the grout like I'd originally planned - drives Brandon nuts. But I can't help it - there's so much to do.

After talking with another neighbor, I found out the old owners had just recently painted the inside of the house. Brandon had called it. While repainting those rooms, Brandon made the comment that the old paint looked "brand new". I felt slightly guilty. but then didn't. The new color makes it feel like home.

Here's the two rooms before - living room is green, dining room is red. Thanks to Ben, Chelle, and my cute new neices for posing for the picture...

Here's the living room after new paint. It's a better green now - more "split pea" rather than "Christmas tree". Much more me. The dining room turned a bluish gray (not in the picture). Thanks to Halle for posing in a diaper with a myriad of necklackes and the stuffed cats.

seriously...

Seriously... my parents are the best. They will do anything for their grandkids, including...

Jumping on the trampoline

And playing Crack the Egg

I absolutely love it!

Change

We've spent the last six weeks at my parents. What a blessing. What a blessing to have a place to stay while we were homeless, but also a blessing to watch my kids and my parents interact. Halle, Zach, and Grandma weeded, finding bugs to examine and plants to discard. Grandma also made cookies with the kids, laughing when Halle's fingerprints ended up in all of them. Grandpa would tickle, chase, throw, bounce, juggle the kids after which I would always hear, "More, Grandpa!" Grandpa would always surrender before the kids had had enough of the playing. What a blessing.

Just last week we moved into our new home.

You know how some people are good with change. Well… that’s not me. I struggle with change. I have since I was young. During Junior High I hated starting the soccer season because I’d have to get to know the people on my team. I hated not already being in-the-know about how to do things, who I was going to hang out with, and how I’d fit into the team dynamic.

Well, it is the figurative beginning of the soccer season for me. Change is at my doorstep and I. Am. Scared.

There have been some hard changes (missing friends, neighborhood, ward), but there have been some positive ones too:

• Halle has moved into a big girl bed and it's been the easiest transition. Zach had some issues, staying in bed (see here for a reminder), but Halle's been easy peasy. Wait... she just woke up early from her nap. I knew I was cursing myself with that "easy peasy" comment...



• We finally got a trampoline. The kids want to use it all the time. They always ask to jump right after they wake up - 7AMish. Unfortunately, I have to refuse at the early hour since I am not yet comfortable with the neighbors seeing me in my pink bulldog pajamas.



• We got Lagoon season passes. We went for the first time last week with friends and the kids loved it. I laughed and laughed while I watched Halle drive the bumper cars. She didn't quite understand the whole steering concept. She ended up driving in circles in one corner of the arena, but she was proud as a peacock because she was doing it herself.



• My kitchen is big enough to house all my kitchen stuff. I have drawers filled with random stuff. Brandon asked why I had a drawer with six straws in it. I exclaimed, "Because I can!" I never knew having a "straw drawer" would be so liberating.

Hopefully, more good changes will be coming soon!

visit from darth vader

Zach found a present on our doorstep the other day - a Darth Vader lightsaber. It was accompanied by a note:

Zach was beyond thrilled and he should be. It's not every day Darth Vader gives you his lightsaber. Zach practiced his lightsaber moves all day - swishing it around, hitting all the furniture, poking Halle. It makes different noises when it hits something, so Zach made it a habit to whack whatever he could. He even insisted I call him Darth Vader.

Since Brandon was gone on a work trip, Zach wrote him a note about his new lightsaber and taped it on the door so Brandon would see it right when he got home. It said this: I GOT A NOOW LITSAVR FRUM DRTHVADR AND ITS RED IT MACS SOUNDS AND IT FODZDUON (Interpretation: I got a new lightsaber from Darth Vader and it's red. It makes sounds and it folds down.)

Thanks, Uncle Jeff, for making Zach's day!

birthday girl

Halle's funny face. When she's asked to smile, she just squints and grimaces. But at least when I ask for a funny face, I get exactly what I ask for. I'm afraid when we get her 2-year-old pictures taken, they're all going to look like this.

Have I ever mentioned my daughter LOVES Minnie Mouse? Well, she does... a lot. Because of this, Minnie Mouse had to be the center of Halle's 2nd birthday party.

Minnie Mouse party hats

Halle's birthday cake - incorporating everything Halle adores - Minnie Mouse and PINK! I almost cried when Halle actually recognized what the cake was supposed to be.

Birthday friends (minus Beckham)! Halle's so lucky to have so many fun friends close by. Halle loves having friends over. We are going to miss them!

Opening presents. It went super fast because there were lots of helpers.

Coloring Minnie Mouse gloves with friend, Ivy

Zach and Halle show off their Minnie/Mickey gloves. Zach was very concerned Mickey didn't have thumbs.

Happy birthday (in a couple days), my sweet girl!

disneyland

The Happiest Place on Earth? I may have to agree. Disneyland has having fun down to a science and my kids had a hay day. Having Brooke and Drew there with them was icing on the cake.

Since part of the NCAA tournament was in Anaheim, we decided to hit two birds with one stone. Brandon and Kram got to see a basketball game while Lori and I herded cats... er... kids around Anaheim. We walked around Downtown Disney and while it was neat, the kids were confused. Where were all the rides? We had to improvise. We hopped on a "train". When they announced it would take us to the parking structure, Lori and I cracked up. We rode it anyway and had a great time. The kids were less than impressed.

I had heard Rainforest Cafe was a great place to take kids, so we did that for lunch. Unfortunately, the kids did not like it. When a "storm" came every 30 minutes (complete with darkness, thunder, and lightning bursts), the kids would cry. So every 30 minutes thereafter, they covered their ears, hid under the table, and sang ABCs. So funny. We paid for the experience, but they would have been happier at McDonald's where is never got dark and scary.

As for the actual Disneyland - we did that too. The kids were in heaven. Zach's favorite ride was the Gadget Go Coaster and least favorite ride was Space Mountain. I tried to yell happily during the ride, but I was quite frightened myself. I was proud that he would even try it. Below is a picture of Pirate Zach on the Buzz ride.

Zach and Brooke would entertain themselves in the ride lines by playing I Spy. Drew would do "magic" while we toured the park and Halle just wanted to walk like the big kids.

Halle's favorite ride was the Astro Orbitor. She loved the spinning and she loved going high. She hated the Alice in Wonderland ride. At one point during the ride, she grabbed my hand and placed it over her face, then held on with an ironman grip. She also adored seeing Minnie Mouse, who is her favorite Disney character.

A highlight for Zach was going to a Jedi Training show. They chose people out of the audience and taught them how to be Jedis. Zach was super disappointed when he wasn't chosen, but his tears dried as soon as Darth Maul came out. He loved the entire show.

This picture sums it all up. Disneyland is fun. Disneyland is exciting. But Disneyland is also exhausting.