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Lennon of the Jungle

And people wonder why I haven't posted recent pictures.

My question is...do you think Lennon needs a haircut, or is this wild look working for him? I go back and forth.

[Bear in mind that right before these pictures were taken he ate dinner and put most of it in his hair. It's usually not THIS wild.]

Park Moms

There are two kinds of moms at the park.

1. There's the mom who brings their child to the park with a sippy cup of water and MAYBE a snack. On a good day.

2. Then there's Super Park Mom who shows up with two huge environmentally-friendly Trader Joe bags full of goodies....vegetable trays, sidewalk chalk, sand toys, balls of every shape and size, organic crackers, juice, extra shoes, etc...they're also dragging cool tricycles, cars, and other transportation devices for kids.

I hate those moms.

Those moms make moms like me miserable at the park. I show up with Lennon, thinking he should be happy to be outside...and I spend an hour chasing him while he tries to steal chalk, eat from a vegetable tray, ride tricycles that aren't his, dig up sand and wear other kids' shoes.

Here's the worst part -- when those moms don't want to share. Listen, I didn't come to the park to steal your stuff or eat your food. But can he please, please, PLEASE just ride this stupid pink tricycle for five minutes? And maybe use this bucket in the sand? I swear I'll buy one soon. A lot of Super Park Moms seem to think that Crappy Park Moms should've thought of that before they came to play. They look at me like, "Where's YOUR vegetable tray?"

I have to screen parks now before we commit...are there other toys? Did they bring balls? Is there food? If so, we move on.

Time-out

We started time-out with Lennon recently. It goes like this. Every time.

Lennon turns off the DVD player for the millionth time of the day.

Us: Okay Lennon...time-out.

Lennon: Ta ta (this is how he says time-out).

Us (sitting him in his time-out chair in the corner of the kitchen): Lennon, did you turn off the DVD player again?

Lennon: Yeah.

Us: Did we say NO TOUCHING THE DVD PLAYER?

Lennon: Yeah.

Us: So we DON'T touch the DVD player, right?

Lennon: Yeah.

Us: Are you going to do it again?

Lennon: Yeah.

Us: --

Lennon: Mama...chair! Chair! Da Da? Da Da? Chair!

Does anyone still care?

We figured out a way to find our pictures. Two months later. But does anyone REALLY want to see Thanksgiving pictures anymore? If not, just go to someone else's blog with recent pictures. I won't be mad.

After the holiday some of us ventured to the strip to take the kids to a pirate show. Turns out, the "pirate show" was called "Sirens of T.I."...which seemed a little off to me. And then there was the ship...

We should've known at this point what we were about to experience...

While provocative, the show was very informative. For example, did you know that pirates wore thongs? And used ropes as poles during dance numbers? I had no idea. Who needs school when you've got the strip? Listen, I've seen a lot of pirates in my life, but nothing compares to this.

Later in the week, I competed in an art contest with Tod's sisters. Above is Emily's version of a "mermaid" and a "dragon." I labeled them since it's hard to see what she was going for...

And here are some of Amy's drawings...I want to say that is some type of fire-breathing bird in the lower left corner followed by a tank above and then a naked woman? AMY? This wasn't the first time competing with sister-in-laws...to see a REAL chicken fight, go here.

Amy, Grandma Wever, Emily, me and Carol

The girls and their grandma (cane not pictured; Lennon took off with it).

Grandma and attempt #3 for cousin pictures. Notice how Tod pulls Lennon's socks OVER his pants.

Me and our oldest nephew, Evan. He dominates at Phase 10.

Typical Tod story: So dinner was done, we're starving and Tod hadn't eaten all day. So he sets up the table, gets the drinks, sets up the chairs, gets everyone their plates, etc....we all sit down to eat and Lennon has a dirty diaper. Being the good guy he is, he offers to change him. Prayer is said, we all start to eat. Ten minutes later Tod reappears FAMISHED and sits down to eat. He has a huge smile on his face as he lightly salts his food. He grabs the pepper grinder, turns it upside down...and this. It all comes out. And he ate it anyway. Poor Tod.

Kevin and Tod

Emily colored with Lennon all weekend and he fell in LOVE with her.

Happy late Thanksgiving, everyone.

[ P.S. Not everyone is pictured; while we can now find our pictures, we can't rotate them...sort of limited my choices.]

Message from Tommy yesterday:

"Since when did Tod get into UFC fighting?"

He obviously never saw this, either.

Yesterday Tod was singing in the shower

...but his songs are extra special.

"One night in Bangkok makes a cold...man...crumble! I can see a devil looking right at me!"

and even better was

"Blinded by the light! Hold on...to your dreams...and they will set you free!"

And then today I caught him scrubbing a spot of carpet with my clean hand towel for the kitchen.

Me (holding the dirty towel): Tod, do we live in a cave....or in the woods?

Tod (holding the bottle of cleaner): Holly...did you know that this carpet cleaner is the only one used by Cirque du Soleil? It was approved by the Entertainers Guild (he made that up) and the National Circus Committee (made up again)?

Me: Well in that case.

Christmas on the beach

This year was different for our family...Tommy got home from his mission in Guatemala, and we decided to buy ZERO presents and instead spend the holidays on the beach. It was so nice. I didn't miss Christmas shopping ONE BIT.

Our Tommy home finally...
Tommy and me...will you please look at how LONG my hair is? Don't be jealous but maybe you can be just a little.

Kristi and Lennon at the airport. We took turns with him that day because he wanted to jump on the escalator any chance he had.

Tommy and Paul (one of our best friends)

Tommy, Mom and his friend Callie

Mom at Disneyland

We got to visit our family in Indio. Kari, Aunt Lauri and Tommy

Christmas Day lunch at the only place open in Huntington Beach. But it was goooooooood. I ordered a salad then ate everyone's fries.

Family in Indio

Siblings outside our hotel

Me, Lennon and Tod at the ocean. Me standing like I'm 13 months pregnant.

Lennon and my mom took a walk every morning and had photo shoots down by the pool.

He loved the ocean so much he sat in it. I was so worried about him being cold but Tod told me every boy needs "to get a little sand in his pants" whatever that means.

Lennon during a photo shoot by the pool

Lennon in Indio...the kids loved him and pushed him around on this for at least an hour.

Lennon and Grandpa at the hotel

Not sure but maybe my mom was explaining who these men are and that we're staying in their hotel.

Our cousin Pat, Tommy, then Grandma.

The twins and Lennon in line for Pirates of the Carribean. He loved the rides but the two hours lines were rough. After each ride he'd say, "More! More!" and we'd give him more....two hours later.

Christmas Day on Huntington Beach -- it was so stormy and windy. The ocean looked incredible.

P.S. Am I paranoid or is it normal to picture your 18 month old escaping from his stroller, running over to the edge of the pier, crawling through the bars and falling into the ocean? I had already decided I would dive in...pregnant or not. I figured I'd jump in, Tod would follow and between the two of us one could save him. Am I insane?

For now...

We had a great holiday, did you?