The things we do for kids

So just the other day I asked Kaija what she wanted from Santa. (she's seen him twice now, so I'm afraid the 'list' keeps changing). As a side note, it's a good thing she's not old enough to piece things together because she calls the Santa at the mall, the 'one that's a little scary with darker hair' and the one at our church Christmas party is the 'nice Santa'. Her list started out as barbie stuff and a crocodile. (She has this toy crocodile that's kind of squishy feeling and she wanted another one from Santa). So I was a little unprepared when she told me she asked Santa for a Princess crocodile with a green crown (yes, it's still her favorite color) and a skirt. Luckily, I had nothing better to do last night since Teem was out of town, so I quickly worked on this little project that had presented itself. I guess we sometimes go to extreme measures so that our kids will believe in Santa. I actually was quite impressed with my creativity (since I am seriously lacking in that department). I'd start selling them on ebay, but I have an inkling that these 'crocodile princesses' are not in high demand...maybe next year :)

Clark Griswald at the Pink House

FYI: Clark Griswald is Chevy Chase on Christmas Vacation. So if any of you know Teem, you know that when he does something out of his own desire, it is done with 110% effort. This year's Christmas lights have been no exception. He has spent the last two saturdays perfecting his work and adding to it. What made me laugh (not to his face, of course, but in my head) was when he said, "well, I need to go back a get a couple more boxes of lights". This was after he had already gone through at least 20 boxes. And those 'couple of' boxes turned out to be about 8. Now, it may not look as impressive as it sounds, but I do not exaggerate the # of lights. And there are probably about 8 extension cords strewn throughout our yard so that the circuit doesn't trip (or whatever it's called). Give me a break, I'm not an electrician.
A couple weekends ago we did end up going to the 'north pole' to see santa. It turns out it's a boat ride to the north pole and that's it. You don't even get out, but santa is sitting in his little house on the shore and reads off all the kids names. Kaija loved that part. It was an experience we may never have again (for better or worse). I'd post pictures of that, but they didn't turn out so well due to the darkness and movement of the boat.

GOOD MORNING COEUR D'ALENE

This morning Coeur d'Alene was spotlighted on Good Morning America, and I didn't even know it until 4 am this morning, when our house was shaking from the fireworks downtown, since we are not very far from the main street. Other than the terror (thinking we were under attack, or worse...that our kids would wake up :), I thought it was pretty cool to have our town on national TV. Who would've thought?! Here are a few reasons why they picked CDA:

• Home to the world's largest holiday tree at 161 feet, which is more than twice the size of the tree in New York City's Rockefeller Center

• Over 30,000 lights trim the tree

• 1.5 million lights transformed the tiny town into a winter wonderland tour

• A special North Pole village has been set up by the resort that can only be reached by crossing the lake

Viva Las Vegas

Last weekend, Teem and I got to go to Vegas with his office staff and their spouses. Technically, it was for a dental conference, but we also had some good times together. We did a lot of walking (thank goodness, because we also did a lot of eating)...there seems to be a theme to my vacations: Food. I'm just training for Thanksgiving. :) We also did the dinner show at Excalibur and got to see a cirque du soleil show (la reve...AMAZING!) I definitely had Kaija and Luukkas withdrawls, especially since I was gone two weekends in a row, and I don't miss the smoke and the nastiness that can be found there, but is was definitely worth the time with Teem. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

New York Trip

Last weekend, I was able to leave my kids with my mom (thanks Mimi) and spend a few days with three great friends from Michigan (Jana, Lisa and Debbie and a little time with Emily D.) in NY shopping, eating, and all the other NY stuff...did I mention eating. I swear I gained 10 pounds, but most of it was worth it. I haven't been able to upload my pictures, so go to Lisa's blog for pics and more details. Thanks for the memories, girls. I'm off to Vegas with Teem and his office staff for an extended weekend.

Happy Halloween!

This year it seems as though we've had a week long halloween celebration. It started with our church halloween party...as you can see, my date was a 70's rock star (or something like that). We then carved pumpkins on Sunday. Then on Tuesday was Kaija's preschool halloween party. Wednesday we went to our library storytime and they got to do a halloween parade for the staff and recite a pumpkin poem that they learned. That afternoon we went downtown Coeur d'Alene for the trick-or-treating at the shops. Kaija and Luukas had it made...I pushed them around in the stroller and they sat there and looked cute and held their buckets. We went to the mall (they do trick-or-treating and games and such) then got a few housed of the traditional trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. Kaija kept saying, "one more house, okay?" She was totally into it. She also politely corrected anyone who said, "what a cute dinosaur" or "what a cute crocodile." She said, "I'm a green dragon." It was her choice actually, since her favorite color is GREEN these days, she didn't care much what the costume was except the color. I hope you all had a wonderful halloween.

My big bum and refried beans

Actually, the two are unrelated but I have two short funny stories to share and I didn't want to do two separate posts. Plus, I thought it might be an attention grabber. :) So as mentioned in previous posts, Kaija has a cheerleader-type personality ... cheering on Luukas, the bath water, and now me. She was my audience a couple days ago when I was using the toilet and she started by saying, "you can do it mommy, I'm so proud of you." I was touched that she cared :) until she added, "don't worry mommy, you won't fall in. You have a big bum, you'll be okay." If she wasn't so dang cute about how she said it, I might be offended. We've had a lot of talks about how she won't fall in the potty because her bum is big enough to keep her up, so I'm guessing she made a similar conclusion about my bum.
The second story is just a brief example of Luukas' temper and how he manages (or mismanages) it. We went to the store Saturday night to pick out some pumpkins for our Sunday activity and we made the mistake of letting the kids roam free (actually, we had no choice because Teem's huge pumpkin took up most the room). So I made a second mistake of letting Kaija and Luukas pick out a couple apples and carry their own bags around. We were in the canned food isle and Luukas wanted to put some beans in his bag with the apples. Well, needless to say he wasn't too thrilled when I took it out of the bag and told him, "No". So after screaming for a few seconds, he chose to release his anger on the innocent cans of beans on the shelf in front of him (seriously out of control...like when you see an adult do it in the movies). I had to call Teem over to help me. Luckily, no one was injured :) and I don't even think we dented a can. The good part about this temper of his is that he lets it all out and then he's fine. I'm sure there will be more temper tales to come, so stay tuned.