Last night Eddie picked Lulu up from Camp Fire.

He said, when he walked in to get her, a boy her age saw him and said to her, "Hey Lulu, is that your grandfather?"

Eddie said it was a soul crushing moment, but that he was conflicted. He was totally bummed to have been thought of to be her grandfather, but at the same time, thought it was very funny!

Meanwhile, I guess Lulu just answered that it was her dad, completely oblivious that her father had been unintentionally affronted.

It was nice that she wasn't paying attention for once.

Don't be jealous, but one of the perks I get with my job is an opportunity to take in a Blazer's game every once in awhile when we don't have clients available to go to particular games. And while that might not be enough to make you jealous, this part most likely will: We have really, really, really great seats. Like, eight rows from the basketball court at the free throw line.  See?

Here are the Sacramento Kings (above) warming up before the game started. Great seats, huh?!

Blazers warming up. Aren't these AMAZING SEATS??!!!

Nice view...of his head. You totally thought I was going to say something about the seats, right? Yeah, they are awesome, huh?!  That guys noggin? No.

Below, the Blazer cheerleaders. I think it must be a requirement to have long hair to be one.

Below is a picture of the Jr. BlazerDancers. We didn't get any pictures of them dancing because, frankly, their dance routines and their outfits, were completely inappropriate in our opinion for their age and for performing in a public venue like that.

Allegedly, you can't be a Jr. BlazerDancer until you are between the ages of 8-11 years old. There must be some TINY eight year olds on that team then, because there was no way some of those girls could be eight years old.  And it's not like we had a problem seeing the court (see good seats photos above).

Eddie refused to watch when they came out (twice during the night) because he felt wrong watching them. Also, when we'd showed up, prior to their coming out, he was all for Lulu coming to a game in the future. Once the Jr. BlazerDancers took to the floor, he completely and adamently changed his mind on that idea. And I totally support him on that decision, too.  It was just...creepy. With a big dose of icky on top.

Cute girls, but I want to see birth certificates proving they are of age to be a Jr. BlazerDancer!

And the Blazers won!!!!

And since they scored over 100 points, a free Taco Bell Chalupa coupon for everyone on departure.

Game and date night, over. Time to head out with the crush of the crowd to get the babysitter paid and home.  It was a good time (other than the Jr. BlazerDancers part...).

...be eating lunch with Bean at daycare today.

When I got out of the car to drop her off at 11:30 am today, the air was filled with the wonderful smell of cooking garlic and onions in olive oil. Approaching the door to the school, I could smell that Italian was on the lunch menu.

I bet they were having spaghetti with homemade sauce!

The couple who run Bean's daycare center, Terry and Trudi, make all the kids meals from scratch. Well, Terry is the actual cook, I think.

Those kids don't know how good they have it!

I really considered trying to find a reason to stay and seeing if I could finagle an extra plate of food out of them.  But I didn't. My homemade "Lunchables" knock off for my lunch today (leftover Honeybaked ham, Tillamook Colby Cheese and Ritz crackers) while being nothing to scoff at, sure seemed like the short end of the stick as I begrudgingly went back to my car to continue my trek on to work.

Bean absconds with dad's present from Santa Claus. Can't blame her, they were warm shearling slippers, perfect for when hanging out watching movies in the chilly basement.

It wouldn't be Christmas without a letter to Lulu from Santa Claus. She even got a thank you note from him for the present she left for him with his cookies before bed.

Hello Kitty art books

Someone got a large "Dora Dora Dora"

And Boots and Swiper...

Ninja Squirrels, getting ready to take out a Girl Scout with cookies...Must have been modeled after the Ninja Squirrels in our neighborhood.

I got beautiful Moonstone chandelier earrings that I had been coveting! Moonstone is one of my birthstones and I've been building a very tidy collection of Moonstone baubles since picking up some starter pieces on our honeymoon in Rome.

It wouldn't be Christmas if Eddie didn't get something Hello Kitty from Anti Auntie Hobbs. His work lunches just got better!

Lulu got a Mario and Luigi race car track for Christmas. Here she is putting it together with dad.

Track completed and the cars are zooming around the track, much to the threesomes enjoyment...

It's hard to tell, whose enjoying this present more...

Jojo?

Lulu?  

Nope, definitely dad! This is what happens when children are denied certain gifts as children themselves. They grow up to have children of their own and claim certain presents are for their kids. If that's the case, someone may be getting a Baby Alive next Christmas. Man, I was soooo cheated!!!

Christmas dinner at Grandma Louise's house included English popper crackers with paper crowns.

Everyone looks like English royalty...

Bean got her own holiday bauble in her cracker, a very impressive fancy plastic watch. The Chinese really outdid themselves on this one...

Another beautiful confectionary masterpiece from Grandma. Check out that gorgeous pie crust on the pear and cranberry pie!

Bean gets to work opening presents. Doesn't matter whose name is on the package, she's there to help!

Lulu checking to make sure nothing got missed getting opened under the tree.

When I came across this advertisement in a magazine recently, I could totally relate.

However, I think this is a better version of the same ad, below...

Lulu is working that thuggy, I'm-going-to-threaten-you-behind-the-school-on-the-playground-for-your-lunch money look on her face. What a sneer!  Her skin looks gorgeous in the picture and her clothes and her hair look good, for once. As Miss Patty said at daycare when I showed it to her, "That's our Lulu! If her smile is great, then the hair is usually wonky, but if the hair is good, the smile is usually not the best."

More truer words have not been spoken.

We thought of getting a photo re-do, but then agreed, this was a completely "Classic Lulu" for the memory books moment.

We better get busy making some brownies...

Lulu went under the scissors yesterday. We had no choice. She was really looking like a raggamuffin when it came to her hair.

And then, she has recently these past few months, started chewing it. Chewing it all the time...

So that she had crispy dreadlocks. Ewwww, so, so, so disgusting.

So after begging, pleading and threatening her to stop chewing it or we'd cut it off, I finally went through on the consequences yesterday after Camp Fire.

I asked for a stacked bob haircut for her, no bangs, and short enough that she couldn't get any of it into her mouth.

It turned out SO CUTE!!!!

Her hair is like spun gold threads in the sunshine!  As as Eddie said when he saw it when we got home, "It's like a fresh start!"

Now, if we could just figure out how to get her to stop bitting her nails all the way down to the quick.

My favorite paper supply store for all my crafty and creative paper needs here in town, is closing.  Closing for good, as in, no more. Done. Bye-bye.

I'm absolutely crushed!!!!!

This is reason enough to hit the bottle early. I'm serious.

Paper Zone sent out an email on Thursday that everything in the store had to go and was 30% off. Bean and I popped by after work that night and I grabbed a few things while she chatted folks up from the cart.

But I was completely overwhelmed at what I should focus on to buy with them going out of business. So I realized in the middle of the night, that my favorite long envelopes that they produced and sold, would be a worthwhile investment. And maybe some paper punches and rubber stamps?

I wish I could buy out the store...So many great things!

The next morning, after a breakfast date with Eddie once the girls were off to daycare, we went back.  Eddie enjoyed walking around looking at everything they offered. He completely understood why this store was so dear to my heart and while I'll miss it when it's gone. All the paper supplies and tools, plus samples and ideas created by store employees to spur creativity (and more important, sell product) is in a category of it's own. JoAnn's and Michael's, while they sell some of the same merchandise, are completely different stores than Paper Zone.

In the end, I bought a bunch of envelopes in different sizes and colors, rubber stamps, and decorative vintage looking stickers to round out what I currently have.

Yesterday was Bean's 2 year wellness check-up. We were two months and 20 days late on getting it done.

Here is her chart for her head size in her age range. She's literally off the charts!!!

Of course, her having a gigantic but gorgeous head (including that fabulous curly hair!) explains why she is so friggin smart. And also explains why it took so long for me to give birth to her, when the nurses boasted claimed that I'd have her out within the hour.

Not even close...

Confession: When we have this for dinner, I totally, and completely, can't stop eating the leftover crispy kale in the pan. Especially the carmelized and crispy bits of onion and potato with it...

You can find the recipe here. We love this dish, it's completely simple and easy to make and oh-so-good for you!

Mmmmmmm, crispy kale...Best thing in the WORLD since sliced bread and control-topped pantyhose.

For reals.

Someone is just TOO CUTE FOR WORDS!!!!!

(I can't stand it...I love, love, love this BEAN!!!)

Today was the annual mother-daughter Christmas tea that we have been going to with my mom since we moved back to Portland. It's been going on for years, hosted by the mother and daughters (the latter are my age) of neighbors that I grew up and went to elementary and middle school with. Karlyn, is actually a teacher now at the same grade school we attended years ago, and teaches 2nd grade, in our former 2nd grade classroom. What a crazy coincidence!

Lulu loves to go to this holiday tea because they have a very neat, big doll house in the guest bedroom upstairs. This year, Bean was old enough to discover the joys of the doll house. She was enamored as you can see below.

Silly Bean!

Carson (in front of Lulu) is Karlyn's son and was dressed up as a dapper newsboy, complete with page boy cap. Somewhere, though, the hat got tossed aside as did his vest and Lulu decided it was the perfect accessory to wear with her dress.

The scare of the morning came at the top of this landing (below) in the same playroom/guest room. Bean was standing at the top, looking through the balausters and pushed her right knee through the straight space below the cut out design.

I didn't realize that, it actually got caught! I kept asking her to come down and to let me pick her up to bring her down to the floor but she didn't move away from where she was standing. It was odd, because she is usually so good about coming over to me when I ask her to.

Finally, she started saying over and over, "Stuck! Stuck!!!" and I realized what had happened. Because of how full her dress was, between that and her fabulously chubby legs, it wasn't going anywhere. I pushed and pulled with no luck. At that point, she began to panic (and I assume, it probably started to hurt) and she started crying while saying, "Stuck...stuck!!" to me. I asked the kids to call Karlyn's mom and they immediately realized the seriousness of the matter and got her right away. Somehow, we pulled her leg out. Bean was relieved (as was I) and collapsed in my arms and lay her head on my shoulder.

And by then, I decided, it was probably best that we leave. Which we did.

Too bad I had to go to work afterwards. I could totally have used a nap after all the mornings excitement...