Cookies and Carols

This past Thursday was Cookies and Carols at Drew's preschool. Each family brings a plate of cookies to share and the kids sing Christmas songs for their parents. Drew did a great job singing with his classmates. We were very proud of him! Especially since last year he did not sing a single word on stage! When we got home I finished decorating cookies to give to Drew and Ava's classmates at their last day of school until January. I think they turned out pretty cute!

Lights!

Tuesday night we took the kids to look at lights. I loved doing this as a child with my family, so it's something we've incorporated into our family traditions. There is a street nearby that goes all out every year. They also collect food for the Sacramento Food Bank. So we got all bundled up with coats, scarves and "glubs," made some hot chocolate, grabbed some canned food and headed out. We parked the car and walked around the little neighborhood. Drew led the way, pointing everything out and we could not keep up with him! The kids loved seeing all the decorations and were ready to jump back in the car with blankets and hot chocolate when we were done. We've got a few free evenings free before Christmas so we may try and find another neighborhood to visit.

This is the inside of someone's garage! The whole thing spins around and a train goes around it.

Party, Party, Party!

That's what we did this weekend.

Friday was the Hearts of Hope Christmas party. We had about 100 people attend and had some very generous donations that provided food for everyone, gifts for all the children, and photos of each family. We also had some crafts for the kids to do. It was a nice evening, but these events are always bittersweet for me. It's incredible to imagine what each family has been through, how many kids in that room have endured multiple open heart surgeries. But it's also wonderfully encouraging to see each family enjoying time together and as my friend Amy pointed out--if you don't know these families you wouldn't be able to guess which child was the heart child.

Drew getting his present from Santa

Ava would not take a picture with Santa, but was happy to get a gift from him!

Drew loving his dino cave from Santa!

On Saturday we visited a Christmas open house that was amazing to see! Jenny's decorations would dazzle you! I wish I had taken some pictures. Every year she decorates the ceilings with lights, hanging ornaments and wreaths. They also have an upside down Christmas tree that hangs from the ceiling. The food was delicious and plentiful. Every time I stood up there was a new addition to the dessert table. And they had an a capella group singing that both kids enjoyed listening to.

Sunday was our church Christmas celebration. During the morning service the kids performed a skit and sang some songs. They looked darling in their little outfits! We also sang some Christmas carols and the kids heard a special message from Pastor Kevin. Later that evening we joined a group for dinner--ours was at Chevy's--then regrouped at church for dessert and visiting with our church family. It was a great weekend of celebrations.

The first video is part of the skit, the second one is a song they sang.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

It's been another busy week around here. Last Friday the kids were back in school for the first time since Thanksgiving break. I spent my free time visiting my friend Gina and her son Casey in the hospital. He was doing great after his Fontan surgery, but since then there have been some setbacks. After school Drew had an assessment with the school district. He did a good job. I don't have anything official yet, but it looks like he will not qualify for any services, which means he is doing great! His fine motor skills are even at the 5-6 age level, which is wonderful considering that was an area of delay last time he was evaluated.

Saturday brought a birthday party for a friend in the bay area-we drove almost 3 hours each way with the kids, but it was great to see them and their new beautiful house they just finished building. Sunday was church, then a family lunch at Mimi's and then decorating the Christmas tree. The kids had been waiting eagerly to decorate the tree since we got it at Costco on Friday.








This week has been back to normal with preschool and gym time and visits to the hospital and delivering meals to friends. And trying to help prepare for the Hearts of Hope Christmas party this Friday. And trying to keep the house clean and be a good mom. It's hard work! But I'm happy to be able to do all these things.

Yesterday we had some friends over for dinner and the kids enjoyed building a gingerbread house with them. I think this has become a yearly tradition. You can compare their creation from this year to last year.



As I'm running around finishing up the Christmas shopping, sending packages to family and getting the Christmas cards ready I'm reminded of how lucky I am to be tending to these sometimes frustrating tasks. My thoughts drift to my friends who are suffering right now. Please keep Casey, Riley and Grace and their families in your thoughts and prayers as you go about your daily lives.

Disneyland

Disneyland was awesome!

Monday we drove down to Anaheim and stayed in a hotel so we could be at the park as soon as it opened on Tuesday morning. The hotel was sweet! We stayed in a kids suite, which means that there are two bedrooms separated by French doors. The kids room had bunk beds, a pullout sofa, it's own TV and a little kid's table and chairs. The parents room had a king bed, TV, bathroom and the usual amenities. The kids loved the bunk beds! I was worried about them falling to their deaths, so we took them for a walk around the hotel, then went to the hotel restaurant where kids eat free!

The next morning we got up at our usual time, showered and got ready and headed across the street for breakfast at IHOP. My parents and brother joined us. After breakfast we took the bus into Disneyland, which was also exciting for the kids. We had such a fabulous day, I don't know if I can fully describe it. Every part of it was amazing! The weather was cool and cloudy, perfect for an amusement park, in my opinion. The kids did fantastic with no major meltdowns, even from Ava who skipped her nap and stayed awake until the fireworks were over. There was hardly any wait for anything--the longest we waited was 25 minutes and that was only for two rides, everything else was ten minutes or less. We did every ride on our list and had time for more. My mom stayed with the kids while the rest of the adults went on a few rides (Space Mountain, Mataterhorn and Indiana Jones). The kids didn't pester us to buy them anything, but we did because we wanted to. They even ate their meals!

I had a few moments of near-tears in realization of the perfect moments I was experiencing. One was with Ava on It's a Small World. The look of awe on her face during the ride was precious. By the end of the ride she was bobbing her head and clapping her hands to the music. Another time I reached down to hold Drew's hand and it was warm. Before surgery his hands were ALWAYS cold. And he never got tired during the 12 hour day. His favorite thing was the monorail. He had a genuine look of joy on his face the whole time we were on it.

We started off the day taking some pictures by the Christmas tree, then moved down our list of kids rides. We meandered back to Toontown, where we had lunch and took pictures with Mickey. Did some more rides, then visited with Santa's reindeer and caught a glimpse of the man himself! We did some more rides with the kids until about 5, then stopped and had dinner. They were both pretty tired so afterward we went to Main Street to secure our spot for the parade. That was great too! I got to hold Drew on my lap during the parade and he kept pointing things out saying "Look Mom!" After the parade we stuck around for the fireworks and it was the most amazing show I have ever seen. It was coordinated to the music. And then I realized, of course Disney makes the best fireworks show, what did I expect? Afterwards it snowed! The whole day was magical.

And Dan and I have already decided, if we go to Disneyland again, it will definitely be the Tuesday after Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Number 3

Saturday morning Dan and I got some shopping in (my mom and I went on Black Friday too), then picked up the kids and headed over to visit my Dad in Simi. We met at Red Robin, which is my favorite kid-friendly restaurant, had a yummy lunch and visited with Grandpa Mark. Afterwards, we hung out at Grandpa's house for a while and enjoyed some delicious treats that he made. My favorite was the key lime cheesecake. YUM! The kids really liked playing on his stairs, despite my protests.

Me and my dad

Sunday morning we did some more shopping, if you can believe it! We are not even shoppers! I think we were just so excited to have willing babysitters, we took every opportunity to go out by ourselves. We even squeezed in a movie during this trip-Four Christmases. It was cute.

Sunday afternoon we joined our good friends Matt & Jamie for their daughter's Baby Dedication at their church. Ashley looked so adorable in her ladybug outfit and did great with their pastor. It was a privilege to be present as her parents dedicated her to the Lord. We stayed for lunch with their family and had a great time visiting.

Matt, Jamie and Baby Ashley

Me, Jamie and Ashley

Thanksgiving Number 3
From there, we drove to Grandma and Grandpa's house for our Italian Thanksgiving. It was pretty much the same crowd as on Thursday, but with our grandparents this time. Grandma made some lasagnas and some chicken and vegetables, plus a pineapple upside down cake and a lemon cake. She also gave the kids their Christmas presents early. Drew got a plush mountain that holds seven plush dinos. He loves it! Ava got a dance mat from Yo-Gabba Gabba. I have never seen this show, the only thing I know about it is that Isaac loves it. I don't know how you do it Kathy! Two days with this toy and I think it might run out of batteries real soon, if you know what I'm saying...

Drew and Ava

Watching a movie with Great grandpa

Ava and her great grandpa

That's it for tonight. Tomorrow I will post about Disneyland!

Thanksgiving One and Two

We are finally back from our vacation in Southern California. I decided to break it up into a couple of posts. So here is the Thanksgiving recap. Or should I say Thanksgiving recaps. We had three feasts.

Thanksgiving Number 1
Thursday was with my family at my mom's house. Dan and I went on a run in the morning, which was a substitute for The Run to Feed the Hungry we did last year. The celebration was on the small side, just our family, my parents, my brother and sister, my aunt and uncle, and their niece. We started off with some appetizers and Drew really enjoyed the black olives. Every time I looked at him he had a plate full of olives! My grandma and grandpa came by to visit, but couldn't stay for dinner. The kids sure had fun with them though.

Speaking of Thanksgiving dinner, it was delicious and was the most relaxing Thanksgiving I've ever had. It was so nice to just hang out and visit and not stress over the food. We did have one Thanksgiving mishap though. The turkey was cooked in a bag and when they were trying to get the gravy ready the bag tore and all the turkey juices spilled all over the kitchen counter and dripped down the cabinets to the floor. It's not really Thanksgiving until something goes wrong in the kitchen! My mom made everyone's favorite dish. She made green beans for me, but I also really loved the sweet potatoes. As usual, our favorite part was when everyone shared what they were thankful for this year.

Drew and his olives

My brother, Thomas, Dan and Grandpa Oddone

Drew and his great Grandpa

My sister, Rachel, Thomas and Drew

Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving Number 2
Friday we drove down to Dan's aunt Jennifer's house in Orange County. His mom was also there and we had our second Thanksgiving Dinner. While the food was cooking the kids enjoyed playing with Aunt Jennifer and her army men. We also took Drew to the park while Ava was napping. He had fun riding a tricycle, building sand castles (and smashing them!), and climbing on the jungle gym.

When we got back we helped out finishing the food preparation and then enjoyed another delicious feast! Unfortunately I developed a serious allergy to Jennifer's two beautiful Golden Retrievers, and we had to cut our evening short. It was a bummer to have to leave early, but I am glad we left when we did. My allergies seemed to have developed into a sinus infection. It was the worst attack I've ever had, and I'm still not all the way better yet.

Aunt Jennifer, Drew and Grandma Kathy at the park

Drew riding his tricycle