Cousins!

January is almost over so I REALLY need to tell some more tales about our Christmas holidays. We had a very special visit from my lil sis and cousin Allie. The kids were extremely excited to have their cousin all to themselves for a full week. The 3 musketeers had so much fun together and Allie kept us hopping....it was go, go, go all week long.

Sometimes photos tell the story better than my verbiage so here goes:

Mmmmmm these kids are especially delicious!

"Allie, its okay. Its a pretend shark!"

Teia moved out of her crib (post to come) so there was a new trampoline to enjoy over the holidays. And jumping is so much more fun when you match :-)

Sassy Malassy!

Pick out the Canadian! 

What better thing to do when you're on seal beach than make a train?

 And then fall down amongst all the stinky seal poop, yep that is a good and funny idea!

Our "bedtime bus" had to be replaced with the extended model, to fit our extra passenger. Well worth it though for the laughs and giggles every night before bed. 

Kai moved to the 3rd row to keep our guest company. Took us a few weeks to get him back into his original seat! Looks like they're on a date with baby doll as the chaperone. 

Spa treatment at the zoo? Sorta, foot vibrators for tired tootsies...the quarters disappeared quickly from my wallet once these bad boys were discovered. In fact, they only stopped jiggling themselves on these once I was broke!

These kids could groove and dance anywhere!

We showed Allie some of our fav fun places. 

The kids got their brave on to show Allie around. Usually they won't go on this bouncy floor but they charged it with Allie. 

Pirate girls!

Or fire femmes!

Okay so this one is completely blurry but I just had to include it b/c it is just too cute. What a week these kids had together. Next time Daxie will be here too and then they will really be a fearsome foursome!

It was pretty special watching them spending time together and bonding as cousins. They will be in each others' lives their whole lives so watching them cementing that relationship that they'll always have was amazing. It took me back to my childhood spending time with my cousins who are still important people in my life today; that perfect blend of friend and family. I wish we were closer and we could do it again much sooner but I don't think any of these kids will be forgetting their week together anytime soon. Just yesterday Kai saw Allie's name on a computer game and said to us "A-L-L-I-E spells Allie!"

Christmas Belated

I really need to get a blog up about Christmas. I don't want the kids reading this in years to come and wondering whatever happened to Christmas 2012. This year our Christmas was very much about family. We were so lucky that so many of our dear family made the trek to San Diego to spend Christmas in the slightly warmer than Canada weather.

We had so much fun and did so many things that it really can't be captured in one blog post (without making that blog post way too long and therefore unreadable). Grandma Barbie and Poppa Mike arrived on Christmas Eve, as if it isn't already exciting enough for the kids! They were so jazzed up. We met them at the airport and then promptly nearly lost them due to Poppa Mike's malfunctioning GPS. But we all made it back to the house in time to celebrate Christmas Eve San Diego style - on the beach, catching the sunset (even if it wasn't all that warm).

Then we returned home for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of Mulligatawny soup and Chocolate Fondue. Teia, our techno-kid, was busy tracking Santa's progress around the world on the NORAD site. Love that pilots in Baggotville, PQ are actually featured on there, yay Canada!

Then the stockings were hung, cookies, egg nog and carrots laid out and kidlets put to bed. I wonder if this is the last year that we'll get kids who sleep through the night. If they have inherited my Christmas Eve genes then we're in for it. I didn't sleep through the night until I was 21. I wonder if I am beginning my second childhood of Christmas tossing and turning. The kids are old enough now that they actually have things that they are wishing for and hoping Santa will leave for them; Teia: a pink bike with black tires and a tiny, weeny, little, tiny pink cat. Kai: a new music lion and a slinky bus with an airplane. Being in the know with Santa as us parental types are, it is hard not to get excited anticipating their reactions on Christmas morning when they open things expected and hoped for and other unanticipated but equally wonderful surprises.   

Present opening took all day, as usual. I like it that the kids aren't the "rip and tear" types, at least not yet. They like to savor each gift and play with it before moving onto the next. The kids continue to develop their own unique personalities, whether it be for tree decorating or gift opening. Kai opened his music lion and slinky bus and was pretty much good for the day. He enjoyed his other gifts but took his  time getting round to them b/c he was so smitten with the first two he opened. 

Teia, on the other hand, just loved this whole Christmas-business so much she didn't want it to ever end. For days afterward, she would wrap her arms around my neck sweetly, bring her little cherub face close to mine, gaze into my eyes and whisper seriously "Mommy, can I have another present?" Now that she realizes it really is all over, she "wraps" "presents" all the time and insists that some sort of gift giving game happens pretty much everyday. 

Teia's pink bike with black tires came equipped with a Meow seat. Good thinking Santa! The very easily misplaced teeny, weeny, little, tiny pink cat - not such good thinking. The bike got tested out right away, one of the perks of living in San Diego.

Uncle Meeko and Auntie Aynsley arrived on Christmas Day which was a wonderful present for all of us. 

They were just in time for a run on the beach with Kai and Christmas Dinner.

So many more pictures and stories to share. Another day, another blogstory. But I will share that I discovered the salve for post-Christmas blues (you know, when you have to pack all the decorations away and throw the tree out): Leave it all up WAY too long. 

A Tale of Two Music Lions

On Christmas Eve a very special visitor arrived, Music Lion's English cousin, via the North Pole.

For those not familiar, Music Lion is a very special friend of Kai's. They hang out together all the time and are often up to no good. Kai is very knowledgeable about music lion. It has a gender: female (which makes perfect sense b/c when Kai looked between Music Lion's legs to see, well....she was a girl). But Music Lions do pee through their tails, in case you were wondering. Just ask Kai, he'll show you. They're pretty close. If anything is bothering Kai, it is usually bothering Music Lion too.

When we asked Kai what he wanted to ask Santa to bring him for Christmas his answer was "a new Music Lion." Anything else? "Nope, just a new Music Lion." You see Kai's Music Lion is also known as "Non Music Lion" b/c she hasn't played music for a very long time.

Grandma Barbie heard about this request and saw to it that Santa got a little help. You see Music Lions only exist now in the wilds of the UK, where they are not yet discontinued. So New Music Lion had a visit to Auntie Rosemarie's house in the UK, then onto Canada before arriving in San Diego, fresh off Santa's sleigh.

We all waited with baited breath for Kai's reaction, would he accept the nervous newcomer?

Yup, with open arms :-)

New Music Lion, we've been told, is a boy, unlike his predecessor. But he also pees through his tail, because that is what Music Lions do. Kai has also been commenting on his very bright orange coloring and his thickly stuffed arms, qualities no longer apparent in Old Music Lion (as he is now known), or Music Lion One. Kai has really gotten a kick out of having Two Music Lions. He spent a fair bit of Christmas day looking at his buddies and saying to himself in a little bit of disbelief "Two Music Lions..."

When Teia saw New Music Lion she asked quizzically "What is on his head?" You see, Teia is too young to remember the days when Old Music Lion still wore a crown. 

Kai and Teia went to town on the key to the music box that sticks out of ML's bum, pretty quickly insuring that New Music Lion didn't play music anymore either. But no one seems to mind. I guess its not about the music after all. 

Sibling Love

At Kindergarten Kai decorates a folder each month to keep his worksheets in. At the end of the month he gets to bring it home. During the fall his folders were decorated with trolleys. He decided to start the New Year off with a different theme: Teia

And its not a Teia lolly pop; she is going pee. 

Will get some Christmas stories and photos posted soon!

First Santa Encounter

Teia and Kai have never been to visit a mall Santa. I know most families have the quaint pic of the kids on Santa's knee. We have alot of pics. But not that one. Mostly it is my deep seated aversion to malls after the 1st of December. And my deep seated aversion to crowds and standing in lines. Because of my aversions, my kids are missing out. But I don't worry about it too much. I think while they may be missing out on the mall Santa, they're still pretty happy kiddos and at this point, they don't really know what they're missing.

Still when Santa showed up at Greg's work party last week, I was curious to see their reaction. I have heard about screams of terror and refusals to go near the mall Santa from some of my friends' little ones, while others perch happily on his knee recounting their Christmas list.

Teia was ripping it up on the dance floor when Santa arrived, while Kai was taking care of business in the lou (so he missed the jingle bell announced arrival). I wish I had known it was about to happen so I could have whipped out the video cam b/c the emotions that danced across Teia's little face were unforgettable. First surprise turning to shock turning to "don't you dare make me go up there!"

Even the lure of a present couldn't persuade her, although after Mama stood in and rec'd Teia's gift on her behalf, she wouldn't let go of it. Kai to our surprise willingly, albeit guardedly, walked up to Santa. "Would you like to sit on Santa's knee?" the ol' Christmassy fella asked. "No" was Kai's definitive yet calm response. Then he ever so tentatively accepted his present, not really sure about the whole thing.

So here it is, the first pic of a Fennell kidlet with the guy in the red suit. 

Trimmin' the Breakfast Tree

This year was quite possibly our best tree trimmin' yet with the kidlets. They were both so into it. The anticipation was building with the days leading up to our tree-getting-outing. One morning upon waking Kai ominously asked "Is it here yet?" Meaning - "the tree." And Teia, well she is about anything Christmas. After just about anything we do she asks "and now its Christmas?" This pretty much started the day after Hallowe'en.

It seems they both have their own distinctive decorating style too. Kai was contemplative about his placements, beginning at the back of the tree and then settling on the front lower left (I was going to say corner but fir trees don't really have corners now do they). He particularly enjoyed checking out ornaments he made in years past. Teia on the other hand was rather speedy, filling up the front lower right (corner?) quickly and demanding ornaments as fast as we could unpack them.

You can see the bottom of the tree is rather "busy." Greg and I did some rearranging after the pint size decorators were asleep. 

It really was fun. Drinking egg nog and watching the kids decorate. It wasn't even sunny for a change so felt mildly Christmassy. And Kai decided he really enjoyed hanging out under the tree. Don't think I've seen him stay so still for so long, maybe ever!

Although Teia talks all day long and has something to say about pretty much anything, she still has some remaining "baby-isms" when she talks. She says things like "Please I can?" and "Them are going to eat something now." Her pronunciation of Christmas is getting better. A month ago I couldn't always understand her. But sometimes it does still sound like "breakfast." At least Kai thinks so. He couldn't stop laughing about our "Breakfast Tree." 

Cuteness

Snapped this photo a few weeks ago while the kidlets were reading their bedtime books with Daddy.

It reminded me of this photo:

Which it turns out, was taken almost exactly two years ago. Teia had just turned 1 and Kai was about 3 and a half. Hard to believe its possible, but they just keep getting cuter :-)