Pineapple Harvest

Today I weeded the garden. It was super easy because of the recent rain we got. I thought I would try pineapple this year and got a fruit off of my plant. It is about the size of an apple and very cute. I noticed that it was getting rounder and smaller with all of the rain so I thought I better pick it before it rots. I think I will eat it tomorrow.

Nutcracker Crush

I caught Heidi going a little too far with the nutcracker tonight!

Christmas 2008

Christmas this year was very traditional for us. We had the turkey dinner christmas eve at Dan's Parent's House and the kids did a little nativity for us. ( Traditionally, Jill (neice) was the director/producer of the nativity and caroling but since she was recently married she had her co-producer Ben by her side. And although she thought that marriage would earn her a right to eat at the "Adult's Table" she, and now Ben, seem forever destined to sit at the "kid's table".)

We exchanged gifts with cousins, hung out for a while, and then headed home. Christmas eve is always interesting with Dan. Getting ready for Santa is one of the funnest times for me, but Dan gets more and more disgusted as the night goes on. He sees the "stuff" as needless waste and going overboard. I am torn between Frugality/Conservation and my love for shopping/christmas in general/kids excitement on christmas morn. The latter always wins. Maybe when they are older we can teach them some "object lessons" on christmas. NOT!

On Christmas Day, the kids were forbidden to wake us up before 7:30. Nonetheless, starting around 5:00 they started drifting into our room, to check to see if we were awake. We held them off until 7:10, then headed downstairs.

Christmas Day we were lazy and hung out in PJs all day. Unbelieveably, it actually rained on christmas this year. I don't think I have seen a rainy christmas in at least 10 years. It was sooo cozy! We got a Mario Cart game for the WII from Santa and have played that game nonstop. I even have been playing, and my thumb is so sore. We got the WII last year and the kids havn't played it like I thought they would, now I am wondering if it was because we had the wrong games??? I set up a Taco/Taquito/Veggie buffet to munch on all day in the kitchen but it was demolished the second Dan's family came in to see what Santa brought. Oh well, at least it got eaten. Heidi's favorite gift was Barbie Mermaids that she could take in the bath. She begged to go into the bath even before she was done opening her presents. We let her go in, and after 2 hours of playing, I had to coerce her out before she shriveled up. That night she went in for another 2 hours!

After endless hours of playing and Mario Cart, we ended christmas at midnight and went to bed.

The Christmas Card

Well here is this year's picture. What you don't know is that 15 seconds before Reed was pinching the girls and got yelled at. Oh, how photos lie! Well, my intentions were big for christmas cards this year. I bought a stamping set and was going to hand-make every one of them. That is, until I looked at the calendar and what I still need to do. I combined that with what I don't want to do and learned that Costco can print your cards in 24 hours and you can order it all online. So, Costco here I come! Look for yours soon!

Klein Holiday Haus 2008

Obviously, I cannot restrain myself when it comes to christmas decor. Posted are pics of our house this year. Dan did a great job with the outside. Now that I have run out of space to put things, I am extending my decorating reach to the neighbor's house where I spent 3 hours today decorating for her party. I think I may need a 12 step rehab program.

Outfit of the Day

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Heidi has a habit of changing clothes and costumes about 9 to 11 times a day. At times she is a princess, a ballerina, or a witch. Today it is a chilly 67 degrees (Yes, I know I shouldn't complain, but my toes have been cold for 2 straight days.) Anyways, Heidi was running around in her underwear and I said "Heidi get some clothes on." and she said " But I'm playing baby Jesus and this is my costume."

December Weekend

This saturday we went to the Community Center to volunteer on the City's Float for the New Years Day Rose Parade. Even though our hands were sore from cutting for 2 hours, we had a fun time and it was good to teach the kids some community service. ( Heidi was the best worker, and although the volunteers were sopposed to be 6 yrs old, we smuggled her in.)The float is going to be very cool. It has a swimming pool in the middle of it that the city dive team will dive into. I am uncomfortable driving my car having a cup with the lid off, and I have professional, first hand experience filling a pick-up truck bed with water and driving it around town. (Good times!) Lets just say that there wasn't any water in it when we got home. So I don't know how a swimming pool on wheels will work, hopefully there are not too many rough stop and go's.

After working on the Rose Float we went to Riverside to the historic Mission Inn to see the Festival of Lights. There was a line with about 300 people in it just to get through the Hotel. Using our "Anti-Cattle-Driving Maneuvers" we managed to avoid the line. Through a mixture of stealth, charm, persistence and luck we managed to convince an employee that our time would be best spent poolside away from the crowd and we got access to the pool,, where we were the only ones and spent our time enjoying the lights from the chaise lounges.