Cords and Fleece

Apparently, Lizzy and Samantha have a soft spot in their hearts for the bad guys. After all, in their world the bad guys always get shot, beaten, or killed by super heroes, they always land in jail, and they’re never attractive. So when I heard strange phrases in hushed tones coming from the toy room the other day, phrases like, take off his clothes ... and hand me that bug ... and, put that on his vagina , I had to ask: What is going on in there?! After some debate between the two of them (n o, don’t tell mommy ... it’s OK, just don’t tell daddy ... and so on) they finally fessed up that they were playing a game with Barbies and other creatures wherein the bad guys win. Here’s how it works: In this game, the bad guys torture the good guys by making them take off all their clothes and then placing mind-controlling bugs on their vaginas . The bugs contain a virus that infects their hosts, thus enabling the bad guys to control the actions and behaviors of the good guys. Ergo, the b

The letter continues... ------------------------------- No Dogs Allowed...Yet Long story short -- Lizzy still wants a dog. As she says, “I’ve wished and I’ve prayed.. .and I still don’t have a dog! ” It’s getting to the point where we either have to restore a little girl’s faith in the mystical and spiritual...or allow her to learn an important life lesson, i.e. that life isn’t fair. She knew the odds were stacked against her, so she made her case in a letter addressed to “Melissa, Mikol, and Samantha.” It read: Dear, Family I have been so nice to you and I Deserv to Be treted nice to. you have Been kind But have not proved that you are a nice family. so I asc for Just one thing a Dog. I want to Be a loveing chield. I also want to Be Loved. and al this week Iv got [smiley] fases [at school]. Did you like gowing to the party at BalBowa park on lina’s BirthDay. _______ I am vary vary funny and vary vary nice to. I will show you my Birth mark. it is on my leg. Love, Lizzy

Wow. I just finished writing my part of the yearly Christmas letter -- and it was six pages long! That tells me I need to write more frequently, so I'll try to be more vigilant in 2010. Thus, here's the first excerpt from this multi-part series, The 2009 Christmas Letter . --------------------------- Yosemite Few things are more satisfying than showing our girls something magnificent for the first time in their lives. We had that chance last year (sort of) when we took them to visit Yosemite. Actually, Lizzy had been there once before when she was a year old, but she was too young to remember it. And Sammy had been there too -- in utero. But this year, they’ll remember it, so it feels like the first time. Here are some highlights: • Swimming in the icy Merced River • Riding our bicycles in Yosemite Valley • Hiking to Nevada Falls • Sharing our lunches with the Squirrels • Lizzy getting a ride in an inflatable raft in a lake below snow-capped mountains • Samantha