Cords and Fleece

Despite recent evidence to the contrary, it's no secret -- I don't like to exercise. Especially exercise for the sake of exercise... pushups in order to do more and better pushups, etc. To inspire me properly, everything must have purpose . It must be practical. This is why I stopped taking kung fu a few years ago (well, that and it's not easy to execute a perfect roundhouse kick when you're pregnant.) After 2-3 years of working hard to become a great fighter (not that I ever became one), I asked myself, What am I fighting against? I'm not going to join the Army. I don't live in a bad neighborhood. Yet, I'm spending hours and hours of my time learning how to poke some phantom menace in the ojos (that's eyes for those of you who aren't vicariously learning Spanish through your 1st grader). Enough was enough. It just wasn't practical anymore. And thus began the steady process of me falling out of shape. I knew I was in physical decline. T

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

Soccer, kung fu, or gymnastics? Art, piano, or dance? Fencing? I want to enroll Elizabeth in some sort of class, but it's just not going well. I'm not sure if the problem is me... OK, it is me . Take ME out of the equation and the "problem" magically disappears. Lizzy is just not interested in joining a team or taking a class, and Michael isn't keen to sign her up (and thus spend money) for a class she won't enjoy or may not participate in fully. He has a point. We enrolled her in soccer last year, and while most kids ran up and down the field kicking their balls, Lizzy stopped to examine a flower. When the kids stood in "ready position" (standing in line with one foot atop their soccer balls), she sat on her ball at the end of the line. While other kids weaved their balls around little orange traffic cones, Lizzy picked up a cone, turned it upside, placed her soccer ball on top of it, and pretended to lick it like an ice cream cone. That is Lizzy i

Oops! Enjoy (or not) this overly-ripened entry from Easter that I forgot to post. (At least I remembered to throw out the hard-boiled eggs. I think... ) I have good news: They didn't lose Elizabeth ! Yay! She had a really nice time at Zoo Camp, except for the first day when it was really hot. When I picked her up, she fell into the car, her cheeks red, and said in an exhausted voice, "We walked everywhere." "What about those moving sidewalk/escalator things? Did you you ride any of those?" "No. We walked everywhere. " Lizzy is more of a sprinter , if you know what I mean. She's good in short bursts, but tends to peter out over long distances. However, a medicinal dose of chocolate frozen yogurt perked her right up, and the weather became more tolerable the rest of the week. By Monday Elizabeth was rejuvenated. Not only had Zoo Camp proven successful, but the weekend was a blur of chaotic Easter goodness -- which, of course, left me exhausted. I th