A good end to a tough year

We had a lovely weekend, the kind of weekend that all weekends aspire to be. Saturday, FD went for a bike ride up the coast and then met us in Venice, for a walk on the beach. We watched dancing roller skaters, played in the sand, and that night FD and I went on a date. Dinner and a movie! Grandma W. babysat, and Froggy was FINE without us! It's great being needed, but it's even better when you're just preferred.

It's hilarious how much we took "going out" for granted before Froggy. You just don't know how much you'll miss dinner-and-a-movie when you become parents. We were smiley and smoochy all night, and I suspect our waitress was making fun of how kissy we were during dinner. We ate at a nice Chinese restaurant, and then saw THE KITE RUNNER, which was very sad, but well made. I love movies that are based on novels, where the story unfolds like a book, weaving in and out, without one main climax and resolution. I'd definitely recommend it.

Today we spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa at the Santa Monica Pier. Froggy loved the carousel, and had a fabulous time watching the street performers, musicians, tourists and fishermen. Froggy was a terrible toddler at dinner, shouting, jumping and acting like an obnoxious two-year-old, but fortunately we were eating at a place that welcomes that behavior, so we fit right in. No five-star-restaurants for us, thank you! There was a couple sitting next to us with a 3-week-old newborn, and when their babe started crying, the new dad apologized to us. I looked at him (while my own kid was sticking a crayon up her nose) like, "Are you kidding? That precious little cry?" The new dad took one look at Froggy and said, "But it looks like you're used to this kind of stuff. She's very active." He can say that again! Yes, she's very active.

We soooooo needed a weekend like this.

A California Christmas

Uncle S and Aunt R
Cousin "Little Rascal" and his daughter "A"
Froggy the Christmas Fairy was one of the lesser known critters in the barn that night with the baby Jesus.
Sadly, Froggy the Christmas Fairy was overshadowed by the angel Gabriel, and was edited out of the nativity scene.

It seems with all of the excitement over the birth of the baby Jesus, a little Froggy Fairy seemed superfluous. But she still roams the earth in toddler form, swatting people with her wand, laughing maniacally, and running away.

The table was set.

Sissy and Froggy eating chocolate and swinging on the hammock.

The cousins opening presents.

Lance, the Christmas Fairy Dog snoozing the holiday away.

Poor Grandpa J. had a horrible neck ache. I believe he may have strained it trying to catch the Christmas Fairy. So, he wrapped a heating pad and scarf around his neck. The spelunking light was just for effect.

Cousin "C" looking dapper in his suit. Yes, all the women ooooohhhed and ahhhed.
Grandma W and Auntie Heder.

Bring on the food!

Aunt "A" and Uncle "B"

Great Grandma "B". Doesn't she look lovely?

I'm still suffering from post-Christmas exhaustion, so I'll keep this short. Plus, Froggy took a very late nap today and didn't crash into bed until 10:30pm. So we're pooped.

Christmas was wonderful. We spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house in the mountains and Froggy awoke to MANY, MANY, MANY presents under the tree. Grandma "W" made a lovely dinner, and we visited with cousins we hadn't seen in years.

Because I'm obsessed with food, I'll focus on the dinner. We had... ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, carrots and parsnips, creamed spinach, and the most amazing sweet potato biscuits in the world. Oh, and coconut sorbet, peppermint ice cream with hot fudge, coffee, wine, champagne, and cookies. It was a gluttonous and wonderful day. Froggy wanted none of it and ate some cheerios, a stick of cheese and some lentils. Oh well. She was having too much fun playing with Sissy, her cousins and chasing the cats.

Poor Buddy had a miserable holiday. He overdosed on dark chocolate baking chips (my fault) and my dad (the vet) told us to make him vomit with Hydrogen Peroxide. We didn't have any, so I called our neighbor, who RAN down the street to give it to us. It worked and he was fine, but still scary. Then on Christmas day, he begged for too much ham, and too many people complied. He was a very sick pup today. I won't go into the details, but he had a bath, we're steam cleaning our rug, and at every holiday event from here on, he will wear a sign that says, "if you feed me, you will follow me home, and suffer the disgusting repercussions." It was that bad.

Today, the unpacking of Froggy's equipment and presents took the entire day. We also packed up decorations and put the tree out on the curb. I love Christmas, but when it's over, I'm really ready for it to be over. On that cheery note...A late Merry Christmas to you all, and Happy New Year!

Froggydadda Passed!!!

Froggydaddy got an "A" in his Respiratory Therapy class and a "C" in Algebra. Woo hoo.

We'll know in mid-January if he is accepted into the program. We are so relieved and thrilled! That Algebra class has been the bane of FD's existence for the last few months.

Today, Froggydadda proudly told Froggy, "I will never have to take another math class again!" And I secretly thought, "yeah, but you will have to help her with her Algebra homework, cause I can't."

Yayyyyy Froggydadda. We're so proud of you!

Wonderful Women

Meeps and Me!
The WONDERFUL WOMEN! Nic, Lib, Meeps, Me and Raq.

Pretending to be the Rockettes.

Our lovely friend "Cmc" who is an angel! She brought us a huge case of diapers
and picked up milk for Froggy when I had the flu. We LOVE her!

The lovely "S" with Meeps.

My amazing friend "Meeps" is going through an incredibly rough time. Monday night, her friends surrounded her with love and Indian food. And although we couldn't heal her broken heart, we tried with a little garlic naan and hugs, to let her know that sadness is rarely permanent. And I guess that's one of the only good things about it. We love you Meeps!

Gingerbread House

Every year Grandma W. bakes a gingerbread house and she and Sissysnuggiekins decorate it. And this year Froggy was part of the tradition!

We had a wonderful time, and Froggy decorated gingerbread cookies with red-hots. She was very detailed and placed the candy in the center of the cookie. Her mama was impressed, that at age two, she understands symmetry. Ahhh yes, just another example of her GENIUS!

Go Froggydadda!

FD got an "A" on his Respiratory Therapy final!!!

Woo Hoo! Hooray!

We're waiting to hear about his Algebra final. The poor guy had the flu for both finals. I don't know how he got through them. Please send positive thoughts or prayers that FD passes Algebra. This class has been such a struggle, and he's worked so hard to face his math demons.

This Spring, the actual Respiratory Therapy Program begins. He will have taken all of his prerequisites, pre-Resp. Therapy classes and will have a year and a half left. And that includes his internship in the hospitals.

FD's school only allows a few students into the program each year, and there are a huge number applying. So in your positive thoughts/prayers, please include that he is one of the few accepted into the program! Otherwise, we wait another year! Or spend $30,000 in a private school program. Yikes. And he can't apply to another school in LA, because all Respiratory Programs have completely different pre-requisites. But we're pretty sure he'll be accepted because this picture is on his application. And how could anyone say no to this mug? And most importantly, he has the best reason of anyone to become a therapist - to keep his sweet Froggy healthy!

I am so incredibly proud of FD. He has transformed from the class clown to the ideal student. His reports cards in elementary school used to say, "He makes mouth noises, disrupts others, lacks self control, but is otherwise a pleasure to have in class!" Which is surprisingly what I would say about FD at home. But now, he sits in the front of the class, answers the professor's questions, works with a tutor, and attends all the study groups. This, while working part-time and parenting Froggy. What a guy. WE LOVE YOU FROGGYDADDY!!!

Our Christmas Photo

This is the photo, that if I had time, I'd mail to you in a Christmas letter, with a front/back letter of our going's-on this year. But it's not gonna happen. I'm too exhausted, and can't afford the postage, so you'll have to do the work for me. Download this puppy, send it to your local Walgreens and put it on your fridge. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

After 20 minutes of wearing her vest tonight, Froggy says?

"I do it again?"

You don't know how wonderful it is to hear those words. YAAAAA HOOOOOO!

While doing laundry, Froggy says,

Froggy: I so happy to be with you. I so lucky.

Even though I'm sure she's copying my exact words from another time, my heart melts.

Froggy grabs a tissue out of the diaper bag, blows her nose and says,

Froggy: Burgers.

Okay, so not every moment is heartwarming.

Oh Christmas Tree

Our little Christmas tree!

The two most gorgeous girls in the world. (not that I'm biased or anything)


Friday, Sissysnuggiekins spent the night. She is soooo wonderful with Froggy. They are two peas in a pod, and it just feels complete when Sissy is with us. I know that the girls have a connection like I do with my sister. She's my best friend and I can't imagine life without her. And I know that Sissy and Froggy will always be close.

Thank God for Playdough

We skipped the vest this morning and did regular 'poundies' with the rubber percussor. But all day I psychologically prepared her for trying it on again. I'd say, "mommy has a present for you, and we're going to play with it while we wear our vest."

Froggy has never seen Playdough. I've avoided it thus far because she is so fond of eating crayons, dog food, etc. So this was a great opportunity to introduce something new, as a distraction for the big scary vest. And it worked. While opening the Playdough, I slipped the vest on her, asked her to turn the machine on, and we rolled Playdough balls, while singing, "Shaky, shaky, shaky, aaaaahhhhhh shaky, shaky shaky." Yes, I know I'm a dork, but I'll do anything to stop those tears.

She wore the vest (on a low level) for ten minutes, and when it was done, she gave me "five" and we danced around the house. This Froggymama is soooooo relieved. And once again Froggy amazes me with her bravery and tolerance. I love this kid, have I ever mentioned that?