TrishandJeff.org

Yes, it’s true.  I’ve been published.  No, not by Random House or the New Yorker or Popular Mechanics.  Though, I do like your line of thinking.  I was asked to contribute a piece to the “Mothers of Preschoolers Creekside Church”.  What’s that? You didn’t see it on their blog?  Don’t’ be silly, work like mine could easily be lifted from the web and stolen.  You know,  like what Shakespeare did.  Here’s a reprint of my work. Enjoy. (Thanks for making me famous Paula

Somehow I didn’t find time to blog about Thanksgiving.  Mostly because I was shoving my mouth with food rather than taking pictures.  So instead we’ll skip into the Christmas season.  Though we skipped the occupy Best Buy movement this year, Trish and I still found ourselves being trampled on black Friday morning by two helpers eager to get up the Christmas decorations.  I can happily report that neither resorted to pepper spray in arranging the nativity scene (though I think Mary might not be too happy with where our shepherds placed the lambs in relation to her newborn).

The girls were great helpers in getting the ornaments on the tree, lights on the house and making a nice home for the return of Angel, our elf on the shelf for his return that evening (more on Angel’s return in another post).

Checking to see if she missed any gifts from last year

P was very good at deciding which ornaments went on the back of the tree

Ready to fly back to the North Pole with a Payton’s Christmas List for Santa

The Christmas season means lots of trips into the rafters for Dad.  Up the ladder, down the ladder.  As I headed up for my first trip, Payton had a special request — get Snowflake Jake first Daddy.

This  is Jake’s third Christmas with us.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any pictures of Jake from last year but I’m pretty sure he still had an inch on P.  Not this year.  Not even close.  P’s been growing like a weed and Jake’s been growing like a snowman. In the sun.

In addition to Jake, we now have mini Jake.  Which is Reese’s sidekick.

P circa 2009 with Jake not fully extended

Hard to tell who has a bigger smile

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Reese & mini Jake

As the cold chill of winter sets in on Northern California it’s hard to believe only a few weeks ago we were sweltering in the hot Gilroy sun.  Just before Halloween we made a weekend trip to Gilroy Gardens with the girls.  They loved it.  I on the other hand might be the only person to ever look for a sick sack on the strawberry cups (I didn’t even think about getting on the Garlic Twirl).

October pictures are online.

That’s one way to get your hands at 9-3.

Cooling down on a hot day

P really pigged out at Gilroy Gardens

P & L riding the train

Saturday’s car wash day turned into bath time for Payton & Reese

Walking around San Carlos over the past few weeks the girls have been getting excited about all the Halloween decorations. We knew this town knows how to celebrate Christmas, but we didn’t know what to expect for Goblins day. Sure enough, everybody is decked out with spiders, ghosts, witches and graveyards. The girls asked if we could make some decorations too. So Saturday we found some halloween templates online and headed off to Kinkos to get them enlarged. Unfortunately, the oversized printer at Kinkos comes at a premium price. So we went with plan B — poster boards and free hand drawing.

Our next obstacle in operation spooku was to find a sharp pencil. While P has quite the pencil collection, getting one sharp was another matter.  I was about to bust out my pocket knife when Trish stepped in and  donated her eyeliner sharpener. With a pencil and eraser in hand we started sketching the templates. It went shockingly well. (You can leave your vote in the comments about which silhouette is best and we’ll reveal the artist).  After some coloring we cut them out and spray painted them.

While the house is ready for Halloween, P is already turning her attention to Christmas.

Pictures are online.

P coloring the first round

Evidence that we really did draw them

Not sure how we are going to hang the one in purple…

Dog bones and martinis

The Wagners