Guacamole!

Our tree has hundreds of avocados right now - buttery, smooth, rich avocados. So, we've had lots of guacamole. Ruthie has always been a fan of "mocky-moly" and now Jonah is on the band wagon, too. You can't totally see it in this picture, but he has it coming out of his nose. He ate it straight off the spoon.

To go with the guac, I tried a new recipe for homemade taquitos, which I have to say turned out delicious. But I'm realizing that I need some uses for the avocados besides guacamole. It's yummy, and all, but before our fruiting season is over, we will be sick of guacamole. Yes, it's true. I didn't think that would ever be possible, but I learned from our crop season last year that it is. So if you've got some good recipes, send 'em my way! And if you haven't gotten any avocados from us yet and you would like some, just say the word! 

Ruthie Sayings

I feel like both our kids are in such a fun stage. Jonah is growing into his personality and we're starting to see his vocabulary explode. Ruthie is becoming quite the young lady and constantly says things that make us laugh hysterically. 

Today we went to lunch with an older couple from our church and when we walked into the restaurant, Ruthie took one look at the mints they had in a bowl by the hostess stand and said for the whole restaurant to hear, "Look! They have treats for poo-poo!" 

And then a few days ago when the kids were playing with the curtains in our bedroom window, Ruthie stepped on the curtain and it ripped. I said, "Oh, baby, look? You tore the curtain. You need to be careful." She then looked down around her feet, paused and said, "But I didn't tear the pillow!" I guess there's the silver lining? 

One of my favorite things about Ruthie's talking is how she talks to Jonah. She calls him Joan, which is super cute, and something she completely came to on her own. We like nicknames at our house and she knows she saying something special when she calls him by that name. She can often be found "reading" to him, singing to him, teaching him something, and, let's be honest, ripping toys out of his hands. But most of the time, I love hearing her talk to her brother.

Visiting Dear Friends

This post is way overdue, but one of my goals for the New Year (see how I avoided accountability by calling it a goal instead of a resolution?) is to blog more, so I'm doing that and not worrying about the timing.

Anyway, in late November we went to visit our dear friends Keith and Chanda in Sacramento. Their two boys are pretty much the same ages as our kids and our two families had so much fun together. They were WONDERFUL hosts, planing delicious meals and super fun outings and we enjoyed our time in the evenings just talking with them and getting caught up. We had enough points from our Jet Blue American Express card to get the whole family there for free and it worked out great for us to stay with them in their lovely home. 

One of the outings was to Apple Hill, a fun family place to enjoy fall. We had some apple cider and apple donuts and walked around enjoying the very fall weather and trees.

 The kids played so well together; we are all really pleased with how much fun they had.

Another one of our great outings was going to Chanda's grandparents' farm. There were tons of cows for the kids to look at, as we headed out in the truck and explored.

 And of course, there were tractors! Our city kids really had such a fun time.

We were so grateful for a good visit with friends and so glad for the ease of traveling with young kids. We can't wait to go again! 

He's a Natural

When we were Downtown during the Christmas break, we ran into some skateboarders who were making a movie (I know, I know, it doesn't get more SoCal than that) and they wanted a shot of Jonah trying it out.

Doesn't he just look like a natural? Look how he's using his arm to balance himself out! I can just see him now, 13 and riding his skateboard all over Long Beach...

Jonah Man

We love this guy. He is awesome. He is a big time performer and loves to make us laugh. Which he does All. The. Time. If he finds something that makes us laugh, especially Ruthie, he will do it over and over again. 

We've really seen him become a little boy in the past few months. Cars and trucks, especially the trash truck, have become a big draw. Last month when they were tearing up our sidewalk, I often found him like this: 

But while he looks tough, our little guy is just not hardy. We've really had a hard go with his health, as he's frequently sick and his sickness seems so serious. But after two recent trips to the doctor's, our pediatrician has diagnosed him with asthma and started him on a twice daily medicine that he takes via a nebulizer. She is hopeful (and we are too) that this will keep him from getting so sick in the future. It's been heartbreaking to watch him struggle for breath, and so discouraging when the slightest cold turns into wheezing and coughing for days. Anyway, we are praying this new medicine regime will really help him.

We love our Jonah-man and can't imagine our family without him! 

Christmas!

Sadly, our kids were pretty sick on Christmas Day. No one wanted to eat the fancy breakfast I made; instead, we had lots of crying. And we didn't even get through all the presents before people had to have naps. In fact, we didn't even get through them all that day. It just goes to show that you can never predict things with kids; not everything is a home run. Sometimes you do the best you can. Sometimes you cry and yell on Christmas, and not just the kids. =) 

But, we did still have some good moments. For the first time, Ruthie really understood the concept of the stocking - she loved it! Here she is, pulling out some goodies.

Jonah sort of caught the vision. He timidly pulled items out of his stocking and wondered at the mysteries of fruit snacks.

Here's our tree, prior to the opening, such as it was. I am amazed at how many presents we were able to get for our budget. You got to love the Goodwill and the Dollar Bookstore! 

One of Jonah's "big" gifts was a little drum. He loves it!

Here's Ruthie, opening her baby doll (who has a pacifier!) from Grandma and Grandpa McCurry. With their recent move to Idaho, their gifts came in the mail and were a big hit! 

Here's Jonah in the aftermath - imagine if we'd actually gotten all the presents opened!

I hope your family had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. And just to clear the air, no New Year's Eve post is coming. We are not cool and have nothing to report for the evening. I worked at an event Downtown until about 10:30 then hurried home to watch the ball drop with Ian and we were in bed by about 12:03. But if yours was exciting, hats off to you! Anyway, may 2015 be a wonderful year!!

A Winnie the Pooh Party

Our girl is 3. It's so hard to believe! But we had a great time celebrating her at the end of December, at her Winnie the Pooh party. We had lots of family and friends there to help us with the festivities and everyone had a great time, especially the birthday girl.