Silly posing

Sometimes the old toys are best

After an unusally long quiet period today, I went in search of Andrew and found this scene. With all the new toys from Christmas strewn about every room, you'd think it would be one of those tempting new delights that would have captivated him. But no, sometimes the old toys are the best. Andrew had brought out some wooden blocks to fashion a long table, a long bench and a collection of doll sized chairs, then carefully set up the tea set on the table, and finally populated the table with every small figure he could find. It took a long time for me to get this picture, as he wouldn't let me take one until he was completely finished and satisfied with the results. Julia was there too, watching this whole thing, but all the hard work was Andrew's. Soooo cute!

Happy Happy

Kids Holiday Party

Julia and I invited the girls of Ms. Merk's kindergarten class, and their familes, to a Christmas Party at our house this afternoon. We were lucky to find that all but 3 of the girls in the class were able to come. We had yummy treats, a pinecone decorating craft, hot chocoloate with MARSHMELLOWS, and a fun take home gift bag for all the kids. The girls and the siblings played together so well, I was really pleased. It's such a nice class of girls. And I loved having a chance to talk more with the Moms, who seem like a great bunch as well.

Wendy and I planned the party together. We made a great team! I say it so often, and I mean it more each time: Thank Goodness for Wendy!

Watching the kids play together, making new friends, having my Mom drop by to say hello, and hosting an event that everybody seemed to really appreciate and enjoy was a slice of HEAVEN for me! I'm so glad I have had this chance to take some time off during the holidays, which made it possible to pull this off. Yipeee!

Nisse doll obsession

I have suddenly and inexplicably become obsessed with dolls, toys and Christmas decorations from Maileg, a Danish company. I saw a collection of Nisse dolls (traditional Danish elves) in a magazine and I followed the clues in the "Resources" section of the magazine until I found an online source. I was thrilled to find and purchase the two Nisse elves that you see pictured here on my mantle.



I absolutely love them -- the tall hats, the simple, homespun feeling.

Once I had the dolls in hand, the tag gave me more clues about the manufactuer, so I went back online and found another source -- a small shop in upstate New York. I began correpsonding with the owner via email and it turns out she's selling the dolls for considerably less than my original source. And she has 2 more from the collection in stock that are different from the 2 I now already own. So, what's a girl to do but buy two more! (They should arrive by the 24th.)

Then, I started wondering if there might be a California source (cheaper shipping!), so I investigated even further and found that there's a high end toy store right here in Downtown Menlo Park that carries toys from Maileg! I hopped in the car and went for a visit. They were all sold out of the Nisse dolls, but they had a delicious pair from their Angel collection, and a pair of mice that were mighty adorable. I'll let you guess what I did then. I'd tell, but it's secret until the 25th...

Yeiks, lets hope I've exhausted the options, or I'm going to go broke on these things!

The Nutcracker

Mom and I took Julia to her first Nutcracker on Sunday. We went to the San Jose show and it was just delightful. Julia seemed to like it, though she was a bit tired, having been up so late last night at Gilroy Gardens. In retrospect, the 1 hour kids version might have been long enough. Nevertheless, we had a grand time. Benne bought Julia a special Nutcracker figure as a momento of her first time. Thanks, Benne!

Annual Gilroy Gardens visit!

Grandpa gets help

Grandpa gets lots of help when I ask him to come over and help me install some new bedside lights in the kids room. Andrew as particulary helpful.

Julia gets a special snuggle from Benne.

And later that day, Andrew and Daddy look like twins!

Not quite the Christmas Card

Andrew's not in a posing kind of mood these days. Camera comes out, and Andrew either sidles away or grimaces at the camera with closed eyes. Not the best conditions for a photo shoot. After several failed attempts to get both children in the same frame, with open eyes and an expression resembling a smile (see the best from the latest lot, above), I've opted for a Christmas Card with two pictures. It was easier to find pictures separately than together. I picked from a set taken during the summer, when Andrew's hair was still long and curly. (Must commemorate that!) So, this one isn't it, but finally my Christmas cards have been ordered. One way or another!

Happy Halloween!

First Day of Kindergarten!

All dressed up and every hair in place!

Andrew's curls were tamed for a brief period on our way to Jay's 90th Birthday Bash. We combed his hair over to the side and used gel to keep it in place. Such a different look than his usual uncontrolled curly head of hair! So handsome! And Julia wore her hair in neat pigtails with little clips on the side. So cute, I had to take pictures of them (in their car seats, on the way to the party) before we arrived in case the nice neat hairstyles didn't last. This rare moment, captured on film!

Great grandchildren

Ten of Jay's twelve great grandchildren are pictured here, at Jay's 90th birthday party, celebrated last weekend with much fanfare. Most of the pictures are on Jeff's camera which has yet to be downloaded, but I did snap this one with my little camera and I just love it. I can think of no better accomplishment than to claim a collection of children as lovely as these are as your own great grandchildren. If only we were all so fortunate to not only have such a large and vibrant family, but to see the generations grow up in front of you. Wow.

Happy 90th Jay!

More craft -blog surfing

Aren't these ADORABLE!

(All my photos are coming out oversized today. What's wrong??? Click on the picture and it will show you the whole photo.)

I found my way to these dolls when I stumbled upon this blog. She sells the pattern for these dolls (or the dolls themselves, in her shop. I'd love to make these dolls!!!

SouleMama blog

I've been busy again, as you can see from my lack of blog posts these past few weeks. I'm blogging today from LA which is my 4th business trip in 3 weeks. I hope to get photos downloaded and some updates posted to the blog this weekend which will be blissfully at-home!

Meanwhile, I'm sitting here in the back room of a focus group research facility, and I'm browsing the web during the duller moments. I've been following a wonderful blog lately that I've just fallen in love with, called SouleMama. I thought you might enjoy it too. I've just ordered her new book, Handmade Home, that is being published this month. Now if only I had more time to actually do some of these wonderful projects!

Be sure to scan the many photos on her blog. She has a wonderful talent for photography, particularly photos that capture everyday moments, simple household objects, and children. I find it particularly interesting that she rarely shows faces in her photos. She focuses more on capturing mood, light, objects, composition. Super cool.

Enjoy!

www.soulemama.com

Saturday Morning

Jeff's out of town this weekend, backpacking in the Sierra with some friends. So the kids and I are on our own and having a special mommy/kid weekend. The five pictures in the slideshow above are from this morning. We lounged around in the big bed for a while, taking turns singing songs (Andrew is nearly there with the ABC song), and eventually moved to the playroom for some princess/car action.

I am struck by the fleeting nature of these carefree days. Before long the kids will be big and will have their own plans and I'll be left to watch from the sidelines. I want to remember what they look like, how they act, in these days when they are just three and nearly five. Already I find it hard to conjure memories of them as babies and toddlers that aren't tied to a photograph that I took of them. Remembering how they moved, how they sounded, how they smelled, how they felt as babies is already hard. Just imagine how much harder it will be when I have teenage versions of them crowding out all the impressions of their younger selves. Hence, the camera coming out this morning to capture them just as they are, today, bed hair and all.

Julia is the much more enthusiastic poser. I've got to get Andrew in action, because if I ask him to smile he gives me the goofiest grin that contorts his face such that he doesn't even look like himself. That won't help me remember what he looks like!

Birthday Party at Jackson's!

Dinosaurs, a bounce house, and special guest Andy Z made it hard not to have a great time at Jackson's 5th Birthday Party. Jackson is Julia's oldest friend, in the sense that she's known him longer than any other friend. She and Jackson met when she was 5 weeks old, and Jackson was 7. Weeks, that is. They've been playmates and preschool classmates ever since. I can hardly believe he's five!

10 Years!?

Hard to believe it, but our Sonoma wedding was 10 years ago! My parents invited the kids for an overnight, and Jeff and I leaped on the opportunity to get away to celebrate our anniversary. We were able to get a last minute room at the Gaige House Inn, the very place we stayed on our wedding night.

The room we were given (not the same one as 10 years ago, unfortunately) was lovely, but most notable for the two outdoor spaces it contained. A tiny patio out back:

And a tiny courtyard with a burbling fountain in the corner:

I couldn't resist taking pictures because it's such a great example of how even tiny outdoor spaces can be wonderful if you landscape them with a great attention to detail. The design almost reminded me of a quilt, where each square inch was carefully placed and filled with color or texture to create a pleasing composition. Very cool. If only my backyard showed that level of planning and thoughtfulness.

We went to one of my favorite restaurants of all time for dinner:

On the way home the next morning, we stopped by the BR Cohn winery where we had our wedding. The site is just as gorgeous as it was 10 years ago.
Happy Anniversary Jeff! Thank you Mom and Dad!

Julia's Dance Performance

By the way, did I share pictures from Julia's first big stage performance? She starred as a flower fairy earlier this month and looked absolutely adorable in her costume. So cute!!!

Big Trees, Big Fun

This weekend marked our first family camping trip of the season. We headed to Big Basin with neighbors the Staas family and the McCormick clan. Here we all are (except Andrea and Maggie, behind the camera) posing on one of the many huge logs along the Redwood Trail loop. Best moments for me: the hike of the Redwood Trail; Pizza baked on the open fire pit; late night game of Bang; watching the kids invent creative outdoorsy games; catching up with my sis. Camping is a lot of work, but it's always worth it.

Julia's first graduation ceremony

Can you believe it?! Preschool is already over. It went so fast! Here are a few pictures from her graduation ceremony earlier this month. Congratulations Julia!

First harvest!

I planted 4 tomato plants of different kinds this year in our side yard vegetable patch. The cherry tomato is the only one that has really taken off, and it really took off. It's almost taller than me already! Yesterday I noticed a little glimpse of red peeking out from a branch toward the the bottom and lo-and-behold, my first ripe tomatos! (Ever in my life! This is my first experiment with tomato growing.) I ate them straight off the plant and they were sweet like fruit. Delicious! It is so exciting to harvest and eat something you grow yourself!

The Farm

Fresh produce, produced locally with all organic farming methods. We're trying to eat more mindfully, and more healthfully, so we've been participating in a program that delivers this wonderful food to us every week.

This weekend we had an opportunity to tour one of the farms where our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) sources their produce. It was a very impressive tour, and fun!

Through a wife, 3 kids, and a war...

So said Andrea about Craig's journey from med student to full fledged Radiologist, a long haul that concludes this month with Craig's graduation from the Stanford Fellowship program. Andrea celebrated Craig's accomplishment and dedication this weekend at an all-out party, complete with 100 guests, a fantastic spread of food, and backyard swimming thanks to Craig's parent's extraordinary backyard.
We are all so proud of you, Craig!

Photo uploading techniques

As I continue to wait for my pics to all upload from the new external hard drive into Picassa, I am experimenting with a new technique for putting photos on my blog. If this works, you should be seeing a pretty scene from one of Jeff's highcountry backpacking trips. Yay!

My oldest digital photo

This is me with Whitney, in the oldest digital photo I have on my computer. The date on it says May 2nd, 2003. (Boy did I have a lot of hair!) Jeff has been transferring our photos to a new external hard drive and now they need to reload into Picassa on my computer which always takes forever the first time. So, while I wait for my new photos to come online, I am browsing old photos. Amazing how much digital photography has changed everything about the way we take and use photos, and in such a short time!

Hopefully by tomorrow I'll be able to fill you in on some more recent doings around the Holman Family including some recent pictures!