A Star is Born

After watching one too many Christmas-themed movies and cartoons lately, Joey pieced together that we were missing a key decorating staple... a star for the top of our tree. We actually went in search of one in a few stores, but like my hunt for additional tree lights, we started looking waaay too late in the holiday season! So what's a crafty boy to do? Make his own...with help from Mommy, although it's taking a lot for me to admit that publicly. Just look at our pathetic cardboard creation.

Be sure to compliment Joey's painting technique if you see him this holiday season! He's pretty proud!

The artist at rest...



And finally, because we're terrible parents, here's what happens when you hoist Clara up on Daddy's shoulders to let her touch the star.



She's much happier when her feet are on the ground!

In Denial

Anyone else?

Snow Job

We need to do a better job of marketing Santa around here... his brand is in the toilet compared to other mythical beings.

Tim had a late dinner with friends last night, and I decided to nip Joey's normal nighttime shenanigans in the bud with a pre-emptive Santa strike.

Me, as I'm tucking Joey into bed: No playing around tonight. Santa's watching you, and he's going to know if you're being a good boy or a bad boy.

J: What? He can't see me.

Me: Yes, he can. He can see everything and anything.

J: But my blinds are closed and my door is shut.

Me: That doesn't matter. Santa has super powers.

J (shocked): No, he doesn't! Santa isn't as cool as Superman!

Me: Santa just heard you say that.

Joey (looking around with huge eyes): Oh.

I'm happy to report that he was only out of bed once for a legitimate bathroom trip... and that was on tiptoe. If only Santa was around year-round!

Seven

Davis has been called both lazy and fat, but he wears both adjectives well - in keeping with his proud Kelleygreen lineage - and he now has a little protege from his same Gardnerville gene pool. Seven is yellow, but in all other ways, he's a miniature Davis -- roly-poly, intermittently mischievous, and mostly not inclined to exert himself. Luckily, his parents Lori and Bryan seem to like Davis, and know what they're in for: a 100-pound mellow moose.

Joey and Clara and I headed out to Pleasanton to meet this little guy today and see Lori and Bryan's adorable new house! The kids were in love with both the puppy and the tree swing!

Now we just need Lori and Bryan to start a blog so we can keep up with their doggy adventures in suburbia! :)

Welcome Baby Lucy!

We welcomed a dark-haired, adorable new baby into the family yesterday with the arrival of Lucy Byrne Galvin. She looks almost exactly like her big brother Tommy -- here's to a wonderful trip home from the hospital tomorrow morning and an easy transition to a family of four for the Galvins! Congratulations, Meredith and Tom!

Ice, Ice Baby

We embraced the chilly temperatures in San Francisco over the weekend, and met our friends Thomas and Sabrina and their girls at the ice skating rink at Union Square. Tim pulled a rib cage muscle hauling a 45-pound boy around the rink, and then got reprimanded by a rink official for taking a skate-less Clara out on the ice, but otherwise, fun was had by all!

Joey and Gitte loved watching the ice being groomed before the skating session.

Time to put on the skates!

Mela watches from the sidelines...

Finally, Clara took a few spins around the rink in her pink boots, until she was unceremoniously booted off :)

Have I Mentioned How Much I Love Play-Doh?

They get so absorbed in their creations, an hour or two can pass in almost complete silence!

Don't tell the kids, but Santa is delivering even more on Christmas morning!

She's Definitely Mine...

Clara has inexplicably developed an exteme fondness for The Elements of Style -- every English major's Bible and every writer's go-to source for all those pesky questions about punctuation and grammar -- and carries it around with her all over the place. It's almost as endearing as her obsession with my beloved stack of dog-eared Jane Austen paperbacks.

Davis vs. the Bear

Sara actually thought she could hang a stuffed Christmas bear from the front door knob. Rookie mistake...

Dueling Twinkles

Pretty funny renditions of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star...

Stripey, Smiley Duo

I pirated two more images from the Picture People website... and I think I've convinced myself that they're too cute to allow them to lie unloved in Picture People's archives.

Everybody Say... JELLYBEANS!!

We engaged in our annual tradition of parental torture today by submitting the kids and ourselves to a portrait studio, and actually emerged victorious! The key? Providing jellybeans to cooperative smilers!

We won't spoil the surprise in your holiday card, but here's some cute outtakes that didn't make the cut, but are still adorable!

'Tis the Season...

...for Santa sightings! We saw the big guy for the first time this year at St. Ignatius, for the annual meet and greet that's arranged especially for SI kids and grandkids.

Our kids liked him from a distance, and Joey especially appreciated Santa's jokes, which were flying right over the heads of most of the other kids. He really digs SI/ Sacred Heart humor.


Clara found a spot nestled between Stecher girls, and waited very patiently for her name to be called. The wait was worth it!





Taking pictures with the guy in the suit did not go over well... here's our miserable attempt at a family photo.



They did slightly better for the Cecchin family photo.

It was all smiles for Clara Jane once Santa vacated his "throne," and let the little people climb up!

Thanks to Grandpa Cecchin and all of his helpers at SI for organizing such a fun annual event!

Cheers to Multiple Thanksgivings!

Thank goodness my pregnancy happens to coincide with the holidays... I've definitely been eating for two!

We celebrated Thanksgiving (again) with a houseful of Raleys last weekend down in Orange County, and enjoyed turducken for the first time, along with the usual yummy family staples.

The "big kids" felt very grown-up at their kids' table, especially when they were given plastic goblets for their juice and ginger ale mixed drinks :)

We managed to get a few photos of all the cousins...

and even some of the "original" Raley family, minus all the munckins.

Finally, a rare family shot that (of course) includes at least one squirmy child, and one who's overdoing the "cheese smile."