2009 holiday card and letter

this is the 2009 holiday card we sent out this year

then we took this next picture right after our 2008 xmas (cards were already sent) before we took down our tree in january of 2009...i thought it was so cute (especially with story only 10 months old wearing "my first christmas") i enclosed it in this year's card...

then i had sea make some of her drawings for most people (i had trouble letting go of some of them)...and i got the idea to ask her what xmas meant to her and enclosed this interview:

"I sometimes think about xmas trees…I like moose that are for xmas…a deer that’s for xmas…I like to eat xmas dinner…some ravioli and um..um…some candy cones and…xmas lights on a house…and uh uh those little things that we hang up on the door? It looks like a circle like when we drive by a house…(thinking about other things)…a deep dark forest when it is dark outside when it is night time and it is snowing…mommy? Why we can’t have snow here? Snow is part of xmas! I would love xmas snow mans…I like wearing xmas clothes for xmas…a xmas shirt and xmas hat…I think you forgot about xmas bear and santa claus…he brings presents to people and then what? You might guess…who is behind my back? Look! And who else, a different kind of santa…(later, just at bedtime)…mommy, isn’t my xmas tree beautiful? I love it SO much…it is so beautiful…you can’t even believe…I just want to watch it a little bit more…"

finally, here is our xmas letter:

"SEAsons greetings 2009

dear friends and family,

this may be one of the first holiday letters to get out before the holidays! It is also the first year in a long time that we don’t have major news (2002 engaged, 2003 married, 2004 pregnant/honeymoon, 2005 sea born, 2006 my dad died, 2007 pregnant, 2008 story born)…I will move on to our usual format…what we’ve been up to, what we hope to be up to, and a section all about sea and story.

2009 highlights

reading back over last year’s letter it is hard to believe story wasn’t even walking yet…I really have my hands full chasing sea and story but am enjoying every minute…we have continued with the co-op preschool (geared towards sea’s age but all the younger siblings and mommies attend, too) and I love it so much…typically we have a welcome song, stretching, crafts, stories, lessons and yummy potluck lunch…I have lifelong friends and am considering home schooling…we spend the rest of our days of the week at playgroups, play dates, playing at the park, music class, outdoor adventure class, leading out in sabbath school, planting and replanting in our garden, story time at the library, birthday parties, farmer’s market, the beach, visiting family and friends…

in february we celebrated daddy (2/12) and mommy’s (2/15) birthdays with a potluck brunch at our new home…then a couple weeks later we celebrated story’s 1^st birthday (2/27). In march we started going to the beach…this year our last beach day was oct 17 so we are really lucky to have such sunny weather most of the year.

in april we made bunny ears as a craft in preschool and then had an egg hunt…easter weekend we attended manuel’s 20^th high school reunion from bakersfield academy (he graduated from monterey)…it was nice to be reacquainted with lots of friends…we ate together at p.f. changes, attended a program at the school, and shared ice cream at dewars…we saw manuel’s folks on the way home and decorated/hid/found more eggs…two weeks later we were off to the monterey bay academy h.s. reunion which included more friends, a bonfire on the beach, church/potluck at school, dinner at chaminade and then brunch and swimming the next morning…this is where sea first taught herself to swim (swam under water holding her breath)…we both love santa cruz…

in may we went on a family church retreat to the summer camp I attended many years as a child; pine springs ranch. It was fun to eat in the caf, sing songs by the fire, hike, and show the children cabins mommy stayed in when she was little. the following week we made a vacation out of tony and kasha’s wedding…may 20 we flew in to honolulu and headed straight for waikiki beach…we had dinner with jared, colleen, jolie and rad and spent the night at their house. the next day we went to a local sandwich shop on the u of hawaii campus (love doing local stuff) and then on 5/22 we flew in to maui…we stayed with several couples for 5 days in a huge house right on the water in wailea (remote, exclusive resort area)…sea and story were both in the wedding…as uncooperative as you could imagine…we went snorkeling in our back yard, saw sea turtles, went to a hula dance (sea got right up on stage and jumped right in)…then 5/27 off to kaanapali for a week. we stayed at the papakea (individually owned condos) where we crashed hotel waterslides and pools, frequented a farmer’s market with veggie food, walked everywhere and later met up with jeana and her family…even her new little baby…we hung out at their locals beach in kihea…sea and story stood up on a surf board and later we had dinner with her family…

in june we attended ally’s h.s. reunion, flew kites at seaport village, hosted several “water play” and potluck brunch preschools and then 6/28 attended neville and sharon’s wedding (another excuse to stay at the chaminade…eat the amazing brunch) in santa cruz.

we spent the fourth of july locally…bbq at bruno and anna’s house on the beach in coronado and watched fireworks overlooking the bay and downtown…this was the first year sea was afraid…7/26 we had sea’s annual birthday party at la jolla shores beach…over 100 people came… it was a lot of fun…lots of kids, food, sand toys, cake…put sunday july 25 on your calendar if you want to attend this next one…we had some doves lay eggs and watched them hatch and fly away right outside of sea’s window…we spent the rest of the summer in a routine that involved every saturday at coronado beach and every sunday at la jolla…had a beach bonfire…

in september I took a road trip with the kids to attend auntie missy’s baby shower in sacramento…hit split pea soup, stayed at j.d.’s and the hensels, played guitar and sang songs together, spaghetti factory with becki and john and then off for a couple days in the napa valley…stayed at brandie’s and played with her three, noelle’s three plus mine meant eight children under 8…lunch with the trivetts, hit giugnis, model bakery, napa valley roasting company and saw pete n and jason l on the way out…more friends to visit there on our next trip…

in october we went to several pumpkin patches, took the kids to their first concert (U2 at the rose bowl…viewed live on youtube), and had a halloween-themed preschool before driving back up north to welcome our new cousin, baby meadow (yes, we have cousins named skye and ayva rain as well…they stayed with the family theme) born oct 28. we took the kids trick-or-treating while we were there…story wore sea’s old monkey costume and sea was a giant bright yellow felt banana that mommy was sewing on the drive up…fall included trips to the children’s museum, waldorf fall festival…in november I went to auntie carolyn’s bridal shower at café sevilla (bummed we will miss her wedding in hawaii next month)…were blessed to have her live with us briefly… manuel was able to spend a few days in manhattan with travis who is there shooting the show “white collar”…I hosted a fall themed/thanksgiving preschool (sea made her first apple pie), and the co-op families got together for our second annual thanksgiving meal the night before the holiday…then off to uncle dave’s amazing spread the day of…sea and story loved playing with chloe and seven…we spent the weekend with namenee and poppy and again the cousins had a blast…december is flying by…we have our tree and xmas lights up…participated in a holiday card swap and received cards from around the world (australia was sea’s fav)…made ornaments in preschool…attended several parties…we will celebrate xmas eve in our home with my mom, sister and maybe hayno and then xmas and the weekend in ventura with namenee, poppy and hopefully the cousins…I have decided to be a full-time mommy until story is in kindergarten and then I will go back to teaching. I keep way too busy with all aforementioned activities; particularly the coop preschool. manuel continues to work for the county of san diego as a public defender. he has been at the el cajon branch for a little while now and anticipates possibly being transferred back downtown.last year as I lamented the loss of our dear friend, lorie and appreciating those closest to you I had no idea we would lose several more people in our lives…the jacobsons, pullens and chings (14 died including their children in the montana plane crash)…marci roomed with amy at puc…they were all in their 30’s and younger…my aunt daisy…and then most recently manuel’s close friend david crawford who left behind his wife daphne and daughter sadie who is sea’s age…we hope to stay better in touch this year and possibly visit many more friends…portland and sacramento are both on our horizon…

we expect our family vacation this next year to be on the east coast…visiting relatives, swimming, skiing and sailing on the rappahannock river and then heading to new york to visit several friends there and just have fun in a big city…my 20^th high school reunion will be sometime this next summer…I am going to be on the planning committee…we will spend too much time worrying about sea heading off to kindergarten next fall…we have several great school options but still can’t believe she will be old enough to leave home…hope to attend mommy-and-me waldorf preschool with story or continue co-op preschool for the younger siblings…my specific goals for 2010 include maintaining our garden, taking regular walks, planning and creating more healthy meals, updating my blog while balancing LIFE (see the next topic for details), exposing the children to more art, music, outdoor play, making more time to read (and maybe becoming active in a book club I joined), teaching sea piano and/or violin, and keeping in touch with and getting together with family and friends…I’m sure I’m forgetting several things…I’m really starting to get in to the “blogging world” as a wonderful way to combine my love for writing, photography, and noticing the minutia of my daily life as mommy…I had about 140 posts from 2009…more than double last year…my goal is to post 2 or 3 times a week so if you want to know what we are up to check it out: http://mommysjourney.blogspot.com/…I’ve made some wonderful friends following other blogs…just hope to balance writing about life with living it…sea and story are definitely interacting more these days…they especially love pushing each other on a little car, playing “tag” and running/climbing after each other, making “chin-ee-chins” (forts out of blankets), drawing/coloring/painting, role-playing with stuffed animals, building and breaking down houses and cities, and singing/dancing to music…they both love the outdoors…yards, playgrounds and the BEACH…right now story is fascinated by his “furry shark” pjs and never wants to take them off…he likes “woof-woofs,” “kee-kee’s” (kitties), “choo-choo’s” and most recently a chirping cricket in the bricks of our fireplace…he’ll show it to all visitors and his animals. He just started role-playing (carrying a baby, trying to feed/rock etc.). sea’s most recent interest is drawing. check out my blog for examples…she likes to draw fairy kitties, her friends and family, and “letters’ though we are not pushing any academics…I want her to play and enjoy youth while she can! they both love books, stories…sea will “read” leonardo the terrible monster” out loud to anyone who will listen…she is a great narrator with inflections in her voice, pauses, different voices and has an amazing memory for the details. both children are very social and love to interact with and engage people…please update us with any address, phone or e-mail changes. we love and miss all of you so keep us updated on your lives. finally, we are both fairly active on facebook so you can keep up with us there…come visit or we may visit you!p.s. enclosed photo card photos taken by www.julieprichard.com; 2008 xmas photo taken by self-timer, artwork by sea…"

i know it is way past xmas now but i thought this would give readers a better idea about our life...and i hope to post a few photos and memorable moments from our xmas celebrations...new years brunch...baby shower i hosted this weekend...new year's resolutions...i have a cousin in town who has never been to california so i'll be driving her all over the next few days but hope to get caught up soon! happy new year! hope you are having a productive, happy and meaningful first week of 2010!