Wocka Wocka

Once a week, Scott takes one of the girls on a daddy-daughter date.  They usually do some sort of errand or fun activity and then get some ice cream.  The girls talk for weeks about which "ice cream store" they want to go to when it's their turn.  It's very cute.  

Last week it was Emily's turn.  She wanted to go to Guitar Center and check out the instruments and DJ equipment.  

This is one of my all-time favorite photos.  It's so Emily. 

She would LOVE to be a real DJ.

She was checking out the drums and told Scott she had a joke for him.

E: Knock knock.

S: Who's there?

E: Banana.

S: Banana who?

You know the joke.  Eventually it got to . . . 

E: Orange you glad I didn't say banana! 

Before Scott could react she hit the cymbal with her drumstick!

She gave herself her own rim shot!

Then she told another joke and did it again.

This was much, much funnier than the actual jokes.  Silly girl!

Thanks Santa!

Boys, get in line now.  

There are three of them.  They all LOVE Star Wars. 

They will be ready to date in about 20 years.  

PS - If you look carefully you can see Darth Vader playing the piano in the doll house.  Also, you  might notice that Molly and Heidi are missing some sleeve length.  Their Christmas pajamas were, uh, how do we say this nicely, made for newborns.  Seriously, the arm holes were so small you could barely fit a light saber through, much less an actual hand.  I didn't want to make the girls wear something else so I could return them - they were so excited to put them on - so we did a little adjusting with the scissors.  After I cut the sleeves off Molly decided she wanted shorts.  Why not?  We are in California.

Daredevil!

We took all the kids on a mini roller coaster at a restaurant last night.  I could hear Heidi screaming and was afraid she was scared (see previous post) and was trying to escape.  

Nope, not scared.  Those were screams of DELIGHT.  

She was only upset when we had to leave.  I think we'll have to go back.

Ho! Ho? AHHHH!

Here's a little family photo from our church Christmas party.

The girls all thought seeing Santa was great - at first.  

When I put Heidi on his lap she FREAKED OUT.  I had forgotten that around two kids don't want scary bearded men to get too close  - even if it is your dad.  When I took her off she was fine again and kept yelling "SANTA!  SANTA!" and giggling.  That was cuter than the screaming.

Molly and Emily instantly recognized Santa.  Apparently, 180 is NOT the new 280 and everyone knows that Santa is not 6'5" and freckled.  They still thought it was fun to sit on his lap and tell him what they want for Christmas.  

We had to do some explaining afterwards.  Emily knows about all the Santas that help the real Santa but it was still pretty strange to see your dad in that costume.  I did what any good mom would do.  I told them the truth.  Santa knows that they'd been so good so they let their dad help out this year.  Only the best kids get to have that as a Christmas surprise.  (It worked, whew.)

I somehow thought the kids would be blind to everything but the red suit and beard.  No.  I guess when Santa looks and sounds just like your dad doing his "Santa" voice that he does all the time at home you figure things out pretty quickly.  

We're not in Minnesota anymore

We walk to school everyday.  We might as well, it's only a few blocks away.  Besides, there's not a bus.  The only problem is that sometimes it's, well, a little chilly.

Here is an action shot of us at the school.  Heidi and Molly are wearing all their winter clothes - warm jackets, hats, mittens, three blankets, etc. - you know, the basics.  Emily started out that way too but got a little warm and had to start shedding during the hat and gloves on the walk.  Maybe it wasn't as cold as I thought it was.

Just for fun, when I got home I checked the temperature.  It was 43 degrees.  When I was a kid, 43 degrees meant Easter.  It meant the Burba girls were on their deck sunbathing.  It meant I would try to play outside in short sleeves.  

43 degrees has changed for me.  

I don't know if the Northstar State will ever let me back in.

Happy Birthday DJ Monkey

I can't believe this kid is already two today!

Heidi was born in the middle of the night two years ago today.  She was coming FAST and so I had to ask Scott to quickly turn off the TV in the delivery room so she wouldn't be born during a Chia Pet commercial.  (Women in labor are worried about lots of important things.)

Here she is last Christmas when we went sledding.  

Heidi liked the snow, just not the cold.  Yeah, tell me about it.  

And now here she is last week.  Her eyes have turned green and she finally has some hair, but otherwise she's still the same cute baby.  

We love you Heidi!

Here Comes Santa Claus!

Every year Santa and his helpers, the city police officers and firefighters do a mini parade around the neighborhoods.  We love this!  It's so exciting to see the lights and sirens and eat the candy canes they pass out.  

We've always stood on our driveway to watch but this year we thought it would be fun to follow the parade around.  So we bundled everyone up and piled three girls into a two-girl stroller.  Family togetherness is a good thing, right?

Molly got a little bored half way through. 10 points if you can find her.

Tonsils are coming out January 9th!  HOORAY! I can't wait to sleep.

We asked the police officers if we could take a close look at the motorcycles.  They asked the girls if they wanted to sit on them!  Heidi loves, loves motorcycles and was much more excited than she's letting on in the photo.

Everyone woke up in time to decorate the candy house. 

Eat your heart out, Williams Sonoma.  

We got it for $8 and we even personalized it.

Happiest Place on Earth

We had SUCH a FUN weekend in SoCal!  I'm ready to go back.  

Want to come too?

Remember a few months ago when I showed up at the airport wearing the same thing as my sister Amy?  Well, now I've done it with the other sister too.  At least Kristen and I went to Disneyland in different colors.

Also, if Kristen is anywhere near you in the next, oh, 14 days, ask her to take your Christmas card photo.  It will look fantastic!  (Now, if I could only get them out before Christmas that would be good.)

Molly loved driving the bugs.  She smacked Scott's hands away if he tried to help.  Boy, if that's how it's going to be, we can't wait until she's learning to drive for real.

Looking at the camera + smiling = miracle!

Emily loved the turkey legs so much that she had two of them.  I guess she takes after her dad.

One more thing about Emily and turkeys that I keep forgetting to write about - on Thanksgiving when I was putting the turkey in the oven she came over to me with a very serious look on her face and asked, "Mom, how did you hunt this?"  I think she was a little disappointed when I told her I got it as Costco.  Darn Costco, always ruining traditions!

Party at the Elf Club

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Fa La La La La!

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