Yikes! I was so busy all weekend, didn’t get a chance to personally call/write/e-mail all the moms in my life– Hope it was a great one!!

Christmas Day is finally here and now we enter the final phase of the move. Postings will be intermittent, hope it’s a nice Christmas and Happy New Year for all!

     I said, “Santa, can you remind them that bedtime is time to go to sleep?” Charles Wallace, the most guilty one, seriously looked like, “Oh shit.” It was the most hilarious thing and I had to really fight the laughs. I think Santa did, too. After he reminded them to mind Mommy I asked if I could call him if I needed to. “Of course,” he said, “or you can always e-mail me, too.”  Then his little elf gave us a printed photo right then and there, it was so neat.  (I also got a file of it so if you want a copy just comment or contact me.) Santa sure has become pretty hip to today’s world with helicopters and e-mail, sheesh!  (Photo courtesy of the Coca-Cola Caravan!)

Just wanted to give a hearty thanks to Coco, the Original Baby and the twins’ older sister, for running from one McDonald’s to the next all over L.A. in search of the elusive Rainbow Dash pony. (Grandmommy, thank you for looking, too. I know you were relieved when Coco located what must have been the last of this little filly’s kind!) Here the twins react to the little package in the mail last Saturday.  Rainbow Dash got on well with the rest of the ponies. She’s a nice addition to the stable and everyone is very happy, especially Charles Wallace and Erin Grace!

So, just found out I’m sort of famous . . . sounds cool, huh? But what you do when, um, it might involve stalker-like obsession! A friend of the ex-who’s-the-artist sent me an e-mail recently.  In some gallery in NYC, Summer ‘09——–>

<—— Someplace in Taipei, Sept. ‘09. This is ginormous!

Some kind of ’80s homage?? Actually I have to admit it looks kind of neat, but how do I put an end to this without any hassle? Shoot me an e-mail, guys (you know who you are, non-commenting, private e-mailing friends from *****!), please advise

So, the twins have been really into My Little Ponies lately. They received a very nice stable and corral for their 3rd birthday from my parents. It’s wood, has a removable roof for playtime and sliding doors on its four stalls. It’s a beautiful low-tech toy.  A few months after getting it the pony craze began. 

It’s a good thing I’d found a lot of barely-used ponies for dirt cheap at the local thrift store (score!) in Phoenix last year.  I thought they’d interest Erin Grace only, what a surprise. Robert was a little miffed at first as he hoped the cutesy, sugary-sweet ponies wouldn’t appeal to Erin Grace– and they didn’t. At least, not until Charles Wallace took to them a few months ago. Robert was like, “My son plays with pastel-colored horses.”  There’s not really grooming or accessorizing;  he loves to line them up, sort them and just play with them in general like he would his Thomas trains and cars and trucks. So does Erin Grace.

Out of sheer curiosity I decided to do a quick search online to see if any other little boys like My Little Pony. The simple answer is a resounding YES.  They seem to like the collecting and lining up like Charles Wallace does and they watch the cartoons, etc.  Some even have My Little Pony room decor and birthday theme parties!

I was surprised to find there was even a line of boy ponies in the late ’80s. They were called “Big Brother Ponies” and had hairy hooves and wore bandannas (lol!), according to the wiki.

Anyway, the greatest find of my google search is the art of Mari Surinen. An example of her altered and modified ponies is pictured, “My Little Han Solo.” Not only is it some great work but also a brilliant parody and makes me laugh everytime I see it.  Robert now, of course, wants all the Star Wars & superhero ponies so he can play with the twins, haha!

Click the photo to go to Mari’s page, it’s incredible. She’s done Batman, The Joker, Capt. Jack Sparrow and Elvis to name but a few. Her art is for sale, too.  Check her out!

Yesterday we got to see Santa and Mrs. Claus fly into town in a rescue chopper and land at one of the lakes. It was quite a sight.  Charles Wallace brought the gathering crowd down when asked by Robert, “Who is that?” he answered, “Spider-Man!”  Everyone had a good laugh and then dusted us as they ran to get in line for Santa & the Mrs.

45 min. to an hour after waiting in line with two antsy, restless toddlers we were  next in line. It was minutes to go when Erin Grace sat on the floor in a spot of spilled hot chocolate! I didn’t place her on Mrs. Claus because of the wet spot’s potential to stain her white dress. However, after the professional photo Santa didn’t seem to mind so we took another quick one w/him alone, hot chocolate spot and all, shown to the right. Here the twins have their first candy cane from Santa.

Another niece with a milestone is the newlywed Marina. Congratulations to her and her new husband, Aaron.  We were unable to attend but hear it was a very nice ceremony and reception down in the San Diego, CA area last month.  Thank you to Charlotte and Christine for providing photos. Time goes by so quickly because I can remember meeting Marina like it was yesterday, as the cliché goes. She was not even in high school and now she’s a married woman! I guess I would feel old . . . if I looked it.  Haha! Anyway, best wishes to the new bride and groom!  

   After a couple days of snow it turned out to  be a nice clear day, allowing us to go trick-or-treating this afternoon along the town’s  Main Street where many businesses passed  out Halloween goodies to costumed kiddies  big and small.  This Halloween Charles Wallace is a knight and Erin Grace is a dragon and I’m thankful the costumes could keep them rather warm. What a difference from last year when we lived in the Phoenix area. It was so warm I didn’t think the twins would  last in their costumes (a bumblebee and Batman) for the trek around  the  neighborhood.  We stopped at one house where a lady was camped out in front with a table of  treats– candy for the trick-or-treaters and a pitcher of something alcoholic for her, what a relaxing way to partake in the holiday

   This morning we went out to play in the huge piles of snow on the deck. The twins had a great time sliding down their little Mommy-made mountains, making snowballs, and throwing them and eating them, too.  Too bad they can never LOOK AT THE CAMERA AT THE SAME TIME, d’oh!  98% of the time I am too exhausted to keep after them to get a great shot so if it happens, it happens.  Hopefully I can get a nice photo of them tonight in their costumes once more and speaking of which it’s time for me to git as nightfall is approaching.