'Tis the Season...

...to forget my camera when I need it the most! I tell you... I'm losing my mind!

This morning was Braeden's last day of preschool for the year, and they had a little performance and party for Christmas... and wouldn't you know it... I wished I had brought the camera that is sitting on the kitchen counter! The kids were so cute! He has such a great time doing his very own thing! It's been great for him.

So, that said... we'll continue to catch up a bit!

Last week we went to Disneyland with Archi, Ellen and their kids. We had such a fun time. It was a long, sometimes hard, day because we stayed until the bitter end, but well worth it... even though my camera battery died only half way through the day! I seem to be having technical difficulties! But fortunately Ellen got some pictures of the rest of the day... now I just have to get them from her!

Daddy and Ella waiting for King Triton's carousel!Two of the clowns in our group! Braeden and Xander! They are such silly boys!Jyllian, Olivia, Lexi and Braeden aboard sea creatures! I hope they took a deep breath before diving "under the sea"!Damian and XanderWe're not sure if Ella really enjoyed it or not... but she kept going again... and again!This time Braeden was really mad at me because I wouldn't let him go all the way around the carousel to sit on the blue whale. You may think that's mean, but I have to say... nope! I was the only adult riding with 5 kids. So he'll have to catch the whale next time!Cirque de carousel! Olivia, Lexi and JyllianIt's so hard to get a good family picture! Why don't kids ever want to cooperate???All the kids: LtoR: Ella and Xander behind, Jyllian, Lexi, Olivia, and Braeden in front.I'm holding Lexi and Archi has Jyllian. Lexi is holding her hand to make her feel better... she was having a MOMENT!Monster's Inc. is such a fun ride!But it may have scared Olivia! Just kidding! She's such a ham! Ellen and Braeden, Olivia and Xander. These three got lucky and got to have a picture with Goofy after Monster's Inc. Lexi and Jyllian had gone with Damian and Archi on the Tower of Terror! Yep... you read it right! The TOWER OF TERROR!!! And Lexi LOVES it! She's been on it more than once! CRAZY girl!Xander and Braeden love to chase each other and drive their mommies bonkers! Good thing they're cute enough to forgive, huh?My Ella has decided that it's fun to explore without holding a hand! Great fun!And every now and then she'll stop to check something out!I can't believe I cut this off, but it's still pretty cute! She has such a good time running around all on her own! It wasn't busy at all in California Adventure where we were, so she was pretty safe to be strolling around!Poor Ella! Now she not only has Braeden holding her down, tackling her, NEVER leaving her alone, and thinking the entire time that he's being HELPFUL... but now Xander, too??? Yikes!Braeden, Xander and Ellen trying to figure out which Disney character they best represent. This is in the Beast's library. Below is Braeden's result! Mostly true! But they forgot the part about his hot temper and his MISCHIEF!! I always end up as Dot from "A Bug's Life". Ellen was Cinderella, Xander was Mushu, and Olivia was... hmmm... it just left me!Yay for everyone looking at the same time!!!!! A RARE occasion for us!I just love New Orleans Square this time of year! It's so fun... and pretty! Those are all beads hanging from the wires above the street!We stopped in at the ranch, looked at the reindeer, did some coloring crafts, and then the girls went up to sing and dance with the entertainers! It was cute!This is NOT what I had in mind when I asked Damian to take pictures of the kids decorating their tree... (before they started to fight over it!). But it looks cool, I guess!

A little better... but still! I don't know exactly what happened, but here you can see Braeden's decorating skills! He is a very simple boy. He just RIPS the icicles apart, wads them up, and throws them all on the tree at once! Beautiful! Whereas Lexi... well, she yells at him for not doing it right, then takes off his glob, gently pulls them apart and places them neatly on the tree! Oh, the differences between boys and girls! You'll be sad to know that we had to stop decorating the tree because of the constant bickering, and try again the next day! Sad, but true. We don't seem to have gotten the message about the REAL Christmas spirit around here! Sigh!

And... that's all for now... but still more to come!