Ashton turns 5

Taking after her mom, Ashton has had a most excellent birth week celebration. Her birthday was on a Thursday this year so she celebrated from Thursday through the weekend. This had Judy making more then 50 cupcakes and 3 different cakes for the series of events.

There was a cake on her birthday, cupcakes at her school on Friday, cupcakes at her kids party on Sat and a beautiful Barbie cake for her family party Sat afternoon.

Jacqueline, not to be left out, also requested a "blue Dora cake". Judy delivered on that request as well much to Jacqueline's joy.

The kids party was at Safari Run. Here is a group photo of the kids. It was a lot of fun for Ashton to have so many friends celebrate with her. Lots of running and playing was happening. Jacqueline was thrilled to be joining in, especially since she was supposed to wait until she was 3 years old to participate. In fact, she couldn't attend this group photo because she was too busy climbing the structures with her dad.

A big bonus for this years party was Grandma and Papa Terry were here to celebrate. Terry is back from Iraq (we hope for good of course) and they are out for a few weeks to visit and celebrate the birthday. Cute photo huh?

On my side, I'm already enjoying five years old. The independence is wonderful and I'm still amazed at everything that Ashton can do on her own. In addition, the gifts for five years are very Barbie-focused. Which means that you can store a lot of gifts in a much smaller space. A great help for our small house.

I really can tell we are about to enter a new phase and I think we are all planning to enjoy it. We are back in ballet on Saturdays and also starting a parks and rec dance class next week. Kindergarten sign-ups are week after next. The times they sure are 'a changing. Can't believe that I have only one toddler in the house!

Park City ski trip, Jan 2008

Yes, we did another successful ski trip.  This was especially successful in the fact that Jacqueline did not get sick.  As you can see the girls were happy to test out their snow gear in the condo itself.
Both cousins came along this year which was really nice for Bob and Meg.  It was not good snowman snow though, we went out to try and just kept falling into the snow up to our knees but could not get the snow to stick together at all.  It was too dry.  You can tell what California girls we all are since none of us realized this was even a possiblity.   

Jordyn took her first snowboard lessons and did real well.  Ashton also did ski school this year and was very pleased with her "report cards" which made her dad very exited.   She has managed to do "10 turns in a row" which sounds pretty good to me.  

Jacqueline was too young for ski school so she spent most days home with her Tasha (except the one day Mom stayed with her so Tash could snowboard).  She did, however, become very proficient in hot chocolate drinking, which I'm sure will come in handy at some point.  Also, I should mention again that she stayed healthy and happy the whole trip which was such a huge bonus.  She even managed to get a nap on the day that mom stayed home.  Turns out that mom is boring and she is happy to nap when I'm around.  Tasha, on the other hand, is way too much fun to sleep through!  Below is a photo of what a happy and healthy Jacqueline looks like.

Ashton enjoyed showing off her nice ski thermals.  Mom was happy she had good gear since this was a COLD trip.  Most days were in the high teens or low 20's but with either snow or windchill or both.

The highlight of the trip was getting to ski with our friends Vic, Lisa, Dan and Ruth and having Dan and Ruth meet our kids.  Of course I didn't manage to get any photos of the adults but we all know what we look like anyway (which is the same as we have for the past decade at least of course!).    

Ashton was very anxious to get a birthday cake for Dan who had a birthday while we were there.  Turns out the rest of us were ok with eating it as well.  In addition, Tasha and Jordyn watched the girls while we all had a wonderful adults-only dinner one night.  What a treat to eat dinner at a sane pace and even drink a few glasses of wine.  

All in all a wonderful trip, we came back tired of course but happy (well at least the three girls are happy, Bob is still not so happy he isn't going back this week).  Next trip is scheduled for March but I'm guessing Bob will be doing some skiing in between.  He even brought home his old outfit and some gloves to consider a mid-week trip to Tahoe once of twice.  Stay tuned.

Christmas '07

As I'm sure you guessed Christmas '07 was a very fortunate event for the Bear girls.  As you can see they left Santa a nice note with milk and cookies and carrots for the reindeer.  In fact Ashton's name is also on the note but the photographer didn't position the card correctly to show that.

The wagon (and the hat and gloves) have already gotten some good mileage in the weeks after Christmas.   The wagon was from Grandma and Papa Terry.  The hat, gloves (and matching sweaters) were from the Chicago cousins.  The big Santa gifts were a "my first dollhouse" for Jacqueline and a "Baby Alive" for Ashton.   Bob did attempt to negotiate that Ashton could change her sisters diapers if she wanted a baby to wet itself but somehow that didn't stick so now we have yet another butt to change in this house.

While the Tj Berrytales was Jacqueline's gift I think it is Ashton who appreciates the stories more.  Jacqueline keeps pushing the button to play the music much to the irritation of her sister who was mid-story.  This was Jacqueline's gift from Grandpa Bob but it's ok that Ashton likes it too since Jacqueline is over the moon about Ashton's Black and Decker workbench and power tools.  Lots of things are regularly being built and fixed in this house now.

Christmas dinner was also great -- thanks to Judy of course -- we had an excellent ham dinner and wonderful dessert of Yule log.  We also managed to get a nice neighborhood walk in with the wagon since the weather was gorgeous.  We are truly blessed.

The Bears 2007 Christmas Letter

So by now you've realized that I've moved to an online version of a Christmas letter. The first reason is, of course, that its easier to do, no more stuffing envelopes and extra lead-time for the holiday cards to get color copies. Those of you who noted the lack of a letter last year might have realized that two small kids just took the wind out of my sails for pulling a letter together.

The second reason, is to make more people aware of this blog and let you find out as much (or as little) about the year in review as you want. To that end, I am going to focus this letter on the christmas season and let you read prior entries to catch up on things like easter, halloween, etc (if you haven't been bored to tears of course)


Chrismas season is, of course really just kicking off but its the nature of the Christmas card that requires you to pre-report your plans. Our plans this year are delightfully low key. We are going to be home for both Christmas and New year this year. We've moved our ski trip to the second week in January to extend the vacation season for ourselves and I'm guessing this might prove the new tradition for us. Not rushing out after the holiday sounds pretty plesant to me right now, we'll see if I'm right to feel so optimistic about it with the ski report entry. I am a little concerned about what we are going to do with Jacqueline for the ski trip though, she isn't going to be excited about the idea of everyone going skiing and she is not. I'm still trying to figure out the story there. Ski school requires you to be 3 and a half and potty trained so there is no way she can go this year.

As you have noticed from the photo we managed to decorate outside and in already. Since we are only in the second week of December I'm personally impressed with this accomplishment. All credit goes to Bob as this year he did the whole thing himself with my only participation being keeping an eye on Jacqueline to make sure she didn't jump off the wall and/or run into the street. Trust me that was a full time job.





Last weekend we also did our Breakfast with Santa at the gym. While this was not a relaxing breakfast for us (we can always hope for next year on that front) it was cute to see Ashton tell Santa that she wanted a doll and her sister wants something Dora. Jacqueline made it very clear she didn't want Santa to come anywhere near her so Ashton took it upon herself to make sure her desires were covered as well. Very sweet!




Of course they also had to play in the lockers, I did toy with the idea that they would be fine in there by themselves but decided that maybe someone would frown on that idea. After breakfast the girls went to the children's center so mom and dad could get a work out and recover from the festivities. Made for a very nice day for all involved.

Turns out that this holiday has Ashton with the biggest social calendar. Not only is there the school party but also she is going to see two different shows without any of us. She is going to see the Sippy Cup Band with Judy and Julianna and to the Nutcracker with [neighbor] Dan. This year she is still going to pre-school M-W-F and has just taken up a gymnastics class on thursdays to keep her busy. While she is not reading, Ashton is very interested in words and has begun to focus on sounding them out. She is also surprising both Bob and I with how she is transitioning out of any glimmer of a baby. It's still hard for Bob and I to get used to the idea that she doesn't miss anything that goes on around her. It certainly makes planning Christmas more complex as I need to have places to hide things in our small house.



Jacqueline, of course is fully into her twos and has been anxious to have her opinions heard (!). Her current response to not getting her way is a combination of tattling on whomever is not doing her bidding (daddy wouldn't let me play with water) and running away yelling. I guess its a slight step up from throwing herself on the floor and banging her fists but only a very slight one. So far the rest of the family finds great humor in this show which is probably not the desired response. Jacqueline not in pre-school this year, instead she goes to a music class on wednesday and we are testing her out with a gymnastics class also. Last week was the first week so we are still not 100% confident it will "take". She likes the climbing and tumbling part but not so much following allong with the rest of the class part. Still too early to tell if she is going to catch on to the point or if we are just wasting our money with the idea.

Bob and I are both happy and blessed to have had such a wonderful year with our girls. We have enjoyed every minute of their baby years (even the bad ones) and are looking forward to see what 2008 will bring. We wish you all a wonderful holiday season and look forward to catching up with each of you when we can. Feel free to leave a comment on the blog and let us know how your holiday was, we'd love to hear!

Love,
Bob, Meg, Ashton & Jacqueline Bear

Thanksgiving

Can't believe it's the end of Thanksgiving weekend already. Seriously this is getting beyond life going quickly and on to some kind of crazy time-lapse photography existence where everything seems to blurr past. I find I need to just get comfortable with the idea that I'm always behind and quit trying to really catch up. Instead I am now focused on survival.

Anyway enough complaining. I should be showing the wonderful things we have to be thankful for. Of course top on the list this weekend should be the wonderful dinner we had with family on thursday. Not only was this my turn to cook (first time in something like five years as I've been pushing off my turn for reasons named Ashton and Jacqueline). Well maybe its old-timers setting in but I really do believe that this was the most beautiful turkey I have ever done. It tasted pretty good too. Sadly in the rush to get everything on the table I didn't take a photo myself. Suzie did though and if I get a copy I'll post it so you can see for yourself. I did take a photo of the table though.



We started out the weekend with the Thanksgiving dessert at Pre-school. Jacqueline was thrilled as she got to go to "school" for the party. The rest of the weekend involved Suzie and the girls coming over on wednesday night to help with the preparations, a wonderful feast on Thursday, a bike ride on Friday, a trip to the movies for Mom & Ashton on Sat (The Bee Movie -- Bob and Jaq went to the gym) and a christmas card photo shoot for the girls on Sunday.


We didn't get the tree this weekend but we did put up some lights and decorations out front. Next weekend we'll have to finish that up. Guess that means we have another pre-christmas post or two coming. I also ordered the Christmas photos and decided to use the blog for the holiday letter. This will at least keep me from being quite so late getting the cards out since stuffing envelopes is a lot quicker without a letter.

Disney Princess Extravaganza

I know I know -- its taken me a very long time to write up this trip summary. I apologize and I'm sure I have a good reason but somehow I can't remember what it is. Something about kids being sick and us being busy I'm sure.

Anyway I do appreciate your patience so here it is our report of the Bear's Vacation at Wally World, oops Disney.

The trip was really just a long weekend, arriving on Sat and flying home on Tuesday. The girls were wonderful ages for the park and Suzie and Cuong were there to help with the adult-to-kid ratio (I would consider 1.5:1 the minimum requirement for a Disney trip). Otherwise the lack of naps would require serious upper body strength to survive. Thankfully, Baby decided to nap on Auntie Suzie for a bit ;-)



We started out with the idea that we would have matching tinker bell outfits on Saturday but Jacqueline didn't make it out of the hotel, seems that two is a much more practical age preferring comfort to style.



Ashton, on the other hand, made it most of the day in her Tinkerbell costume. She was especially happy when Crush talked to her in his show calling her "the girl with the shiny shell". He called her "Awesome Ashton" when she introduced herself. He called on her since she had her hand up to ask him a question (How did you learn how to swim?). When Crush asked her what she had on her noggin (sunglasses) she didn't understand him and she said "My Tinkerbell costume". Then Crush put some sunglasses on and said "look at my Tinkerbell costume" to the delight of the whole audience. It was very cute.



Throughout the trip the girls were beside themselves with glee. Especially Ashton, who seriously could have been an advertisement for the place with the total joy she was oozing out of her very pores.

The highlight of the trip was the princess lunch which got several photo-ops with each of the princess characters who came by the table to see the kids. It was a big hit.



Both the girls loved all the rides. Even baby who was pretty tired the whole trip refusing to nap (and as we found out later coming down with something). Turns out we were there at the same time as the SoCal wildfires and the winds at the park were really strong making air quality pretty poor.

On day three Bob, Meg and Jacqueline got a real-life e-ticket ride via an ambulence to the ER to get Jacqueline a "Breathing treatment" (we also got her a shot of antibiotic, some tylenol, some additional medication to help her breathing). Not exactly the trip end we were expecting, but the Disney help was great, they even picked us up from the ER and took us back to the hotel and got us a humidifier for the tough night.

Luckily, Ashton got to stay at the park with Auntie Suzie so at least one of the Bear's had a fun last day.



Thankfully baby bounced back a bit for the flight home which was a relief and in a few days was back to normal. Mom and Dad however, were very tired and ready for a relaxing trip back to work.

The run-up to Halloween

Its getting close to Halloween and that means a frenzy of costumes, pumpkins, bounce houses and various other fun activities.

I know the suspense was killing you but we have chosen our costumes this year. For Ashton the theme is Barbie's Island Princess, for Jacqueline it's a cheerleader (go team!).

Of course we have to not only have a costume for Halloween but we also need to practice several times by watching the movie, doing the dancing, etc.


We are all very excited I can assure you. Today we took them to one of the very fake "pumpkin patches" which is really just an empty lot that has a bounce house, some bails of hay a large inflatable slide and a pile of pumpkins to "pick". Of course Jacqueline had to go on the slide as well. Which then meant that I had to go up with her and let me tell you -- I was feeling a bit high up after that climb (she on the other hand was thrilled and only smashed her face one time coming down).



On the home front we are mostly getting ready for our big Disney adventure next weekend. We are also hoping to recover from our various electronic plagues which this week include our washing machine having fried the electronics and our TV often deciding to die after 10 minutes of use (everyone knows you need 22 minutes of use to watch any kids show so this is a problem!)



We are also attempting to adjust to a nap schedule with a mobile 2 year old (no more crib). We've had some interesting stories with a few occasions of a nap on the floor, a few occasions with a request to actually sleep (I need to sleep) and one occasion of her getting "stuck" inside her cooking stove by taking off the top and climbing in.

The last one happened yesterday with the dialog going something like this -- [door closed and somehow not opening for her (turns out it wasn't the door she was messing with after all but I didn't realize that until later)].

Jaq: I need to get out
Meg: go to sleep -- its time to sleep
Jaq: Daddy -- I need to get out (tears)
Meg: You need to go to bed
Jaq: Mommy -- tears, I need to get out
Meg: Jaq go to bed now
Jaq:... tears
Jaq: ... tears.. Mommy I stuck
Meg: [finally going into the room].....ohmygod! How the heck did you get in there?!

All kinds of fun!