Christmas Is Coming

Rosemary has the most Christmas spirit this year -- and the length of her wish list is proportional to that spirit.

She targeted our victim at "Santa's Tree Farm" in Half Moon Bay...

... and she made a box lid's worth of crafts at the Meadow Heights Elementary holiday fair.

Silas has told her, repeatedly, that Santa Claus does not exist.

Rosemary refuses to believe it.

When it came to hanging tree ornaments, all three kids did their part.

This is important business. You can see the intense concentration as they try to get those little hooks over  spindly branches.

Planetarium

I chaperoned Silas' third-grade class on a visit (by city bus) to the planetarium at the College of San Mateo.

If you want to hear what Silas' third grade class sounds like, please watch the video with the sound turned all the way up.

Thanksgiving

Here are the five of us at Thanksgiving at Ray and Charlotte's house.

Our hosts were too busy to sit for a photo, unfortunately, but I did capture the following...

Dad and Mom, crashing the Kelly festivities...

... and Aunt Ellen and Uncle Frank, whom we were thrilled to have visiting from Connecticut.

Tess in the Picture (sort of)

The Grandparents Keithley came down for a Thanksgiving visit.

When Tess was younger, it would take a day or two before she warmed up to them.

No longer.  Now she lights up immediately at their arrival.

Looking over the photos, I realized that I never got a shot of Tess' face.

But take my word for it, this is Tess playing around with my folks.

Monterey

Over a long weekend, we took a family trip down to the Monterey Peninsula.

We stayed at Asilomar, rustic lodgings abutting the Asilomar State Beach.

The kids did not want to go to the Monterey Aquarium ("who wants to look at fish"). 

Then they had a blast and did not want to leave...

...although the diver couldn't talk Rosemary into a dip.

We didn't expect good weather, but we lucked into one surprise day of sunshine.

Halloween 2016

Was anyone more excited about Halloween this year than Tess?

Rosemary designed her own jack o'lantern (our only child with any interest in doing so...).

She was careful to include two "zombie arms" to "make it scary."

The scariest part was my fear that Tess' hair would catch on fire.

Our three trick-or-treaters had a great time walking the San Mateo streets and meeting up with their friends.

Nine!

The girls gave Silas a nine-fingered salute for birthday #9.

AYSO

Silas enrolled this fall in the American Youth Soccer Organization -- his first sports team.

AYSO focuses on positive coaching and enjoyable games.

Silas has gone from not wanting to play for fear he'd be the worst player on the team, to running his heart out and taking shots on goal.

The team (The Green Machine) is 2-2-2 so far, and Silas is having a great time.

The Preschool Blues

Tess started out strong in preschool. 

Early on, I tried to put a dress on her, and she demanded "my red shirt with words on it." 

Unsure what she meant, I asked what the words said.

"It says, Tess is going to preschool!"

(It says: "Building Blocks Preschool Program.")

Lately, however, Tess has become nervous about going to preschool.

She claims to be "too sleepy" to attend, and around 8:00 a.m. she crawls back into her bed and pretends to fall asleep.

We have called her bluff by allowing her to sleep -- as long as she sleeps "on the way there." 

Tess keeps her eyes shut all the way to the school, and then "wakes up" and marches into the classroom.

Once the day is over, she admits that she had a great time.