Christmas pictures

Just a few pictures from Christmas. Elise had a great time hanging out with her Pepe, making cookies and mulled spiced cider and opening up lots of cool presents. We made a yummy lobster pot pie for dinner on Christmas eve. Hope everyone had a nice holiday!

Merry Christmas

Holly just discovered that batman cannot fly. I always thought he could. Mike laughs at me about this but I think Spiderman is way better. All Batman is is a rich guy who buys things that give him the illusion of flying. No powers. Boo.

Merry Christmas!! pictures to come...

Early Christmas

Grandparents...they always find a way to one up you. An innocent trip around the neighborhood and we came home with this:

Oh come on...

These are the questions that have been pouring from the mouth of our three year old:

"Will Santa get burned in the fireplace when he comes down the chimney?"

"Can I go to the north pole to see Santa's house?" [no Elise] "but on the map I saw it's part of the earth so I know I can go there."

"What would happen if I saw Santa? Would he not be magic anymore?"

"Why do all the Santas look different?"

"Reindeer can't fly, that's silly."

"If Santa can see me all the time then is that like God?"

Ugg. Come on man, we thought we had a few more years of lying before this.

Cringe worthy anecdote-today Elise had her fingers in her nose, took out a prize, looked at it, said "wait." put it back in her nose and said "I don't want to be one those kids who picks their nose."

priceless.

Elise's First Christmas pageant

Tonight we celebrated both mom's birthday and Elise's first Christmas pageant-the first of many, I'm sure. It was such a heartwarming show and of course I got teary-eyed. She was just beautiful as an angel and did such a fantastic job singing and being part of the play. It was kind of a shocker-we figured she would be running around, being silly and causing mischief but she really held it together. It's hard to tell which one is Elise because while Mike was on video camera I had my little non-zooming camera. She is top row, last one to your right:

show and tell

I donate a considerable amount of time to Elise's classroom-between volunteering on busy days, helping with the school's big fundraiser, mystery reader, cooking helper-you name it. I'm one credit short of a room mother and as I have been participating in these events I can see how much effort so many of the parents put into their child's preschool experience. Let me say this is definitely not a "drop and run" school. There are also very few nannies-the parents are hands-on..even the celebrities.

The point of my ramble is I do my best to bring something to the

table..most often it's my time. Other parents do other things. Some donate an entire art room, some some donate an entire playground. Today, for a special kind of show and tell treat, the father of one of Elise's classmates flew his family's private helicopter to the school and landed it in the parking lot so all the kids could have a look. He, unquestionably, takes the cake for best parent involvement-at least in the eyes of the 3 and 4 year olds. I wish I could have taken pictures but I was busy helping to keep track of 19 kids.

The moral of the story is this, You do what you can and be the best you can be, but there will always be someone with a helicopter.

and there was a firetruck there too...

Angel-ironic?

Elise's costume for her Christmas pageant came today and it's so precious. We tried it on to make sure it was the right size and I had to take a picture. The pageant is next Thursday and I made sure to store the costume safely away (out of her reach) or we would have a house filled with feathers. I ordered it from Chasing Fireflies-a favorite online store of mine:

Whoa

I think I just figured out the movie Mulholland Drive. It has only taken me 20 viewings and 8 years to do so...Oh, what vivid dreams will bring to a gal when she's sleeping.

Did you eat a big meal or...?

Nice face Elise:

In case you have been living under a rock, I'm with child. Male child-more specifically. I am just about half-way through the pregnancy and today I reached a milestone that I knew would come eventually..maternity clothes. For the past few months I have been able to get away with my regular jeans (lately with the help of the Belly Band-what a godsend) and leggings. This is primarily because I am carrying higher and I did not gain any weight (in fact, lost) during first trimester due to really bad morning, afternoon and night sickness. For all of those I complained to incessantly, I apologize profusely. I am much better now:-)

Anyway, I digress. Today, with the help of the band, I attempted in vain to zip up my favorite designer jeans and nothing. I then proceeded to do my daily exercise routine and tried again later. Still nothing. I had to pull out the box labeled "maternity clothes" and rummage through them. Most of the pants still look ridiculous and too big but they are much more comfortable than my other ones.

We took a few pictures for our Christmas card (which was a tedious and mostly unsuccessful ordeal) and it's hard to tell in the shot but you can see the belly starting to make it's presence:-)

Oh Christmas Tree!

Behold our woodland tree:

It's a hedgehog wonderland! Those jerks at Pottery Barn may have thought they were onto something but the woodland animal tree was Holly's creation long before they ever advertised it. Yes, I always have beef with Pottery Barn, doesn't everyone? Also, our living room now does look eerily similar to the one in Baltimore as people have pointed out...

Elise is fired up for Christmas. Every day she gets to open an advent calendar door and to her, it's like a small miracle. It was for mom too when she was little!

Happy Holidays!

take note

Mike so lovingly just informed me that I included the picture with our sad looking gravy boat (yes, it's a measuring cup) in the previous post. Someone please buy the Froehlers a gravy boat for Christmas...

Daddy Spochen!

Last weekend we celebrated Mike's German heritage by making a traditional (to his family) German dinner. The recipe for spochens, which are a variant on potato dumplings, has been passed down for generations in Mike's family. It's a somewhat lengthy production and involves shredding potatoes, straining them through cheesecloth, rolling them into balls and boiling them. Personally and much to Mike's chagrin, I think they are rather bland but I'm not much into German food-all that meat and potato is just too much for me. Elise enjoyed helping him and "bonding" over the German heritage.

We ate them with gravy and a big yucky looking German sausage

Memories

Mike took this picture before we left Baltimore so we could have a reminder of what we were leaving behind..ah, the good old days!

Right place at the right time

Weezer:

So we went to the park down the street like any normal day but today we got to see an impromptu mini concert. We were playing on the see-saw and suddenly Weezer showed up with an amp, guitars and a camera crew and just started playing right there in the middle of the playground. Yes, it was one of those surreal moments when I say "I'm sorry, but did that just happen?" I love Weezer so it was our pleasure to stick around and be part of the festivities. Apparently they were shooting all kinds of footage from the neighborhood. We got asked by a few crew members to be up at the front of the small crowd (because we are so cute) and Elise cooperated for a short time but failed to see the magnitude of the situation and ran off. Damn three year olds. Anyway, if you ever see a Weezer video or some sort of montage taking place at a playground I am wearing an army green cargo jacket from Jcrew with a white blouse and Elise is wearing a hot pink dress.

My heart was filled with joy....and as a bonus-they are super nice as we had a chance to chat a bit.

Cornucopia of Thanks

We wrote down things we were thankful for. My list was pretty long and included things like, health, laughing, cashmere, champagne, raw oysters, campfires, lakes, books and music. Mike's list included family, job and hi-def TV. Elise said Momma, my big daddy and playgrounds.

It's that time of year again when my name is plastered all over God's creation and it can be rather irksome. Sirius Holly really does me in..Hollygram anyone? This time of year also means I get to watch one of my favorite movies Love, Actually. It's such a perfect movie, happy, sad, funny all wrapped up in one big package. As a bonus it has probably my all time favorite song, Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell. There isn't a song in the world that moves me more than that one. I can be sappy though...

Happy Thanksgiving and to all a good night:-)

Why, how very Un-Thanksgiving of you!

Elise's first dinner at a fancy restaurant and her first Shirley Temple which she enjoyed immensely...

While most of our country will be cooking turkey at home whilst celebrating killing the Indians and stealing their land, we here in LA will be dining out. I know, it seems so anti-thanksgiving but we figured it would probably be a long time until we could guiltlessly not make Thanksgiving dinner at home. (and it was Mike's idea) I have only eaten out on T-day one other time and it was several years ago in Savannah, GA and it was quite lovely. Don't get me wrong I luuurrrve to cook but I'm OK with breaking tradition for this year. I'll make it up at Christmas..

In addition, we frolicked at the beach today..nothing says November holiday quite like that!

Elise's new do

we chopped it to her shoulders..it had to be done. but she looks so studious now!

Haiku #2

starbucks iced half caf

clock ticking in quiet house

i hate carrot top

Haiku

cold nose on my face

chilly california air

warm and toasty heart

Good things come to those who wait

Finally!

Weekend in the ATL!

We headed to Atlanta for a short but fun weekend to attend a baptism for the newest member of Mike's family, Peter "PJ" James. (Jess and Marc's new son). We are lucky to have him as our new Godson which brings the total up to 14 for the two of us:-0 Although I had a horrible head cold for the duration of the trip, still managed to have a good time. PJ is a blessed angel and it was so nice to finally meet him! Elise really enjoyed playing with her cousins Joelle and Neva. We don't have many good pictures to share but here are a few and they capture the "gist" of the weekend.

Dinner picnic in the living room:

Elise enjoyed dancing outside of the church in her new attire:
Ok, this isn't a great picture (we're not all looking and I have sick eyes/face) but that is the little angel:
PJ taking his swim with JC:

Aircraft Advisory: boarding edition

I will take this opportunity to discuss my feelings about aircraft boarding. This list is in no way exhaustive-just a few items that came to mind over the weekend:

1)I'm sorry to interrupt your novel on Kindle, it's really awesome that you brought your whole clan on the plane including four young children and a baby! If it's not too much trouble, maybe we could get them into their seats rather than letting them run up and down the aisle while people are trying to board.

2)I'm really sorry you couldn't stow your carry on luggage and huge souvenir bag in the overhead bin directly above your seat, make peace with it and move along to the next one so we can board.

3)I noticed you are assigned to seat 11A. It's interesting that you are trying to locate it at seat 23F..It's fairly obvious how one might get those two confused.

4)Listen guy in Airtran business class: I can see you are gloating about your seat assignment. I know that last night you upgraded yourself online by paying $99 extra because you are travelling alone and they had a seat available. Anyone can do it. It doesn't make you special or elite. So wipe the smug look off your face while I wait here for 11A to find her seat.

5)Those are great socks you bought at Brookstone a minute ago..if it's OK with you, would you mind actually putting them on your feet as opposed to going barefoot so they can "breathe" first.

sorry, it was a hectic weekend;-)

perhaps my favorite comedy...

If I was able to rate "This is Spinal Tap" 10 stars on Netflix I would. I have seen this movie probably 50 or more times and it still remains one of my all time favorites. I, of course, am a huge fan of Christopher Guest movies in general but this early one really takes the cake.

Living in LA affords many an opportunity for celebrity sightings but I personally don't care that much unless it's someone I really admire and that usually includes comedic or indie or both actors who may or may not be recognizable to everyone. On Halloween I had the great fortune of seeing one of my favorites, Catherine O'hara while we were out and about. I love her. love her. love her. Ever since Beetlejuice. But it seemed fitting to mention it since she stars in many of the C. Guest movies.

That's all I got. My home is filled with germs and cooties. Both husband and child have been incapacitated the last few days and I'm mentally and physically exhausted. Thankfully, I only have some congestion and slight cough. This has caused temporary vocal loss and I'm currently sporting a sweet deep and husky voice .

Burrito

Ah hahahahahaha...

sigh

I'm just going to go ahead and pretend that I didn't see a picture of Suri Cruise drinking her milk from a baby bottle. She's Elise's age.

Guess the celebrity

Its like one of the children's "I spy" games. Can you spot the celebrity?

More visitors!

Last week our good friends Erik, Melissa and their twins Sara and Julian made the trip out to LA to visit us. We had an awesome time with them and we think they really enjoyed our little piece of California. Elise was happy to have two toddlers to boss around and play with. We kept most things simple-playground, beach, pumpkin patch and adults dinner out one night. They had a record number of celebrity sightings for visitors and managed to capture some memorable footage of Holly singing Debbie Gibson on the beach.

The kids were champion trick-or-treaters..we made it around our whole neighborhood with no tiring whatsoever. I wish we had better pictures of the costumes-Julian was Max from Where The Wild Things Are and it was too cute but we didn't get a good shot.

Sara & Elise:

Julian:
Mike working hard:
Holly working equally as hard:
Mel & Elise & Sara:

possibly the dorkiest picture of Mike ever:

who says you can't carve pumpkins with power tools?

scary and somewhat constipated looking Medusa:

Happy non-threatening Medusa:

Ladybug:

Fairy Princess:

I pray I get lots of candy:

The kids enjoying all the their loot:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Oh That Mr. Draper...

While watching Mad Men tonight I decided that I need to have Betty Draper's entire wardrobe..genius.

Mike has been an eager participant in the "device rep" (much like pharm drug reps but for surgery related devices, more $$$) dinners through his department at work and it involves many dinners and cocktails of the Mad Men variety. Another night, another expensive dinner in Beverly Hills on someone else's tab.

I would be more jealous about these wonderful outings but for every one he attends he reciprocates by taking me on an equally nice date:)

Me Too, Iguana

Ah, nostalgia. While Mike has been away in Fresno I have spent WAY too much time bidding on vintage toys on Ebay. I can't believe some of the stuff that's on there. My favorite collection of books as a child was this series called Sweet Pickles. I remember the day my mom ordered them and also the day I received them in the mail-it was pure joy. My favorite book was called Me Too, Iguana because it involved an iguana that wanted to do everything that other kids were doing and such was the case with me and my older sisters. "I wanna be with the older kids!" As I would cry and pound my fists on the front door.

Over the years the condition of my childhood treasures deteriorated or got lost or thrown away. This included a hefty collection of second edition Strawberry Shortcake dolls complete with pets (I had every one including Strawberry's nemeses Sour Grapes and Purple Pie Man), the Pickles books and of course, Cabbage Patch Kids. Oh and I also had an impressive collection of stickers as well.

The money that people are getting for these items on Ebay is redonkulous. The complete set of Pickles books is going for $250!! Yikes. I'm sure some of my now vintage artifacts are lying around in my dad's basement but the day I actually go through and look, well, that's another story.

What a Life

You know we have reached a new low when during a game of Candyland with Elise Mike says "you know, Princess Frostine is hot." To which I reply, "yeah, she really kind of is."

just for smiles

tear jerker

Last night we made the mistake of watching Marley & Me-thinking it was a comedy. While Mike rolled his eyes through most of it (that heartless man) I found myself sobbing for a good hour. I went to bed with puffy eyes and red streaks on my face, Mike just looked at me with pity. For anyone who has seen it, how sad is the part where the little girl gives the dog her lamby? I was pretty much game over after that scene.

We had a nice weekend. Mike didn't get called into work which was a plus and we headed out to dinner two nights in a row (Elise included). We also got some new games and finally introduced Elise to Operation. Somehow, I can't help thinking Mike has an edge-someone who does interventional neurosurgery isn't exactly a fair opponent. Anyway, I still hate the game as much as I did when I was eight and I still scream and jump just as far out of my chair as I did back then when that stupid buzzer goes off.

I'm slowly getting used to my new computer (switching to a mac isn't very difficult but there is a slight learning curve) It is a beautiful computer and as soon as I get all my pictures and music in working order I will be able to do some pretty cool things...

Hope everyone had a nice weekend:-) LA is COLD..brrrrrr we had to light (turn on) the fireplace!

realization

uttered with significant disappointment earlier today:

Elise: "well, I guess I only have one mom."

Dance Party

We Froehlers love our Saturday night Safety Dance Party on First Wave...

check out her fierce moves:

Elise is such a music lover and it makes us so happy (particularly mom). She has her likes and dislikes and is now in control of the satellite radio on the way to school. "no mom, i don't like it. ok, this is good"...etc.

Tonight she heard Letter To Elise by The Cure and promptly went to her playroom, wrote her name on a piece of paper, put it in an envelope and brought it to us saying, "this is a letter to me." We thought it was very cute...