Catching up, kind of

Okay, so we have done a bunch of stuff but mostly regular old everyday stuff, so I didn't take pictures. Which is really too bad, because everyday stuff is what happens most often and also what is the easiest to forget. Blah blah, here are some pictures.

We have been cooking. Hazel is an excellent helper. She especially likes to lick the bowl and spoon. She really likes to eat flour. Straight flour. It seems icky but she likes it.
There has been a LOT of dressing up and/or dancing. Hazel has plenty of dress-up clothes but she also likes to create her own (see the leg things below). Thank goodness we have laundry facilities.
Hazel has this friend, E. they met at Story Time at the Library. I really like her parents and Hazel likes E. so it is a great combination. They had a princess play date and made some (disgusting) Easy Bake cakes. Those mixes are gross. We are going to stick with making our own. But the girls had a great time.
Hazel also got her own video game. It is a Leapster and she loves it. It has age-appropriate games (hooray!) and she can do it all by herself. Way different from other game systems we may have at the house. Plus, it should prove helpful on long trips.
Concentrating.
Apparently, I think the kid is cute playing her game. Notice the tongue, helping the concentration.
A couple of different expressions in her heart pajamas.
I see this face way too often. This child is oh, so defiant.
Hazel has a LOT of art projects. We are overrun in art. Hazel decided to have an Art Show and sell some of her art. It went well until a furry, black-and-white critic pooped on some art. Still, we got rid of a bunch of paper.*
Hazel just finished another round of swim lessons. We do them at Westminster and love them. The teachers are students, the classes are cheap (like me!) and Hazel loves getting to swim every week. She is still cannot swim on her own but she is getting more confident in her swimming ability and is learning to love the water. Swimming at Tutu's should be awesome this summer.
It was also Easter. We dyed eggs with Jenni, Christie, Shauntil, Tayvia and Ashton. It was good times. The kids barreled through the eggs, but I did make a fancy rainbow one and Shauntil made some using the Cricut and vinyl.
The next day we made deviled eggs for Heather's Easter party. Notice the fancy picks. I apparently love my Cricut (and Shauntil's cartridges).
Hazel has also spent a bunch of time with her Auntie Michelle. She does not pack lightly. It has been great having Michelle in the basement. Hazel and Michelle spend a lot of quality time together.

And we have been working on various house projects. One day, our house will be even better. Currently, it is somewhat worse. :)

*Okay, so I can't/won't/don't keep all of her art projects. There is way too much! I try and take digital pictures of them and eventually I will make a book compiling them (or not) but I just can't keep all of that paper. Not to mention the 3D art.

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January = not so many pictures :(

This pretty much represents all of the pictures I took in January. Pathetic. First up, I was stressed out and busy at Hazel's party and didn't take a single picture. Luckily, Ross stepped in a took a few. But, birthday #4 is going to be poorly represented. *sigh*

AND THEN!! the Sunday after Hazel's birthday (January 3, the day that will live in infamy), I woke up with a bum back/leg. Come to find out, I herniated my L5 disc. Awesome. Thus, I spent most of January trying to lie down. Except that it didn't always work because (a) I have a kid and (b) January is the busiest time of the year at work. I sucked it up enough to go to work and that was about it. I knew I was in trouble when Hazel clapped because "mommy is getting up". Little did she know, I was just getting up to pee. 2010 will be the year of the bad mommy*.

I had an epidural cortisone shot on Friday. The dye they shot into my back was apparently made of battery acid and snake venom but the cortisone was fine. Or I was still in pain numbness from the dye. Anyway, I can take my pain killers and anti-inflammatory meds again so I am doing better (or at least adequate) and tired of being a gimp. My right foot is regaining some feeling and movement but still trips me up. A lot.

Moving on. I have a few pictures.

Hazel's birthday party. I did not get a cake made but Costco came through and we decorated it with Playmobil mermaids.

Hazel loved everything she got for her birthday (half of which we stashed away for later)
Wig from my work white elephant party. Our maintenance guy ended up with it and did not want it (shocking) and was kind enough to let me have it. As expected, Hazel loves it.
She made a snowman at the library story time. We love the library. Dang, I should have taken a picture of Hazel and her new library card.
Swimming lessons are not going well.
Unicorn horn. She is obsessed with unicorns and made herself a horn from Play-doh.
Happiness at going to a tea party with Auntie Michelle (who was kind enough to take the Hazel while Geoff took me to the hospital to have a giant needle stabbed in my back.
And that is it for January. I vow to not let pain nor numbness slow me down in February. You hear that sciatica!! I am done with you and your lameness (ha!)

*Currently, she is not feeling great, with a vicious cough and has been throwing up from the coughing. I am tired of changing her, washing her and her clothes and whatever she spits up/barfs on so I am back her cough into a garbage can. It has been working great because I can just rinse it out. Still, I feel bad. But, she seems happy with the arrangement.

December (really, December)

I used up most of my sitting tolerance uploading pictures so there won't be a lot of writing. I tried to type on my beloved iPhone, but couldn't figure it out. So, I will just be quick.

We had fancy brunch at the Little America for Christmas. Hazel was extra fancy and wore her Cinderella dress.

Tayvia went regular fancy, not princess fancy.
The Santa was horrible. He had a weird look about him and wasn't very good with kids. Bad job, Little America.
Ha! My kid is a pill.
They had an awesome gingerbread house in the lobby.
Sometimes my kid is less of a pill.
Driving to my dad's on Christmas Eve. Hazel was exhausted and fell asleep. Being an awesome mom, I took a picture instead of removing the tiara. Also, I think I am currently driving on the freeway while taking this picture.
Jenni read Hazel a story.
Both Gloria and Hazel had crowns.
Cookies we made (from scratch!) for Santa.
Our stockings
Nova and Jenni spent the night too. Nova pondering eating the overbearing child.
Santa left us moustaches in our stockings.
Yeah! More food for Hazel's kitchen.
This is from a massive snowstorm we had on 12/30/09. Hazel went outside and played for at least an hour-and-a-half while I was working. A good break for both of us.
Cute!
My next goal is to get January's pictures uploaded. Including all the birthday pictures. Not today, however.

Maui Part 4: The "other" camera

We only have a few beach shots, as our waterproof camera broke. Gah!! It doesn't recognize the door as shut. I say we override the sensor but Geoff wants to send it in to be fixed. Pshaw.

Anyway, the beach. The beach is great. The weather was perfect. It was really a fabulous week. I cannot thank Geoff's aunt Susan enough for the use of her condo. The location was great and it was nice to have the full kitchen to cook.

We built many a sand castle.

They were necessarily pretty but they were big.
And we made a mermaid tail for the little mermaid child.
She was blissfully happy about it. Later, she had us dig a moat around it and then "fill it in". As if you can fill in a moat with a tiny sand bucket running back and forth to the ocean. Have I mentioned the sciatica?!?! Luckily, she was fairly happy with the just mermaid tail, as long as we kept her somewhat damp.
And here is where Geoff broke the camera. Or it spontaneously broke itself. Grr. At least he got a couple of nice fish shots.

Maui Part 3: There are a lot more pics on the card without 200 pictures of waves

Continued from the previous post, I loves me some jelly fish. And even more than that, I love this creepy shot with Geoff being reflected in the glass. And even MORE than that, I love the Geoff.
Okay, this is a less creepy shot.
Hazel played tour guide.

This is a shark.
That is a sting ray.
Moving on from the aquarium.

We went to Lahaina (and had a crazy delish shave ice from ummm.... random shave ice stand. Look for it!) And we saw the banyan tree. Oh, I am sorry I meant THE Banyan Tree. Blah blah blah banyan blah blah.
Awesome family shot with the time.
So, I like family shots. I like to see all of us and to have proof of our happy-family-ness. The last time we went to Hawaii was in 2006 (ack! so long) and we took this shot in Hosmer's Grove.

2006:
And a similar shot in the redwood forest in 2009.

2009:
Holy cow, we have all changed so much. Of course, the kids is 4x older so she has changed the most but still.

We also went to Santa's photo-opportunity-land in the Queen K's Mall. Alas, Santa was sick. But, we took a picture anyway. A prior day we saw another Santa at the Maui Mall and we was creeeeeepy. We have a picture. But a physical picture, not digital. Come to my house and I will show you. Technically, it is at my work, but I will bring it home for you.
Oh, this is at the redwood forest, I should move it. Not gonna.
We also went to Iao Valley to hike around (which is awesome when (a) I gots the sciatica and (b) we are facing a 5.5 hour plane ride and thus my sciatica will be even worse if I inflame it by walking around. Also, I am old.)

Moving on. We saw a cat that looked like Rufus.
And we played in the houses.

And Geoff carried Hazel on his shoulders. That is the Iao needle in the background.
And, of course, we made Hazel keep up on her studies since she missed so many days of preschool.

I have a couple more shots from the little camera. But I am trying to boost my post count. Mwa hahahahaha