Presidential Primaries

I finally decided that I am going to vote for John Edwards in the presidential primaries, which are in February in California. I really like how he supports environmental issues. I'm not an environmentalist, but it's important to me that my kids live in a healthy environment with plenty of natural resources and clean air. Living in Fresno, I can see how pollution can make a big impact. So many kids here have asthma and there are days when we can't go to the park. Also, every year there is less and less snow falling in the mountains, which means less water for us as well. I like his stand on other issues as well. His website is JohnEdwards.com.

Merry Christmas!

Last night was Christmas Eve. We went to church. We then came home and made sticky pecan rolls for breakfast the next morning. Costas helped knead the dough, punch it down, and sprinkle on the cinnamon and sugar. We then left out a cookie and milk for Santa, as well as food the for reindeer (oatmeal with colored sugar).




Now, it is Christmas! Costas loved all of his presents. He also enjoyed opening presents for Actaeos. Some of Costas' presents were a wooden car that can be reassembled, a skateboard, a Playmobil castle, and Spiderman toys. Once he opened one present, he was anxious to open another one. Actaeos obviously didn't care about anything.

Tom bought me an iPod Nano. I was really surprised because I never told Tom that I wanted one, but I always thought an iPod would be fun to have. Now that I have started working out at the gym again (just once), it will come in extra handy. I was practical like usual and bought Tom noise-cancelling headphones for when he travels. He liked them. The boys bought him a pop-up Star Wars book, which will be great for them to share.

Unfortunately, when I get caught up in the moment I forget to take pictures, so we don't have much from unwrapping, although I did videotape part of it.

Christmas Pictures

I like the dumb-founded look on Actaeos' face.

Cookies For Santa

Costas had a great time making cookies for Santa (and the rest of us)! The dough kept sticking to the counter top, so they are a little misshapen. The last cookies were made by squishing a big ball of dough onto the cookies sheet. Yummy! Costas took his time decorating the cookies all by himself. He choose a big cookie to give to Santa which we put on our special Santa plate. He said, "Do you think he'll like it?" with much sincerity. Afterwards, he kissed Actaeos as you can see by the icing on his cheek. We can't wait for Santa!

Fluffy Bunny

Costas loves to call Actaeos his fluffy bunny. I'm not sure if I said it before or if he came up with it on his own. Either way, Costas greets Actaeos with a "Hi, my fluffy bunny." This bear suit is the closest I have to a bunny.

2 Months

Actaeos had his 2 month checkup last week. The doctor confirmed it: Actaeos is big (OK, fat)! He is almost 14 pounds and over 2 feet long. Actaeos is lifting up his body with his arms. He is always happy and loves to sleep, although he is up for much longer periods now where he wants to play.

Las Vegas

Tom and Costas went to Las Vegas for a few days. While there they went to Red Rock, the Strip, and Mt. Charleston. Here are a few pictures from their trip.

Preschool

Costas loves going to preschool. He has lots of fun playing with all of his friends. They just had a little show where the kids sang two songs. One song was the Reindeer Hokey-Pokey which was really cute. During part of the song, the kids wiggled their "fluffy tails." Too cute. These are pictures from after the songs, with his teachers, Teacher Kelly and Teacher Deborah. He loves his teachers. Thank goodness he listens to them.

Brothers

Bell Ringing

This is our second year of ringing the bell for the Salvation Army. Costas enjoyed ringing the bell with gusto and handing out candy. He would look each person in the eyes as they walked by us. It is amazing how few people put in money while a little boy looked at them with pleading eyes. After an hour he became restless and wanted to go. The last half hour he played near me, but would occasionally ring the bell. Actaeos slept in the sling the whole time.

Christmas pictures

So, I took lots of pictures, then ended up taking more pictures another day. It's hard enough to get one kid looking good in a picure, let alone two. Here are some samples of what I took.

Warm Winter Day

It was such a nice day outside so we went outside to play. Actaeos is beginning to pay attention to his surroundings. He especially loves Costas.

Gingerbread House

Tom and Costas had too much fun making a gingerbread house. It's a tradition we started last year as a father/son activity. Costas ends up with more candy on him than on the house.