Happy Christmas

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas weekend! I loved opening all the Christmas cards we received and definitely plan on sending out our first family Christmas card next year. Until then I will enjoy what we accomplished for Christmas this year. For one, Drew learned a ton of Christmas songs. Enjoy Rudolph...




Merry Christmas!

News

Perhaps I should mention that I am pregnant? And that we are having a BOY? I still have a long ways to go. He's not due until May 1. Maybe this will give me enough time to get acquainted with little boys and how they work. I am super comfortable in the girl arena. I think I've got them figured out pretty well. But boys? I'm awkward like, "So... pokemon huh? The Hulk... is it?" Is pokemon even around anymore? These are the things I will need to figure out. But I am so excited I can hardly stand it!

All the pictures in this post were taken by Drew, the budding photographer. She has a little plastic camera without a flash. The above photo is the only one I have of me pregnant so far, even though I am already way bigger than that. It's funny seeing things from her viewpoint. And then you'll see Baxter the beast. The rest of the photos are taken from her portfolio titled, Costco. You have seen them here first.

Witchy

Every single day in October Drew told me something different she wanted to be for Halloween. I asked her every day just to hear her entertaining response. Bowser, a dinosaur, a cowgirl, Mario... then for two days in a row she told me she wanted to be a witch. So we went with it.








Unfortunately, I bought the cheapest witches hat ever that wouldn't stay on her head. It lasted an entire three pictures worth until she refused to wear it anymore. Without the hat and broom, trick-or-treating became a little confusing for some. "What are you? A pirate?" One time a nice man asked her what she was and she said, "I'm a Drew." He looked very confused, "A jew?" By that time she was already in someone else's pot of candy so I just let it slide and laughed to myself. We're working on her pronunciation.

We got to see cousins and in special Drew fashion, she had 6 adults following her around trick-or-treating. For the time being she is the one and only golden grandchild on my side. Until my sista's baby in March!




She also drove us around the neighborhood. No trick-or-treaters were harmed.




And thanks to those who voted in our PPCC 2010 contest. Unfortunately for me it was yet another win for Jason who got the most votes with Pumpkin Smasher. Bravo.

Cast Your Vote!

Without further ado, here are the contestants for the 7th Annual PPCC 2010. Any and everyone please vote taking the short survey below!


Rollin' on 40 inch rims and complete with dice in the mirror, the Pumpkin Smasher will surely roll over any competition that gets in his way. But don't be fooled by his flaming hair, Mr. Smasher is actually a sweet guy who enjoys bike rides, wine tasting and curling up with a good book.





Yo NotoRiou$ P.I.M.P.kin up in here. A.k.a Flavor P yo. I be ballin' with da bling in ma grill. Just chillaxin with ma homies. The hunnies be lovin my stash yo. Fo shizzle.





Meet Mrs. Jack Skellington. Yes, boys. She is taken. She's just like your average girl... likes taking long walks on the beach, taking FOREVER to get ready and of course, helping jack prepare for christmas. During Halloween time she can get a little... scary, so i would keep your distance.




Please cast your vote: (the survery scrolls down)

PPCC 2010

Since it's inception in 2004, the Patterson Pumpkin Carving Contest has been a highlight of our year. It started out very humble and has grown into an intense competition. This year we tried to introduce Drew into her heritage of pumpkin carving, but she was quickly disqualified when she refused to even touch a pumpkin seed. Hopefully next year she will understand the true meaning of Halloween.

The contest will be posted and ready for your vote either by tonight or tomorrow morning! Until then, enjoy our past year's contestants...

Autofocus

This last January we were in San Diego at Seaport Village. We stopped outside a cute surf shop at a duck pond and I pulled out my camera to get a picture of Drew and the ducks. My lens would not work and the camera refused to take a picture. It completely stopped working on autofocus mode for the rest of the trip, and I am terrible at manual. So all of our Disneyland pictures the next day were taken with my zoom lense where I had to stand about 20 feet back to get my family in a single picture. I sent the lens in for repair immediately after that trip and it has worked perfectly ever since.

Until our most recent San Diego trip in September. We were at Seaport Village again. Outside the same cute surf shop. Next to the same duck pond. In fact my feet were probably planted in the exact same location. Drew was loving the ducks and I thought it would make a cute picture. It crossed my head that this is right where my camera stopped working last time, but there is no logical reason why it would happen again. Lo, I took out my camera and it refused to snap a picture. On autofocus mode. I still do not have a picture of Drew and those cursed ducks.

I don't know what voodoo is going on at Seaport Village, but I have not been able to use autofocus for the last month and a half. I have been forced to shoot in manual, which means two things. One, I have not taken many pictures and two, of those I've taken most are slightly blurry. Really, how do you shoot in manual mode with a three year old?

But more than this, many aspects of my life could do with some autofocus. This last month has been a blur of sewing machine, unruly puppy, emails, attention demanding three-year-old, packaging and shipping, and busy husband. Having a small business has been both exhilarating and stressful. And everything in between there. There is so much I love about it and a lot that needs to be changed to keep this one-woman-show on the road. Because always the attention demanding three-year-old and busy husband should be the focus. And maybe the unruly puppy, but he has lost some standing with me lately.

Either I should get my autofocus fixed, or get better at doing it in manual.

This is Baxter eating his lunch. Yes, Baxter. Sometimes I feel the exact same way you do.

La Heaven

Every time we stay in La Jolla it gets harder and harder to come back. Last week was no exception, every day was wonderful. We went to Sea World for two of those days. The first time we took Drew to Sea World she was barely a year old and was toddling around. This time however she was large and in charge, pulling out her map and trailblazing the way to each exhibit. She was excited about each animal down to each fish in all of the tanks we saw. When asked though, she will say her favorite part is when her and daddy got splashed by Shamu.















Every other day that we weren't at Sea World, we were parked on the beach. I think Drew could have wrapped up in a towel and slept on the beach. She would walk down to the water, hauling her boogie board, and the second her feet touched water would drop her board and ride the two centimeter surf. She's pretty amazing. We played frisbee, a beach tradition. We built killer sand castles. Drew had sand coming out of her ears. Literally. She might not have ever come back home if she didn't miss her puppy so much.





















I'm already thinking about our next trip.

Birthdays

Jason and Drew's big birthdays were on Sunday and we had a great party weekend. Jason lost all birthday decisions three years ago when Drew was born. She got to pick the cake, the Spongebob plates, and basically stole the entire birthday limelight. Pssh, three year olds.

Of all the possible birthday cakes, Drew asked for two things. Blue frosting and all different colors of m&ms.



She had been talking about her birthday party every day for at least two months. When the day arrived she couldn't nap and couldn't wait. I stalled in every way possible before the party guests (family) were to arrive at 5pm. I curled her hair. I painted her nails. She tried on different princess heels. She chose this dress to wear. Even though it's a dress I needed pictures of for my shop and now it's covered in blue frosting.



Basically we have the best family ever and she had the time of her life. And got really great presents too. It has been like Christmas in our house this past week.



All I can think about when I see this last picture is kissing her cheeks. They are soft, squishy, and cool to the touch. Best things to kiss ever.

Drew loves to tell me how she is growing bigger. That her feet are getting bigger. Her hair is getting bigger. Her eyes are getting bigger. And her hands are getting bigger. Every time I tell her in reply that she can't grow any more and she needs to stay small. And every time her reply, "Never."

Halloween in the Heat

It's been miserably hot here, but we are already gearing up for Halloween. (I've been dreaming about it for months now.) I'm not the only one ready for Halloween because these dresses have been selling in the shop. Here's a new one for this year... same leggings and same cute model though.











Has Drew changed much from a year ago?