Getting Our Wine On

The best part of going up to wine country is having a designated driver. It is even better when the designated driver is not you! (Poor Leslie is pregnant so she was unable to imbibe, but she was a great sport.) James and Leslie picked Tim and me up at my folks place complete with bagels and coffee and we headed up to wine country.

The weather was absolutely picture perfect heading up the peninsula and into SF. After we crossed the Golden Gate the weather changed into drizzle. That was OK though because it kept the crowds away and we were able to actually learn something from our wine hosts. Our first stop was Iron Horse (http://www.ironhorsevineyards.com)where/ I started with a sparkling wine flight- Awesome. Our host was a young guy who was very knowledgeable. We could have hung out there for hours but we had to get to our appointment at Siduri (http://www.siduri.com/).

At Siduri, we were treated to a behind the scenes tour of their Dallas Cowboy themed wine making warehouse. Then we headed to DeLoach (http://www.deloachvineyards.com/) , Ridge (http://www.ridgewine.com/), and finally F.Teldeschi (http://www.teldeschi.com/history.htm) where we got to speak directly to the wine maker, John Teldeschi, in his very cold wine tasting room. It was so fun. Thank you Leslie and James!!!

Big wheels keep on turning

The boys were very spoiled this Christmas. They woke up in San Diego to find that Santa thought that they were very good. They were excited to see that Santa and the reindeer nibbled on the cookies and carrots. Then they had to wait very patiently until their Grandma Laurie and Grandpa Carl came over with their Uncle Chris. It was only then that they were able to open they presents. The favorite of course was the Geo track airplane kit and the blue angles toy planes. Grandpa Carl enjoyed setting up the train around the tree.

Then they got on a plane (delayed- AGH) to open even more presents at their grandparents (Grammy and Grandpa Wonderful) house. They were a bit overtired by all the excitement, but Christmas only comes once a year, right?

The big hit was the big wheels that they spent hours riding around as fast as they could. They also enjoyed singing along to educational video games.



I think the new version of the ABCs threw them off.

Crash!

The rest of the Kostick family enjoyed drinking copious amounts of wine and even had a impromptu drum circle that I was lucky enough to capture until Grandpa Wonderful shut it down.

Reflections of What Life Used To Be

Being back at my parents home for the holidays I was able to peek at alot of old photos. It is fun seeing how I looked at my boys age and noticing the similarities and differences. Although the most fun is seeing me when I was between ages 11 and 14. Wow those were the years- yeah I think I was probably considered pretty nerdy/dork by my peers. Although I don't think those labels bothered me much. I liked being considered one of the smart girls. I do remember feeling that I was not one of the "cute/ hot/ good looking" girls and that made me feel sad.

The picture shows my first day of school starting at Centerville Junior High, 7th grade. From the picture you can see that I was very excited, my brother- not so much. I think in 6th grade I had cut all my hair off and looked like a little boy, but by 7th I may have started to take an interest in my appearance and asked my mom to give me a home-perm. Then I would wake up early to curl it and aquanetted it into a fluffy mess with my Mom's old curing iron which was caked with all of my hairspray. I still had a mouth full of metal but now sported some stylish 80s clothes. By 8th grade, I had grown my hair out a little and started focusing on making my bangs do extreme things like the donut or waterfall look. I think in 8th grade I also started to really get into unnatural looking make-up too.

When I was younger (college aged) I used to be repulsed when I looked back at my young self, and now I just chuckle. I think my boys will get a real kick out of what their mom used to look like. It was pretty hard growing up and feeling awkward and insecure. Hopefully, they will realize that what you were or how you were growing up doesn't mean that the rest of your life will be that way. People can change, grow, and continue to evolve.

Through the wonder of the Internet and social networking web sites it is nice to reconnect with people you didn't really hang out with growing up. I like putting my immature past aside and forge new friendships on an adult level. Although, my friends that put up with me back in the day are the true winners in my book.

Christmas Card Lane

Christmas Card Lane is a place in our neighborhood where the houses all display big Holiday greeting "cards" on their lawn complete with massive amounts of lights and decorations. We grabbed the grandparents and met up with some friends and walked around and enjoyed the festivities. It was great seeing how much the boys loved it and hanging out with good people.

Highlights of the boys' night were seeing their friends Beck and Max (Their mommy is Sarah from See Sarah Spin), all the mechanical trains and displays, and Santa Claus with Rudolph. Santa was rolling through the neighborhood on some sort of vehicle that had been converted into a motorized sleigh complete with a reindeer at the front. He was handing out candy canes to all the children and giving sleigh rides to his friends. They boys told them that they have been good boys and wanted "GeoTrack". A little bizarre, but both the boys and their Grandpa Carl loved it.

Musicals in their future?

Whenever the boys are playing nicely together they spontaneously break out into song. It just cracks me up. I will be in the other room and just start to hear my rough and tumble boys sweetly singing together. Usually it is a nursery rhyme song, but lately it has been Christmas carols. The favorites are of course, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph, and Santa Claus is coming to town.

I finally attempted to catch them in action this morning while they were doing their brand new Christmas puzzles from Debbie and Laurie. It was a new song that I hadn't heard before.

Nightmare

P woke up in the middle of the night all sweaty, crying and shaking due to a bad dream. This is what he told me about it:


"Santa put me into the fire. He put Rudolph in there too."

Poor guy, I guess the holidays are stressing him out like the rest of us.

Front and Center

My boys had their first holiday program last night with their pre-school. We were told that we should have them wear either red or green shirts so I found the only red and green shirts we had which were long sleeved with a baseball and dumptruck, respectively. When I got to the church where the program was taking place, I noticed that all the children were dressed in their nicest holiday attire and not wearing jeans and long sleeved t-shirts. Uh oh. I felt a little embarrassed. Oh well, this mommy is a little green and now knows better.

The program started with the little children and then finally my boys' 4 year old class came up. They were all wearing glittery crowns that they made. Somehow my boys mange to align themselves in the front row and right in the middle. They sang the Dreidel song and We Wish You a Merry Christmas , complete with hand jesters. It was very cute.

After the program, Santa came out and all the parents started pushing their kids to see him. Soon there was a large swarm of people trying to see Santa. At the time, the boys were on Tim's lap and we finally convinced them to go meet Santa. They left for the big line and we stayed back because we figured it would be a while before it was their turn. Little did I know that somehow the boys managed to worm their way through the crowd and were all of a sudden 2nd in line to meet Santa. Once the girls ahead of him dismounted Santa's lap, Adam did the one leg out with a bent knee (on your mark) move to ensure their place. Unbelievable. I have a feeling I am going to have to watch them a little closer to see how they seem to finagle these things, as I hope they aren't unfairly taking advantage of the other children. Hmmm.

Happy Birthday

The boys made it to 4! Look how far we have come from 4 years ago!

Little boys little problems, bigger boys bigger problems

When the boys were small, Tim and I were raw and ragged from having two little bundles of joy to take care of. I still shudder when I think of the endless crying, whining, and sleepless nights. One of Tim's colleagues told him, "little boys, little problems; big boys, big problems." I think now that the boys are on the verge of the 4th birthday we have gotten to some bigger problems. Right now is it lying. I did not think I would be dealing with this problem so soon. I really was hoping to get some of the no longer acting like a baby, but still a sweetie time. Patrick shattered that idea yesterday when I picked the twins up from school.
It was show and tell day so both children brought toys from home to share. AJ brought his GeoTrack fire truck with mini fireman and PJ brought 3 similar looking dinosaurs and a mini GeoTrack cowboy. As we were leaving the classroom, PJ had 4 similar looking dinosaurs and told me three were his and one was one he had found at school. I said we can not take that dino home because it is not ours and that would be stealing and we do not steal. PJ protested and complained that he needs 4 dinos for a Mommy Dino, Daddy Dino, Adam Dino and Patrick Dino. I told him firmly no and to please put the dinosaur away so we can get going home. I left the boys to put things away in the classroom and proceeded to the front desk to chat about what to bring in for birthday (since I still can't get my act together to have a party for their friends). The boys come out and I ask if PJ had put the dinosaur back. PJ says yes. I try to pick him up and he backs up from me, so I know something is up. Then I ask where did he put the dinosaur and he tells me in his cubby. So I say, let's go see. The boys run ahead and enter the classroom. When I get to the classroom and check his cubby, there is no dinosaur in his cubby. (I actually now think he was trying to unload the stolen dino from his pocket before I noticed.) I was so upset with him. I tell them that lying is unacceptable and I am very disappointed in Patrick's choices. Then I ask PJ where is the dinosaur. He still doesn't fess up even when I am checking his pockets (Mommy getting really mad now). Finally, AJ tells me that PJ put the dino in his green jacket's zipper pocket. I find the dinosaur, remove it, give him a stern taking to, put the angry/crying boy in the car, put the other child in the car, and drive home were I get "look at my face, Mommy, it is not happy". Once home PJ promptly goes to a time out in his room. Apparently, he is very sorry and "won't ever do it again." Time will tell.

Who are you?

When I went to pick up the boys from school, they were sitting in a circle with their friends listening to a story. One of their friends tapped AJ and said Patrick your mommy is here. AJ just said I am Adam. Then another friend asks Patrick, "are you Adam or Patrick?". He calmly says "I am Patrick, that is Adam." This happened a few more times as we were getting ready to leave. It shocked me that their friends have trouble telling them apart. To me they are so different. Besides we still do not know if they are identical twins or not. Also, it is not like I dress them alike unless it is for pictures or if grandparents are coming. On a daily basis they are dressed similar- same style of clothes, but different colors to avoid the freaky Oompa Loompa look.
I asked the boys on the car ride home if many of their friends get them mixed up and call them by the wrong name. They told me it happens "a lot of times". I then asked if they were upset that their friends couldn't tell who was who. They said no because they liked their brother. (followed by a "you my best friend?" and "I am your friend, bubpee." hug hug) I wonder what they would have said at one of those moments when "you are not my friend anymore."

I heart SD

One of our favorite things to do in SD is to go up to Pizza Port about ~11 to 11:30, which is early enough to not annoy too many fellow patrons. We drink beer and eat pizza while the children play on the video games. The driving car game is A and P's favorite. They each sit in a seat and "race" each other. They even let Lexi race with them. I wonder how much longer it will be when they figure out that there are "racing" to the video game intro and there's no money in the machine.
After eating we walk down to Fletcher's Cove and play on the beach. This time, I made the mistake of not packing towels or swimsuits since I figured it would be too cold for them to go in. I was wrong. We had soaking wet and sandy kiddos for the ride home, but I didn't care. I love how much fun they have at the beach and feel so blessed to be able to live so close to the ocean. I am excited that they get to grow up here and share my same love for the beach.

Giving thanks

We spent Thanksgiving with Tim's parents and the Quesnell family, this time at Aaron and Jessica's home. Since we moved to SD in 2004, I think we have spent 3 out of our last 5 Thanksgivings together. The first one was at Brian and Aaron's grandma's house and I was heavily pregnant. I went into pre-term labor the next day. We blamed grandma's fruit salad that had eaten the majority of. Come to think of it, I think I out ate everyone that year. It took a lot of work to get up to 200+ lbs. AGH- I just spent a half hour looking the picture of me passed out on the couch while others played cards. And they had an automatic shuffler that was so loud and it annoyed me, but I was too tired to care. It is a horrible picture and I will re-post when I find it.
The next year the babies were almost one and we were at Brian and Dina's old house. At that time, A and P were the only kiddos. This year we had 5 children (Adam, Patrick, Lexi, Will and baby Ethan) under 4 and one one the way. Times have changed. There is finally a kid table.

I am so thankful for the love of my family and friends.

Grow smaller

The boys found their Zebra and Elephant Halloween costumes in their closet from 2 years ago (2006) and wanted to wear them again:

Mommy: But you are now too big to wear those costumes.
Boys: When I grow smaller I can wear these costumes again.
Mommy: I am sorry, but you will just get bigger and you wont get smaller.
Boys: No, if I eat a lot of candy I will grow smaller. I am going to eat lots and lots of candy.
Mommy: Why would eating candy make you smaller?
Boys: Because you said that if I eat candy I wont grow big.

When it rains it pours....

I made it back from Philly and I am exhausted. I am so happy to have Tim's folks here to help out in my absence. I am sure Tim feels the same. Two trips back to back and a like million billables to do in between. I have to operate at over 125% of my utilization until the end of the year. It is going to be tough. I can't even begin think about planning for the holidays and boy's 4th birthday, which are all right around the corner. Yikes. Will it be bad if they still never had an official (inviting their friends) birthday party? I don't know if I have the time and energy required to pull it off. *Sigh*

Tim told me a funny that happened when I was gone:
Boys: Where's Mommy?
Tim: In Philadelphia.
Boys: Are there lights in Philadelphia?

They are so random. Guess they wanted to make sure I wasn't in the dark.

FDA- finally

I finally got to have my first meeting at the FDA. I have been chomping at the bit to go for years, but somehow my upper managers always went instead of me. Not this time! I was so nervous, but it went really well and the clients seem pleased. They even made me sit at the big conference table and not in the back like I wanted. And I had to talk and answer questions! They just love to throw me into the fire. Super shuttle called me at 3:30 am to let me know that they will be picking me up at 5:30. They were late and didn't come until 6:30 am. Today is going to be tough and I have to still make my reservations for Philly next week.

Prop sadness

Boo.
It looks like 8 might pass. I thought Californians were more progressive. I am saddened.
Boo again.
Prop D is going to pass. They are banning booze on the all public beaches. No more wine with my sunset watching. Boo.

It's raining in baltimore

I made it to DC (I had to wash a ton of laundry, according to the boys). It is kinda cool that I am in the nations Capitol for election day. As much as everyone is excited for the presidential election, I am more concerned over California propositions. In particular, I am most concerned about Prop 8. If Prop 8 passes it would amened the state constitution and eliminate the right of same sex couples to marry. Naturally, I voted No.
What shocked me is the amount of yes on 8 signs and protesters there were in my neighborhood. My boys asked me what they said, and I told them that the signs had hateful words. They told me the signs need a time out. Yesterday, when we passed a particular large crowd on our way home, PJ told me that some of the people holding the signs did not look like they were bad people, they just need to put down their signs of hate. Let's hope Prop 8 doesn't pass.

Happy Halloween!!!

Silly boys

Big Bear- not so fun

When looking for kindling for the fire at night, it is not advisable to rely on the flashlight feature of your i-phone.