Christmas: Chipmunks & the Gingerbread Family

With four sets of parents living in different locations, holidays are tricky. We have been on a four year rotation. This was our year to stay home. It worked out for the best as the stress of preparing for my Zumba evaluation crippled my immune system and left me defenseless against the seasonal cold. By Christmas Eve, my voice was completely gone, allowing me to experience a truly "silent night." Thanks Rich for making all the holiday calls for us.

The morning of Christmas Eve, we accompanied Uncle Mort, Aunt Lacie and the cousins to the matinee showing of The Chipmunks II: the Squeakquel. Good recommendation Molly! It did not disappoint. It was a blissful moment listening to Rocky's constant giggles and seeing Jack mesmerized by his first big-screen movie. I've never seen him so still, only moving every 10 minutes or so to rotate between Aunt Lacie's lap and mine. We completed the experience with a trip to the theatre arcade to pretend to play the games. How long can we make this last until the kids will actually require quarters to be entertained?

Then we spent a quiet Christmas Eve at home with just the kids, for the first time. Unsure of how to proceed during this precedent event, we were relieved when my friend Jennifer showed up with a family of gingerbread cookies that bore a striking resemblance to us. An hour of playing ensued as we danced and marched our tiny Sorensons around the table, dipped them in milk and utilized every movie quote that could apply such as, "It's just a flesh wound"..."I'll bite your legs off".. and "Not my gumdrop buttons!" David threw in a few of his own and Jack growled and gave a commendable impersonation of the Cookie Monster as he devoured tiny ginger Jack. David, disturbingly, insisted on dismembering and consuming the Momma cookie.... maybe it's just because it had the most frosting... yeah... I'll go with that. Like the family parades we are known for, this will be another Sorenson tradition from now on.

The kids opened their matching Spiderman jammies, pranced and hopped in a spider-like fashion around the living room then were herded to bed... early! Merry Christmas us!

Christmas morning was perfect! Their reactions to Santa's deliveries were priceless! Jack headed straight for the miniature drum-set ($20 at Walmart!), sat and began drumming like a little dilettante. Our family band is on its way! Every gift that Rocky received was followed by exclamations of gratitude and, "This is EXACTLY what I wanted! This is the best Christmas ever!" Jack reacted to his gifts with giant grins, exuberant pointing, unintelligible excited babbling and a chorus of "Ooooh's!" Rich and I couldn't have been more pleased with our kids. They really made Christmas special this year. I wish we could freeze their current ages forever. I love this stage! Jack's favorite gift was his puppy Scout that was programmed to say, "Hi Jack," play music and teach him things. By far the most amazing toy I've seen and only $15 from Amazon! Santa found amazing deals this year. I recommend this for any puppy-loving toddler. Jack immediately embraced it with unparalleled joy, rolling around the floor with him and saying, "Ahhh..." lovingly. He takes his puppy everywhere. Scout sings lullaby's to him every night, and we know when Jack is up in the morning when we hear his puppy barking and laughing with him. What an incredible toy.

We joined Grandma Pam and Grandpa Rick on Christmas morning for their traditional fried mush and bacon. Then we returned that evening for a Sorenson family Christmas dinner. Then I collapsed in illness for the remainder of the weekend grateful that the kids had new toys to keep them occupied. David made sure Froggy was included in the festivities and helped him open the toy bins he had placed under the tree for him. David expressed confusion as to why no one else gave anything to Froggy but was placated by our assurance that his contributions were enough to make Froggy very happy.

Happy New Year everybody!!!

Chico's Newest Zumba Instructor

David took this picture of me last Wednesday, moments before I tossed my early lunch (you all know what I mean by that) from nerves and headed to In-Motion Fitness, my favorite and most frequented place in Chico and the spot where the fate of my dance fitness instructing aspirations would finally be decided. I can't remember when I've ever been so scared in my life, though I can think of a few near contenders... I conspired to hide my lack of confidence behind these bright red snake-skin print sequin pants. Would my evaluator be fooled by the ruse? She sat in the back for the hour-long Zumba class busily taking notes. I planned my competition strategy with the other instructor-hopefuls vying for the open position by bringing something different to the usual Zumba routine repertoire. I added to the latin-based mix a little "So You Think You Can Dance" inspired Bollywood, Beyonce, Michael Jackson and a cool-down to the "Day-O Banana Boat" song resembling the crowd-pleasing table dance scene from Beetlejuice. The risks paid off! By the end, my voice was gone, but the class was exhausted and entertained (which is what you essentially desire from a workout, right?), and I was offered the job!! I will learn more after the new year what classes or sub opportunities my job will entail, but regardless, I get a free membership! Yea!! All the hard work (man, it was a LOT of work) paid off. I'm so glad I've found a way to retain my beloved gym membership... and yet still shocked that I ended up here?! Who would have thought?

Christmas Card

Merry Christmas friends and family!! We really wanted to send you all Christmas cards... really. Unfortunately we've been crazy busy lately (my fault mostly). We did make an attempt at a Christmas card but not a single picture turned out card-worthy. How do you parents take pictures of your kids? What are your magical methods? You can see the progression of our picture attempts above. We wish you all a happy holidays!!!