December

We had a wonder December month! The day after celebrating Becca's 4th birthday, Nana and Papa (my parents) came over to celebrate Christmas early with us. It was great fun, as always, to get together with them. The girls each got an 18 inch Doll from them. It is so much fun watching them play together with the dolls. Poor Austin kept trying to steel one of them so he could play too, but is finally was satisfied using a stuffed animal instead. :) He got a really cool block train and remote control airplane that he is starting to enjoy too. After opening the presents, a neighbor of ours came over to let us know that the Fire Dept would be driving by with Santa on the truck. We heard the sirens and ran outside just in time to see the huge fire truck with Santa and his sled on top. Other fire fighters were handing out candy canes to everyone. It was fun to be out there with everyone. The kids were a bit in awe and are still trying to figure out if that was really Santa or just a regular person. I did tell them that it was a fire fighter dressed up, but they weren't sure if they believed me. Aw well :)

(yes, Becca is still wearing her Halloween Bat costume) Becca got this horse as a BDay present, it goes along with the 18 inch dolls.




On the 19h we headed to So Cal to be with Oma and Opa (Marks parents) for Christmas. I took our traditional driving pictures on the way. I have no idea how this became a tradtion, but we take these pix every time we go on a long car ride. Maybe it started as a way to distract the kids but who knows.


So this is were I am the totally lame picture taker. I didn't even take my camera out of the car until I realized it was Christmas Eve and the kids would be opening thier one present. They usually get pj's but we surprized them this year and got each of the girls robes. Austin still got pj's though. Lucky for us the really like them.


After they were all ready, we set out Santas cookies and headed off to bed. Notice Austins favorite hang out? When ever it was quite, I'd find him there lol.


And yet again the lame picture taker returns...this is the only Christmas Day picture I took....well, at least its cute and they are all in it ;)On Monday we went to the La Brea Tar Pit Musuem. Actually we went in the Page Musuem which is the next building.


Austin really got talking when he saw this statue :)
This was Shaynas favorite
Dave and Ariel being silly. I totally wanted them to do the classic Ferris Bueller's Day Off pose but they are young and hand no clue what I was talking about :(
We also got to paint in the Childrens area

Walking to lunch
Beautiful sunset on the drive home
All in all we had a good time :). We played Idiot (a card game) over and over which made the girls happy campers, we ran alound in the back yard with Chip, enjoyed the warm So Cal weather (but could have done without the seasonal wind), and just hung out together :)

And now you can enjoy 2 small clips of our Christmas songs :)

Happy Birthday Becca!!

You are a Big 4 yr old!!! It has really flown by. I used to role my eyes at my grandma when she commented on how fast we all grew up, but now that I have kids, I say it all the time ;)

On December 12, 2005 at 12:00am I wake up fairly uncomfortable. Mark was just getting into bed (he's a night owl). He, half heartedly (is that a word?) and not really expecting an answer, asks how I'm doing. I tell him not to bother going to bed tonight cuz its time to go to the hospital. As he is getting dressed again, I call Sarah. Thankfully she is a night owl too and has agreed to come hang out with my sleeping kids until my sister gets there (who was wake too...I am SO not like these ppl) ;) So about 2 minutes later (seriously, she was there almost before I hung up the phone) Sarah is at my door and Mark and I are off to the Sutter Davis hospital. We didn't make it in time for drugs, but the delivery was supper fast. This was also the first time the mid-wife that I saw for my appts was there for the birth. Becca wasn't stubborn at all. Only 2 pushes, or maybe it was one supper long one, I forget, and she was there :) I'm sure the story was longer and more detailed 4 years ago, but today that is all that happened. We stayed in the hospital a day or two and came home to an empty house (Thanks again Karina for taking the girls!) Becca was a really easy baby. Not mellow really, but pretty easy going. It took quite a bit to ruffle her feathers (which has changed btw, she can still be easy going, but she's a little firecracker waiting to burst out all the energy inside). She is such a sweat, fun, and loving little girl. We are so blessed to have this angel in our family!heehee I had to add this pic...it makes me laugh ;)

A day in the life...

of the Cheney's....

We like to wake up early so we can veg in front of the tv before we have to get ready for the day :)
Below is a view of our kitchen. This house really isn't much bigger than our apartment. The space was just used differently. In the apt. we had huge bathrooms, here we have little bathrooms but a slightly bigger living room. The kitchen is about the same size minus all the storage we used to have. But I'm getting used to it ;) And notice the carpet in the dining area? Who in their right mind would put carpet in the dining area?? Especially for a rental. So much for getting our full deposit back when ever we move again...it'll all be used on replacing the carpet :/
The kitchen and hall have tile. Which sounds nice but really isn't all it's cut out to be. It is freezing all the time. But because we can't go without wearing socks, we have discovered the joy of sliding ;) **I have a video I've been trying to upload for days...hopefully it will work in its own post**


Becca wanted to take a picture of me unpacking.
She also wanted me to take a picture of her doing, well, what ever it is she's doing ;) (bonus point for whoever can tell me what show they are watching) :)
When it warms up, the kids head outside to enjoy our very quiet street. I LOVE being on the end of a ct. Between us and the next house is the pathway to the green belt so we only have a neighbor on the right and on the back of us. We really are the loudest house on the block. There aren't any other kids close by which is a bummer, but at least I can send mine out to play without worrying about cars or strangers. **again, video wouldn't upload, so look for it in a future post**


After lunch we head to the nearby park. It's just a typical neighborhood park. I like that its less than 2 minutes away. We just walk down the green belt and there it is. Helps me not miss Davis so much.
Austin is still learning that wood chips are not good eats.
Showing off their mad skills on the monkey bars.

Showing off his climbing ability. He almost got to the third tier but it was just out of reach.

Kelsie was trying to get Austin to fetch. I guess if the dog won't do it, you might as well teach your little brother ;)

Here are some pics of the house. Its small and cute. Oh, and yeah, thats my new (to us) totally awesome huge bus of a van!! We got it Thanksgiving weekend cuz our Astro, in all its wonderfulness, needed repairs that didn't match what it was worth. I was hoping for a 12 passenger, but this 15 passenger was all we could find in No. Cal. Most vans for sale are in So. Cal. We would have made the trip, but the price was right for this little beaut :) We've been trying to think of a name to call it. All I could think of was The Oxbow (if you've seen Last of the Dogmen, you know what I mean. If not, the Oxbow is back country that, those who have attempted to explore, never return). Kelsie came up with "the coupe" and Brooke says "Cheney Chariot" (she is currently reading a book about the Greek Gods, hence chariot)....what do you think it should be called?
And please excuse the mess of a backyard. Between kids and the dog, I have yet to try and clean it up. Being full of mud and weeds doesn't help in convincing me to do it either.