Santa's Helpers and Their Shenanigans

Rey and Elan are staying with us until the 24th. They said they'd help pack but this is really what they have been up to:


We've have been having a lot of fun with our shenanigans. In truth, they have both been great with Sam and Isabella. In addition to their awesome babysitting skills, they are very good dish washers because someone (and I won't mention any names) went ahead and sprained their left thumb....I guess Brad is going to have to do the packing :)

Happy Birthday, Isabella!

Our baby girl turned one year old today...enjoy the video!

O' Christmas Tree, O' Christmas Tree-Where art thou?

Despite the fact that we are moving and surrounded by general chaos, Christmas managed to show up in the Marsh household. Albeit, we are eleven days away from the event but better late than never. Since the house is topsy-turvy, we opted for a small tree this year because we didn't want to deal with Isabella trying to grab at it or thousands of dry, sharp, pine needles.

Our "little" tree before:


And after:

I know she won't win an award for "Best Decorations" or anything but at least the kids will enjoy her.

In other news, we went to the 3rd annual Mousavi-Sandoval Christmas party on Saturday night. It's a family and friends kind of party so kids come along and are running around in their pajamas most of the night while the adults drink...ahem...I mean socialize. Below are the best two shots of the evening because all the other ones were either blurry, surrounded by some yellow light I can't explain, or unflattering. You'll note that there are no pictures of me and this is do to all of the adjectives mentioned in the previous sentence.

Papa and Izzy:

And Sam up to no good in Arianna's closet:

Operation: Anger Management

Sometimes, Sam has some serious boy anger. Or maybe its because he has two fiesty parents???? Either way, Sam, newly dubbed "Rocky," was sent home from preschool for "not using his words" (i.e. fists). As a result, we launched "Operation Anger Management." I'm thinking about staring programs around the nation because several of my friends with boys have expressed the need. I see dollar bills.

First, we started by writing some notes of apology. In typical Sam style, these are less of a note and more of a dramatization or re-enactment of the incident(s). If you click on the picture to make it larger, you'll notice that he:
(a) pushed Johnny and
(b) hit Tyson




Second, we talked about "consequences" for his behavior and he suggested we put his trains away. Alas, we bid them farewell and I told him that for every day that he was a good boy, he could pick one, if not two, trains at the end of the day. In addition, I would talk to Santa and let him know he was being a good boy. Below is where said trains are now resting:



Third, he decided he needed to work on packing stuff for his room in preparation for the move. He decided these "preparations" would consist of doing some box detailing so the movers would know it goes to his room. The boy is genius.

A Little Pirate Diddy

Sam is still into pirates these days. As a special treat over Thanksgiving weekend, he donned his pirate shirt (backwards) and performed his favoirite pirate diddy about seven billion times. Everyone in the house that weekend memorized it. Here are the words and video for your entertainment pleasure:

(First Verse)
When I was young I had some fun the day I went to sea
I lived aboard a pirate ship and the captain said to me:
(Refrain)
Oh, we go this way that way, portside, starboard, under the deep blue sea...
This way that way, portside, starboard, under the deep blue sea.

(Second Verse)
We hit a storm, a sail was torn the day we went to sea
I lived aboard a pirate ship and the captain said to me:
(Repeat Refrain)

(Third Verse)
We took a break, we saw the wreck the day we went to sea
I lived aboard a pirate ship and the captain said to me:
(Repeat Refrain)