Some assembly required!

The nightmare before after Christmas.

ARRRGHH!

Only slightly more anoying than the

 "batteries not included"

 small print when all the stores are closed.

They should really include pills and the baby booze bottles with the nuts and bolts!

My person

The other day I was having a chat and the question was asked;

do you have "a person"? 

This term was made famous by the Grey's Anatomy characters Meridith and Christina.

In short...

Do you have a person who would do just about anything for you? 

Bail you out of jail,dig you out of a ditch, go shopping, talk for hours, sit and not talk at all, listen to you bitch without thinking you are being stupid, you know, has your back no matter what.  And if you happen to be in the wrong, 
is not afraid to tell it to you like it is.  
You would trust her with your secrets, 

your life,
your kids?  

Got the picture?

Well, this conversation got me to thinking, one, I never did a Thanksgiving post, ( I will get to that later) and two, I am so very lucky to have one  two people. 

I am also blessed to have lots of other people who have my back, too. 

But the two that stand out (that i am not related to ) are my wife and my Julie.

I feel very lucky to have a "wife".   Having your bestie as your spouse it pretty darn great.

  I know that she is one of the people in my life that truly have my best interests at heart.  She is someone to turn to when things get tough and who I want around to share all the great stuff. 

But before her I made a bond with another. 

insert gasp here

I am very, very lucky to also have a BFF. 

 A gal who taught me how to be a great friend, 

someone who is a constant even when we live half a country away.

 We pick up the phone after weeks of not chatting
 and it's like we chatted just a moment ago.  

I love her more than just a friend, I love her as my person! 

More than a friend and different than a sister. 

 She holds my secrets, knows me from before I was a spouse, a mother, a nurse, 
a grown-up. 

She knows my fears, insecurities and my accomplishments, 

she knows who I truly am because she was there when I found out for myself. 

 She is an aunt to my girls, 
a friend to my wife, 
and an irreplacable part of our little world.  

My kids will grow with hers, and my dream is that those 4 will  know a friendhip as wonderful as the one I have known. 

So in the spirit of the "season"

and because I do not tell her often enough how important she is

 and how much I love her-

JULIE 

Thank you 

 for loving me, 

for loving my wife,

adoring my children and disciplining them as your own,

for being a grand part of my crazy (with a capital C.R.A.Z.Y) world.

For sharing your family with us

and proving that no matter what I do or how nuts I am,

there is still no one else I would rather shop for shoes with

P.S.
I love you!!

and 

I'm sorry I broke the lamp.

I love that you are always willing to put out some silly!

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree...

You are so pink and purpley!

This year Yaya got the shock of a lifetime;  the girls took ovet the Christmas tree. 

 My mom, who has NEVER seen National Lampoon's Christmas movie, is truly part Griswold. 

 This lady LOVES to deck the halls.  And the stairs, and the shelves, 

and every surface that can hold any holiday cheer. 

 I secretly LOVE it too.  

She is so very happy to see all the decorations and it makes my heart smile to see her christmas joy.  In order to prevent our children from breaking her christmas spirit,

and her christmas decor, we decided to use all non-breakables and let the gals pick.

Move over red and green, pink and purple are the new holiday colors in town.

This year they have been so excited about holidays, family and little traditions.  

Marlo will say, "I remember we did this 'last morning'".

(To her, anything that happened at any point in the past is refered to as "last morning")

Mimi cheers with delight and exclaims things like...

"Kisstmas! Oh I love Kisstmas!

Cookies! OH I love cookies!, and so on.

This has been a great start to pre Kisstmas 

and 

Chanukah celebrations!

Happy holidays Folks!!

A small amount of cheer 

to take my mind off the 

rest of the world!

...at least for a minute

Thanksgiving

Our family thanksgiving was extraordinary! 

 For so, so long, all the adults in our family
did it ALL! 

Now, weird as it may seem to some of us, this generation- my cousins- are the adults.  

We have significant others, wives and husbands, children, and are taking it upon ourselves to create new traditions and memories for the next generation of Andinos, as well as for our parents. 

 I imagine they take great pride in seeing the bonds of friendship we have created, and that we choose to celebrate together as family whenever we can. 

 It also helps that we have some amazing cooks, bakers and a bonified Chef in the family.  

WE ATE 'TIL WE COULD EAT NO MORE!! 

 We laughed, drank, and watched our kids play together.  

For some of them it was the first time they had met the girls, 

but I'm happy to say that it will not be the last time all the Andino kiddlettes come together.  

My family parallels Andi's in so many ways. 

 We have a large family with lots of cousins and lots of new little next-gen cousins. 

 The Andinos were all held together like glue by our matriarch, Abue, 

and for the Wierch clan it  still is Mema.  

My family has the luxury of having most of its members in the same state and most in the same suburb.

For this and so many other reasons I am lucky.

  What am I thankful for? 

A family that loves me.  

Parents that have always sacrificed so much to give us everything! Who never gave a second thought to themselves in order to let us find our happiness, who understands me and loves me at my most difficult. Who love Andi like she is another daughter. Whose love for my girls is like nothing I have ever seen before!  Who laugh and cry with them, and will teach them about love and friendship and laughter!! There is sooo much laughter!

Val, who at times can be painful but mostly makes me laugh, loves my children as if they were hers, calls Andi a sister and means it, who likes to just hang out at home with us, and never complains when we need her to watch the girls.  Did I mention she makes us laugh daily, and has no idea how special she really is

Abue, who taught me to be strong and proud and loving, and fair.

Andi, who is beyond words! She is my perfect match, my bestest buddy, my truly better half, the love of my life, the other mother, the one who worries, the one who laughs at all my jokes, the one who understands my style and loves me for it, the third daughter to my parents, the sister Val always wanted and really just a great sport about things! Buddy, there are no words to describe what we have. Its just the feeling of home that everyone craves.
 You give me that. 

The girls, my two amazing daughters, who could not be more different and just the same all at once.  

Mimi, your tender spirit makes me cry. Your stubborn streak reminds me of myself. Your mischievous smile is a delight and yet it draws fear! You are brave and kind and loving and have so much empathy. You are Pops' best friend and you drive Yaya crazy! You are truly the only one who loves Truman. You choose your friends and fall in love with them and they you.

Marlo, you are a goofy gal with the cutest face I ever did see.  You are so emotional, and when you love you do it all the way.  You are picky about everything, and cautious about who you befriend and I love that, but once you are in, you are in.  You encourage and defend your sister always. Val is your best friend and you're growing a relationship with Yaya and Pops that I adore.  

My Chicago besties and their kids! I LOVE you so very much

My Seattle family! I look forward to your texts, comments on Facebook, and your calls!

Maree, love personified, and the fairy godmother to my girls!

The guncles Robby and Terry, godfathers and friends! We miss you and love you, and hope that we will always
 remain close!!

Reuniting with old friends here in Chicago! They say its never the same when you try to go back home and they were right!  IT IS BETTER!!

Lacy, for our renewed friendship and for setting off my Jewish journey with Wendi- an amazing person and the best teacher I could have hoped for.

Our health, and the health of our families.

Our extended families.

Our in-laws

Our jobs and fantastic co-workers

laughter

love 

and last, but certainly not least,

someone I see bits of in my wife everyday; the spunkiest, most amazing little lady, with a great attitude, a better laugh and a joy for life we should all have at her age! The great-grandmother whose relationship with my family I treasure and who will teach my girls so much about how to live and live well...

Mema!!!

Abue

It hardly seems real,

my lovely Abuelita left this world, to her spiritual home.

I still think of her most days

I can still hear her voice, her laughter and the smell of her face cream.

I fear the day when I can no longer remember theses comforting things.    

It is especially sad for me this year, as it will be our first Chistmas back in Chicago since the above pictures were taken.  That was the last time that ALL the cousins were together.

  I am so grateful to have these snaps of love to look back on. 

 I really love my Andino family and they are all so intertwined in the happy memories of my childhood.  I only hope that the cousins stay close and have our kids know and love each other as we did and still do.  I think that will be the best legacy that Abue/ Abuelita could have hoped for.  

Pumpkins and Camels and Carnies, OH MY!

All I was trying to do was to continue our pumpkin patch tradition. 

How was I to know that we would get a great big bunch of firsts!

I was ready to take the gals over to the Home Depot "pumpkin Patch", when my friend Lacy texts me about Didier Farms. It sounds pretty good, and  I thought ok, well, maybe we can do this instead:  

go to a farm that was probably like the one we went to long ago with our old friend Courtney in Seattle.  A long, long drive, crazy crowded, filled with people looking for the "perfect" pumpkin, dodging wheel barrels, losing our children and our minds...  

Yup, that sounds like a great idea!   

But, as always, trying again to be the "perfect" mom, I said

 "Andi, we are going to the farm!"  "We have to keep it legit for our girls."  

And as always, Andi sighs, and agrees to go along with whatever ride I take our little family on. 

 She is a great sport!!  

Little did we know that when we got there, after we paid the initial $40 dollar fee for tickets, 

we would have the greatest time ever and go back for more tickets!!!

Um, we got to ride a camel,
 go to our first carnival, talk to our first set of carnies,
risk our lives over and over on the rides, eat as many donuts as we wanted,
drink cider, run, scream, laugh, take tons of pictures on and around the pumkins
and have the best darn time ever!!!  

Thanks Lacy! 

 The only thing we did not do that day was 

buy a pumpkin!!

We stopped at Home Depot on the way back home!

Here's a peak at our fun!

Spooktacular night!

Halloween! 

I love it.

 The holiday when we pretend to be something we are not and binge on candy.  

I guess for some people that might have been college and high school too.  Oh well.

This year I gave up a little control and let the girls decide what they would be for the big day!  

Mimi wanted desperately to be a princess ballerina
 Marlo wanted to be a purple dog, 

but settled for an overpriced flamingo costume from Pottery Barn Kids. 

 Lesson learned.
 Next year we are back to aMiamommy choosing the theme and making the costumes.
 I feel like the memories will be better than the ones from this past holiday prep time.  

This year went something like this:

Andi, huge eyes popping out of her head in that telescopic cartoon way, THATCOSTUMECOSTSHOWMUCH????

needless to say everyone got the costumes they wanted and andi got a well deserved 

xanax at the checkout. :)

Mimi's costume is cute and girly and frilly and so very very reusable! 

Next year she can go as a rodeo clown.  

Marlo and her flamingo will only reappear for Purim, I fear. 

 The costume is great but the headpiece covered her face and freaked out her little bestie Ethan.

 Direct quote "mom, Marlo is freaking me out"
I guess that is the sign of a good/bad costume, depends on your feelings about scaring the
littles on halloween.

Here's a look at the holiday of treats.

We had a little practice run for Ethan's pirate birthday 

Then we took dress up to school

Mimi and her boyfriend Shaurya

What? I wasn't holding his hand...

My little flamingo

The school loot

Ticking and treating with our besties!

(Mimi kinda looks like honey booboo)

checking out the loot

Spooky!

Happy Halloween!