Christmas Day 2008

The girls playing in the playroom at Grandma's.

The big kids went on a hunt to find clues to their last gift....yep, a trip to Disneyland with Grandma!!! They leave on New Year's Morning!

These ears are CRAZY!!!! Funny and bopping around!

Savannah tries on the Rosetta fairy dress from Grandma, this is her favorite fairy and she was so excited to get more dress up clothes.

Joseph got dress up clothes too so Savannah was a willing model and she tried on the construction man suit. Her hat had a little fashion problem but I'm sure Joseph could fix it with something he has at home. This is better then when Savannah tries to dress him up like a fairy or a girly thing!

The kids try and give me a pose. I stopped at about 6 pictures....no need to go for 58 or more like last time.

Grandma and Papa cook thier awesome Christmas morning breakfast!!! It rocks and is soo good. I think it is one of the few times a year I actually eat a whole breakfast.

Savannah at her vanity that Santa brought to Grandma's house. I think it might be her favorite gift of this year.

The table is set and ready for food and family.

Stockings and stuff at Grandma and Papa's house!

The girls in their matching nightgowns.

Back at our house.....Daddy is helping Savannah look thru their stockings.

A snowman lollipop is a BIG hit.

Kyle's new robot from Santa.










Christmas day was more fun and I even got to take a nap and catch up on some missing sleep!!! It was a super fun day for the kids and plenty of good food from my mom and dad's. Uncle Ray, Ron and Kris joined us and Great Grandma for dinner and to play Wii afterwards. The kids had fun playing and checking out thier new gifts.

Wonderful holiday but I just realized no pics of me!!! I usually turn and do a self portrait but not this year!!! I will try and remember to do one at the next family gathering.

It is now New Year's Eve and we are getting ready to go to have a low key evening with our friends Barb and Steve and their girls. It will be an early night since Kyle has to be up at 4 in the a.m. to get on the plane to Disneyland.

Wishing you a safe and Happy New Year!!!! See ya in 2009!!!

Christmas Eve highlights.....

Okay, the pictures are all backwards and I am too lazy to fix them......

Here is Savannah putting out her stocking on Christmas Eve and then the stockings were all full in the morning! Great Job Santa!!! Savannah asked for a pink bike and a glowing paint set......Santa came thru on both.

Having Daddy help get her ready for bed in her new nightgown from Grandma.

She was wearing some pink Santa jammies since she wet herself earlier in the evening...yah, potty training not going so well and she really does not care.......Kinda ridiculous since she is over 3 years old now!!!!

Using the force! She got a light saber to fight with Kyle...no fun if you only have one. Maybe Kyle will make a crazy video of himself fighting off the dark side one day!



Here he is doing who knows what.....I told him I was going to post this and he claimed I wouldn't. Kyle was sooooo excited this year. Hard to remember that he is 12 since he is so giant. He wanted those gifts badly though.

Tina and Great Grandma eating some dinner. Tina had to work until 4 so she came a little bit late.

Uncle Scott came even later and the kids mobbed him once he came in the door. I said they could not open gifts until they made their ornaments and Uncle Scott got to eat some dinner. Longest 15 minutes of their lives.....they survived. I'm sure we will have another crazy 2 when the little ones are between 9 and 12 years old. The big ones will laugh at them and make fun of them but here they are jumping thru hoops to open those gifts.

Grandma and Papa having a good time after dinner and listening to the kids try and get me to let them at the gifts.






A strange giant elf? No it's just Uncle Michael!!!!

Our Princess dressed herself...not what I had picked out and not one of the million Christmas dresses that we have but she was happy with it and not going to change....I let it go and she was happy. I'm sure we will have battles in the future about clothing and this was acceptable just not my choice!

Santa Rebecca ready for the fun to begin!

Clark's homemade Gumbo-a tradition for many years now....I think he can do it by heart without looking at the recipe.....it's a take on a Rachel Ray recipe in 30 minute meals if you too want to make it!

Joseph loves to drive our car around the house. He was driving it up to the table and taking broccoli.....yes, not chocolate or cookies but broccoli......he also fed Coconut an unknown amount of broccoli and carrots-Coconut does not get people food so he was happy at the amount of food Jospeh provided him with! It was a vegetarian dog buffet too!




We had a fun Christmas Eve and I love that it is casual and fun. The kids open their gifts here and we enjoy each others company. I always have them make an ornament and Rebecca is sure to become a crafty person following in my footsteps. She loves to do it and is always the first one done. Kyle did his under protest this year but he will keep doing it until he is 18!!! I already picked up next years (it's a snowman!) at the Target 75% Off sale!!!

We had the usual menu of gumbo, egg rolls, shrimp, fries, salad and funny appetizers that I pick up at Costco. I always go on the 23rd and whatever they have marked down is what we get. One hit and one miss this year. We had tropical wontons (the hit) and puff pastry squares with olives and pesto (the miss) I thought they were both fine but would avoid the puff pastry in the future. I think I still have some in the fridge. We finished off the meal with red velvet cake and other goodies. The kids were excited but in bed around 11:30. Kyle was up at 5 but playing his new games and Savannah got up around 8 when Rebecca called to say they were going to Grandma's and were we ready?!!! Nope but we wore our jammies and arrived at 8:30!

Saying Goodbye to Twinkle!

Here is Twinkle back on the tree to go home with Santa on Christmas Eve. Savannah made sure to give her extra hugs and kisses and told her that she would miss her very much and hopefully, Santa will let Twinkle come back next year. I think Santa might send us some older brother and sister elves for next year but you never know who might return. I will send off our request at the beginning of the year to see what happens.

On Christmas Eve morning, Kyle and I woke up and found a snowball fight had happened in the family room while we were asleep. I think Twinkle must have missed the North Pole and wanted some snow around her.

The My Little Pony and Sock Monkey got in the act too. Kyle thinks the Sock Monkey will miss Twinkle quite a bit since they seemed to get into trouble while we were sleeping each night.

One night I was up late wrapping presents, Twinkle must have known how behind I was since she tried to help wrap up some of my presents! Thanks Twinkle-maybe next year I will be able to have the elves do some of my late night jobs and I can be well rested for the holidays. They seem to like to stay up late and do things around the house.

Twinkle, Sock Monkey and My Little Pony going on a rocking horse ride! They had a great time yelling YEE HAW!!!

It will be interesting to see if anyone else gets an elf next year. I think Rebecca really wants one to come to her house so I told her I would make sure her mom writes the letter requesting an elf. I also told her that Santa is always watching and she will need to be good to make sure they would be a good house for an elf visit.

We will miss Twinkle and think of her often. Hope she enjoys her time away from our house and hopefully, we gave her the training Santa wanted us to give her to be able to go to other houses next year. We would love for her to come back and spend the holidays with us!

Happy Christmas Eve!

Now the coutdown begins.....I have more things to wrap and organize, make a trip to work to do that stuff, pick up rice and egg rolls on the way home. make guacamole and green onion dip, and ENJOY THE DAY!!!! Yes, no matter what is done or not done it really does not matter. I have a wonderful healthy family and we will all be together!

Last night after I got home, Savannah went with me to the grocery store for a couple of things....$105 later we were driving home. She loves to look at the lights on people's houses so I took an extra long way and drove around the neighborhood. "LOOK MAMA!!" was yelled from the back seat about 50 times and she was so excited. I'm not sure this excitement will be there next year as new things will start to impress her so I enjoyed every "LOOK MAMA!" and might have to make a couple of more night time adventures with her before New Year's to experience that joy again.

Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas! Hoping you too have a "LOOK MAMA" moment and give extra hugs and kisses to your family. I know mine with get an extra dose of Mommy love today. Hope Santa makes a stop at your house and brings you just what you always wanted!MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Monday missed

Hello! Missed Monday....my mom will be on my case! Hi MOM!!!

Pretty much a whatever kinda day. Went to work. Did a little bit more shopping (Am I ever going to be done?!!!!!!) and wrapped! I also took a break and hung out playing with Savannah. Clark is doing a super awesome job each day on getting the house in order and I really appreciate that. He also went shopping for me this evening. It was a Home Depot thing so I'm sure he looked at 10,000 other things but seems to have only come home with what he went to get.

Sent off the last of my gifts on the way home yesterday. Hoping that since I took them to the main post office there will not be weather delays and they will make it by tomorrow! If not it will be fun for someone to get a gift on Friday!

Twinkle adventure for Monday was sleeping on the couch. Santa left two new books for Savannah. As for Kyle, I think he moved in with my parents! I did not see him at all yesterday. He loves to be at their house and since it is Christmas break he can stay until today and then he has to come home!

I think today will be a repeat of Monday plus the big shopping trip to Costco! I will probably have to go to the regular grocery store too so it will be a long day!

Happy 3rd Birthday Jo-Jo!!!

Yep, it's Jospeh's Birthday today and since it is so close to Christmas they just have a little family dinner for him. He will be excited and Savannah will have a great time. There will be cake so you can't go wrong. Isn't it funny how as long as it is your birthday and you get cake all else does not matter? I know they love the friends, presents, and activities that we do (at least I hope my kids enjoy the efforts I make!) but a little cake and some fun that's all they want.

We did some more shopping today. Clark went for the first time-he used to love to shop with me but two kids later it is just not feasible to have him go and I usually save more money with him not going! HAHAHA!!!! He bought himself some new tennis shoes and some snow pants for Kyle....not that we need these things-he just thinks we do! We also went to Trader Joe's and bought some Christmas eve stuff.......I did not check what he bought and almost fell over when the girl rang up a package of chicken for $11.48!!!! It is a small package of boneless skinless chicken but oh yah it is organic too! I asked him in the car if the chickens went to a spa or got daily massages. It will be a running thing in our house for a couple of months now!

Still have a couple of impossible people on my list and I need to get my wrapping clothes on and do that. I think I will put in a movie that I have not seen and go for a couple hour wrap session. Nothing like killing two birds with one stone!

Twinkle news-She brought panties for Savannah today. Kyle confirmed that they were definately for Savannah and not him. They were gingerbreads, trees and snowman I think. He got a couple of things solo while Savannah was gone so he was fine with that.

More Twinkle action!!!

Here is Twinkle on top of the pink Christmas tree in Savannah's room. We are not sure why she climbed up there but she was smiling away. Savannah decorated this tree herself and usually turns the lights on at night. The ornaments are all girly.....dresses, purses and shoes! I think it needs a little bit more so maybe Twinkle does too.

While Savannah was gone and the rest of us were on virus watch, Twinkle managed to sleep in Savannah's bed. She was tucked in just right so Santa must have wanted to keep her warm while we had those freezing nights.

So cute and little. Twinkle visiting has been lots of fun and I think we might ask for an elf for next year too!

Today, I am up at this very early hour to go shopping! Yes, it is the weekend before Christmas and I am usually baking and cleaning and leaving the shopping to the last minute crazy's but now I am one of them.....maybe there are special rules? I am not sure! I am dragging along my large elf to help me.....I asked him on the way to school if he wanted to go with me and he said sure can I pick some more presents out for myself? Sadly, at this age he has picked out quite a few of his own gifts. We are on the edge of teenager but also likes "stuff" too. He is pretty simple in his asking for gifts. Not much makes him happy! He is also happy to be on Christmas break and to enjoy having a couple of weeks off. I will be the lone mornng person here for the next two weeks and will look forward to the quiet and kissing everyone goodbye in their warm snuggly beds!

Okay since I owe I will let you know later how my shopping went and if it was smart to wait so long and get better bargains or go back to the old ways of being done and chilling out baking and cleaning! I have made the baking concession this year too....no one will really miss it and with the virus and cold thing going around I would rather not share any germs!

Happy Shopping to any crazy's that are going to be joining me at the mall!

A missing week......

Sorry for the missing week but I gave in and got the vomit virus! It was terrible and I am still not recovered. I ate my first "real" food last night and seem to be doing better.....sorry for the cheerful holidayness of that but it's what happened......true life! ha! Miss S missed it since she was at the happy place with Grandma and Papa!

Twinkle is still having night time adventures!......Here are some of them!

Jumping on the trampoline with her friends sock monkey, my little pony and Minnie!

Savannah looking for the mail.......letter to say have a good time in Disneyland and no more pullups after the trip!---I'll let you know how that goes later!

Tea party with Belle and friends. The mailbox had special hot chocolate with snowflake sprinkles this day. We have a couple more adventures but I need to take Kyle to school and the car has been frosted over so until later...........

More throw up!

Pretty good day in all....we stayed home and did not even get dressed until 1 this afternoon. I slept in past 7 a.m. which is a miracle!!! Savannah came into our bed in the morning and we had a great chat. Did more laundry. Cleaned off the emails and shopped online a little more. Went thru Savannah's clothes and packed her for her trip. Shipped out another gift and got ready for William's party. He turned 8 and we went to his Pirate party. Kyle said he was not feeling well and he stayed home. We had a nice time at the party. Savannah did pretty well in musical chairs but as expected got knocked out the 3rd or 4th round. Big tears and being upset but I was ready for it and we sat and watched the rest of the game. William actually won the game and he was so happy!

We came home and asked Kyle how he was. He said he was feeling better and could I please make him some dinner. Sure, he wanted a grilled cheese sandwich....must be my specialty or something because that is what Savannah had for lunch! Made his dinner, switched laundy and packed more things my mom said she wanted for the trip and got it all ready for Clark to deliver to her house. Came to type this post and awful noise.....oh yah....another one with the throw ups!! Worse part is this one is much bigger and threw up all over the hallway, walls, cabinet and bathroom floor!!! He said he was sorry but man what an awful thing!! He is now in his room with the standard throw up bowl.......isn't it funny that every house has a throw up bowl. I remember being sick and my mom bringing it into our rooms for us. We cleaned up as much as we could and then decided that we needed to carpet cleaning machine.....too much mess for the towels etc. that we were using. We will see if he goes to school tomorrow or chills out at home.

So much for this post being about what goes on at Christmas time but I guess this is all part of the daily life and things that happen. Christmas Eve is in 10 days and I feel some what closer to being done but also know that I have many late nights ahead getting cleaning and cooking done. I know that it does not matter what I do as long as everyone is here and no one really notices the few cobwebs we miss or if they do see them the cob webs will not be remembered. Traditions will be......Christmas eve crafts, shrimp and french fries, marzipan fruits, snowballs with candles for dessert, putting the stockings out in Christmas jammies, Christmas morning to see what Santa brought, breakfast at Grandma and Papa's, kids excited and everyone having a good time. These are the things I look forward to and know that they will happen no matter what else is going on or what does not get done....I am now off to watch a little t.v. with my Princess to get some extra snuggle time before she goes! Give your family an extra hug today and think about what your favorite tradition is and how much you are looking forward to it!

Skipped Saturday

Okay here is the missing Saturday post........let's see......I shopped all day...........the end!

Okay I did take a break in the middle of the afternoon then I taught my mom how to look up stuff to see what Target stores have what you want in stock......pretty cool feature so you do not have to call them or drive around to the 5 stores in your area. We went late to get what she wanted at the Coleman store.....oh ya the Sharks were playing and we went around 7:15! Nice back up to get to the arena and Christmas in the Park and who knows what else is going on downtown so that was fun...lol.....no worse then morning traffic for me. We got the very last one of what she wanted. There was another guy in the aisle holding her item and I thought she was going to beat him up when he said it was the last one they had. I found another one and all was well in Targetland! I bought some cool Jones soda in Mele Kelemakia (or whatever!) soda for Christmas eve. It is supposed to be pineapple coconut flavor but the kids will think it is super cool.

Once I got home watched a little Food Network and they had the secret life of Christmas explaining Christmas traditions and in Roman Times naked people were singing...so I repeated it and Savannah thought it was hilarious!! She cracked herself up saying "Naked people singing!" about 20 times. Pretty much summed up the whole day and now my entry way is full of bags from my shopping adventures.

Twinkle times....

Twinkle and her new friends must have had a drive in movie night. We found them parked by the t.v. with the remote inside.

Minnie, Sock monkey, Twinkle and My Little Pony all joined in. The Webkinz white dog rode in the back.

Twinkle and the Sock Monkey were drawing during the night.......Since Twinkle is a baby elf we can not tell what she wrote. Maybe she is writing elf code for Santa...

Twinkle and the Sock Monkey seem to be good friends since they have been together for two nights. We can not imagine what Twinkle and her friends will be doing tonight!

We had my company Christmas party tonight. We had it at the Japanese steakhouse and it was yummy and fun. I love the onion volcano! I also wish that guy would come to my house once a week to cook us dinner and entertain the kids! The kids went with my mom and dad to see Rebecca in her school talent show. She sang a song with her friend. I'm sure if I ask her I will get a private performance. Clark and I went to Toys R Us on the way home and bought more presents. I think I am getting close to being done. I am off on a shopping adventure tomorrow and then maybe a final one on the 20th! I have a list of what I still need to get and hopefully, it will all fall into place! Happy Bargain hunting to anyone else who still needs last minute gifts!

Fa La La La La La La

Okay, another day down!! I tried to log on last night but my internet was NOT helping out so I gave up in honor of sleep!!!

Yesterday morning, Kyle found Twinkle and the Sock Monkey drawing with chalk at the easel. The Santa mailbox had 3 new pairs of Christmas socks for Savannh. Kyle was a little disappointed that he did not have anything!

Regular school and work day. We went to see Julienna sing in the choir and catch up a bit with their house remodel. It seems to be going day by day and they swear they will be moving in before Christmas. I know it has been a looonnggg process but everything like that is.

Got my cards mailed out-just need to verify some addresses for the last of them. Brought home another box from work and really need to get on the wrapping to see where I am at. I will bring more home today-although I think I am getting more boxes today too! Sent out two gifts to out of state people and hope they arrive in time. Gotta finish my mail order stuff this weekend!!!! Can't imagine where the time goes and why it just is gone!!! Have a great day and see ya later!

Our two elf's

Here is the happy posing all the time now especially with her attitude elf! She was helping me decorate our Christmas tree.

She was sooooo excited to find this elf hat in our box of decorations. She wore it the whole time we decorated.

When we came home from The Nutcracker this was on our porch. Daddy did not know when or how it got there. We thought it might be from Santa since our elf was to arrive on Monday. We put it in our entry way and sure enough Santa wrote us a letter and Twinkle was on the tree.

Here is where we found Twinkle this morning! She was snuggled up on the couch with a My little Pony. They must have been playing together when Santa came and tucked in Twinkle.

You can see how tiny Twinkle is compared to the pony. Small baby elf! Santa also left two Christmas tree cupcakes in the mailbox that were enjoyed by Kyle and Savannah. We can't wait to see what Twinkle tells Santa and when we will get our next letter. Twinkle's dress say, "Merry Christmas!" So cute and so much fun.

I went to parent's night at Kyle's school....all about cyber bullying and internet safety. Most of the information was stuff I had already heard and things we already have in place at home but it was nice to hear that we are doing the right thing and not all kids are ready to join a gang, start using drugs, or giving out personal information on the internet! We are pretty open about most things and I have never really wondered if Kyle would be scared to tell us something. Another great reason that Clark and I do things with Kyle solo so he has a personal relationship with each of us individually and as a family.