New goodies and new endeavers for 2007

Wow, I have so many new goodies. I used my Christmas money to buy 4 craft punches.
A giga 3" circle, a giga square, a giga oval, and finally a whale circle punch. I also have 24 different color spots from Stamin'Up, a new white craft ink pad, and a mini alphabet set. I have a new Cricut http://www.cricut.com/Default.aspx?
that I've only used twice. So I'm doing quite well in the craft department. On Feb. 2nd a large group of gals from Donna's work are getting together to crop at our local scrap book http://itsabouttimescrapbooks.typepad.com/
. It's an awesome store in Murrietta called It's About Time. Donna's also planning a t-shirt craft using black lace, and a cross template. She's inviting the high school girls and we'll all make shirts together. I started going to a Bible study at my chruch. It's a 6 week study about the role of a http://www.amazon.com/Lady-Her-Lover-Lord/dp/0399144145
woman in marriage loosely based by a book called, The Lady, Her Lover, and the Lord. I'm glad to be involved in a study again. At the end of this month I'm going to one day conference for moms called Mom's Rock. http://www.hearts-at-home.org/new/?nk=home&page=index
I'm excited that my new friend Tammy is going also. Justin will be at winter camp that weekend http://www.foresthome.org/
. Wow, my boy is growing up.

Baby, it's cold outside

It is so windy today. Brrrr. It makes me feel so thankful for having a home to live in. Praise God. I'm glad it is Friday. We are going to go see Night at the Museum tonight with our friends the Wilsons. I'm looking forward to it. I'm still trying hard to get Matthew caught up with all his tests and quizs. I sure wish he would stay on target everyday this catch up business is no fun. The whole family is nuts about pistachios

Get on the ball

It should be an excercise ball but for now it's just changing my blog template and making by first post of 2007. We had a great time ringing in the new year. Yes, we are that family that runs out into the front yard and bangs on pots and pans with wooden spoons. It's so fun to have a good laugh in those first new moments of the year. My mil told me that her mil had a tradition of banging on pots and pans. My kids think the adults are aweful silly. We spent the night at my inlaws on New Year's Eve. Since we had to postpone our Christmas get together we celebrated Christmas with them too. Dan's brother and neice Ashely weren't able to make it and they were missed. Dan's sister made us go on a hunt to find our gift. We knew it would be very large because they asked us to bring two cars. Our hunt ended in the garage when Dan uncovered an outdoor patio heater. The guy that sold it to her was a groomsman in our wedding that we haven't seen in over 10 years. We are excited to fill the tank and have a nice evening on our patio. Ariel brought her boyfriend and he participated in our annual tradition of the white elephant gaem. Adults and kids alike all look forward to playing this game. There were only a few steals this year. I stole a cute decorative box from Matt and Rick stole a tool set from Dan. The silliest gift was the strange motion sensored dog we brought. It is in a digging position and barks kicks it legs and then lets out a fart. I was more than happy for this gift to find a new home. LOL. The next day Lena made some black eyed peas and a big pot of beans using leftover ham and the ham bone. Quite yummy.

We started up school again. Wow, do we have a lot of catching up to do. It feels good to be back in a normal routine again. I need to finish this up. I made a goal to start going to our midweek service again. I had better start getting ready.

Tis the season

to catch a cold. Blah! Feeling a little sick today. I've been so lazy today. I've just watched tv, played on the computer and ate left over chinese. Kids are content to play video games. I need to do some laundry and head out to the grocery store. I'll probably swing by and grab some McDonalds for the boys. I just found out they have Little Pet Shop toys. Maverick loves the set he got for Christmas. In fact he bought more pets with his Christmas money from my folks. They were by far his favorite toy for Christmas. I bought him the Curious George collection book and CDs. We read two stories from it last night. It was fun to introduce him to one of my childhood favorites. I want to read him all the stories before seeing the Curious George movie. I only hope that the movie lives up to book. I really loved the Stuart Little books and enjoyed the movies too. I can't wait to see that new movie Charlotte's Web. I've never read the book but I remember going to the theater to see the original movie. Since we very rarely went to the movies it was my favorite. As a girl of course I even thought it would be fun to have a pig for a pet. We had a great Christmas. It was quite different this year. Dan's mom, sister and brother were sick so for the first time we did not spent Christmas Eve together. We attended the candle service at our church and my parent's came too.
It was nice to all sing carols together and I held hands with my dad. I was proud to see Justin standing straight and tall and doing a great job as a candle lighter. He was the youngest youth invited to participate. I went to bed earlie and Dan had to play santa without me this year. The next morning boomer discovered the cookies left for santa and was having a great time. LOL. More about Christmas. I need to take a break.

I scream for ice cream

Matt's hit the double digits today he turns 10.
Since it's Matt's birthday I asked him what kind of desert he wanted. He asked for vanilla ice cream (specifically a big round tub)with whipped creem topping, chocolate, and candy sprinkles. He loves pizza so we are going to dinner at a local pizza shop. Should be a fun day.
The kid's have really started to love working out. I bought them a kid's workout video. They look forward to it and have been faithfully working out every school day. I'm so glad they are starting good habits while they are young. Here is the video we use. I've looked around for a new one for variety but still haven't found another one this good.

Maverick is so cute. He didn't like the choices of cereal this morning so I offered him a bagel. He turned down my offer and preceded to make himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He is so cute gathering all the stuff and making it. I took some photos and asked him how he does it. I love his independence.

Dan's having fun playing santa this year. I haven't had to really shop at all. He loves to shop for the boys and his family. I usually just have to take care of a few little presents and my family. Dan asked me to pick out my present and I chose a Cricut machine. Joanns had it for $189. I called and had them hold it for him and so he picked it up yesterday. Now it's sitting down under the tree. Man, it's going to be hard to wait. I'm excited about playing with my new scapbook toy.

Dec.12
I picked up my mom and ran into Big Lots. The cookie platter I had my eye on was on sale for $3.50. I grabbed 3 of them. I made Peanutbutter Blossom cookies to take to the cookie exchange. Justing remembered that he had burned his finger once while making them and reminded me I had included it in a scrapbook page. I later found the page and sure enough I had snapped the horrible moment and scrapped it. Stephanie's home was gorgeous. There were 4 full sized Christmas trees decorated to match each room. Smaller trees in the bathrooms and the kids room. One bathroom is a rubber duck theme and had a tree with rubber duck ornaments. So cute. We had a touching share and prayer time and them tasted cookies and filled our take home bags. I gave Whitney one of the cookie platters. I had told her about them and I knew she wanted one. I stopped at CVS on the way home and found some great stocking stuffers. I took to heart being bold and inviting someone to the Christmas Eve service and church. The right moment came and I told the store clerk about the service.

Cinderella did have a ball

Dec. 9th We celebrated my birthday a day early. I picked up my mom from her hairdresser and then we both had a pedicure and our nails painted in a festive red with gold glitter. We came home and started getting ready. I put did my mom's make up and she looked really pretty. Justin was a great photographer. I had my picture made with my mom, Dan, and my dad. I haven't had a nice picture made with my dad in a long time so these photos have special meaning. We all rode together in the van. We saw a living nativity as we drove past a church we wanted to stop but there wasn't time. The Mission Inn was gorgeous. I love seeing this old building and all the lights. I felt a little like a star arriving with the valet parking and entering a private reseption area for those with reservations. We were pleasantly surprised by the Prime Rib buffet. My favorite was the stir fry beef with portabella mushrooms. Matthew and Maverick got the biggest hamburgers I've ever seen for a kid's meal. The desserts were yummy too. Gingerbread snowman cookies, and several cakes. The waitress brought me a pumpkin cheesecake for my birthday. Afterward we walked around the mission and saw the animated elves. They were so odd looking that we enjoyed a good laugh. We watched a vender making kettle corn it smelled so delicious. We took a walk in a Christmas ornament shop and my dad spotted these really fun 3-D glasses. Each of them create a unique hologram around the lights. http://www.3dglassesonline.com/holidayspecs.com.html Dan bought a few ofthem because we all had such fun playing with them. Dan tried them on while driving on the way home and I made him quickly take it off. I tend to be a nervous passenger. We listened to Christmas music on the way home. It was such an enjoyable night. I did feel just a little like Cinderella.

An Egg-citing Night

Dec. 8th
As part of the Christmas fun, Friday night's have been fun getting together at the Wilson's house. This week the menu was breakfast. Dan was the official pancake flipper. Donna and Linn were busy scrambling eggs, and Whitney made the sausage and bacon. Dan had finished his work video so it was great to show it to everyone. We took another trip over to see the Christmas lights house and we got to meet his wife this time and see the inside of the house too. Afterward there were video games, card games, The Griswald Christmas movie, and the once again the gals ended up just chatting away. We helped Donna finish her Christmas alphabet book. Kyle and Josh bagan making this book when they were kids up to the letter J. So the gals hatched a plan to have kids and adults participate and finish up making pages for the rest of the book. Next week's menu: Tacos!

Blanket Blasts

Friday Dec. 1st
We started December off in fun way. It was Christmas movie night at the Wilsons. Donna made chili, Whitney made cornbread, and I made hot dogs and brought hot chocolate. The highlight of the night we all went to see a house decorated to the extreme. The massive display of lights, and the fun Christmas dioramas were so impressive. The owner was sure enjoying the fun chatting with everyone, handing out candy canes, turning on his snow machine. We found out that on Dec. 10th on HGTV they will feature his home in a Christmas special. http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/spcl_prsntn/episode/0,1806,HGTV_3909_47483,00.html We all plan to go back next week because that's when his wife will be home and they offer tours of the inside of their home.
Next week's menu is breakfast. I volunteered Dan to be the official pancake flipper.
Sat. Dec. 2nd
I love Dec.! I woke up gulp at 4:30 not by choice I knew I had a lot to do so there was no point in going back to sleep. I decorated my store bought cookies to look like little santas. I needed them for a cookie exchange and Stampin' Up party at my dear friend Becky's. The party started at 11:00 and I needed to leave by 9:30. I made almost 4 dozen. Everyone brought yummy cookies and Becky made tea. Cristina a friend from high school was there. We had fun catching up and made plans to get together and scrapbook. We made two cute cards. I also placed a pretty big order for a bunch of craft ink pads. I posted my cards in the gallery at The Stamp Shack http://stamp-shack.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=66. After the party Becky and I went shopping at Bed Bath & Beyond. I found the gift I needed. It was great spending time with Becky.
Sunday Dec. 3rd
Had a nice day at church. There were gusts of wind and the falling leaves were swirling. I revamped my bulletin board for December. The theme is The Greatest Gift of All. I made gift packages with paper, ribbon, tags and bows and each present is meant hold a new Bible verse each week. I also hung up the pictures for each story and "hid"the upcoming photos with paper. It was cute to see the kids peeking under the paper to see the pictures. So that idea was a hit.We made cute little easels from three candy canes tied together and set so that the curved ends become the feet. Then the Bible verse card sets in the easel. Hmmm, I wonder if those easels even made it through the car ride home. The kids sure had fun. After church was a stop to Best Buy for Justin. He was ready to spend his birthday money on a new game. McDonald's was next and to the kids delight they had some toy they were all excited about. Justin skipped the McRib sandwich to get a Mighty Kids meal just for the toy. They even had 3 different colors. Later, Dan and I hung the new snowflakes lights in our courtyard. I love how they twinkle. We also got the tree set up. Decorating will have wait. Earlier, I met Donna for coffee and a shopping date. A friend who works for Mervyns gave each of us a 15% off gift card. Donna found a new Cal-king comforter set and and I found blankets for the boys. After finding our blankets & comforters we then proceeded to carry them all around the store for the next 30 minutes ( no carts available). It was quite funny trying to walk around the store with our arms loaded. Dan finished his work video yesterday. Hoorah! It's a parody based on Ferris Bueller's Day Off. We all think it's his best work video do date (It's his 7th one). He used the songs "Twist & Shout" and "Oh Yeah". Dan played the role of Ed Roonie. The last scene is him using a key from under the mat to try and catch "Ferris”. Just as he is using the key "Ferris" opens the door in his bathrobe and gives a knowing smile of "Ha" you didn't catch me. It's so great. So the night ends and I'm getting ready to tuck Matt in bed. I plan to snuggle a bit and see how the new blanket feels. We both were quite surprised to discover that just by rubbing your fingers over the blanket it would create a plethora of electric sparks. Lifting the top comforter also caused an equally impressive amount of sparks. I reminisced with Matt back to the days when my sister and I would scoot across the floor in our slippers and "shock" each other. Matt says he now has a story to share some day with his kids about his blanket that blasts. I just love the little moments that make lasting memories.

December Decorating Dittys & Watermelon Does Not Go with Meat

I'm getting my decorating done a" little" at a time. By little I mean I still have a long way to go. I went to start pulling out my decorations from the garage and got sidetracked as I often do when I go to start a project. It was finally time to deal with our rat's nest of stuff in our garage. Since my dh was coming home early from work, due to a cold, I decided to take advantage and use this opportunity to fill the van with donations to the Salvation Arm. After loading the van and dropping off our donations I went my Big Lots and actually resisted the urge to buy anything. So at the end of that day all I managed to bring the boxes of decoations into the living room. I've also rearranged the furniture in my living room to allow the tree to be in front window. At this time I should mention I really want a prelit slim tree, however, my regular prelit tree is only 2 years old so I do not plan to replace it this year. It just bugs me that I can't just be content with my perfectly fine almost new tree. I'm sure that once it is up I'll love it again. I bought a new set of matching stockings for the whole family on sale after Christmas. Now I'm bummed that they all "match" (Are you noticing a trend here?). I'd love to get them monogramed but instead to personalize them I'm in search of little gold frames and I plan to place a photo of each family member on their stockings.

Watermelon Does Not Go with Meat
Yesterday I went to go pick up my vacuum. It was finally finished after 2 months. At least this time there was no charge. Yeah! It was still under warantee. Before going out I spent at least an hour in what I call pre-shopping cyber style. This is when I go online to the store's website and get my shopping list together. The kids have been bugging me to put up outdoor decorations. Of course there is also the peer pressure seeing most our neighbors having thier lights and decorations up already. So I went to Home Depot. I decided to go with all white. I found the cutest mini white spiral trees that come 6 in a set. These go along the front of our couryard wall. Then I bought white lights to wrap the trunks of our palm trees. And finally, 2 strings of twinkling snowflakes to go around our courtyard patio. I rushed home and built the little trees and wrapped the palms (Before and while making dinner). Now to get my dh to hang those snowflakes this weekend and we'll have our own mini winter wonderland. Oh, Matthew said the funnniest thing yesterday on the way home. He knew we were having macaroni and beef casserole (okay it's really hamburger helper) and Maverick wanted a piece of watermelon flavored gum. Matthew informs Maverick, "Be sure to take your gum out before you eat because watermelon does not go with meat." So how is that for a word of wisdom? LOL. I need to take some photos of my decorations to post. The other activity around my house these days is a zipline. It starts at the top of my stairs ends in our living room. What started as only GI Joe Sigma 6 characters has led to countless other items whizzing down the line. Oh joys of boys. (Photos to follow). Hope your December has already started with your own flurry of activities.

Random Thoughts

Just a week ago my dh and I hosted Thanksgiving in our home for the very first time. I had fun planning, setting up the tables, decorating, and cooking. One little hiccup. I used the self-cleaning mode on my overn the weekend before Thanksgiving. A few days later I went to use my oven and discovered it would not heat. I found a local repairman that was willing to come out the day before Thanksgiving. He came later in the day when it was starting to get dark. We found out the hard way that my whole house is connected to one circuit breaker. He had to install a new oven gauge with a flashlight. I even pulled out some candles and made a joke about having an old fashioned Thanksgiving by candlelight. Another funny story was my mom couldn't find her recipe for the cream in her fruit salad. I called my sister in Florida to ask her for our family recipe We also looked on the internet. We used the internet recipe and although it wasn't exactly our family recipe it was still yummy. My favorite memory was seeing and hearing my family as we lit a candle and shared our thanks.We need to do this next year before serving food. It was nice however that we all started eating at the same time and it gave everyone a chance to share. Later it was fun watching the boys dip their fingers in the liquid wax and make finger print molds. I loved doing this as kid so it was fun to see them have fun doing it too. I forgot to pass out the index cards I had planned on having everyone fill with their thoughts of gratitude and we never took a "group" shot. My mil has already asked me to host again next year. So as I reflect on last week I feel joy all over again. Thank you God for my family, my health, my home, my church, na dmy country. Remember: Thanksgiving is a holiday....Thanksliving is a way of life.
My son read this story today.
A quote from: Three Questions by Leo Tolsoi
"Remember then: there is only one time that is important-now!"