Catching up!

I knew when I started this blog that I would be horrible at updating it! Well, it's been a busy holiday season. Right after Thanksgiving, we took a little vacation and headed down to Disneyland for a 5 day stay. I love Disney decorated for the holidays and this trip was no exception. We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel in the "Magic" tower so we were in the middle of all the action. The only downside to this trip was that it rained really hard on the day we went to Legoland. It took us 2 hours to get there, only to find that they closed due to the weather! (and yes, I did try to call ahead of time to make sure they would be open -- I only got recordings). The kids were very disappointed. We may try to go again sometime in the future, but I think Nick will have outgrown his love of Legos by then...

Once we came back from So Cal, we launched into the frenzy of holiday preparations and busy year-end things at work. We survived to this week, where Scott and I both took the week off and won't be going back to work until January 2nd! This has been a great relaxing time for us... it has been a long time since we were both off work together at home with the kids (I think the last time was when I was on maternity leave with Sarah!).

It has been a good time for me to reflect upon the past year and figure out what to do to make 2008 even better. We have tidied up the house, organized papers and put things away... sent off 5 huge boxes of clothes to the Salvation Army this morning... I had some time to revamp my business website (after 2 1/2 years, it was sorely in need of updating!) and I have spent alot of my free time trying to learn more about the art of photography. I finally feel like I have accomplished understanding what the manual settings on my camera mean. Now I'd like to improve my shooting and build a portfolio. I'll be hitting up my friends to loan me their kids and families for practice, as my kids are getting tired of smiling for me!

And perhaps with a little luck and prudent saving, I'll be able to get my dream (drooling here) camera - a Canon 40D - by next year's Disney cruise and trip.

So I will leave you with some photos of our adventures this past month. Have a safe and happy new year and I will catch ya "next year"!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am exhausted! My whirlwind started yesterday with a day-long visit to Sarah's class. They were having a feast and I volunteered to help out. Nicholas tracked off on Tuesday, so I brought him with me. He was glad to see his old kindergarten teacher, as well as some old friends and other teachers. Times like this, I wish we could afford to send both of them to Merryhill for all of elementary school, but tuition is steep and it's barely manageable to send Sarah just for kinder... Anyway, some of the other parents in Sarah's class had gotten a look at Sarah's fairy photo and asked if I could take a pic of their daughters in tutus and photoshop in the wings and fairy dust... so I trooped out to the playground with camera in hand, and a multitude of 5 year olds... I will post later this weekend when I am done attempting them.

Today was our annual Thanksgiving dinner. As has been the tradition the last 5 years, we hosted at our house. We fried 2 turkeys, and then I did the stuffing and mashed potatoes and corn. I tried a couple of new recipes this year -- nope, I totally forgot to photograph them.... but they were yummy. First, I tried a corn casserole recipe that is super easy and only 6 ingredients -- it tastes just like the corn tomalito from Chevy's!! Yum! And then on the stuffing, I added apples and sausage to the boxed Stove Top... nothing original but I thought it added a nice flavor. Here is a shot of the table right before we sat down...

This was our biggest crowd yet -- I think we were at 16 people... I ran out of places for people to sit, but luckily, the boys wanted to watch football so they took their plates into the family room and vegged on the couch. Here is the family all together.

And here are a few more of the family...

and here is what the turkey dinner did to Aunt Dorothy...

Stupid driver tricks...

Which is more annoying? The driver who gets on the freeway but goes no faster than 40 mph in the slow lane because he's getting off at the next exit... OR... the driver who tips back and drinks out of a 64 ounce big gulp cup (without the lid or a straw) and has to slam on the brakes when she does so because she can't see in front of her..... you decide....

Fairy Sarah

So I am home with the kids today for the Veteran's Day holiday. (Moment of silence for my dear Father-in-Law David Edwards, USMC and Vietnam Vet - the bravest man I've ever had the privilege of knowing.)

The carpet cleaner is here right now and I'm not focused enough to work on the continuing ed that I should be doing for work... Instead I am messing around in Photoshop and adding fairy wings to my daughter :) I am not usually one for such fantasy type photos, but it helps me to learn Photoshop, and it's entertaining for her to see too.

I am far from an expert, but I thought it turned out pretty cute...

Color Me Mine

On Saturday, Sarah attended a birthday party for her school chum Kamron. It was held at Color Me Mine. Why I have not been in this store, I have no idea! It's only a mile from our house and has been there for years. I had no idea what a fun place it was!

What you do is select a piece of unfinished pottery, then paint it with your choice of colored underglazes. You can stamp, mask, sponge, freehand or any other artistic technique you can come up with. When you're done, they will fire and glaze it for you. They have specials every day of the week. In fact, I just checked for the weekly "Monday Special" that is posted online each Sunday... it's FREE PAINT TIME!! So tomorrow I am going to grab the kids and head down there for some more fun since they are out of school for Veteran's Day.

Sarah selected a small cat figurine for her project. Being a female, she couldn't decide on what color. It started off blue with red polka dots and then red with yellow polka dots... I can't wait to see what happens once it's fired and glazed.

Well that just made my day!

Tonight I stopped off at the grocery store on the way home to pick up a few things for dinner. As I walked in, there was a huge display of wine for $2.99. Now, we're not wine drinkers but I do like to keep a bottle of red and a bottle of white on hand for cooking, so I grabbed a white since I was needing it.

As I was getting in the checkout line, I noticed the checker had a nametag that read "courtesy clerk" and I thought that it was nice -- he must be in the process of promoting to checker. He didn't know all the vegetables I got so I had to coach him on the differences in the mushrooms (I got white button, cremini and oyster) and that my potatoes were Yukon golds... but the best part was that he said "could I please see your ID?" I was busy trying to keep Sarah from bouncing off the walls as she was doing her usual 5-year old-can't-stand-still-anywhere-dance, and I thought he was joking... so I looked at him and realized he was serious! I must have had an odd look my face so he explained that he had to ask anyone that looked under 30 :) I said well I haven't been carded in over a decade, but thank you for making my day!

Want to feel young? Go buy alcohol at the store and seek out the rookie checkers :)

Halloween!

Halloween snuck up on us fast this year, but I did manage to think ahead and order the costumes before all the good sizes and styles were picked over. Sarah has wanted to be Jasmine for months now, and amazingly, she didn't change her mind as the date grew nearer. If only I could get her to stay on the same track with her Christmas wish list! Nicholas was a really cool looking Jango Fett, but the helmet was a bit hard to see out of so he wound up carrying it for most of the night.

The kids made out with plenty of candy -- most of it's still sitting in a bowl on the counter. Sarah has discovered a love for Tootsie Rolls that she never knew she had, since we don't really keep much of that stuff in the house. Unfortunately, she also had a poor showing at the dentist last week, so we are headed back for a few fillings next month, and strict orders to FLOSS FLOSS FLOSS!

Proud Mommy moment

We have struggled with Nick to keep him focused on schoolwork, both at home and at school. It felt like an uphill battle, so imagine my surprise when he brought home a note that he was to receive a certificate for the honor roll for the 1st trimester! I took the morning off from work and took a zillion photos -- don't worry - I'll only subject you to one :)

Pumpkin Patch

A pic from Sarah's visit to the pumpkin patch last month.