Pictures of Christmas

On Christmas Eve Tom had to work and so the kids and I hung out at home. In the afternoon they were getting a little restless so I decided to give them a little project. I let them use my camera and the rules were: each one got to take 10 pictures. They needed to be something that reminded them of Christmas or they liked about Christmas. It was funny to see what each of them chose. Here are just a few:
Dylan was 1st

Candy was the 1st picture he took

The blue stocking is his

Presents under the tree

And our dog Maya

Makayla was 2nd

Her 1st picture was of the snow
A pretty ornament display

Our Christmas tree

And herself, of course, in a Santa Hat!

Alert, Alert

Between me working, the kids having classes and me working out we are at our YMCA a lot. It's a great place to be and my kids are VERY comfortable there. Most everyone knows them and it is like my village when it comes to raising my kids. Today I had a meeting and Dylan had to go into the daycare. It is not his favorite place right now so while I was chatting he decided to hide from me. I looked around for him for about 15 minutes or so and there were a few others that joined me. Soon, I became a little more worried. It is a pretty big place but I was sure that he was fairly close by. After several of us looked all around we called an ALERT, ALERT. This is the missing child code and all staff flock to the front desk to seek out the missing child. I have helped on many, many occasions searching for missing children but it was my turn to be the scared, crying mommy missing her little boy. The look on my co-workers faces when the discovered it was Dylan that was gone was even harder because you could see the look of panic that a loved one was missing. This is their funny little boy too. After searching for another 10 minutes or so he was finally found. By then we were both crying. And where was he? He had chosen a cupboard in one of our meeting rooms to hide in. I thought he must have gotten locked in there but no, just hiding really well. Several of us, including myself, had gone into that room calling for him. It was a very scary moment indeed. After all was settled down and carried him to daycare....no more hiding, at least for today! Thank you to everyone that helped look for him.

Couldn't resist

I found these napkins while I was out shopping and couldn't help but get them.

Merry Christmas Eve! I hope you don't experience any meltdowns at your functions!

A shopping date and some sushi

On Saturday Tom and I went to the mall to try to finish up our Christmas shopping and have a date. We had originally planned on going in the evening and going out to dinner but with this crazy snow weather we decided to make it a lunch date instead. We went up to South Center and went to Blue C Sushi for lunch. It was so much fun. You sit at the counter or in a booth and there is a giant conveyor belt that carries different dishes all around the restaurant. You pick off what you want as it goes by your table. New things are constantly being added to the belt. The color of plate determines how much it is. And there is a label on each dish so you know what it is and what is in it. The amounts on the plate are fairly small which is nice because you can try different things without stuffing yourself. Don't like sushi because you don't think you like raw fish? Not all sushi is raw. My favorite thing is the shrimp tempura roll. Is is cooked shrimp rolled up with usually avocado, rice and maybe something else depending on the place. I have tried some raw fish (now keep in mind I am not a big seafood lover, I don't usually like salmon, tuna, crab), and some of it I like and some not. I really enjoy tuna raw or just seared. It is very tender and full of flavor. I don't care for raw eel. Too mushy for me. Have the kids with you and don't think they'll eat sushi? All sushi places that I have been to serve teriyaki chicken too. So be a little adventurous and try something new. You never know, you might like it!! (TIP: Our favorite place closer to home is Sushi Town in Bonney Lake)

Snow makes for purdy pictures

One thing about snow, you can sure get some pretty pictures out of the deal. I have had fun trying to capture some of the beauty. It is easier said than done...

So scary!

Yesterday Jo Dee and I decided to meet for lunch and do a little shopping. We met and McDonald's (I know so yummy, quite gourmet really) and let the kids play for about an hour and then went over to see what treasures we could find at Marshall's. The roads were fine until we came out of Marshall's and then they were NOT. It took me about 2 hours to get home with a white knuckle grip (Normally maybe 20 minutes). The kids were soooo good (thank goodness cause bodily harm may have been done) and we ended up making it home safe and sound. Of course that was nothing compared to the 5 hours it took Tom to get home from work!

This is leaving Lakewood Towne Center-It's going to be a long drive home

This in on Hwy. 512

And yes I was stopped when I took both of these pictures!

Eggnog or no eggnog?

It seems like most people either love eggnog or can't stand the stuff. Around our house we are eggnog lovers. Eggnong lattes, eggnog straight up, eggnog shakes, you get the point. Here are the kids enjoying an eggnog shake with whip (or whooped according to Dylan) cream! Do you like eggnog?

Snow, snow & yes more snow...

Snow Angel!

Weeeee! Faster, faster!!

We had a light layer of snow on Sunday and the kids had such a great time in it. OK that was nice, time to get on to summer now. Not so fast. Yesterday it snowed a few inches and the kids and I spent about 3 hours out sledding in it. We have a pretty steep driveway and cul-de-sac that all the neighbor kids come to sled on so there were about 13 kids sledding. Today, no school again. I guess it is an early Christmas break for them! I wonder if we will have a white Christmas?

A girls night out

The Girls: Heidi, Angela, Julie, Kree, Me, Rosie

Pamela, Justine, & Paivi
On Friday my birthday staff and I met at the South Center Cheesecake Factory and had a fabulous dinner. There were nine of us and we were all so impressed by what great service we had and all of us liked our dinners(I had the Thai Pasta, yummy!). Sometimes that's hard to do with a big group. Afterwards we went over to the mall and shopped until it closed at 10! Oh yeah, and we all got our picture taken with Santa of course!! We had a great time and I really have a great group of women working for me. Their evaluations are coming up so it was fun to tease them about getting a good eval, because I am about the easiest boss in the world. Fun stuff!

Special times with Papa

Every year since we have live up here Makayla has gone with her Papa at Christmas time to deliver goodies to his customers. It is an all day event and they go everywhere. They really enjoy this time together. This year Dylan got to go too. They were gone all day yesterday and came back full of sugar and great stories. It is so great because Papa's customers look forward to it every year too. They are in the car for hours and so have some great time and usually come home with the most interesting conversations that they have had. And what does one do with oneself when she has no children? I started out the day having coffee with 2 great friends and then went shopping of course!

Candy Cane Cupcakes

So I decided to make the candy cane cupcakes. I am a sucker for a pretty cupcake and I like peppermint so what the heck. I was so proud of myself for making them from scratch and not out of a box. And they turned out so pretty! And then I tasted them.....blahg! They were awful, I threw the whole batch in the garbage and decided on some peppermint ice cream instead (hey at least it was the slow-churned half the fat kind right?) Oh well, back to the box kind :-)

Favorites?

I am trying to think about what goodies to make this year for Christmas. Tom makes some mean fudge and my mom makes the BEST cookies in the world but I was thinking of something different. I ran across this recipe for candy cane cupcakes that I think I'll try. Or this recipe for a yummy looking cake. What do you make for Christmas treats?

Up and running again

Gosh, after what seemed like a trillion years I am finally feeling better! Hurray! Makayla got it (but just a bad stomach ache) on Tuesday and Dylan was throwing up yesterday. It was awful, nasty stuff! I will spare you any other details. So now it is on to Christmas-ness. We, meaning me all by myself, put the tree up and inside decorations yesterday. Hopefully I will get to outside stuff before the rain comes back. What are your tree decorating traditions? Does the whole family decorate or just one person? I kind of wish that it was a family affair here but then I would have to let the kids put it where they wanted! That doesn't always agree with where I want to put it! Is anyone done with their Christmas shopping? NOT ME!!! I saw this idea for wrapping presents and loved it. I think I will try it if I remember.

Happy shopping!!!

Can I please go back to my 20's?

So at my party everybody thought that it was so funny to tell me how "old" I am now. You see, I am the baby of the bunch so I don't take it to heart too much. And they all know that I don't have a problem with turning 30. Jeff was joking around, "Oh you can't tell now but wait until you wake up in the morning, then it will all go downhill". I woke up Sunday morning sooooo sick. And it was not from drinking because I didn't. I had gotten a stomach bug and it is NOT fun. I spent all day Sunday throwing up and in bed pretty sure I was going to die. Today is Monday and I'm not throwing up anymore but I still feel pretty awful. I called Laura and asked if they slipped something in my food to prove their point! If this is what the 30's hold I'm giving them back!!!

Surprise!!

And so what was the surprise? Well at 2pm sharp (well for Jo Dee sharp is like 2:10 ;-) ) Jo Dee picked me up. She brought me a plate of her home-made lemon bars that I LOVE on a cute little plate and then we were off. She took me to her favorite nail place and I got a french mani and then we headed over to the Tacoma Mall. We went over to Victoria Secret's for a bra trying on marathon. I think I tried on about 25 bras in 20 minutes. Jo Dee was literally throwing bras at me from under the door. It was quite hilarious!!! After picking out a pretty little set we went to the MAC counter at Nordstroms for a full make-up makeover including fake eyelashes. I have never had my make up done before and so it was so much fun. I didn't get to see myself while she was doing it so it was funny having Jo Dee and the make up lady go ohh that is so pretty and oh that looks so good and have no idea what they were talking about. We then rushed up to the ladies room and I changed into my "next adventure" clothes. This was so hard for me since I didn't know what was going on. So I brought a few different clothes and Jo Dee helped me decide. I was very excited that I fit into my "IT" jeans and decided to wear these and a little black top. These jeans are one that 3 months ago I could barely pull on let alone button them. My goal was to fit into them by Christmas and with a lot of exercise and eating well I fit into them a month early!!! We left the mall and started driving. I was instructed to put my coat over my face so I couldn't see where we were going. That was hard to do too but I was a good girl and didn't cheat. When we got "there" I had to keep my eyes closed while Jo Dee led me to the entrance and SURPRISE!!! was shouted at me! There, at Caroline's house, was a group of my favorite people waiting for me. I was truly surprised! It was so nice. We had lasagna, Caesar salad and french bread to eat and hang out with all the people I love. Then we did cake and presents and the evening was over at about 9:30. We took the kids home.....and Ray (my step-dad) was at my house. Why is Ray here? Turns out that we were meeting quite a few of the same people that were at the party and going out dancing afterwards! Wow, what a night. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday. Thanks to all who helped me celebrate and a special thanks to my husband for putting it together!

Happy Birthday to, well....ME!!!

So here it is, my big 3-0 birthday! It is 8 in the morning and I think my husband has called me old about a million times! He thinks he is sooooo funny (he is older than me so he doesn't have any room to talk!) Do I feel older? Nah, life's just getting good. 20's was all about getting going in life. I was thinking last night about just what my 20's brought me and holy smokes a lot changed my life!

What the 20's brought me:

*I got married

*bought a house/sold a house/bought another one

* had 2 beautiful children

*moved to a new state

*lost a parent

*gained so many new friends

*lost a brother-n-law

*grew closer to my family

*learned the power that a little heart can make (thank you Mia)

*have only had 2 different jobs

And that is just the very tip of the iceberg, the personal stuff. Not to mention advances that have been made in medicine, electronics, and the world. I am thankful that I made it through my 20's in pretty good shape and am ready to go!

So what am I doing on my big birthday? I STILL HAVE NO IDEA!!! It was so cute at first that Tom was doing this for me. Now that I haven't been able to figure it out it is, OK enough already tell me!! Oh well, I am lucky to have a guy that is going through all this just for little 'ol me. Right now I sent him out for coffee. That is one thing I do know, I am getting coffee...........

Happy Thanksgiving....Here's to Traditions

For as long as I can remember we have been going down to my Aunt Judi and Uncle Mike's for Thanksgiving. It used to be that Portland was a half way point in between Southern Oregon(where my dad and I lived) and Washington(where my sisters lived) but now that we all live up here and my dad is gone it is simply tradition. I love it. It is simply the way it is and there is no guessing what we will be doing and who will be there. Sometimes there are more people, perhaps friends that we invite but there are always my sisters with their families, my family and my aunt and uncle. We eat a fabulous turkey dinner and then usually play games. After dinner the happenings may change and differ from year to year but the beginning is always the same. The other traditional part to this is that I make the pumpkin pies. My dad and I used to do it together and as I got older the tradition was passed on to me. Now I do it with my kids. Again such a simple thing but a part that I love. My dad is always around when I am making the pies. I can feel it. I hope that you all have a fabulous Thanksgiving and are busy creating those family traditions that will last for generations to come.

Thankful....

The love of my life & my BEST friend!My sisters- They are the best!My mom & Ray

Jo Dee and family

Holly & Louie

Laura & Jeff
Tanya & Jeff

Trish & Ben-the one grinning in the background :-)

The gang (Kerri, Laura, Caroline,Tanya, Me, Holly, Michele, Sandy)

Ususally at Thanksgiving time we (meaning people in general) talk about things that we are thankful for. I try to teach my kids, and myself, to be thankful throughout the year and to tell the people in your life that you are thankful for them. But I just wanted to take a moment to thank the people that mean so much to me, at this moment in my life. I am incredibly lucky to have such a great group of friends and family that I love. Most people can say that they have 1 or 2 true friends but I am blessed that I have many that I can say are my true friends. These are the people that I could count on if I needed them, I would trust my children with them, and that I LOVE to just be with. Thank you, you know who you are. I love you guys.....