Flashback Friday...late

OOPS...I'm a day late...here's pics from 2004...Spencer & Daddy in Santa Barbara and me and my man going to Shea's wedding...

Happy Birthday also to Evan, Tegan's brother, who was 1 yesterday! Also, my friend Kelly had her 4th child, baby boy Caden, yesterday! Congrats to her family!

Happy Birthday, Baby!

It's my man's birthday! Yay! To a wonderful, caring, funny, great husband and dad...you're the best!

Love,

me

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays, friends and family! God bless you!

Love from our family...

(yes, that is Coop's real personality...)

Flashback Friday

Ok, so from now, I will post a pic or pics that aren't recent...hence, flashback Friday. So those of you who know and love my family can see my family grow up. :-) Here's for today...this is from Aug. of this year and our trip to San Diego. This is our favorite beach, Ocean Beach. My Spence would love to be the ultimate beach bum, as you can tell from the pics! (And Coop, too, actually...he enjoys eating the sand. :-))

HaPpY HOliDAys!!

It's almost Christmas...it's almost Christmas...yay! Even though it won't be the same this year since Megan (my lil sis) won't be able to come home. She's on call for her work. She'll be home on Wednesday. :-(
We have a lot to do still...still haven't gone to see Santa at the mall. We did see him yesterday at Spencer's pre-school party and we will see him today at Margaret's party (Coop's beloved babysitter), but we need to do the annual mall picture, too. I still have a few gifts to get. Nana and Grandpa...HARD to buy for!! :-) I have been feeling under the weather lately, so that doesn't help. Spence is better, just still trying to "milk" it...he got used to being waited on hand and foot. Now it's my turn to be nauseous. Ick...
By the way, two shout-outs for allrecipes.com for those of you cooking challenged as me. Both Sally and Kim (lil Kim? Are you blogging now????) mentioned that. Go check it out.
I better go, got to clean the house before my friends Nicole and Danny (and Riley) stop by and get the boys ready for the party.
Good news...we're going to Disneyland! Family trip...sorta a Christmas gift to our boys. CAN'T wait! Spence has gone once, but talks about going to "Mickey's house" all the time. Coop was only 4 months old when we went last. Any good hotel suggestions????
Sorry, no pics to post. Joe has been busy with work this week, so I haven't had the camera. :-(

Officially on BREAK!

OK, my Christmas break starts right now...yippee!! :-) Though I am at home with one sick boy...Spencer is still not better. He stayed home from school Monday, went on Tuesday (field trip caroling at a retirement home) and got sick in Aunt "Chelle's" car today on the way to school...oops...I think I owe Aunt Chelle big time! So, he's in bed again resting....tomorrow is the pre-school Christmas party, so he better get better!

Ok, so those of you who know me know that I am not a chef...far from it. In college, my friends knew I either ate out or made a frozen meal...unless Robin cooked for me. :-) I desperately want to be a cook, want Joe to come home from work to a good home cooked meal, so I am trying...(discovering Rachael Ray), but...my Christmas treats aren't turning out the way I wanted. First off, the peanut brittle tasted yucky (I used dark corn syrup, not light), and then the lemon squares couldn't be made because there were ants in the powdered sugar...so, I ended up making brownie at 10:00 PM last night. I felt a little bad handing out my tiny bags of brownie at school today...oh well...I guess I better start my treat making earlier next year! But, I am lucky enough to have a husband that likes to cook (back off, ladies!), so I do get some nice home cooked meals every week. :-) (And he knows cooking is not my forte and he still loves me!)

But anyone want to send me some easy, yummy recipes???

Greetings from the house of sickies...

Yes, our boys have been sick this weekend. Spencer started out the weekend bright and early Saturday by throwing up in our bed and on his pj's. He didn't stop until late last night. Whew...what a day, the laundry was going all day long and the house reeks. Coop has a cold, and it makes him moody and not sleep well. Poor boys! But LUCKILY, this morning, Spence is feeling better, just a cold now, and watching The Polar Express (or Under the Bridge, as he calls it!) for the thousandth time. Coop is eating breakfast, Daddy is getting some sleep, and I am hanging out in pj's. I *never* got out of them yesterday...even to walk to the mailbox last night (hee-hee)...I LOVE getting Christmas cards! We are getting some beautiful pictures this year. I started scrapbooking last year's pictures. I thought it would be fun to have a scrapbook of holiday cards and letters, to look through each year. Maybe I'll show a pic sometime.

I am sad Spence was sick this weekend, though, because I found a train ride with Santa we could have gone on...a real steam locomotive, but this is the last weekend. Oh well, next year. Spence loves trains, he makes railroad tracks in his apple as he eats it, finds them in shadows, and plays Polar Express in the bathtub(the scene the train is skidding across the ice).
OK, better go check on the sickies...hope everyone is HEALTHY in your house!

Brotherly Love...

Just wanted to share a cute pic of my boys...Coop just loves his big bro...maybe too much?

Hope all is well with everyone! Just talked to Robin in Seattle, she said it is storming like crazy!

Ok, Vicki updated her blog...go girl! Check it out!

Ten On Tuesday...

Wow, i am actually doing the 10 on Tuesday on Tuesday! (It's an online blog starter that gets mailed every, yes, Tuesday!) Then you tag other blogs to post theirs...consider yourselves tagged Sally, Vicki, and Brian/Kelli! :-)

10 Things You Want For Christmas:

1. Black picture frames, all sizes

2. Dustbuster

3. any books from my amazon.com wish list

4. Sephora: need lipstick and eyeshadow

5. ClOtHeS...I've sold all mine at my garage sales...

6. White dry erase monthly calendar

7. Scrappin' supplies

8. Coat rack

9. Shelves

10. Organizer

There...made my list, checking it twice...What's on YOUR list? Post in the comments, too if you are not a fellow blogger...yet!

Leaving you with Cutie pics of my Super Duper and the Man (with a dirty face, I better clean them up before I snap pics...). BTW, tonight Spence said, "Daddy, you're the best!" How cute!

Oh Christmas Tree...

Yay, we got our tree on Friday. We go with Joe's parents and the cousins, who run around the lot like crazy while we search for the perfect tree. The top picture is of Joe, Coop and Joe's mom, Cindy (for those who don't know her). Anyway, the tree looks beautiful, and is trimmed with all of my stories and memories (i.e. ornaments). Love it! The boys are lovin' it, too. Coop leaves it alone, but Spence likes to take off the ornaments to play with them....one of his favorite thinsg to do is also play with the nativity set. "Oh, Baby Jesus, you're so cute!"-one of his sayings...:-) He is getting into the whole nativity thing and the story of Jesus. I am proud of him.

Coop has been battling a cold here. Poor baby...he's also teething. But he's in a great mood (most of the time).

Hope all is well at your home! Waiting for some holiday babies to be born...Vicki expecting her little girl on Jan. 1 and my buddy from Bible study, Kelly, expecting her 4th on Jan 1, also. Kelly had her 3rd a week after Coop was born...brave woman, I can't imagine adding a newborn into our life right now. Lots of new babies coming in 2007! None from this woman, though....

HaPPy HOlIdaYs!!!!

Winter is probably...

...the not the best time to clean carpets. Here it is, almost 24 hours later, and our carpets are still wet! Hmmmm...The boys are loving the open space and running around like crazy. I liked the good deal I got. The carpets look pretty good. I just am anxious to get the furniture back and get our tree! Oh well...patience....
On a sad note, the Dad missing in Oregon (see earlier post) was found today, and he had not survived. I am sad for that family. He leaves behind a wife and 2 little girls. You can read the whole story here. Sadly, they had taken a road that was closed for the winter, and not marked as closed on the map they had. So, they got snowed in on the road and of course, there was no one around to help. Nic, you guys be careful driving down to California from Portland soon!

Please pray for...

...this family. I saw this on another blog, and just felt led to post it, too. Nic, you guys are up in Oregon, and everyone else, say a prayer as you read about this missing family.

www.jamesandkati.com

UPDATE: Mom and kids found safe. Dad is still missing, he went on foot 2 days. See updates at their blog. Keep praying!

Bad blogger

OK, bad blogger...I am back....nothing much to report here. Had a garage sale yesterday...brrr...wasn't sure people still went in the winter, oh, but they do! :-) Made some moola...carpets getting cleaned this week! Yay! Then we can get our tree. I really want to get the tree, but have been slightly putting it off because of my Coop. He gets into everything, I am just worried about the precious ornaments.

Yes, my ornaments are precious. I don't have one of those trees that you see in magazines...mine is special b/c it has all the ornaments from my life, down from my baby ornaments to the ones I made growing up, to our first home ornament and the boys' ornaments. It takes me forever to decorate the tree b/c I like to savor each ornament and remember the story behind it. I try to write down the year and the reason behind each, so I can recall the story. I tell you, if my house was on fire, my ornament boxes (and scrapbooks) would be the first thing I grab (besides the obvious of my family!). I'll take a pic of some of my ornaments to post when we get them out, hopefully Tuesday night or Wednesday night...:-) I posted LAST year's pictures...the ornaments all laid out and Coop putting up his first Christmas ornament!

Have a great week! :-)

Hello? 911?

"OOPS, did I call 911? Sorry!" What was probably going though Baby C's head as he made a call, one of his favorite things to do. Maybe China, maybe Grandma's (as he has done on Daddy's cell phone)..now 911! Not such a fun thing to receive a phone call from emergency services..."Did you need help? You just placed a call to us..." Thanks, Coop!

Coooooool here...brrrr....actually scraped the *ice* off my windshield this morning with my fingernails....another reason why I am finally having the garage sale THIS Saturday...so I can park in my garage! We have a (technically) 3 car garage, but with my SUV only 2 cars fit and with all of our junk in there, no cars fit! Oh well...time to sell and toss!

I know it is not as cold as SNOWY Seattle...talked to Robin up there as the snow fell and fell...how about Chicago? Any snow there yet, my Chicago readers? Even Nicole in Oregon said they got a light dusting of snow, too. Last week we were practically in the 70's and now, brrr....

Have a Great week!

Happy Birthday to Charlotte tomorrow! Happy Belated Birthday to Missy! :-) Love ya!

Ten on Tuesday

OK, I was tagged by Sally...10 Things You Love To Eat During the Holidays...

1. Turkey everything

2. Mashed potatoes and gravy (an all year addiction for me, too, Sally)

3. Pumpkin pie

4. Shrimp cocktail

5. My mom's bacon wrapped sausages

6. Those light, powdery cookies

7. Fudge

8. Nana's shrimp salad

9. Mom's chicken and noodles

10. All those hor's doeuvres! Yum!

Now go for it, Brian & Kelli, Vicki (update, girl!) and Michelle (new blogger....if you want me to go see DD with you....) And anyone else...post under comments...:-)

The pictures are from Aunt Jenny and Uncle Justin's visit...a look of love between Aunt and nephew and Spence lovin' his baby girl...Dahlia, the weiner dog. He called her baby girl and told Jenny he wanted to buy her. He said, "Jenny, you don't need 2 dogs. You can have Zero (the other weiner dog)."

HaPpY THankSgIvINg!!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I leave with pictures of Spencer with his guests at his Pre-school feast and of course, swinging, his favorite thing to do at recess time!

OK, so someone tried to scam us....

(Coop and his "baby"...the first thing he has become attached to....)

We're selling our car, and I have been emailing some man who was interested. he asked some questions, asked to see pix of the engine, and then sent the final email where he wanted to send a check with a courier for too much, have us cash it, then Western Union the remainder to another address, and a shipping service would pick up the car...as I started to tell Joe about his requests, Joe knew exactly what I was going to say and said it along with me....weird! We almost got scammed! Of course, my dear hubby is too savvy to be scammed...thank goodness!

Then, I sent out a scammy email...it was a prayer request and it sounded so legit, but then someone forwarded a link to snopes.com that said the prayer request was a little bogus, a little true...this woman was asking for prayer for her husband in Iraq, but he wasn't on a dangerous sniper mission, nor had he called home to say goodbye...weird....I guess it is getting hard to trust almost anything now. Very sad....truthfulness and honesty and trustworthiness are great qualities...

Fighting this yucky cough and achy pains that I know have been going around...poor Coop had it for almost 2 weeks. But now it is VACATION!!!! Sadly, we are not going anywhere...:-( But at least I can stay home with my men and MAYBE get more sleep and HOPEFULLY scrapbook! Jen & Justin are coming in tonight and Meg is coming up this weekend, too. We will have a birthday (for Dad)/Thanksgiving celebration on Sunday.

10 Things you are Thankful For....(From this week's 10 on Tuesday). Sally, I expect to see this on your blog, too!
Me: 1. My God 2. My Hubby! 3. My Precious Boys! 4. My family 5. My health 6. A nice home 7. Great friends 8. MOPS 9. Books 10. Cameras

I know, kinda random...I also am thankful for Grey's Anatomy, scrapbook magazines, chai lattes, fall weather, the beach, jeans, wet kisses from my boys, email!, new babies, nachos from El Asadero, phone calls from friends (Hi Robin!), jersey sheets, hot baths, slippers....

One year later...

Ok, here are my boys one year later...making me sad....BUT they'll always be MY babies.

We went to a movie night at church last night. Cooper watched, oh maybe, 1 minute of the movie and walked around all night. No wonder he slept until 10 AM this morning! We sat with the Adrian's, and Spence and Aiden ran around and got popcorn a bunch of times. Jake and the other cousins were there, as well as some of Spencer's school friends, including his "crush" (heehee) Maddie. They all ran around, laughing and yes, watching the movie at times. It was "Cars", which is a great movie, but being in this environment was so much fun for them. We ended the night with a late McDonald's run. Spencer decided he was still hungry! I didn't mind...the McRib is doing its farewell tour, so I need to eat them before they are gone. I love me my McRibs...

10 things on your to do list

First, these are pictures from a year ago, my, how time flies...look at my chubby Coop, now he is skinny mini! And Spence is laughing, that's still typical today. He's a happy guy!

Ok, Ten on Tuesday's weekly blog starter...10 things on your to-do list...(yes, I know it's Friday...)
1. Make a sample rain stick for the art project we are doing in Spencer's pre-school class next week.
2. Find an approriate Indians or Pilgrims book to read to the class.
3. Make the "favors" for the moms in our MOPS group for our Thanksgiving Feast next week.
4. Get the carpets cleaned.
5. Make copies of the professional pictures we had done of our family. They're awesome...I'll post some...
6. Finish cleaning out the office so Jen & Justin can stay in there when they come next weekend.
7. Make a resume so I can maybe start tutoring and earn some extra moola.
8. Go through the garage for the garage sale next weekend.
9. Start buying Christmas gifts...:-)
10. Clean our bedroom...sooooo messy.....I never clean in there, I always concentrate on the rooms people actually see....
OK, Sally, Brian/Kelli, and Vicki, and oh and Michelle (new blogger!), let's see your Ten on Tuesday list....:-)

Costumes...

Here's some pics of Coop in his costume...tried very hard to gte pics of boys together...impossible...a 1 year old and a 3 year old posing...are you kidding???
Oh well...what's a mom to do?

Halloween pics!

Ok, enjoy! :-)

The first is the pic of our sick boy, who never got into his cotsume...yet...The other one on top is Spence and Aiden trick or treating! The other pics are of my Spider Spencer, at home, and at school with Daddy and playing games. Cousin Jake is the soccer player. Too cute! Thanks for looking!

By the way....

...click on that cute pic of Spence and Coop at the harvest party to see it bigger...it's so cute!!!!

Halloween...

...pictures coming soon!!! I have to download onto the computer still...it was a crazy day.

We started out the day at 3:30 AM with a crying and feverish Coop. I stayed up with him until he finally crashed at 6:30 (and slept until 11:30). I stayed home from school that day. Daddy had plans to be King Kong in a bikini and tutu at Spencer's pre-school bash. I have great pix of that!
So, I pretty much slept on and off that day...That evening, Spence came with me to the YC Harvest Festival to help me man the bounce house for my MOPS group. We saw cousins and his Grammy & Grampy there, too. My angelic mom stayed at home with a crying Coop, while Daddy, who partied with Spence in the morning and worked all afternoon, napped. Then, we traded. Daddy took Spence trick or treating with the Adrian's (our third year doing that with them...tradition!). I stayed home with the sick baby, who, luckily, is about 80% better today.

So, all in all, it was a long good day...complete with a broken toaster and the fridge ice maker getting fixed (LOVE our warranties)...I bet you are glad you know that, right? Hee-hee...now, I better get this crazy child into bed, who is currently putting stickers over every inch of his body right next to me...didn't Fudge from Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing do something like that??? One of my fav Judy Blume books!!!! :-)
Pictures coming soon!!

Parties, parties...

We are still partying here! We had Isaiah's 3rd birthday party this morning, and tonight we went to a Harvest Party at the Hadley Farm. Hayrides, s'mores, square dancing (so fun!), mazes for the kids, and food! Fun, fun until someone gets hurt...Spence and Jake were running around while we were square dancing and the floor of the barn was very slippery with hay. They had had a blast all night, climbing over the hay bales, running around the dancers, and boom...Spence fell onto the floor and got a bad bloody nose. After some ice and some juice, he was back in the maze. Whew...boys...but all in all, a great time! I am exhausted now...DON'T forget to change back your clocks tonight. Fall back! Everyone says, oh good, an extra hour of sleep...tell my kids, please! We'll still be up early, except it will be even earlier...

Don't forget...

...to change back your clocks tonight (unless you live in AZ)! One extra hour of sleep...ha, do you think my boys will know that! Actually, Spence slept in until 8 this morning, and Coop until almost 9...thank you! :-)
Busy weekend planned...we are heading to another birthday party this morning! We already been to Aiden's 3rd, Carter's 2nd and now Isaiah's 3rd! October is a busy brithday month!
Then tonight we are going to a Harvest Party at a farm...hayrides, square dancing, mazes, food! Can't wait! Spence had a blast last year, so I am sure it will be fun this year, too. We're going with the family: Joe's parents and the his sister Michelle's family.
Oops, Coop is trying to destroy Isaiah's birthday gift...gotta go! Happy October!

Omigosh...

...I just went to Sally's blog and saw that we have almost the same title for our Pumpkin patch entry...weird...honestly, i didn't see her blog until after I wrote mine....tooo funny! I know there are few readers that read her blog and mine (thanks!), and I didn't want you to think I was copying her, even though I do love her blog, especially her awesome scrapping layouts and banner (maybe one day I'll figure out how to do one, too)...too bad we didn't see you at the patch, Sally! I want to see your girls in real life! hee-hee...

Pumpkins, part deux

We took Coop to the patch now. Spence insisted that Coop needed to go, too. We have some great patches around here, but we went back to the familiar Bear Creek Pumpkin Patch. Spence had a grand time getting dirty, and Coop loved walking around, trying to catch up with big brother. He does that quite a bit. Today he saw Spence sitting on the couch watching a show, and Coop climbed up to sit just like his brother. Of course, his attention span is about 5 seconds for TV, which is fine with me, so it wasn't enough time to run and get the camera.

Poor Coop, he also got 5 shots today! My poor baby...he was so brave, and was even laughing later in the evening. Spencer remarked in the car on the way there, "Mommy, I am so proud that I don't have to get shots!" Cracks me up...I have been saying to him things like, "Good, you helped your brother. You must be proud of yourself." and "You stayed in bed last night! You must feel good!"....comments courtesy of Dr. Kevin Leman, author of Making Children Mind Without Losing Yours...a great discipline book, with a Christian parent's perspective. Check it out, mamas!
Enjoy the pictures.... I love the one of Coop chasing after his brother...what we have to look forward to...lovin' it!!!!!!! Boys rock!

Haircut and pumpkin patch!

Spencer went on his first field trip today! We went to the pumpkin patch. It was his first bus ride, too. He could hardly wait to go on the bus! The pre-schoolers were very well behaved. It was an enjoyable morning. Spencer is sporting a new 'do, also. He was getting pretty shaggy, so Daddy took him and he's almost bald (to me, anyway!). I wanted to cry when i saw him. He is so old looking now. These moments are passing too quickly. I am afraid if I blink, my boys will be grow up and be men. I can't handle that! But enjoy the pics...

TV Time

Aaahhh, a sight that warms this teacher's heart...her two boys reading...heehee...

Fall TV...what's on your "must see" list? Me, I haven't really found any new shows. My DVR still records "Grey's Anatomy" ( a must see!!!) and "How I Met Your Mother" (so cute!). I half enjoy the new show, "The Class", the characters are interesting, but it's not a must see for me. I DVR "One Tree Hill", but I watch most of it in fast forward. I get through the hour long show in 20 minutes. I don't why I feel like to have to know what's going on. Weird. I am looking forward to my "OC" returning, but now that Marissa Cooper is dead, I think it'll change the show too much. Ryan is quitting Berkeley for boxing?!?
Joe and I tried watching"30 Rock" tonight, but it didn't get any laughs out of us. Plus, the actors are soooo liberal in "real life". It's funny...in college I attended the Democrat Club meetings and campaigned for Democrat candidates (I interned with a political campaign firm in Santa Barbara), but now as wife, mom, and adult, I have become much more conservative. Plus, I think my hubby has rubbed off on me. Life is full of twisty turns and you'll never know where you'll find yourself.
I better go start my report cards...ugh...my least favorite part of teaching...grades....But I am really liking 4th grade! It's a good grade to teach. It's actually the grade I wanted to teach while working on my credential, but I have never taught it until now.
Good night!

Party time

Today we partied for Aiden's 3rd birthday at Kiddieland. Luckily, I brought my helper, Maddie...whew...once 2 are mobile, it gets harder and harder to bring them out alone...
we had a fun day. We ended the day at Grammy & Grampy's house with mexican food and playing outside. The cousins (Spence, Coop, Jake, Tyler, Riley and Maddie) had a blast, climbing all over the jungle gym, swinging, and just running around being crazy. Coop, of course, wants in on the action. He is one busy busy boy. Boys are so much fun!!!