Wishing you a HAPPY 2009!

I don't know about you, but I am glad that 2008 is over...it has been a tough year in many ways. Looking forward to a fresh start...including a new home! We are moving in the next few days.(Still here in the same town...for now...)...details to come...I will also be sending out Happy Holidays/Happy 2009 cards with our new address...so that's why you didn't get my card, no, you weren't dropped from my list! :-)

We're spending the evening at home, together, with tasty snacks and a video. Joe and I plan to make some new year's resolutions.

By the way, happy birthday again to my honey, Joe! Yesterday we celebrated his special day with a date night!

And congrats to Allen and Monica on the birth of Peyton, their first daughter (and 3rd child), on Dec. 26! She's gorgeous! My college roomie Michelle, also had her first child on Dec. 27: Jordan! Busy time for birthdays! We have a few family birthdays coming up in the next few days, as well as Lily's 2nd and Margo's birthday (same day!). We miss you guys TONS!

***Happy New Year's 2009***

Grandpa with his great grandchildren!

whew...

Wow, did those holidays fly by or what? Now I am cleaning, trying to put things away and hope you enjoy the pix: Aunt Jenny & Uncle Justin with the kiddos, Spencer and his new polar express train (THANK YOU, GRANDMA!), the 3 sisters, various pics of my cuties...

Saw Twilight yesterday...finally...sorry, Maddie, while I did enjoy it, it was not as good as I hoped it would be! Edward is perfect, and Bella, too...but didn't really like the Cullen siblings and missed parts that were in the book. I KNOW it must be a hard job to turn a book into a movie...but glad I saw it! :-) Thanks, Maddie, for calling me!

A few pics from the last few days...

Kendall enjoying her first Christmas Eve... (highlights include her first kitchen and baby doll!)

Attempting a Christmas pic with the 8 Brown cousins. :-) The 4 boys!

Spencer and one of his gifts (highlights include: Star Wars legos, digital camera, Lincoln Logs)

Cooper and Zero checking out his stars wars action figures (highlights include: Plasma car, light saber, digital camera)

Unfortunately, my camera's flash died, so I didn't get any pics of Christmas morning at Grammy and Grampy's...Michelle, please email me the pics! :-)))

Wishing you all a happy holiday season!

Getting closer...

Whew...Christmas is almost here...we finally got the tree up! I LOVE putting up the ornaments...telling the stories about each one we put up. We have a system, Joe and I put up our very first ornaments we got our first Christmas together. We take pictures of each other (hmmm..scrapbook page?) and then the kids put up their baby ornaments. Kendall was asleep this year, so I put up hers.

Also, made it through 3 Christmas musicals...my class had theirs this afternoon, so I took my three and Jake to see it. The 1st graders were so cute! :-) Spencer had his kinder performance yesterday, adorable! He was a "parent" in the show. It was about soldiers going off to war and their parents missing them. It had snowpeople, Santa and an elf, mail carriers (carrying those letters to Santa), very sweet! I really liked it because they didn't sing the everyday Christmas songs...they sang Blue Christmas, I'll Be Home for Christmas, My Favorite things, Happy Xmas (John Lennon) and some I didn't know...Santa, please bring my baby back to me! Here's Spencer & Rhylie...his "wife" in the show.

Saying War is Over!

Tomorrow Jenny will be here! Yippee! Meg gets into town on Sunday! :-) Family time!

The *Star*

Our gingerbread house

Attempt at a Christmas picture...take one...

Here he is....Meet Me at the Manger

That's Jake on his right

Cousin Riley in her solo

Spencer is following in the steps of his Daddy. For those of you not in the know, Joe did local theatre as a child, and was a little ham himself! He sang, acted, and danced! He's very good, too. Sometimes he thinks about auditioning for a local show again....maybe one of these days. Anyway, Spencer had his first show last weekend....and he did great! (His summer attempt in the church choir debacle is forgotten now....) He took it so seriously and knew all the motions and words! He put his little heart into it, and we were so proud! In fact, we got many, many sweet comments from people that thought he stole the show and was so animated! Some that knew Joe as a child remarked that Spencer was just like his dad! In church on Sunday morning, one of the speakers even announced that the congregation HAD to go see the show, and to watch the little tow headed boy in the front because he'll put you in the Christmas spirit! Our little star! :-)))

Christmas is almost here????????

KK with Papa

Spence and his BFF Jake

KK in her cute Apple outfit!

Little miss reading in Papa's highchair...seriously! Made it through 5 kids!

My cutie patootie C

Man, this year I have been so bad about decorating...it's my favorite time, but with work and kids, including a darling little miss who is into everything, I have been lagging! I've only taken 1 box out, and we don't have our tree yet...nor did we get tickets in time for the Polar Express, nor have we made our gingerbread house (still in the box), nor have I done any of the traditions I so badly wanted to start...the Jesse Tree, the read a Christmas book a night thing, etc...

I've been in a little funk lately, and being sick really threw me for a loop. I need to buck up and remember 2009 will be another year. I am truly blessed, so I need to count my blessings everyday! Luckily the kiddos are too young to remember this as the year Christmas started late, right??? At least some of the gifts are bought! Trying to cut back on the commercialism of Christmas and remember the season. Blogs like http://www.simplemom.net/ and http://www.almostfrugal.com/ are great places to get ideas. I am trying to limit my time on the computer, too. Losing all my bazillion bookmarks (fav web sites) was good, I think...I am only looking at a few sites now. Of course, I will be happy to share any cool ones I come across. :-)

http://www.littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/ and http://www.shabbynest.blogspot.com/ are favs for cute ideas.

Anyway, it's off to bed for me...will post some pics...have been badddd about taking pics lately....

Another...tag!

50 random things about me
1. Do you like blue cheese? no
3. Do you own a gun? Never
4. What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? I always order a cherry limeade
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? no
6. What do you think of hot dogs? Sometime they are OK, like Carney's and Pink's in LA
7. Favorite Christmas Song? Jingle Bell Rock
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? OJ

9. Can you do push ups? yes
10. Favorite movie? Sleepless in Seattle, 13 Going on 30
11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? my wedding ring and my flower ring
12. Favorite hobby? Reading, scrapping, photography
13. Do you work with people who idolize you? No
14. Do you have ADD? No, I don't think so
15. What's one trait that you hate about yourself? that I'm not a morning person
16. Middle name? Michelle
17. Three thoughts at this moment: 1) Cooper needs to take a nap 2) I wish I knew how to turn off the TV (remote is broken) 3) I'm thirsty
19. Name 3 drinks you drink regularly: Water and lemon, Tea, Pellegrino with lemon
20. Current worry right now? Too many to list
21. Current hate right now? cars

22. Favorite place to be? the beach
23. How did you bring in the New Year? at teh Gresham's with a few other families
24. Where would you like to go? somewhere warm right now, Hungary someday
25. Name three people who will complete this. I have no idea
26. Who's answer do you want to read the most? ???
27. What color shirt are you wearing? cream turteneck and burgundy cardigan sweater
28. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? ?
29. Can you whistle? yes
30. Favorite color? pink (of course)
31. Would you be a pirate? naw

32. What songs do you sing in the shower? I pray
33. Favorite girl's name? Kendall
34. Favorite boy's name? Cooper and Spencer
35.What's in your pocket right now? a penny
36. Last thing that made you laugh? My bys running around like crazy
37. Best bed sheets as a child? Don't remember
38. Worst injury you've ever had? broken baby toe
39. Do you love where you live? no, but it's home

40. How many TVs do you have in your house? 2 (4 if you count the ones in the garage that we're not using at the moment)
41. Who is your loudest friend? Ashley
42. How many dogs do you have? none
43. Does someone have a crush on you? Just my hubby :-)
44. If you could marry a movie actor/actress who would it be? none!
45. What is your favorite book? the Twilight series (right now!)
46. What is your favorite candy? Snickers really satisfies
47. Who is your favorite sports team? Cubs
48. What song do you want played at your funeral? I've never really thought about it
49. What were you doing at 12 AM last night? sleeping or nursing Kendall
50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up this morning? How many days until vacation?
Read this and consider yourself tagged!!!! :-))))

Didja Miss Me?

Helllooooo..I'm back....it's been crazy! First I got sucked into the Twilight world and all my free time went to reading...2 books down, 2 to go! Those books should have a disclaimer on them that you will not want to stop reading, so make sure you have free time!
Then, Joe and I got struck with the 24 hour flu...or food poisoning...either one...it was yucky! I had to still drag myself out the first morning, plastc bucket in tow, to drop off lesson plans and kids to school. Cooper threw up on the way, so he came home with me. He was fine after that, so luckily no one else got sick! Thanks to Grammy who came and took the boys for the night, and to Michelle who kept Spencer for 2 afternoons. Whew...family is handy! :-) But now we are all better and moving on, ready to start celebrating the Christmas season! Ho-ho-ho!

Happy Thankgiving...whew this week is flying by...pictures to share....
Here's Kendall and cousin Audrey, 1, from Santa Barbara...the 2 youngest at the Thanksgiving Feast at Grammy & Grampy's (my in-law's).

Us! (spencer with his award, to be explained in a few pictures).

Spencer went golfing for the first time at the Annual Thanksgiving Day Golf tournament. He was the winner of the under 16! (The first time they did this award!).
Here's Grandpa Lepere, the winner of the adult award (the 10th year of this award).

The table all set...

Leaving for golf.

What I see whenever I go to get the girl out of her crib...she is always standing!

With my Spencer at his kinder feast. I took the day off to be mommy and hang with his class.

Eating with Atheina, his pre-school buddy and in his kinder class. This was after the fire drill that happened as the kinders were getting their lunches...not a pretty scene!

Spencer and his kinder buddies: Nathan, Parker, Aidan, Thomas, and Jake!

Doing an Indian dance with Rhylie, one of his "crushes".

We've had a good week off. We hung around the house a lot...relaxing. We had a playdate at McDonald's, and now they 3 boys are at the movies watching Madagascar 2. I am at home, supposed to be cleaning, but I was reading the unpublished and now discarded Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer on the computer...it's the version of Twilight told from Edward's point of view. Yes, I got sucked into the Twilight world, and I am hooked! It is such a great read! What a love story...I am half in love with Edward myself...if you haven't read it, go read it now! I stayed up until 2 AM reading it the other night!

That's all for now...better go get something accomplished! :-)

Amy's Book Reviews

OK, it's time for some more book reviews! Here are some books I've checked out of the library lately....
The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule: I was really excited for this book, and it's only OK. It's worth a look, but I was hoping for more ideas and pictures. Now, I'm not finished, only half done. I am enjoying it, and getting some good ideas for nurturing creativity in my house, like family drawing time with each of using our own artist's notebooks, and using art clips as a display area (big binder clips mounted on a wood board), but I was hoping for more projects and more pictures from the author's family on the creative things they do! I do recommend at least checking it out of the library. Her blog is www.amandasoule.com.

The Toxic Sandbox by Libby McDonald: This is kind of a scary book, but informative, too. It talks about the worst toxins our kids are exposed to and what we can do about it. She discusses lead, mercury, plastics, etc. It includes scientific findings and those are written in a way that are easily understood. She also tells us what we can do to protect our kids from these toxins. I know I'll be asking for lead testing for my children at their next doctor's appointment!

Eat This, Not That for Kids by David Zinczenko: full of pictures and info on what foods/meals are the healthiest for our children. Tons of pictures of real foods: restaurant choices from McDonald's to Olive Garden (did you know the Whopper Jr, hold the mayo becomes one of the best burgers to get), food from the market (Rice Krispies have no fiber, don't buy; Frosted Mini-Wheats are a better choice...didn't see that coming!), and lots of good tidbits. I think we may just have to purchase this. The author also has this book written for adults!

Crafty Mama by Abby Pecoriello: LOVE this! I just picked this up today and already know I am buying this! Tons of cute crafty ideas that don't look too hard to do for those not craft inclined. I already found a few ideas for Christmas. Get together with a few mamas and craft (this is how the author started out. She has a blog at www.craftymamas.com, but it's new and not many ideas on it yet). go get this one!

And last, A Year Without Made in China by Sara Bongiorni: Enjoyed this book, never realized how many things are made in China. This family had a hard time with toys and shoes, especially. I don't think I could give up the Chinese made goods (we rely on too many things!), but it's made me check the things we have, and I think I'll probably try to avoid buying some Chinese made products. A quick read.
Enjoy! And visit your local public library! :-)

check it out!!!!

Love that this looks totally 70's! (though picnik calls it 60's!) It looks like it came from my baby book!

OK, I found the coolest site....it is addictive....it's called picnik and it lets you edit your photos...for free!...on the internet, nothing to download! Check out just a few I played with....and you can pull pics from facebook or flickr as well as your hard drive. I don't have any pics on the hard drive yet, so I pulled from my facebook page. But go, check it out!

Also, made a yummy dinner, a recipe (I changed a bit) from The 6 o'clock scramble. I'll have to find their site again, I lost all my bookmarks!!! It was a baked penne pasta with sausage and spinach and cheese. Very good!!! Spencer loved it, too! I recommend checking the cookbook out. I got it from the public library...you should see the stack of books I have! :-)