Jumping on Beds..........

Friday.....Boo Hoo.

It's Friday which can only mean one thing.....vacation is coming to an end soon! :(

New Year's Eve is tomorrow night and our plan is to stay at home and celebrate in our pj's! We have been sick on and off for a month and right now is my turn....I have nausea and a stuffy nose and my voice sounds weird too. So, being that I am the CEO of fun in the family, no plans have been made and staying home sounds like the PERFECT way to ring in the new year!

I have odds and ends to write about today.

Random #1.....
these chocolate/peppermint cookies were purchased here....and I have to say, they might be my favorite cookie of all time.  They came in a package and were one of those break and bake type of cookies and they are delicious!! May have to head over to get some for our New Year party at home!!! 

Random #2....Indy.....
she is the best dog in the world(well, okay, slight exaggeration) but to me she is, even though she is also a big pain in the rear, I completely adore her.  She has figured out ways to get out of her crate.....have I mentioned that we seemed to have bought the smartest dog in the world???? Mannie says it is not a good situation when the dumbest people buy the smartest dog!! But yes, she can escape sometimes so last night we put her in her crate and I was all cozy in my bed and the kids were brushing teeth and some snuggling and Mannie was doing something when all of a sudden Charlie yells and I look at the door and who is standing there quietly and calmly? Indy!! She looked so cute.  She knew she wasn't allowed in the room but just casually walked in and sort of stood there hoping to be welcomed!!! I called her up on my bed and hugged her....I HAD to, she was just too darn adorable!!! Then Mannie picked her up like a baby and carried her out!! She is such a sweetie!

Random #3....speaking of my bedroom.....I am starting to figure out what we will do to fix up the bedroom and I have a question.  Here is our comforter....

What color should compliment it?  I want a splash of color since it is mostly browns and white.....I am thinking maybe tangerine?  Red?  Yellow? I want to paint a little and make some throw pillows, possibly a lamp or 2 in a color?

What do you think? I know there are lots of Martha's out there with good taste.  I have been looking through Pinterest for ideas.

Random #4......yesterday, we went on a hike at Laguna Niguel Regional Park yesterday with cousins, Gia and Gramps and Indy....it has been amazing weather! There is a lake there for fishing. We will be hitting that one of these days since Charlie got a new fishing pole for Christmas.  We had a good time and then hit the pizza place for dinner, then Laser Quest! Fun night and our last hurrah with Shawn and our nephews/cousins!  That was sort of the official end to the holidays for us!

Purchased over the past few days.....

a little of this......not committing but like the format for general memory keeping!

I also purchased this......(okay, DON'T LAUGH!!!) ....this was a really TOUGH buy.....this IS a commitment...although I am not officially calling it a commitment because I am not that into commitments. It calls for  90 days......I HATE excercising with a passion.  I also shy away from commiting to any type of gym or class because I feel like I am setting myself up for failure.  

But Mannie and I have a deal.....he laughed when I mentioned buying the DVD's....he knows me TOO well and my loathing of excercise and commitment phobia with long term "projects".....but we sort of came up with a bit of an incentive program for me.....if I make it to 90 days......he will buy me a new camera!!! Not a bad deal eh?

If I don't make it to even 30 days then he gets something and he is thinking about that one....I am sure it will involve me making him lunch everyday since he is obsessed with me doing that and I can not seem to remember to ever do that for him(part of the long term commitment thing I have ;) ! But we will see.

I cringe even typing this here because it feels like a commitment since I am putting it in writing so I am just putting out the disclaimer that THIS IS NOT A COMMITMENT to exercise!!! NOT a commitment!!! 

Just something I am going to try. And maybe get a new camera out of the deal and oh yeah, maybe a strong and healthy body with an ab or 2, a flat belly would be a dream! 

That is my story for today!!! 

******If you have a mintue, all stylish girls, please weigh in(funny choice of words ;) on the color you think would match with brown the best for the comforter!!!! 

If I don't write before New Years......have a safe and fun one!!! 

Christmas and End of Year thoughts.

Good afternoon! 

Reporting from Lazytown USA here.....in pj's and no plans to change the situation.

We are enjoying a day at home after a whole lot of Christmas festivities.

We had a great Christmas....

Sat. fondue dinner at Gia and Gramps.

Sunday.....brunch at O'Neil's....

and then dinner at our friend's Dan and Jen's house.

Monday....bonfire on the beach with family....

Tuesday....dinner here with Gia, Gramps, Shawn and the kids.

Today....exhausted.  I have battled a cold/sore throat thru it all and so have all of us really.  

But we had lots of fun and made lots of memories with family and friends so that is what it is all about.

Today, I took out my Project Life albums of the year 2011.  I still am finishing up the last weeks of December.  I stopped during all the Dec. craziness and sickness. 

I have to say that looking at it all, I am SO HAPPY to have done Project Life.  Thank you Krista Nash for giving me that pep talk back in August when I was ready to call it quits.

I realize a few things as I look back on our year:

1. We had a very ordinary year.....seeing the everyday shots I took and documented is such a gift.  The little moments of our year that absolutely would have been long forgotten but now frozen in time in my scrapbook.  

2. I am so thankful for my family and friends......I am a lucky girl to have a wonderful hubby that I adore.  It is right there in front of me as I pour over the pages in the pictures, our love there to see. My kids mean the world to me and that is evident in every single page of the albums as well.  The kids will see this when they are older....although, I am pretty darn sure they know that anyway, album or no album.  We are very blessed to be surrounded by awesome friends.  Seeing the same familiar faces throughout the albums makes me so thankful for our friends. It is a wonderful life.

3. I am so thankful that I stuffed the album with lots of the kids art work, notes and books that they make.  I am also glad that I had the kids write in the album as well. So fun to have their perspective and see their handwriting.  All their work is just priceless....they are so sweet and thoughtful.  They will recognize this about themselves when they are older and looking over the albums. 

4. I noticed that our life stays pretty constant.....same stuff, different season.  I did see that I was doing the science table at the first half of the year and I miss it.  I also did a lot more of our little celebrations/special dinners.  Not sure why that has changed.

5.  I see the love in our family.  Pictures of kids at play.... family there for all their special moments, sports events, achievments....us all hugging.....special days at home together....all right there in the pages of 3 albums. 

So, overall, it was a wonderful and pretty uneventful year.  I am so thankful to have documented it all.

I am so torn between wanting to do it again, just so I can compare.  But the other part of me knows what a HUGE undertaking this project is.  I am still in the considering phase. 

My dreams for the upcoming year:

1. workout.

2. travel more.

3. figure out a work situation.

4. re do our bedroom.....already underway with a new comforter I got us for Christmas.

5. Possibly re do kids bedrooms but travel is more important so maybe not.

6. Kids have a healthy year.....no stomach issues, lice, hives or any other type of ailment. 

7. Train Indy.

8. Mannie's business continuing to grow.

9. No more lost or dying pets.....PLEASE!!!!!! 

10.....travel more! ;)

Happy New Year to all and hope your holidays were special! 

I will add my Project Life for the end of December when I finish. Take care!

 

Merry Christmas!

Here is one of my favorite and the last picture of our Hopper!

She is missing and I don't think we will ever see her again!

I am so sad.  

It is Christmastime and a happy time of year but I feel so bad thinking about her not being with us.

Mannie let Indy out to go to the bathroom on Wed. morning, around 5 am.  

Hopper's cage was either open or sort of open because Indy somehow got into the cage and scared Hopper and chased her out of the yard.  Mannie and I were outside with flashlights at 5:30 in the morning searching and calling her name.  

We took her to the 4H club meeting on Tuesday night and Cara dressed her up in the Santa outfit.  She looked so cute.  We held her all night and then put her back in her cage when we got home around 8:30 pm.

On the drive home we talked about wanting to bring her cage into the garage for the winter.  We didn't want to leave her outside in the cold.  I wish we had done it that night.

I don't think we will ever see her again.  If she is anywhere near us, I am sure she would be too scared to come back.  

Having pets is heartbreaking.  I have said it in the past.  I guess that is one of the reasons why we never had pets growing up.  

Poor little HOP HOP! 

Sorry for the sad post.....but just feeling a little blue this year.  

In other news.....we have been busy, bunny sadness aside......we brought little goodie bags to the hospital for sick kids.....that was very rewarding, I highly recommend it if you have never done it! We had a neighborhood Christmas party, the 4H, playdates with school friends, a sleepover here last night and then some Christmas crafts.....snowglobes, gingerbread men, wrapping.....watching holiday movies and getting Christmas haircuts. 

But all the fun stings a little knowing we are not all here.  We have Christmas presents under the tree for Hopper that will never be put to use. 

Anyway, hoping you have a wonderful Christmas.  I know we will have a good one but we will miss Hopper and hope for a miracle! 

Merry Christmas.

ETA at 6:30 pm:  Wow, I am floored. Miracles do happen! Hopper was found this afternoon, after this post. She was hiding in my neighbors front yard and came out when she heard the boys talking.  They picked her up and put her in a little box and fed her until we came home....(we had been out running a couple of errands!)....wow! such a huge rock lifted off my heart!  We all rejoiced as you can imagine! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!!!! 

Christmas Vacation has Begun!

Happy Sunday!

We are at the end of a nice weekend! 

Today was especially nice as we just hung out as a family and played games, made a craft, watched football and cleaned up a little. 

We also had a really cool moment as a family just hanging out in Charlie's room.  The kids really started talking to me about things that they normally don't talk to me about like who has crushes on who at school and stuff like that.  I told them stories about when I was in third and fourth grade and a couple of teacher stories of my first graders. The birds were hanging out with us too and we were having fun playing with them.  Charlie played us songs on his piano which was cute!!  A great moment and I hope to have more moments just like it. 

Mannie and I had a nice date night on Friday night into Sat.  Kids slept over at Gia and Gramps' and helped decorate at their house for the holidays.

We went out to dinner at Ecco.  I really like that whole area of The Camp.  And I love this store especially.

Sat. we picked up the kids and took them to a birthday party which we dropped them at and then had a longer date! Perfect. 

We ended the day at the Motta's just hanging out.  Everyone had fun but came home practically in tears they were all sooooooo tired.  

Hence, today's day at home.

Tomorrow will be more of the same.....we will wrap presents, drink lots of hot cocoa,make stuff and drop off some goodies at the local hospital.  Also on the agenda is to "Elf" more people to catch up with last weeks 25 DOG. 

I am thrilled with the time we have before Christmas.  I think I like the way it worked out this year. 

Hope you are well.  

Still need to mail out my Christmas cards! No stamps so that will delay things even more.  

Nighty night....getting ready for the SURVIVOR finale!! Rooting for Ozzy! 

Project Life/December Daily

Hi there.

I am feeling a little under the weather today and as I am sure the rest of the world feels, there is no time for sickness this time of year!

Things have been moving along here....Cara, Charlie and Mannie were sick over the weekend, spilling into the week but we were still as busy as ever. Now, I suppose it is my turn unfortunately.  It amazes me how one little sore throat can really make me feel SO crappy!

I have my PL/DD done up til a few days ago.  It is very easy to fall behind on that between sick kids and lots of school holiday parties as well. 

I am behind on my 25 DOG....nothing from Monday, Tuesday and Wed.  The kids and I discussed this as we were doing so well.  We decided on "Elfing" 3 more neighbors to catch up in one day!  Feels a little like cheating but it has been a busy week.  I am hoping that next week will be easier since the kids will be with me all day. 

Here is PL:

I used a Starbucks bag as a "page".....It gets pretty layered from here on out so it may start to look confusing:

This is actually a 3 picture page protector layered ontop of a 12x12 page proctector but it looks like one whole page....

Here is the back of the 3 photo sleeve and the holiday program from a parade that Cara was in layered ontop of that 12 x 12 page protector.....

Here's where I left off.....

I have a photo of my Christmas card pile to put there....I still have not sent out my cards.....still waiting to see if they will magically hop into the envelopes and seal themselves up......but you know the last thing I want to do is seal a bunch of envelopes with my sore throat going on so maybe my cards will make it by Christmas or the day after!! 

I have a date with Mannie tomorrow night!!! WOOHOO!! SO excited to have some time together! Hoping I feel okay so I can enjoy it!

Hope you are "making it through" this busy time of year!!! Funny how busy it gets, why does it work out this way?  It is all fun stuff but getting sick isn't so  not sure what the answer is for a FUN holiday season!

Merry Merry!! :)

 

Cuteness....

Saying hi!

I have Project Life to post but no time! 

Hope you are enjoying the season!

off to Cami's holiday party!!!! 

This picture is by Charlie....it is one of his pet birds...I just think it is the cutest thing!! Makes me smile!!

Have a good one!

 

The week has a mind of it's own!

Well hello there!

It is Thursday, how can this be???

Time is flying and this week I have been tending to sort of sick kids each day.

Today Cara is home because she has been looking so pale and not feeling well so I want her to rest.  This time last year she had strep throat and then had the allergic reaction to the medicine which put a major damper on Christmas so I am being extra cautious this year.

I just got a very nice surprise in the mail today!
I sure perked up when I saw the envelope with "OWN" written on the return address.  I knew what it was right away......a new journal! So sweet. I love Oprah!

My first entry was this:

Dec. 8, 2011

Today I got this journal in the mail! :)

__________________________________________

I am excited to think about what other things I will write in the journal!!! I am not going to write in it again until 2012!!! It is my good luck journal for the new year!!  Thank you Oprah!

I am keeping on top of my Project Life so far and keeping up with my 25 DOG but it has been a little tricky with kids in and out of school.

I think I left off on Day 4.

So, Day 5 we dropped off a stocking full of goodies for dogs at the animal shelter...maybe I wrote that already. Day 6, I had sick kids so I counted a good deed I did at the grocery store the day before.

Day 7, I dropped off some adorable little Christmas trees, Peppermint Bark and some hot cocoa for the secretaries and principal at school.

Today is Day 8 and the kids took cute little snowman donuts wrapped up for their teachers. I got them at Krispy Kreme, have you seen them? So cute.

Tomorrow is a canned food drive! 

In other news, I have the Christmas spirit on the inside (my heart)but not on the outside!  We still can't find the time to decorate the house as a family! 

Every night this week one of us has been out doing stuff.  I am thinking maybe tonight but we are all just tired out to be honest.....almost too tired to care about the fact that my neighbors are still staring at pumpkins and hay when they walk by my house!  

Feels so strange to be in full Christmas mode without the decor to match. I bet we will be light on the decorations this year since time is ticking away.

That is about all for today, things are good just sort of flying by here.  One thing I can say for myself is that the kids presents are DONE and so are all my nephews and neice.  So, that is good. It was interesting shopping for the kids this year.....A.)  I did it all alone, no input from Mannie....he is cool with it because he is too busy to shop...... B.)  This year, since they are older, the presents are more expensive but smaller.  I had trouble with that.  We are used to big "Wow" gifts all set up in the family room on Christmas morning.  Not this year.  This will be the first year that Mannie will have nothing to set up or build ahead of time.  He will have nothing to build on Christmas day......the kids will be the ones building instead.  Mannie will be thankful for that and I guess that is the way it should be anyway, keep the kids busy! 

 

Alright, time to go....hope you are having lots of FUN today!!! 

Merry, Merry!

25 DOG....day 4 and 5!

Good morning!

I didn't figure in sick kids to my plans for 25 days of giving but I think it will be easy enough to work around it.

I had to switch things around yesterday and we dropped off some toys and snacks at an animal shelter nearby yesterday.  I did two random acts of kindness yesterday. One was planned and one was presented to me and I had to take the opportunity so I may end up counting one of those for today.  But somehow that doesn't seem to go along with my plan of doing something everyday but I will have to see if I can think of something that will work with the kids being home.

All 3 are home with minor colds, headaches and a bad night of sleep.  We have been busy and I think it is wearing on them.  I hope Mannie is okay because he has plans for tonight and I heard his alarm go off somewhere in the 4's this morning. He has been really busy work wise and will continue to be for the next week or 2.  That is great but it is also exhausting for him.  

We went to an art reception for Gia on Sunday at the Aliso Viejo library.  Gia's artwork is currently on display all over the library.

Gia had snacks set out and an art project for kids/adults to make.  We made cards for kids who are suffering. The cards go into little care packages and are sent to various organizations.  

Here is Cam working on one of her projects:

After the reception we headed out to the Spark of Love holiday train in San Juan Capistrano.  I had never been.  It was really neat. The train pulls up and they put on a little show and then Santa and some characters walk around to greet everyone.   They even shoot snow out of the top of the train.

I love this picture even though the lighting is bad but I can see the happiness in the kid's faces.  Cara is holding onto Rudolph, how sweet!  I love that it is all still exciting and magical to them......phew.  I thought by 4th grade it would all be over but so far so good. 

Yesterday we took Indy to the animal shelter to drop off a little stocking full of toys and treats for some dogs....I figured we had to get her involved in our 25 DOG, right? She loves going for a ride in the car ever since the roadtrip.  I think she loves to travel as much as I do.

Do you see our fall decor? Yes, we are the only house in our town with fall still happening and on display.  

Maybe Thursday we will decorate? 

I am starting to get a game plan for the week before Christmas when the kids are going to be home.  Having them home today reminded me that we will be together the week before Christmas so I want to start planning some days of fun! A gingerbread day is a must and Cami came up with an "ice" day....that got my wheels turning about ice skating and then maybe some sort of ice experiment? or snow? I have time to work it out but it sounds like  a lot of possibilities.  Maybe a playdate in there?  But I know that week will go quickly because our holiday will start on that Friday with our annual "Smorgasbord" here at home, then Christmas Eve and so on!  

That is all for today....time to go!! Happy Tuesday!

 

 

25 DOG....Day 3...PL Dec. Daily!

Wow, my titles are getting a little bogged down with initials!

Life is wonderful over here!! Hope the season is treating you well too!!

We went up to LA yesterday....always a favorite activity of mine!

We drove to Union Station to park.  Got out.....walked over to Olvera St. saw a gorgeous nativity scene!!
Loved it!!

Saw some Occupy LA or something like that protestors. 

Walked into Union Station.....gorgeous architecture. More "Occupy LA" people gathering in there.  All sorts of interesting people at Union Station....all kinds of smells.  I knew that I would find the person to give a gift card to Subway here.  Especially after I saw that there is a Subway in Union Station....I took it as a sign!! And sure enough, as we were buying our tickets for the train, a man approached me asking for a $1.  He smelled horrible and had Target plastic bags wrapped around his shoes....were those his shoes?  I don't know but I looked him in the eyes and said, "I've got something better for you!" Opened up my purse and took out a Subway gift card.  He was nice and blessed me....I hope that helped him out a little anyway.  But I knew that that was Who I was looking for.

Then we took the train to Hollywood/Vine.

Beautiful stop for a subway....they have film reels in the ceiling.....cool.
We had fun checking out the stars and the kids got clever with Adam Sandlers name.......

We hit Dillons Irish Pub for lunch and then went into the theatre for the AMAZING show Wicked!!

I know I am one of the last people to see this show but WOW! I was floored. The writing is incredible....what an amazing imagination to perfectly weave all the characters from The Wizard of Oz into the story! I LOVED it so much.  I loved the story line too! So perfect for kids.  Cara turned to me at one point early on and whispered, "I don't want to be popular!"  so cute.  It was cool too how the writer through the characters and the actresses and actors really win your heart over....the girl who played Glinda was AMAZING!!! So funny.  And of course we loved Elphaba!! 

It leaves you happy but with a little saddness....and that was not lost on Cara who wept in the bathroom after missing her best friend Tucker! I guess the feeling of having to say good bye to your best friend resonated with her.

Overall, I was so happy that we got to go as family and see the show! We had a great day.

And no trip to LA is ever complete without at least ONE celebrity sighting!!!  We saw Sheela and her son at the half and then as we were leaving.

I am still caught up on PL DEc. Daily......Yes, I am patting myself on the back!! But it is a huge accomplishment for me so I can pat away, thank you very much!! 

That is all......Really ENJOYING the 25 days of giving right now....keeping me focused on the true meaning of Christmas, Really ENJOYING my Project LIfe .....reinforcing all that I have to be thankful for and REally ENJOYING the holiday season..spending special days with family and friends! (not all of our fam and friends that are special to us but you know what I mean)...4 days into it anyway!! ;) 

Happy Sunday!!!!

25 DOG...Day 2 + PL

Howdy!

IT'S FRIDAY!!!! Yahoo!!!

Today is "Goodies for the Firestation"...although I am thinking of swaping that out for bring an unwrapped gift to the firefighters at our local tree lighting but I hear that gets really crowded so I won't decide till afterschool.

I am completely caught up on Project Life....here is Thanksgiving and my Day 1 of Dec. Daily:

I love incorporating all the free printables that are floating out there!!

I had the kids make handprint turkeys just so I could have their handprints in there! 

I threw in a 3 (4x6) to add some more pics !

Here is my pics from the tree lighting but I am still filling in pics...I took pics with my iphone and wished I had brought my regular camera b/c they came out really dark!

Here is the first page of the Dec. Daily....this is an old cover that I had from a few years ago: a project that I started and never finished! 

And Day One of the Dec. Daily....a layout! I wonder if that is asking too much? Most likely! But I had fun last night anyway so I guess that is all that matters! 

That's all folks! Have an awesome weekend!!! We are going to see Wicked this weekend and I am so psyched!! We also found out that Sheela will be at the same show as us so that makes it EXTRA exciting!!!! 

Bye!