A Christmas Poem for you...

These are the days when you need a little Christmas cheer...

a reminder of why we do what we do at the end of each year.

 It's not about the table settings or the presents,

it's not about the tree or the sparkling ornaments.

This is a time when there's talk of joy, peace and love...

But really, it's not about caring or giving or any of the above.

Instead, dear family and very dear friend,

it's truly about embarrassing your deserving children.

One day, they too will laugh.

:D

Enjoy!

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Christmas Party 2011 {National Lampoon's Theme}

Lordy, Lordy - you are going to regret the day you asked to see picture of our family's Christmas party.

Oh. You *didn't* ask to see pictures of our family's Christmas party?

Well, now that I've mentioned it... I can't be rude. Take a peek over my shoulder as I flip through the memory book.  The Christmas Vacation theme was perfect... and everyone played their part.

Thankfully, Uncle Eddie was kind enough to remove his shoes before entering the house. You know, since his RV was *out of order* and all?!

I took a ton of pictures... I wanted the memories captured.

Look at the rug on my grandpa's head. Seriously.
:D

Some family shots...

Some food shots... Yes, the pic on the far top-right is the green Jell-O... with simulated cat nip. 

Some tender moments. Left is my cousin Laurel and her two daughters, Sela and Ryah. Top right is my cousin Bri, her son Ben and me. And the bottom left is my cousin Chell - talking with her son Austin.

We decided to *only* do gifts for the kids this year. Here are a few great gift opening shots...

We had 13 kids there.

Here are a few pics from around the house & party.

Even the guest bath saw some decorating action...

Here is my super simple holiday art...

My cousin Jason...

Look at this VINTAGE tree skirt. I have it folded in half {there was no way I was going to try and lift the made-up tree high enough to get this baby under it.... we will use it next year!}...  $1.99 from Goodwill!!

I could take a million pictures of our tree. It makes me happy. And giddy.
Like a school girl at an Elvis concert.

 

The winners of the Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest, you ask?!

My cousin Chell and her fellas. She made ALL of those lovely shirts. I didn't get this at the party, but looking at the picture now, look.... it's Santa and then some reindeer. Like, they are pulling Santa. She's a clever one, that Chell!

What I don't have pictures of:                                                                                               

• My awesome singing and dancing performance during our Christmas Carol Karaoke... Not sure what happened to that footage.
• All of the food I ate {and kept going back for}.
• The lingering family members, with their perfect kisses and super-tight bear hugs.
• My heart - FULL with love for the people who I get to share my life with. God is good.

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Introducing: Dunbar

So much to share about last night's Christmas party... but with a gazillion photos to edit, I will catch you up on that later.

Today, I want you to meet the newest family member.

One of the husband's co-workers needed to find a home for this dwarf hamster. We talked it over and decided to adopt him. Never mind we swore that we'd never get one.  But lately, I was thinking we could do a fish, or something for the kids for Christmas.  They *♥♥♥* Ellis {the dog}, but I know they would love the adventure of a little something {one?} extra. So when, Marcos asked me if I'd consider taking the hamster from his friend, I jumped on the idea.

The kids had NO idea that we were even considering a hamster, let alone that it was being delivered this morning.  When they realized what was going down, they were all excited. Even the older ones.

We set out to get a few things accomplished today:

1) Name the hamster {and come up with a name everyone could agree on}
2) Get an exercise ball
3) Get a exercise wheel

After a visit to PetsMart, we were able to check off all three things. I must tell you, based on #1, the title of this post *could* have been the following:

Introducing: Chico
Introducing: Gringo
Introducing:Cosmo
Introducing: Smitty
or.... my personal favorite
Introducing: Papa Smurf {can you guess who suggested that one?!}

Why Dunbar?! It was the husband's suggestion. I lived on Dunbar Street in high school. And the street just north of us (in a town home development) was Ellis Drive.   Since we already have Ellis, and I love unique names, I thought Dunbar would be perfect. And the kids agreed. Crazy, huh?!

 {yes, that's a red lounge chair. it was my idea and Dunbar LOVES it!}

Dunbar {the hamster} has some new equipment in his cage and seems to be adjusting most wonderfully.
Now if I can get Nic to stop *helping* him roll across the floor in his ball.

Sheesh.

P.S. I know it's not cool to post pics that aren't so hot. But I really wanted to share the news and I could not get decent pics. I promise I will build a larger pin on the floor, let Dunbar escape and shoot the heck out of it, soon!  But, you know what they say....

If you've seen one dwarf hamster, you've seen 'em all.

:)

Feeling Grateful {photo dump}

It's the month to be grateful & thankful.

Well, one should always be, no?

But I thought I would pause for a few moments and tell you about some of the things I am grateful for.

Big Brothers & Little Brothers

Great Grandpa's & Great Grandma's

 Father & Sons

Mother & Daughter

A few minutes of actually getting along...

Kids who grow up right before your eyes....

My best friend. 

In the WHOLE WIDE WORLD.

Uniqueness

A place to call Home.

The best parents.

Ever.

My Niece Abby

Oh... and the snoring dog that's lying under my feet right now.

I am grateful for her, too!

Our Great Pumpkin Adventure

I call it an adventure because I waited until the 11th hour to purchase our pumpkins.
As a result, both local stores (including Wal-Mart) were sold out.

So I took the girls and Nic on a late night adventure - and out in the middle of somewhere, we found a pumpkin patch.

With pumpkins.

So we brought them home and carved our hearts out.

Nic loves Picasa - and he made me do THIS to him.

Me, me, me...

I've been so super busy. I think.
I am not sure, if someone asked, I could remember what I've been up to the past few weeks.

A lot of work, I suppose.
And those pesky kids.
:)

I know today, I signed up for the Great Recovery. I am sure you've heard of it. Maybe.
We've followed Dave Ramsey for a while, but since purchasing the house - we've fallen off the wagon a little.

Time to get back on. :) Especially since I just took on $325 more in reoccurring debt each month: Isa's braces and Nic's pre-Kindergarten tuition. Fun.

No more Chipotle for me.
Such a shame.

P.S. My camera is back - safe & sound. Just in time for back-to-school pictures!

It's Official

I miss my camera.
But that isn't the reason for this post.

It's official!

Nic is officially registered in Pre-Kindergarten... He starts August 8.
He will go on Monday's, Tuesday's, Thursday's, and Friday's from 12:30pm until 3:30pm.
Are there supposed to be apostrophe's on the end of the days of the week? Hmph.

We picked up Alex's schedule and books today. Spent $150 in fees and yearbook...

I promise he hasn't failed Freshman English twice before. He had to drop it the first time around and then didn't do so hot during summer school. Thankfully, he only needs to take the first semester of it - he passed second semester with no problems!

But look how hard he has it - he has to take TWO English classes at the same time. I hope he's learned his lesson.

The kids and I went school supply shopping last week - and we are done! Now it's just about getting them organized (which will last all of one day)... and ready to start a brand new year!!

All three kids will be in school this year - one way or another - I could get used to this. =)

A tale of 48+ Hours

It all started on Saturday; the kids left us. Nic went to my mom and dad’s and Alex & Isa went my mother-in-law's. On Sunday afternoon, my mom and dad dropped Nic off at my mother-in-law’s house and he stayed the night with his brother and sister. On Monday afternoon, we picked up Nic, but the older two opted to stay until tomorrow (Wednesday). We were actually kid-less for TWO WHOLE NIGHTS! Guess how many trips to Home Depot we made during that 48 hour period?!!?!

I don’t know. I lost count.

For the record (and to admit a flaw) – I hate standing around waiting for my other half for things at Home Depot. Not that he’s bad about it – or takes super long... but drill bits and flood lights are not my thing. I got cranky. Thank gosh he’s super patient. He did also point out that he’s been the victim a time or two when I made him visit the paint or curtain department.

Oh.

Anyway – Nic came home last night and we decided to make a special dinner for him. We missed him MUCHO!

Chili-Dogs and French Fries.

Do you love my patriotic plates? They are for our 4th (er, 2nd) of July party on Saturday. I broke them out a bit early (translation - I was too lazy to do dishes).

After dinner - we had dessert: Banana Splits.Except they were in bowls.

And except for the fact that Nic had a cone. With no bananas.

But the majority did have banana splits.

Well, I don't like all that junk. Just chocolate, bananas and ice cream for me!

As I was going in to edit these pictures for this post, I found the following pictures that my dear Nic took some time this morning:

Crooks & Nannies. Wow. That there is my scrap paper that I keep on my office desk - I am a doodle-er. I was having a conversation with my mom on the phone - and mixed my words up - and then thought it was so funny, I wrote it down. I obviously meant nooks and crannies. lol...

Finally - last thing to share today... The husband has been hard at work while on vacation. He finished the outside flood lights today. And believe me you, it wasn't as simple as installing flood lights. He had to run wires (why, oh why, weren't they pre-wired?!?!). He had to make holes, cut chicken wire, re-patch, re-stucco, re-paint. I sat on the couch and watched DIY shows. Big helper, huh?

I can't wait to see what they look like tonight! There are two sets, so the whole yard should be lit! YAY for no more scrounging around in the dark for things. YAY for being able to now avoid bugs and scorpions!!

Let there be LIGHT!

So much other stuff to share, but so much to wrap my head around. We made a trip to IKEA... we got our drapes and artwork in the mail, we have 2 more paint colors to try for the master bedroom and we are having a party at our house on Saturday! I am tired just thinking of all that - I say it's nap time! For Nic. Of course.

:)