A quiet Christmas

This year all of our relatives that live in our same town were getting out of dodge except for Jesse's brother Sam and so it was our first Christmas with it just being us. I was pictureing myself just hangin out with the fam, making some goodies to have stocked on the table for us to graze on and just have a nice family centered Christmas. Well, the Sunday before Christmas I woke up from a 3 hour nap with a horrible sore throat that wasn't going anywhere no matter how much apple cider vinigar or collidial silver I drank. Tuesday Jesse had to work and couldn't reschedule patients and so I was stuck at home with the kids feeling like death's door was knockin. All morning I tried to lie down with Bella, but she just wanted to be held while she jumped in my arms. Meanwhile the kids were done watching TV, it was way too windy and cold to go outside and from the way they were treating each other I could tell they were hungry for lunch. I could barely stand up straight because I was freezing from the fever. I still had some Christmas gifts to deliver and so I thought, "how hard can it be to drive while your sick?" It was way hard! I fought to keep my eyes open the whole time and my throat was just raw. Luckily I had started taking antibiotics that morning and by the night I was seeing an improvement. By the time Christmas came I was able to get dinner made and get myself dressed and presentable and not the monster mom I was becoming! The whole time I was sick I kept thinking how much I wished that I had a family member near to ask for help from. I'll never take my in-laws for granted again!

Christmas Eve traditional PJ's For dinner we had Ham, corn pudding casserole, deviled eggs (which I taught Sam how to make and he put his own spin on them; they were very good) and salad. Not your everyday traditional dinner, but it was great. All in all we had a good Christmas that I think the kids will keep in their minds as a great one to remember. Even though they already had some cheap little star wars light savors we got them the "spring" loaded ones and bought an extra one for Jesse so that they could "train" together. They spend a good amount of time Christmas afternoon fighting on the trampoline. It's so funny to watch because Cameron is just ruthless with Jesse. I think he believes that Jesse is just unbreakable or something. They have a pretty good time pretending to be Jedi's.
Helping momma fold clothes!

My dad playing Bryce's new guitar. Of course next to him, the never ending laundry that I still haven't caught up on.

A mess worth making once a year.

Of all of the traditions I've tried to make since becoming a mother this is one that is always consistent...the Gingerbread house. Last year we bought a huge one from Sams club that survived the building process, but ended up with a collapsed roof and ended up staying outside on our back porch. (I don't know why it just never made it's way back into the house after the "drying of the frosting" process) This year we just went with the graham cracker approach let the kids do their own thing.

Edible Art!

She's so proud!

Do you want Steak with your cake?

So this year Jesse turned 34! I always want to make Jesse's birthday special no matter the age, but sometimes it's hit and miss. I kept trying to get Jesse to go somewhere and go skiing, but he was fighting a horrible case of the flu off and on during the whole month and so this year he wanted me to cook either sun chip chicken or steak. I decided to give him both, although I can guarantee he's never had a steak that tasted so sweet! :) Love you honey! I'll soon be joining you in the 30's crowd! ha ha.

Jesse's so animated! I made him close his eyes so that I could surprise him. (Thanks for humoring me Jesse.) :) You know how sometimes when you see a cake your mouth almost starts watering you can't wait to dig into it? Even though the cake was decent it felt like I was cutting into a raw steak and that's not too appetizing. ha ha.

You've accomplished many things in your 34 years of life Jesse. It's been fun watching you fullfill the role as a father. You're an amazing father and husband. I love you.

Christmas Countdown

I know, horrible picture, but you get how cool it could've been right?!

Ok, so it looks like I skipped Thanksgiving, but it turns out that I may have accidentally erased all of the pictures from the event! It's driving me crazy because I had some important pictures and we worked so hard transforming our messy garage into a nice dining room fit for 14 people. O-well, such is life.

Bella...what a cutie-pie!

Cameron is in there somewhere!

Last Friday we made it to the lighting of the luminaries in the downtown mall area of town. They've revamped the place and had carriage rides that took you around some parks that were lit and then onto the train station to meet up with Santa. The line was going to be about a two hour wait so we opted to just drive in our warm car to see Santa the miniature trains instead. The kids were so excited to see Santa. By the time we got there he was done sitting and was just walking around probably about to leave, but when the kids saw him they each gave him a great big hug and sort of in a shy way told him what they wanted. Santa made them promise to help out with the house work by picking up their toys and cleaning their rooms and so when we got home Cameron went right to work in doing that. I thought he was a changed boy, but the magic didn't last long. :( Kids constantly need reminders don't they. Anyways, we finally got our tree up today and will decorate it tomorrow. Too much to do and sooo little time. I never could understand as a kid when adults would tell me that there is not enough hours in the day to get everything done. Oh, how I'm living that phrase. But, it's too bad that there's not enough hours in the NIGHT to catch up on your sleep.

The Means for Speed!

So as you know already Jesse and Abe's Hobby is racing their Lexus from time to time. This past weekend was a once a year "True Car Shoot Out" challenge over at the Akela Flats raceway near Deming. The winner of each class would win $300 (which would've paided for a part on Jesse's car. ha ha). Jesse entered the 6 cylinder "wild" race and he broke a new best time of 11.4 seconds and 122 mph for a quarter mile distance. THAT'S MOVIN! Jesse ended up getting second place (could've won first, but had a gear malfunction). Jesse was wayyy disappointed about that because he knew he would've won. Plus, it would have made staying up all night worth it a little bit more. :) Abe ended up with 3rd. I was very impressed with their cars performances and driving skills. There were a few cars that sort of lost control and fish-tailed out into the weeds. Anyways, it was all very exciting to hear the roar of the engines racing down the track. We're looking forward to the next one.

To watch Jesse Racing....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9DehCf6dJs

Watch Abe Race at : www.youtube.com/watch?v=SadeI1V0pqM

In other ESPN highlights....

So this year Bryce and Cameron were able to play by chance on the same team even though it's a U8 team and Bryce is 6 years old and Cameron is 4. They were the only boys on a team full of girls. It's always interesting when you see a change in your childs' view towards things. Bryce wasn't all too thrilled to play soccer this season, but we made him and in the end he's really enjoyed himself. Now he's already talking about next season. Just comes to show that Parents know best right? :) Cameron held his own out there; all season he would "almost" make goals, but in his last game he finally made a goal and all day he walked a little taller from it. He's such a competitor, they'll both be fun to watch in the future. They're my little Superkids!

Post Halloween

So I woke up this morning as perhaps most of you parents did to a site of candy all over the floor which might have replaced your children breakfast. I've been picking up candy wrappers all day off the floor and I'm wondering why would you leave a candy wrapper as evidence if you don't want your mom to know you're eating candy? :) Because they know they're not suppose to be eating it! I guess I need to find a new hiding spot. My house is always a zoo on Post Halloween; with sewing scraps all over the place, laundry that needs to be put away, etc. I enjoy the holiday, but oh how I'm glad it's over. I always try to make our costumes because it's good sewing practice for me and it gives me a sense of pride in accomplishing it. Forget eating at the kitchen table when I'm sewing though. :)So, this year around the time McCain announced his running mate I thought it would be awesome to try to pull off dressing like Sarah Palin. I've always wanted Jesse to dress up as Jesse James from West Coast Choppers, Monster Garage (Sandra Bullock's husband) just because he gets so many comments from people who tell him that he resembles him...especially when he's wearing a Binni or facial hair. He pulled it off so well and every time I looked at him I had to do a double take myself. What's neat is that Jesse James was voted one of the sexiest men alive from People magazine. Nice to know that my Jesse is just as cute. :)The kids always enjoy being individuals for Halloween. Bryce was BEN 10 (a cartoon network character for those who haven't heard of him). Cameron was Frankenstein. A very cute Frankenstein. And Claire was an Olympic Gymnast. Bella was a peanut. I know, I know, Claire was also a peanut at that age. I just couldn't help myself. It didn't get enough wear and I wanted to see Bella in it. I'm going to post how I made some of the costumes on my other blog (ideas 4 you) soon for those of you who care. :)We had two days of Halloween. Thursday we went to the church for the Trunk or Treat and they decorated the gym very nice for it. It was a Renaissance Theme and there was a 20 ft tall Coat of Armor and several more throughout that looked so awesome. I should've taken more pictures. Then, the following night I made Rats in Blood with Ghostly Mashed Potatoes and then we went around the neighborhood. Claire spotted the Cinderella costume I had for her just in case she didn't want to be a Gymnast. She loves it so much it was hard to get it off her. So now, Halloween is over I can focus now on Thanksgiving (which I'm hosting at my house) and getting a head start on Christmas. There's always something to look forward to. :)
Sarah Palin
I don't know, do I look like Sarah Palin or Tina Fey? I should have cut some bangs!

Jesse James

Halloween Characters 2008

Ben 10
I was happy when Bryce said he wanted to be Ben 10 for Halloween. Nothing easier than sewing on a strip of fabric to a white shirt. We also died his hair a darker color. Even though not too many people knew who Ben 10 was he didn't seem to mind. He felt invincible!

Cameron loved wearing all of the face makeup. I could see him transform into Frankenstein while I was putting all of the green paint and stitches on.

He's so animated, just like his dad.

I made his head extension and I'll tell

how I did it on my other blog, Ideas 4 you tomorrow.

Olympic Gold Gymnast!

Claire LOVES watching Gymnastics and always proceeds to do her own tumbling. ha ha. So when I asked her if that's what she'd like to be for Halloween she got excited about it. Her costume isn't going to last long I just know it. It already has a rip in it. I guess I'm not that good of a sewer. :) I bought a Cinderella costume just in case because some days she just went on and on that she wanted to be "Cin-ella" and sure enough the next night for Trick -or-Treating we needed it.

Our little Peanut

Bella is such an easy going girl and I probably could've put her in just about anything. But, I figured why not just reuse Claire's old costume. It works. :)

Trip to Mom's

My Mother lives in Edgewood, NM and it always seems like I never get up there to see her and Larry very much so since Bryce didn't have school last Friday I thought I'd take advantage of the time off and make the trip. My mom is a pretty fun Gal and so we were going to go shopping for winter clothes for the kids in Albuq., but didn't end up going. Instead, we decided that we'd take a joy ride up to the top of Sandia Peak which is near my mothers house. I haven't been up there since I was 12 with my Grandpa Hewett. Jesse & I always mean to go on our way home, but are either just too tired or are just ready to get home. Anyways, here are some pictures of the trip.

My plan was to stick all of the kids in the guest bedroom because it doesn't get the morning sun like the other room. I was hoping they would sleep in, but to no avail they were up early and ready for Grandma to make them eggs, potatoes and bacon like she promised the night before. :)

On top of Sandia Peak.



The boys are silly aren't they. I said "smile" and this is what they do. :)

Here's Bryce again either saluting or acting like he's looking afar. :) I know, it looks like he's on the edge of the cliff, but he's not.

I love watching the kids when they're in curiosity mode.

Larry caught three of these huge grasshoppers for the kids so that Bryce can put them into his bug collection. Yuck.

This is at the CHUCKIN PUNKIN contest in Estancia, NM They shot those pumpkins out like thousands of yards. Very cool, but very noisy. It was loud like a canon. Well, I can say that I've been there, done that.

I started the trip Thursday with a sore throat, but on the way home Sat. it had turned into strep. I tried everything from gargling salt water, sipping on Emergen C and I even tried eating those little salt & lime packets (that felt like torture). I didn't get much sleep because I was feeling so bad so by about the last 100 miles I was having a hard time staying with it. I was calling people on my contact list just to keep myself awake. It's now Wed. and I'm still sick, but hoping the antibiotics will kick in soon.

My new blog addiction!

IDEAS 2 U
So, I've always wanted to have a blog strictly for the "homemaker in me" type stuff and so here it is. It's basically just a way to motivate myself to finish a task I wish to accomplish. IDEAS 2 U is still in the middle of construction as it most likely always will be because that's just me. I like a challenge. :) Here's the link...

http://ideastoyou.blogspot.com/

The Whole Enchilada!

Last weekend the kids and I went to the Whole Enchilada Parade because Greg(my father-n-law) was going to be in it and plus, we've never been. Greg is running for County Commissioner and so he decided that he'd ride his little scooter around to promote himself. The kids thought it was pretty neat to see him in the parade, but didn't know what to think of it. :)

Welcome First day of Fall!

So last Monday for FHE we decided that we would make caramel apples to celebrate the first day of Fall, which I think is my most favorite part of the year. I love how the air feels light and crisp. We had a good time, didn't make as much of a big mess as I thought we would and I satisfied my craving for something sweet!

First we dipped the apples in caramel and then rolled them in honey roasted peanuts. Cooled them, and then as if that wasn't enough we dipped them in chocolate. YUMMY! My mind was just racing that night thinking about what other flavors we could dip them in. I suppose I have a few months to try some out. :)

OUR WORK IS DONE, TIME TO INDULGE!

PURE SATISFACTION!

DOES THAT JUST MAKE YOUR MOUTH WATER?

UH-OH!

WHO DOES CLAIRE'S FUNNY FACE REMIND YOU OF?? HA HA SHE'S SO ANIMATED!