thirty-one

Sunday night we had a little party to celebrate my mom's 70th birthday! It was a hectic and chaotic weekend but we were still able to pull it off. The best thing we did: had it CATERED!! We each put our creativity to the test and came up with a special way to honor mom. I made a "Grandma's ABC" scrapbook, others wrote poems and made picture frames. We always have a great time when we all get together and I think that's what mom's likes best! (a gift certificate for a day at burke williams spa didn't hurt either)

thirty

It was an exciting first day to state cup! Skyler's team won both their games with shut-outs: 2-0 and 8-0 (I haven't seen a score like that since rec. soccer). After the games, we went back to the hotel to swim then Jim took the boys home (as he had church meetings the next morning). I stayed with Skyler and his friend Bryce who basically tore our room apart as I was deep in thought creating a scrapbook for my mom's 70th birthday party the next day! I think I might have gotten about 1 1/2 hours of sleep between the scrapbook and winning my ebay auction!

twenty-nine

We're in Lancaster for the weekend for Skyler's State Cup soccer tournament. This definitely caught the eyes of my boys..it was across the street from our hotel. Probably the coolest thing to look at in Lancaster.

twenty-eight

Busy night! First, I had my cub scout training (notice my official TRAINED badge above) from 6:30-9:30 of which I stayed 1 1/2 of those hours. Then it was off to my 1st official BOOK CLUB, where we discussed this book (which was great by the way).

*My New Year's resolution is to read at least 1 book a month. Some girlfriends have a bookclub so I'm just following their schedule of reading.

twenty-seven

Ryder's new favorite thing to do is stick his entire head out the window while I'm driving..he's like a dog just enjoying the wind wrestling through his hair!

twenty-six

Thanks to facebook, Jim got back in contact with one of his mission companions, Grayden, from Brasil after nearly 20 years! He happened to be in town, so he came over for dinner!

twenty-five

These gorgeous lemons aided in a beautiful, pre-family night lesson on self reliance! The boys were wanting something special to drink with dinner, but I had nothing. Then a thought came to me to check our newly (last spring) planted lemon tree. These beauties, plus several more were waiting to be picked. It was an exciting moment to "REAP what we had SOWED". Our very 1st lemon harvest! They turned into the best strawberry lemonade! Oh, how the simple things in life make me so happy!

twenty-four

I was innocently preparing a homemade lasagna (as requested by Skyler) Sunday night, when all of a sudden I felt a sharp sting in my leg. Skyler had been loading up his air soft automatic machine gun and thought the safety was on...IT WASN'T! It had accidentally gone off and I was the lucky one in it's path. It may not look like much, but it hurt! Jim thought it was the funniest thing ever and rushed to post it on facebook. Me, I wasn't laughing so much!

twenty-three

These are the cute girls I got to work with!! (Brittany & Mauri)

Yesterday I stayed in bed till 11:30 (I'm sick again) then pulled myself together to do my volunteering for Skyler's soccer tournament from 2-6. It was a beautiful, but freezing day!! By dusk, the sky looked like it was on fire! I'm a sucker for a great sky shot! GORGEOUS!!

twenty-two

I truly had no desire to see AVATAR. Jim, on the otherhand had been dying to see it. Everyone we talked to said we HAD to see it! Even those who shared my non-love of Sci-fi said it was a must see, so for Friday date night, we joined the Moody's (and some friends of theirs), paid the $20 for the IMAX ticket, sat back for 3 hours and were completely entertained! I was surprisingly shocked how much I liked this movie. I guess there is a reason it has made over a billion dollars.

twenty-one

Our stake had there big GIRLS CAMP kickoff tonight! The theme this year is "How the West Was ONE" (emphasizing on the ONE..being unified in Christ and coming together as 1). Even though I'm no longer in YW's, I was excited to be asked to be a level leader and still get to go to camp. Here is an example of just how very different "women" functions are to the mens'.

Would you ever see the men:

1). bringing treats, let alone homemade.

2.) bringing a blow torch to toast the tops for decorative purposes (strike that..they may bring the blow torch, but not for decorative purposes).

3.) having a meeting in the first place, 6 months before an event.

twenty

I am LOVING the rain! There's nothing quite like a nice hot bath to warm your body back up after a busy day in the cold (especially when your bubbles are made up of sweet creamy frosting bubble bath!)

nineteen

The kids had an additional day of school this week for teacher inservice, so we made the most of it and took them (and Jeorge..sky's best friend) to Disneyland. Yes, it was forecasted to have heavy downpours, (but we didn't mind because we were getting annual passes and didn't feel like we had to get our money's worth in one day.) In fact, we decided that we are going to try to go only when it rains!! There was no one in the park! We walked on every ride. Yes, we got caught in a downpour but we were prepared: umbrellas & ponchos. By about 3:30 the clouds parted and the blue sky started to show. It was a GREAT day!

eighteen

Knowing the kids had school off on Monday, my mom & dad came down for a sleepover and a fun activity. We were a little limited on our activities due to the rain, so we chose the Rueben Fleet Science Museum in Balboa Park. HIGHLIGHT: the "Under the Sea" Imax show and spending time with Grandma & Grandpa!

seventeen

It's a big day for my mom! Not only did she learn to play wii, but she has graduated out of the "mom" jeans for something a little more stylish!! You'd never know she was going to be 70 in a couple of weeks! I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks, metaphorically speaking of course!

sixteen

The ACCOMPLICE..isn't he cute!

The OFFENDER: guilty of using too many bump-its! (The one as-seen on t.v. product I have steered clear of).Seriously..unless you're the B-52's, your hair does not need to be this high. This girl was about 4'9'', petite, and wore equally large amounts of make-up.

*and Jayden wondered why I was taking so many pictures of him..this was a photo opportunity I couldn't resist!

fifteen

Anyone with little boys is probably very familiar with this sight!!

BAKUGAN have taken over our home!

fourteen

Seriously..what have I gotten myself into now!!

I have been enlisted with 11 of my friends to run the Ragnar Relay which is a race from Santa Barbara to Dana Point (180 miles) this April. 12 runners run 3 separate legs of varying difficulty and length. Today we had our first official meeting. My new running shoes helped inspire our colors and name: Prettiest in Pink! I, somehow, got bumped from my preferred running position to one I'm just a little bit concerned with, given the fact that I AM NOT A RUNNER! I will run a total of 13.1 miles over the span of a couple days. Let the training (insanity) begin!!

thirteen

Rainy day recess for mom!! So many colors...so little time!

twelve

I was the nice mom today! I actually let the kids get the (overpriced) $4 smoothies they sell after school on Tuesdays. (They beg me every Tuesday..but this was the very 1st time they got one in nearly 1 1/2 years at the school.)

eleven

It was my turn for new shoes!!

ten

It is the simple things in life that make me so happy! Like a bag of chewy sprees..'it's a kick in the mouth!'...of wonderful flavors!

nine

Spent a relaxing few hours getting my hair done and catching up on all my trashy magazines! It was a great Saturday!

eight

Busy night..met Jim at work in San Diego and went to a friends surprise party in Chula Vista (for about 1/2 hour) then rushed to the temple for a 7:30 session (in which we barely made). Seeing as we had 2 cars, I had to follow Jim home, and of course he had to make a quick trip through In-n-Out..and so it was, my potd. (picture of the day)

seven

I know it's a junk drawer...but I just can't believe how junkie it got! No more! I hunger for organization. (This was 1 of several drawers I tackled today on my quest for all things organized!)

six

6 days into a new year and I'm still SODA FREE! That's 371 days!

five

Opened the mail today to find this!! Wowzers!! They weren't kidding when they said credit card companies are increasing their interest rates!! I'm seriously hoping this is an error on Bank of America's part. It's a good thing I don't carry a balance.

four

It is always a sad day when I have to take down Christmas!! Our house feels so empty and plain and as Skyler commented: BORING.

three

Have I told you how much I love my phone? It just saved me $150 with it's "shop savvy" app. so basically, it just paid for itself. (I was at Best Buy just about to buy my camera for $379 + tax, plus $49 for the 2 yr. warranty + shipping because they didn't carry it in store. I found it on the web for $276 (brand new), no tax and free shipping with a 3yr. accidental warranty for $49).

fyi: shop savvy is a barcode scanner. The scanner is the actual phone screen. You scan an item and it will show you how much that same item is at other stores both locally and on the web. You don't even need to scan an item, you can just type in the item you're looking for! The thrill of saving money just intensified!!

two

While I was still recovering from post rose-parade fatigue, Jim found a new place to take the boys for a day trip: Diamond Dam. Who knew we had a dam just around the bend.

one

This is why we have to sleep out ahead of time...we had over 50 people. At this point, I can't imagine spending New Years' eve/day anywhere else.