Day 334

FINALLY!! Jayden's tooth has been ready to come out for weeks! It was even turning black. He said he bit on a cookie at school and it came out! Yay! "All he wants for Christmas is his 2 front teeth.." (cheezy...yes, but the situation and timing warrants such a remark!)

Day 333

umm..I guess I didn't get the memo that I was suppose to drive a corvette today!! (there were about 25-30 all in a row..I have no idea where they were going but they didn't like that I had somehow broken up the continuity of their motorcade.)

Day 332

Jim had lots to work on so I decided to give him a quiet house and take the boys up to my parents for the night (I had to pick up Skyler from his cousins house anyways). Jayden was so excited to help Grandma put up all her Christmas decorations..even if the entire tree fell over! Grandma even made popcorn the old fashion way for them (on the stove). There is nothing quite like going home at Christmas time..there are so many memories in every decoration.

Day 331

Christmas is starting to go up!! Busy, busy, day! No black friday for me..there are no deals out there worth waking up at 4 a.m. Ryder was so excited to decorate 'the boys'/travel tree. (The other 2 are off limits to little hands!) I love the way the house feels when it's all decorated for Christmas..cozy and warm.

Day 330 {Happy Thanksgiving}

My dad carving the roasted beast! (and a mighty fine and moist beast it was... if I do say so myself..pat on my back!)

Day 329 {Happy Birthday Mike}

The day before Thanksgiving and everyone was swimming! I love Southern California!!

Day 328

This was home for 2 nights. It's a little ironic that next weekend, Jim and I will be on a little "camping trip" of our own just about a mile up the road from here at the St. Regis (Jim's work Christmas party). I have a strong feeling that the amenities may be a little more plush and I'm extremely confident that they will be a lot more CLEAN with room service! (and I won't have 3 stinky little boys nestled in my side...just 1!)

Day 327

My sister-in-law came up with a great idea of us taking the kids camping for a couple days before Thanksgiving. We were lucky enough to reserve a couple of spots at Doheny State Beach last minute. The weather was spectacular..just like summer. The kids even went in the ocean. The nights were a little chilly, but we were prepared and warm. The boys had a great time with their cousins and I enjoyed just sitting on the beach (working on Christmas cards) and relaxing. I can see more camping like this in our future..the only negative was the train that sounded like it was going to derail in the middle of the night and take out the entire campground, oh..and the fact that our air mattress had a slow leak and was flat by morning and we forgot our pillows.

Day 326

I apologize if this is offensive to some, but I thought it was the cutest and most hilarious thing ever. My Ryder has no shame and came up with this outfit (or lack of) all on his own!

Day 325

Another season of powder puff football..and can I just say, we remain the CHAMPIONS!! Not to brag or anything, but we won 21-0! {and boy do I have the bruises to prove it!} AMAZING JOB GIRLS!! (to see a great video of the game that one of the husbands' put together, go to my facebook page.)

Day 324

I got home at 3:30 a.m. and had to be at the dentist by 8:00 a.m. (luckily Jayden woke me up at 7:45 and we rushed to the dentist). Ryder had to be sedated in order for the dentist to fill 6 cavities. Laughing gas didn't work for us, so this was the next solution. It seemed rather extreme to me, but I was informed it's quite normal. He had a little pre-op to make sure he was well enough to go under, then the dr. had me give him a hug so he could give him a "sleepy" shot. How bizarre it was to see him fall asleep with his eyes open. I wanted to cry. 1 hour and several hundreds of dollars later, they were finished. It took a little while for him to wake up, but within a couple hours, he was back to his little rascally self!

Day 323

The day had come..time for the midnight showing of "New Moon". A bunch of girlfriends all camped out along the curb for several hours. I will say, we only arrived at 7 p.m., but there had been people in line from very early in the morning {crazy..i'm not that big of a fan!} We all painted our finger nails black to be a little more vampirish. I was not prepared, as it was FREEZING outside and my hands were numb. By the time we got inside, I was ready to fall asleep. The movie was o.k. for me, but the experience was great!

Day 322

I was dropping Jayden off at TaeKwonDo and got a panicked phone call from Skyler..he informed me that he bit into a tootsie roll and his molar came out and was stuck in the tootsie roll and that it hurt! You can see that his new molar was already coming in, so it was only a matter of time before he lost it anyways. What I loved most is that he still believes in the tooth fairy! He diligently put his tooth in a baggie and stuck it under his pillow. What a sad day it will be when he learns the truth, but for now, I'm going to cherish the fact that the fantasy still lives in his 10 1/2 yr. old mind.

Day 321

The kids have modified days for the rest of the week due to parent teacher conferences..of which I had 2 today! All in all, the boys are doing great in school, but like their mother, need to work on not talking so much in class! {the apples don't fall far from the tree!} notice skyler's...all +'s and 1 - {talking}

Day 320

While we were at the temple, Jayden tested for his purple belt in TaeKwonDo {thank you Kristi for suffering through the 4 hours and bringing him home}. Today he reaped his reward..his purple belt. Out with the orange, in with the purple. Good Job Jayden!

Day 319

"Dyana...let me introduce myself. I'm iron and ironing board, the things that make clothes free of wrinkles. Your husbands' best friend..it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Now that Jim is in the Bishopric and has morning meetings, I'm in charge of getting the clothes and boys ready. For 10 years, Jim has taken on this responsibility and has done a fabulous job. I know I've taken it completely for granted how lucky I was to have such a helpful husband. Now the tables are turned and I have to actually iron clothes and make the boys {and myself} presentable in a timely fashion. I'm up for the challenge {what other choice do I have?}

Day 318

Skyler's friend {and one of my Webeloes} Justin got baptized tonight! What an incredible night it was! Standing room only.

Day 317

It was a beautiful night at the temple! Crowded, but beautiful.

Day 316

Tonight was Ryder's end of the season soccer party! As team mom, I had the pleasure of putting it all together. I finished the team slideshow just in the nick of time. Shakey's was chaotic and crowded, but it's nice to know it's finished! {thanks Sharon for the awesome Kung Fu Panda} cupcakes!!

Day 315

Happy Veteran's Day! The kids did not have school today, so I decided to have Webelos early. We are working on the Athlete badge so we went on a bike ride.

Day 314

Our Relief Society put on a wonderful Enrichment (or whatever it's called now) about family traditions! The food is always great at these things, and the desserts..even better!

Day 313

Our neighbors' homeschooling group hired JIM WEISS to come out and give a workshop. She invited us for family night to the family portion to hear him tell some stories. I had never heard of him before but he was indeed a great storyteller. He told a great story about Thomas Jefferson and Adams, and in this photo, he is telling the story of the Tortoise and the Hare!

Day 312

My trip was cut a little short because I needed to get back for church. Jim was called to be the 2nd counselor in the bishopric so it was kinda important for me to be there. To make up for it, after all his meetings, he came home and made cookies and poured me a giant glass of ice milk! That is love!!

Day 311

The purpose of the trip up north was not only to visit Jenn, but to go to a scrapbooking retreat. We stayed in the quaint town of Virginia City in an old hospital turned into an art studio (it seemed more like a haunted house to me). It was a great set-up..except all the stairs! I made these shirts (last minute) for all us girls. The 2 girls on the end, April and Christine, are friends of Jenniffers. We had a great time and got little use from our beds. The average bedtime was about 3:00 a.m.

{who could forget these doughnuts! they were huge and soooo delicious! calories don't count on a girls' weekend!}

Day 310

Jenn took us on a lovely tour of her neck of the woods. We went through Reno, then Carson City, stopped at her new home in Minden, then over the hill to Lake Tahoe. It was gorgeous country! We stopped and did a little shopping along the way..that's where I found these ginormous pants! I made Jen & Theresa get inside, knowing that they would for sure hold them both. It was quite the photo-op! I just couldn't believe they had a size 54 in a regular store. We nearly peed our pants laughing so hard! (thanks for being such good sports girls!)

Day 309

I wasn't going to let a little thing like swine flu get in the way of a girls' weekend!! Being surrounded by great friends was the best medicine. Theresa and I flew up to Reno to visit our friend Jenniffer. We didn't get in till 10:30p.m. so Jenn surprised us with a room at the Peppermill! Our room was so fancy..but we couldn't resist jumping on the bed! Then add on to that, trying to capture our jumps with the self-timer. We seriously took over 11 shots..we just couldn't time it right. It was enough to build up an appetite so it was to the casino diner at 1:00a.m. for heavy laden breakfast foods! Despite not feeling very well, it was a great night and a great start to a fabulous weekend!

Day 308

It's Ryder's turn! He had a fever of 104.5 and it wouldn't break even with motrin so Jim insisted that I take him to the ER. I was all for waiting it out at home but Jim was too worried. By the time we got there, his fever was at a mild 100. I was a little peeved, not that his temp. had broken, but that I was sitting there! Jim joined us only to sit with us for 3 hours! Mind you, I am feeling like CRAP {I've got it too} and was very irritable. I finally got up to ask them how much longer. They hadn't called anyone back in the entire 3 hours and they told me I was 4th on the list. Ticked off, I told them to take us off the list, we were going home! Our neighbor had already written us a prescription for Tami-Flu so I didn't know what more they could do for us. It was a colossal waste of time and energy!

Day 307

Has it really already been 6 months?

Day 306

"Who let the pigs out....oink,oink,oink"! This was the beginning. Jayden started with a low temperature but it spread like wildfire throughout our family. Swine Flu, take your best shot!

Day 305

The family gathered together for my newest nephew: Peter Franklyn Daines' baby blessing. It was a good thing we gained an extra hour last night because as it was, we were all exhausted! We had to be in Pasadena (which is about 1 1/2 hrs. away) by 10:15 a.m. We made it with time to spare!