365: another years over..another rose parade ritual

It all begins with the CHALK! My sister lives close to the parade route and went out early Friday, Dec. 30th morning to mark our territory. There is a silent law that one must respect the chalk. Rarely, if ever, does anyone try to take a spot that has been pre-chalked. It's just not cool! When you're needing a space as large as we needed, this is just what you have to do!

Another ritual is fighting off the cops who tell you, "you can't save seats until 12:00 p.m. the day before the parade." Been there, done that! For some reason these officers are on a total power high but I do as I always do and say, "I'm just cruising the sidewalks, no harm in that is there?" I was out at our spot at 10:30 a.m. Saturday {mind you the parade isn't till Monday}

Another essential: zip ties and wire cutters.

The parade people think they're being smart or something by zip-tieing all the porta potties shut until 12:00 p.m. the day before the parade. Experience is a great teacher and I have been schooled on how to get around little things like this. It's a simple solution that gives me my own, personal porta potty for over 24 hours. This year I mixed it up a little and found pink zip ties! 

This year New Year's Day falls on a Sunday. The parade has a no Sunday policy so it won't be until Monday, January 2nd. It's a little bit of an anti-climatic New Year's Eve when you don't have the entire street celebrating with you. I was so grateful that Theresa drove down at 10:30 that night to hang out with me. At midnight, we had a party for 2 along Orange Grove Blvd. We had our poppers, our noise makers, and such. We had a terrible time getting our camera set up for a picture, but it is what it is! By about 12:10 a.m., we nestled in the warm car and waited out the night while watching our chalk! 

364: lululemon

I have fallen victim to peer pressure and have enter the sacred realms of Lululemon. This is not your ordinary workout wear store! The prices are not for the faint of heart. I will have to say though, the pieces are exceptionally well made and durable and even the shabbiest of behinds look fabulous in their yoga pants. Expect to come out a lot lighter in the pocketbook when you exit the store but these workout clothes are so cute, you could wear them as everyday wear. So it might be double the price, but it's double the wearing possibilities!

363: boys in nature

Jim decided to take the boys hiking today! They drove up to Santa Rosa Plateau, though in the picture it looks like they are somewhere in Africa.

{I love how Jim made it in the picture..down in the corner!}

362: laurels quilting project..the sewing phase

For the past 4 months we have been working on a quilt project with our Laurels. Each of the girls picked their own fabric and design. We've been cutting out {for what seems like forever} and now, we have finally reached the sewing stage! This is the fun phase, when you see it coming together! Hopefully by the time some of the girls graduate we will have their quilts finished and ready to go to college!

361: the "real" deal

Santa's throne was vacant at the mall so the "real" deal stepped in!

360: my airsoft hudlums

It's been non-stop airsoft wars around here!!

359: merry christmas!!

They were up at 5:30 a.m.! Way too early for me! They had to wait till 6:00! {wearing their Grandma jammies}

BEFORE

AFTER

2 IPOD Touches and a XBOX 360 Kinect = 3 happy boys

Socks from my mom! I totally thought she knitted these for me, but speaking to her later that day, she fessed up that she bought them at a little store in Nauvoo! {She's totally capable of knitting them, she just didn't}. I just loved how they matched my tree!

The TRIPOD family picture..in the room that's never used!

 A little look into our Christmas day!

358: a kickback christmas eve

 Did all my shopping this year on Amazon! With free, 2 day shipping, why would you go into the stores? It was always a thrill and would bring a "big smile" when I saw these brown boxes on my front porch..even up to Christmas eve!

With no family around, we had a very laid back Christmas eve. We went to the movies {saw Arthur Christmas}, had chinese food, then drove around the neighborhood looking at lights. We miss all our family and our Christmas eve traditions, but it was nice not having to drive anywhere. We had nothing to put together and I had already wrapped all the present, so it was an early evening for Mr. & Mrs. Claus!

357: a bunch of nuts roasting by an open fire

I'm not seeing this kind of apparel in say, Colorado or Nauvoo! 

Merry California Christmas!!

356: all i want for christmas is my 1 front tooth

Ryder's top tooth has been literally dangling for weeks! He would not let anyone pull it or even get near it for that matter.  This morning he woke up and it was out! He didn't even realize that it had fallen out while he was sleeping. We had to search all the pillows to find his tooth, but we found it amongst all the little pieces of popcorn inside the couch, that similarly look like little teeth. Now, looking at his other top tooth, it looks like it's on it's way out! We have been trying to persuade him to attach a string to his top tooth and to a nerf dart and firing the gun all while catching it on video {we've been watching it on you tube..it is awesome!} but Ryder will have NOTHING to do with it! I have offered him $20. We have promised him anything he wants..nope, he won't budge! I so want to do it..I'm probably scaring him for life because he's crying and yelling at me, "No means No mom!" 

Later that night was finally girls night out!! I've been looking so forward to this! We haven't gotten together in awhile..too long, if you ask me! We had Thai food for dinner and then went to see "New Year's Eve"..kinda as an homage to our days pass when we painfully saw "Valentine's Day" {same director, same concept, same ginormous cast of hugely popular actors, same kinda sappy story line}. There is no one other that I would have rather seen it with than my girls! It wasn't quite as lame as Valentine's Day, but I'd wait to RedBox it!

355: holiday fun

Another busy, but fun day! Started the day off with turbo kickboxing (no picture, sorry). Afterward, came home and made lots of salsa! I think I bought too big of jars because I only got about 2 jars per batch of salsa, so it took a lot longer than expected {story of my life, remember} and I didn't even finish! I figured people get tired of all the sugar and sweet during the holidays that they might appreciate some salty and savory! That night for mutual we had a joint activity with the boys. We went to a local park and went ice blocking! It was Skyler's first time and he loved it. After ice blocking, I headed down the hill to Riches for Lisa's birthday party! 

354: stirfry, it's whats for dinner

I totally felt like my mom today! I think she would be proud. I was industrious and used what I had. Had a veggy tray left over from our party last weekend and it still had some broccoli, snap peas, and carrots. I couldn't just throw them away! Instead, I threw them in the wok with a little chicken and teriyaki glaze and made a stir-fry! Jayden told me it was the best meal he has every had! Coming from the boy that hardly eats, I take that as a successful dinner and a roaring compliment!

353: the crazies of this day

 I have no idea what Ryder was doing today! But it was a little crazy to come home to him wearing bits and pieces of Jaydens old tae kwon do equipment for no apparent reason other than, "It's comfortable!" 

I'm hoping I'm not alone in this! Please...someone else has got to have a room that looks like this, this time of year, right?!

352: jayden's primary talk

Jayden gave a talk today in primary. It was a recycled talk from last week when Ryder gave one in Junior Primary. 

351: work party #2

Work party #2 was for all of the Administrators and their Directors of Nursing in the Southern Region. Not as many people but still needed to get the house ready, food bought, and presents wrapped. Above is a picture of all our LEFTOVER desserts! How in the world are we ever going to finish these? I guess it's time for a leftover dessert party at the Geddies'! 

I caught Jayden looking through my Project 365 scrapbook. Basically it's this blog in a book. Just seeing him looking through it is the whole reason I do it! He was loving it! He's probably looked at it 3-4 times. Maybe I need to leave them out more often.

350: performance day at tony tobin

Last day of school before Christmas vacation! Ryder had his 1st grade production: Twas the Crazy Night Before Christmas! He was so anxious for us to see him. He kept reminding us of the time over and over. We were front and center! Earlier that morning I was the waffle mom in Jayden's class. It was a good thing I brought in my waffle maker because even with 2, it took awhile. It was a busy morning which led to a very busy night. We had our ward Christmas party and I was on that committee. Aside from spending a few hours Thursday night decorating, I needed to cook a couple hams and get to the church early to set up the projector and screen for the  YW's number. By nights end, after cleaning and taking down the decorations {that felt like we just put up},I was tired..the second my head hit the pillow, I was out!

349: teachers gifts' nightmare!!

Why can't I leave well enough alone? Why can't I be like the other parents and just stop with the gift card for the gift card tree? Why must I always put so much pressure on myself to do more? I never learn my lessons. This year was no exception. Every year, in addition to giving a nice gift card, I always like to make something for the boys' teachers. For the past 3 years I've been making my crayon monogram art. Well this year it was a nightmare because crayon art doesn't want to form into the letters A or S! At least not the way I envisioned them. Jim had to step in and cut the crayons for the A! I was getting so frustrated with what is usually an easy project. I didn't even attempt the S. I decided to do something different and use buttons. It took some time, but I was so happy with the outcome. The A didn't quite turn out how I'd like, but it was done! Maybe by the time Ryder gets to 5th grade I will smarten up and just do the gift card! 

{The reindeer card was a fun project I did with Ryder's class}

Another night up till 1:30 a.m.

348: not as easy as it looks

Did I mention that Pinterest is my newest time wasting addiction? I had seen a fun, easy project that I thought would be cool during winter. As a Laurels class at church, we decided to help make some decorations for the upcoming ward party. Perfect, I thought! Now was the time to pull out the cotton ball snow idea seen HERE.

Again, like so many things I take upon myself, it wasn't as easy as it looks. In fact, it was kinda a disaster. I thought we'd make tons. In the hour, we were lucky to have 10..and even those got all tangled up. The moral of the story..the things that look the easiest are NEVER that easy!

347: curse you cookies!

As if my life weren't hectic enough, I was invited to a cookie exchange party. While talking to another friend about it, it was brought to my attention that I had read the invitation wrong. I think she wondered why I was so calm. I thought we only had to bring 1 dozen cookies. I was informed that it was 11 DOZEN!

My calmness quickly turned to panic. First of all, I'm not really a baker. I don't bake for fun, I only bake when I have to. Second, we were having the missionaries for dinner so I wouldn't be able to start baking until after 8! Third, they were to be nicely wrapped and I didn't have any supplies, nor the time to get any. So off to Wal-mart I went for last minute supplies. I didn't get started till 8:30 p.m. I was a baking fool. Things were going pretty steady. I baked while watching Fear Factor. By about 12:30 a.m. I was almost done! As I pulled my last 2 dozen out of the oven, I quickly realized there was a hole in the pot holder I picked up and I dropped them all on the floor! I was nearly in tears at this point! Exhausted, I whipped together another batch hoping it would make 2 dozen. It did! Then I had to start wrapping them. I didn't do anything terribly elaborate but it still took a lot of time. I didn't get to bed till 2:00 a.m. and by that point I never wanted to see another cookie in my life!

346: detention!

Skyler conveniently pulled this detention slip out Monday morning just as we were leaving for school. He's not stupid. He knew he'd be grounded all weekend if he showed us Friday. Also, my rule is, if you get detention, you can get yourself to and from school {thanks mom for that one..but Goddard was seriously like 6 miles away from our house} however, it was pouring outside. So not only did he get a ride to school, he got to miss piano. So I would look at his detention as a win win for him. I think Santa will definitely leave some coal in his stocking! 

345: geddies ghetto leftover party

 Late Saturday night, when everyone had left the party, we realized we had so much extra food! I quickly sent out a few texts to some friends in the ward seeing if anyone was up for a leftover dinner party Sunday night! All were in! The Trevino's, Moody's, and Fifield's all came over to partake of some food and I guess some football. The kids had plans of their own. When I went upstairs, I noticed that they had pulled the cushions off the 2 sectionals upstairs and created a lake of pillows! All in the name of fun! It was keeping them busy so the adults could hang downstairs so a few misplaced pillows was nothing! We did a pretty good job of getting rid of the food, however, we still had a bit left. We should have called a few more people! I just didn't realize we had as much as we did, plus, kids just don't eat a lot!

344: the party

We love having all of Jim's department heads over for a Christmas Party every year!  They are the reason he loves going to work so much! They are incredible individuals that truly love what they do and are so loyal to Jim and the company! This year we had nearly 50 people, 15 of them children. My upstairs honestly sounded like the running of the bulls.  Picture frames were flying off the walls, pillows were everywhere and dart gun bullets littered the ground. All I could do was smile and be a gracious host! At least they were having a good time. We had more food than we could possibly eat! Along with being incredible workers, they are incredibly generous. We had an ornament exchange, which is always fun. Jim got a great one..the QUEEN! Perfect! It was a great night but by the end of it, all I wanted to do was go to bed!!

343: shopping is exhausting!

We will be hosting our annual Christmas party for Jim's Department Heads, from his work, tomorrow night. Jim really wanted it to be a special night for all his employees children, so we spend about 3 hours at Target fighting our way down toy aisle after toy aisle with other crazy parents. I never realized how hard it was to shop for all the different ages. We had girls and boys from 2-17, with very limited ideas of what they liked. Wouldn't gift cards be the easiest? Jim thought they weren't personal enough. Yes, some got them, but for the most part, we got everyone a present that I truly hope they will like! I don't think I've ever shopped that much in one time frame! I was EXHAUSTED!!

342: endless train cakes

Wednesday night we had our Young Women's Christmas party. Our theme was based around The Polar Express and Believing! My sister had just had a train party for my nephews 4th birthday and had this great train cake pan from Williams & Sonoma, so I piped up and said it would be great for the girls to decorate their own trains for the dessert. Sounded like a good idea a few weeks before the party. Fast forward to the day before the party. The cakes were a little more time consuming than I thought {story of my life}. I had to make about 40 of them. The cake pan made 9 at a time {that is if they all turned out o.k., which they didn't all the time} so it took a little longer than I anticipated. Of course I felt like I had to make a sample for the girls to see. Seriously..I need to learn to simplify my life!!

341: jayden's first band performance

Tonight was Jayden's first band performance. He started playing Saxophone in September {lucky us}! We sat in this overly crowded room with other supportive parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, neighbors, etc..you get my point, it was CROWDED! After a lengthy speech by their teacher informing us {more like preparing us} that learning a musical instrument is like learning a new language and it takes time..yada, yada, yada. Let's just get on with it already. As soon as they blew their first note, I just about lost it! It was the funniest thing I've ever heard.  Jim tried to shush me, but I couldn't help it! I was crying. It was just too much! So I decided to include a brief video clip of one of their best songs so you could enjoy, as I did! We are proud of Jayden for getting up there and trying new things {though in my mind I wonder if he wasn't lip synching and pretending to play..which Jim informed me he did most of his band career}.