'Twas the Day After Christmas

"Twas the day after Christmas and all through the house tiny creatures were crawling, they're smaller than a mouse. After fighting for weeks to evict them from here we threw up our hands and said, "the end is near." The professionals came and took care of the ants and to our relief there were no more in our pants. (figuratively speaking).

With all the rain we have had ant problems and I finally got tired of dealing with the problem myself. So yesterday we signed up to have the ant guys come over every other month to take care of the problem. I am totally OK with that. The only downside was that we had to be out of our house for two hours. So we piled up the kids and took them out to lunch, to run errands and then to get a treat. Everyone enjoyed our family time together. (Pictures to follow. I can't find the cord to hook up my new camera to the computer.)

We had a great Christmas day. It was kind of an adventure. We opened presents, had breakfast and left for Damon's aunt's house. We have spent every Christmas there except the 2 we stayed in Oregon. It was nice to see all the family. We had to battle the weather the whole drive to Riverside as well as Noah getting car sick. After Aunt Sue's we went to Redlands to spend Christmas evening with my family. The kids enjoyed playing with their cousins. We ended the evening with some very loud rounds of PIT. It was fun to see my mom participate. She usually doesn't like to play games with her over competitive, cut throat family.

The nice thing about the ant man coming was it forced us to clean up all of our Christmas stuff. Our house looks like it did before the addition of 20 million new things. (again figuratively speaking)

We hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas too. Now, bring on that New Year!

'Twas the Night Before

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature under 10 was stirring in the house. All the adults were stirring. Some in the kitchen, some under the tree and another were still driving down to our house.

It was a fun and busy Christmas Eve. It started with a trip to the auto body shop because our car was having issues. Water is leaking into the back lift gate. This was caused by the accident. Hopefully everything is functioning properly now.

Damon's mom and I were in the kitchen baking for our family Christmas party tomorrow. She is a trooper. She worked all day in the kitchen. I hope we didn't wear her out. We had yummy clam chowder for dinner. Damon and I ran over to one of my piano student's houses so I could play a Christmas duet with her during her family's Christmas program.

After we came home we had our Christmas program. It was fun to do now that the kids are old enough. We sang songs, played the piano, did some readings, Nana and Papa shared stories from their Christmas's on the islands. It was really nice.

When it was bedtime, Lily, who was so exhausted by the end of the day, got a second wind and was so excited that Santa was coming. She was running around telling everyone to be good and quiet. She got the cookie plate out with the cookies on it. She set them by the fireplace and got into bed. She wouldn't settle down though so I had to stay with her until she fell asleep. It was funny to see her like that. The boys went to sleep right away. Damon and I were able to sneak a way for a nice long walk. Damon's sister, Dara, finally arrived from Salt Lake after 10pm.

Now everything is ready for a perfect Christmas morning. Hopefully Adam's cough won't be anything serious. He is sitting outside right now with Damon breathing in some cold night air. That usually calms down his inflamed throat.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Christmas Cheer!

Sunday the kids and I got to baking. We made banana bread and 3 types of cookies. We had lots of fun and made lots of messes. We didn't have to clean up. Damon did that. We assembled our plates of cookies and wrapped our banana bread. Last night we were able to go out and deliver them. The kids loved it. Isn't that what Christmas is all about?

The weather right now is very reminiscent of our Christmas's in Oregon. They are getting lots of snow right now, so I am happy with the rain, but wish I didn't have to be out in it. I thought I had to volunteer in the library at school so Lily and I got all bundled up and found the umbrella and went to school. We found out after we arrived that they kids aren't having library this week. The umbrella didn't do much good because the rain is coming in all directions and not just down. After we got home we had to change our clothes. I don't miss being out in the rain all the time.

Things I have to remember before the big storms start...

1. After wind storms empty gutters.

2. Hang up gutters before rain starts.

3. If you don't have to go out, don't.

4. Make sure all drains are unclogged.

5. Turn automatic sprinklers off or you end up with a swamp

6. Make sure your garage is clear so when the rain comes you don't have to park in the driveway. What a pain.

None of these are fun to do in the freezing, cold rain. I still don't know how I am going to get my kids home from school today. We don't have rain gear. At least it is not snow.

Here are some pics of the improved living room. Curtains will go up next weekend.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

CHRISTMAS!!!!!

(sorry the tree is sideways. I haven't figured out how to rotate pictures yet)

Finally. It took us a while to get there, but we had a busy and productive Saturday. Damon finished the fireplace and we had a beautiful fire in there this morning. We rearranged the furniture to make room for the new stuff. We cleaned. We picked up the tree yesterday and brought it in. Then we decorated. There were only 2 casualties this year. I broke one of my favorite bulbs by accidentally dropping another ornament on top of it. Then Noah knocked one off the tree and it shattered. After that we had a lesson on how to properly hang ornaments on the tree. I finally got a small tree for the hallway and bought some plastics bulbs for it. The kids call it their Christmas tree (and it is) and they got to decorate it however they wanted.

After we were done with the inside we headed outside to hang up lights and clean up the garage a little bit. The lights are up and working and look great. We have been dealing with a bit of a rat problem in our garage. We finally found where they have been hanging out. I had no idea that rats eat snails. We found a whole bunch of empty snail shells next to large quantities of rat pebbles. Lovely. So we cleaned that all up. Next comes out the snail poison closely followed by rat poison. I figure if we get rid of the snails the rats will go away. I also tried to convince Damon that this was the perfect time to get a cat, but he didn't buy that. So I asked my neighbor to start letting their cat back out to go hunting. Hopefully the problem will be taken care of soon.

The house is warm and cozy again. For a week it looked so stark after taking down all the fall decor. We are all excited to finally feel like Christmas is near.

A Happy Thanksgiving

We made the trek up to St. George, Utah for Thanksgiving. It was cold and wet, but we had a great time. Damon's mom really spoils us when we are there. We were able to take the kids to see Madagascar 2. They thought it was hilarious. We did some shopping with the kids too. It rained for 2 days while we were there so we had to spend a lot of time inside.

Thanksgiving was great. Dara and Brian (Damon's sister and husband) came down from SLC and the kids loved seeing them. Angie and Doug (Damon's cousin and husband) came for dinner with their twin daughters. Lily was so happy to see the twinsees again. She hasn't seen them since we were in Samoa. We had yummy food and a relaxing day. Damon even humoured me with a walk later that night after the kids went to bed. Funny things the kids said on Turkey day... Lily and Noah wanted to see the Turkey while I was carrying it outside to cook it. Lily asked, "Is it dead." I responded, "I certainly hope so." Then she asked, "well, who killed it?" I told her the farmer killed it so it could fulfill it's purpose in life as our Thanksgiving dinner. That seemed to appease her. Then Adam wanted to make sure we payed special tribute to the turkey by thanking it for dying for us. Sometimes my kids are hilarious.

It finally dried out on Friday and the kids got to go to the park by Nana's house. They loved it. We enjoyed the nice cool weather and dressing in jeans and sweaters. Damon was being super sweet on Friday and went shopping with me at 5am. Then that night he took me to see Twilight because he knew I wanted to see it again. What a sweet guy. I sure do love him. And he even enjoyed the movie.

The rest of my Thankfuls...

27. I am grateful for Thanksgiving and for the pilgrims (who I actually am direct descended from) who braved the unknown to blaze new trails. I am also thankful for the turkey.

28. I am thankful for early bird shopping. It was a lot of fun this year with Damon. We got some smokin' hot deals.

29. I am grateful for being able to stop at my sister's when we drive back from St. George. We seem to do it every time and she always feeds us. After hitting some horrible traffic it was nice to get out for a few hours and hang out.

30. I am thankful for my blog in which I can write and share my month of Thankfuls. What a great month it has been.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Now, Bring on Christmas.

To the Man

We celebrated Damon's birthday on Sunday. We are so very glad he is a part of our lives. We are also happy that he loves us. Damon and I are almost a year apart. We spend a month at the same age. During that month he is not old. Now he is an old man again. We had a nice relaxing day for Damon with a yummy lunch and dinner. Instead of cake we had chocolate pie. Happy Birthday again to the one I love. I couldn't imagine life without you.

I have some more thankfuls to catch up on. Here are some more...

20. I am grateful for the internet that I can watch my shows on when I miss them on TV. Also for survivor so that I have something entertaining to watch while I am on the treadmill.

21. Yea! I am thankful that the Twilight movie finally came out and it wasn't bad. I am really thankful that they are going to do the other two now. I am really thankful for Melissa for demanding that I read them after I laughed at my little sister for months when she told me to read them. I won't put another twilight pic on the blog because I think Damon would go ballistic.

22. Well it is hard to be thankful after the loss that BYU suffered to the Utes. But I am thankful for the opportunity I had to go to BYU. I had lots of fun and met some super people. You know who you are because you are reading it. So I guess I am thankful for good roommates. (I would post a picture of you guys, but those pics are before digital days. Maybe someday I will figure out my scanner)

23. I am grateful for Damon again. It's his birthday. I am also grateful for all the friends and family who called to talk to him. It is nice to know the spouse is loved.

24. I am sooooooooooo thankful to have filled up my car today for $1.85 a gallon. I never thought I would see that price for gas again. Yippie.

25. I am thankful for my challenges because they help me to grow and they keep me humble.



26. I am grateful for my treadmill. Without it I would be out of shape. I can't even count the number of miles I have logged on that thing.

An End of An Era

Well I have seen the Twilight movie. My life is complete. This morning while we were getting ready for our day I said to Damon, "What am I going to do now? After 12pm today my life won't have anything to obsess over." Damon's response was that he was sure I would find something.

Well some friends and I went to the movie this morning at 10am. We had a nice quiet theater, no screaming girls. Now that I am home and have thought about it I have decided that I liked the movie. It isn't the book. There was no way that the movie would ever be as good as the book. The actors did a great job and the scenery made me homesick for Phoenix and Portland. I actually miss rain now. After seeing the movie I even like the sound track. So if you haven't seen it go see it and let me know what you think.

Also, if you can think of anything I can obsess over now let me know. Harry Potter is done, Twilight is done. I need the next book series to get into. Happy movie going.

Thankfuls

Well, it has been forever since a post and I am thankful for lots of things. It just seems like the negative has been outweighing the positive so I haven't wanted to post. So here is my Thankfuls for the month so far.

1. My family
2. Going to church on Sundays. It just makes the week that much better
3. Fall weather (finally)
4. A free government with elections
5. My mother who I can call when I am way frustrated with life
6. Surprise carpools
7. My trainer who is helping me get my skinny on and makes me do things I really hate doing (like leg pressing 200 pounds. who knew?)
8. Church dinners-I don't have to cook or clean up
9. The primary program. It's an easy church day
10. Volunteering at school. It is so fun to work with the kids
11. For veterans who have served the country that I love
12. For school. I enjoy my kids being gone and glad they have the opportunity to learn
13. For Damon and all he does and sacrifices for our family. He is great!
14. Pizza Fridays
15. The end of Soccer Season!!
16. I love my friends. They are super great Life would be boring without them
17. I am really thankful for the Twilight Premiere because that means the movie is almost here and I can't wait.
18. I am very thankful for Lily. She challenges me
19. I am very thankful for my piano students. They keep me entertained.

There are my thankfuls. If I were more creative I would have pictures posted, but alas, I am not.

Halloween Night

Trick or Treating always brings out the excitement in all of us. Noah was off with the neighborhood kids as soon as we finished off our yummy pizza dinner. He and 4 of the other kids from the culdesac were gone for about and hour and a half. Damon volunteered me to take Lily and Adam out and I assigned him to clean up from dinner since I was out. After the 1st 5 houses Lily was done so I actually carried her to all the other houses we went to. Adam would have gone all night had I not gotten tired from carrying Lily. Adam proudly announced that he was not going to any houses that had No on 8 signs or Obama signs in their yards. I told him we had to respect people even if their opinions were different than ours (and wrong). So we went to their houses as well. After the big kids got back we had some of the neighborhood kids over for apple cider and Halloween cartoons. We also made more Frankenstein pudding and witch cupcakes. By 9pm the little trick or treaters were all nestled in their beds while visions of all the sugar they could ingest the next day danced in their heads. We had a fun Halloween.

Earlier that day Lily and I went to visit Damon at Motorola. His company sets up trick-or-treating for the kids of their employee's. We were able to go around the entire building and meet some of the people Damon works with. Everyone just absolutely loved Lily. How can you not. After we were done Damon treated his girl's out to lunch at this place called the Oasis. Thanks Damon. Your girls had fun.

Thursday Field Trip on Wednesday

Well, carnivals look better at night so the Thursday field trip took place on Wednesday night and Damon was able to join us. We had a lot of fun at the pretend pumpkin patch with carnival rides. The kids thought they had died and gone to heaven. After my second spinning ride I wish I had died. The rides last forever. Adam loved the big jumpy. Noah loved the fun house with the big hamster wheel and Lily loved the Strawberry ride. Damon was quite happy just taking pictures.

In these pictures Noah was walking in the hamster wheel and Adam was yelling, "I can see the freeway from here."

It was my week to teach preschool and what a week it was. My brain is mentally done for the day and I am happy preschool is only 2 days a week. We learned about Halloween and Halloween safety. We had a costume parade and made lots of fun treats. We made Frankenstein pudding, witch cupcakes, scary apple smiles and spider crackers. It was very messy. The kids were all so cute in their costumes. We had a dance off to win prizes and played lots of fun games. The kids were all tired afterwards. So was the teacher. (and the last thing to make this a really wonderful day is that my piano is being tuned right now. it really is the most annoying thing to sit through. aaaaagh)

Our real Thursday field trip was getting flu shots. Not to exciting, but the boys got to get out of school early and that made them happy. Happy Halloween everyone!!

A visit with G&G

Grandma and Grandpa came down on Saturday for a visit. We stopped by the Temple and then went over to Balboa Park. Grandma had never been there so we thought we would take her to one of the museums. We went to the Fleet Science Museum. They had a great "Grossology" exhibit that had to do with random things like the 4 cow stomach's, flies, tapeworms, poop, cat hairballs and a few other gross things. The kids loved that. We also took them into the shadow room which they thought was really fun. Growing up we used to visit the shadow room that they had at the Phoenix Public Library. We used to have loads of fun in a huge room with the shadow boxes in them. After the museum we walked around the grounds and Lily found her "Lily Pond." Unfortunately the lilies were not in bloom so it wasn't very impressive. We spent the rest of our time staring at the Coy fish in the fishpond. We had a great dinner later that night and my mom helped me find a marriage certificate in England so I can continue on in Damon's mom genealogy. I was stuck after 5 generations. I have ordered it and am anxiously awaiting it's arrival. It was a fun Saturday.

Earlier that day we had all the kids helping us clean up the backyard. The boys hate manual labor and were just trying to have some fun. They mounted their rakes as broomsticks and were riding them around the backyard. It was pretty funny to see.

A Happy Day for Mom

Well, I must say that this year's birthday was much better than last year. Last year was spent watching all of SoCal burn and having to be evacuated from our home. This year although another hot day and very windy, which is fire weather, we managed to stay in our home and have fun. Lily and I went to the beach after a session with my trainer at the gym. We had a lovely time except the sea gulls kept attacking our stuff. Lily was my go to girl as she ran towards them screaming, "roar" as loud as she could. It was pretty funny.

When we got home and "desanded" Damon was home. That made us girls happy. He came home early and then walked to school to pick up the boys so I wouldn't have to. He made a wonderful dinner and an even better chocolate cake and baskin robins ice cream. He even mixed up the numbers on my cake to make me feel better. (although I admit to myself that I can't pass for 23) He then cleaned up the whole kitchen which was a huge mess (I hadn't done dishes all day) and I got to sit and watch all the TV shows that I had recorded from the past few weeks. I also got to talk to everyone in my family and some really good friends. It was a great day!

My friend Kelly from Phoenix had these mailed to me

My friend Wendy brought me flowers

My wonderful husband bought me these babies!

It was a good day! Thanks lovely for making it nice. And to all those who forgot. Shame on you. Just kidding.

A Magical End

Well the kids weren't to pleased that we had gone to Disneyland without them so I decided to take them just one last time. So field trip Thursday was an all day and late into the evening event. The boys got to miss school as we headed off to the happiest place on earth just one last time. We had a great time. It wasn't to crowded and the weather wasn't bad either. Lily even managed to stay dry all day so that was a plus too. The only downfall was when Lily decided to get her leg wedged into a wood fence while we were waiting in line for the go coaster in ToonTown. After 5 minutes of listening to her aggravating screams these two nice gentlemen decided to help me. We ended up getting her out and no real damage was done. The boys were so excited because I let them go on Star Tours all by themselves since Lily is to little to go on the ride. They thought they were so grown up. They can't wait until they are a little bit bigger and can run all over the park by themselves. We loved the new Toy Story ride. The kids got a kick out of Turtle talk with Crush. The cars are always a personal favorite of Noah and Lily's lone request of going on Alice in Wonderland was even doable. I think I need a break from field trip Thursdays for a week.