Christmas 2008

We had a fantastic Christmas this year! J was home in time for the holidays which was just what the boys and I really wanted! He even got to spend Christmas Eve at home!
Christmas Eve was spent last minute shopping, and seeing friends. Then baking desserts for Christmas day. The boys got to open their one gift, PJ's! It has never been so easy to get the boys to sleep!
R woke us up just after 6am, he is our natural early riser. L is our boy who sleeps in, J had to go wake him up!
Santa filled the stalkings with great stuff. R had asked Santa to fill his Dad's stalking to overflowing and he did!
Then we opened gifts from each other and from family and friends. After that was done R said that Santa didn't bring any presents...
Oh-no! That sure was strange! But wait...look there behind the tree where no one noticed...There are 4 gifts from Santa to R and L!
It was like 'A Christmas Story' the boys got the one gift they so wanted but didn't actually believe they'd get, a Wii! Santa also got them an extra remote w/added mini games, Guitar Hero, and Orbs of Doom. WOW!
Our friends the Par Fam came over and so did my Big Bro and his fam. We ate a big Christmas dinner, pigged out on goodies, the kiddo's played Wii and out in the snow, us grown ups played Clue and Apples to Apples.
It was just such a wonderful day!

My Boys!



Opening Gifts!


Playing Wii!


M and S w/ the Christmas goodies!


My Bro and M. cooking dinner!

Eight!

So I saw this idea on a blog and liked it so decided to do it!
8 things that apply to me under 8 categories; here goes:

~~8 Shows I enjoy watching~~

1.House

2.King of Queens

3.Food Network Challenges

4.Samantha Who?

5.Roseanne reruns

6.Monk

7.Psych

8.Malcolm in the Middle reruns


~~8 Things that happened yesterday~~

1.Took down all the Christmas deco and washed all the windows

2.Played Rock Band w/Chris and Maria

3.Ate onion rings and nachos at Silver City Restaurant

4.Clearance Shopped at Walmart

5.Watched X-Files w/J

6.Played Guitar Hero with J

7.Had a family boxing match w/J and the boys

8.Fell asleep watching Tin Man w/J


~~8 Things I'm looking forward to~~

1.Spending the rest of the weekend W/J

2.My turn on Guitar Hero

3.Pay Day

4.L's b-ball practice

5.Dinner and games at Maria's

6.When all the chores are finished

7.L's lip being fixed

8.Couples day trip in Seattle


~~8 Things I love about winter~~

1.The rockin holidays

2.Snow in December

3.Snuggling on the couch watching movies

4.Drinking Hot cocoa

5.Pulling out my favorite coat

6.Yummy snack foods, and having the excuse to eat them

7.The smell of outside on a cold crisp day

8.Seeing the boys bundled up in winter gear, too cute!


~~8 Things on my wish list~~

1.A full scholarship for the rest of my college career

2.J to find the perfect job for him right out of the Navy

3.More time at the gym and to see rockin' results

4.My other BFF to get here

5.To be completely out of debt

6.Lots of days off for J

7.A trip to UT

8.A trip to Wolf Lodge and to look rockin in my swimsuit


~~8 Favorite Movies~~

1. The 10th Kingdom

2. Tin Man

3. Elf

4. Hot Fuzz

5. Tommy Boy

6. The Devil Wears Prada

7. Jack and the Beanstalk

8. Every funny movie out there


~~8 Favorite Reads~~

1. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

2. The Counte of Monte Cristo

3. The Scriptures

4. The Enders Game saga

5. The 10th Kingdom

6. Twilight series

7. To Kill a Mockingbird

8. The new book I haven't read yet


~~8 Favorite Memories~~

1. Dates w/J

2. NY weekend w/June & Maria

3. Ladies weekend in UT w/June & Maria

4. Summer days in Idaho when I was a kid

5. Staying up all night w/my childhood friends

6. Every Christmas since I had my boys

7. Every Girls Camp I've attended

8. The day J and I went thru the temple together


Now its your turn!

Just Incredibly Happy!

First of all my J is home! The boat pulled in Friday night but he had duty so we picked him up Saturday morning. After hugs and kisses we headed to the mall where we treated ourselves to Cinnabon (YUMMY!) then J and I took each boy and helped them get their gifts for us. We came home and wrapped gifts then we headed off and had a fun dinner w/our friends in town.
Sunday church was canceled and we all slept in, watched movies, snacked on goodies, and played in the snow. J cut L's shaggy hair into a cut that L is Extremely satisfied with!
This morning R woke me up with smiles and love, he even made me breakfast in bed! It was my all time favorite breakfast: Sourdough toast and OJ! What an awesome son!
J went to work last night and will be home tomorrow afternoon. I plan on doing some Christmas baking and just hanging with my awesome boys! Best of all he is scheduled to have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off! Does it get any better?!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

So where we live it usually gives us a few days of beautiful white snow, it just doesn't hang out for very long. Well, the last few days has been crazy with snow! We are LOVING it! Well, I love how gorgeous it is outside, how snow adds to the nostalgic Christmas feeling...but I have to say that over here the DOT and those drivers who never grew up where snow storms were an annual reality, are not prepared to handle even the mere thought of snow. I'm so glad my J put us in a 4-wheel drive and so I have no worries!
This morning I was amazed that it was snowing Still, so I measured it, 9.5 inches! Holy Cow that was amazing...but it kept on keepin' on and I just measured it again and it's at 11 inches on my deck...And its Still Snowing Like Crazy out there!!!

Don't Be Jealous!

It's our lucky day! Why...because its a real snow day complete with no school for the boys! Could it get any better?!

The Fastest Way To Spread Christmas Cheer Is Singing Loudly For All To Hear!

Tonight L had his very 1st concert at school. He was in the front row with a blue sweater, khaki pants, and dark hair. He is also the goofy one dancing...well, goofy! After all the fun singing we went to his class where we picked up his gingerbread house that they made this week, what yummy fun!

I Sure Love Those Boys!

R and L sure crack me up!

After a run around hectic day that ended in missing L's basketball practice because I thought it was from 6-7pm when it was really 5-6pm (oops), I decided that McDonald's was a pretty good idea.
So after we were loaded up to our eyeballs in chicken nuggets, fries, snack wraps, a few cookies, and a large soda for myself we headed home. As L was happily munching away on a nugget he asked me what part of the chicken he was eating. I told him the muscle part, all meat comes from the muscle. Then he asked if chicken was good for you and I said yes (I didn't go into the it's-not-so-good-when-its-fried-in-fat though).
He then tells me he wants a chicken for a pet and asks me if that can happen.
Me- people can have chickens for a pet, but they poop a lot.
L- Soooo, they can be a pet?
Me- yes...
L- Can I have one for a pet?
Me- No, they are stinky cuz they poop so much.
L- Well, we could keep them outside
Me- They need a chicken house and I don't have money for a chicken house
L- Well...what if someone gave us a chicken for a pet
R joins in with- I don't want a pet chicken
Me- And we still don't have a chicken house
L- Well, what if they gave us everything for a chicken, even the house?
Me- Sure L, if someone gives us everything for a chicken then yes, we can keep it for a pet
Then R says- Then I sure hope a coyote would come and take care of it for us! And I mean it!
I laughed so hard!

The other day I was in my bathroom getting ready for bed while the boys were in theirs doing the same. I heard L yelling like his hand had been cut off. Well, I just rolled my eyes and kept doing what I was doing. When you know L, you know he is very loud and stubborn! Anyway, he keeps howling and then I hear this:
L- ~Wailing~
R- Well, if you'd stop shaving your face with your toothbrush L...
L- NO!! It's my eyes!
R- Well just wipe your face!
L- NO!!!! ~Wailing~
R- L! Wipe Your Face!
Then I hear...nothing, L finally listened to R and wiped the toothpaste off his face that he smeared all over it when he was pretending to shave his face while brushing his teeth. Yes, I laughed and laughed at those 2!

Just an Update!

So I have to say that this year I have been lazy and didn't make a family newsletter for our Christmas cards, and my wonderful Husband purchased cards last year after Christmas. I love that guy a whole lot...but these cards are pretty lame they are not cute or festive or like anything I'd pick! (I feel a little bad bashing his choice of cards...so just so you know, I DO love him and most of his tastes in things!) There's no newsletter or family picture and I've lost most of the addresses of those who sent cards last year. So lets just say Christmas cards are not my strength this year and I have a whole lot of room for improvement for next year!

A fun side note (this is said heavily dripping with sarcasm) I've lost the only key to my Saturn. I called a locksmith here in town and it would cost a pretty penny of 150.00 for him to come out and make me a key. Hmmm, that stinks. So I've left a message with a Saturn dealership in Olympia in hopes that they can get me a key that is less than what the locksmith would happily take from me. I am eagerly awaiting their call back...

Here is an awesome picture of our wonderful L from his soccer season that ended last month:

And here is my awesome diploma I earned and just recently received in the mail:
R told me it was really cool, then he looked at me in awe and asked,
"So can you teach now?"
me - "No"
R - "Well, can you be a substitute?"
me - "No"
R - "huh..."
me - "Well, I can be a teachers helper or a tutor with this thing!"
He set down the diploma and his look of awe disappeared. But I do have to agree with his look, that was a whole lot of homework I did for a fancy piece of paper that I can't do much with yet! But just you wait, I'm working on more fancy pieces of paper and some day...watch out!

Some great news...It snowed! We don't get a lot of snow, but when it does we sure are grateful for it. I love snow in December. I think it should be able to snow a ton in December where ever I live but be banned from all other months!

Tis' The Season!

I LOVE December! It is just the coolest month ever! So, I haven't learned how to download my new camera pics to my new laptop yet, but my goal is to get that figured out this week...

Anyway, So far December has just been rockin'!

~The boys and I have our 7.5ft tree up all decorated. It is so fun this year, L is just super stoked about Christmas and R is too!
~I'm 1/2 way through my Christmas shopping, next week I get to pick up the cool stuff!
~I have gotten some phone calls from my J this past week, this is the 1st deployment that has happened!
~We have been listening to Christmas songs non-stop!
~We have been reading about Jesus Christ in the scriptures, I love reading about the Savior with my boys!
~R has a Choir concert in the mall this week!
~R starts basketball practices this week!
~L has a school presentation next week (his very 1st!)
~This weekend there is a visit from Santa at the church building that the boys are anxiously awaiting!
~This year I'm hosting the Christmas dinner (can't wait!)

The boys and I are enjoying watching Christmas movies every night before bed, my all time favorite is still 'Elf' with 'The Santa Clause' as a very close second. R really likes 'The Santa Claus 3' while L likes 'The Santa Claus 2' So now you know, the reason they made 3 of them was for us!

I'm looking forward to Christmas cards, Christmas baking, any snow that finds us, the visit from that jolly Santa, and for my J to get home!

Thankful, Thanksgiving

I am here in Alaska for Thanksgiving, my Momba is such a spoiler and surprised my boys and me with plane tickets to spend this wonderful holiday with her. Wow! We are loving it!
Tomorrow is the big day, its late, and I've just finished surfing the web and emailing my man when I thought I should say Happy Thanksgiving and jot down a quick list of what I'm thankful for. Here is a small list, there is a multitude of things I am ever so grateful for, but for now this will have to do!

I am so thankful for my husband and the hard work he does for us and the love he gives. I am thankful for my boys and all the love and joy they bring to my life. I am thankful that my needs are always met. I am thankful for my Heavenly Father and my Savior. I am thankful for my families and friends that enrich my life and bring me such happiness. I am thankful for this life and all that I have.

Oh, and I have to say I'm thankful for humor, without it life would just be a bowl of mush!:

I can't hardly believe it...

So I've wanted a laptop for a long time. My Momba got me one a few years ago, but I wasn't able to get it to do the things I needed for school. Its a cute little computer that will be R's for playing PC games and learning how to type, and for him to write stories and keep a journal.
So, since I earned my AAPE and then enrolled in with a bachelors program I thought I deserved a new laptop with all the trimmings.
Well, I shopped around and I picked out a Dell Studio 17. I mean, this thing is so rockin' awesome I just can't believe it! I got a discount for signing on as a member to Dell's website, then I got another discount for using my student ID, and I got free shipping, pretty sweet huh?!
It came yesterday, its a grey swirly design with a pink trim. My friend M's son said, 'Is that pink, why?!' I told him I was a girl and I earned it!
Another sweet deal was I got Microsoft ultimate office for 91% off from U of Phoenix online and I downloaded that onto this computer yesterday too.
So now I can be anywhere I need to be to do my homework (or blog, or email!) I no longer have to be stuck in the computer room! I'm looking forward to those assignments I will have out in the living room/dining room/or sitting on my bed.

Wow, been a while!

So...I'm a slacker lately with this blog! But I have been loving my college vacation!!!

So here's the quick update:

-J is deployed

-Our best friends from NY just transferred here and are staying w/us

-I ordered myself a Dell laptop which should get here in a few days

-R, L, and I leave for AK this weekend for Thanksgiving

-I signed up with Kaplan University for a bachelors in Psychology with an emphasis on child development and I start in January (Not quite the 4 month break I planned, but I'm excited to go back!)

-Both boys are signed up for basketball and practice starts next month with games in Jan

Life is rockin' and busy and we are loving every minute!

Boo!

Comments & Myspace layouts

The plan is that R will be Harry Potter (3rd times a charm!) and L will be a Ninja Turtle like last year! Can't wait to dig through their candy and eat all the good chocolate!

The Results...

Well, I put in a ton of effort into one final (Education), and less into the other one (Communication). So I assumed that I'd get great results out of the one, and a bit less out of the other...

The one I put less time into I got 100% (pretty cool!) and the other... I got 167pts/210pts...OUCH! I thought I'd done so great...But that's OK because I still got 91.8% for my overall grade in that class, and in my other a 97%!

So that's 19 A's and 1 B that I've gotten for my 20 classes!

And, I'm LOVING my vacation right now!!

That's right, I did it!

Oh-Yeah, I did it!!! I finished my paper, my finals are all turned in, all my assignments are done, I'm ALL DONE!!!

Hellllooooo 4 months of freedom!

I can also say that I have a college degree!

It's a Great moment right now...

These are the classes I have completed (in order), each one was 9 weeks long and worth 3 credits, I took 2 classes at at time (90 weeks of school!):

SKILLS FOR LEARNING IN AN INFORMATION AGE
EFFECTIVE PERSUASIVE WRITING
CRITICAL THINKING
UTILIZING INFORMATION IN COLLEGE WRITING
WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
CULTURAL DIVERSITY
WORLD LITERATURE
NUTRITIONAL SCIENCE
CRIMINOLOGY
BASIC MATHEMATICS
INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY: WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN AMERICAN EDUCATION

TEACHING AS A PROFESSION
ALGEBRA 1A
CHILD DEVELOPMENT
THE BRAIN, THE BODY, AND THE MIND: ALL TOGETHER NOW
CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION
INTRODUCTION TO BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE
DIVERSITY IN THE CLASSROOM
COMMUNICATION PROCESSES: YOU'RE A FINE ONE TO TALK

These all add up to an AA in Paraprofessional Education.

Now after these next 4 months of bliss I will start my bachelors in....?...Not sure yet!

I like that...

I'm on the last paper of my school year, and I'm full of rolling my eyes and heavy sighs since I just wish I was done already when...I got a nice little boost...I just recieved feedback for the essay I wrote about At-Risk students (I chose pregnant teens) on Sunday.

My professor told me, and I quote, "BRAVO...This is a beautiful paper...a FABULOUS assignment!"

I just love getting input like this for work I've done!

Now if I would hear, "Superb laundry folding! Exquisite dinner! Outstanding vacuuming!"

I think I'd just shine under that kind of praise and my work ethics would at least double in effort.

But don't get me wrong, I know my family backs me up a lot. Just last night J told me he thought I was just amazing and that I was doing a terrific job. Talk about a keeper! And all those snuggles and exclamations of 'I love you Mom!' from those boys sure don't hurt, I love those kiddo's! Also all the support from my friends sure help out too!

OK, reading this post shows me that I am a bit spoiled and a whole lotta loved!

So this is my Friday Favorites this week...Feeling special and loved from the praise of those around me.

Crack-Up!

What goes: Cruack?

An egg slipping out of R's fingers and falling to the floor...

So then what goes: Crack-splat-crunch-crack-plop-drick-crack-splut-plop-crunch-crack-clack-slach-scrack-crunch-crack-platt-crack?

A carton of 18 eggs slipping open from R's fingers and falling to the floor!

"I have the worst luck!" was his reply to the egg massacre...

No worries, we still had 2 eggs to make a pumpkin pie for dessert, and it turned out great!

Almost there!

I finished all my work for this week! It feels so good to have it all turned in so far! Now its just 2 capstone questions and the Finals for classes CMC and AED...and I have already started bits of my AED final...whew, so it's like 1.5 projects instead of 2!

The Time Has Come...

Well, it's time to 'batten down the hatches'. I have very mixed feelings about what I will be doing the next few days, terror, excitement, relief, anticipation, boredom, dread, fatigue...It's Finals time!

But the AWESOME news is, it's my last week of Finals for my Associates degree!!! If all goes well and I pass then I will have my Associates in Paraprofessional Education!
So can't wait til the end of next week! Then I'm taking 4 months off, 4 blessed months of just being a Mom and that's it! It's like all the major holidays all rolled into one!

But, the end of next week isn't here yet..

Before I tackle finals I have to complete:

-A 250 word check point of planning meetings.
-A 9 slide PowerPoint presentation on chairing committees
-A list of key signs that identify at risk students with a 150 word explanation of what to do
-And this assignment I'm not looking forward to:

-Creating an At-Risk Program, Due in Week Eight
· Paper is 1,050 to 1,400 words in length.
· Paper addresses what part of the at-risk population the program will serve.
· Paper addresses how students will be identified for the program.
· Paper addresses how the program will address the needs of the students.
· Paper identifies additional social resources available in the community that can be utilized for greater success.
· Paper identifies the potential positive impacts for the district, students, and community.
· Paper summarizes the necessary steps for implementing the program.
The content is comprehensive, accurate, and persuasive.
The paper develops a central theme or idea, directed toward the appropriate audience.
· Paper presents information with the local school board in mind.
The paper links theory to relevant examples and uses the vocabulary related to the at-risk student correctly.
· Paper uses and references three resources other than the text.


Once those are done I get to do these...

My Finals are:

AED 205 - For the final project, you create a plan for addressing the needs and issues in a multicultural classroom to add to your portfolio. Assume that the cultural make up of your classroom includes at least five different ethnic and religious groups. You must address how and why you would plan to create an atmosphere of tolerance, acceptance, and caring in your classroom environment. Your plan must include a comprehensive discussion of the issues covered in this course that are most applicable to your geographic area.

In addition, you must describe a plan for a culturally balanced bulletin board that could be used in your class to focus on either a traditional Western holiday or a multicultural celebration at your school. You may also include clip art to illustrate your plans.

This paper should be 1,050 to 1,400 words and posted as an attachment to the Individual forum. It must follow APA guidelines for format and style.

CMC 230 - The final project for CMC 230 is 1,500- to 1,750-word analysis of a face-to-face persuasive presentation to high school students, which either promotes online college programs over ground classes or vice versa. In addition to a bulleted list of talking points, your analysis will explain how you (the presenter) will:
· Justify a face-to-face presentation as an effective channel of delivery for this topic
· Establish rapport and utilize feedback
· Clarify purpose
· Analyze the audience
· Accommodate cultural factors
· Organize the main points
· Use support for the main points
· Design your appearance
· Use desirable nonverbal behaviors
· Eliminate unwanted nonverbal behaviors
· Incorporate strategies to promote active listening
· Respond to hostile heckling
· Respond to a questioner who monopolizes the floor
· Respond to people in the audience arguing with each other

Here I go...

Hot Off the Press!

Just like, THE best weekend!

We had a great weekend!

Here is J playing Monopoly Jr. w/R & L, and the evidence that its now cocoa season!






L's team won 11 to 4, way to go Bulldogs!



My Big Bro and his family came over for canning, cooking, shooting, bike riding!

Here's J's homemade targets!

Here's D After a wreck, getting right back on, wow!

Here's cool B who shared his bike all weekend w/R!

R getting over his fear of dirt bikes and having the time of his life!

My cool Big Bro!

And they had some old family pics they got from our Grandpa T last weekend that I scanned, priceless memorabilia...
Here's me and my family, My Momba, My Dad, My Big Bro, and My Lil Sis.
My Big Bro S

Me, Bonster

My Cutie Sis J


Here are pics of my Dad (he passed away in 1990)

I just love weekends like this!