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!