Christmas at Nanna's

My mom decided to have Christmas this year on Saturday, December 27 at 1:00 PM, so if we wanted to do anything later on we could. She even nice enough to decide to keep the boys over night, which was exciting for me. Once the party is over I don't have to worry about feeding them dinner, giving them a bath, putting them bed even thought they insist that they're not tried, because they want to keep playing with their new toys. Instead, I get to enjoy my evening...I get to go home and relax, watch an R-rated movie if I want, have a beer or glass of wine (oh hack, why not both), and stay up as late as I want without having to worry about getting up in a couple of hours to start the next day all over again at 6:00 AM in the morning, because I get to sleep in. That's something that has not happened since the Jon was born.

So I'm suppose to be at my mom's by 1:00 PM and I haven't even left KayC's house, which by the way we are stay at until Sunday night. At 1:15 PM, my sister calls, but I miss the call because I'm getting the car packed and the coats & hats on the boys, which they do not even need on, because it's 62 degrees out. Yeah, I know, WARM! By 1:30 PM, I have got the boys in the car and backing out of the drive way when I noticed I had a missed call. So I call Laura and tell her to cool her jets, it's not the easiest thing to wrangle two boys ages 3 & 1, especially when they haven't had naps.

We finally made it to my mom's house which is only 15 minutes away in the next town over. While I'm getting everything into the house, my mom asked, "Where are the boys?" Are you kidding me...where does she think they are if they're not in the house already. Like I would have left them at KayC's to miss out on the fun of unwrapping Christmas presents or give up my night of freedom...she joking right? They were out on the car still because they haven't had naps and they fell asleep on the way over.

The boys had fun unwrapping their gifts, but I can't say the same for their cousin Hailey. She was getting more and more upset with every gift she opened because they weren't "The Little Pet Shop: DOGS" and she had told Santa that, that is what she wanted. How every disappointing at 3 years old. But after all the toys were unwrapped and surgically removed from the all the packaging, that you need a doctorates degree for the kids started playing with there new toys and soon forgot what they didn't get.

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Build-A-Bear

My mother-in-law, KayC, has a tradition that when her grandchild turns three or about three, she takes them to Build-A-Bear. Well this year Alex turned three and my niece, Ayla, will be turning three in about 4 months. KayC wanted to take them together and pick out their bear, but I didn't want Ayla to influence Alex about his decision.

We are talking about a two hours nightmare!

Alex didn't get it at first. He didn't want the unstuffed animal, he wanted the display one, so I took him to the front of the line to show him what was going on.

Then he needed to pick out his bear or animal....at first he has a glittery teal fru-fru bear, which I convinced to put back, with a cute pengin. After about 5 minutes he put that back and grabbed a husky dog, which was also cute, but I still like the pengin. Then about 5 mintues later he but that back and grabbed the clearence turkey from Thanksgiving...OMG! That turkey was butt ugly. Finally, we convinced him to put that back and he picked out an elephant, which is cute and boyish.

Everyone keeps asking me if I put a voice box in it, but I decided to skip that, just I can wash him without having to worry about ruining it.

On to the heart and stuffing him, he really liked warming up the heart and giving it a kiss.

Now time to pick out an outfit...OMG again. I know that this is where the bear starts to get expensive, so I tried to tell him to keep it simple. First problem is they didn't have a whole lot to choose from to make a boy, and half of the boy selection was ugly, so that left us with about 3 outfits. Well he finally picked out an outfit and it was the ugliest one. I showed him a karate robe with all the belts, with was cute and thought he might like it, since he is really into Kung Fu Panda, but not a big hit. So we decided to just keep the outfit that Alex had picked out, since it is his choose and all. Then we get closer the the checkout and he see the PJs, and he changed his mind again, but at least the pjs he picked out were cute.

Almost done and now we have to name him. Well you have to go thought several screen prompts, and then save & print. Well once we got there Alex was started to get impatience and started touching all the buttons on the key board and before I realize what he is doing, he has exited us out the whole thing and we had to start all over. After going through the prompts again we are all done.

Alfie the Elephant has now been born!

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Merry Christmas

We did not have Christmas at our house, we decided to go the Andy's parents' house for Christmas. We came over Christmas Eve and Alex set out cookies for Santa....which later on that night when no one was around the dogs knocked them down and ate them...bummer!

I thought that maybe since the boys went to sleep so late on Christmas Eve that they might sleep in on Christmas morning. WRONG! Our dog, Buddha, heard Andy's dad, Bert, get up and wanted to go down stairs at 5:00 AM, so naturally Buddha started to whine and wimper, which is so pathetic after about an hour. So at about 6:00 AM we let him out the room to go downstairs. But when we did this the other two dogs, Apollo and Baci, started to bark out of pure excitement, which once they start barking good lucky trying to get them to shut up. So about fifteen minutes later the boys were awake and fortunately I was able to get them to go back to sleep for about another hour.

Now that the boys are up, we took them down stairs and Alex couldn't believe how many presents that Santa left him. With him being three years old he thought that all the presents came from Santa, he didn't make the connection that Mom and Dad got him gift anf so did Grandma and Grandpa. Jon on the other hand just doesn't understand it yet, since he is only one.

We let them get theie stockings down from the fireplace first, then ate breakfast and relaxed for a little bit, and then opened up presents. They had fun and that's what matters the most.

Now comes the hard part....taking all the toys out of the boxes and packaging.

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It's Starting To Look A Lot Like Christmas.....

I almost was starting to feel like a hypocrite because couldn't find the hooks for the ornaments and thought that I might have to go out and buy some, but I thought really quick and decided that have left over ribbon from the boys' birthday party, I'll just use that.

Well....that wasn't going too great...the little, ity-bity, teeny-tiny, loops on the back of the ornaments was proving harder to thread the ribbon through, than I originally pictured....I thought I was going to have to get out my sewing needle and thread...which I didn't want to do, so after the first one I did, I stopped and I went looking for those hooks that I know that I have.

After going through every box that we have with Christmas ornaments, I finally came across the last one, which, wouldn't you know it, there's the hooks. So I began hanging the ornaments, when I realized that I needed to still hang 7 more, but there were no more hooks. I thought, "This is ridiculous...I'm not going to buy a package of hooks, that probably only cost $0.97, for seven ornaments!" I thought about it for a couple of minutes and came to the conclusion that I'll just take them all down and cut the hooks in half, which worked.

The tree is finally all done....

Getting Ready for Christmas

Well we have the Christmas tree set up now...Alex helped me last night.

Ok...ok...ok...we just bought a red 4 foot, pre-lit tree from Wal-Mart, which all you had to do was put the base together. I know what you're thinking...."What are you doing with a red tree?"...well that's a good question.

Earlier this year I bought a bunch of ordaments at a garage sale, which are all Star Wars. So, I promised Andy on Father's Day that we would have a Star Wars themed Christmas tree this year.







We got all the ordaments out of the boxes and then realized that they all need hooks, so I now need to dig out the rest of the decorations, just so I have to buy more. (I don't see a point in buying hooks if I know that I already have some.)

Realizing how much more interesting I could be

The items in dark blue are ones I’ve done...some not so great.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (if the cruise to Catalina counts)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check (not on purpose though)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

I now realize that I could be doing a lot more with my life!

Im Over My Head - The Big Day

The boys had a great time at their birthday party! Since, it wasn't until 4 p.m. I spent the whole cleaning the rest of the house, that I was suppose to do Friday night. And because of my procrastination i wasn't able the meet with Mary and her kids at the mall, since they were in town for the day.

(If you can look past the people and into the dining room you can see the decorations that I hung up and the two giant dinosaur balloons

The boys took a nap starting at about 1 p.m. (I wanted them to be well rested for the party). While they were napping I went to go pick up the balloons, cake, and some snack food, which because it was snowing out, it took me about 1 1/2 hours. I bought some dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets made by Tyson, but I never got to cook them, because I forgot and there were only two other kids who showed up. So I just put out some fruit for the guess and got them drinks as needed.

Then once everyone was at the party we put the candles on the cake and pigged out on it. Alex and Jon both got their own cake. I thought that was only fair, since I was combining their party together. Thanks to Wal-Mart for decorating them plus a free cupcake, since Jon was turning one, but the dinosaurs on the cake I bought at Toy's R US.


Alex only ate the frosting off the cake, but Jon fully enjoyed his cupcake. Once I got him all cleaned up, we moved all the presents to the living room for the boys to open. I put Andy in charge of taking pictures. The boys got a lot of presents, now I feel like we don't have to open presents on Christmas Day, but I'm not a mean mom like that.

After all present were unwrappped, the kids played for awhile, and one by one the guess started to leave.

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Sesame Street Live

On Friday Alex didn't go to the babysitter, instead Andy and me took him to go see Sesame Street Live: Elmo's Green Thumb.


Alex had so much fun, but towards the end he was getting tired of sitting still, he wanted to get up and dance and play.

Since the show wasn't until 10:30 a.m. Andy was hungry when we got there, so he got some food from the concession stand, which I'm sure cost a lot of money. Speaking of a lot of money, we wanted to let Alex get a souvenir, but that was all over priced as well.

Program = $8.oo
Small 6 inch soccer ball = $12.00
8 inch doll = $15.00
6 pack of figures = $25.00

See what I mean. Exxxpensive! I told Andy that he don't need anything, because he has so much Sesame Street stuff at home, especially ELMO.

In Over My Head - Progress Day 3, 4, & 5

Once again not doing so well...

I still need to clean both bathrooms, and pick up the toy room.

I did get the decorations up and their presents wrapped, which are semi-earth friendly. What I do is reuse a shoe box and put pretty wrapping paper on the outside of it, I do this with the bottom and lid, so all you have to do is lift off the lid. To keep the shoe box from being open too early, I tie ribbon around it, which is also use to help attach the name tag. So as long as the paper isn't ripped by the over excited birthday boy, you can reuse the box for next time. (NOTE: Use nice and strudy wrapping paper, because the cheap stuff 1)rips too easily and 2) it has a tendency to fade or get the yellow tinge to the paper. Also make sure to use good tape that will hold on good.) This year will be the second year that i'll be using my wrapped shoebox. This is a lot better than throwing the ripped wrapping paper away, but when the box looks like it's had better days, then you can place it in the recycling bin.

In Over My Head - Progress Day 1 & 2

Ok, on Monday night I didn't get the kitchen cleaned, but I did get a load of dishes in the washer, which is step one to a clean kitchen.

So, last night I scrubbed the kitchen from top to bottom. Another load of dishes, clean stove top, clean counters, and sweep floor. I also got the dining room table cleared off for the most part. There is only a couple things left on it, and one item is suppose to be there to begin with and that's the wire rack used to hold fruit, if I had any. Right now it's holding camera & cell phone accessories, bills, and receipts.

Tonight I will tackle the bathrooms and Thursday night I'll get to the living room and toy room. Honestly, the toy room is probably the easiest to do, because it's just putting them away and collecting the stuff in buckets. I just don't do that, because 1) Alex knows how to put the toys away (Jon's too small yet) and 2) why put toys away when they're just going to be back out the next day and the day after that and so on. I just don't see the point sometimes. But then again, it might be easier if we had the right tools for putting the toys away, such as some kind of storage system. What we have right now is not big enough anymore. And the sad thing about this, is that on Saturday the boys will be getting even more toys. Which I have told everyone that they don't need any more toys, but like they're going to listen to me. I don't even listen to me. I said I was going to buy them a toy box and instead bought them toys. Go Figure!

Alex Learning to Count on Fingers

I was counting on my finger to see old Jon was back in August and here's Alex sitting next to me counting too....

1: No pushing...
2: No pushing...
3: No running...
4: No pushing...
5: No running...

In Over My Head

There are five days left until Saturday, December 6, 2008. You ask what is so special about that day??? Absolutely nothing, but I decided over a month ago to have the boys birthday party on that day...one week after Jon turned the BIG 1 and one week before Alex turns 3.

My problem??? My house is a disaster! I have been neglecting it for about a week now. Usually I do the dishes on Saturdays, but if I don't they can sometimes sit there until Monday or Tuesday night, which isn't a pretty picture. Just see for yourself.

This was taken about 20 minutes ago, just so that it would be up to date, but please keep in mind that I did make dinner on the stove.

Yes, I know that my kitchen is small. The dishes aren't the hard part...it's finding a home for everything on the counter where the microwave is. Much of it is paper, either from daycare, the mail, or my little grocery notes, which I always lose. ( I wonder way?) Well kitchen won't be so hard...just stick the dishes in the dishwasher, pay the bills, and the rest of the paper can go in the recycling box.

Onto the dinner room, which is where everyone will be for the food.

OMG!

I don't even know where to start here. The coats, hats, mittens, scarfs...they can all go in the coat closet. When I don't know where to put something it goes onto the kitchen table, until I can find a spot, but that never happens. I'll set it ont he counter top in the kitchen and deal with it last, but when I get to it, I out it back onto the table and say to myself, "Well, at least it's on the corner of the table and taking up a lot of space anymore." And then we start all over. We can't even have a family meal together, because there is no where for Andy to sit down. I bet you I could put everything on that table into a box and throw it away and I'd never know what I did or didn't get rid of.

The Living Room

Pillows go on the couches, but they only stay there for about 10 minutes, and then they are back on the floor for a crash pad. Toys just need to go in the toy room and the clothes in the laundry basket just need put away. But the desk does need some cleaning up. Everthing is piling up it and never getting to where it really needs to go.

And then the...

Toy Room

For those of you who don't know... The toy room was formly the master bedroom. We decided to give it up for the front bedroom on the other side of the house, this way the living room wouldn't have toys laying all over the floor. (Yeah....it's working great!).

I want this room picked up, so that the kids coming over for the birthday party can have a room to play in while eveything is being setup in the dining room.

I think that I have it figured out. I can tackle one room a night after work, which would also have to include to bathrooms and their bedroom. Since the living room isn't that bad, I can do that and the toy room in the same night.

So now it's time to get busy!