Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

Some girlfriends and I get together every year and make LOADS of candies for our christmas season.  Here is a sampling of part of what we put together this year.  It's a nice excuse to get to spend time with some wonderful ladies and eat a little chocolate too - what could be better?

Another Nutcracker

Every year the kids get to go to the nutcracker performance with their grandparents.  They were particularly lucky this year because BOTH sets of grandparents were in town so they got to go with all FOUR of them!

Another Snapshot in My Brain

Dear future me,
While the kids are driving you crazy and not listening and being, well, BRATS, remember that there have been times (although it may be hard to remember right now) when they have been sweet and quiet and darling and that you wanted to keep them...

This was one of those moments.  She is SUCH a good big sister to him.

Silly Kids

The kids had some friends over this weekend to play and do crafts.  At one point, I walked into the back yard to find them using my hubby's lumber (intended for a future deck expansion) like they were life-sized Lincoln Logs!  It was such an industrious use of their imaginations that I could bring myself to get mad about it.  Besides, they were having such a good time and agreed to put it all back when they were done.  I'll let you guess who wound up putting it all back over a week later when the snow melted...

Run Forest, RUN!

We took a little trip to Vegas to watch Erika run her half-marathon.  The kids were excited to cheer her on and see Uncle Eddie for a couple of days.  We stayed in a hotel too, which means that jumping on the bed was permitted...

...note to self - Jumping on the bed may result in loss of teeth....

 Congrats to Trevor on losing his second tooth and congrats to Lily for being the one who kicked it out!  In her defense, it was already so loose that it was sticking straight out, but it's a pretty cool story to be able to say you kicked someone's tooth out!

Their First Concert!

A girlfriend and I took the kids to a christian concert this month and there were mixed reviews.  The girls loved it and were up on their seats dancing for a lot of it but the boys...well, it was a little too much noise for them.  To be fair, it WAS really loud, but we were right by the stage!  Either way, it was a good introduction to concerts for them.  There were 12 bands there and the headliners were the NEWSBOYS!!  I didn't get to go to my first concert until I was in high school  What a bunch of lucky kiddos.

Baby H

Our newest little cousin, H, was baptized recently up in Paso Robles and we were able to fly up to see her big day.  We are so excited to get to be part of her welcoming to God's family.  Thanks Aunt B and Uncle M for letting us stay with you while we were visiting.  It was a nice service, at the local mission and we got to visit afterward with lots of family.  It was also neat to see Great-grandma with both of the newest baby girls in the family.  Doesn't she look tickled to get to hold them both?

Colonial Visit

The second graders recently took a trip to Riley's Farm in Cherry Valley.  

There they learned about  colonial life and got to do weaving, make candles, see a blacksmith work, hear about soldiers' lives, play old-time games, take a ettiquite lesson, press

apple cider, and see a perpetual motion machine work.  And at the end of it all they got to get locked up in the stocks and see their teacher in them too!  I need one of those for the house when my little angel is being "uncooperative".  Hmmmm....

Cute Cousins

My daughter is just barely reaching that "I wish I could babysit" stage and is absolutely enamored with her new baby cousin.  She likes to hold him and sing to him and cuddle him and read to him and play with him and do pretty much anything she can think of to make him smile.  To her credit, I do it too.  Who wouldn't with such a chill little happy guy?  He's got us all wrapped around his finger already.

Our Little Tinker

At Great-grandma and Great-grandpa's 60th wedding anniversary party this year our little man got to meet his twin cousins for the first time.  It was instant fun for them, especially when we threw in a tool bench and ATV in need of fixing (okay, so it didn't REALLY need to be fixed, but they're boys, they like to tinker).  They spent HOURS in the garage, pretending to screw, hammer, pry, wrench and rotate anything they could reach.  It was so cute to see them get along so well and a nice break for the mommies and daddies to get to sit and watch as well.

Costume Fun

Happy WHOOloween!

 Our reluctant pumpkin:

 A sasstastic little candy corn fairy:

A Great Day to be a Kingsman

It's always nice to visit our old Alma Mater every year in October to spend some good quality family time together and catch up with old friends.  We didn't get to stay for the carnival this year but it was a nice quick visit all the same.  It's hard to believe that it's been 15 years already.  Where does the time go?

Where's the FIRE?!?!

A great BIG thank you to Nana and Grandpa for gifting our little fireman a visit to the firehouse with his buddies.  They headed over after a hard day of kindergarten.  The experience was so fun for them.  It included trying on the suits, climbing around in the trucks, holding and viewing the tools, a tour of the whole building, sliding down the pole, and even a lunch of (what else for little boys?) HOT DOGS with the firemen!  They all had such a good time.  It was heartwarming for us mommies to see them so tickled to get special one-on-one attention from the firemen.  What a neat experience.

Budding Artists

My kiddos recently got excited about an art competition at their school.  My son participated by submitting an waterpaint piece and my daughter (ever the over-achiever) submitted a choreography piece, photograph and a waterpainting as well.  All four pieces advanced to the next level and we are so excited to hear how they do from here on out.  Here's a shot of his titled "Grandpa's Boat on the Ocean":

 and a shot of hers (Titled "Waterfall in the Woods"):

Up Up and AWAY

Not that I'm a control freak or anything....okay, yes, that's exactly what I am.

I am uncomfortable with situations where I have no "out".  Which is why, recently, when my hubby decided to get his pilot's license and begged me to go up in the plane with him I was...well... let's call it "less than enthusiastic" (read: terrified).  From the moment the plane began to move until it was resting again in it's parking space off of the runway I was experiencing varying stages of anxiety.

Hear me out:
I can drive a car.
In the event the driver of a car I am riding in experiences a malady, I am capable of taking over control of the vehicle and guiding said vehicle to safety along a roadway.
In the event that the vehicle is the one experiencing malady, it is possible for the vehicle to coast completely without engine power, to a stop along the roadway.
This is not possible in a plane.  If the pilot experiences malady - we're screwed.  I can't fly a plane.
If the plane experiences malady - we're screwed.  It can't coast to a stop (have you SEEN our mountains?).
So it's an "all good" or "all bad" situation up there and that alarms me.  Mostly during takeoff and landing because that's when it becomes all real 'up-in-your-face' about it.

That being said, once we are flying I do alright.  The turbulence is a little more noticeable than in a commercial airliner, but the convenience and views make up for that.  Here's some neat shots of our views from the plane:

So all in all, it's not horrible.  I like the time alone with my hubby.  I like the convenience and can appreciate the efficiency.  And if, by some chance, we get a smooth landing and takeoff, I might even get to keep my fingernails....

Baby L

God recently gave a friend of mine her third little angel and I got to go visit her when she was less than a week old!  She was so tiny and perfect.  It reminds me of how amazing it is that we are born equipped with a lifetime's worth of abilities.  It's also a good reminder of of unimportant all of life's other "stuff" can be.  I just love babies.  Especially when I know they have good mommies like this one does.  Isn't she just darling?

The Value of Good Friends

Friends come and go.  It's a fact of life.  It first happens when you switch schools, then at high school graduation, again when you graduate college, and over and over throughout life changes of moving homes and changing jobs.When that original change happens, you may worry about whether the friendship can survive the distances and oftentimes presumptuously are optimistic when it really wasn't warranted.  Some of those friends I never saw again and, if I'm being honest with myself, I probably rarely think of that person and possibly don't even remember their name.

But it's those rare gems that are the true seasoning to life.  Those folks that now spread across the entire west coast for me but may as well live in the next town over.  I have found a good test of the quality of a friendship (on either/both ends) is after being apart.  I can count on two hands the folks that we once spent some very significant time with and now see only on seldom occasions.  These are the folks that when you greet each other it is not uncomfortable.  There are hugs rather than handshakes, smiles rather than silences and you both seem to pick up right where things left off.

I recently added another name to that list and although it pains me to not have that significant time any more, it is a comfort to recognize them as gems rather than feel the loss of change.  I know many of you who read this blog are my gems and I just wanted to remind you how much we miss you all and would love you to come visit.  The mountain is beautiful this time of year and I have a fold out bed waiting for anyone who calls first dibs. XOXO

My Hottie Mom

Here's a photo of my mom and dad, back in the very early 70s (see the fancy TV and cool light?) before they were terrorized by my sister, brother and me.  My mom is just naturally beautiful, don't you think?  She is going through some rough stuff right now.  Getting older is a bitch and it wreaks havoc in your body.  But she will always be this beautiful to me.  I just wanted to post this to remind her that I love her very much and she is on my mind all the time.

Because We are Silly Like That

At the local mall...just being silly.

Down the Rabbit's Hole

On our last trip to Disneyland, my little Alice found herself rocking out to the Mad Hatter's concert until the wee hours of the morning.  We will miss having our annual passes but this certainly was a fitting conclusion to a fun year of visiting Mickey.