Black Friday Shopping Weekend!

The Allred Girls wanted me to join them at 2am and start the shopping craziness...but I passed for an extra couple of hours of sleep. I started my craziness at midnight and bought the "Santa" present online for the kids. Which I am very excited about too!!!! Then I slept for a couple of hours and got up at 4:45 am and headed to Walmart with my friend, Michelle. It was crazy. It felt busier this year than last. I got everything I wanted except for a few small items.

I got a new computer...since ours is "outdated." I got toys, games, frames, griddle, towels, bike, etc...it was a successful trip. Worth waking up early for. We then went to Breakfast before heading home. It was fun!

I did have a massive headache all day Friday though...so I took a nice long nap. It helped a lot! All the deals were worth the pain!

Then Saturday..I went shopping with my friend, Kathy. We headed to Santa Rosa and hit the mall. It was a lot of fun. We took our time and enjoyed ourselves. I got some really cute tops at Forever 21 and really comfortable sweat pants at Aeropostle. We had lunch and then got frozen yogurt before heading home. It was a really fun day. I love to shop when it is relaxing and worry free! Thanks Eric for being so supportive!!! I did find two really nice shirts for Eric for Christmas..he wanted them early though and he loved them!

Christmas Shopping is done! I got some of the wrapping done...still have more to do!

Next on my list to do...Our Christmas Card!!!

Deck the Halls!

We Decked our Halls!!!

I love decorating for Christmas! Easton has been asking for a couple of weeks if we could decorate the Christmas Tree. So last Monday, we did it! I bought a fake nice tree from Home Depot last year at 75% off. And I am so happy with it. It looks pretty real to me!

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Easton putting on the first decoration!

Brooklyn so happy to help!

Brooklyn and Hannah (Her friend that I babysit) decorating!

Putting on the final piece...THE STAR!

Brooklyn did a great job taking the photos!

Our Tree! It looks so pretty all lit up. I love the red/silver combo. I love to decorate my tree very simple. I do have one tradition..that is adding a photo frame ordinment every year with a picture of our Christmas picture. It is fun to see all the different years on the tree. This picture doesn't do the tree justice...it looks so much better in real life!

A few other cute decorations.

The stocking are hung and ready for the Santa!!!

It was so fun decorating the tree and listening to Christmas Music! I love this time of year!!!!

The Count Down begins Tomorrow! The kids can't wait for Christmas!!!!

Thanksgiving Day!

Our Thanksgiving day...

We did a few things around the house and then headed to Erics work to clean. I know so exciting on Thanksgiving. Then we came home and got ready to go over to the Allred's for dinner. The Allreds are in our Ward and are so good to us. We weren't going to cook Thansgiving Dinner ourselves...the past years has been a bust/waste of time. So it was nice that they invited us to join their family feast! They had a crowd of 26! Lots of little kids for Brooklyn and Easton to play with.

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We made a balloon/turkey with the kids and then had dinner. It was so yummy!

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Then after dinner (while the guys did the dishes) the girls went into the garage did a few crafts. I loved it. I love crafts!!!!! This is what we made. So cute!!!!

We then of course had Pie and visited for a while.
It was a nice Thanksgiving...A BIG THANKS TO THE ALLREDS!!!!

Easton's Thankful List

Easton's Thankful for...

"Nothing...I am only excited for Christmas..only nothing else."

There you have it...out of the mouth of Easton!
Does Santa come to children who aren't thankful????

Happy Turkey Day!

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!!!

Memories from our 2006 Thanksgiving...


I am Thankful for:

My Husband

My Brooklyn

My Easton

My Parents

Erics Parents

Our Families

My house

My jobs

My YW Calling

Yummy Food

All my wonderful Friends

The Internet


Movies


My Shows


My healthy body


My warm bed


Vechicles that work


Wonderful Teachers


The Sun


Eric's Job


So Many things to be Thankful for...


I AM THANKFUL!!!!

My life is back...

A little life update...

I have been soooo busy for the last couple of weeks.

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My parents visited..My mom stayed a week...

it was fun but I was so busy at the same time. My mom was a trooper!

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Last Soccer games and party!

This season went by so fast. Easton loved it...once he understood how to play!

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Had the "opportunity" to give a talk

(that was a relief when that was done..not my favorite thing to do)

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Had a colonoscopy

I know I am young..had to check something out..all good through!

The worst part was drinking the 4 Liters of disgusting stuff and

then getting pocked 4 times by the "student" nurse and I have HUGE veins...

never have I been pocked more than once in my whole life.

My arm is still black and blue!

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"New Moon" Girls Night

It was a cute movie...ending left me in ????

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YW Evening of Excellence last night!

We put on the "Emma" Awards. We went all out!

Spend hours and hours doing prep making decorations, desserts, and videos!

Four out of my five girls received their recognition awards!

It was worth all the extra time and effort! It was a fabulous evening.

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And of course.. my cleaning jobs! I am always busy doing something!

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No School this week...I am already going in insane!

I don't' know how many times I have told Brooklyn to clean

her room this morning...will she ever obey?

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Next things on the list...

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Design Christmas Cards for Me, My Mom, Jamie, & Eric's Work

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Setting up the Christmas Decorations

(Easton asks everyday if we can set up the tree)

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Eating Thanksgiving Dinner at our friends, The Allred's!

Yummy, Can't wait! Finally a normal Thanksgiving Dinner after 3 years of ???

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Christmas Shopping on Black Friday!

Still haven't decided what Santa is bringing!

Soccer Party!

Easton had his soccer party last month. He enjoyed soccer for the most part...once he understood what to do! His party was at the frozen yogurt shop. He was excited to get his trophy! Good Job, Easton!

Easton loves the spinning soccer ball!
Next up...Tee-Ball!

I'm Ready...are you???

Isn't that awesome???
This Friday...6:45pm...I will be watching "New Moon!"

So excited!

My friend, Michelle helped me make this awesome t-shirt today.

I am so ready!
I must admit...Edward is good lookin!!!

A day in San Fran!

My parents came into town to visit. My dad stayed for the weekend and my Mom stayed for a week. It was a really nice visit. Eric took Friday off and we drove to San Fransisco for the day. And just my luck...it rained most of the day! We stopped for some delicious frozen yogurt on the way there. So yummy!

My parents and I went to Alcatraz! Eric had already seen it so he took the kids to the Exploritorium for the afternoon. Besides the rain...Alcatraz was fabulous. I am not a history buff...so usually I just do a quick walk through and I am done. But Alcatraz has this audio tour that guides you and has sound effects and real voices of some of the prisoners. It was very interesting. Well done and well worth the drive down to the "City" (That is what everyone calls it around here). On the way back on the fairy...the fog started to clear and we could actually see San Francisco. It was really beautiful! We do get to see some beautiful fog days here in Cali!


After the trip to Alcatraz...we had dinner at a crab/fish restaurant...and if you know me...that was not my choice. The whole menu had two items that weren't seafoody! I decided to pick the chicken strips...you can't go wrong with chicken strips and ranch. Well there you can...they fry them in the fish oil...they stunk and didn't taste good at all. Oh well...Eric loved his whole crab!


Then we drove to china town but because it was dark..we decided not to walk around. So instead we drove down Lombard Street....America's Crookedest Street. It was fun driving down.

We ended the night with another stop at the Frozen Yogurt Shop (Our friends just opened it).

It was a fun, cold, interesting day in San Fran!

The rest of their visit:

Saturday Eric and my dad spent the day golfing.

My mom and I met them for lunch at the Thai Restaurant.

Sunday the kids had their primary program.

They were fabulous singers...we could hear both of them very well!!!

This past week...my mom and had did a little Christmas shopping, I got my hair redone, my nails done, doctor appointment done, lunch bunch with the girls, and a date with my hubby.

We drove her to the airport yesterday and stopped by Ikea...love that store!

Thanks Mom for watching the kids so much for us!

Thanks for visiting...we loved it!

Candy Problem Solved!

I decided today that I really needed to get the candy out of the house! I keep eating it!!!! Candy is a very bad weakness for me. So thanks to my friend, Angie's advice....I had the kids "sell" their candy to me. I paid them $.10 per piece. I let them keep 10 or so to eat. This is how they came out....

Easton made $8.00

Brooklyn made $9.00

I am taking them to Walmart tonight to spend their money!

Now..what do I do with the candy???

I am going to take some to YW's tonight and give it to the girls.

And then maybe to Eric's work...we will see.

I just have to get rid of it...I have already had way tooo much!

I have had way more than the kids!

Oh boy...

My little 4 year old, Devil...turned on the van today. I was in the kitchen and suddenly heard the engine turn on...I was so scared he would put it in gear. I made a scream noise and ran downstairs. He turned it off and jumped into the back seat. He tried to blame his sister but I didn't see her jump from the drivers seat to the back. I hope he doesn't do it again!!!! He is a smarty pants. I guess I can't leave the keys in the van anymore.

I am so glad no one or nothing got hurt/damaged. My crazy life with my crazy smart kids!

Halloween Night!!!!

Halloween was just too much fun! We just hung out all day waiting for the big night to come. We decorated the house and then I left with the kids trick or treating around the neighborhood. To my disappointment most houses were "dark"...come on people! But as you can tell...the kids still got lots and lots of candy. We went around with a bunch of friends and it was a lot of fun. Brooklyn was so tired from all the walking!

Too much to even fit in the bucket!

But look at that happy face! Candy always makes kids smile!!!

Our spooky house!

Doesn't our house look like the "Monster House" from that movie.

The top windows are the eyes...scary!!!

Eric stayed home with his friend, Steve and handled out candy. He said some people won't even come up because they were scared. (I didn't think it was that scary) We had scary music playing, flashing red light, "Sheriff's Do Not Cross" tape everywhere and then Eric used the black box again. But instead of spraying them with silly string, Eric had brains (spaghetti) with the candy. They said some of the kids would put the spaghetti in their bags..nice surprise when they get home. They loved scaring the teenage girls by grabbing their hands...they screamed like girls!

The kids and their costumes.

By the end of the night I was wearing Brooklyn's crown,

Easton's cape, holding both of their sweaters, and their heavy candy bags!

Jessica, Brooklyn and Hannah.

All Pretty Princesses!

They went to a Girls Scout Party last week and they had a great time!

Girls love to Dress Up!

Ward Halloween Party!

Friday was our BIG Ward Halloween Party!

The primary put sooo much work into it. It was great!

I helped decorate for a couple of hours.

It was fun! Halloween time is fun to me!

Potluck, costume parade, pie eating contest, carnival games, prizes and then the famous trunk or treat!

Easton was BATMAN!

Brooklyn was a PRETTY FAIRY!

Brooklyn and Jessica!

The Kids loved the carnival games!
Easton made it on his first throw!

Pin the eye ball on the skeleton!

TRUNK OR TREAT!

Eric did a great job decorating the van.

As you can tell...most of the kids were at our van. (No offense to the other 3 vehicles who participated...I was disappointed that others didn't hand out candy)

Eric had a flashing red light on top of van and then a black box inside. The kids had to put their hand inside the box to get the candy...and then Eric would either grab their hand and scare them or through another little hole he would spray them with silly string. It was so funny. I couldn't believe how many kids were scared to put their hand in the hole. It was a hit!!!!

It was a great night!

Lots of fun, games, food, and good friends to hang out with!

And I did dress up by the way! I was a 50's girl with my homemade poodle skirt. It was fun! No pictures...because of course I was the one taking all the photos! Next year...we will do something really fun and cute!!!! Can't wait!

Brooklyn's School Halloween Celebration!

Brooklyn had a big day celebrating Halloween at school on Friday! They started it off with a Halloween performance that her class does for the other students in the school. They sang songs, recited poems and riddles. Mrs. Addis is a wonderful, fun teacher! Brooklyn loves her!

Don't they make cute skeletons?

Reciting "Skeleton Parade" by Jack Prelutsky

The skeletons are out tonight,

They march about the streets.

With bony bodies, bony heads

And bony hands and feet.

Bony, Bony, Bony bones,

With nothing in between,

Up and down and all around

They march on Halloween.

The cats! Reciting "Could be Halloween" by Judith Kinter

Yowling, prowling, growling cat,

Why do you switch your tail like that?

Why do your eyes flash gold and green?

Could be---must be Halloween.

Slinky, inky, blinky cat.

Why do you arch your back like that?

What scary creatures have you seen?

Must be---Could be Halloween.

"switching" their tails.

Brooklyn and Sophia doing a riddle.

Face so round, eyes so bright,
nose that glows, My what a sight,
firing mouth with a scary grin,
no arms, no legs, just head to chin!

What is it???
Did you get it?...Jack-0-lantern!

Her class singing..."Halloween" to the tune of BINGO.

A funny night comes once a year,
it is Halloween-O
H-A-L-L-O-W-E-E-N, H-A-L-L-O-W-E-E-N-, H-A-L-L-O-W-E-E-N
and it is Halloween-O!!!!!

It was a super cute performance!!!!

Then in the afternoon, all the kids in the school put on a Parade to show off their costumes.
Brooklyn was a princess..she picked out her costume.
I love her expression in this picture..such a girl!

Easton and his friend Avery, "wrestling"