Merry Christmas!

As my husband put, we had alot of lows and highs, but in the end we had a wonderfully memorable Christmas.

First the biggest high for me; my brother came from Texas with his family for the holiday. We haven't spend the holiday together in over 18 years. I was SOOOO excited to have them all here.

Christmas Eve: Every year we spend this day with my husbands family. This year we were to travel to my Mother-In-Law's house, which is about 70 miles away. After 3 hours in the car and at one point only moving 2.25 miles in 1 hours and 15 minutes, my husband had had enough, turned the car around and headed home. His family was quite disappointed, but know him well enough to understand. Dressed up with no where to go, we ended up eating dinner at CoCos which believe it or not was really nice; the kids were very pleasant (a Christmas miracle). :) We put the kids to bed (their idea another Christmas miracle), watched the movie, Step Brothers (fringin funny), and set up for Christmas. My husband and I marked this as one of our best Xmas Eves.

Christmas Day: Our morning was awesome! The kids got pretty much everything they REALLY wanted and Mom & Dad got the family a Wii, so the were besides themselves! Talk about some fun ass games, My husband I couldn't get enough of the tennis, golf and bowling. :) Preparing for our dinner guests was stress free, thanks to my Mom. Then just before we were to place the party potatoes in the oven to twice bake and everyone was to arrive, our electricity went out. So we crammed everything into the oven to either warm up or stay warm until we ate. We ended up eating and opening present by candle light; CRAZY! A couple of hours later the lights came back on and the kids enjoyed playing the Wii with their cousins.

A Great Christmas....for sure!!!

It's Beginning To Feel Alot Like Christmas!

For the past week it has been pretty cold here in good old So Cal, in the 5os. Now, I know that people living on the east coast would think we're crazy, but it's FRIGIN COLD to us. :) I love it though. I've been able to wear my sweaters, boots, coats, hats, gloves, etc which I love. The cold weather truly makes it feel like Christmas. In addition to the cold weather, you know Christmas is fast approaching when you feel the crazy crunch begin to squeeze. Last night I made 48 reindeer candy canes for the boy's classmates; they turned out super cute!

This morning I finished crocheting the number 2 of 2 scarves for my boy's teachers. They both turned out so cute I really need to make an effort, after the holidays, of making a couple of scarves for myself. It's funny how everything you make, you give away. :)

Scarf 1 of 2


My Favorite!

Gosh...I love pink!

Now, I'm off to pick up my reorder of Christmas cards and then off to the post office to get them out. I'm hoping I can squeeze in a stop-off at a local store to see if I can find a couple of polo shirts for my Gpa and Hubby before I pick up the boys at 12:30pm. Today is the last day of school which means it's my last day of semi-piece and quiet for 3 weeks. Whoo Hoo...Right on baby!!!

Two Weeks In Review

Holidays ~ Thanksgiving was relaxing this year since I was a guest instead of the host. As predicted, I ate WAY too much. Last Saturday, I had my annual Cookie Exchange party. This party is always a fun get-together. It's the one time of the year when my friends and I get together without the kids and bond. It's a win win situation for everyone, Moms get time away, eat cookies, drink coffee and the family gets a big tray of cookies to munch on for the next week.

Family Fun ~ Thanksgiving weekend our family went away to the desert for a mini vacation. It was an especially exciting trip since my husband has finished his Baja Bug and this trip was to be it's first time out. We had a blast! I love, love, love driving that bug around in the dirt. Look forward to our December trip!!!

Crochet Projects ~ Once I finish decorating the house for the holiday, I have a list I quick crochet projects I plan to complete as X-mas gifts for couple of family members and my two crafty pals. I promise, promise, promise to post pics of my progress.

Exercise Program ~ So, ya, trying to lose weight just before the holidays wasn't the greatest idea. I can't or, more like, I won't allow myself to miss out on all that the holidays have to offer, GREAT FOOD! Although I am doing my best not to over indulge and I've made sure to exercise at least 3 days a week in some way. Of coarse the scale hasn't changed, but I am toning up and I fit better in my clothes so I'm content. I'll save eating low calorie, low fat, bla, bla, bla for January 2009. :)

So Much To Be Thankful For

Every once in a while I WILL complain about my everyday aggravations: my house, children, husband, etc., but I've made an early resolution that I will try not to do that everyday. I have ALOT to be thankful for and need to remind myself of those precious gifts everytime I start to complain. I had this opifony the other day when I took one of my children's playmates home. He lives with his Mom in a bachelorette apartment that was the size of my kitchen. The kitchen and bathroom where the size of a closet and NO she didn't give me a tour, you could see right into each room for the front door. I felt sad for her and her son because they didn't have their own space, a bedroom, to retreat to. I went straight home and thanked my husband for working so hard to give us all that we have.

On a creative note: I've been so obsessed with cleaning house and exercising that I've placed my creative side in the corner. I've got quite a few crochet projects begging for completion, but first I must complete my sister's birthday gifts. I hope I can get it all done before tonight! YIKES!!! No stress; whatever I don't complete, she'll get as a X-mas gift. :) Hope to post some pics of the completed gifts once I'm done and once I figure out how to upload pictures from my new camera.

It's Not Called Bootcamp For Nothing!

On Wednesday I woke up rather groggy compliments of the 3 glasses of chardonnay I drank the night before. I got my husband off to work and then convenienced myself that I didn't need to follow Barry's Bootcamp to the T; only a crazy person would attempt to exercise 6 days in a row. Well that's until I read a blog by More than Muscles which talked about how she held a boot camp in 30 degree weather. So I got my A** up off the couch and completed my exercise program for the day. I then reminded myself that it's not called Barry's BOOTCAMP for nothing! I'm going to have to brake out my checkbook and pay Janis for the motivation she gives me OR maybe I'll just crochet her a little something. Either way I appreciated how much she shares on her blog and look forward to the day when I can complete MAYBE 3 of her exercises listed. :)

Kept Myself Busy

As I lit the candle yesterday and placed it next to her picture, I planned to keep myself busy so my mind would not be able to think about how much I miss her. One year ago yesterday, November 18, 2007, I lost my Grandmother to pancreatic cancer. For those of you who know me, you know just how difficult this loss has been. My Grandmother wasn't just my grandma, she was my best friend. We were two peas in a pod. She was an amazing person! So after a pretty stress free day, I made an awesome salmon dinner and cracked open a bottle of chardonnay. My husband and I along with the kids toasted our Gma and talked about our memories, it was very nice. And since one glass of Chardonnay isn't enough, I went next door to my good friend's house and we toasted her one more time. Then we finished off the bottle; really good stuff. My day turned out so much better then I anticipated and I'm sure I owe that to her. I love you, Gma.

Totally Productive and So Out of Shape!

I'm proud to say that I did exactly what I said I would, well, at least when it came to cleaning house. I was very productive this weekend. I cleaned out the storage closet and kitchen cabinets on Saturday. I cleaned out the kid's closet and organized half of the hallway cabinets on Sunday. Now I just have to finish the hallway cabinets and conquer my closet; Yikes!

On Saturday I made a pot roast in the crockpot which was a HUGE hit with the family. I found the recipe on The Chic Life blog and thought I would try it out. It was super easy to prepare and tasted great! My husband must have commented how good the meal looked 3xs while slicing the meat. In the end, my oldest son said that it was "the best chicken you ever made", he calls all meat chicken regardless of how many times we point out it's not.

I don't know what I was thinking making Saturday my first day of exercise. Clearly, it was an ambitious plan and didn't happen. Monday was a much better candidate since I wake up with my husband at 4:40am. I'm able to get him off to work, exercise and shower before the sun comes up which causes the kids to wake up. So this morning, I brought down my ball and exercise band, popped in the blue dvd and got to sweating. The dvd is a 21 minute lower body work out which consisted of a warm up and 14 exercises 60 seconds each. Not too bad, but after the warm up it was clear to me just how out of shape I am. Regardless, I made it through the workout and can't wait to see where I'm at a week from now.