Last day of 2007

Happy last day of 2007! Let's make the most of the last day of the year. Have a safe and happy New Years Eve.

May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions.
— Joey Adams

We call him Slurpy

Greg has a new name, we now call him Slurpy. Why? Well, Wednesday he got his retainer. Yep, a retainer which he will wear for the next 3 years or so and we have to expand it every month.
So now Greg slurps and talks with a very spitty lisp. Look out!
But he is getting used to it and is being very careful to take it out before eating and clean it at night. Now the shocker, he is actually brushing his teeth many times during the day! Hopefully before he goes back to school in January all speach will be back to normal.
He has to get a tooth pulled and we look forward to that in January 2008.

A Wonderful Christmas

For us, Christmas starts on Christmas Eve and runs until late Christmas Day.

We always go to church on Christmas Eve. After church we go to one of Tom's sibling house, or ours, for Christmas Eve dinner and presents. This year we went to Teri and Rogers. Teri cooked up a wonderful roast and other people brought other dinner and dessert items. I made roasted potatoes and also brought lots of cookies.

We ate a wonderful dinner, had dessert, opened presents and enjoyed being with family. Of course there was the guitar hero play off and I am pleased to report that me, yes me the mom, beat Greg and Evelyn, and this was the first time I had ever played!

Evelyn, Matt and Michelle getting some good eats.
Aidan can not resist stairs now that he is walking. Of course, dad is right behind him.
This is just about half of the crowd, playing a Christmas game naming Christmas songs. Evelyn (in the green bow) and Greg (Santa hat) were the team leaders.
Aidan enjoying his stacking bowls from Evelyn. The younger cousins draw names for a gift exchange.
Greg loves his football from Russell. Thanks Russell!!
Evelyn loves her dance game from Sam. Thanks Sam!!

The adults and older cousins have a gift exchange, we each buy a neutral gift and play a fun steeling game. We got this yummy hot chocolate mix set.
Evelyn jamming to Guitar hero and below is Miles and Greg jamming.
The kids were anxious to get home and to bed before Santa arrived. We got to bed late and were woken up very early by the wind. Blew over some trees, our basket ball hoop and stuff all over the yards. Plus the black soot blew down from the mountains and is once again al over the place. We all got up at 6:30 am to start our day. (Really couldn't sleep anyways with the kids curled up in our bed and the wind howling all around us)

Evelyn and Greg dash into the living room to open gifts. The stockings were first, then the Santa gifts

Greg got a talking parrot and a cool robot from Santa
Evelyn got her growing dog, a Hannah Montana doll and a Hannah Montana microphone from Santa
Tom got a new Starbucks coffee mug and a new ladder.
And the best present of the day was............Wii!! Should have seen Greg and Evelyn jumping up and down with excitement. They each got a game too.
Greg got a new robe, as did Evelyn. Caught Evelyn with a goofy face.

We all got great gifts from Grandpa Dale and Grandma Renee in Oregon. Love the gift cards and the kids enjoy their puzzles too. Thank you !!! Evelyn and Greg have decided to save together to get Guitar Hero for Wii. I can't wait to go shopping too :)
We set up the Wii after breakfast and got some play time in. Grandma Shirley came over in the morning and we made eggs, bacon, potatoes and breakfast puffs. We hung around playing Wii and enjoying gifts before heading to Eric and Chissy's house.
Evelyn got a Sims Wii game and Greg got Star Wars Lego from Eric and Chrissy and Jake and Nathan. Thank you!!!!! Love them and have already enjoyed playing the games.

Our next destination was to Tom's parents to finish out our day. The cousins made a beautiful calendar for the grandparents.

Matt playing Santa
Tom and David got almost matching shirts
Sam and Evelyn got matching hats from Aunt Patty and Uncle John. Thank you for the hat and the vest!
Greg got a football and a nerf bow and arrow. Here he is shooting it (wearing his new robe). He got an arrow stuck in a tree and Matt was nice enough to put his fire fighter in training skills to use and climb the tree to retrieve the arrow.Thank you Aunt Patty and Uncle John for the arrow and the football!

Evelyn and Greg also send thank you's to Grandma and Grandpa for the books and to Aunt Marianne and Uncle Rich for the book and cars.

We came home exhausted from our long day. Evy and I went to bed early while Tom and Greg stayed up playing Wii.

Oh, almost forgot, I got a very pretty Brighton necklace from Tom, a bracelet from Greg, a frame from Evelyn and gitft cards to Pottery Barn and Michaels from my dad and Renee, and a sweater from Mary and Clarence. My mom is taking us to see the Rockettes for our Christmas presents.

Thank you everyone for the wonderful gifts!!!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends. We wish you a very blessed Christmas.

Love, Tom Naomi Evelyn and Greg.

Cookie decorating

Sunday we decorated cookies, lots of cookies, lots and lots of cookies. The kids each invited a friend over to decorate cookies and take home what they decorated. And of course they had to get a little silly by decorating their faces. After decorating for a bit the went outside to run around and jump on the trampoline to get rid of the sugar high from eating probably as much frosting as they put on the cookies!

yummy!!

ALVINNNNNNNNNN!!!

Saw Alvin and the Chipmunks today. I loved it! The kids loved it too. We were all laughing.
Highly recommend it. Good music too. Need to get the sound track.
I remember listening to my Alvin and the Chipmunks record when I was a kid. Playing it on my portable record player. I was so cool.

Off to Matt's 23rd birthday party. Happy Brithday Matt. Seems like just a few years ago you were this little kid. Not no more!

I think we have been blown to Kansas!

It is so darn windy today. I think we are now living in Kansas. The Grand Canyon passed by like a blur!
The kids don't have school today so I got to walk K earlier than usual. When she woke up enough to realize she was going on an early walk boy was she excited. But when we got out front, her ears went down and she didn't seem to excited anymore. It was cold too! But we did a quick lap around the block and back to the warmth of our home. K didn't even want to stay at her gate barking at everyone else going by.
If anyone likes to pick up sticks, branches, leaves.....come on by later this afternoon and you can clean up our back yard. It will be covered! Hope no trees blow over.

Kids are lounging around. the did vacuum and dust the house, now it's time to tackle their rooms. We are going to see Alvin and the Chipmunks this afternoon! I am can't wait to see that movie!

My new keyboard is installed and I'm not doing that bad typing on it. It's a different shape than I am used too.
Have a fun Friday. And here is a quote to live by for the next week or so.

Patience is the companion of wisdom.
— St. Augustine

A Christmas Winter Wonderland (in California)

It has been getting cold here. Frost in the morning, some snow on Saddleback Mountain and some good rain as well. We have dug out our long johns to wear at night and I wear my mittens when I get a chance too.

We have been busy decorating the house for Christmas (actually, it's been done for many weeks), shopping, wrapping, sending out cards and baking. Love the baking.

Here are some photos of what's been going on. (and hopefully blogger cooperates and puts my pictures and captions in the same order as they are as I write this post)

Our house. Kids wanted to go Christmas Crazy this year. We always put up our reindeer, sled and snow man. This year we got the big inflatable frosty and he keeps shorting out the circuit. We do have alot plugged into that one outlet. There are more lights around the door and on the bushes but they don't show up that good here or didn't make it in the photo

Evelyn and Greg visiting Santa at the lake boat parade

Some of my favorite decorations: my wise men (keep them up all year actually) and my snow globes. The ornaments are ones that didn't have hangers and we put them there to hang later, but actually like the way they look there so that's were they are staying till it's time to pack up.

Tom and Evelyn before their dance.

All decked out for the Christmas program

So glad Greg combed his hair for the occasion and Evelyn wore her hair down. Evelyn wanted to give Greg and Elvis style but he declined.

Tom and Greg spending some time with K in the back yard. Must be a break in the football game.

Tom has already prepped for his day of football. Coffee table cleared off so he can spread out the paper have remotes handy and whatever else he needs within arms distance. It's tough work to get up and dash to another room between plays. :)

Completed breakfast puffs Evelyn and I made, thanks PW!! And I do admit, they are yummy!!

Evelyn up to her elbows mixing Everything cookies. Thanks again PW. The huge bowl was too full to stir with a spoon. Evelyn scrubbed her arms , up to elbows, and got her hands into the bowl to mix it all up! No idea what's up with the face she is making there.

We were listening to Christmas music on Coast. Had to stop and do the Jingle Bell Rock dance when the song came on. This is one song Evelyn's class sang at the Christmas Program the other night.

Here are the finished Everything cookies. I lost count after 8 dozen. No idea how many we have.

And of course we had to sample the breakfast puffs to make sure they were safe for human consumption. Oh, yes they sure are. YumO

We also made dozens and dozens of sugar cookies. They are safely stored in the fridge so we can decorate them this weekend. Then we sort out the goodies for neighbors and friends and get to deliver them. Of course we still have plenty for us. I also made other goodies not pictured here. Where did I stick the pictures? I don't know. I really need to clean up my pictures folder and down load the old ones the the external drive,

Time to change the key board now too. These darn letters are sticking and I have a new ergonomic one to install. Oops, today is the last day of school for this year. Kids are out 3 minutes ago, but I am not picking up today. About 15 minutes the kids will burst through the door, more than likely on a sugar high from school.

Enjoy :)

My apologies.....a little Christmas oops

My apologies to those of you who received a broken Christmas card in the mail from us. I know I have no control over the mail once it is in the hands of the USPS.
I thought it would be a fun and different idea to make a Christmas card ornament this year. I had tons of used cd's from old work programs so started very early covering the cd's for the cards.
Then the dilemmas began. Needed larger envelopes. Needed more postage. Didn't make enough. But anyways, out the door they went.
So, if you did receive a broken one. Just toss the cd and hopefully the picture part stayed in tact.
The photo was taken in Key West Florida.
Next year, I will so something that will not break. Promise.

Daily thought ~ Pass the Cheer

A hug is a great gift — one size fits all, and it's easy to exchange.
— Anonymous

Made it through last week

Whew. Made it through last week with one hitch. I got the stomach flu! Wednesday morning I wasn't feeling so good and sure enough...... Around 10:30 it hit me. I spent the next 2 days in bed. Friday I was up but very tired and worked for part of the day.
Saturday I started getting some energy back and we did make it to Nathan's 2nd birthday party and then to the Kawata's for their annual Christmas Party. By then I was so tired but made it for a few hours at the party and actually ate some food.
Sunday was a long, but fun day. Evelyn and I baked just about all day long. Started with Pioneer Woman's breakfast puff's. Oh yum! Click on her link on the side of my blog (or maybe I did figure it out here) and then we made her everything cookies and then our own sugar roll out and gingerbread cookies.
I was exhausted from baking all day. But it was fun. Next weekend is even more fun when we decorate the cookies.
I did get out most of the cards ( trying to finish up tonight) and have to make sure I have all my gifts.
Feeling almost back to normal but now feeling the Christmas Crunch. Parent/Teacher conference this week and 1/2 school days and then no school on Friday. Whoo-Hoo! Doing the happy dance at 11:30 Friday when my work day ends and we head to the movies to see The Chipmunks Christmas.
Have a great week everyone!!

The year in review

I am just a tad tardy getting this out, but for those of you who have received our cards, and those of you just stopping by, here is our year in review....... It's gone by fast and I can't include everything or it would be too long, so enjoy the highlights.

We had a fabulous trip to Florida in July. We flew to Tampa and spent some time in Naples, the Everglades, Key Largo and Key West. The majority of the time we were in Key Largo. We enjoyed an airboat ride through the mangrove trees in the Everglades, snorkeling, riding wave runners, swimming, watching sunsets, fishing and just having a great relaxing family time. The picture in our card was taken in Key West at the Southern most tip of the US.

Greg is now 9 and in 3rd grade at Serra Catholic school. In the Spring Greg played baseball and was on the Padres. His team was the single A champs and Greg was MVP of the championship game. Greg has become a great 3rd base player and nothing gets past him. He has a dead on throw to first base getting most of the runners out. Greg is looking forward to playing baseball again this Spring.
Greg played his first year of Pop Warner football and was on the Jr. Mighty Mights of the Saddle Back Valley Bears. Greg was a running back on offense and scored 10 touch downs this season. He scored 3 touch downs in the last 5 minutes of one game. Greg will be playing in a short winter soccer league starting in January.

Evelyn is 11 and in 5th grade at Serra Catholic. She is getting so tall and beautiful. She recently cut off 10" of her hair to donate to an organization who makes wigs for children. She now has a cute shoulder length hair do. Evelyn played soccer the Fall and was on a super team. They finished 3rd place in the play offs. She is becoming a strong defender playing mid field and loves soccer. Evelyn has fallen in love with horse back riding. She is taking riding lessons and is a quick learner and looks like a natural on a horse. She has her sights on competing in horse shows and owning her own horse one day.

Tom's company was recently purchased by Pittsburgh Plate Glass (PPG) in Pittsburgh, PA. He has made several trips to Pittsburgh in the last few months and has experienced some cold snowy days in PA. Tom is active in the Knights at church. Tom and Evelyn are in a great father/daughter group, Adventure Princesses, a YMCA program. They go camping or on some activity every month. Tom and Greg went to Washington in October with friends to see their beloved Rams play the Seahawks. Tom and Greg are huge Rams fans.

Me, Naomi, still work at home which gives me time to keep up the family blog, volunteer at the kids school and be home when the kids are home from school to run them to and from practice or activities. I have been the team scorekeeper for the last 2 baseball seasons and looking forward to doing it again next season. I am still very much into my scrapbooking and love to get a night out with the girls when I can. I have recently started a group with 3 other friends where we plan and host scrapbooking weekends and day crops. (http://www.crops2remember.com/) I also enjoy my monthly book club meetings.

Our dog Kaydee has become quite the landscaper. She digs after the gophers in the back yard and has caught a few of those pesky things. She even brought one inside for me one day. That was fun! Our 2 birds, Roxy and Hip Hop (fka Burp) continue to chat away saying not much at all and drive the dog crazy.

Keep checking in for updates on what's going on with us. We love to hear from you too.

We wish you all a Happy and Blessed Christmas and New Years!

It's a crazy week!

Monday ~ book club dinner (it was great, Salt Creek Grill in San Juan great dinner with great friends , but then I got a stomach ache and couldn't finish my dinner and forgot to bring the rest home with me)

Tuesday ~ physical therapy for my wrist, Kids school Christmas program and have to be there at 6:30

Wednesday ~ Greg has an ortho appointment after school, Tom and I have a dinner

Thursday ~ dr. apt for my wrist, Evelyn' s soccer team bowling party

Friday ~ riding lessons if it does not rain

Saturday ~ 2 parties

Sunday ~ baking and a party

Yikes. I have to finish up cards too and get some pressies in the mail (way over due) and finish making some pressies. Yikes. Well, Thursday night will finish cards and wrap pressies that need to be mailed, and need to finish up making some pressies,

I know this really has no importance to most of you, but I needed to see this for myself in writing. I'm starting to feel the Christmas crunch. But my shopping is done!! Just finish baking which we love to do! Then have a cookie decorating party which we love to do also!

Have a great week!!

It's a crazy week!

It's Elf time again..........

Click on the link to see our elfs again. And make sure your volume is up.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1280436518

Enjoy :)

Bonfire, Rain, Santa, Boat Parade

Saturday evening we decided to brave this cold winter weather (finally!!) and head to Lake Mission Viejo for the annual boat parade. I have always wanted to do this and we have never been able to get over there. So, we loaded the care with blankets and chairs, got our warmest coats, gloves, scarves and hats and headed to the Lake.


Brrr. It was cold. It was not very crowded as it was freezing and had been raining. We huddled by the huge bon fire on the beach. It was in this big pit dug in the sand and guarded by the life guards. Would have been great for roasting marshmallows :)

We then got ourselves some hot chocolate and cookies and waited for the stage show. The stage was too wet earlier. But then it started to rain! We didn't have umbrellas so just pulled our hoods over our heads. We ventured to the club house for the crafts fair. I was thinking it was where the kids could make crafts, but it was people selling theirs. We just browsed, mainly to stay out of the rain.

Greg announced that he was starving! and could not wait for dinner. Said he really wanted a candy cane. Well, if you want a candy cane, then you need to go see Santa. The kids did not want to see Santa earlier. By now it had stopped raining so we walked over to see Santa and, wow, no line this time!

Kids got their candy canes which would hopefully last through the boat show and hold them till dinner. We found a spot at the railing and waited for the boat parade to start. There were maybe 10 to 12 boats in the parade, all decked out in lights. They start at the dock and go past the North Beach and then zig zag their way across the lake and back. We watched on zig and then headed off to dinner

And here is my favorite boat. All the boats were the party boats and a few were lighted up to look like bigger boats. Like this one. I could not get very good photos of the boats as it was dark.