Christmas With The Yentes'

Just a few early morning Christmas Pics. Somehow, I didn't get all the kids in front of the tree this year but we did snap these. It has been a crazy morning with lots of fun and happy kids. The big boys were thrilled with all their new clothes and have been playing Rock Band all day. The little ones have been riding plasma cars, trikes and pushing baby buggys all over the house. The favorite gift for Gillian is her kitchen. She has been glued to that most of the morning. It has been raining but now that there is a break in the weather, everyone is off to ride bikes, trikes, ripstiks and throw footballs until it starts raining again. I guess I had better get working on dinner. Merry Christmas to all of you!Waiting happily to see what Santa brought!Tired of waiting......We all draw names and make semi-homemade gifts for each other every year. This was my gift to Cam. A poster of him wake-boarding. He thought it was cool.We all love this kitchen. :) Gillian and Caleb have had a blast with it.Tinkerbell is gilly's favorite so I wrapped most of her presents in this $Tree paper I found. super cute! The new ripstiks.

Gillain's new pink Morgan Bike. It is all metal and the cutest bike ever. It even has a headlight in front. Check out the Fashionista's outfit. What a crack up!

Caleb loves his cowboys!

Gillian the Fashionista!

I have been meaning to post this for the last 2 weeks. Gillian is very much into "I do it mom!" You know the 2 year old girl wanting to dress herself in what she thinks looks good and matches and not what mommy wants her to wear. The boys did this to some extent but gillian takes the cake! No matter what I want her to wear, she wants to wear something else of her own creation and she wants to put it on "all by myself!!!!!" so I let her......it is either that or a big power struggle so here is my favorite style of hers. She chose the dress for the pockets, the sweat pants because she was cold and she liked the mittens and hat because they matched the pink in the "dolka dots" on her dress. At least that is how she explained it to me. :) Love that girl!

Ouch!

Gillian has a new boo boo. She burned her finger on the glass of our gas fireplace. It is pretty bad. It was a second degree burn and covers the middle section of the front of her middle finger. We had to take her to the doctor to clean and debrie the wound for a few days and now we have to do it ourselves everyday. Scrubbing it keeps it from getting infected and helps with the scaring. She doesn't like it very much but she really is a good sport. Here she is showing us her wrapped finger. Cute huh?

A Christmas Thing!

So we were running behind getting ready for church this morning but I have a tradition of taking the kids pictures before church on special days like Easter, Mother's Day or the Sunday before Christmas, etc. They all kept saying, "Is this a Christmas Thing mom?" Can you tell that they really didn't want to do it???? I threatened with presents and Santa but only my babies came over to make their mommy happy. As you can see from the first picture, Caleb wasn't thrilled but after the mention of Santa, he not only changed his attitude but began to do the "Hot Chocolate Dance" from his favorite The Nutcracker. Since you won't see the big kids in these pictures, I will have to make good on my promise of no Santa for some of my kids I guess. :) Won't my big boys be sad when they only get a lump of coal on Christmas morning? (Gary is looking for some coal. It may have to be briquetes from the BBQ but he is determined to leave some sort of coal under the tree for a few cetain boys)hahahahaCaleb is not really happy about picture time.......then I mention......Santa. So......Caleb decides to ask his sister to dance.

The twirl that Caleb is so famous for......The Thank you kiss that Gillian loved

And Ta Da! He did it. "Now can Santa bring me presents mom?"

I am finally posting pictures from Gillian's two year old photo shoot that we took a few months ago. We had so much fun with this! Gillian happily put on the dress that Mommy had made for her, she willingly let me clip a "pretty" in her hair and she posed and posed and posed. I'm including just a few of my favs. We have all noticed that Gillian looks very different in every picture. We have named this photo shoot....."The Many Faces of Little Miss Gillian."

A Thankfully Quiet and Relaxing Week!

Just a few pics from Thanksgiving. It was really quiet around here but very productive. We rested, played games, ate, rested some more, ate, decorated for Christmas and I even re-read the whole Twilight series.

Normally we have a large group either here or with other family but this year it was calm and actually very peaceful. Besides our crew of 7, only my mom and brother came to visit and eat and eat and eat with us! Gillian of course couldn't wait for Nana's doggie to get here and didn't leave her alone for a second. It is so funny to watch her with either our golden or Nana's dog.....gillian talks to them and plays with them like they are her best friends. Super cute! oh....yes, that is a diaper on the doggie. I have never laughed so hard in my life! Gillian thought the dog was one of her baby dolls and wanted to keep changing her diaper. I give up! :)

Garrett, Cam and I went to the Outlet Mall's Midnight Madness sale Thanksgiving Night. Them, to see who was there and me to supervise. It was crazy! Lines to get into the stores starting at midnight then lines to buy up all the great deals. The kids were just there to socialize while all the moms fought the crowds. We left around 3:30 a.m. and needless to say, I skipped the 5:00 a.m. Black Friday sales.

We got the Christmas tree up and most decorations. Garrett got all the outside lights up and now the real fun begins. As we always say at the end of Thanksgiving week, "Let the Festivities Begin!" Good luck to all of you!

Look! A "pretty" in Gill's hair

Gillian and Uncle "D"

Caleb....sick of pictures and begging to eat the turkey. "Is it ready now? Or do we have to take more pictures of it?"

Twilight Party Night!

Well as all of you know, the Twilight movie finally came out. A bunch of us went to see it Friday night and last night I threw a little Twilight Pre-Party for Garrett and his friends on a group date before they went to see it. After the teenagers saw my Tribute to Twilight Table, they all decided that I was more obsessed with Twilight than they were. Those of you who know me well, know that I'm really not obsessed with Twilight that much. I just like an excuse........ any excuse to have a party. It was a lot of fun getting everything together from my party closet and the kids really appreciated it!

After the movie, they had a scavenger hunt at Walmart and walked home (we don't live far) to a big bon fire that Gary and Cam had made for them in the backyard. They hung out, ate Red Velvet Cake and had hot cocoa. They are a great group of kids!

As far as the movie goes, I liked it............ but for me......... it wasn't as good as the book. What movie ever is??????? I really loved the scenery and location. It reminded me so much of places in Alaska that I spent so much of my childhood in. That part was exactly how I envisioned it. Edward was......well.....delicious! Can I say that? tee hee. And Bella, was very much how I imagined her too. The rest of the characters were not what I pictured in my mind but they all worked well. Some of the scenes were a little cheesy, but all in all it was a good movie. Can't wait to go see it again and finish re-reading it! I know, I should have many other things to do but.....I am a Tween Twilighter at heart! I'm not obsessed.......really!

A Formal Affair!

Garrett went to his first formal dance at his high school saturday night. He got a new suit, shoes, shirt, tie, etc. He was really excited! The group he went with came here first at 4:00 to take pictures. We took lots of pics in front of our house and in the park (that I somehow erased) ):):( Then they went to dinner, took pictures at the dance, came back here to play Guitar Hero, Air Hockey, drums and electric guitars in the Bonus Room. (This picture is of all of them then). They finally made it to the dance around 9:00. Everyone had a great time! It was a fun evening to be a part of. We love having Teenagers!

C.A.M.S. Cherry Ave. Middle School Band

Cam had a Band Competition in Fowler today. He plays the trumpet in marching band and plays the quads for Winter line. They took 1st Place in both. It was so much fun to see Cam drumming. It is his passion. Go Bulldogs!

This isn't the best video but I was using my little flip camera and taking still pics at the same time. The funniest part is how you notice that I am not holding the camera very still. I started bouncing to the beat and forgot about the video. It really gets bad at the end when the drum line starts bouncing. Great job Cam!

"A Frightfully Busy Week!

We have had an exhausting week of Trick or Treat Fun. It all started last weekend with a party and Haunted House hosted by one of Gary's teachers then we had our Ward's annual Trunk or Treat party at the church, the next night was the annual Monster Mash at Cherry Ave. Middle School (where Cam attends and Garrett used to), the Harvest Festival at the Montessori School and it all finally ended with our annual family Halloween Party on our front porch last night. I have gotten dressed up 5 times this week and I think I am done with Halloween for a while. It has been an eventful week to say the least.

My Husband the Vampire and our friends well being as silly as they could. Too Funny!

"It's all about the Love!" We always have matching or thematic family costumes each year so here is our best Hippie look. I know it is really silly. While the big boys are happy to use the same costume for each event, the little kids want a change so Caleb of course wanted to be Anikon (Star Wars) and gillian loved her "Go Go" dress but we never could get the hat quite right. She wouldn't let us fix it so we just went with it of course. Fun times!

Caleb and Gillian

Here are my sweet babies all ready for church. As you can see, still no hair on gillian but.......I gathered together just enough to clip a bow on top of her head. Trust me, this is nothing less than an amazing feat! Not only doe's gillian lack a lot of hair, she doesn't want to have "prettys" in her hair. In gillian's own words......"No, no Mommy! Me no want a pretty in my hair!"

Cross Country

Garrett started running Cross Country this year. He runs 3-5 miles everyday and is doing pretty well at his "Meets". He seems to enjoy this new sport of his and has a great team and coach. Garrett has been a good influence on Gary and me. We have been trying to run at 5:00 each morning but can only seem to complete about 2 miles. The other kids are showing some interest too. We are hoping to run together as a family in one of the beach runs in Cayucos early next summer. Garrett is our hero!

Disneyland or Bust!

We just got back from our semi- annual Disneyland Trip with our very good Friends, the Watson Family. Every January and September like clock work, we plan out a 2-3 day Disneyland party that none of us ever wants to end. We think we have been doing this for at least 7 years so that would make 14 trips together. It is so much fun that we keep going back.

This trip was a celebration for Mary's 40th birthday. I made matching t-shirts for both of the families, we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel, we decorated the Watson's room with birthday balloons and lot's of Mickey goodies. Mary said that her family was so excited to see all the stuff we had put in their room that they all started jumping up and down. She said, and I quote, "It looked like Mickey Mouse threw up in our room!" How is that for appreciation! tee hee.

The little kids all tried out for Jedi Training and made it. Yeah! We rode all our favorite rides and even found a new favorite.....Toy Story.

After several trips hoping that we would win something...........anything from the Disneyland Dream Giveaway, I am sooooo happy to say that we were greeted by not one but two Dream Give Away Employees when we got off of Pirates of the Carribean who told the Watson's oldest daughter Clara that she had just won a tour of Walt Disney's Personal Apartment over the Fire Station along with a dinner for 14 at the Plaza Cafe. The computer in Chicago had chosen that ride that day at the exact time that we boarded to be the grand prize winner. We also learned that that particular prize will only be awarded to 10 groups this whole year! It was a prize with a one in 6,000 chance of being won. Thanks Clara for sharing your prize with us and thanks Gary for forcing us on the ride. We almost passed it up.

Disneyland is the place "where all your dreams come true!"

Thanks Watson Family for another super fun family trip!

Grand Prize Winner and Company!

Caleb getting the better of Darth Vader during Jedi Training!

Walt Disney's Apartment!

Labor Day Weekend!

Another Trip to the Beach, hanging out with good friends, a few more pics of the ocean........what can I say, it is our home away from home. We just can't get enough of the coastal lifestyle!

"A PIRATE'S LIFE FOR ME!"

We finally had Caleb's 4th birthday party. He thought it would never get here. I think it was worse for him than waiting for Christmas. ha ha.Caleb chose to have a Pirate Party so I set about gathering pirate paraphernalia. It really turned out cute. I bought some things, made a few things and borrowed a lot. We had everyone dress up and we took individual pics by the Pirate's Booty. I love gillian and Caleb's sweet pictures . Pirate children they be!

We Don't Want the Summer to End!

Gary had an Administrative Retreat recently so it was a good excuse to head to the beach again. The only thing that we could find last minute was this little cottage a few houses up from the beach. It was old and a little cramped but we had a great time! The boys had a little bedroom and bath out behind our main house so they were in heaven. Gary had to work a lot of the week that we were there but the kids and I made the most of our time.

The whole driveway along our little beach cottage was lined with sweet peas. I took several pics of gillian in front of them. It got so everytime we went outside she thought that she needed to pose in front of the flowers before we did anything else. My little sweet pea!