December daily (ish)...

The boys performed in their school's Christmas program on Monday night. It was very cute. Of course it was. However, the school failed to recognize the importance of a Christmas program and ran out of chairs. There were a lot of people left standing. Robert and I thankfully, were seated. On the upside, it was only about 40 minutes long. Just when you thought, how long is this? It was over! I know how awful that sounds, but there is only so much I can take other people's kids singing off key. There. I said it. Afterwards we went out for ice cream. Robert stayed in the car with Audrey and took the picture of us in Baskin Robbins. I discovered it today as I loaded the photos. Charlie has the stomach bug again. Today around lunch time he was miserable. I thought for sure he would get sick, but he managed to keep everything down. I am hoping it doesn't come back, tomorrow we have one of my favorite traditions to attend to. We are going painting at Color Me Mine. We have been doing this since Harrison was in kindergarten, and I have an adorable collection of painted ornaments to show for it. Hopefully I'll have some more photos tomorrow. Happy weekend.

December daily (ish)...weekend addition

Well, we did it. A week ago we bought an artificial tree. (Artificial sounds so much nicer than fake) I know. I know, I know. Why, you ask? The same reason other people do. I mainly wanted it to be able to put up all of my heavy ornaments that rarely make it on the tree because there aren't enough thick branches. I also am tired of the dust/dirt and pine needles. Safety is always a concern as well. Harrison also has allergies and I am hoping this might help. I never thought we would. It might not be permanent. We'll see. But gosh, it sure is pretty.

So, yesterday. Busy day. I had every intention of posting a photo of some decoration that I love. I decorated the house yesterday. Moved boxes, once, twice, three times I'm sure. What do I have to show for it besides the house which as I said is decorated, but a mess nonetheless. I went to bed late with an aching back. I was so looking forward to sleeping in this morning but that was not to be. Charlie woke us up around five, complaining of a tummy ache. He got into bed with us and it was impossible to fall back to sleep. (Not for Robert) He was in a lot of pain. About an hour later he got up to try the bathroom and ended up throwing up. That happened once more and unfortunately it was not while he was in the bathroom! I got to spend a little while cleaning vomit off the carpet and couch, which is about as fun as it sounds. I am happy to report that he is feeling much better, in fact he made a rather quick recovery.

December daily (ish)

Friday was the last day of school at the program the boys are in. We are on Christmas break for now. Technically we are not because we are still working at home. Anyways, there was a Christmas party on Friday at a pizza place which reminded me a lot of Chuck E. Cheese except that it was about 3 times the size. Seriously. This little cutie sitting with Audrey and Charlie is Audrey's newest "fwend", Laurel. The neat thing about her (beside her just being her) is that her mom and I were in the same hospital on the same day, each having a baby girl after two boys. Laurel is one day younger than Audrey. We did not know each other at the time but I distinctly remember my girlfriend Kerry telling me that she was going to visit her other friend that just had a baby girl too. Small world.

December daily...2

This has to be my very favorite addition to the decorations this year. I picked it up instantly because it reminded me of my Nana. I wish she was still here to see it, I know she would love it too. Some of my favorite ornaments are the felt and sequined ornaments she made for us through the years. I always loved getting gifts from her and Bump to see what kind of ornament she had attached.

I got this piece about a month ago. I have a dear friend named Denise and we try and get together every couple of months. We go and have some really bad (GOOD) junk food and go shopping afterwards. We got together for her birthday and she wanted to go to this particular store which sells antiques, hand made stuff (and some junk too). I walked around the corner while browsing and spied this tree. I didn't check to see how much it was, I grabbed it. When I turned over the price tag I was bargaining in my head about how much I would pay for it. Well, I am happy to say that I got it for a steal at six bucks. Trust me when I say I would have paid a lot more. Sure the green is faded, but the stitching is amazing, and all the sequins are still there. I only wish it could talk. :)

December daily

The start of December around here means it's time to break out the advent calendars. My favorite, is the advent candle. I got a few of these a couple of years ago when we went up to Santa Barbara and Solvang. I think they are so pretty. I had never seen them anywhere else before. So fast forward to this year. My mom and dad were going up to Solvang with their car club and I thought it would be perfect for them to pick up a couple more. After all, they were right down the street from the store. I talked to my mom and asked her to get the candles. I'm positive I said candles and well, she picked up some adorable calendars. I just happened to talk to them before they left and said something about the candles and she said, yes she got them. She then handed the phone to my dad and he mentioned how cute the calendars were and I said, wait, you mean the candles. Long story short, they went and picked up a couple candles.
And just look at how cute this store is! Jule Hus

ten on tues.

1. hellooooooo!
2. Charlie turned 8 recently and we went to Farrell's on Saturday. It was so fun, it was just like I remembered. The food was good and the ice cream was even better. Yep, we all indulged.
3. Audrey is going through a terrible twos stage. All I can think is, I'm too old for this.
4. Using the bbq a lot.
5. Enjoying a lazy summer, I know it will get crazy soon enough.
6. Too lazy to put up photos, see number 5.
7. The weather here has been so nice, that's all I'm gonna say. I don't want to jinx it.
8. Remind me to sign the boys up for soccer.
9. My allergies are a little off right now. My nose tickles.
10. I actually scrap booked last week, and I plan to again this week. I am on a roll, people!

Scout fun.....

Today we spent the day at Whittier Narrows Recreation area for Cen-Ten-O-Ree. Cen-Ten-O-Ree is a 2 day celebration of 100 years of scouting. There were probably close to 3500 scouts there from all over Southern California. There were all kinds of activites for them and trading cards that were given after an activity was completed. The verdict? A whole lotta fun and a whole lotta dust. :) We all enjoyed ourselves and were glad to be part of such an event. Early bedtime for everyone!

hey auntie, look what finally happened!

The saga of the tooth is over. Whew. This tooth had been loose for a long, long time. In classic Charlie fashion, it came out during the middle of the night and he woke up with it in his mouth. I can't make this stuff up. He is soooooo relieved. I am too. Grammie and Papa, get those coins ready.

a beautiful day to spend in the garden...

Yesterday we went to the Huntington Library and Gardens in Pasadena. A friend of mine alerted me to the free day that they offer and as luck would have it, I was able to get tickets. All five of us went, Robert went into work after our little field trip. We met a group of friends there. If you live in so. Cal., the Huntington is a place you need to visit. The gardens are spectacular, truly. Not to mention the world famous artwork collection they have too. As we were driving out there, I noticed that the hills were still covered in a foggy haze and I hoped that we would be warm enough. It was actually hot. We all were hot and cranky after our trip. We didn't stay as long as I wanted too and missed a lot of the gardens. Why you ask? Miss Cranky Pants was the reason. Audrey was just not having any of it. She loved, loved, loved the water fountains in the children's garden but that's about it. She lasted a little while in the stroller then had to get out and walk and lasted about an hour doing that. It would be fine if only she held my hand. She just doesn't want to do that now and she melted down shortly after. So, the good news is our visit was free. The even better news is that Robert bought a family pass so we can go back anytime and not feel rushed.
Here are some pictures from our all too quick visit. The last photo is of Robert's desk at work. I am so happy he took it, he really is married to a scrap-booker.

has it really been over a month since I last posted?

Apparently it has. You may have noticed I made my blog "open" again. Nobody reads it anyways (fine with me, believe me-not a complaint) and my dad has trouble signing in with his Google account. It is a lot easier this way and I'm ok with that!

So, where to begin? We have been busy as usual. That seems to be a reoccuring theme here. Busy, busy, busy. I'll work my way from the most recent to the oldest. My memory works much better that way. First up, Boy Scouts. Harrison is done with his Bear book and earned his Bear rank last Friday a little ahead of the game. So now we are working on extras for him to earn and the belt loops. He loves receiving belt loops. Did you know that the Boy Scouts came out with a belt loop for video games? Yes it's true and before you groan and remark that that is the last thing they need to learn about, it is actually a great lesson. They have to go over the rating system for the games and explain why they are in place, come up with a schedule for playing them and learn to play a new game with their parent. Of course he has already earned that one!
Charlie is just about done with his Tiger book, they have one more requirement as a den then he will get his Tiger ranking. Here is a photo of my Scouts. I love them. Scouting has been a great experience for both of them. We look forward to next year when I'll have a Webelos I and a Wolf scout. Charlie just told me over the weekend that he is going for Eagle. Whatever you say, son! Go for it.

We were able to go on an awesome field trip with the scouts about a month ago. Charlie's den leader is a sargeant with the LAPD. He arranged for us to go and see the LAPD's Air Support Division in downtown L.A. The whole family went. It was spectacular. We got a tour of their building and got to go out onto the roof to see the helicopters. We even had a couple of helicopters fly by and greet us. I was totally impressed with our Los Angeles county police helicopter pilots and officers. Here are a couple of photos from that day.






We've also had a few conferences of Little People over here. They especially like to gather around the books.

Let's see, we also celebrated Easter! Audrey got some new shoes that she loves. We went to downtown again and ate at the Grand Cafe in the Omni Hotel right next to the Museum of Contemporary Art and down the street from the Disney Concert Hall. We also took Angel's Flight and saw where the scene on the benches from 500 Days of Summer was filmed. See those benches in the Angel's Flight photo? That was the main character's favorite place to sit. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked that movie. It is really cute.




Ok, that's about all I could think of now. That, and if I continue this is going to be the post that never ends. More later. Thanks for sticking with me. :)

Scout Sunday & Blue and Gold, plus a new family member

Busy, busy, busy. That's what it's been around here. I wanted to post these photos of the boy's Scout Sunday Mass that was last weekend. They each earned their religious medal and it was given to them and a lot of other scouts at the mass on Sunday. They all looked so nice in their uniforms. Charlie and his friend got to lead the procession into church. After mass we all headed over to the church hall and had a nice reception and celebrated Blue and Gold which is a celebration honoring scouting. It was a full day. You can see that Audrey loved to run around outside. Robert and I took turns with her. We also brought home a goldfish. They had them in the centerpieces. Charlie picked one out, I've never seen him so happy. So, welcome to the family, Moe!
* I am getting used to the glasses. My vision is clear, that wasn't the problem. When I read, I can see things much better without holding the book so close to me. What an improvement!

here is my second set of eyes...

I know this is a cruddy photo, and I promise I'll post another one later. I just picked my glasses up today. They feel good, the real test will be tonight when I go to read...

guess who is getting glasses?

That would be me. I went to the eye doctor today for my "when-I-remember-and-have-time-to-schedule-one" eye exam and got the news. Apparently I am right on the cusp and need glasses for reading and driving at night. The prescription is so low he said that I could fill it or not that it was up to me. Truth be told, I have noticed at night when I am reading that I sometimes adjust the way I hold the book or blink a few times too many to see if it helps. Lol. I know, I know. So I checked out some frames while I was there but I need someone else's opinion. I just couldn't decide. Believe me, you'll see them when I do.

On my desktop right now. He loves her and she loves him.

A little bit of our afternoon...

We are having some glorious weather here and today it was calling our names outside to enjoy a nice little walk. Everyone is finally feeling better. Audrey was running a low fever this week but thankfully, it has passed. The boys had their Valentine's parties at school today and came home loaded with sugar. I think the walk helped them release some of that pent up sugar rush energy.
Happy early birthday to my dad, his birthday is tomorrow.
That's all for now. Lot's of love to you this Valentine's weekend. :)