MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE

We had a good, relaxing, fun Christmas Eve. First, we got up in the morning and did nothing.....well, Jeff and the kids went and got me a Christmas present, but after that we just hung around the house -- both inside and out -- until it was time to go to church.

We went to a 2 o'clock church service. The kids are dressed up and ready to go.....(oh, and everyone that knows me knows that I don't normally dress the girls alike, but in this case our neighbor girls had these matching dresses that they loaned the girls to look "fancy" for their visit to Santa so they decided they should wear them to church also!)

After church we headed to the beach. We only spent about 45 minutes playing, but it was a beautiful day and a lot of fun out there.....

After the beach we went out for Chinese food.....

After dinner we drove around and looked at Christmas lights and then headed back home to get ready for Santa's visit. The kids got to open one present before bed.....

.....they got new pj's! Grandma Lynne sent them and she even made Rena & Maleah's and made matching ones for their baby dolls.....

We ended the night with "The night before Christmas".....

.....and we set out the goodies for Santa and his reindeer. This year we even made him chocolate milk.....

After the kids went to bed Jeff & I got everything set-up for the morning and then sat down and watched It's A Wonderful Life (my favorite show). Despite the fact that I cried a bit during church because I was missing the rest of my family, it was a Merry Christmas Eve!

WE SAW SANTA!

We just got home from our visit with Santa Clause this morning. The kids went with letters in hand and told Santa everything that they wanted.

Rena was first. She was still writing things on her list as we walked out the door this morning. Her first thing that she wants is an American Girl doll with a "bed that pulls out"....aka.....a bed with a trundle. The last thing that she wrote on her list was a pillow pet and a bead set. Santa was still trying to read it all as she was walking away.....

Cameron was next. His list consisted of a few different Star Wars Lego items and a Nerf Raider CS-35.

Finally Maleah's turn! She asked for an American Girl doll and a bed and matching clothes for her and her doll.

The kids were happy after talking to Santa......

.....and now they are ready for his visit!!

A CRAB ON THE LOOSE

Jeff has wanted to get an aquarium for quite some time now so when the goldfish bowl cracked (for the second time) he decided to upgrade.

We went from this on our kitchen counter with 2 goldfish and a fake plant.....

to this -- with almost 20 different fish, 2 crabs, various rocks & statues and many live plants.....

Everyone was a little hesitant about getting a crab when Jeff first mentioned it. The kids were sure that this crab would eat the other fish and I just thought it was kinda creepy looking (like a spider), but Jeff eventually got one and we all thought it was pretty cool. Cool until the day came that we couldn't find him! Jeff was out-of-town and I was in-charge of the tank (big responsibility). Before I went to bed one night I checked on the fish and couldn't find the crab anywhere. I figured he was hiding behind a rock or something, but then morning came and still I couldn't find him. When the kids got home from school that afternoon Rena had 2 friends with her. So, I sent them on a crab hunt. I told them to search everywhere and if they found the crab they would all earn a piece of candy. Of course that got them moving! It wasn't very long before I heard the 4 girls screaming that they had found him. Sure enough.....there he was.....all the way down the hall and around the corner. I plopped him back into the tank and he is still alive and well. He likes to climb up the plants and the air tubes and sit half out of the water, but he hasn't escaped all the way again.....yet......

Here's the hunting crew -- Maleah, Olivia, Rena and Myah -- and there is the little crab on that plastic thing in front of the girls.....

I have to admit -- I didn't see the appeal or the need to upgrade from a $12 fish bowl to a full size aquarium, but now that we have it I do like it. It's right in the hallway that you have to walk through to get to the kitchen and it's really fun to stop and look......and make sure the crabs are still in there. And, of course, the kids (and Jeff) LOVE it! BUT if I find that crab loose again.....it might not make it back into the tank, but might find itself living in the ocean!

A HOLIDAY CELEBRATION

On Saturday afternoon we hosted A Holiday Celebration open house. We had over 50 people come and go throughout the day. We had friends from the neighborhood, friends from school, friends from church and friends from Jeff's work. It was a really fun celebration! I did really awful taking pictures and actually got NO pictures other than this one of the food and drinks in the dining room. I was just having too much fun and forgot about the camera!!

Hopefully we will make this a yearly event of celebrating the holiday season with our friends!

OUR CHRISTMAS TREE

WOW -- our search for the perfect Christmas tree was a bit harder this year than most....but it was still fun, or at least interesting. We started out at about 8:30 this morning headed to Pine Tree Acres in Ramona, CA (about 30 minutes from us) to find and cut down our perfect tree. We all loaded into the car, set the address in the new (early Christmas present) GPS and thought we'd be there in about 3o minutes. Unfortunately our new GPS doesn't have information about local holiday parades going on. We were almost to the tree farm when we came upon a "highway closed" sign and then a "street closed" sign and then a "no right turn" sign" and then a "no left turn" sign (you get it, right?!?!). If I heard that GPS voice say "recalculating" one more time I thought I was going to throw it out the window.

OK....so.....we finally made it to the tree farm. We all jumped out, applied sunscreen (yes, it was a beautiful, warm, sunny day) and headed out to find OUR tree! We grabbed a couple of measuring sticks (of course we had to carry two with us because how could 3 kids possibly share only 1??? Do you hear my sarcasm???) BUT WAIT -- there are only Montery Pine Trees out here -- the website said "Nobles, Douglas Firs, Grand Firs".....where are they??? Ohhhhh, they don't grow in California -- those ones are pre-cut, shipped from Washington and cost a fortune -- I guess they forgot to mention that on their website! So, what to do?.....cut down an ugly pine tree, pay a fortune for a pre-cut tree or go somewhere else?

Here we are headed out with our measuring stick poles....

We had to stop and take a break to explain why (after our big trip out) we weren't going to cut down a tree.....

We felt a bit guilty since we didn't end up getting a tree there, but the kids still played a throwing game, decorated a cookie and an ornament and played in a bounce house.....

FINALLY, 4 hours later -- our perfect Christmas tree.....from a pre-cut lot and 40 bucks cheaper than the u-cut lot.....

In the house and time to decorate.....

The finished tree (with a crooked angel).....

It was a crazy morning, but in the end all turned out good. I love our tree with our colored lights and all of our decorations. We have a wide assortment of ornaments that I just love to get out and look at each year. There are ones from mine and Jeff's childhood, a "first" ornament from Jeff & I being married and then one for each of the kids, ones from vacations that we have taken, ones that have been given to us and, of course, many that the kids have made.

I do love our tree!

This is our oldest ornament on the tree. Made by me in 1977 when I was only 5 years old.....

BARNES AND NOBLE PERFORMANCE

Last night Rena's first grade class performed at our local Barnes and Noble store during a fund raiser for the elementary school. She has been practicing her songs and poems for weeks and did very good during the performance. She picked her outfit out in the morning and had it neatly laying out waiting for her to get home from school. To top things off I even let her wear one of my necklaces.....it was a special night! :)

Here are the kids before the performance......(of course I couldn't get all 3 of them to cooperate and smile at the same time -- this was the best I ended up with!).....

Rena and a few of her classmates. The girl on the left, Ashlyn, is Rena's BFF (as Rena puts it!).....

Here she is again with her class and some other friends from a different first grade class that sang with them.....

Doesn't the boy next to Rena looked ticked? I hadn't noticed during the performance, but man.....he does not look happy! And her BFF on the left was crying at the time -- she hit her head on her way up to sing and actually ended up sitting down with her mom (who is Cameron's teacher) for the performance. Then, not only did her head hurt, but she was upset that she didn't get to sing after they had been preparing for weeks.

GINGERBREAD HOUSE 2010

Another fun year of decorating a gingerbread house and tree! This year, though, the kit that I bought had the house already put together. Usually it's pre-baked, but we have to build the house. The kids were so funny when we opened the box and saw that it was already put together. Rena's comment....."What? Why are they taking away all of the fun?" I got similar responses from Cameron and Maleah. In the end it was just fine.....we still had fun decorating! (Oh, and yes, if I would have read the box closer I would have seen that it was a "pre-built" house.....oops.....next year I'll pay more attention before I buy it!)

The finished house.....

Decorating.....

The kids wanted to eat the candy.....

A LOOK BACK AT OUR GINGERBREAD HOUSES

I just love looking back so here goes.......

The kids and I have been decorating gingerbread houses for the past few years and always have a good time doing it and enjoy it as a decoration throughout the holiday season. I always cheat and buy the kit, but it's the decorating part that the kids have fun with anyway, right?!!?!! :)

Here's a look back at our houses and decorating:

2009.....

2008.....

2007.....

2006 - our first year.....

This is what Maleah did in 2006 instead of helping to put the gingerbread house together.....

In 2005 we didn't do a house, but we did do cookie decorating with our friends over at The Brenne's house. I couldn't resist posting the pictures -- the kids look so little and cute (they're still cute just not so little!).....

The cookie crew -- Cameron, Davis, Campbelle, Marcus and Rena.....