Christmas already!

Here is the required Christmas tree picture. I also have a hodgepodge tree. I think it is hard not to have one like that when you have kids. Of course I am so sentimental I have always had a tree like this. I have ornaments from when I was little and ones my grandma and mom made. The kids and I wrapped presents last night. It's nice that they are able to help now, of course , as you can see, we love gift bags. I decided to go with mostly gift bags the year I was up until 3am wrapping presents on Christmas Eve.
This is my Christmas Angel that I love so I decided I'd post a picture of it. I got it in the early 90's from FAO Schwartz in Chicago. I pulled it out every Christmas and put it in my room, but it didn't get to be a tree topper until I got married, when it bumped Paul's lighted Christmas star off the tree.
This is the Stocking I made for Merrick for his class on my new sewing machine. I thought it turned out cute so I took a picture for my blog. I have this weird thing were I feel I can't blog if I don't have a picture, which of course isn't true, maybe my next blog will have no pictures on purpose so I can get over it.
Now onto the title of my blog. I feel like this year Christmas just snuck up on me. In fact I did a big chunk of my shopping yesterday and Sunday. Usually I maybe have 1 or 2 gifts still to buy that late but not this year. I hate going shopping that late. I told Paul the other day that I still have so many gifts to buy it's making me feel like hyperventalating. I also have to work Christmas Eve this year, which I haven't had to do since I started working, so that is going to be a bummer. It makes it hard because Paul works too. I told the kids they couldn't open their stockings without me, so they are going to have to wait until I get home. I'm hoping they will still be sleeping since they will be at the 11 o'clock Flipside service, but I am pretty sure that's just wishful thinking.

Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving was a little different for us this year. Paul's family was all up in Cambria at his brothers house so we just had my family to celebrate with. My extended family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.) decided a couple of years ago to celebrate holidays on the day after the holiday so we actually get to spend some time together instead of all rushing off to multiple familes in one day, so that celebration was on Friday. Thursday we went to my parents house in the morning and they made breakfast for us. A little later we went to help serve lunch with my parents. Then we went home and had our own Thanksgiving feast. I pulled out my good china and silverware. I love these plates but I never use them. I have decided since the kids are older it is time to start pulling them out for special occasions. The kids were so excited about the plates and candles and fancy cups. We had steak, mashed potatos, and salad. For dessert the kids and I had made a cheesecake the day before.
Devon decided that her stuffed animals needed a Thanksgiving feast too so she and Merrick set their own little table.
Everyone enjoying their dinner! Of course I didn't take any pictures the next day. I need to start putting my camera in my purse and taking it out and carrying it around so I take more pictures. The next day was our big feast and the kids love hanging out with all their cousins and it is so nice to not have to worry about leaving for the next party.
PS. I have some funky underlining in the beginning of the post. I don't know how it got there or how to get rid of it since there is no underline button on the editing toolbar. So just ignore it.

Los Rios Ranch

Merrick went on a field trip to Los Rios Ranch in Oak Glen a couple weeks ago. First his group got to tour the apple orchard with "Johnny Appleseed". One kid kept yelling "He's dead". He told them a little about the apple trees, but mostly he talked about the animals in the orchard and how they ate the apples. His favorite thing to do was show the kids bear poop.





Next they got to go see the machine that washed
and sorted the apples. The thing was huge, old, and noisy.











Last they got to make apple cider. Which they
didn't get to drink because the school won't let them since it's not pasturized. I bought some from the store and it was really good. It's sooooo much better than the stuff you buy in the store. Each of the kids got to put in about 3 apples each. They grind up the apples, then use a press to press all the juice out.






The last picture is of Merrick's class. His teacher
is the mom of one of Devon's best friends in school. We met when our girls were in kindergarten. She is a great teacher and I love that Merrick is in her class. It was perfect weather the day we went. It turned out to be a really nice day.

Officially an RNC

I took a test today to get a specialty certificate in neonatal intensive care nursing. As you can see I passed (try not to look at the horrible computer picture they took). I was so happy. I was really nervous, especially since it costs $300.00 to take the test and if I failed we would be out that money. I do get a bonus for having this certificate which will make it worth the money. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure I missed the bonus this year. They give them out in Sept. It will be nice for next year though. I'm pretty sure it will end up as Christmas money, or maybe mommy and daddy get away vacation money. Yeah! I passed! (can you tell I'm excited?)

Love that imagination

Merrick has these books that he really likes called Captain Underpants. It is about 2 boys who hypnotise their mean principle into a superhero who wears his tighty whiteys and a cape. I hear the kids running down the hall and when I go look I see Captain Underpants (Merrick) and Captain Undergirl (Devon). Merrick had on his underwear and a blanket tied around his neck and Devon had on her underwear including a "bra" with a jacket tied around her neck. I took a picture on my phone and sent Paul. He said it was good blackmail material when they get older. Their imagination amazes me sometimes. When they play together they manage to incorporate boy stuff and girl stuff together. They totally make Barbie and talking Hot Wheels work together. I love listening to them play and hearing their imaginations working. One thing I think is funny is they always start by saying "pretend our mom and dad died". I remember doing the same thing when I was a kid, but as a parent it's hard not get a little insulted. I mean, am I really that horrible? I think I'll blame it on Disney, they have an apalling amount of orphans in their stories. There I feel better already.

Disneyland

I got to go to Disneyland with the kids today after school. They have min day today so we get a decent chunk of time. Its been a while since we have gone. I think March was the last time we were there. Devon got money for a pass for her birthday and I have had it in my dresser, tucked away. We made sure Merrick was tall enough for
California Screamin' and off we went. Merrick is much more excited about the roller coasters which is good because Devon's biggest reason not to want Merrick to go is that she can't go on the roller coasters. We got to go on the new Toy Story ride. I can't wait to go again, that ride was
fun. We stayed at California Adventure until it closed at 6, then we headed over to Disneyland for the rest of the time. We got some ice cream at the end and headed home. We'll see how they get up tomorrow for school. If they do alright we will probably do the Monday trips a lot more often. I love having something special to do with the kids.

Door of Faith Orphanage, Mexico

The whole family headed down to Mexico yesterday with Flipside to go to the Door of Faith Orphanage in Mexico. We had to be at the church at 5:00am and we didn't get home until 11:00pm, so it was a long day. I was so impressed by the orphanage. It was really well run, and the kids were clean and healthy. They have a really good program going on down there. The kids seemed to have a really good time. The little girl in the top picture wanted to use my camera so I let her take a couple of pictures. The last three
pictures are from her. She thought if was hilarious to take a picture of her foot. Alisha brought face paints and was painting all of the kids faces. Merrick wasn't interested but Devon of course choose the full face paint. I think she is a tiger. We had a great time!

Nibbles the NOISY hamster

This is Nibbles the hamster. Usually she (or he) is a good, gentle hamster. Except during the night. Then she is a very noisy hamster who wakes Devon up and then she ends up in my bed (Devon not the hamster). She loves her hamster wheel. With the previous hamster we went and bought a quiet wheel that goes on the outside of the cage. In the picture of the cage it is on the right side of the cage - kinda a blue color. If the hamster was just running in the wheel there wouldn't be a problem, Devon would sleep right through that. The problem is that Nibbles has decided that she is going to live in the wheel, so she brings in her food and her bedding and
whatever else she can squeeze in there. Then she runs, and it makes the loudest noise - chink, chink, chink. The silly hamster is getting pelted by her food and other misc. stuff as she runs in the wheel. Just stop the wheel from turning you say. Well Paul tried that one night. The next morning the wheel was empty, so was the cage . She escaped. I guess Paul really made her angry. Luckily, she was under the dresser, unhurt, and came right to Paul when he called her. She got her point across no more stopping of the wheel. She has this huge cage and she spends most of her time in the tiny wheel. I don't think she has even gone to the top of the cage, except to
break out. So every night Devon crawls in our bed and lays on top of me to sleep. Needless to say I'm not sleeping so good. So if you have any good suggestions on how to make my hamster quiet I'm all ears.

Merrick is 7

Merrick turned 7 on August 24, we had his birthday on Saturday. Mostly family with a few friends over to swim. He had a great time. I love swim parties, they are so easy. The kids have a great time swimming and you don't have to do anything, just let them swim.

Surprise

Today we went to Petsmart to get Merrick his birthday present from Paul and I, a small pet. Merrick took a loooooong time weighing his options before he picked a guinea pig. Thankfully once he decided what he wanted he picked which one he wanted right away. Her name is Surprise. She looks all black and then when she turns around "surprise", you can see that she has a white stripe and foot. She seems really sweet so far. We know nothing about guinea pigs so I think I will have to do a little research on them, just to make sure we are taking care of her properly. If you have ever had a guinea pig and have any helpful hints I'm all ears!

Jumping on the wagon

Multiple people have been bugging me to start a blog so now here I go.  Wish me luck in trying to figure out how to post pictures. Maybe this will encourage me to take more pictures since I'm not a big picture taker. The first week of school is done. Yay!  I was expecting more meltdowns since Merrick went from 1/2 day to full day and Devon has always had a hard time adjusting the first week (she is wonderful at school but when she gets home...).  This week has been thankfully mostly meltdown free.  Merrick is getting his birthday present from me and Paul tomorrow.  It will be some sort of small animal, Merrick hasn't decided what he wants yet, but I am betting on some kind of reptile.  What a perfect way to figure out how to post pictures with the new addition to our family tomorrow.  Until then...