This and That

Wow, has it really been that long since I last posted? I suppose we've just been busy enjoying the Christmas season, spending time with family, hosting a party, and loving our little family. All good things.


I have a new year post that will come tomorrow -- still working on my new word. That will be fun!


For now, here's a few random things that we've been up to lately.

We finally got a little family picture! In fact, I think this is the first family photo we've taken since W was born. Lame, I know. But at least we have one now! :)



Me and the little monkey. His hair is crazy, we know. One of these days we'll get to cutting it. Or maybe just a trim. We'll see...

We met up with the hubby's family at the Mission Inn in downtown Riverside for dinner this week. It was fun getting to see everyone again before they all headed back to Utah and Boston. We ate at a yummy restaurant there, but I was not impressed with our wait time -- it took us almost an hour and a half to get our food! Ridiculous, especially with small children. W had to be walked around and entertained by PaPa for a long time. Luckily there were lots of lights and Christmas decorations still up, so they got to see those.

I love the holiday season where we can get together with family, play games, eat good food, and just have a good time. Thanks to Janae, Renee and Lewis, the hubby and I also get a chance to have a date here and there! It's amazing. :) In fact, last night we got to go see Sherlock Holmes. I liked it a lot. We discussed some new things coming up for us this year and are working on the changes that we need to make. It's going to be a good year.

Be back tomorrow. (That's one of my goals for this year -- to blog a little more about our lives and not feel like I have to conform to what I think 'people' will want to hear, but to be more authentically me on this blog. I mean, it is my blog, so why should I be so concerned about it? But that's for another post...)

Holiday Happenings

December is here and the Christmas music is a-playin'!! I just love using Pandora and putting in something along the lines of Kenny G's holiday music and it gives me such great stuff! If it weren't for those pesky commercials (which they didn't use to have, btw) then it would be a perfect situation. But I know, I know, everybody's gotta make their money. :)

Anyways, Christmas music has been the one thing kept me going last week (that and getting to see my dad!!) because it had been a hard week! I'm not sure why, just lots going on and that ominous feeling of being overwhelmed has started creeping up on me lately. And it doesn't help that poor hubby was working until 10 o'clock almost every night last week, and this week he's sick and getting home 'early' means around 7pm. Crazy, I know. It's hard for me to feel grateful for a job that keeps him away from our family so much, but it does provide for us, so I'm glad for that. I can still be a little bitter about it, right? ;) Thanks.

Anyhoo, I've been slowly but surely getting our other decorations out of the garage abyss and putting up some things here and there. We even got the tree up this past weekend! It's so fun to get out all the ornaments and remember the ones I forgot we had. The boys 'helped' put ornaments up, and I know E had a fun time. I'm excited for the Christmas season, it's my favorite time of the year. And we've even been getting some cooler temperatures as well. It actually is starting to feel like there's a change to the season! I'm loving it.

Know what else I'm loving? That W is pretty much a walking fool! He's been teasing and taunting us with these 2-step jaunts that end in him falling dramatically to the floor, where he pounds the carpet with both his arms. Too cute. But now he's starting to take those hesitant long walks from the coffee table to the TV, which is a good 5 or 6 steps! And the best part? He gets up this momentum going and tries to get there as fast as he can before succumbing to gravity. Seriously, it's the funniest thing to watch. I'll have to try and videotape it one of these days and then figure out how to post it here. You'll love it. :)

I would just end it right here and say Happy Holiday, but what's a post without some pics? I know when I read other peoples' blogs, I always want to see more more more photos. So here you go. Enjoy!

The great rain we got earlier this week. I LOVE the rain and miss it from living in Texas where we would get these amazing rain and lightning storms. Like, light up the whole room in the middle of the night amazing. Yeah, I miss that.



W giving you a wave hello!



My favorite ornament right now -- commemorates our first home purchase last year.



E 'helping' to trim the tree. :)


We also made a gingerbread house that E has enjoyed picking apart a little here and there this week. :) I keep catching him just "taking a piece" off the roof or walkway. Too fun.



Here's E, so ready to get started on this gingerbread house!



The goods.



Already sneaking candy and we haven't even started the house yet! Sheesh! :)



Humble beginnings.



The finished product! Not exactly the same as the perfect model on the box, but E didn't seem to mind when he was eating it. :)


And what was W doing while E and I were making our gingerbread house?



Trying to escape out the back door to the rain. And yes, he's got no pants on. My boys seem to like to be pant-less as often as possible. And since he was fighting off some diaper rash, I complied. Luckily we had no accidents. ;)

Well, that's about it for this week so far. I've also been busy wrapping presents and figuring out the big grandparent gift that we're doing this year. Have to get moving on that soon. I've also got a few other things here and there to finish up, and we also just decided yesterday that we're hosting the hubby's family for a Christmas Eve party at our house. With 17 people attending, it will be the most we've had here since we moved in, so I hope we can pull it off! If there are any good appetizer/small bite food recipes that you love, send them my way!

And if you're so inclined, we'd love some prayers for healing in our family. Like I said earlier, the hubby's sick, W has the end of a cold (probably where the hubby got it from) and E, well, I can't ever tell because he doesn't slow down even when he's sick, so he may be fine. I don't know. :) I'm just hoping I don't get anything because Moms don't get a day off to stay in bed and recover!