Night at the Museum

Go see this movie! I just saw it on the IMAX at the Irvine Spectrum and I thought it was fantastic! It certainly encourages you to go to museums like this one and to learn more about all that they display!

Fun Gifts

I received some fun things this Christmas, so I thought I put them out there with a great big, "Thank You".

In my stocking was this fun book from Tim: I Hate Other People's Kids. Before you recoil in horror, I'll bet some of the examples strike a chord. Here's a couple - "All of us, with or without children, have had that sinking feeling come over us when we see kids sitting in a movie theater, because we know there will be noise and popcorn thrown... And who hasn't gone shopping and turned down an aisle that looks like monkeys attacked it..."

Actually, considering I volunteer to work with kids at church at least twice a month, perhaps I shouldn't say I found this book funny. If you want the truth I find it very hard to believe that anyone could hate these angelic beings! I really do enjoy and love the kid's at Revolution... it's OTHER people's kids that drive me nuts!

My girls know me well and got me a Starbucks card and an It's a Grind card!!

My sister also lavished me with gift cards for Chipotle (my favorite) and the Corner Bakery (my other favorite).

My mom went overboard as usual and bought a calendar, a piece for my Precious Moments Nativity (somewhat ironically, it's a chicken), a beautiful, thick suede jacket, a cookbook, warm socks (I practice "safe socks" in bed so I don't shock Tim into the next room), a really cute snowman Christmas decoration for my walls, and other things I'm sure I'm forgetting. All I know is that I was surrounded by a large pile!

My dad gave me an 8x10 of our famous family portrait, and an 80gb removable, portable hard drive! This way we can transfer files much easier.

Jenny bought this beautiful purse from one of my favorite ebay sellers. I have wanted a purse like this since I first saw one in March!

My Grandmother got me a really nice sweater that I love! I wore it today as a matter of fact.

Along the way were other gift cards (love those), baked goods, ornaments, and assorted fun things that made me feel very special this year.

Thanks everyone. I love you all!

We SURVIVED!

That's how it feels!

This Christmas season has been a blur of business. It feels like we got to enjoy so little of the season and never had time to just sit and revel in the wonderful things that make up this whole season of Christmas.

Revolution's Christmas play, The Navity, really spoke to me in that its point was missing Jesus. Not only do I feel that I missed out on the joy, I know I missed out on the reason for all this nuttiness.

Next year will be different... I promise... really...

That being said, here are some highlights from yesterday. We spent the day at my parents. It was very nice not to be running around to a million different places. It was fun seeing Josh and Malia on her first Christmas and his second. Like all one-year-olds, the packaging was far more interesting than the gifts. He did end up playing with some of his toys, but it was all so overwhelming... I can relate!


Notice the shirt... Christmas present from Tim. He bought it at Disney Vault, which is an amazing place to buy really cool Disney stuff.

My dad started a great tradition several years ago. He buys a very special BIG gift for the girls and then sends them "clue" letters (I use the word "clue" in the loosest of terms.) If, after five letters, they are able to guess on Christmas day what their present is, he rewards them with $5. Both guessed correctly this year!!

Regan got a Wii!
Chandler got this beautiful bike with a cheeta print seat! So Chandler!

Christmas Decorations

I was taking pictures today of my Christmas decorations so that next year I will remember what I did and where everything goes.

So I thought I'd post the pictures here since I can! The last one is of the girls' tree in their room.

Also notice, the sink in our bathroom is in one piece and it actually works now!!!

Christmas Preparations

I'm... almost... done... (when do the stores open in the morning?)... Can we hold Christmas off for just a couple of days to give me more time?

Friends

I admit it. I am awful at being a friend. I think I have a goodly number of friends, and I always want more, but I am not good at it.

I don't call often, or email, or follow up when people contact me. I try my best to remember birthdays and important milestones of those around me, but I usually fail at this as well.

I don't have any really good excuses. Or maybe all I have are excuses, it's just that they are lame. "I don't have time... "(that one is getting REALLY old). "I don't want to bother them." " I don't know what to say after so long..." "Maybe they have forgotten all about me..."

This blog has been a great way to connect with people I don't normally connect with. I have it on good authority that my Aunt Oris in Fallbrook reads my blog. I haven't seen her since I was a little girl. How cool that she can peek into her great-niece's life! My niece in Alaska checks in here occasionally. Friends from my old church check here to see what's going on. My best friend from elementary school contacted me because of this blog. She lives in Texas (I think) and we are in the process of catching up.

Tonight however, the news generated was not so good. My best friend from high school contacted me after reading my blog, with some sad news. He and his wife are splitting up. I am shocked and saddened beyond words. It's been a very long time since we've been in contact, but you just assume people stay the way you last saw them. You know, they freeze until you see them again. Apparently, life went on for them, and it didn't go so well. I don't know any details, but I hope to see him soon.

What an awful friend I am!

I just figured he forgot all about me and I didn't want to bother him. Maybe he would have liked to talk. Maybe I could have been a good listener. Maybe I could have been there for him in his time of need. Maybe I've been going about my life and not taking even a few moments to check in with those I call my friends.

Maybe that will be my New Year's Resolution. Maybe I'll resolve to be a better friend. Scratch that, I'll resolve to be a REAL friend.

4 x 4 weekend

This weekend was so busy with so many fun activities. (See my previous post!) But it was great hanging out with a lot of fun people.

We spent time this weekend with our two 4 x 4 groups. These groups of four couples meeting once a month for four months are overlapping because it took our last group until now to finish. Jenny hosted the event with breakfast at Gourmet Pie and then a scavenger hunt.

It was girls against the boys. We not only had to procure certain items (the cough drop and the Christmas cookie were the hardest) but we had to fill in blanks in Christmas carols and take photos in front of certain things.

Funniest story was that of John Newman asking a woman's help with the Christmas carol challenge. From a rolled down window of the car, he asked the unsuspecting victim, "Do you know 'All I Want for Christmas is You'?" Apparently this pseudo pick-up line didn't work so well as she immediately rolled up her window.

We then joined our new 4 x 4 group on Sunday night for dinner and a boat cruise around Naples in Robert Gull's aunt's enclosed, heated boat. It was so cool listening to Christmas carols and seeing all the beautiful multi-million dollar homes all decked out for Christmas. We decided we all wanted to go in on one particular home for sale on the point of Treasure Island (price tag $9 million but cheap compared to its original asking price of $13 million). But after doing the math, we decided that even if the four couples all went in together AND put our children to work, we still couldn't afford it!

I have included some photos here from our first 4 x 4's scavenger hunt. No photos unfortunately from the second group, since I don't have any... yet.

Too busy

It's a familiar refrain, but it is starting to get to me. As I check my commitment level, I think I'm O.K. there. It's the fun events. And I don't want to miss a single one. I'm feeling so overwhelmed, I am quickly becoming paralyzed by the desire to do everything at once, so I actually want to do nothing.

But I can't do nothing and I can't do everything. I can do one step at a time. I feel awful everytime I get a phone call I can't return or an invitation I have to say no to. I so want to enjoy my time on earth and not feel like I'm being dragged through my life holding on by my fingernails.

Where to start? I have no idea. Do I not hang out with friends? Do I not see my family? Do I not do fun holiday activities? Do I stop homeschooling? Do I stop caring about the quality of our homeschool day? Do I not keep my kids involved in activities that they love? Do I not volunteer so much time for church stuff? Do I give up every house project and leave them unfinished? Should I leave our bathroom sink in pieces like it is as I type? or should I see about getting it repaired? See the problem? I don't want to give up a single thing.

So... last night I had a breakdown. It occurred when we were installing our new dishwasher (love the dishwasher!!!!). After two trips to Home Depot we thought we had it all figured out. Loaded the dishers, pushed the start button... no water. We figured out quickly that we had forgotten to turn on the water valve. After we turned that on... still no water. That's when I fell into hopelessness.

I think God must have taken pity on me, because when Tim tried it again, IT WORKED!!!

Thanks God. He says He will not give us more than we could handle. The water thing... more than I could handle.

Now I need an exta large portion of peace... and sleep.

New version of photo

O.K. My dad can't stand it. I put up the raw, unretouched, uncropped, uncolor-corrected version of my favorite family pics. I guess I was in such a hurry to get it up on my blog. So he sent me new, better ones. I love them a lot! Here they are: