Family Christmas pics

Tim's specially wrapped gift- who knew duct tape would make such great wrapping tape :o)

Grandma Martha- I think she enjoyed watching the Taboo game

Chris and Tim

Family Picture

Christmas Games

Chris playing Rock Band

Tim and Mykah playing Rock Band

Jae giving clues :o)

Cory giving the clues- I am trying to guess the word

Jae giving clues- I am waiting patiently to buzz her :o)

Christmas Pictures

Mykah and Cadence

Cory and me with Cadence

Cadence opening gifts

Isn't she just the cutest little thing?

She thinks she is pretty cool now that she is standing and walking along things :o)

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas!!! We celebrated family Christmas on Saturday so that everyone could be there- what a great day! It was our little niece's first Christmas and fortunately, she has a fondness for ripping paper. She did pretty well opening her presents although I think her favorite part was the bows :o) After the spectacular Christmas dinner, we played Taboo for a little bit. That is such a funny game- very important lesson learned though.... If I am ever on a game show where someone gives clues & someone guesses, I am not the person to give the clues!

Cory and I got new cell phones with our gift cards- I forgot how much fun it was to move all that information around :o) Totally worth it though! I tried to switch to a "normal" phone but I just braved the mall today to switch it for a Blackberry curve. Apparently lots of people go to the mall on the day after Christmas- it was nuts at the mall!

In other news, last month Cory got the promotion he was going for. He is now a lead at Comcast and seems to really likes the change. I have been having a great time using the new mixer and now that I have a new cookie cookbook, the possibilities are endless!!! I am currently reading Multiple Blessings (Jon & Kate Gosselin) and Three Cups of Tea. I couldn't decide which one to start with so I am just reading them both :o)

Thank you all for the Christmas cards- I love getting them in the mail! I kind of forgot to send any out this year but I promise a great one next Christmas! I hope you all had a great Christmas and wish you a safe, happy New Year!!!

Happy Turkey Day!

What a great day!!! Thanks to Steve and Paula for letting us take over the house for the day and making an amazing meal (and the days of leftovers)!!! There is just something about a day spent with family that makes everything right. I am thankful to have so many wonderful people in my life- I hope everyone is having a great holiday!!!

Grrrrr...

Today is taking a big nosedive into the ground. Not only was I seriously disappointed by 2 "friends" this week, now the man downstairs is playing his music (I think it may be guitar hero) so loud that I can hardly hear my show, my feet are vibrating on top of the coffee table, and the dog keeps staring at the floor. People are making me very angry today! Plus, Saturn sucks! Please do not ever buy a Saturn.... ever!!! Forget the horrible buying experience where they tried to change the price of the car- after I had possession of it. Now they want to charge me to fix the gas gauge that keeps breaking... they refuse to replace the same thing they did about 2 years ago (that was covered under warranty). Now they want to charge me to do something with the computer!!! I have learned how to drive my car without the gas gauge so I refuse to pay for it when they could totally replace the indicator again. And then, to top it off, they scratched my car while it was in and refuse to fix it. I understand questioning it a little but now my crappy car just got crappier with their scratches and they can't even take ownership. I emailed GM customer service and got a great reply that basically called me a liar. To top that, the customer service rep then emailed me today (the "liar, liar, pants on fire" email was a week ago) to say that she hasn't heard from me and wants to make sure everything is okay... so I explained to her why I was not okay. Please just trust me and never buy a Saturn!!! Crappy company, crappy cars, crappy business practices!

Everything happens for a reason... just believe

Today has been a great day celebrating the art of relaxation. I have watched a couple of movies, read a few chapters in my book, and now I am playing on the computer. I have added a list to the side of the blog to track the books that I am reading (Thanks for the idea Tiff!). I have been trading books with some of the people on my team at work so I have been reading a lot more than usual.
Our world has been pleasantly unexciting lately. We learned that Emma likes to watch Cesar whisper to the dogs- she stands right in front of the TV with her nose almost on the screen. I am not sure if she likes him or just his pack but either way, she enjoys the show. It sounds like they are getting the apartment above us ready for new tenants- I cannot wait to get a house! I took my car in to the dealership for an oil change and now my car is scratched up & of course they deny that they did anything to scratch it- I hate Saturn. Please don't ever buy a Saturn!
I am a little jealous that Iowa got snow before I did but there is a chance we will get some tomorrow night. Emma and I are a little excited :o)
I have been able to catch up with some old friends & classmates on Facebook- a lot of fun to see how everyone is doing almost 14 years after graduation. It is interesting to see how many people have stayed close to Iowa Falls. It is a little sad though as quite a few people are already divorced and 2 of my classmates have already died. I stand by my favorite saying- "Everything happens for a reason...just believe". I may not know why my life has been this journey but I will celebrate it and the people in it, knowing there is a reason for it all.
Not much else in our bubble right now but I am ok with that right now :o)

My Day

Time to clean out the thoughts...

*Why do people that drive ginormous vehicles feel it necessary to pull all the way up to the road when they are turning left so that people in environmentally friendly cars cannot see around them to turn right? Seriously, if you have a step ladder (or any other help to get into your vehicle) you can afford to stop back a few feet since you can see over everything and let the rest of us get on with our day!

*School is back in session across the street from our apartment complex- 7:45am...grrrrrrrr. Just because you are dropping your small child off does not give you the right to violate every traffic law!!! They actually make a drop off area in front of the school if you decided not to have your child run across the road by himself.

*Why is it so hard for some people to be nice to others??? If you drive an obnoxiously loud motorcycle, can't you drive it up and down the street again and again before 9:00pm? Perhaps I am getting old but I think a good rule of thumb is that if it is dark out, you should be nice to those around you and be a little more quiet.

*If you are unable to identify where the shopping cart needs to be returned to, perhaps you shouldn't take it out to the parking lot! Just because some lazy foo-foo head left their cart in the parking space next to you DOES NOT change the correct location to return the cart!!!

* Why do people chew with their mouths open (and please understand that talking with food in the mouth falls into this category)? I think that is one of the great designs of the human body that the lips can be squished together when eating!!!


Now on to things I love:

*Cory's natural mohawk
*Emma's snuggles
*My memories & pictures
*Goofy kids songs
*Catching up with old friends
*Movies with happy endings
*Movie theater butter popcorn with plain M&Ms
*Watching silly movies can make me happy again (Yeah for Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporuim!!!)
*Crisp fall air/sweatshirt weather/snuggle under a blanket weather
*Watching Emma play in the snow
*Thinking about the house that we are going to buy in a few months
*Dreaming about what our children will be like
*My family- although we are spread out, it is nice to only be a few clicks away :o)

Woo-hoo for smiles!!!!

Random pictures from my trip

Olivia hanging out on Grandpa & Grandma's swing


Jack's first attempt at our self portrait


Much better!!!


Michael, Friday night at the football game. I had to trick him into this little bit of a smile- it was a boring game


Carter watching his big brothers playing flag football- or he may have been playing with the Cheerios in his tray :o)

Flag Football Saturday

On Saturday morning, the older boys had flag football games. Michael played first- he is really good at football although that is really not a surprise since he seems to be good at most athletic things. After his game, he helped Jason coach Jack's team. Jack will probably not be the Olympic athlete in the family but he certainly has fun while he is on the field. Both games were fun to watch though and I am glad I was able to get back to see them!

Jack's Game- he is in a black vest with red flags- usually pretty close to Jason





Michael's game- he is in an orange vest over a tank top with jeans

Olivia's Cheerleading Debut

Olivia took a cheerleading clinic and they were performing at the Friday high school football game. They had 3 cheers and rotated the lines between cheers so each group of girls had the chance to be in front. It was cute and I am glad to know there might be another cheerleader in the family! :o)

Jack's "Breaking Show"

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While we were at Grandpa & Grandma's house on Friday, Jack found a small stick and was breaking it. He decided to get a new stick from the front yard and wanted me to take pictures of his "Breaking Things Show". He started with the breaking-over-the-knee method which had previously worked. When that failed, he tried the grunting-while-breaking-over-the-knee method. Again, the stick was still in one piece so he went for the traditional breaking-by-hand method but again had to adjust his grip- the stick was very stubborn! He decided to use the table to help get it started and when that didn't work, he went for the shoe method. After a short intermission in the show (where Aunt Melissa broke the stick part way) Jack finished the show with a grand karate chop! The next show included breaking leaves :o) The first one was breaking it with his teeth (yes, he has a leaf in his mouth) and the next trick was to break the a leaf with his nose :o)

Kitchen Helpers

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Michael, Olivia, and Jack love to help in the kitchen. These pictures are from the day we were taking a lunch with us so they got to make the sandwiches. The first ones are from making their own, showing them off, and then making the rest of the sandwiches for us. While I typically have a rule that I don't like to eat things kids make, they did a great job and the sandwiches were delicious.
We also made Rice Krispie treats one night which is a great lesson not only for kitchen rules but also great practice for the math lessons they were all learning. We practiced addition, subtraction, and fractions- who knew they could be so educational. What did Aunt Melissa learn you ask? Why it is important to butter the waxed paper before you try to use it to press the hot, gooey mess into the pan!
For my last full day there, we made Halloween cupcakes- white cupcakes with orange and black inside, white frosting, and monster sprinkles on top. Jack and Olivia were pretty excited to break eggs and Michael got to use the mixer. After they were mixed, Michael helped me scoop the batter into the Halloween baking cups and then the three of them sat in the kitchen to watch the timer.... for 23 minutes each pan :o) The second pan was more exciting because I got a second by second countdown of the timer! Once they cooled off, Jack and Olivia frosted them (with a little help from me) and then applied the monster sprinkles that Jack picked out. If you remove the mess that I made trying to clean the mixer off and the 1/4 of the bottle of sprinkles that Jack knocked all over the counter and the floor, we did a great job!!! Everyone loved them after dinner and Jack was pleased that Grandpa John ate the cupcake that he had made just for him. It was a lot of fun to be in the kitchen with the kids! :o)

More pictures from yesterday