It's C..C...C...Cold....

So our heater went out yesterday.....yep, during the stretch of coldest nights we've seen this winter.

I got up yesterday morning for work and turned on the heater...about 20 minutes later I realized I wasn't hearing anything...so I tried again, nothing.

Then I thought "well, forget the auto, let's try just turning it on"

Oh the blower turned on, and I thought "yes!!"

Nope...I walked by a vent and it was the same air blowing out that was being sucked in....

So...now we wait. The repair guy is coming today to check it out. Luckily we renewed our home warranty so this is covered, which brings me to share what I hope the repairman will say today when he comes...

"I'm awful sorry Miss, but this heater's busted. You're gonna need a new one...and since the entire A/C unit is connected you'll need a new one of those too."

(I don't know why the repairman has a Southern Gentleman's accent)

I know, you're thinking "you're crazy, do you know how much that would cost??" And my answer is yes, I do...hence the reason we renewed the home warranty...for THIS exact reason. See, our A/C and heating unit is the ORIGINAL one from when the house was built, almost 40 years ago. This thing has no safety mechanisms, it is DEFINITELY not EnergyStar approved and, well, it's ugly. Heck, there's a pipe/line for something (I think it's the gas) that's being held together with vice grips that are just sticking up from the connection...and when we moved in we had an expert come and fix the REALLY dangerous broken parts, and the sad part...he left the vice grips, said that was the best way to solve that particular problem.

So, here I sit...with cold hands...waiting for the heater repairman to come and decide our fate.

We've been eyeing up those portable heaters at Costco over the past few weeks for The Man Cave, and I think we may be getting one sooner than we thought.

I hope you're having a nice warm day wherever you are....

Merry Christmas

One of Mommy's gifts....last Christmas Greg gave me the Candy Cane charm, this Christmas he got me the "little blue box" charm. And yes, it did in fact come wrapped in a little blue box!!

Another present for Mommy....CORELLE!!!! The Crate and Barrel stuff we have cracks WAY too easily, and since it's made of that ceramic stuff, it isn't very microwave friendly. I wasn't even sure they still made good old-fashioned white Corelle!!

The kids playing with their new loot from Santa...Freddie loved all the noise making toys he could bang on and Karyl loved the dollhouse (she didn't know it was used and why should she??)

Ah yes, and then there was Uncle David...this was wrapped in Princess wrapping paper and Karyl kept thinking it was one of her presents...we tried to explain that Santa was teasing Uncle David but she didn't get it...

Anyways, we got him one of those Havoc Heli remote controlled things...Greg took his and they were in the front yard for who knows how long with those things. I wonder if David's looks better than Greg's??

One tired girl on Christmas night...she is snuggled up with her new Diego pillow (which she asked Santa for) and the blanket her Aunties made her...it has princesses on one side and the side you can see is all fabric printed pictures of her...it was AWESOME!!!

Grandma M and Freddie...he loved the books, but seemed to enjoy the crinkly wrapping paper just as much. And he doesn't look like he minds snuggling with grandma either!!

Little K checking out her new books from Grandma M, she LOVES her some good books!!

Does this really need a caption?? Uncle David and Daddy testing out Daddy and Karyl's Christmas presents from Uncle David...I think I know who is going to quickly become a runner for favorite uncle as the kids get older....

In his defense though, he did call and ask me a few weeks ago if he could get this for Karyl, so it was Mommy approved.

These things even had springloading action...after you shot the 2 rounds in the chamber and opened it up, the shells popped out like the real thing....oh Nerf knock-off, what will you think of next??

Merry Christmas Daddy!!! I think cheap Nerf imitation firearms are becoming a tradition in our family...

"Alright Karyl, here's how you load and cock this bad boy..." Now point it at your daddy and pull the trigger...

The boys proceeded to take the remote control helicopter and the guns outside and you can imagine what they were doing....it was the grade school equivalent of Skeet shooting!! That of course ended with the helicopter on the roof of my mom's apartment building and the boys taping together whatever long stick items my mom had (a broom, duster and something else) and leaning dangerously over a second story balcony to reclaim the rogue electronic.

Ah, Merry Christmas!!!

We also have pictures from Greg's family but they are on a different card and I haven't yet figured out how to get them on my work computer...I will work on that =)

A mini photo shoot

Grandpa B resisted the urge to rid his lawn of the blanket of leaves it had accumulated so that we could have a little photo shoot with the "fall" backdrop.

Freddie was doing great and just enjoying the leaves until he became the unfortunate victim of a senseless leaf attack...after he was picked up and calmed down he refused to sit back down on the grass.

Hopefully he's not traumatized for life...

(Sorry Auntie Kendra, but it was too funny to resist posting)

Something for everyone on Saturday

Saturday morning was spent in the man's comfort zone...Lowe's

Saturday morning Greg and Karyl headed to the local Lowe's to make a "Pet Treat Keeper." Karyl was excited not just to get to build something at "the building store" but that they were meeting yet another one of her "boyfriends"...JP and his dad met them at Lowe's and they had a great time!! Here are some pictures of them at Lowe's....

And Saturday afternoon/night was spent in the woman's comfort Zone.....the kitchen

This is only about half way through the baking bonanza!! For more details and pictures of everything, check out my Life After Diapers blog ----> The link is on the right hand side.

I know, you wish you could stick your hands through the computer screen and eat some of that, don't you ??

Boat Parade

Wednesday night we had a wonderful time riding in the Boat Parade down around Balboa. Since Freddie was still a little snotty, Grandma B offered to stay home with him and from what I heard, he had a great time staying nice and warm inside!Grandpa, Greg, Karyl and I got to ride around and see all the lights and have fun talking with some of Greg's old friends. We had so much fun talking to everyone and just enjoying the night out in the fresh air and watching Karyl take it all in.

Our host was kind enough to indulge Karyl and let her drive the boat for a little while until we got in line with the rest of the parade and she LOVED it!!!

There were TONS of light-covered boats ranging in size from tiny taxi-type boats to the kind of yachts you have company parties on....

Karyl even had a friend her age there to talk to and goof off with...although they always seemed to be fighting over the same thing...a place to sit, a piece of the boat to play with...who knew there was competition at such a young age!!

I also had some fun earlier in the day playing with the different settings on my camera and decided to try some black and white photography...man, our kids look cute even in black and white!!!

This past week

Before it started pouring this past week we had a few fun moments...

Greg was on Jury Duty from Monday - Thursday so he was home at a decent time all week, what a treat!! So, Wednesday I came home around 5:30 from a playdate and this is what I saw...Greg putting up lights on our palm trees!! Once he was done and we stepped back to look I was amazed, it looked AWESOME!!

(Sorry no pics of the front of the house...it's been too rainy to get a good picture of the trees with the lights!!)

Wednesday night we also dug out our Christmas Tree (this year we decided to save some money and use our fake tree...) and we broke out our wooden ornaments from last year and let Karyl have fun putting them all on. We also put our Angel tree topper on...I don't know how we ended up buying this hideous thing, I think it might have been something purchased during a day after Christmas Target shopping spree at 90% off...

Anyways, I think this thing is just about as ugly as decorations can get and the other night Karyl came up to me and said "Mommy, look up there, at the tree..." and I looked, and the picture above is what I saw!! The Angel was trying to jump off the top of the tree!!

Last Saturday, Uncle David make his weekly trip to our place and while he was there the boys set up the dartboard in what we have dubbed "The Man Cave" (AKA the garage) and some of our friends came over to test it out. Mate and Karyl had fun chasing after David and the styrofoam circle from the dartboard padding. It's a good thing Uncle David is young with lots of energy, because our kids and everyone else's kids LOVE him!!

Then, on Friday afternoon I was trying to fold our laundry (I had about 4 baskets full of clean laundry that needed to be folded and put away) so I had Freddie playing in the pack and play while I worked...and Karyl asked if she could get in there with him. I figured sure, why not, and put her in. Those two spent a good half hour laughing at each other and playing together. It was really cute to watch, and even more fun to listen to!!

And last but not least...doesn't that look yummy?? Check out my other blog (Life After Diapers) and see what other sugary naughtiness I have been up to lately!!

Something to truly be thankful for...

Last night we were invited to a "party" at the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana hosted by Fredrick's Neurosurgeon, Dr. Muhonen, and his partner. Apparently, all the children that have surgery during the year are invited to this end of the year get together with food and toys and lots of fun.

When we got there we waited in line outside the building and couldn't believe how much the line continued to grow!! It's unbelievable to think how many children these 2 doctors have helped just in 2009!!

Once we got inside and had our name tags and tickets we headed to the food...Taco Bell (Greg purposefully didn't eat much that morning to save room for dinner!!) and luckily we didn't have to wait too long. We ate dinner and then decided to head over to the rest of the building and see what was going on.

When we first came in and registered we were given 2 tickets, one was for Freddie (the patients) to pick a toy, and one was a sibling gift ticket for Karyl. We thought it was cute and figured they would get some little cute toy...well, we got in line and as we rounded the corner we couldn't believe our eyes...it looked like someone had just raided the toy section at Target and brought one (or two) of everything!! We were taken into the room and Dr. Muhonen's wife (also Dr. Muhonen...) took Karyl to one side to pick out a toy, while Freddie and Daddy went to the toy section for the patients and the volunteers took one look at him and said they had the perfect toy...they dug into the pile and pulled out a HUGE yellow ride-on dump truck.

I couldn't help myself...I started tearing up. I just felt so thankful for not only Dr. Muhonen, but for how special these people were making all these kids feel. Even though Freddie is too young to remember any of this, he was being treated like he truly was someone special.

Karyl got to run around and touch and play with everything...she was in HEAVEN!!! She played in sand and threw balls around a "Gravity Well"...and she and Daddy even got to check out a Zamboni close up!! While I sat and fed Freddie, they went into the Science of Hockey area and checked out all things Hockey. I have no pictures, but they had a blast!!

Greg also walked around with Freddie for a while and let him look at things...

Then, before we left we headed back to the front to hopefully take a picture with Dr. Muhonen now that Freddie was full and calm, and he gladly obliged...twice...

After we took the first picture, he took a look at Freddie's head and laughed and told us that most doctors like to shape their patient's heads like bowling balls, but he prefers the more oblong shape; and then he took Freddie back and said, "here, take a picture of both our heads, they are the same shape..." and sure enough, he was right =)

What an amazing doctor, and what an amazing night. We felt so blessed to have been referred to his office. He truly is an amazing doctor and he did an amazing job with Freddie. He talked to us for a minute and told us that no offense, but he didn't want to see us back there next year. The party is only for the kids that have surgery and Freddie is one of a small percentage of his patients that had a one time problem. Most of his patients are kids in wheelchairs and ones with serious neurological problems, and it was hard to be there and not feel guilty for having 2 perfectly healthy children, but the kids there were so sweet and ALL the kids, whether walking or in wheelchairs, were having so much fun.

So, this Holiday season I am truly thankful for my family and for Dr. Muhonen for not only helping Freddie and fixing his head, but for his honest and caring demeanor. He truly makes you fell like your child is his #1 priority and that he will take care of them and make them better...and he did!! We are so blessed to have both our children, but we truly feel blessed to have Freddie and to have him healthy and growing just fine. Things could have gone so horribly wrong if our pediatrician hadn't caught the problem and referred us to the surgeon and regardless of what this ends up costing us, it was worth every penny, every sacrifice we will have to make to pay for his surgery because now he is 100% healthy, and when you have healthy and happy children, you truly don't need anything else.

Oh the Holidays....

Well, I know this is kind of late, but here is a piece of that yummy pumpkin cheesecake I attempted for Thanksgiving...sorry, the picture came out a little blurry but it still looks pretty!!!

This past Saturday we took the truck and headed down to OC to help Greg's family get their Christmas Tree...and Karyl had a blast running around the lot looking at all the trees. She was asleep when we pulled up, and the second her eyes blinked open and she realized where we were she starting talking about all the things she was going to hang on the tree. Nothing gets past this girl, even when she first wakes up!!!

Then we took the tree back to their house and Karyl waited somewhat patiently while it got fixed and set up so she could start hanging things on it. This girl LOVES to decorate!!

And, here is a preview of our Christmas Card this year. Rather than take a more recent picture and attempt to get everyone looking the same direction we decided to use this picture taken just a few days before Freddie's surgery. What a cute little family!!

It's that time of year...

Christmas is right around the corner, and I am VERY proud to say that we have already ordered and picked up our Christmas Cards for this year, and it's not even December yet!!!

I have them right here in front of me, and if you received one from us last year or you sent us one from your family, you'll be getting one this year.

However, if you would like one and don't think you're on our list, please email me your address and I will add you on...also, if you have moved in the last year please email me your new address so we can correct our list!!

And don't be afraid to send me your address even if you're 98% positive we have it, it never hurts to check and it makes us feel special!!

Happy Holidays and have a great weekend!!

socalcutie82@hotmail.com

And no, I don't want your forwarded message about how special a woman I am, or about how I can make money sitting at home...so please don't add my email address to your mass forwarding list. I don't clutter up your inbox with random junk and I would appreciate it if you gave me the same respect =)

Happy Turkey Day!!

Last night we were driving around Corona after dropping off my books at the Library and discovering it had closed early and we heard the Adam Sandler Turkey Song. I don't know how many of you find it even slightly amusing, or have even heard it, but to me when I hear it on the radio it is like an official declaration that the Holiday Season has begun.

Now I can't wait to start hearing his Hanukkah song on the radio....

Happy Holidays!!

This past week....

So a lot has been going on this past week in our home...lots of digging, a Saturday Lowe's trip and just good old family fun!! Here is a photo journey through our past week =)

Saturday Uncle David came over and I ditched work for an hour to go with Karyl to Lowe's. This week they made a Snowman gift card/photo frame. We had a lot of fun and even I got to do some building this week. I love the look on my face in this picture!!

This weekend I also worked on re-doing all the sticks for our Primary that we use to pick volunteers for Singing Time and Sharing Time. I had to dip the ends of these silly sticks more times than I cared to count. This little project was a lot more work than I had expected, but still kind of fun nonetheless!!!

Then while I was dipping and crafting, Greg and Uncle David were out in the backyard digging trenches for all the drainage and water/electrical lines in the backyard. This is an interesting way to see your backyard, with no cement - just dirt. Hopefully it doesn't rain too much before they get it cemented or we'll have our very own mud pit back there.

It looks really weird back there with the pool and spa just kind of sitting there with no cement around them. In case you're interested, they tore out the cement because if you remember, the genius that originally did the yard had it badly sloped from the pool down to the house, and when it rained all the water ran towards and collected against the house...and because of the slope we couldn't put any furniture out there. Well, Greg has decided to get creative and redesign our otherwise annoying backyard...here's the plan...

Around the pool and spa will be a step down to the FLAT cement against the house. Next to the pool (where David is) will be a raised cement patio with a woodburning firepit sunk in and a built in BBQ against the wall next to the planter. Where the patio ends there will be either grass or pavers (we're not sure yet) and then the step down to the cement against the house.

If you can't picture it, I don't blame you...next time you see Greg ask him to draw you a diagram..he's pretty good at it!!!

So, our backyard is getting there...the last thing is whether or not we will just put up another cover or a deck next to the house. They are going to put the posts in, but we can decide later. The deck would be AWESOME but Greg wants to make sure that the view will be worth it...and that we won't have our friends climbing all over our roof and jumping off into the pool...

I'm so thankful to have such a talented and creative husband....when we first moved in and he tried to describe what he wanted to do with the house I didn't quite get his vision, and I kind of thought it sounded weird. No it all makes sense and he thought of it all from scratch!! And I am thankful for an amazingly hardworking brother who is willing to come over and sweat away his days off in our backyard!!

We can't wait to have all of you over for a BBQ and swimming this coming summer!!!

New Moon

Yep, I saw it this past weekend....I loved it.

Thanks to Greg's sisters that went with me the first time...

and an even bigger thanks to Greg for going with me the second time and for at least pretending to enjoy it.