The Holidays 2012

Ta-Da!!! Can you believe it....I'm back!!!

It's been 6 months since I blogged, and while I have many, MANY great and amazing excuses I won't bore you with all of them (at least not right now!!). There have been sick kids, and adults, then kids again...car problems like nothing else and now here we stand - the beginning of a New Year and I am going to attempt to be better at lots of things, including blogging!!

We have been putting lots of vlogs up on YouTube though, so if you're really interested in seeing what we've been up to, hop on over to our YouTube Channel and check out our videos there.

So, here's how the Christmas Season went down at our house!! For Christmas Eve we had a Who Feast with all the trimmings.

The Feast included the Rare Who Beast...

Along with Grinch Milk, Who Hash and Who Pudding!!

Then Christmas Morning came and things went a little crazy!!

Santa left the kids notes and his reindeer make quick work of the carrots the kids left for them!!

Then of course the kids tore into the presents faster than I could take a picture...this was what was left when I got around to grabbing the camera!!

Then we headed down to Orange County to celebrate with Greg's Family 

Nicole figured out that there was good stuff inside those wrapped packages!!

And since Freddie was an old pro, he was unwrapping and leaving a trail of wrapping paper destruction... 

He was pretty bummed when he got to the end and kept saying "I want more presents to unwrap!"
Then he started offering to help everyone else with their presents....

After the kids grudgingly went to bed for the night we all woke up semi-ready for the day after Christmas and the kids didn't waste any time playing with all their new toys.

Nicole was never seen with less than 2 Little People in her  hands the entire day...even when she was trying to sneak up the stairs!!

Seriously, what is it with kids and stairs??? Poor Freddie doesn't like loud noises, and the trash truck was making enough noise he had to come run inside!

See...here he is running for the house when he saw the trash truck coming!! 

Karyl on the other hand has no problems with loud noises and even went up and gave the garbage guy a little Christmas Present!!

Then Daddy and Nicole just took a few minutes to be cute for the camera...sorry for the multiple Nicole pictures, but when you're child #3 your parents don't take nearly as many pictures of you as they did the children before you. It's not that we don't care about you as much as the kids who came before, it's just that we have less and less time.....

Ahhhh....

What Mom?? 

Yeah, I'm cute...I know it...
And yes, that IS a Little People Riddler from Batman...I know, best toy ever, right?!?!

 And then there's Freddie...

Oh Freddie....how you haven't been the cause of a late night visit to the ER yet is beyond me. This picture was taken second before he said "Mom, watch me jump..." and he jumped of a decent sized patio, purposefully landing on his knees.

And the oldest....our little mommy...Dear Karyl 

Every night before bed she HAS to get Martha dressed in her pajamas...and  some nights she insists that they match. Yep, they have matching PJs...down to the matching slippers.

It's just too much stinking cute for one picture...so I give you another one, closer up...

JANUARY 6, 2013

New year, new Primary Classes!!!

Freddie is now OFFICIALLY out of Nursery and is a Sunbeam. Thankfully we got him potty trained a few weeks ago. I have a fear that one of these days we will send a child to Sunbeams with a diaper. You laugh, but it's a possibility - both kids were potty trained RIGHT before they graduated Nursery. Karyl was just barely 3 years old and Freddie is almost 4. 

They insisted on a brother-sister picture. Of course, Karyl wouldn't let me do her hair that morning for church - at least she brushed it, right??

Freddie was a little apprehensive about Primary when I took him in because it sank in that the toys were gone and there wouldn't be any snacks - but some of his friends from Nursery thankfully graduated with him so he recognized Conner in his class and his friend Lila was sitting behind him, and once he realized that, everything was fine.

Nicole also had her 2nd time in Nursery. Even though it's in the middle of her nap time she did great and only managed to remove her shoes and have us on our hands and knees searching for them at the end. Things could be worse, right?? She just looks so tiny in there, but thankfully all the older and much larger kids (like Freddie) are gone and the little ones can have more room!

2012 was an interesting year...did I mention that The day after Christmas as we were getting ready to head home our starter died on the van?? Yep, that thing just refused to end 2012 on a high note. Who knows how many transmissions and weeks in the shop later we are starting out 2013 with a new starter, no transmission problems in a while and a hope that this will be our year of the van. I can only hope that this van gets us from point A to B with no troubles...in return I will promise to keep it filled with yummy gasoline and even wash it every now and then so she feels pretty.

Happy New Year and here's to a year of fun, new experiences and adventures!!

So much fun, so little time

So much has happened in 2012 that I haven't even had a chance to sit down and blog about!!! I am finally sorting through pictures and finding time (making time) to get it all up on here for us to remember, and for you to see!! Since I am going to go back and post everything dated when it happened, you won't find it unless you look back at older posts, and let's face it, no one wants to go digging around here...so I'm going to make it easy!! As I post older stories, I will leave a short title/description that will be hyperlinked below. What does that mean?? It means you can click on the title or description below and it will take you right to the post....

You're Welcome

Here are the posts I have been able to do....

Karyl's Locks of Love Hair Donation

Freddie's 3rd Birthday

As I get more done I will edit this and add the links so you can check them out!!

Our Weekend in Sacramento

This past weekend 3 of the 5 of us headed up to Sacramento for the California Trucking Association's Truck "Roadeo" State Finals. Greg, Nicole and I jumped on a plane with a few other FedEx guys Saturday morning.

Nicole was amazing through the whole flight, but I was very thankful it was only a little over an hour to our destination...she does NOT like to sit in one place!!!

One smile and she had every male and female stewardess in love with her...we even got two pairs of wings for her since it was her first time (one for her to play with and one for her baby book!)

She LOVED playing with the bags of animal crackers they were handing out, they kept her entertained for a while - and luckily she didn't destroy the contents of the package too much in the process! We booked a window and an aisle seat for the flight and luckily no one decided to sit between us so we had plenty of room!

Once we arrived we picked up our rental car (it's in a picture down below and I have to say, I really like driving it!!) and headed to the large parking lot where the Northern Regional competition was taking place Saturday afternoon so the guys could see the area and we could see where everything was. Then we went to dinner at Guy Fieri's Restaurant called Tex Wasabi. It was a BBQ seafood place. Despite not having a nap yet, Nicole was a champ and sat in a high chair, gnawed on some chopsticks and just charmed every waitress in that place!

The guys were a blast to hang out with, and real sports for letting "the wife and kid" tag along. We laughed a lot, learned what Donkey Sauce was and watched those guys eat an unhealthy amount of meat and sushi. I had a Cobb Salad with the shrimp left off...I was totally no fun! One of the guys ordered "Jackass Rolls" (seriously...they even came with Donkey Sauce) and on the side of his plate was some Wasabi...Oh the Cars 2 jokes that started from there...it didn't hurt that everyone but Greg and I was already tipsy from cocktail hour at the bar!! 

Then we all headed to Old Town Sacramento and walked along the river and checked out the shops and all that was there. It was an interesting experience because there were tons of weirdos...and a school was having their prom nearby, so lots of girls in slutty dresses and heels that even Lady Gaga would roll her eyes at. Enough girls kept tripping on the boards that we started counting and placing bets as to which girls would trip and fall as they came over the railroad tracks onto the boardwalk. Of course, it was the girls in the REALLY short dresses that had the ridiculous heels on...it made for good laughs.

This golden bridge is a real working draw bridge...unfortunately it never was used while we were there, but it was cool to see close up!!

The guys just relaxed and talked, checked out the river and we all had a good laugh when we saw what looked like what we called an "Occupy the River" camp below the bridge. A bunch of younger people with marijuana tattoos and dogs just sitting on the bank.

I have never been to a Joe's Crab Shack, but I hear it's something special...there were at least 100 people outside waiting to be called in and over the loudspeakers they were having raffles and singing...it was kinda weird.

There she is...the Versa. Thankfully they gave us a hatch back because I don't know how we would have gotten our stroller and luggage into anything else!! It was a fun little car to drive!!

And here are all the guys on Sunday at the competition, posing in front of a FedEx Truck...they decided to let go the fact that it was a Freight truck (they are all from Express).

There is Greg driving, he decided to try flatbed this year, but is at a disadvantage since he had never driven a flatbed before the regional competition and the guys at the state level drive them for a living. Look at how long that thing is!!!

Sunday night our plane was delayed until almost 9:00 p.m., and we were at the airport around 3:00 p.m. since we all headed over there after the competition. Everyone else with us got on the earlier flight that had been delayed until about 3:30 because they had no checked bags or kids...and we were stuck there until their plane went to Long Beach, turned around and came back, and since it was already delayed over 2 hours we had a long wait. On the plus side we got to see the Solar Eclipse from a prime spot in the airport where they had a glass wall and a sweet couple who let us borrow their special glasses. This picture was taken from behind the glasses. I didn't get there to see it and take a picture until after it had passed through the center...Greg saw it though in the middle. It was neat to see, so that helped make up for the delayed flight.

After looking at the eclipse we were walking back to wait for 2-1/2 more hours and we saw the FedEx plane outside....we wondered if we could jump on that plane to get home?!?

I also was reminded of how great it was to have a husband who works in the "airline" industry (FedEx is technically an airline)....his security badges for the airports down here let us skip a 45 minutes security wait at the Sacramento Airport....boy did some of the people give us dirty looks when we waltzed past them to the priority line!!

It was a great weekend, we had fun checking out the state capital and just hanging around with some great guys. We missed the kids though and were glad to be back home Sunday night.

NBA Freddie

Freddie has his last basketball game today...he looks so cute with all those other kids!

Lowe's

This morning I got to take the kids to Lowe's for the Kid's Clinic. Luckily it was a quick and easy protect and the kids are excited to draw on their new chalkboards! And don't worry...we got one for Nicole, she'll have to wait until she's older but she'll get to enjoy one in a year or so too!

Happy Saturday!

The Sweetest Thing

How can I say no when she wants to come cuddle in our bed?? You know you'd want this little bed buddy too....

Best buddies

These two are going to be best friends someday....

Happy Third Birthday Freddie!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Buddy!!!

We decorated his chair on the morning of his birthday with a Bubble Guppies theme that he loved!!

Then that night we took him to Red Robin for a real birthday dinner...He had a blast!!

Now for the party...

we decided to have everyone meet at Chuck E. Cheese the Saturday before his birthday (the 25th) and let the kids run around like wild creatures...Freddie was in HEAVEN!! Since I have this thing with making and decorating cupcakes and cakes, I decided to try something fun and new for his birthday and this was what we ended up with.

At the time I was slightly disappointed with the Lightning McQueen on the cake, but looking at the pictures now I think it looks, well, rather awesome!!! Freddie thought it was the coolest thing ever and even the adults thought it was pretty neat. That made me happy!

When it was time to blow out the candles and eat some cake we practically had to drag the kids back to the table, they were having so much fun playing games. Luckily we were able to get Freddie to stop and at least not cry while he blew out his candles and we sang. The minute we were done he went right back to his games.

Then later that night we went back to Grandma and Grandpas to do the one thing Freddie enjoyed more than Chuck E. Cheese - opening his presents.

He had a blast and Karyl just couldn't help herself, she had to find a way to weasel her way in and "help" him...I guess that's what big sisters are for, right??

No. this isn't a picture of Freddie...nor was it taken on his birthday...but it was taken the same weekend and since she's not in any other pictures consider it a little treat!!

I don't have a reason for posting this picture other than sharing that Freddie's Aunties had given him this cool Monster Truck card that had punch out trucks and a ramp to play with...and he played with those trucks until the cardboard they were printed on totally came apart. He loved it!!

Happy 3rd Birthday to our Big Little Guy -

I know everyone always makes a list of all the things their kid can do on their birthday, but he's old enough that I don't think we need to drag that on to here...so I'll just say that he amazes us everyday. Karyl is always trying to teach him something new, and he is constantly spitting out new things he's learned.  I learned just the other day that he knew all the numbers up to 20, I had no idea! He already knows all the letter sounds and has sounded out a few CVC words (CAT, DOG). It's amazing how quickly they go from little babies to big boys like this. Freddie, you're all boy...you have nothing but blood and testosterone flowing in your veins. But, despite the ER visits I'm sure we'll be having as you get older and the worry ulcers you'll give your mom, you and your dad are going to have SOOOO much fun doing all the man things and you'll be amazing at it all!!

We love you Buddy!!

Happy Birthday Freddie!

This is what Freddie woke up to this morning....he loved it!

Freddie's Birthday Weekend

Check out what our little man got to make at Lowe's this morning...they could not have had a better project for his birthday weekend!!

Karyl and her Locks of Love

Karyl's hair is long....REALLY long. Long enough that it gets food and other sticky things in it constantly and I'm kinda tired of trying to untangle Rapunzel's hair every morning.

SOOOOO...we talked about cutting it. Not just trimming it like we've done before, but cutting it. Not just cutting it, but cutting LOTS of it off and donating it to Locks of Love. 

I discussed it with Greg before bringing it up to Karyl and he was OK with it as long as she was. So I sat her down and told her what Locks of Love was and what would happen to her hair. I really thought she wasn't going to want to do it and that I'd have to somehow bribe/coerce/otherwise trick her into doing it, but she was totally cool with it. She absolutely LOVED the idea that another little girl will get to have hair that her mommy could brush and put curlers in and enjoy. So, once she was on board I called our good friend Claire who works at an absolutely adorable salon in San Juan Capistrano called W Salon Studio and we made a date to chop off get her hair cut.

That brings us to today!! We took lots of pictures of her hair before and headed over to the salon. Karyl had been looking forward to this for a while and was always asking when she was going to get to donate her hair. I have to admit, I was a little nervous. This is my first little girl...it took her 4 years to grow that beautiful head of blonde hair. I was worried about what she was going to look like with it short, would she still look like Karyl?? But I put on a happy face and we drive down there.

Once we were there everyone was so sweet and Claire made sure to tell everyone that Karyl was there to donate her hair. All the other stylists were so sweet and made sure to make her feel special and tell her how awesome she was for sharing her beautiful hair.

The time came...she climbed into the chair, ponytails were made, and the scissors came out.

She cut one ponytail...then the other...

Then she took Karyl over to have her hair washed and she finished cutting it and making it cute, and the end result was so much more amazing than I eve could have imagined!!

She LOVED it!! And it seriously made her look SO MUCH older!! It totally changed her look, but for the better. Before she was cute, now she was absolutely gorgeous - and all the stylists made sure to let her know how pretty she looked with her new haircut!!

Then we packed up the ponytails and headed back to send them in. Some little girl is going to fall in love with this hair!!

Then, a few months later we got the sweetest postcard from Locks of Love, thanking Karyl by name for her donation. It also explained what they did with the hair and why her donation was so important.  She LOVED it re-read that postcard tons of times. 

Overall, it was an amazing experience and she has already talked about growing her hair out again and doing it all over - except this time she asked me if I would do it too...I told her I would try. Anyone who knew me in my younger years knows that I've had long hair all my life and I'm finally seeing the merits of shorter, more manageable hair...so we'll see if I can stand to let it go long again. 

I'm so proud of her for her donation and for being so excited to serve others, people she will never know. That's my girl!!