Reflecting on 2008

This is my last post for 2008.Weird, it went by like a blink of an eye. So many things happened this year-mostly good. Many changes but good changes. I just wanted to take a minute and reflect on a few things that happened thru the months.
January-Always a fresh start. It was a calm month. Just everyday life.
February-My little sissy got married. She seemed so young but I cannot judge being only 19 myself when I tied the knot with the love of my life. Both kids sick before,during and after the wedding. I had high hopes of dancing with them at the festive occasion but that was a no go.
March-All 3 guys first train ride. We went to Hanford for the day. Just being together with no plans-spur of the moment.Just spend quality time together as a family.
April-Lots going on this month.We were able to move into an actual house in an actual neighborhood. I am so in love with not sharing walls with anyone. I did not think this would ever happen but Dave made it happen. Awesome!!!We went to Disneyland together-just the 4 of us on our first big family vacation ever. It was so wonderful. We have so many great pictures and memories of those 4 days.A vacation never to forget. Four friends birthday parties .I registered both boys at a new school. Freedom, here we come. I was a little sad-being it that I registered Cam for kindergarten (my baby is growing up) and Bay going to be in 2nd grade-wow!!. Also, Dave turned the big 33 (it is quite a milestone)
May -Dave passed his ASE L1 test-yeah!!Bay and I attended the Mother Son Luau. Wonderful memories.Camden graduated from Preschool. Seriously, they grow up too fast. And we went to San Diego for Taylor's 1st birthday. Such a cutie.
June-VBS-kids love it more and more every year.Dave and I started attending a group thru church-"10 great dates" It was a nice refresher and reminder why I love this man so.And for Fathers Day, we saw Kung Fu Panda. Excellent film. Bay is so tenderhearted-he cried. Too sweet-almost made me cry.
July-Mom and dad came down for the 4th to help us paint the kitchen (Gina came and helped paint the bathroom) and dad helped us make a patio in the backyard. We got alot of mileage out of it this year. I love it.Started swim lessons at Jan Thomas. They both did so well. My little fishes.And we took a family day and went up to Yosemite for the day. It was another first for the boys. They did so well. They hiked all the way up to the falls. So proud!!
August-With the economy the way it is, Dave has been only working 4 days a week (since June) so he had to get another part time job in addition to his working at Carmax. So he started delivering pizzas at night for Pizza hut. He is such a hard working man. I volunteered to find a job but then we would have to put Cam in daycare and end up spending more money for that then what I could bring in. Dave is such a trooper and such an excellent example to his children of stepping up to the plate and providing for his family. The boys and I went to Hume Lake with mom and dad for a few days and had a great time swimming in the lake, riding the ATV, taking walks, eating outside, reading and enjoying the slow pace of life.We also had the first day of school at Freedom Elementary. Bay started 2nd grade and Cam started kindergarten.
September-Bay turned 7 and we celebrated as a family at Blackbeards miniature golfing and playing video games.It was Dave and I's 12 year anniversary(WOW)We had the Jog A Thon (another set of great pictures to scrap). It was our first AWANA at our own church and Camden is now in Sparks with Bailey (Bay's last year as a Spark)Dave went to Virginia for 2 weeks for work.My dad took us out to Red Robins for my birthday-so sweet.
October-We had the school carnival where the boys had their hairs spray painted a very bright blue.Camden had his first field trip to the Pumpkin Patch-cutest thing evah!Dave went back for another 2 weeks to Virginia. We had excellent reports for both boys at parent-teacher conferences.And we celebrated Camden's 5th birthday at a movie (Beverly Hills Chihuahua)
November-I VOTED !We had Thanksgiving at mom and dad's. The whole family was there. Such a nice time had by all.
December-I started my blog. Such a nice way to journal. Camden was Super Kid Of The Week at school.I sold about 45 cards and some home decor at my first boutique.Bailey won an award for writing.The boys had their winter program and both did an excellent job.Camden went to his first friday night flicks at school. They saw the movie Elf. Dad had his surgery but it was insuccessful-such a bummer. And Bay lost his 6th tooth (he has lost 4 teeth in the past 3 months) He is all holes and has 2 more lose again.

Well, that was some of what happened this year. Lots more went on but these were the hightlights. So much to be thankful for. Even thought this has been a tough past 6 months (financially)God has seen us thru. We always need to remember He does provide. We are just praying Dave will get back to working 5 days a week again really soon.Here is to a great and successful 2009

Submissions

Well, here are my 2 submissions for the spot on the design team for our local scrapbook store.Both Megan and Janice (the owners) seem to really like them. They said I should find out by January 15th if I was chosen.
If chosen, I will receive $10.00 off a month on top of 10% off all purchases and a free packet of goodies to put together. I am glad I did it-at least tried. Cannot wait for the 15th.

Creativity with Lego's

I was at the computer checking e-mails. Bay was busy building one of his lego sets. All of a sudden I hear, "Mom, look at this." Camden had written out "I Love You" in lego's. How cute is that. He tells me he loves me more than vanilla ice cream but not as much as chocolate ice cream. Then he says, just kidding. Kids a character.

Toys R Us or bust

The boys received Christmas money from great grandma, uncle Rick and great papa so they wanted to head to Toys R Us to spend it.It was burning a hole in their pockets. I actually thought we would be there at least an hour or so-that is the usual "look time" we are there. But they picked out their stuff in about 45 minutes. Bailey got a Star Wars Clone Wars book, the Iron Monger action figure and a set of action figure battle droids. Camden bought Wall E the video game and a SpongeBob video game for Playstation. Camden asked how much money he had left-.03cents. He was a little bummed about that. Bailey still has a little over $10.00 left and he is already making a list. After the store, we headed to McDonalds for dinner.So all in all, they had a pretty good day.

McDonalds Time

The boys each got an arch card from either grandma and grandpa or auntie Kim(they tore open the gifts so fast I do not know what was from whom) So we thought it would be a good day for a happy meal. So, we got to McDonalds a little early to play. Good thing we did because about 20 minutes later, there was a huge crowd of people. Come to find out it was a little girls party. Boy, they can scream high and loud. But, the boys did get some play time without all the

girls screaching and playing. After about another 20 minutes, we could not take the loud screams and we left.

Under The Christmas Tree (the 26th)

When I was little, we had a tradition of sleeping under the Christmas tree at least one time before Christmas. We would drag out our sleeping bags and dad would sleep under the tree with us. I loved doing this as a kid so I wanted to keep the tradition going with my kids. This is the first time we had been home for Christmas morning so this is the first opportunity we have had so what better a time to continue the tradition. So we chose to sleep under the tree Christmas night. Nana and papa spent the night (dad had his post op appt the next day)so they were in our room, Dave slept in Bay's bed (he had to work the next day) so the boys slept in their new sleeping bags under the tree and I slept on the couch. I took this picture about 4 in the morning. I thought it was so cute that Bay had scooted over to be next to his little brother. They look so sweet when they sleep.

Christmas Day (25th)

Merry Christmas again everyone. The kids are running around like they are hyped up on sugar and we are trying to get everything ready for when everyone comes over for a late lunch. We had grandma stop by and say hi. She got to visit for a little while and then she was off. Then a few minutes later, Craig and Kevin came by to visit. I got a picture of all the guys-pretty good looking group. The a little after 2, we had great papa, Rick, Gina, Mike and Zack come. We ate a traditional meal and visited for a while. Rick brought a delicious ham and Gina brought her famous mashed potatoes.Mike entertained the kids for a while with all his tricks-but they are still wired. They had two cookies and they kept sneaking hershey kisses and mint m&m's. A little after dinner, Toby and his girlfriend Brandy stopped by and we all had dessert. Mom made a delicious white chocolate cheesecake and Gina had brought a yummy pumpkin pie and sugar cookies. I made 4 different types of cookies so needless to say, we have plenty. It was a great meal and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I am pretty happy it all went smoothly-this was the first time I had Christmas at my house. So, kudos to me. Dave did help quite a bit and the boys cooperated for the most part which helped me out tremendously. I think in all, it was a successful day. I am so glad its over though.

Christmas Morning (25th)

Good morning! We made the boys stay in bed till 6 and then we all got up and the boys were thrilled that santa ate their cookies and drank the milk. Bay had also lost a tooth Christmas Eve so the Tooth Fairy left him a present under his pillow. I started cooking the funeral potatoes I made last night and then we sat down for the boys to open their gifts. Bay had his opened in record time. Camden took a little more time opening and looking at his gifts. They both received Maverick nerf guns, markers, stickers, tons of books, sleeping bags, Kung Fu Panda DVD, Star Wars Clone Wars DVD, a big Indiana Jones lego set, Pictureka game, and a little candy. Bay got a How to Draw Nickelodeon cartoon book, drawing pencils, gum eraser and a case to keep it all in-he loves to draw. Cam got 2 washable ink pads and several stamps with a case-kid loves to stamp and color. After the boys opened their gifts, we ate eggs, sausage, funeral potatoes and cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Then, it was clean up time. I also needed to get the turkey in the oven along with the stuffing made.Nana and papa came a little after 11 and they got to open even more presents. They totally got spoiled this year. Nana and papa got them each a new jacket, two long sleeve shirts , a basketball and a movie. Dave and I got new towels (I am in heaven over them. Ours our 8 years old) steak knives and cookie sheets. We needed these items badly. Dave also got a Subaru jacket- Which he is over the moon about. Afterwards, we showered and got ready for everyone to arrive.

Christmas Eve (24th)

I know, I am a few days behind. With the holidays, we have just been busy and enjoying time together as a family. We went over to grandma and grandpas house for lunch and to spend time together. The boys had such a blast. They helped Auntie Kim pass out the presents. Bay was able to read who they went to and Cam tried to sound them out. It was very cute. The boys eyes were huge when they saw the couch full of gifts just for them. They got totally spoiled this year. They received jeans, shirts, jammies, shoes, legos, markers, paper,nerf gun, etc. They had them opened so quickly, I did not really get many pics. They made Dave and I the cutest pots with their hand prints as the antlers and they drew a little face on the front and filled it with candy. Adorable. Dave's wish came true. Not only did he get a shop jacket with his name on it but he got a 42" flat screen tv. He has been wanting one for years and now he has it. I am so happy for him. I got 3 cricut cartridges that I cannot wait to try out. Maybe tomorrow. We basically stayed and visited all day and around 4 it was time to head home. I still had to finish the housework, make a breakfast casserole, jello and a dessert and start another load of laundry before my head hit the pillow. We put the boys down around 8 but they were so excited. We had Camden sleep with Bay and every few minutes we would hear one of them say,"did you hear that? Was that santa?" Well, I started dozing off on the couch before they finally fell asleep. Finally, they were out and we were able to "play santa".Now off to bed I go

Stocking Place Cards

I am just finishing up making place cards in the shape of stockings for our table for Christmas. They are a little work and a stealer of time, but I think they are turning out pretty cute. Hopefully they will stand up pretty well-I have a bag of mint m&m's and some hershey kisses in it so they are a little heavy. Well, I'll figure it out. Today, Kim brought the boys home-they spent the night at grandma and grandpas house last night. I was looking forward to my kid free morning but that did not happen. We had a repair guy come and fix a cabinet door that had come off and to fix the fireplace so we could turn it on. Well, he got here at 9:45 and was here till almost 12:30 and the fireplace is still not fixed. Bummer! Then, the boys were not too thrilled with me. We had to run a few errands and they could not understand how come I did not go when they were at grandma and grandpas house. They absolutely hate running errands with me but they did really good. So, needless to say when we got home, it was already dinnertime. There were so many people out and about. It took forever just to go 5 miles. But, we got it all taken care of. Now, I am ready to go take a nice hot bath and off to lala land till the kids wake up around 6:00 (I wish they knew what sleeping in meant)

Getting Healthy

About 4 weeks ago, I decided I needed to start exercising again on a regular basis. Not just maybe 1-2 times a month but consistently. So, for the past 4 weeks, I have been getting up a little earlier and working out for about 30-40 minutes. I do it 4 times a week and am loving it. I feel really guilty if I do not get right up and get going. I also feel better during the day and have a little bit more energy for chasing the kiddos. I have only lost like 3-5 pounds but I am not dieting during the holidays. I haven't been depriving myself of the seasons goodies-dumb time to start a diet anyways. But I am proud of myself for being consistent and I am finding muscles again-yeah!!! Between my thyroid problems and switching birth controls, I have gained unwanted weight and it just feels good that I have lost a little weight just by working out.After the start of the new year, I hope to start focusing again on what I eat and improve it by eating more fruits and veggies. I decided I am not going to do have any sort of new years resolution this year. Every year, at the top of my list, is "to lose 15 pounds" and every year I fail and disappoint myself because I never make my goal. So, I have decided not to have any resolutions. Maybe that way I am using reverse psychology and I will make my goal without actually setting one-if that makes any sense. In the mornings, the kids are usually eating breakfast as I am doing my work out and they also want to work out with me. That makes me feel good also. That I am being an example for my kids in trying to keep my body healthy. They love to do the cool down with me. It is pretty cute listening to them asking if they are doing it right or hearing them say that they feel good. I want my kids to have healthy attitudes about their bodies and themselves and to be comfortable with who they are. I feel like I struggle with that on a daily basis-I wish I knew why but I know I lack self confidence. It is a hard thing for me. It probably doesn't help that we have moved so much and seems like I just get acquainted with someone and then we end up moving. I am constantly questioning things like,"did she just talk to me to be nice or does she genuinely care about my answer." I do not like getting too close to people because I feel I have been used and sort of taken advantage of in some of the friendships. Like it is always me doing the calling or setting up outings, etc. It got old and I just lost the desire to keep it up. I know friendships are a very important thing to have in our lives, but for right now I am pretty content to have my best friend (hubby) and my kids be the ones with whom I share my dreams and desires and everyday life. Nothing sounds so sweet as my oldest asking how my day was and genuinely wanting to know. It also helps having my mom only a phone call away-or my sisters. I love that we are a pretty close knit family.

Ramblings

This afternoon, I felt I got alot accomplished. I cleaned out the fridge (worst job in the world-I was going to take a pic of it but the light in the fridge just went out), scrubbed the counters, cleaned the microwave, wrapped Christmas presents, and cleaned out the cupboards. It felt good but man, I hate cleaning the fridge. So glad I got that over with for a while. I have got to remember to take the turkey out of the freezer tomorrow-please do not forget. Mid afternoon, we made the boys have a small rest time and Dave and I finished watching the X Files movie. Not as good as I was hoping for. A little bit of a let down. Afterwards, we just kind of chilled. The boys played X Box for a while, Dave scrubbed at the stains on the carpet (wish we had hard wood floors) and I made a batch of sugar cookies-well at least the dough. I also got started on making my stocking place cards for Christmas meal. They are turning out pretty cute if I do say so myself. I am thinking about trying out to make the Design team for my local scrapbook store. The cut off is January 7th-I think. I need to really decide what to do. There are usually so many entries but even if I do not make it, there is always next year. I will never know unless I try but we will see. If for some weird reason I was accepted, that would mean free scrapbook supplies every month. How cool would that be? OK maybe not so cool for most but for me that would so ROCK!! Well, I am just getting ready to sit down and plan out what I need to do tomorrow and look thru one of my scrapbook magazines that I haven't finished yet. So, hopefully I will have a pic or two for tomorrow's post. Goodnight for now.

Movie Night

We rented Wall-E tonight (thank goodness for Red Box) We haven't had a friday family movie night in a long time so we thought it was time. I had my doubts about it when I saw previews of it when it was out but so glad we watched it. I thought it was quite funny and cute. The kids loved it. They were so quiet thru it (kind of unheard of-they are constantly talking and asking questions thru movies) So that was a nice change. Camden asked if we "bought it or borrowed it" He was disappointed it was not ours to keep. I told them we could watch it again tomorrow and they both shouted "hooray." Now its off to put the monkeys to bed. Dave rented the newest X Files movie for us (we used to watch X Files all the time. So, goodnight for now.

Christmas Lights

This is the first year we have ever had lights on the outside of the house-let alone lighted candy canes. Dave put them up this afternoon-ofcourse the boys also wanted to go up the ladder to the roof.DON'T THINK SO!! Everyone stayed safe. We had the big unveiling after it started getting dark and everyone clapped. Hopefully next year, we can keep adding to the outside decorations.

Creating

Today, being friday so since Dave has had fridays off for the past 6 months, he was able to take and pick up the kids today. So I was able to do a few of my errands and still have time to make one last Christmas gift. I also went to the scrapbook store-they were having a 40% off sale on thickers. They are a big necessity for scrapbookers. They are different colors and different textures (felt, vinyl.chipboard, etc) of the alphabet. They work great for titles on pages or even on cards. But they can be quite pricey so when they are on sale, I try and pick up a few packs if possible. Anyways, long story short, I was able to finish making something for my mom and dad for Christmas but since they read my blog, I could not post a picture yet so that is why I took a picture of my thickers I got today. Not too exciting today. Bailey did have his party at school but it was not a parent involvement party. They were able to wear their PJ's to school and after lunch, they watched the Polar Express while sipping on hot cocoa and eating sugar cookies.I asked Bay if he wanted me to come. He kind of shrugged and said ,"I guess" . I told him I did not have to go and he actually sounded relieved. Oh, how quickly they grow up. But yet at night, after prayers and he is all tucked in and it is just him and I, he will be so sweet."Mommy, how was your day" or "How did you meet daddy" are some of the questions he will ask. So we spend a few more minutes talking while he is all snuggly under the covers. These are the moments I hope to remember for forever.

Camden's Class Party

Right after dad and mom left the hospital, I jammed over to the boys school. Toady was Camden's class party. I was able to snap a few shots before it ended. Here he is decorating his sugar cookies. I seriously doubt he could have fitted on any more sprinkles. He ate one of his cookies and ended up with a blue mouth,blue teeth and blue tongue. He thought that was hilarious he stared at himself in the mirror(the one by the sink)laughing for a good minute.After the party, they had a short recess. The pictures above all show him being chased by girls and loving it. Addy caught him and gave him a hug-it was pretty cute. He had the biggest grin on his face.Then, he had show n tell. The letter of the week was P so he brought Po from Kung Fu Panda. His clues were *it starts with a P *he loves to eat *he knows karate. So, some of the kids raised their hands to guess. Camden starts looking around to see who to pick and he notices Steffano (his best friend) doesn't have his hand up. So he says,"Steffano, raise your hand." Steffano says,"I can't. I don't know what it is." It was just funny listening to him tell Steffano to raise his hand so he could call on him. Well, he calls on Omari and he gets it wrong. So he shows the class and they start giggling. Then Cam turns it on and it says,"Skidoosh" so the whole class is laughing and giggling. He was quite the hit at show and tell time.

Dads Surgery?

Today was the day of dads surgery for his rotator cuff. Camden asked ,"are they going to use a needle and thread or a staple to close up your arm?" I thought that was pretty funny. He said he wanted to see it-blood and all. I said that it would be all bandaged up and he actually looked pretty disappointed. What a weirdo. Dad looked good-just really nervous and anxious but he did go thru with it. Camden and I got to the room around 10am-we had to drive around for almost 20 minutes looking for a parking spot. They wheeled him out for surgery right about 11am. This picture was right before they came for him. I left right after he was wheeled out to take Cam to school. I was only gone about 25-30 minutes and when I got back to the waiting room, they were already done. Well, the Dr. came out to speak to mom letting her know they just could not fix it. He tried but he could only pull it about an inch leaving about 2 inches too short. They were able to clean out alot of the bursitis saying that would help with the pain. The Dr. also said that his bicep and all the other muscles looked unaffected so hopefully with range of motion exercises and possibly physical therapy, he will be able to use the other muscles to compensate. It was disappointing news but I am proud that he actually went thru with it. That is a BIG step for dad. Hopefully, with hard work, he will be able to have better motion with his arm and it will not be painful anymore.

AWANA

Tonight is Awana night. The boys absolutely love going. They both are doing such a great job in their workbooks. This is Camden's first year in Sparks and he has already finished his first book. These new books for Sparks now come with a CD to help you learn your verses and boy ,does that help. The boys would listen to it every night as they fell asleep and during the day as they worked on homework. I cannot believe he finished his book already. His teacher thought he was reading the verses as he recited them to her so she would turn the book so he could not see it. I assured her he could not read it yet. She was so amazed at how well he does. Some nights he would say 7 verses to her. He is like a sponge and he has been learning so much.He always tells me what happened and what they talked about.Bailey is also doing really well. This is his 3rd and final year in Sparks and he is on his 3rd book. He has not been as persistent in his studies, but he has had quite a bit more homework this year. I am trying to teach him that if he just spends maybe 15 minutes a day going over his verses, he would be saying at least 3 a week instead of one or two. But I am so proud of both of them. Bay does tell me what they talked about but after prodding it out of him. He is not much of a talker if it does not pertain to him. He can talk your ear off about anything Transformers, Spiderman, Pirates, etc. Something more entertaining.We have 2 weeks off of Awana for Christmas break.It will be kind of nice not running out of the house into the freakin cold-it is supposed to snow this week-weird. Anyways, better go pick them up. Might be posting once more tonight. Well see.

Christmas Program

Tonight was the boys' Christmas program at school. Camden was up first. He was so funny up on stage. He sang all the songs and remembered all the motions. He did such a great job-especially since this was his first kindergarten program experience. The first picture is Cam with 2 of his best buds-Steffano and John. They are so funny together. We have had John over for a playdate and Steffano is coming over after the break-they are both stoked! Bailey was up last. He also did such a wonderful job remembering all the words and the motions. This was basically the only picture I got of him that was not blurry-boy that kid can't stay still. On the way to school this morning, Bay said he was still nervous about singing infront of people but he acted the total opposite. He did so good. The last picture was the boys with Bay's teacher Mrs. Douglas. She is such an awesome teacher. We are so hoping Camden gets her for 2nd grade.

Yesterday, a little before I had to pick the boys up from school, there was a little storm. There was quite a bit of hail and it was pretty loud. So, as the boys and I were walking to the car to come home, Bay kept saying we needed to go faster. We needed to hurry and get home before the storm came again. I told him everything was ok-the storm was over and the sun was shining. He then asked if he was going to die in the storm. I reassured him he was not going to die-that God was watching out for him and He had big plans for his life. Bay asked again how did I know that he was not going to die. So again I said that God had plans for his life-that he was going to go to college, get married, have kids, etc. So Bay-apparently over the part about dying suddenly says,"When will I meet her and she has to be pretty." Ofcourse I chime in,"pretty on the inside right? He kind of looks at me like, yeah mom, sure. It is just so funny how he can be dead serious and scared one moment and funny the next.

Rough day

Had a bit of a rough day so leaving you with pics of the boys sleeping. Don't they look like angels?

Gingerbread House Making Time

The boys have been very patient with me -considering I bought this kit a week ago. Tonight was the perfect night to put it together. They both were stoked when they saw all the candy to eat-err I mean decorate with. I think they ate more frosting then what ended up on the house. Bailey said it was cool that the house also came with a chimee (aka chimney)They both loaded their side of the house with all the candy they could get to stay on it. It was amazing how heavy the house felt as I tried to move it without any pieces falling off. They did a great job getting along. There was no fighting and no one said anything mean. Ofcourse now they are both in bed trying to go to sleep-hopefully coming down from their sugar rush soon. I am off to check out Papertrey's newest release-one of my favorite stamp companies.

Camden's Own Room

Here are a few shots of Camden's new room. I also hope to paint in here soon. He also is doing a great job keeping his room clean and finding ways to entertain himself in there. The cute part is at night. We take turns in their rooms saying prayers and then after prayers we give the first one a kiss and then they give each other a big hug and kiss. That never happened when they shared a room. I think they secretly miss each other-considering they have never slept in separate rooms before but they will not admit it. They both love having their own space and so do I. I hope the cleanliness of the rooms is not just because it is a new thing. Hopefully it will last a while.I am so thankful we are able to give them their own rooms. I never thought that could be a possibility but now it is a reality. Praise God. Here's to waking up to two happy boys.

Bay's Own Room

Well, I could not take it anymore. They each have their own rooms. I have been yelling at them for weeks about their messy room and just could not take looking at it anymore. Ofcourse they thought it was fine. Not So!! So I moved my scrap room (I am not giving it up unless absolutely necessary-I need an outlet) Into the bonus room-which is a room off of our room. Then Camden got the old scrap room. It is right off the living room and it has 2 doors but so far it is working and he is able to fall asleep pretty quickly. Bay has been sleeping better and actually keeping it clean. He was actually reading in there the other day and coloring quietly for a good 45 minutes. FORTY FIVE minutes. It is a new record. He loves the privacy-seriously, privacy for what. But I am glad we are able to do this for him. We put the old couch in his room and he loves it in there. It kind of takes up a bit of space but for now he is enjoying it. I hope to be able to paint and add some pics and a bulletin board so they can put up their own art work but that has to wait for now. So far, I am loving separate rooms.