These kids can't wait for Santa to get here...

The Jolly ol' fellow should be here soon. Tim has carried out the tradition and has waited till the last minute to do his shopping. He went to Wal-mart before work this morning to shop a little for the kids. That's okay, he does his best under pressure! We are so busy over the next few days running around to family. Last year we stayed home on Christmas Day and it was Woooonderfullllll..... So this is our year to run. We will go to Christmas Eve service at our church on Monday. I love having the kids with us in the Christmas Eve service. Our church does a very nice job. Here are some pics from our Christmas Card photo session. I will take a pic of the tree later and upload it tonight. Off to wrap gifts with my honey and sip some peppermint tea. See ya.

Back Breaking...

This is what my Auntie and I did all day yesterday. Sixteen dozen! Needless to say I am planning to be on my fanny as much as possible today. Have a Super day.
Hugs

HomeMaker?

Homemaking meme

Aprons – Y/N? No, but I would like a cute brown and pink polka dot one.

Baking – Favorite thing to bake: Chocolate chip cookies!

*Cookies – * Love to make them and eat them!

Clothesline – Y/N? Yep, the shower curtain rod

Donuts – Have you ever made them? No. But it my biggest food weakness eating them!

Every day – One homemaking thing you do every day: Cook, Clean, Take care of my family.

Freezer – Do you have a separate deep freeze? We do

Garbage Disposal – Y/N? Yes

Handbook – What is your favorite homemaking resource? My mind. I remember how my grandma used to do things in our home when I was little.

Ironing – Love it or hate it? I don't iron!

Junk drawer – Y/N? Where is it? Yes... kitchen.

Kitchen: Design & Decorating? Country theme. Homey and comfortable

Love: What is your favorite part of homemaking? Sitting down to dinner together every night.

Mop - Y/N? Yes. But it's a very small area so it's no big deal. I usually do the floors by hand.

Nylons - Wash by hand or in the washing machine? I don't know when the last time that I would have washed a pair was.

Oven - Do you use the window, or open the door to check? Open the door.

Pizza - What do you put on yours? Lots of veggies and jalapenos.

Quiet - What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment? I like to get on the computer, scrapbook or sew.

Recipe card box - Y/N? No..

Style of house - Cute 2 story traditional country home

Tablecloths and napkins - Y/N? Nope

Under the kitchen sink - Organized or toxic wasteland? Organized

Vacuum - How many times per week? 2-3

Wash - How many loads of laundry do you do a week? 8-10

X's - Do you keep a daily list of things to do and cross them off? When I really need to get things done I do... or I will for sure forget.

Yard - Who does what? Landscaping is done by our association in the front yard. Timmy does the back.

Zzz's - What is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed? Cover my babies.

Decking the House Fa La La La La La La La La

The tree was put up a few days after Thanksgiving. The lights now that is a whole other matter. Justin bugs the heck out of Tim every year to put up a bazillion lights. Okay I do too... but we are lucky if we get a string or two on the house. That leaves Justin and I to decorate the heck out of every free spot we can find ON THE GROUND. Well, this year my honey knows that I am an ACTS OF SERVICE kinda girl, so he put lights for me. Not just one string of them either, four of them babies. I feel so loved. Just look at that happy grin on his face. I will settle for it, even if it is sarcastic! Thanks honey...

We've been ELFed

Turkey Day

Thanksgiving was nice and relaxing spending time with family. We went to Tim's sisters for breakfast that morning. We had lots of yummy food. Then we made the jaunt out to New River to be with my family. It is always nice to go there, it's relaxing and the kids have lots to do. Here are a few pics from the day.


Justin enjoying his third piece of pie



The boy's watching football, while the girls are in the kitchen enjoying the Black Friday ads.


Katee messing around outside.


I love this picture. I made Paula Dean's Pumpkin Pie. Look how happy Tim looks. He doesn't have sweets very often anymore, and he loves Pumpkin Pie!


A few waiting for a slice of pie.


She is a massage therapist at The Biltmore. She is good with deep tissue. The celebrities ask for her when they come to town. Martha Stewart, Tim Allen.... Wink wink.

Happy Thanksgiving

I am so sappy today. Each year that passes I seem to be able to come up with more and more to be thankful for. I am so thankful for my marriage. We have been married 16 years and our marriage is stronger than it has ever been. I love that guy to pieces. I am obviously thankful for my children. Justin has matured so much in the last year or so. He is very respectful to adults as well as kids his age. His sister, now that is another story. He is a very funny, down to earth kid. I love you to "Pumpkin." Katee is a beautiful, confident, kind hearted little girl. She is a good helper. She is a good friend. She makes a friend everywhere she goes. It drives Justin crazy. "I love you more" Katee. This is what I say to her every time she says she loves me. I am thankful for Tim's job. That whole mess was just a great big blessing. We knew good would come from Tim being fired. But wow, God was good... I am thankful for my home. I am thankful for my extended family. We don't see each other often, but when we do, we don't skip a beat. I am thankful my family is affectionate. That we share a hug when we come together, and when we separate. Love that. I am a hugger.... Last but not least, I am thankful for our church and Pastor. He is not legalistic. He has a true heart for the lost. I am thankful he is true. I could go on and on. I hope you will slow down and really enjoy the day.

Do you go?

Black Friday. I haven't gone for 2-3 years. I am looking for a large electronic item this year, and Best Buy has it. So I am there. Normally I can't handle all the nut jobs out there trying to push their way in the door. I have to admit it is kinda funny though. I hope you are not one of them. It won't let me put a link, so just copy and paste. Go, go now, and start your list.
http://www.blackfriday.info/

Volleyball

Katee started volleyball a couple of weeks ago. She has had like 4 games or so. I totally spaced out the first one. Cut me some slack, it was on a Monday at 5:30. That is not a time to play a game, that is a time and day for a practice.... She is thrilled to play. All the girls act a little scared of the ball. She has improved drastically in the last week or two. She actually hit the ball twice today at her game. It's so funny when she serves the ball she gets this little smirk on her face like she knows the whole gym is watching her. She loves that sort of thing. I think she gets that from Tim. Blaaaaaahhhh... He would rather lick the toilet than to have all eyes on him. Here are a couple pics from a practice.

Tricks and Treats

Yeah, my kids Halloween Candy is all GONE! I started doing this last year~ letting the kids eat all the candy they want till it's gone. It's gone in 3 days or so. I don't let my kids have suckers(per the dentist), and fortunately we had lots of those this year. Which means we took the candy stash down about 25% the first few minutes we were home! Bonus! I get tired of hearing, "can I have a piece if candy" for 2 months straight. Enough already, just eat till you puke! I dressed up again this year with the kids, they think it is cool for me to dress up. Justin wanted to be a ghost, and since I never let them be anything scary I caved. I made his costume and he complained all night that he couldn't see out the eye holes. He was happy with his costume other than that. Katee was a Kitty. She looked "PURRRRRRTY!" We only tricked for about 45 minutes and the kids buckets were full and they were begging to come home. We live in those houses that share a driveway with 6 other people, and I tell you you can cover some major ground in no time. It was great. The kids had lots of fun, as did Timmy and I.

35 Aaawwwhhhhh............

Okay, so I turned the BIG 35 yesterday. I can't possibly be that old! In a lot of ways, I feel like it was just yesterday I was turning 14. I don't feel old, I just don't like that number... Tim's family came out on Saturday to "The Boonies." We had dinner and played games. It was so nice to have a get together out at our house. I requested blueberry pie for my dessert. Yummy, warm, with vanilla ice cream! That whole pie is sitting on my buttocks as I type. I got a gift card for Lavender's Day Spa here in Surprise. If you haven't been, you need to go. Yahoo! Yippee, Do DA! Then on Monday (my actual B Day) I went to breakfast at Mimi's Cafe with my aunt and then Downtown Glendale for some shopping. The Pumpkin Spice muffin at Mimi's was WOW! I also recieved lots of cards in the mail. Then last night the kids wanted to make dinner for me. They made Spaghetti and Tater Tots. Justin at dinner said "these tater tots go so good with the spaghetti, don't they mom?" Tim and I busted a gut! Here are some pics of the evening.





See ya.

Look how generous she was...

I JUST HAD TO POST HOW GENEROUS THE GIRL WAS THAT I WON THE BLOG CANDY FROM. LOOK AT ALL THAT! SHE EVEN MAILED IT ALL PRIORITY.





THIS IS A LITTLE SCRAPPY PAGE I DID THE OTHER DAY.

Shawnie-ology

MOUTHOLOGY

Q. What is your salad dressing of choice?
Creamy Garlic (Cucina Tagliani)

Q. What is your favorite fast food restaurant?
Panda Express.

Q. What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
Cucina Tagliani

Q. On average, what size tip do you leave at a restaurant?
Usually 20%

Q. What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of?
Enchiladas

Q. What are your pizza toppings of choice?
Bacon and Jalapenos

Q. What do you like to put on your toast?
Peanut Butter

TECHNOLOGY

Q. What is your wallpaper on your computer?
Pic of Tim and I smooching.

Q. How many televisions are in your house?
two

BIOLOGY

Q. Are you right-handed or left-handed?
Right

Q. Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
wisdom teeth and 3 babies, Ovarian Cyst, and Gallstones.

Q. When was the last time you had a cavity?
About 8 years ago.

Q: What was the last time you lifted something heavy?
A New entertainment center that weighs about 800 pounds up the stairs with Tim.

Q. Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
no

BULLOLOGY

Q. If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going
to die?
I live every day like I am dying. (Because I am)

Q. If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
Emily

Q. What color do you think looks best on you?
Aqua

Q. Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake?
I am sure I have!

Q. Have you ever saved some one's life?
No

Q. Has someone ever saved yours?
I don't think so, but Tim has pulled me out of some hairy situations!

DAREOLOGY

Q. Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for
$200,000?
Nope, would you?

Q. Would you never blog again for $50,000?
Yes, both of you would miss my monthly contributions.

Q. Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
Yeah, I love spicy. Bring it on!

Q. Would you give up tv for a year for $1000?
I don't think $1000 is enough! I would miss my favorites too much!

DUMBOLOGY

Q: What is in your left pocket?
nothing

Q: Is Napoleon Dynamite actually a good movie?
Never watched it.

Q: Do you have hardwood or carpet in your house?
carpet and good ol' laminate.

Q: Do you sit or stand in the shower?
Stand...does anyone sit in the shower?

Q: Could you live with roommates?
I've had only one and it was a good experience.

Q: How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
2 I think

Q: Last time you had a run-in with the cops?
About 4 months ago on Bell Rd at 4 in the morning on my way to get Tylenol for Kate who had an earache. "um miss, what brings you out this evening?"

Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?
A grandma?

Q: Who is number 1 on your top 8
What top 8?

LASTOLOGY

Q: Friend you talked to?
Neighbor

Q: Last person who called you?
The school nurse

FAVORITOLOGY

Q: Number?
16

Q: Season?
Fall for sure

CURRENTOLOGY

Q: Missing someone?
Friends and family out of state

Q: Mood?
Giddy

Q: Listening to?
Night at the Museum (Kate home sick today after lunch)

Q: Watching?
Nothing at the moment, waiting to find free time to watch last night's Survivor

Q: Worrying about?
I don't really worry about stuff

RANDOMOLOGY

Q: First place you went this morning?
Down to get Coffee

Q: What can you not wait to do?
Go back to Disneyland

Q: What's the last movie you saw?
At the theater...Spiderman 3 with Tim and Justin
At home...Night at the Museum for the 3rd and final time.

Q: Do you smile often
Sure do

Q: Are you a friendly person?
Usually

Get to know me

1. What is your occupation? A hot housewife that tends to her man’s every need, oh and a mom too!
2. What color are your socks right now? White shorties

3. What are you listening to right now? Birds chirping outside my open windows (yeah, it’s Fall)

4. What was the last thing that you ate? Banana
5. Can you drive a stick shift? Nope

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Carnation Pink

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Someone buying boxes!

8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Yep.

9. How old are you today? 34
10. Favorite drink? Pumpkin Spice Latte (seasonal)

11. What is your favorite sport to watch? Basketball
12. Have you ever dyed your hair? Of course not

13. Do you have any pets? One dog Samuel
14. Favorite food? Enchiladas
15. What was the last movie you watched? Firehouse Dog
16. Least favorite day of the year? Don’t have one

17. What was your favorite toy as a child? Roller Skates I wore them EVERYDAY

18. What is your favorite, fall or spring For sure it’s Fall
19. Hugs or kisses? I won’t choose just one. I love them both

20. Cherry or Blueberry? Blueberry
21. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? Yeah

22. Who is most likely to respond? All of you

23. Who is least likely to respond? Ray Ray She’s a busy working women
24. Living arrangements? A cute little house in Surprise, that I have completely picked up in 25 minutes. Gotta love that!
25. What's on the floor of your closet? What floor? You mean there is carpet in there?
26. Who is the friend you have known the longest that you are sending this to? It’s a close tie.

27. What did you do last night? Made supper and helped Tim and Kate work on her Beetle Project for school.
28. Favorite smell? A new house
29. What inspires you? People who serve others
30. What are you afraid of? Heights

31. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Spicy
32. Favorite car? I don’t like American made vehicles, but If I had the money tomorrow I would buys a Chrysler 300M
33. Favorite dog breed? Cairn Terriers (The dog in Wizard of Oz)

34.How many keys on your key ring? Probably 11

35. How many years at your current job? Almost 12 memorable years
36. Favorite day(s) of the week? Saturday when Tim is home

37. How many states have you lived in? One

8. Favorite Holiday(s) Thanksgiving
39. Ever driven a motorcycle? Yep
40. Favorite cereal(s)? Special K with red berries

Doing a little dance

{prizes AND coupons}

And the winner is...tim and shawnie {so I am assuming it is shawnie : )} Be sure to email me with you address!

Want another surprise box? Keep leaving your comments for a chance to win!

Oh, and how about a coupon for you to use on all past kits and stamps? Enter the code: blogsale for 40% off all past kits and stamps. This is just for my blog readers... the sale prices will show up after you enter the discount code in the shopping cart. Sale prices good through Monday while supplies last. Shipping of the sale items may not be shipped with kits (because I already have October kits ready to go and I need to get rid of them before I move).


Go check this one out. She is moving to Alaska and having a giveaway everyday.
http://www.backporchmemories.blogspot.com/

Scrap!

Karaoke Night and Man's best Friend

Man this was some fun stuff. We all got a little wild and crazy. Tim of course did a few Elvis numbers. I do my GREASE songs. Justin does LION SLEEPS TONIGHT. And Kate, well she woos us with MY GIRL..... Fun stuff, Santa may be delivering Daddy a Karaoke Machine this year!



This is our man Samuel Rockin' the House.

What?!!!!

Had to share this. First off be assured that we are not a potty mouth family, but I do like to say "I got Screwed" a little to often.
Anyway, I had already made school lunches for the kids and went upsatirs to handle a couple of things (picking up wet towels off of the floor beacause my kids don't know how to hang them up after a shower and bath.) So I have packed bagel sandwiches, chips, grapes and 3 oreos for each kid. Katee is standing in the kitchen and she sees me coming down the stairs and she says "SCREW ME." Huh.... Shaking my head, and trembling at the thought of asking her what she meant by that, I went ahead and said "honey, where did you hear that?" She says "YOU MOMMY." Again I said "huh." She said "yeah, you know how whenever we do something that you dont want us to do like not picking up our stuff or leaving our dishes on the table or whatever you say OH JUST SCREW WHATEVER MOMMY WANTS. Well, I dont want oreos in my lunch today so screw me, I am going to have Swiss Rolls instead." I then took a deep breath and put my arms around her and said "maybe we should think about whether we should say that anymore, and that includes mommmy." Little does she know that I don't think I can.

Creating

Look What Our weekend was all about....

Okay I am back. I just have to learn that in order to write a blog entry each day, I don't have to have some sort of Celebrity kind of thing happen.I can just blog about little random things, those are the best anyway. So Friday night Justin went to a ALL NIGHT LOCK IN at church. Our church rented out Castle's and Coaster for the night for our 5-6 graders. He was up until like 3AM or so and back up at o AM or so. But guess what he won a IPOD shuffle. They were giving away things like a 14 foot trampoline and a Nintendo Wii to the person that brought the most friends. Justin was so proud of himself. It was a contest to see who could hold on to the leader (teacher) arm who was holding the OPED in the air the longest. He did it! WAY TO GO IDAHO.....


So anyway Tim picked Justin up from church on Saturday, cause I went out to do some JUNK HUNTIN'.... Found some great stuff. Some cute IKEA jars for all my ribbon and stuff that I use for scrapbooking. Cute stuff... Katee's trick or treat outfit. A canvas to alter for Katee. I have made one for everyone but her... A cute picture for the kids bathroom. Then when I got home Tim and I watched the Passion. All I can say is Aaaawwwwhhhhh......

Then Saturday night Tim had to run the cameras at church, so the kids and I watched Mr. Mom. The kids had never seen it. Cute movie and it is PG.

Sunday the kids and I went to church. Tim had to run the cameras again (it's a whole weekend thing, all 4 services.) The service was so good. I love our church. Jim Caviezel was there. He is such a humble man. He said he wouldn't trade anything including Oscars or Academy Awards for for his salvation and having his name in written in the book of Salvation. He told of some funny things about Mel Gibson. Jim almost died filming the movie. He suffered from hypothermia, sever skin infections from having all the makeup scrubbed from his body everyday, and he was struck by lighting on the last day of filming. He was a pretty funny guy. I have to mention HE IS HOT.... Both of his children have brain tumors, and we as a family have committed to pray for them every single day. Won't you...

Summer is OVER

Well my kiddies went back to school today. Katee is in 2ND grade and on school number 3. It is all the growth folks, and the fact that we moved. If we would just stay put, they could probably stay at a one school more that a couple of years. Justin is 6Th grade and at school number 4. Insane I tell ya...

So they are going to a school this year that is brand spanking new. They don't even have the cafeteria done. The kids ate lunch in their classroom today. Justin has a male teacher and loves him. He said he is very funny. He had a male teacher in 4Th grade and I loved the guy to pieces. Justin is thrilled because it is a technology school, each student will have their own laptop to use while at school. How cool is that?
Katee has a young female teacher that is super excited to be doing what she is doing. Gotta love that. She is so kind to the kids. This is so important when you consider your child spends more time with this person than they do you.

Okay so I go to pick the kids up from school today (it is 8/10 of a mile and too far to walk) in the heat anyway. Justin can't be found. He is supposed to be waiting with Katee (per the 6Th grade teachers.) One of the teachers said all the 6Th graders came out already. I am thinking "no way, he knew I was coming and DO YOU KNOW HOW HOT IT IS?????") They search the campus looking for him, and he doesn't turn up. So now like 25 minutes have gone by and I start to worry. I know, I know, I should have been worried before but I wasn't. Last year he would go and take a dump after the bell rang, knowing full well Katee and I are waiting outside for him. This is what I was sure he was doing, yet I didn't want to tell this to the teacher, for fear of embarrassing him (but I will blog about it.) So I come home and he is in the backyard having a heat stroke. Not really, but he was so red and ticked that "HE COULDN'T FIND ME." Think he will look a little harder tomorrow....

We went down to the greenbelt last night and took a few pics before the first day of school.

Brought a Tear to my Eyes...

Last week my oldest son learned the hard lesson that where a group of 10-year-old boys is gathered, someone gets chosen as the odd man out. In this case, it was Adam.

He was at a summer day camp, his first year to go. A certain group of boys, led by a ringleader we'll call Chuck, bullied him all week. It wasn't serious physical bullying--it was the kind that arguably hurts even worse. Adam was taunted and teased and excluded in ways that cut deeply. The camp counselors tried to intervene, but they're all a bunch of college kids not trained to deal with the dynamics of a bullying situation. They weren't a lot of help.

After the first day, we sat down with Adam and went through the list of how to handle a bully: standing up for yourself, teaming up with a friend, talking with the adults. We offered to get involved; he was insistent that he wanted to handle this himself. Though the Mama Bear in me was ready to lash out, instinct told me I should trust him on this one.

He tried handling things on Tuesday and Wednesday, with little or no success. He did make a special friend (we'll call him Dave), but this boy was equally targeted by Chuck and his gang. Wednesday night, Adam came home so discouraged that he just didn't feel like he could go back.

We didn't blame him. We told him we were proud of how he had stood up for himself, and that since he had done everything we asked, he didn't have to go back. We would explain to the camp staff what had been going on.

But, Hubs reminded him, bullies do their thing as a means to gain power. If Adam didn't continue to stand his ground, would the bullies, in fact, be winning?

And what about Dave? If Adam didn't go back, Dave would be left to face the bullies' wrath alone.

Adam mulled these things over, and Hubs left him with one more thought. He reminded Adam that life is a lot like a series of mountains. You face one struggle, you master it, and your "legs", figuratively speaking, are stronger for the next one. Maybe, Hubs explained, this was just one of Adam's mountains. Maybe, in staying and standing firm, Adam could feel the victory that comes from a tough climb.

But, and we still made this clear, we wouldn't be disappointed if Adam chose to leave camp. Adam looked at us with a seriousness that belied his ten years. "I need to think about this," he said.

He did. For hours he mulled this over. How I wanted to jump in and make the decision for him! How I wanted to box the ears of the boys who were unkind to my son! And yet, that little voice of instinct told me that this was the time for silence.

Adam told us he would be returning to camp for the last two days. His jaws were set. And his shoulders looked a little broader to me than they had the day before.

As it turned out, the last two days were markedly better. And on the last day of camp, they hosted a special time for the parents to come see what the kids had been doing all week. After the songs and the crafts and the announcements, Hubs leaned down and asked Adam to point out Chuck. With Adam watching, Hubs (who can be quite intimidating when he so chooses, and at this moment, he indeed so chose) extended his hand to Chuck.

"I just wanted to meet you," Hubs said. "Adam has told me what a good friend you've been to him this week. I just wanted to thank you for being so kind."

Chuck's eyes became huge and his face went white. Hubs continued to hold his gaze, and his handshake.

"Someday," Hubs continued, "I think you'll look back on this week and be so proud of the way you acted."

Leaving a bewildered Chuck standing there, Hubs clapped a gleeful Adam on the back, and the two of them left.

A few days later, we were going over this story again, Adam beaming every time he retold it. I told him that if he felt comfortable with it, I'd like to share this story on my blog. He looked at me and grinned.

"Mom," he said, "I'd be disappointed if you didn't."

And that is the response of a boy who has grown this summer. A boy who knows his daddy has his back.

A boy who just climbed a mountain.

At the Buzzer

We had a nice relaxing weekend at home. Nintendo Monopoly, boys against girls, the boys came out on top. There is a re match in our future. Church on Saturday nite. Gotta love church on Saturday, it means a lazy Sunday morning in my P.J's and coffee with my honey. The best part of the weekend was I didn't have to cook one time. Ooohhhh Yeah.....
We went down to the park last night to shoot some hoops with Justin. Here are a few pics from that. Basketball is almost over, only two games left. Justin has improved for sure and had a good time and that is what is important. He doesn't like to practice with Tim, here is evidence of that. Look at his body language.



Whenever we go down to the park, we never lock the front door. Justin was still changing when we all left. Well, when he left he locked the front door, and we had no keys to the house. When we got home, Tim looked for his "hide a key" box and apparently it has fallen off of the bumper of his truck. I know that isn't the smartest place to have a house key. But the fact remains that we needed it, so I didn't share with Tim that I felt he should reconsider keeping a house key in there. I was sure it was going to be a $100 basketball practice, when Tim found that not only do we leave house keys in the first spot a robber might want to look, but we leave downstairs windows open too.






Justin's game on Saturday was so awesome. It was tied at the buzzer. One of the kids on his team shot a three pointer with 15 seconds on the clock to tie the score. The referees just left it at that, which was a bummer. All that hard work and no winner. I know, I know it's just for fun. You know that is not true as well as I do...