Merry Christmas!!!!!!!

Santa Came To Our House!!!!!

A Real True Hug

Kevin doesn't give away hugs easily.  Yesterday he went in to his Kindergarten teacher's room to deliver a present we made for her for doing such a great job with Spirit Team.  Our friend Geraldine was in the classroom at the time and she was able to capture the moment perfectly.  I just had to share it with all of you!

Last day before vacation!

The boys have never been so excited for Christmas as they are this year.  Kevin is trying to guess all the presents under tree.  They want all the gifts wrapped NOW so they can see what shapes they come in.  Today is their last day of school for 3 weeks (Kevin) and 2 weeks (Zach).  I've rearranged my schedule so I can join Zach at his school party and I'm sure Kevin will be having a fun day at school too.  Yesterday Kevin had a Spirit Team performance, or actually 4 performances.  It was very cute and Mrs. Russo, Kevin's kindergarten teacher did a very good job trying to get 200+ kids organized and dancing.  

I think I'm finally just about ready for Christmas.  The presents are bought, now I just have to get on the wrapping!  Now if I could just get the rest of the house organized, I could see what I'm doing around here!!

Hi

I know I'm getting behind on the whole blog thing.  It used to be that I would wake up, check on the other blogs that I read and then do my own.  Now, I get up and get sucked into the world of Facebook.  Now I constantly know what every one of my friends are doing and even get a peek into the world of people I used to know.  Unfortunately it has left me lagging behind in my own world.... putting off waking the boys up for school, putting off going shopping for Christmas, putting off going for a run.  I'll just blame it all on Facebook!  

I did finally get to go out shopping yesterday and was semi-successful.  Zach and I are going to go out for a little bit today and see what other things we can find.  I think I'm done shopping for the boys.....now I just need to find something for that other big boy that lives in the house (the one who has everything).  

That's Just Ducky!

Rather than repeat the story, I will let those who want go over to Garrett's blog and read our latest happenings.....

grabbaggar

Everything Christmas

We packed our weekend so full of Christmas, we had it coming out of our ears!  It started Friday night when we went to the metro station to see the Holiday Train come in carrying Santa.  Unfortunately we couldn't see very well and we learned that we could actually see better if we were in the back....now we'll know better for next year.  The boys were able to donate toys to the fireman to go to Toys for Tots before the train arrived though.  Then Saturday morning we went to the Santa parade in downtown Newhall.  Very short, but sweet.  Followed by a Literacy Arts Festival at Hart Park, where the boys played in a little bit of "real snow".  From there the boys and I went to Michael's so we could begin some of their Christmas projects for gifts. The rest of the afternoon was like Santa's workshop around here.  The boys were working on gifts while waiting for their Gingerbread house to dry so they could decorate it!

On Sunday the boys sang at the Church's program.  As always, it's cute to see them sing.  Then we got to enjoy a visit from Aunt Susan, Uncle Dennis, and Namie.  I had told the boys they could paint one of our windows as they had seen windows painted downtown during the parade.  So Uncle Dennis jumped right in and helped them create a beautiful window painting.  Immediately following their visit, we walked over to the Christmas tree lot around the corner from us, picked out a tree and carried it home.  Kevin especially liked looking at all the past ornaments this year.  We followed that up by going to the hospital where they had their annual tree lighting festival, came home to make pizza, and finally got to bed.

Now I quickly am catching my breath before starting a new day.  We are packing in more today as we head down to Denise's house for her annual holiday open house right after school.  I got the Christmas cards and letter done, so now I just have to get them ready to send out.  I still have absolutely no Christmas presents bought....with the exception of 2 e-bay purchases which I am hoping that they will get here in time for Christmas!

Hope you enjoy the pictures of our fun-filled weekend!

Roxanne

Rockin' Thanksgiving

As promised, I said I would post about Thanksgiving.  I had to wait for some more pictures, but as usual I didn't have my camera out nearly enough.  Most of the pictures that I got were of the gang playing Rock Band.  Cody and Lauren enjoyed this the most, although Garrett was right there with them.  And of course the boys liked being the singers, but only for one song.

My parents came down on Wed. and my mom jumped right in, making an apple pie.  I made the pumpkin and pecan.  My dad taught Kevin how to play Chinese Checkers and Kevin went to sleep that night starring at the game board, thinking of a strategy to play the next day.  The rest of the gang came down on Thanksgiving day.  We had more than enough food for everyone and the pies were delicious.  

Friday consisted of hanging out, playing more Rock Band, walking to the park and just being together.  My parents headed back up north on Saturday morning and the plan was then the rest of us were going to head to Ventura for the day.....but plans changed after hearing about how bad the traffic might be on Sunday and my brother and family all headed back up on Saturday afternoon to try and avoid being on the road for 10 hours.

Zach's ready to Rock the House!

Kevin found his old friend to snuggle with.....and he doesn't do this with many people.

Zach found a new jungle gym to climb on.

Thanks guys for a totally rockin' Thanksgiving!!  We miss you all already!

The Countdown Begins

December snuck up on me.  I'm trying hard to get in the Christmas spirit.  We got out Christmas decorations yesterday.  The inside of the house is nearly decorated.  The boys could not wait until this morning when they could take out day 1 on all three of their advent calendars!


I will post more tomorrow about our wonderful Thanksgiving!  

Happy Thanksgiving

The boys have been playing school the past few days.  Kevin has been the teacher and Berry, Zach's stuffed animal, has been the student (with Zach being Berry's voice).  Kevin took his job as teacher very seriously and planned out craft activities, printed some out on the computer, and helped Berry with them.  Here's what he came up with:


But the best thing that I learned from his teaching wasn't while they were playing school.  It was on Tuesday when I was spending all day cleaning the house.  Half way through the day Kevin just said plainly, "It's not about rushing around and getting all ready.  It's about being thankful."  

 

Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving.  I'm thankful for all of you!!

Missing the Beach

Saturday we took a spontaneous trip to Ventura for a few hours.  I miss living so close to the beach.  Even though 50 minutes is not that far of a drive, we still don't get there as often as I would like.  As we parked near our old house and walked down the path to the beach, we were reminiscing about how Kevin learned how to take some of his first steps down that same path.  And we enjoyed looking at the houses that are right on the sand and choosing which one we would live in if we could!

 The boys had a fun time, even after complaining about not wanting to go.  They didn't want to have to take showers when we got home and get all sandy and itchy.  Once we were there though there was no stopping them.  The water was pretty cold, but not cold enough for them to stay completely out of.  They managed to stay semi-dry, but just wet enough to get their shorts.  

Ahhhh, the beach

The Incredible Shrinking Garrett

June 2008

It was just about 4 months ago, the end of July, when Garrett decided he was going to loose weight.  When Garrett decides to do something then that is it...... he does it.  So for the past 4 months he has been doing the same things pretty much everyday, with a consistency that I just cannot believe.  Every morning he has two packets of instant organic oatmeal.  For lunch he eats a 6 inch Subway sandwich.  Then for dinner, it is whatever I make or a few times a week we have take-out.  Add in a yogurt and a piece of fruit for a snack plus a daily workout on the eliptical machine and we now have a 40 pounds lighter Garrett.  I'm so proud of how he has been sticking to his plan!  

I just can't understand why I can't loose the 10 pounds that have been haunting me since having the boys ("sure, I'll have a cookie").  I mean I exercise ("ok, I'll have a piece of your Halloween candy Kevin").  I eat right ("well, it's a party....I guess I'll have a piece of cake").  I ran a marathon for goodness sake! ("yeah, I deserve three desserts!!!")  Can anyone help me figure out what I'm doing that Garrett's not??? :)

Anyway, now you all know his secret.  Eating right and exercise.  Maybe he should write a book!

November 2008

Catching Up

So, I guess I've had other things on my mind this week and haven't known what I should write about.  As many of you have heard, my mom had surgery this week to remove a cancerous tumor from her breast.  While the thought of breast cancer has been scary, the results from the surgery and recovery have been nothing but positive.  My mom is recovering well, hopefully enjoying some "time off", and they plan on being here next week for a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I am looking forward to having my parents and brother and family here for a few days.  I am also looking forward to all the smells of Thanksgiving in the house!!  I'm planning on doing it all this year and my hopes are that I can be all organized enough that I can go over to Central Park for the Santa Clarita Turkey Trot on Thursday morning.

Now, that I've written this I feel I can move on and continue with other posts.....such as "The Incredibly Shrinking Garrett" to come tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Paula!

We had a fun afternoon yesterday celebrating Paula's birthday in Redondo Beach. Hope you have a great day today, Paula!

This picture was from Garrett's birthday last year

the big 17!

happy birthday to my nephew Cody!! We are really looking forward to seeing you at Thanksgiving. I can't believe you are 17!!

P.S. Your card is in the mail. :)

What's Next?

That seems to be the question I am hearing most lately.  Not only from others, but from myself.  I had read somewhere that after you run a marathon it is sometimes followed by a sort of depression.  Not so much that you are feeling sad that you ran it, but more about all the hard work is over and now what....  So that's where I am at now, not the depressed part, but the "now what" part.  

I have started making a list of new things I would like to do.  I am trying to get back into an exercise routine after taking most of last week off.  I ran about 3 miles today while Zach started a new gymnastics class.  That will be a good thing each Thursday!  So here's what I've come up with so far:

1.  Conquering "The Beast" on December 13th.  The runner's club is hosting its 2nd annual run here in town which is a difficult, uphill run for a total of 9 something miles (that's why they call is the beast).  I will not be running the whole way, I already know that, but it is to raise money for the Food Pantry, which I know does a lot of good around town.  If anyone wants to join me on this one, it's a $20 registration fee and all the money goes to the Food Pantry.

2.  I'm thinking that 5 hours and 12 minutes just is not going to cut it for me.  So I am hoping to run in the San Diego Rock and Roll marathon on May 31st.  After having a week and a half to recover and think about it, I'm thinking it would be fun.  I was thinking about training with "Team in Training" who raises money for Leukemia and Lymphoma because the first time was just for me, but now I feel like I should do it for something else.  But, that brings me to my third thing on my list.

3.  The Susan G. Komen 3-day walk in San Diego, November 2009.  A walk for breast cancer has now become something that will be at the top of my list to sign up for.  Cancer seems to be popping up all around me and I know I can't raise money for everything, so I am choosing this one as it has become closer to my heart over the past week.  I haven't signed up yet, but am looking into walking with a former client's mom who has done the walk previously.  So, you know I will be looking to all of you for support during this one! ;)

Those are my 3 biggest things I've planned so far.  And in between all of these I am going to be continuing to spend time doing my everyday mom activities.  We had a nice short week this week.  Kevin stayed home on Monday with the sniffles and cough. He entertained himself at my work for 2 hours by playing chess against himself.  I'm sure he will be challenging anyone who comes his way soon.   

Zach and I are off to the store to buy some more clothes for these boys who are growing too fast.  Kevin went to school yesterday with pants and a shirt that were way too small for him!  

Roughing It With Zachary

First time roasting his own marshmallow.  He barely let it get brown before he said he was ready to eat it.

This weekend Zach and I are on our own.  Garrett and Kevin have gone to a Boy Scout camp in Pacific Palisades for the weekend.  Zach, upon hearing he was not going to be going with them, asked if we could sleep in the backyard.  Who could resist such a cutie pie?  So we set up camp, roasted hot dogs, and then marshmallows.  We managed to stay out all night and actually slept, off and on.  

Today we had a mellow day, with the exception of heading over to My Gym for an Open House.  Now, we are going to get all cozy in my bed and watch Underdog!  I hoping to stay awake for it all so that I can then have some time just to myself..... I may get that only while I'm sleeping though.

Slideshow

Maybe soon I will have something else to talk about, like politics or sports.....but for now, here are more pics from Sunday.

marathon pics and a Happy Birthday Wish!

First off, Happy Birthday to Susan!  Hope you have a wonderful day!!

Next, hope you enjoy some of the pics from Paula.  I will be putting up the slide show from Dennis later today......