Ten On Tuesday, Holiday Edition

1. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We had a very busy but fun weekend.

2. Christmas Eve was filled with house cleaning, visiting with Hillary and Joanna and dinner with my family at my parents house. We concluded the evening with Christmas carols. Our family would make a fabulous choir!

3. Christmas day started around 6am. Cole was the first up, of course. The kids were so excited that Santa had come! We made breakfast burritos for the family that were delicious! Everyone stayed for a few hours and sat around, played games with the kids and watched Christmas movies.

4. Tyler bought me white strips for my teephers (my Christmas list has changed over the years!) and I got him some more of his nice smelling cologne. We both got money and other tidbits, too. The kids got lots of stuff from us this year. Among the gifts were legos, books, silly bands, m&m's, clothes, baseballs and bats, a t-ball stand, cars and gum. They were very blessed with gifts from my parents, Auntie JoJo, Krista, Grandma Jackie and Pop, Grandma Pat, Aunt Kathleen and the Powell family, too. Kayley and Cole have lots of new toys and books now!

5. A couple of weeks ago our laptop screen broke. Josh is going to replace it for us as our Christmas present! It sure is nice to have people in our lives that know how to do stuff like that. It was really great to have Josh home for Christmas, too.

6. Christmas evening Tyler and I took the kids to see Tangled. I was a little apprehensive because I really dislike the recent Disney movies that aren't Pixar but it wasn't bad at all. I quite enjoyed it.

6. We got this for our room:

7. Cole got a helicopter for Christmas. It was the perfect gift because Kayley is learning how to fly them, too!

8. Sunday we drove down to my Grandma Pat's house for our family Christmas. We got a lot more pictures but Joanna has them on her camera. Tyler took this with his phone. I'm not sure what Tim and I were thinking because our pose did not make for a good picture!

9. Christmas continues tomorrow when we drive up to Tyler's Aunt Lisa's. We'll stay the night and drive home on Friday for our slammin' New Years partay! Sunday we'll be gone again for the last of the family gatherings. We will go down to Corona for my mom's side of the family. I'm worn out just thinking about it but I guess I can just count myself blessed for having so much family!

10. This Christmas has been a very joyful one. Only God could bring about the joy that surrounds us! I'm excited for what the new year will bring!

Good morning friends! Today is sure to be a fabulous day. I'm up early, laying on the couch watching White Christmas. We're excited to see Hillary and Joanna and Josh today! Church should be awesome and my mom's home cookin' will not dissapoint.

All in all today will be absolutely wonderful!

Ten On Tuesday

1. So what do we do when it rains a lot and my super active kids are stuck inside? We go outside and play in the rain!!

Kayley was in a weird mood

2. Kayley was picked out of all the kids in her class for the kindness award this month. Funny how you can't actually see the award. Oh well.

3. After a week of being very sick I'm finally feeling better. Thank goodness for an office that didn't send me home even when I needed to be there!

4. We are all very excited for Christmas! Our family has been blessed by some strangers who gave us gift cards to Wal-Mart, Target and Amazon.com! I'm blown away by their generosity! We were able to buy the kids' birthday presents already!

5. Cole dropped the remote down the side of the couch. Then he got stuck. And, like all loving parents do, I snapped a photo before pulling him out.

6. I must admit I'm enjoying all this rain!

7. I love Kayley being on break. I wish I were home with her, though!

8. There comes a time when you don't worry about what your kids wear anymore. When they're little it's all about them dressing cute. Then they start fighting it and sometimes I'm willing to force them to be stylish, sometimes I'm not. So when Tyler and Kayley went out last night (in the rain) and Kayley was wearing a red Christmas shirt, brown bermuda shorts and her Hello Kitty rainboots I really didn't care. Judge me if you must. Just wait till your kids are six.

9. Things are in full tax season prep mode at work.

10. My oven will only heat to 205 degrees. Try cookin' up something in that. Last night our enchiladas ended up being microwaved.

Ten On Tuesday

1. A client brought in candied walnuts. They're kind of almost better than chocolate. Almost.

2. I think my love for Alvin and the Chipmunks is growing. Their Christmas jingle is currently my ring tone and I'm proud of it, babe.

3. We went to the Parade of Lights at the Channel Islands Harbor this weekend. "Santa" flew overhead and Cole made sure everyone knew that it was "not the real Santa cuz he lives in the North Pole."

The lights were really pretty! We didn't stay longer than 30 minutes because the kids got bored. A nice lady offered to take our picture.

Tyler was so kind in allowing me to wear his beanie. He was fine in a tshirt. I wish I wasn't always freezing!

4. The pavilion in downtown Oxnard has lights that are coordinated with Christmas music. After the harbor we headed there to check it out.

5. I love the way our picture turned out!

6. I'm sick. Thankfully not too sick to work.

7. I get very excited about ordering office supplies. I'm getting a new phone and calendar this week. Talk about an early Christmas present! Haha, sad city Batten.

Sad city just took me back to middle school. What an awkward time full of braces adjustments, flute playing and getting those fun packages full of Clearasil and Always samples (I loved those things). Good times.

8. The kids are doing really great with their new chore charts. Kayley earned her $2 last week and Cole earned his $1. They have been taking more responsibility and that means less for Tyler and I to do and I love it.

9. Cole is for sure going to play tball in the Spring. Talk about cute! Kim, I think you will be here during the season!

10. Next week I'm doing 2 on Tuesday. It is so hard for me to come up with stuff to yack about.

Thinking Ahead

I have to plan a birthday party. Both kids want to invite their classes. Cole has 12 kids in his class, Kayley has 22. That's a lot of kids. I wish we had the money to do whatever they wanted but we don't!

What should I do??

Ideas, please!

Christmas Tree Fetching

Our trip to the tree farm was so much fun! We first ate lunch at Carrows with my parents, Jo and Tom. My french toast was not wonderful but no harm, no foul. They serve a mean cup a joe and as far as I'm concerned that's all that really matters. So we fed our rumbly bellies and headed out to conquer the search of the mighty Christmas tree.

The trees this year were a little disappointing. They were a little funny, especially at the top, but we finally found one we liked. The kids also rode a camel and fed the animals in the petting zoo. Just for the record, geese are not nice birds.

I think we've been chopping down our tree for ten years now, at least! What a great tradition!

Joanna found her boyfriend tree

Tommy was very jealous. He put that little tree in it's place.

A dark picture turned ok via black and white. I would love a photo editor one of these days.

Manly man chopping down the tree

Kayley helped...

...and so did Cole

The glare was really getting to her

Well there's a camel

My mom and the camel had an understanding

There's nothing like a good camel ride

Checking out the petty zoo

Ten On Tuesday On A Day Other Than Tuesday

1. Tyler got out the Nintendo and the kids have been playing Super Mario Brothers. Last weekend Cole asked me if he could play the comprendo brothers.

2. I had coffee with Chelsie on Sunday night and it was so nice. We could have talked for days I think!

3. I got a new phone! It's a purple LG Optimus (not prime) android phone with a full touch screen. Adios Blackberry, you were good for a time but I love my new phone much more.

4. The tree is up, the stockings are hung and the house is decorated. I love this time of year! The smell from the Christmas tree is probably the best part. Speaking of which, I will posting the tree farm pictures tonight or tomorrow.

5. Happy Birthday to my Hillary friend! We have know each other since the awkward days (some might say they haven't ended). I wouldn't trade the short haircuts, unkind chants about having to wear certain underclothes at a young age, leg ballet, beautiful duets and extreme attachment to my oldest child for the world. Love you like a sis!

6. All of a sudden the swelling in Tyler's leg has decreased a whole bunch. He can pretty much see his knee now. That's progress we're so thankful for!

7. I made an appointment to get a haircut tomorrow!

8. There are only five people in the office today. Just me and Georgia downstairs equals a jolly Christmas music festival (while we're working, of course)!

On the subject of the office, apparently one year they hired a temp for tax season and she painted her toenails up on the desk in the middle of office hours. Gross. Please, someone come work here so I won't have to deal with someone like that, ha.

9. Today I woke up and would have been perfectly happy with rolling out of bed, not brushing my hair and heading to work in my sweats. But I didn't. You're welcome.

10. Just a few more days until Linzo is back!

Good morning bloggy blog friends!

I realized that I negected to post a picture of our wonderful apple pie from Thanksgiving.

It's fun to bake but it gets eaten so quickly! At least Tyler and I each got a piece.

Yesterday I had my office Christmas party. We had it at a restaurant called Opal in Santa Barbara. The food was amazing and the place itself was so beautifully decorated. After we ate we were given our Christmas bonuses. I count myself very blessed to work for a company that can give out bonuses because there are lots of places that are struggling right now.

Today we are going to chop down our Christmas tree. The kids are very excited, probably more than any previous year! I will be sure to post pictures later.

As soon as Tyler wakes up I'm probably going to go do some Christmas shopping. I know the mall is madness but I want to go to Old Navy. Wait, there's one in the Esplanade. Anyway, I'm going shopping.

I didn't want to do a ten on tuesday. So I didn't.

We just finished week six of our Bible study and I am so blown away by what I'm learning. Growing up in church I have pretty much heard it all. But this time it's going deeper; it's going to my heart. It's like a cold drink when I'm really thirsty. It quenches my spirit so deep within I just cannot describe it.

I love this passage below by AW Tozer.

"The Spirit-filled life is not, as many suppose, a life of peace and quiet pleasure. It is likely to be something quite the opposite. My point here is that if we want to escape the struggle we have but to draw back and accept the currently accepted low-keyed Christian life as the normal one. That is all Satan wants. That will ground our power, stunt our growth and render us harmless to the kingdom of darkness. Compromise will take the pressure off. Satan will not bother a man who has quit fighting. But the cost of quitting will be a life of peaceful stagnation. We sons of eternity just cannot afford such a thing."

I'm encouraged to keep fighting. I never want a life of peaceful stagnation. I want to move forward...Jesus is coming soon and I want to be ready!

The Holidays Are Here!

Tyler created a Pandora station called Swingin' Crappy Christmas Crap. Oh, he pretends to be bah humbug but we all know that he's just pretending. Ha.

Four day weekends are great for me. I've been a lazy bum every single day, plus Tyler has been getting up in the morning with Cole-I-Don't-Sleep-Later-Than-7-Cuz-My-Belly-Rumbles. I did make it to the gym twice and clean the house so I guess that counts for something!

Today we made lists for Santa. Kayley still isn't sure he's real and Cole is very worried that Santa won't be able to read his writing. Here's what they came up with:

(Cole, in his own writing)

To Santa

Lightening Mqueen lego set

ship

nutcracker

BB gun

optimus prime

guitar

astro boy

Cole

_______________________________

(Kayley)

To Santa

Christmas List!

Big lego set toy story

dog

Big puzzle

USMC nutcracker

your autograph

big wig

BB gun

a movie no star wars

small guitar

scarf

Happy Thanksgiving!

Turkey day has come and is now almost over. The moment I walked into my mom's house I smelled Thanksgiving in the air. The family, dinner, dessert (including my first ever apple pie) and decorations made me a happy lady today.

I have many other reasons to be happy, too!

I'm thankful for my very good looking husband, my wonderful offspring, great family, lots of good friends, a fairly priced rental home, two great cars, a great job, and a life filled with many, many other blessings!

Above all these things I am the most thankful to have a relationship with a God who loves me and will never let me go. He's helped me through lots of junk the past years and sometimes I only hung on by a thread but I still hung on to Him. He is my savior, my God, my one true friend. He sees every tear and hears me every time I call to Him. I'm thankful that God can change hearts and lives and brings lost hearts back to Him. I'm thankful that He uses situations that the enemy meant for harm, for good. He has always provided, always made a way. What a sovereign God I have the privilege of knowing personally!

God, may I never forget that you are the only one I really need.

Amen.

Ten On Tuesday

1. This is my favorite thing Cole says lately: "This is the first, that's the twoth one and that's the threeth one."

2. Joanna is now in the Dominican Republic. I'm a little sad she won't be here for Thanksgiving. A lot sad actually. But it'll be great! I'm making the beloved green bean casserole. Mmm.

3. I started listening to Chris Tomlin's Glory in the Highest on my way to work today. Christmas is just around the river bend.

4. Tyler and I began watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy last night. I love it but I have to honestly say that hearing Gollum say "my precious" freaks me out. I've seen the movies before but for some reason it all seems new to me.

5. I haven't been to the gym in two weeks and I'm not proud of it.

6. I took this on my way out the door today. I sure love these guys.

I also love that Kayley's head looks like it's twice the size of Cole's.

7. Just one and a half more days of work and then a four day weekend!

8. I'm just real hungry right now. I have a bean, chicken and rice burrito made with a whole wheat tortilla waiting in the fridge for me to heat up. Come on lunch time!

9. I ordered a box of food from Treasure Box and I'm really pleased with it. You get like $60-$100 worth of food for $30 and you can pick which type of box you want (I picked the kids box). We got things like burritos, apple pies, corn dogs, pizza and cereal. Some things aren't what we usually would buy from the store because they are fattening and expensive. But I thought I would give it a try. Next time I think I'll go for the healthy box.

I've really been working on getting us on a budget for the food we buy. There is no need to pay full price for food (or anything else really), even when you're shopping healthy. Between shopping at the commissary, using coupons and buying a box a month from the website we're only spending $190 per month on food. That's less than $50 per week which is pretty good for a family of four.

10. I'm excited for the next couple of months. December brings Christmas, then comes the new year and Kayley and Cole's birthday, then tax season! There is also the possibility of deployment for Tyler. We're waiting on the details and if it works out it will be a great opportunity for him!

Sharpie smell, bacon, snails and banana chips

I'm going just a wee bit crazy in the head at work today. It could be because my space heater is circulating the smell from the giant sharpie one of my co-workers used to mark a box. Or I just really have nothing to do.

One accomplishment for the day: I learned how to set the date and time on my fancy shmancy calculator by using the manual. Did I need the date and time on my calculator? No.

Why am I here?

Oh yes, to bring home some of the bacon. Perhaps if I actually sliced bacon for a living my day would be more exciting. Wait. I saw Food, Inc. That would be gross. Ok, so I'm happy with my desk job that pays well, even when it's slower than the little snails who cross my patio in the morning.

Speaking of snails, my kids do love to murder them on a daily basis. I quite enjoy picking them up by their shell and hurling them great distances. Oh, my kids. I do miss them. I'm very much looking forward to hugging them real tight when I get home!

As a side note, I sampled banana chips for the first time today and I must say, they are delightful indeed.

Kayley, a first grade genious child

It's time for another bragging moment.

Kayley is doing so well in school that her teacher called her a "model student." There's nothing that makes a parent more proud! Kayley had all average and above average scores in every subject. She reads at 84 words per minute (that's a lot for her age) so she'll be one of four kids in her class to join a speedy readers club. They will read chapter books in addition to the reading books they are using now and discuss them as a small group. Kayley is not only great at reading and spelling, she's also really fast and accurate at doing addition and subtraction. She has some things to work on, of course, but she's pretty much sailing through first grade, easy peezy lemon squeezy.

Needless to say Tyler and I are so proud of her hard work and she definitely earned her ice cream!

Ten On Thursday

1. Corey, Tyler's brother, is going to be a dad times two. Raeleen has an appointment at the end of the month for an ultrasound but the tentative due date for baby Batten is in May sometime. Come spring I will have lots of newborn babies to hold and love!

2. I cannot believe that Thanksgiving is next week!

3. Our Christmas party for the office is on December 3rd and we get our Christmas bonus that day!

4. We're still looking for a temp in the office. The dates have changed to March 1st through April 15th and the pay has gone up a couple of bucks an hour. So, if you know of anyone, let me know!!

5. I keep dreaming that Joanna is engaged and I help her plan the wedding. No pressure, Tom's of Maine (that's just one name I like to call him. Others include Uncle Tom's Cabin and Tom Thumb).

6. I'm fighting off a cold and am currently sipping airborne. What a delicious effervescent health formula.

7. I've been looking at Lego sets online for the kids for Christmas. The Toy Story ones look really fun! It's weird to think that my kids are old enough to play with Legos. This is a great age!

8. Kayley's parent teacher conference is tomorrow afternoon. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm pretty sure she's doing great in every area so I know she'll earn her ice cream cone from Baskin Robbins!

9. Cole melts my heart all the time. From a kiss on the nose on my way out the door to a little picture he drew for me, it makes me happy. He will always be a momma's boy but he does love his daddy a lot more these days, too.

10. Kayley wrote this to us while we were gone last weekend:

Mom and Dad

I'm doing good

Cole is has been crabe all day long

I love you

Love Kayley

I'm pretty amazed that she wrote all that will only one spelling error. What a kid.

Ten On Tuesday (Late), Vegas Edition

1. We survived Vegas, barely. There's nothing like drinking Jack and Coke at 9am and stumbling along the streets by noon.

2. Ok, so we didn't get hammered, not even close.

We got to the strip around 2 on Saturday and drove from one end to another. We got to the Luxor and checked in, checked out the ball room and looked around a bit. I don't know if you can tell by looking at the picture but it's huge inside.

3. It was nice to have some relaxing time before the ball. I took a bath, painted my toes, touched up my makeup and sprawled out across the king size bed. Tyler got a call that his uniform needed to be inspected so he got dressed. Man, he sure looked sexy in that uniform! After he came back he put my hair in hot rollers (what a guy!) and had to go down and check into the ball. After making him go down, they sent him right back up (in true Marine Corps style). So annoying. Anyway, I did my hair and put on the dress and off we went!

4. I felt like a princess that night! We went to the ball room, took pictures (I'll post it when it comes in the mail) and I sipped a lovely melon martini. I met lots of Tyler's fellow Marines and we took our seats.

I hate that this is blurry but it's the only one we got of us together!

After an hour or so of the ceremony we ate dinner. I had chicken and Tyler had steak. Of course, the dessert was the very best part!

5. After the ball we ended up walking around in our fancy clothes in a couple of hotels closest to the Luxor. I played the quarter slots (just a dollar!) at New York New York, won three bucks and lost all of it but a quarter. Then Tyler cut me off, ha. I think people who spend their time sitting there like zombies gambling need some serious help. There was much more to see than the inside of a smokey casino!

I think my favorite part of that night was when five middle aged British ladies saw Tyler in his uniform. One lady wanted to wear his cover so I put it on her head and she put her little mini bachelorette top hat on him and they took a picture. I wish you could have seen the look on Tyler's face. Priceless.

6. Sunday morning we slept in until 10! I can't remember the last time I slept in that late so it was fabuloso. We bought tickets for the monorail that takes you along the back of the hotels along the strip all the way to the stratosphere. In all, we visited the MGM Grand, Tropicana, Bellagio, Harrahs, Treasure Island, Stratosphere, Sahara, New York, New York, and the Excalibur. Needless to say, a lot of walking!

7. Tyler went on a roller coaster at the top of the Stratosphere. It's just a tad horrifying at 112 stories high to ride a roller coaster that simulates falling off of the edge. It was beautiful seeing the desert from so high up, though. I'm blown away by it all!

8. At the MGM Grand they have a lion exibit with little baby cubs you can play with.

9. Me in front of New York, New York

(I look a little tipsy but I'm drinking water, I promise!)

10. We are the prime example of Vegas on a budget. The hotel room was a deal and our tickets for Mystere, a Cirque du Soleil show, were half price with a military discount. It was absolutely amazing. If you ever get the opportunity to see a show in Vegas, do it!!

We went to the M&M's store like I had planned. I got a few of every single color and ate them throughout the day on Sunday.

We left on Monday very happy. It was a really great weekend! I can't wait until the next time we can get away!

Wordless Wednesday

Ten On Tuesday

1. Four days until the ball and I'm very excited! Krista went shopping with me on Saturday to find shoes. I was surprised to find them at the second store we looked! Yes, they're from Payless. I refuse to pay a lot for shoes. I also plan on wearing them after work in my sweats to break them in this week.

2. So, I have the dress, the shoes and the clutch (thanks Krista!) that I'll be wearing. Now all I need to do is figure out my hair.

3. Tyler was sick all weekend and had a very high fever. He seems to be his normal self today, though!

4. Georgia and I will be the only ones in the office on December 13th. We've decided that we will turn on Abba as background music and offer the clients margaritas. Feel free to swing by and get crunk with us.

5. Google "where is chuck norris" and click on I'm feeling lucky. Funny stuff.

6. If you google map directions from Japan to China you will obviously have to cross the ocean. Google suggests an easy way to get there.

39. Turn right toward 県道349号線 57 m
40. Turn left at 県道349号線 11.3 km
41. Continue onto 県道350号線 2.1 km
42. Turn left 1.4 km

43. Jet ski across the Pacific Ocean

Haha!

7. Tonight is $1 holiday drinks night at the Coffee Bean. I'm excited to have the Red Velvet Ice Blended. Yum!

8. Week 2 of Bible study is tonight. Last week was awesome! It wasn't a group of super spiritual people, in fact, there was one guy there who wasn't a Christian and was just there to support his wife. I learned so much and felt very comfortable there. Tyler said he liked it, too.

9. The sun going down early makes me sleepy.

10. I'm very excited to go to the snow this year!

Silly faces,

hide and seek,

and good times...

with a good friend!

Hampster Ball...

...turns my kids into zombies.

And for this reason they don't play it that often!

Halloween Fun

Ok, here are the pictures from Halloween. My little pirate and Indiana Jones love to pose. I should have taken some without their pumpkins and I didn't get any from our night out but oh well, I'm not a photographer.