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.

Yesterday was a crazy day. We went down to Orange County after we dropped the kids off at school. After brunch with Joanna and Tommy we headed to Camp Pendleton for Tyler to pick up a part of his uniform for the ball. The traffic was so lame and it took us forever to get home! We picked up the kids and Tyler started getting the chills. We got home and took his temp and he had a 103 fever! After a good night sleep he's feeling much better but I still think he's crazy for going out to set up the soccer field today.

Today is Kayley's last game. As far as I know her team has won all games but two. I know we're not supposed to keep score, but I do. It's amazing the improvement I've seen in all the girls as they practiced and learned to work as a team. Kayley is amazing at dribbling and stealing the ball. She isn't the fastest but she sure has fancy footwork! I plan on getting a video of her that I'll post later.

Besides the game (and the party after), we have nothing on our agenda for today and we're going to take a looong nap! Hooray for daylight saving time tomorrow. Now if only my kids will sleep in!

This was my view at lunch time today. With Tyler by my side we sat on the beach, consumed smoothies, talked and enjoyed the beautiful summer fall weather. Ah, what a day!

Ten On Tuesday

1. I'm feeling much better today.

2. Tyler is really blessing me by doing so much while I'm at work. Today he did all the grocery shopping. I love my husband!

3. Halloween was very fun. Kayley ended up being Indiana Jones and Cole was a pirate. We went trick or treating for about an hour and the kids really enjoyed it. Then we went to trunk or treat at First Assembly. I took some pictures but I'll post them later.

4. Tonight we start a class at church. I'm very glad to finally get involved in something besides church on Sundays.

5. I wish I were in a sundress and flip flops, drinking a smoothie while walking on the beach. Instead I'm indoors, freezing from the air conditioning and wearing fancy clothes and high heels. Oh well, at least I can see the palm trees swaying outside the door.

6. I just took a typing test and found I average 50 words per minute.

7. I spent some time reading up on the candidates and measures for today. There are so many people on the ballot that it's a little overwhelming. I think I'm convinced that most of the propositions are just a scam for politicians to carry out their agendas.

8. 11 days until the ball! Man, I gotta find shoes and a clutch to go with my dress.

9. I introduced Tyler to Modern Family and he loves it! Now onto Glee...

10. Tyler went into the doctor for x-rays last week. Everything is looking great and he's healing much faster than she had expected at this point. He was given the ok to to start running again! I'm amazed by Tyler's attitude toward getting better. He's stronger than I am in that way, that's for sure.

A Weird Day

Today hasn't been especially stressful. It has been a normal Monday. Besides the fact that the internet was down all day at work and I'm slightly annoyed by someone I work with it's been uneventful. But I got home today and I just want to scream. I can barely breathe and my body just does not want to function. I don't get it.

So I think I'll go to the gym and work out all this anxiety.

I hate days like this.