I Did It!!

I posted everyday in November. Thanks for putting up with some of my lame post's to get through the month.

I will probably deviate back to posting a few times a week. Even though I have liked some of the new things I have posted about. I will see where it takes me now for December!!

Cartoon

The cartoon says it all. Cody is always saying in the morning on the way to school "The sun in my eye's."

In the Desert

Today we are in the desert. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving - I hope you all did too. More on how the weather treated us when I get back.

We have planned today to go Jeeping and Rhinoing. (Two words that I probably just made up but that's what we call it.) We will go and find the goat trails that we can climb on and jeep. Now sometimes these goat trails lead us to places that make the Jeep go up in the air only on two wheels. That's when it gets fun!

This is my husbands fun. He loves it and so do I. We did the fast buggy thing in the sand and I don't like going fast. This is at a snails pace even though you are on two wheels sometimes.

Now that we have Chase and Cody I take them out in the Rhino (which they love) and tootle around with them. I will have to get some pictures of us in the rhino because I don't have any. So more too come on that.

Happy Thanksgiving

What I am Thankful For:

1. Thankful that my kids and family are healthy.

2. Thankful that I have a bunch of people that love me.

3. Thankful for the men and women that protect and serve this country.

4. Thankful for the freedom that this country gives to me.

5. Thankful that I have memories of the loved ones that I have lost in the past years.

6. Thankful for the beautiful sunrises and sunsets that I wake up to and go to bed to.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving spending it with family and friends.

Going to the Desert

Today we are on our way to the desert to spend Thanksgiving. We go out the day before Thanksgiving and spend the weekend. This has been a tradition that Steve and I have done since the year we started to date. We have friends and family that come out and spend the weekend also. On Thanksgiving, we have a potluck Turkey dinner. This year Steve family will be camping with us also.

So to continue on my posting everyday promise, I will schedule some posts, since I won't have the internet in the desert. I know I don't know what I am going to do without my interent extended family for 5 days, but I hoping I will survive.

Making a Cake

On Friday evening, the boys and I made a cake for Grandpa Dennis' birthday on Saturday. We had fun licking the spoon and eating the cake batter.

I made a ice cream cake with ice cream sandwiches, oreo cookies, hot fudge, pudding and whip cream. It was such a good cake. The boys loved the cookies, pudding and whip cream mix as you can see from the pictures.

The Reciepe:

1/2 cup hot fudge ice cream topping, warmed
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding
8 OREO Cookies, chopped (about 1 cup)
12 vanilla ice cream sandwiches, unwrapped

How to Make It
POUR fudge topping into medium bowl. Add 1 cup of the whipped topping; stir with wire whisk until well blended. Add dry pudding mix; stir 2 min. or until well blended. Gently stir in chopped cookies; set aside.
ARRANGE 4 of the ice cream sandwiches, side-by-side, on 24-inch-long piece of foil; top with half of the whipped topping mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining 4 ice cream sandwiches. Frost top and sides of dessert with remaining whipped topping. Bring up foil sides. Double fold top and ends to loosely seal packet.
FREEZE at least 4 hours before serving. Store leftover dessert in freezer.

It was so good. Great and easy receipe!

Weekend Update

We had a great weekend. Here are some the highlights.

Friday: I took Chase and Cody for hair cuts. They did very well, including Cody. There was no crying or fussing. It was wonderful. They looked so cute afterwards. We also did a little bit of shopping for shoes for them, we ended up with these boots.

They will work wonderful for the desert season that is coming up. Chase and Cody also wore them for there pictures on Saturday.

Saturday Chase and Cody had there Christmas pictures taken with there cousins, Tyler, Christina and Tatum. We had a photographer meet us at the park. I think the pictures turned out awesome and can't wait to see them.

Saturday we also had turkey dinner early with Steve's family. It's been a tradition for a few years now so on Thanksgiving we can each do our own thing with other family. The food was wonderful, like always, thanks to Grammy and Pop for making it all. Chase and Cody played with Tatum all afternoon and had a blast sitting on the quad with her. They can't wait for the desert this weekend.

Sunday we worked on loading the motorhome, Rhino and Jeep. Cody was so tired he fell asleep about noon for a nap. Chase said he was too busy for a nap so he went to bed early at 7:30pm. We still have some more to do with loading the motorhome but we will get it done!

Chase and Cody did have enough time in the afternoon to play in there sand box though.

Hope everyone else had a great weekend also!

Sunday's Cartoon

That is funny!! I love this cartoon. It put's a smile on my face everytime I read it!

Random - Wierd Facts

Rules:


1. Link to the person who tagged you. - Twice as Nice


2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about you. - see below


3. Tag 7 random people at the end, and include links to their blogs.


4. Let each person know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.



Here are my Weird Facts:



1. I don't like my feet dirty. I always wear sock or slippers in the house.


2. I have a collection of 400 thimbles.

3. I earned the highest honor in Girl Scouts "The Gold Award".

4. I like shopping online. I have the majority of my Christmas shopping done all because I ordered it all from online.

5. I like watching NASCAR. And my favorite driver is Dale Earnhardt Jr.

6. I went to a private elementary school 1st grade - 8th grade with only 80 kids in the whole school. It was a huge change from the high school that graduated from with 500 kids in the graduating class.

7. I am scared of heights.

I know that this Tag has went around before...so if you have not done the Tag yet - then do it or if you want to do it again - do it.

Two Cool for Words

They seem too like to set new fashion trends.

Introducing Diesel

I have never posted pictures of our dog, Diesel. So here is Diesel's story.

Steve gave me Diesel for Christmas in 2003. He is a Welsh Corgi Pembroke. How could I turn down this as a Christmas present?


He was the cutest thing. When his ears started to stand up he had some big ears.


But we still loved him...

And as he gained a lot of weight, like we all do when we get older, we still loved him.

Diesel is a good boy. In 2004, I took him to a obedience class and we came in 2nd place to another Corgi, overall good behavior.

Chase and Cody love Diesel also. They can't keep thier hands off of him and always want to sit on him or move too quickly for him. He is very loving towards them but gets tired of them after a while.

Way Back When-sday

Picture from about a year ago.

Cody and Chase 17 months old.


Check out Twinfatuation for other great way back pictures!!

Tag

I read The Ward Family blog and I have been tagged.


What is your husband's name? Steve
How long have you been together? Married for 5 years, together for 7 years
How long did you date? 1 year dating, 1 year engagement
Who said I love you first? Me
Who is taller? Steve
Who sings better? Steve, even though I am the one that likes to sing
Who is smarter? Steve for sure
Who does the laundry? Me
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I guess it depens on which way you are looking at the bed - but standing at the foot of the bed I am on the right.
Who pays the bills? Me
Who mows the lawn? Gardener
Who does the dishes? I Do
Who drives when you are together? Steve - Unless he has been drinking
Who is more stubborn? Steve
Who is the first to admit when they're wrong? Me - I am always wrong - Steve is always right
Who kissed who first? Steve kissed me
Who proposed? Steve did - Kind of
Who is more sensitive? Me
Who wears the pants in the family? Steve - Wranglers, almost everyday!

I tag anyone who reads this.

Weekend Update

What a weekend we had. Let's start with Friday.

On Friday, Grammy and I made stew for 150 people. I needed to make the stew for my grandfathers memorial the next day, so I had asked Grammy to come and help me put it together. We ended up peeling and cutting 20 pounds of potatoes, we use 5 pounds of baby carrots, 5 pounds of celery, a big bag of frozen corn and peas, and 15 pounds of stew meat. We were exhausted after the day of making this stew. I had two roaster pans of stew, which turned out too be way too much. I decided to start the roasters about 8pm and let them cook all night so they would be ready in the morning at 8am. After doctoring it up a little with some broth, beef gravy and some flour it was all very good. I think on Friday night I was in bed by 8:45pm. I know Grammy and Pop went home and took a nap. Thanks again for helping me on Friday!!

So Saturday we get up and head to the memorial to set up everything. We also run to Costco to get the rest of the food for the services. It starts at 11am everything is ready to go. The place looks awesome and Papa really would of had a good time seeing all of his good friends. Grandma did really well. The service and remembrances lasted about an hour and then we eat and partied! It was everything that my grandfather would have wanted. It was nice to be able to say goodbye. I still feel that he is going to answer the phone or just be at his house but I guess I will always feel like that.

Sunday we took the 7 great-grandchildren for Christmas pictures at Sears. Oh what fun that was. Here is 7 kids under 6 - getting their pictures taken. First Sears was having difficulty's with the camera, and then the younger kids didn't want to sit still or have pictures taken at all. In the end we got 2 poses that we liked and that was good enough for us. After that Amy, Jacob, Uncle Steve, Allyson, and Brynnah came up to our house for a visit. Chase and Cody get along very well with Allyson and Brynnah they had so much fun!

I wanted to tell Nancy and Dennis thank you for watching the kids on Saturday for me. It helped a bunch and I really appreciate it. Thanks again.

Sunday's Comic

This is so me every night I read the boys bed time books. It puts me to sleep faster than them.

Favorite Song

Chase and Cody have a new song that they like to sing. We were watching CMT "Crossroads" where Taylor Swift and Def Leepard were performing together. Chase and Cody really liked and started to sing "Pour some sugar on me". It was very cute!

Today is a difficult day for me. We honor my grandfather in memories, his favorite food and a lot of family and friends. I will let you know how it was next week throughout my posts. The other thing is that my grandma is leaving tomorrow for Montana to be with her sons (my uncles) for a couple of months. That is self is very difficult for me as my grandma is more like a mom.

I am very sad today.

Miss You

I really miss my Papa. I miss everything about him.

I miss the way he answered the phone everytime I called my grandparents house (which was a few times a day). He would answer it Good Morning or Good Afternoon and he would always say Howdy somewhere in the beginning of the conversation.

I miss his smile.

The way that he had a way of getting on my nerves about issues but now I wish he would continue to get on my nerves because I miss him so much.

I miss that my sons will never remember how much their great-grandfather loved and admired them. Everyday he wanted to know a special story or something about the boys.

Tomorrow is the services for him and I guess life will go on after that and they say that we will start healing from our loss. But I doubt I will ever stop missing my wonderful Papa.

Books and Books

I have taken a break from reading the last few weeks and I do miss it. I did finish off the three Dakota Series books by Debbie Macomber. They were excellent books and tottally got me hooked on her writing. I can't wait to read my next one by her. I also read a book Payback by Fern Michaels. It was also a great book and it goes along with a few others that she wrote about 7 women that found each other in their darkest days and formed an friendship. I can't wait to read another a find out what happens in the next story.

Before the boys go to bed, we read at least two books a night, normally three or four. But their two favorite books are "The Going to Bed Book" by Sandra Boynton and "Good Night!" by Melanie Mitchell. They call them their favorite books. Very cute.

Which books do you read to your kids as they go to bed?

Way Back When-sday

In honor of Papa:

March 2007

Chase and Cody about 10 month old

Papa 83

Check out Twinfatuation for more way back pictures.

Happy Birthday

I wanted to wish my friend Beth a great Birthday today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday Marines

I wanted to wish the Marines a Happy 232nd Birthday!

My Cousin, Hayley, graduated from Boot Camp in September from the Marines. She is now stationed in California. We are very proud of her.

Making Forts

Chase and Cody's cousin, Tyler, came over and taught them how to make a fort. They had so much fun in that fort.

Cody inside the fort.

Chase inside the fort.

Chase and Cody didn't really want girls in their fort but I was able to take these pictures and then sneak back out. Daddy and Diesel, the dog, was able to join them though.

Cartoon

I love the family circle cartoon. Very funny!

Get Well Soon Aunt Kathy

On her way down to California from Montana, my Aunt Kathy and cousin Courtney got into a car accident in Idaho. She hit ice and she rolled the truck that she was driving and hit a tree. Aunt Kathy suffered a broken wrist and a broken nose, both requires surgey. Courtney walked away with a cut on her head. Both are very sore and well be for weeks. Aunt Kathy is now on her way back to Montana to have doctors take a look at her injury's. We are thankful that they were both not hurt more seriously and wish a speedy recovery for both of them.

Video Friday

The latest video of Cody and Chase jumping. They love to jump into their beanbags. Cody also likes to jump from his bed. His bed is pretty low to the ground so not to get hurt. Everything s about jumping. Very fun!!

Crock Pot Cooking

I should be called the Queen of the Crock Pot!

I do a lot of dinners in my crock pot and I have even done a breakfast casserole in it, it turned out delicious too!!

Tuesday night we had a very good beef stew. I hadn't used the recipe before and so I would try something new. The recipe is out of of the Fix it and Forget it Cookbook - by Dawn Ranck

I used stew meat, potatoes, carrots, onions, can of tomato soup, a can of water, a 1/2 cup of apple vinegar, and spices. I let it cook from 11am to when we ate at 6pm. It was very good.

I t was perfect on a day that had been raining and super cold (at least cold for us here in Southern California).

I am going to start adding some of my good recipes here.

It will also give me something else to post about!!

Way Back When-sday

Here we are another Wednesday... and how do celebrate with Way Back pictures!

4 months old

Chase on the left - Cody on the right

Be sure to check out Cheryl's blog for the lastest in all Way back pictures!

Packing up and leaving

From this weekend, Cody thought he would put everything that was important too him into his "rhino" and take off. He is through with living at his parents house. The rules are just unbearable and he just can't stand it anymore. Here are the pictures:

Cody did come back before night time.

Monday's post

I am going back to work (for a few weeks) on Monday's. I haven't worked on a Monday since the boys were born. I have a best job (and boss) for letting me work Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday's since I came back to work.

The reason I am going back to work is the same week that I lost my grandfather (like that wasn't enough to deal with) I also lost my computer at work. The hard drive that held my whole accounting software, crashed and is now unrecoverable. So I am now going back to work on Monday's to recreate the stuff that I lost. I do have a backup from August that the computer people were able to recover, so I am happy about that!

Chase and Cody are going to school one more day a week. Everyone at school was very excited to have them another day.

Also we have started small steps toward potty training Chase. Everytime I sit him on the potty he pees. I jump up and down because I am so excited. He is actaully pooped also. So this morning I put together underwear and 5 changes of clothes for him and school is going to work with him today. Maybe we will be potty trained soon at least with one. It just means that he is growing up so fast, I don't know if I am ready for the whole potty thing but I guess I need to be!

Happy Monday!!

Happy November Birthdays!

I have a few birthday wishes I would like to send:

11/12 Charlie ... Happy 3rd Birthday

11/14 Scott

11/19 Allyson ... Happy 3rd Birthday

11/22 Dennis

11/23 Uncle Ron

11/29 Daniel

Wow there are a lot of birthday's this month!

Wishing everyone a wonderful November birthday all month long!

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween a day late! We had a great time yesterday. We started off at the Chase and Cody's school party, parade and trick or treating at their school.

ARRRRR MATTIE!!

Cody waiting for his turn!

Having snack in the classroom before parade!

Chase as a pirate acting silly!

One the teachers passing out candy and Chase sneaking into the candy dish!

We stayed in our neighborhood and went to some friends house for food and trick-or-treating. Here are some pictures of our fun!!

I hope everyone had a great (and safe) Halloween!!

National Blogging Month

Okay I guess I am going to try to blog everyday this month. I know a huge task. I am hoping I am up for the challange. Thanks Sara for tuning me into such a challange.