Ready for Christmas!

We spent the day after Thanksgiving decorating for Christmas. Julia and Bella were so excited and would not let us forget. Everything inside is decorated and there are some decorations outside (see below). I already have a few presents and may start wrapping tonight- that will just drive the girls crazy for the next 25 days! :)



We ended the day of decorating with one of our favorite Christmas movies- "Christmas Vacation"! Besides the few choice words here and there, its a cute movie and the girls (and Chet) think it's hilarious. We watch it every year and Chet still ends up cracking up in the same parts.

Chet and the girls LOVE the tacky blowup decorations- especially our Santa Homer. Doh! I, for one, cannot stand these decorations so I bought the white, moving reindeer last year and we had a "classy" lawn for once. Its sort of a joke in our family that I dislike Homer and the gang and that I insist that we have the "classy" Christmas every other year. This year, Chet and the girls thought it would be funny to mix the "trashy" and "classy" together- despite my protests. Oh well, its all for the kids anyway. I can have my own Christmas when we're old. I apologize if I offended anyone who may like the blowup decorations! To each his own.... :)

Temporary blog hiatus.....

since I just discovered the joys of Facebook! It's SO addicting!! My sister has been telling me to join FB forever and I just didn't believe that any of my friends are on there. Wrong! Everyone is on FB- where have I been??
My kids have been watching PBS since school ended since mommy can't stop checking her growing (slowly growing but getting there) list of friends. :)

We have officially joined Crunchyville!

And this is our "flag" to prove it.


This is our new compost bin! I have been dying to start one and finally got around to getting a bin. You too can get your very own just by calling the city's Solid Waste division! :) I know that Gilbert and Chandler give these to residents for free.

It's SO easy and so good for the environment. Plus, it will provide wonderful, organic soil. I do it mostly for the "green" aspect of it since I don't really garden or need much of the actual compost. So, it all goes well, in a few months I will have free compost to give away. Who knows, maybe I will be inspired to start growing a real garden!

Basically, we gather up all our fruit and veggie scraps in a container in the kitchen. After a week, we throw it into the compost and add shredded paper (we have a ton of shredded bills) or grass clippings. (The girls get a huge kick out of throwing stuff in the bin.) You keep layering "green" and "brown" layers like this and soon you will get compost! There are a few more steps (very simple) that I won't bore you with but its so easy! By the way, the fruit/veggie scrap container does not smell at all. I am super picky about my house smelling clean and it doesn't smell at all. You have to stick your head inside the container to even get a whiff of ripe fruit.

I had to take a picture of our back lawn. We had decided not overseed this year to save time and money. But, I called our lawn guy a few minutes too late because his crew had just left our house when I called. Oops! I am kind of glad we had it done- it's the nicest time of the year right now and a great time to be outside. I love looking out the window and seeing this!

Happy Anniversary to us!

Chet and I just celebrated our 10th Anniversary! We went away to Sedona for the weekend- my parents watched the kids (thanks again!). We had such a good time! We ate out, did a little sightseeing, walking, and even went to a late movie (just because we could).

We stayed at the Los Abrigados Resort. Normally I wouldn't even think of staying there (too $$$) but I found out that they have small, bungalow type rooms near the back of the property for only $110! I was so nervous about getting that good of a deal- I kept waiting for them to tell us that we needed to attend a timeshare presentation or that our room had a shared bathroom. But, it was a great room- MUCH better than any room I have stayed in Sedona. It was smaller than most rooms but big enough for us- who needs a separate seating area in a hotel anyway? :) We loved our stay there and plan to go back again.

Happy Anniversary Chet! Here's to many more adventurous years! :)

*We only took a few pictures of our trip before my camera battery died. Luckily, we had some great shots near the creek.

WOW!

What a great night! I stayed up way too late to watch the end to a historical and magical night. I loved Obama's acceptance speech and shed a few tears- because I was SO happy that he won and also because I wasn't sure my parents would live to see the day that an African American man be elected in this country.

I also thought that McCain's speech was wonderful and it reminded me what a great man he is- even if I don't agree with most of his policies.

Looking forward to what the next 4 years bring!

Free Starbucks on Election Day!

I already voted via absentee voting so I will be in line tomorrow at Starbucks! Maybe 1/2 caffinated since I am preggos? Something to keep me awake while I anxiously watch the election results.

Me, 27 yrs ago

I let our girls have one piece of candy after dinner tonight. Julia proceeds to dig through her entire bag to inspect all her goodies from the night and to find just the right one. Bella looks in and says "I'll take this one" to the first piece of candy she see and leaves the rest alone.



Man, my mom could have taken this exact photo 27 yrs ago! My sister and I are exactly 2 1/2 yrs apart (like Bella and Julia). Julia and I are both Geminis and Suzanne and Bella are a few days apart from being the same sign as well. I don't believe in Astrological signs 100% but I think there might be something to the time of year you are born. Julia and I are so alike- its scary. Don't worry Suzanne- I am not implying that you are as odd and free spirited as Bella is. :) She is one of a kind!

Halloween fun!

*Gee, do they look a little excited for candy fest 2008??



Like my sister's post, I love Halloween- I love the decorations, the fun food, watching Charlie Brown Great Pumpkin, etc. My candy loving kids think the same about this great holiday. They knew exactly how many days left until Halloween.

Angie, Joe, and cousins Brennan and Isaac came over to Trick or Treat with us which was so much fun! I wish I had taken a picture of them TOTing together.
*No one was very cooperative for picture time when there is candy to be eaten.


*I need to master the skill of self portraits. Sorry Julia!


*A little blurry but I needed a family photo for our Halloween scrapbook. We have a family pic from every year so far.



We have already had a long day today- I worked, Julia had a soccer game (too hot!), and we stopped by the library to check out DVDs (anything to save $). Its only 2 pm and they are bathed and ready for a nice, lazy day inside. I can't wait for cooler weather next week!

Hope everyone had a great night!