I'm just a little behind....Merry Christmas!

I am well aware that it is the end of January...but truthfully, I haven't had a moment to breathe since Christmas. And there was the little issue of technical problems with my computer, but that's now over and I finally present my Christmas pics. Not that any of you care to see this so late in the game, but this is kind of my journal, so I'd like the record of it in case my scrapbooks burn up one day (especially since these pics just may never get scrapbooked at the rate I'm moving!)

Emi and Parker and their Christmas Piano recital. Parker played "We Wish you a Merry Christmas" and Emi played "Oh Christmas Tree" . Doesn't Parker look old?

Stockings...I didn't have my stockings out much during December, thanks to Quinn's ability to pull them down and hurt himself.

Emi with her stash...."Mia", a kitchen, and Webkinz clothes.

Christmas Eve with their new slippers.

Parker being way more interested in Quinn's new fire truck than his stuff. 

Looking back, it was a super day! Kids were happy, they are STILL loving the toys they got, and we just had a ball. 

Sorry, boring post. Happy January!

Happy Birthday, Peggy Joyce!

This is my cute mom as a baby. Hard to believe she is turning 70 today. 

This is my mom (little girl) with her older sister, Kathleen. She died of cancer when I was five.

If anyone deserves a tribute, it's my mom. She is truly the greatest:

1. My mom brings dove chocolate squares everywhere. 
2. My mom was born  in Lyndon, Alabama. It's a teeny town...just imagine Forrest Gump's town...it's right next door. She still has "kin" there, and they are colorful. It's a great and beautiful place to visit.
3. She's a great cook. Thanksgiving at her house is legendary! Cornbread stuffing!
4. She taught elementary school(partly in San Francisco) until she had kids. She went back to teaching when I was in 1st grade. She taught pre-school, 2nd grade, and 4th grade until she retired.
5. She taught me to love and respect caffeinated soda. It's a big part of our lives.
6. She took up Pilates at 65. She is in great shape! She ABSOLUTELY does not look 70. She has never looked her age. My sister and I just took her river rafting down the snake....she's gutsy!
7. She drives a 1997 red Honda Prelude, which she considers her cool grandma car.
8. She takes a lot of heat from Bill over her redneck ancestry. (Yes, as if coming from Bakersfield makes my husband so classy).
9. You've never seen a woman shop like her....it's unreal. She knows many salespeople by their first names AND, she shares her Gymbucks with me.
10. She has babysat for me on Thursdays (while I teach) for 8 years. AMAZING! Most my friends want her for  their mom. This service means more to me than anything in the world. Not only does she babysit, she often brings dinner, a new outfit or book for a child, and then raves on about how great your kids are.                                                                                                                                     ( Emi, right after she was born)

11. She has many true and loyal friends. They get together often, have fun gift traditions, and are very involved in each others lives. She is a social butterfly to say the least. 

12. My dad is not a skier. She is. She took all four of us kids skiing on Saturdays. Now that I'm a mom starting my kids skiing, I find this amazing. It's hard work!

13. She takes care of her older brother. If you are related to me, you know what I mean when I say that she will go to the celestial kingdom for this service.

14. She's a talker....there is no denying this. She gabs and gabs, but we love her for it.

15. She has many pseudo-grandkids that she's kind-of adopted. As if 14 of her own weren't enough. I think it's just an excuse to shop.

16. She still sleeps cuddled up with my dad. It's pretty cute.

17. My mom loves to splurge on things. She totally makes things special, and she's not afraid to throw down the dough to have a great time with her family.

18. She is the grandmother of your dreams! Cookie making, yearly pass to the Children's Museum, gifts galore, sleepovers, you name it. She tries to send us all on vacations so that she can have the grandkids all to herself. Her toy closet is out of this world. She takes it seriously.

19. My greatest memories of her is of our trips to New York and DC. We would shop So-ho, steal paper towels from J-Crew, get tea at The Plaza, see Broadway shows, and just enjoy girl time. I'm itchn' for one of those trips right now!

20. I did not get my dancing ability from her, but despite her lack of talent, she has a pretty great dance that she does to "The Jefferson's" theme song.

21. She sat at countless BYU football and basketball games to watch me cheer. This is all the more meaningful since she is a die-hard UTE. She would wear the red sweatshirt as a silent protest. 

(mom at Disneyland in 2008...love the Goofy hat)

22. The best thing about my mom is....I'm her favorite. O.K, not really. But we are most alike of anyone in our family, so that is nice. I hope Emi and I will be as close as I am with my mom. I truly consider her my closest friend. She is constantly rescuing me when I'm overwhelmed. I love you, Mom! Have a wonderful day!

BFF's (Janice...don't read this)

Here are Jade and Emi...3 weeks apart in age and BFF's forever. How cute are they?

(2005)

Well, here is a good story. Monika is pregnant with their 4th (and last) child. Jade, like Emi, has 2 brothers and no sisters. Well, Monika found out she is having a boy. Poor Jade. She cried and is trying hard to accept the fact that in (her words) "she will never get to be twins with anyone". That broke my heart, and it obviously broke Monika's, too. Cute, concerned mom that she is, she went to the store and purchased matching best friend t-shirts for Emi and Jade. I think that is so thoughtful. We had to go to Sweet Tomatoes to celebrate.

(please ignore their brownie-stuffed mouths...they were a little silly)

I took them into the bathroom and a lady actually asked if they were twins. They were SOOO delighted that they had to run back to the table to tell Monika. Fun night! Thanks for the shirt and memories.

(FYI...our friend Janice is seeing how long she can go without finding out the sex of Monika's baby....)

Thanks to Annette Funicello...

(Emi in my last recital as a blackbird)

There are a million things I should be doing instead of blogging, but I just have to say something. I have been SOOO tired the last 2 mornings when I woke up. I dragged through getting kids ready for school, piano practices, and carpool. But I have found a great source of energy....my morning pre-ballet classes. Strange? They are often exhausting to keep them all happy and interested..but not the last 2 days. I did my color lesson plan, based on "My Many Colored Days" by Dr. Suess. I actually felt colorful and fun. Who knew that in my mid-thirties, sliding across the floor with a red scarf or doing the hula warm-up to "Pineapple Princess" (by Annette Funicello) would make me feel better. I'm extremely lucky to have a mini-career doing my favorite thing. It's a huge blessing in my life. Oh yeah, I've been doing cheer stuff with my older jazz classes....how many of you out there get to jump around with gold pom-poms and get paid for it? 

Oh yes...there are down-sides: my constantly aching back, 12 year old girls with attitudes, and the fact that I have to spend my afternoon looking a dance costume catalogs full of Jon-Benet Ramsey style costumes. All in a day's work.

Quinn at 2....

Through a major miracle and hours of Bill tinkering on the computer, I can have these cute pictures on my blog again. Look soon for my very belated Christmas pics coming soon. But today is Quinn's day. 2 and adorable as ever. I can't believe it's been 2 years since his crazy birth. It contained a major blizzard, my OB going on bedrest for her pregnancy the night before I delivered, and a much harder delivery than I expected. Then, we realized right from the start how noisy this baby was going to be. He made strange little moaning sounds right from the start. 

He loves to blow candles out.....we did it multiple times. Why not? It's his day. He loved telling people he was 2. In fact, after I put him to bed and I was walking out of his room, he yelled "TWO". I guess he's proud. 

He loved his presents; Thomas stuff, a Pooh-Bear laptop (so he won't keep using Emi's Cinderella one...Bill's a tad homophobic), and another hippo book. 

Speaking of hippo books, Emi has an interpretive dance to Quinn's favorite hippo book, "The Belly Button Book (BE-BO)". She performed it as a gift to Quinn. Once we get the know-how to do videos on this machine, I'll post it. She's a serious nut.

Happy Birthday, Cutie! We love you. 

The 2 have collided!

O.K....in the last month, I have ranted on about post offices and computers. Today, they collided in a big way. 

Long, LONG story short: 

1-had to change to Mac because of long history of hell with PC

2- have to order software to change over all my work documents and Quickbooks

3-have to wait for software to arrive so I can do ANYTHING work related

4-get e-mail from Amazon saying they couldn't deliver it when I wasn't home (which I WAS home...use the doorbell) so go get it at the post office.

5- stand in horrendously long line at post office with a grumpy Quinn.

6-worker tells me that it wouldn't be there because Amazon only uses UPS

7- I stupidly say, "oh" thinking I misread the e-mail.

8-Go home, read the e-mail.....IT IS TOO AT THE POST OFFICE!!!!!!!

9-Swear and drink a diet coke.

May I brag just a little......

My dear hubby spent yesterday actually doing things I wanted....like my own little man-servant. He entertained the kids while I de-decorated, he put away the 9 foot tall tree, he set up my new printer, he put the kids to bed, he taught Emi how to play the really annoying Wii Littlest Pet Shoppe game, put away all my storage boxes, he helped me clean up the kitchen, he massaged my aching muscles from our ski trip on Wednesday, and.....the piece de la resistance (SP?), HE TOOK DOWN THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS ON JANUARY 1ST!!!!!!!!  Seriously, we usually could turn them on for Easter. Granted, he bought new clips this year that help the lights just flick off, but yea!!! I couldn't be happier with him. Happy New Year to me!