I'm Cold - Happy Holidays!

I can't seem to get really warm. I don't really like winter. In fact it's the most dreaded time of the year. At least I am not in Colorado! That's even colder. But today reminded me of those times. When you look outside and it's sunny and beautiful. And you are thrilled to go out. Then you open the door and the cold crisp air almost chokes you! Then you quickly shut the door and think of a thousand other things you need to do that are INSIDE! That's what the weather is like. That is not fun! Then while you are trying to get the warmth back into the core of your body (and you are scrubbing your tile trying to justify staying home) and you realize you only have a week until Christmas and you have so much to do!!! Then you stress. Then you realize it doesn't matter how cold it is - you need to get out and SHOP!!!

That's how things are going in my world. Hope you are warmer than I!!! :) Happy Holidays!

I have something GREAT to report on, this is the FIRST time in all of Jacey's 4 years and Teagan's 2 years that they sat on Santa's lap. Jacey has done it now twice this year. But has NOT cried either time! She actually sat there and explained to him what she wanted (TAG) and what the little pen actually does. She cracks me up! And Teagan was actually awake this year! LOL She's always sleeping when we saw him before.

Jacey's school program. They just sang Christmas songs but it was cute! 
Teagan and I waiting in line to watch the program. She looks thrilled doesn't she??
We got out Christmas Tree at some local lot this year. First time we picked one without a lot of thought... We just had to pick one - quickly! 

At CalFit - The girls and Santa. Jacey looks like she's liked him for years! :) 

Cousin Britton, Kelly's son, Jacey and Teagan opening gifts when they visited last weekend. 
Grandma Loot. Troy's mommy
Making Cookies - well not really - Pillsbury already "made" them! LOL We just cut some out and baked them! :) 

Santa...

Why are there TV shows (ie Charlie Browns Christmas, etc.) with commercials that say, "There is a Santa..." Like someone is questioning it!?!? Why are they putting doubt into my child's head. I grab the remote and quickly fast-forward... but there are so many shows that put this disbelieve in kids heads? Why? Let's keep them full of magic, lets keep them young, lets keep them BELIEVING IN SANTA!!! XOXO

Thanksgiving at the Beach.

Playing catch up I forgot to blog about our Thanksgiving. Our little family, along with my my parents, took our travel trailers/RV's to Pismo Beach and then Morro Bay. It was a lot of fun even though it rained a couple days and was pretty wet most of the time. We had a great time camping for Thanksgiving! We had the traditional turkey with all the tradional fixings - my mom just made it all in her small little oven. I helped - by using my oven because no one likes my cooking! LOL

No matter where we go; no matter if we are camping, going to the park, etc. Jacey makes friends with strangers. It's one thing I love about her. She's very outgoing and likes everyone. It's a great feeling and it was a great way for us to meet another great family! The girls meet on the second to last day - so they only got to play for 2 days but they had the BEST time making letters and delivering them to all the RV's in the park. Mostly they were just strange pictures with Jacey's name but it was adorable how they would get on their bikes and travel around the park delivering them! They would leave them on the stairs of peoples RV's. In the morning (after they did this) we got cookies from the lady across the "street" in her RV, and many other thank yous! It's was so cute!!!





My dad and I got along the whole time. He was in a great mood and we had a lot of fun! Check out the TV behind us at this wonderful restaurant. You can watch them cook your yummy food!

Mommy Jamie enjoying Grandmas margarita!


So cute!

One day, while at Pismo Beach, it was raining so hard we took a lot of pictures of the girls posing together. It was really cute!

My mom, Stephanie and Teagan!

Halloween 2008

So it's here again and I am so not into it! LOL I am never into Halloween because it's the end of summer which is the best season of year! Fall is a sad depressing time for me. Everything dries up and dies. I don't love fall colors - I am more of a pastely kind of girl. But having kids - well you have to get into it because what kid doesn't like dressing up!? Our first Halloween party was this past weekend and it was fun. So I am posting some of the pictures of us!

We are all!



Troy and the Girls before the party!


Teagan is "fishing" for some treats! With the help of Stacy - Stephanie's mom.

Got rid of the mullet!

Teagan had her first hair cut. I had her go to my hair stylist because I just don't trust the kid place. She was a rock-star! She stayed so still and was very serious. I thought she was going to be crazy but she wasn't at all. The cut is so so. It is no longer a mullet, but now it's a bowl cut! LOL Tenney, our fabulous babysitter thinks it is not a good cut at all! GREAT! It's not what I was thinking but at least her bangs are out of her eyes and the back doesn't look like a shaggy mullet. Hope it grows fast! LOL But she's a cutie no matter what the hair looks like - right?

American Heart Walk

This weekend we did the American Heart Walk with Jacey's school. Jacey was such a HUGE trooper! She walked a lot of it and then had daddy carry her on his shoulders. She was the only kid in her school to walk most of it! I was really proud. I walked/ran it with Teagan in the stroller. It was a lot of fun! It felt good doing something together that was for a good cause.

Two little love birds sitting in a tree...

So I am a HUGE Mo Willems fan!! We have all his books and just love how funny they are! Daddy reads Gerald and Mommy reads Piggy! We adore pigeon and all his wacky adventures. So I am so extremely happy that I have 2 pigeons (doves) in my tree. They remind me of "Is there a bird on my head?" - GREAT book! :)

One hatched!!!

We caught it alone!
It was only one yesterday but I hope the other one is not far behind!

2 Bird Nests at our home!!!

At the beginning of the summer we had Robin's make a great nest way up high in the fake decorative rafters of our house. It is on the front side and very well protected. Smart birds. We never got to see the babies much - just their little beaks when it was feeding time. My neighbor said they would be really loud but we just loved them! The windows next to it are the playroom windows and it was a joy listening to the babies chirp. They are gone now but the nest remains - but it is way to high for us to get quite yet.

Today, while in the back yard, Troy noticed the Mourning Dove's nest in our Redwood Tree. It's a beautiful tree so I don't blame them for choosing it! There are two bright white eggs and this evening the mommy was proudly sitting on them.

The Robin's nest.


The Mourning Doves Nest and the mommy (or daddy) sitting on her baby eggs!



I know most people wouldn't care if they had a nest in their yard but I feel extremely special in this suburbia concrete jungle to have not only one, but TWO birds choose our home to be their home! I hope they enjoy their time in our yard and I hope my lush yard allows many feasts for their families!

Cross'n it out mom!

Just wanted to jot down something that happened today with Jacey, my wonderful little 4 year old. Well she constantly writes notes on note cards that say "Jacey Jamie I love you" OR "Jacey Troy I love you" OR her friends names or sister and so on. She thinks it's something so super special and thinks we all treasure it like it's money! At least that's how we make her feel about it!

Well today I was telling her to clean up her mess in the living room, which by the way still becomes a playroom even if you have a playroom bigger than the living room, and she came over to me and showed me the note card that previously said, "Jacey Jamie I love you" and now had a big line through the "I love you" part. I laughed - because I thought she was being funny. But in all SERIOUSNESS she said, "When you are nicer to me I will not draw a line through it!" And walked away.

Later she came over with a new card that said it without the line. And told me how much she loved me and she made me a new card. Very proud! Hours passed and at dinner I told her to take a bite of her noodles or she wasn't going to get ice cream. She said, "Mom I am going to draw a line through it again! You better be nice!" And I couldn't help but laugh.

She didn't get ice cream & I still don't have a line through "it".

I am in for it BIG TIME! She's only 4!!!

One world One Dream. A dream it to be over soon! AGGGHH

My Olympic RANT!

Okay this is so un-American of me and I realize there is a very small percentage of people who agree with me but truly dislike (almost hate) the Olympics! Not the sports or the idea of watching sports - that (for the most part) can be entertaining. But the whole idea of the Olympics is just ridiculous to me!

What is the Olympics? And international mulit-sport event.

Why do we have them? Why really why? (I don't really understand that part.) Brings people together? I think this may have once been the reason - long ago - now politicians are using it as a soap box to explain what is wrong with other countries. GW did that exact thing in Thailand this year! Now it is so commercialized and political - it seems like it's about the money.

Who participates? I know - you won't all agree with me but the rich. The well trained - have you ever heard of a trainer that was cheap? Good athletes are good because a lot of time and MONEY went into their training. So why does that matter? Because these athletes are not the best of the best - the are the best of the rich. And that is not what the Olympics should be about. AND what about the kids in countries that have no resources... how can they compete? And what about the countries that pick who is going to be good and put their government resources into developing that person... they are not the best in their country! They are the chosen ones! And let me tell you - a lot of countries are not picking the poor kids! And then the human rights issues that come along with taking kids away from their families to "train" them to win gold? There is more but I could go on and on - that's just a small look at what is fundamentally WRONG with the Olympics.

It truly makes me want to scream when I hear, "The worlds best athletes." WHAT??? No it is not!! Whatever!

Where is it held? The western cities - that have funds. Africa? Not yet - too poor. Do they want it there? YES.

Citius Altius Fortius - Faster, Higher, Stronger.

From the internet: Participation in the Games has increased to the point that nearly every nation on earth is represented. With the proliferation of satellite communications, the internet, and the continuing trend towards globalization, the Olympics are consistently gaining supporters. This growth has created numerous challenges, including political boycotts, the use of performance enhancing medications, bribery of officials, and terrorism. WHAT??

So it is on TV until the end of this month - SO I will support my country and root for my fellow Americans. I will try to let their stories inspire me to workout harder and longer and faster and stronger. And that is what I am trying to take away from the 2008 Summer Olympics!

Troy turned 38! Happy Birthday!

Troy got another year older this past weekend. We had to "trick" Jacey into thinking it was Saturday because we went out with Pete and Kacy for Troy's real birthday to Scott's Seafood on the River (which is a wonderful place!) But Jacey desperately wanted to sing happy birthday to her daddy! She adores him so much! I hope he had a great weekend! It was very relaxing. And it was nice to spend time together.

Great to see you Adrienne!

I have a few friends from elementary school, middle school and high school that I keep in touch with.

Adrienne and I have known each other since before school but we were in the same class from first grade on. We went to a small school in Forest Ranch, CA. We became best friends in second or third grade and were inseparable until 8th or 9th grade when we started to branch out and make other new friends in jr. high.

In high school, although we were always friends, we didn't hang out as much as - we had a different group of friends. She became close with the artsy, theatrical crowd and I went and hung out with the hicks in the agriculture department! We never stopped being friends and she was a beautiful bridesmaid in my wedding in 2000.

A and her family have always and will always have a special place in my heart. They were a huge part in my growing up. I have so many irreplaceable memories and times with her and her family! They are great people! Her mom, Lynn, was my kindergarden teacher and her dad taught me math while playing poker! David, her dad, is an amazingly funny guy! And her one baby brother - who now towers over me - has always been a super sweet guy and really funny down to earth person.

Adrienne and I have taken so many different roads during and after college. But now it seems we have both let the dust settle a bit. She is up in a NO WHERE town in Alaska and loving it! The place sounds amazingly different. She said it's like a foreign country and after looking it up on line - I'd have to say I agree. You can not drive there. You have to take 2 tiny planes to get there or a long boat ride. And in the winter - well it's crazy cold! Like -30! That's insane! But she's teaching grades k-3 and has about 5 kids! :) It's small!

Well she wrote me an e-mail the other day and let me know she was going to be in Chico for this week - so yesterday the girls and I hopped in the car and drove up there to see her because she had BIG news! She's pregnant! I am so frigg'n excited you can't believe it! Very few of my very old friends have children so this is so big - plus it's Adrienne and she has 3 step sons so I didn't really think she would ever have kids! But she's due Feb 3rd and she looks GREAT! She can't find out the sex yet - but I am crossing my fingers it's a girl!

I spent the day with her and her mom and my girls in Lynn's new kindergarden classroom. We were getting it ready for the new school year and the girls had a GREAT time making a mess, just kidding, playing in the classroom. They had a lot of fun because it's like one big playroom! A and I got to visit and catch up. It was a nice relaxing time. It was great to see her - I didn't get any shots of her and I but I got a shot of the girls playing dress up in Lynn's dress-up stuff!


Big CHEERS to Old Friends, water-trucks, playing poker, driving stick on dusty water roads, blackberries, & snow sledding down steep hills!

Remembering Muck - Died of a broken heart...

Looking back at my childhood I have noticed that my parents had a lot of crazy friends. But in all the craziness it's amazing how strong all their friendships are and have been over the years. We are talking about a group of very loyal, very true, very good friends who grew up together and through it all they have kept in touch and kept their friendship strong.

Dennis McMullen (MUCK) is one of the originals. He's been my dads friend forever! He has always been the funniest one out of the group. You know the one in the group who is NEVER serious! And if or when he ever is you can't tell if he's just bullshitting you because he's never serious. Well he just pasted away from a heart attack. I don't know why it is taking a small emotional toll on me but I guess it's because he's a great guy and his wife, Linda, is a wonderful woman! She's so kind and so thoughtful! They just lost their son Darrell in November of 2007 to diabetes and my mom said, "I think he just died of a broken heart."

We will miss you Muck! There will be a lot of silence and a lot less laughter in the world! XOXO

20 Years Ago...

Troy Graduated from Etna High School!

We had a fun time this past weekend driving up North to Troy's old, old stomping grounds. We had a relaxing family picnic Saturday. It was beautifully catered and the girls had a blast on the playground. I was the playground marm (which wasn't my favorite thing ) but the girls were one of the youngest there and I was being a mama bird! They had a great time while Troy visited with old friends and catching up!

Go frog - GO!


What the heck are you doing mom??

The Pose. I am slightly sad that I didn't have more shots of Troy and I - but hopefully people will send me some!

We stayed in the Etna RV park in our trailer and my parents came with their 5th-wheel. My parents watched the girls as we had a nice dinner at Corrigan's. The girls had a blast hanging out with my parents and we had a great time not being with them and coming home at 2 to no kids! The best part was Marty doing stand up! He was great! Good people doing great things! It was a very nice way to spend the weekend!