Christmas Pictures

I was soooo on top of things this year. I planned out our Santa picture and the kids' photo. We took our Santa picture the night before Thanksgiving and that Saturday, I had made an appointment for our Christmas picture. I decided to put Steve and I in it this year. I again armed myself with my favorite bribery tool of fruit chews and we headed out the door. We were so proud of the kids. They did so well and it wasn't like last year when Kyle was afraid of the set. We went to Kiddie Kandids and they do such a great job with the kids.

I again told Kyle that if was a good boy and smiled, I would give him some fruit chews. Worked like a charm. Bad mommy!! We got some really good pictures. The family picture turned into our Christmas card.

Steve and I still can't believe how old the kids look. With Kyle standing the way he is next to Brooke with his arm resting on the chair, he is just so much older looking. He just cracks me up. The poor guy did a GREAT job for a kid who hadn't pooped in a few days and was backed up like NO tomorrow. We worried for not. Our little flirty ham did a great job and Brooke is actually smiling more for pictures.

Santa

Well, Christmas is finally upon us. Where has this year gone??? I didn't help the issue by taking the kids to see Santa the night before Thanksgiving. It was much easier since there is NO line. We just walk right up and they can take lots of time with us since no one is behind us. Perhaps I shouldn't be posting this idea online.

So, we got home from the beach, unloaded the motorhome, and put the kids down for a nap. I ran around to get the last minute outfit accessories for the picture. Once they were up, we fed them and raced up to Santa. Of course, I brought the bribery again. Yes, I have stooped to that level to get a good picture. I shoved some fruit chews in my purse and off we went.

The kids were all dressed in their Christmas outfits and just looked adorable. We walked up and the first thing Kyle says is, "no want to." I then told him that if he went to sit on Santa's lap and didn't cry, I would give him some fruit chews. Worked like a charm. He also gave Santa a hug at the end. Well, perhaps Santa helped by giving him a sucker. Kyle should have a shirt that says, "WILL WORK FOR FOOD."

The kids are looking so much older. I just can't believe it. We took them over to have some pictures taken in front of the tree but getting them to both look at the camera is like hearding cats. I felt lucky to get this cute Santa pix. Although, the Easter picture with Kyle screaming is actually pretty funny. My girlfriend put it in a frame at her cabin in Arrowhead.

Hope everyone is catching the spirit of the Season!!

Sesame Street Live

Steve finally made it home yesterday around 2pm and we were able to make it to the Sesame Street Live show. It was right down the street at the Citizens Bank Arena which is across from Ontario Mills mall. We got their early not knowing what to expect. I was so excited for the kids to see it. I was also very excited to be out as a family again.

We pulled in, got a pretty good parking spot and walked up to will call to get our tickets. I had just purchased them online hours beforehand. Kyle was very fascinated with the lights that were going on. We got the tickets and were on our way in. In my mind, I was thinking we are here early enough, I want to find some T-shirts or mementos for the kids. Steve is talking to me and all of a sudden I see the booth. I have a one track mind at this point and Steve just looks at me and says, "FOCUS!" Oops. He wanted to know where we were supposed to go for seats. yeah, yeah, yeah! Section 109. We ended up getting the kids these Elmo light things and some T-shirts. Once those were purchased, we got to our seats.

Once we got to our seats, we changed the kids into their shirts. Here are some pictures:
You can see from the picture the little light up Elmo stick we bought for them. These are the only pictures that we got. I figured it would be like any concert where you can't take your camera in. NOPE! Everyone had cameras. Guess the next time I will bring it. I just thought they would make me take it out once they checked the diaper bag. Silly mommy.

Once the show started, the kids were in total awe of the entire thing. Kyle was really good about clapping and singing along. Brooke just sort of stared at the show. She and Kyle both always want to touch everything. I asked her who was on stage and she said Bert. Then she asked, "can I touch him." I told her we couldn't and she was OK with it. The show lasted for about an hour and a half. They did really good lasting almost an hour past their bedtime. I had so much fun watching them watch the show. It was such a great family night out. Something that just really gives you warm fuzzies and makes you appreciate how much you love your family.

So, the night ended wonderfully. We only had a 10 minute drive home and the kids had a great time. Can't wait for the next one which by the way is in February with a Thomas show. Can you guess who'll be bringing their camera???!!!

Daddy & Kyle flying a kite

When were up in Oregon this past summer on the coast, I went to a kite shop and bought this HUGE airplane kite since Kyle loves airplanes so much. Of course, we went to the beach and there was NO breeze. It was gorgeous for us but not so good for the kite flying. We ended up not flying that darn thing at all while in Oregon. We went to Huntington Beach a few weeks ago and we took the kite. I had previously asked the guy at the kite store if I was going to need an engineer degree to fly the thing. He said, "nope! just chuck it up in the air." Well, he was right. It was pretty easy. Here are some pictures:

However, I must admit that the wind decided to change a bit and the airplane kite decided to nose dive into the sand. We tried to get it back up but it kept nose diving into the sand. Poor Brooke was standing there and it almost hit her so of course she wanted nothing to do with the kite after that. She just kept telling me, "no like it mommy." She wanted to $2 Thomas kite. We knew that one would not stand up to the heavy wind though. It was fun. I always enjoy family time at the beach. Can't wait until we go again next week.

California Wildfires

Well, California is once again on fire. I think they are now finally out but last Saturday morning, things were a bit crazy here in the southland. Steve was recalled Thursday night and we have not seen him since. We were able to go down and visit with him one night for a few hours. All the guys were so exhausted. The kids and I miss him like crazy. When we went down there, Brooke who is usually a mommy's girl, was definitely a daddy's girl that night. She only wanted him to hold her hand. We ended up taking the kids to the Rainforest Cafe and they loved it. We were a little worried about Kyle being afraid but he did great. We took off about 8pm and Steve was able to go back to a hotel and sleep in a real bed. We are hoping he can come home sometime later on tonight. We were supposed to take the kids to see Sesame Street Live tonight but I was able to cancel the tickets and get a refund. We wanted to do it as a family. I got us some great tickets to see Thomas the Engine in February.

I am on the countdown to Thanksgiving. For the first time since starting with my district 14 years ago, we have the entire week of Thanksgiving off. We made plans back in August to go out to the beach for 4 of those days. We are now going for 3 since Steve took a shift on Thanksgiving so a guy would work his Christmas Eve. The kids and I are going to go to Auntie Janets house. It'll be better than the mac n cheese we had last year. I am in charge of sweet potatoes for 32 people. YIKES!!

Hope everyone is doing great. I can't believe the holidays are upon us. I am curious to see how much the kids understand this year.

1st Pony Ride

We went to the Pomona Fairgrounds the other day to the RV show and they had a free pony ride station. Steve had gone off to look at something so I decided to see if the kids would ride the horses. Of course Brooke walks right up to the place and wants on...Kyle, he stands back and tells me, "no like it mommy." So, Brooke got on and rode the horse and Kyle stood back with me.

It was sort of funny afterwards. I was trying to put the monkey "leash" back on Brooke and all of a sudden, the horse starts to go pee pee. Well, it was splattering since the horses were on cement. I grabbed Brooke and told her to move back since the horsey was going pee pee. Well, I regret telling her that. The rest of the afternoon was spent by her telling me what the horse had done. We were walking through a motorhome with a sales guy and she looks at me and tells me, "horsey go pee pee mommy." After about the 100th time, I decided to ignore her to see if she would stop staying it. She finally did. However, it did come up the next day in conversation...somehow....who knows! Gotta love what kids remember!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Well, life has just been sort of humming along. I can't believe today is already Halloween. The house is all decorated and we are ready to scare the neighborhood kids. I really don't know how our kids are going to do. Kyle is not really sure about all of this Halloween stuff and is always telling me it's scarey. I have been telling Brooke that it's fake and not real so she will turn around and tell me, "it's fake mommy." Anyhow, we got their costumes awhile ago and Brooke is going to be an elephant and Kyle is going to be a dragon. We were having a hard time getting Kyle to actually try on a costume. He refused to do it. I bought him a costume with green on it since it's his favorite color. He liked it and they both actually put them on the other night and had their pictures taken at Sears.
It turned out really cute. I didn't know if Kyle was going to put the costume on or not so I brought an arsenal of "treats" with me to bribe him. I have never done this before but I really wanted the picture. Bad mommy! Anyhow, I only gave them fruit chews since they were soooo good. I was so happy and couldn't stop telling Kyle how proud of him I was. Hopefully tonight will go well and they will have fun and not have the crap scared out of the.