Christmas Eve

Since Tim was born and before that Christmas Eve was celebrated at Tim's grandparents, Henry and Ethel's house; it was a long family tradition.  This year since Ethel had open heart surgery on December 1st and was recovering at Tim's parents house, Christmas Eve would be celebrated there.  It was going to be quite a change.  We usually all gather in Henry and Ethel's living room with the presents overflowing out of the room.  We have to strategically maneuver to a seat and try not step on a present or a person.  It's a bit crowded with 18 or so adults and 7 kids, but we all manage to unwrap gifts and have a good time.  This year at Tim's parents house there would be more room, but would it have the same magic as Henry and Ethel's house?  There is something about their house on the hill in Highland Park that's magical.  Maybe that the decor hasn't changed a bit from when Tim's Mom was a kid or that the house has decades of memories inside.

So, 4:00 p.m. rolled around and we headed a few blocks to Tim's parents house to celebrate Christmas Eve.  As I walked in the door I could see all the presents, they weren't overflowing out of the room like at Henry and Ethel's, but there were a lot of presents to be opened.  People soon started to arrive and the festivities began.  Trent was so excited to play Santa and hand out gifts.  I was so happy to see him get such great joy out of handing someone a present, rather than asking where his presents were.  He handed out so many presents before he opened one for himself.  Such a good boy.  Trent got so many great gifts.  We are so blessed to have such a generous and thoughtful family.  It was a great Christmas Eve and magical in a different way.

A few pictures before heading over to Tim's parents house.

Let the chaos begin.

All smiles!

Trent snuggling up in his new Batman quilt, thanks Grandma Cindy.

Awesome Star Wars toys.

Henry and Ethel opening their gift...a picture of all six of their great grandkids.

Trent loved putting out the cookies and milk for Santa and then some treats for the reindeer.

Silly boy pretending to eat Santa's cookie.

Christmas Break Going Great So Far...

So far Trent and I have been having a great time this first week of break. Trent has been enjoying watching Christmas movies.  His favorites are the Home Alone movies.  He loves seeing the bad guys get tricked into one of the many traps.  Monday and Tuesday we didn't do too much.  We ran some errands, which Trent isn't a big fan.  I told him that's what Mommy's do run errands and I usually get most of my errands done while you are at school. Wednesday we headed out to Bass Pro Shop to meet up with my Aunt, cousin and her daughter.  Bass Pro Shop set up a cool Santa's Village where the kids can play games and take a picture with Santa.  The kids had fun running around, looking at all the animal displays and pretending they were driving a boat or riding a quad.  Today, we enjoyed a yummy lunch with my best friend at Casa.  Trent got his usual...corn dog and Spanish rice.  Trent is getting more excited each day for Christmas.  Of course, it can't get here soon enough.

Trent did a nice thing for me this morning.  He surprised me with making our bed.  He came into the kitchen and told me that he had made our bed and that it looked so nice.  He said he had fun making the bed and it wasn't that hard, but he didn't put the pillows the right way.  He said he wanted to do this for me, so I wouldn't have to.  How cute is that?  My heart melted.  He has been making his bed for awhile in order to get 15 more minutes of DS playing time.  So, after he told me he made our bed I told him he could get 15 more minutes of DS playing time, he just looked at me and had the biggest smile.  I loved that he didn't ask for the extra playing time and truly made our bed because he wanted to do something nice.  I love that boy so much and he has such a good heart.
Here are some pictures from our adventure at Bass Pro Shop.

Trent's favorite game...the shooting gallery.

Checking out the cool trains.

Nutball.

The kids with Santa.

Cutie pies.

Grandmas with their grandkids.

Trent's way of making our bed...it's the thought that counts.

The Three Kings

Wow, Trent has come a long way when it comes to performing in the church Christmas program.  Just a few short years ago he was crying when he had to step up on to that intimating stage in front of all those people.  Trent has always liked to "put on a show" but it had to be on his terms and usually it's a spur of the moment show.  On Sunday, he did great as he played one of the three kings.  All three kings remembered all their lines and did a great job.  They had been practicing for a few weeks and it all come together really well.  Tim and I could not be any prouder of Trent.  He just keeps surprising us with all that he is capable of.

The Three Kings...

Trent doing a great job speaking his lines.

He has the best looks.

Ladies Getaway

I recently went on a weekend getaway with three girlfriends.  We were celebrating my good friend Kelly's 35th birthday.  The plans for this weekend had been in the works since September.  We planned to visit the wineries in Temecula during the day on Saturday, then enjoy a yummy dinner at Shogun, which is Kelly's favorite restaurant.  On Sunday, we planned to relax at the Glen Ivy Spa and then head on home back to reality.

I had never been to the wineries in Temecula, so I wasn't sure what to expect. We signed up to be picked up at our hotel by a shuttle that would take us around to the wineries for the day.  Again, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised with how everything turned out.  We had an amazing tour guide, who was so accommodating and helpful.  Our tour guide Melissa told the bus full of people that we were mellow now, but just wait until we hit the first winery and got a little wine in us, we would all be ready to party.  Boy was she right.  After the first winery the shuttle was alive with chatting, singing and some dancing.  It was great.  We visited five wineries, had a delicious lunch and had a wonderful day.  On the way back to our hotel, the shuttle was rockin' with people dancing in the front and maybe at times enjoying themselves a bit too much.  I am not much of a dancer, so I applaud those who got up and danced, but one girl in particular was getting down a bit too much. I am pretty sure she had a little too much wine. 

We had a great day at the wineries, but it was nice to get back to the hotel and take a little nap before dinner.  We all needed to take some aspirin, drink some water and relax a bit.  Dinner at Shogun was fun.  I hadn't been to a Shogun in years and it isn't on my top 10 list of restaurants I like, but I had a good time and the food was pretty good.  Not sure if it was a $30 meal, but I guess you pay for watching the chef prepare the food in front of you.

Sunday morning came too quick.  We enjoyed breakfast at the hotel and then headed off to Glen Ivy.  The day was overcast and drizzly, so we weren't going to get a suntan laying by the pool, but we had a relaxing day.

It was a great weekend getaway and I had so much fun laughing with my friends, but I was happy to get home and see my boys.

Let the adventure begin...

Birthday Girl.

This was after the first winery...all smiles and giggles.

Kelly and Stacey with our tour guide Melissa.

Love this picture!  We were at the Callaway Winery.

Christmas Break is Approaching Too Quick

Seriously, I am not sure if I am ready for Trent's Christmas Break to start this Friday at 11:45 a.m.  It has only been three weeks since Trent went back to school after his Thanksgiving break.  I am looking forward to having this time off with him, but let's hope I still have some patience by day two.  I love my little boy, but he can be exhausting.  I am hoping he remembers pretty quickly what sleeping in is and we can do a little of that.  I don't have too much planned yet. He has already asked to go to Disneyland and I was hoping to do that on Friday after he gets out of school, but the forecast is predicting rain, so maybe we can go on Monday.  I am pretty sure whatever we do this break we will have a good time and make some great memories.

Thanksgiving

  How did Thanksgiving get here so fast?  I really think that once you have children the years just fly by and you are just running to catch up and wishing you could slow down time.  Since we moved back from Connecticut our tradition for Thanksgiving and the holiday weekend has been to go to church in the morning, then spend the day with my family and in the evening head up to the cabin in Lake Arrowhead and spend the weekend with Tim's family.  One change this year was there was no church service on Thanksgiving, so Tim got to go for a nice long bike ride and Trent and I got to sleep in.  The weather was perfect mid-70's, not too warm like it has been in past years.  When Thanksgiving rolls around I want the weather to feel like fall, that's one thing I miss about Connecticut, the crisp fall weather.

  In the early afternoon, we headed over to my parents for the Thanksgiving feast my Mom had prepared.  My Mom loves to cook, so it's always a good meal. We took some family pictures, relaxed and ate and ate and ate some more. After enjoying the day at my parents house, we headed up to the cabin.  We were greeted with below 40 degree temperatures, but a very toasty cabin.
April and I decided we wanted to do some midnight Black Friday shopping, so around 11 p.m. we headed down the mountain to Redlands, where we would find the longest lines ever at Target, Toys-R-Us and Walmart.  The lines were around the buildings and we decided we just couldn't wait in the cold in those long of lines.  The deals weren't that great.  So, we were back in our cozy beds by 1:00 a.m.
  The rest of the weekend flew by.  We relaxed, shopped in the village, read, played Band and DJ Hero, my boys and Tim's parents went on the long hike, slept in and just enjoyed the family time.  We woke up Sunday morning to a dusting of snow, which made the kids so happy.  There wasn't enough snow for sledding, but there was plenty for a fun snowball fight...the kids vs. the adults.  After the friendly snowball fight we headed home.  All in all we had a great Thanksgiving weekend.  I am so thankful for our families and all the joy they bring into our lives. 

A few pictures before heading over to my parents house.

Crazy silly faces!

Big smiles from my boys.

More pictures at my parents house.

Trent giving Great Grandpa a big hug!  So cute!

My Mom and I.

Trent rocking the wig!

Having fun singing.

Trent was much better at singing than me.

April and I always have to visit the Coach store while we are in Arrowhead.

The hikers.

Snowball fight!

Tim very serious about throwing snowballs.

Beautiful scenery on the way down the mountain.  Tim took a picture of me taking pictures.

Just gorgeous!

Two nutballs looking forward to getting home.

A few days off...

     Trent finally got a few days off school.  Well, more than a few days off, he had a week and a half off.  It was a much needed break.  He had been in school for 10 weeks straight and I could tell he needed a break (and maybe me too).  His first day off school was Thursday and we slept in, well I tried too at least.  In the evening, we had his end of the soccer season party at Chuck E Cheese, which was fun.  On Friday, Tim and I went to Trent's Parent/Teacher Conference and we got a great report from Trent's teacher.  He is doing so well in school and is reading at the 3rd grade level.  He must get his reading skills from me.  After the conference me, Trent and Jake headed to Disneyland for the day.  We had a great time.  Trent and Jake were such good boys and enjoyed spending the day at Disneyland.  The weather was perfect and the crowds weren't too bad.  
     The weekend was filled with birthday parties, one of which was Tim's 35th birthday.  We celebrated at Dave & Buster's with family and friends.  Monday morning came and Trent finally slept in a bit.  We had a playdate with a classmate of Trent's at Jumpin' Jammin', which was so much fun.  On Tuesday, Trent slept in a little longer (yes!).  He was getting back to his sleeping in routine, I was so happy to get some extra sleep too.  We had lunch at In-N-Out and then headed out to see Zachary play goalie in his first Frosh/Soph soccer game.  It was so cold and windy out in Valencia, but it worth freezing to see Zachary play.  The week was going by so quickly and on Wednesday Trent and I ate at our favorite Mexican restaurant where Trent gets a corn dog and Spanish rice.  Crazy kid.  Tim and I had a party to go to in the evening, so Trent was babysat, which is a treat for him.  Thursday, of course, was Thanksgiving and then the long weekend, which was relaxing and fun.  The end of Trent's school break came to an end on Sunday.  We put Trent to bed early because Monday morning was going to come quick and I wasn't looking forward to waking Trent up at 6:30 a.m. or getting up early myself.

     Monday morning wasn't as bad as it could have been.  Trent was happy to go back to school and I was happy to get back to our routine.  It was nice to have this break with Trent.  We didn't have too much scheduled, which was good.  We just took it easy and had fun.  I have said this before, but I am thankful for the life we have and that I was able to take time off work and this is all because of Tim and how hard he works to give us the lifestyle we have.

Trent and Jake standing in line for Jungle Cruise, first ride of the day.

The boys loved seeing Winnie the Pooh.

Waiting for the train.

Last ride of the day and they were still smiling so big.

Celebrating Tim's 35th birthday.

Of course, playing a Star Wars video game.