Cookies for Santa

Christmas Eve morning at our house means baking sugar cookies for Santa Claus. This year I was a lot more hands-off just like the gingerbread house (see post below). There isn't much to tell other than the kitchen was an absolute disaster.... the kitchen table was covered with flour, cookie dough and colored frosting. The floor had to be swept and mopped and the counters with caked with cookie ingredients as well. I can't imagine a better way to spend Christmas Eve morning!!!

Thoroughbred Lane

We have a Christmas tradition with the Surrell Family that has being going on since 2005. We look at Christmas Lights on Thoroughbred Lane. We always meet before sunset so we can get a parking spot, we look at lights on several blocks beginning at Thoroughbred Lane and then we go out to dinner. This is a tradition that our family looks forward to every year. This year the Gossett Family joined us and so did the Stanley family. We had a really good time strolling along the lane looking at all of the lights. I am hoping that in the very near future I will be able to walk along without worrying about Aiden getting hit by a car. I found myself repeating OVER and OVER again, please stay by the curb, please hold my hand, please slow down, AIDEN, AIDEN, AIDEN. Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread House

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The boys and I have made a gingerbread house for the past 3 years. Each year they complete more of the house than the year before. This year I frosted the house and they did all of the decorating. I didn't touch the gingerbread house at all or help in any way during the decorating process and they did a fantastic job! They licked the frosting off of their fingers quite often so there is no way that anyone is going to eat it, but at least it is a nice decoration and a fun family tradition!

School Christmas Parties

Blake's 2nd grade class came to school in their pajamas on the day of their Christmas Party. They had donuts and milk and juice and watched The Polar Express. That afternoon they played games and hung out with friends. Aiden's kindergarten class sang a couple of songs in their Rudolph hats and had a book exchange and decorated cookies. It was a very busy day, but one that they will both remember!

VEGAS BABY!!!!

We went to Las Vegas with Zak and Lauren the weekend before Christmas and had a great time. We had dinner at Diablo's on Friday night and then headed to a brand new hotel that had just opened two days before. It was a little snobby for our taste, but we stayed a while anyway. We had breakfast at the Bellagio on Saturday morning, Lauren and I spent Saturday afternoon at the spa and then she surprised us with tickets to see Jersey Boys on Saturday night. The weekend went by much too quickly and we are so glad that we were able to sneak in a quick get-a-way!

Merry Christmas from Disneyland!

I took the boys to Disneyland a couple of weeks ago and we met up with Miss Virgie from their elementary school. We were only there for a couple of hours because it was so crowded. Thank goodness for passes!!! I did manage to take their picture in front of the enormous Christmas Tree on Main Street.

Christmas Party Tradition

We have had a Christmas Party every year since 1998 with the same group of college friends. We take turns hosting the party and this year we traveled to Bakersfield because it was Logan and Rebecca's year to host. The boys played cards and the girls sat and chatted about scrapbooks, recipes, children, etc. This is a tradition that Jeramie and I both look forward to each year. We came together for dinner and then the girls had a cookie exchange and we ended the evening with a friendly game of Scene It.

Field Trip to Hurst Ranch

I had the wonderful opportunity to attend Aiden's field trip to Hurst Ranch in November. Jeramie went with Blake when he was in Kindergarten so I was so excited that I was able to go this time. The kids made crafts, picked a carrot from the field, made butter, squeezed oranges and made orange juice and took a ride in an old-fashioned car.

Happy Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving at Papa Rich and Yvette's with Aunt Amanda and Kamie and Nita. Yvette made a delicious Thanksgiving meal while the boys played games and we spent time enjoying each other's company. It was a wonderful day and a time that we are definitely thankful for.

Thanksgiving program

Aiden had a little program in his Kindergarten classroom before Thanksgiving. Jeramie was out of town and I had parent/teacher conferences so my dad and Yvette attended the short performance and took the boys home from school that day. He is such a little performer and his line was, "Thank goodness we have finally arrived in the New World!"

DENIED

I have had a lot of phone calls and emails over the past few days asking about how my MRI went last week. Well, without going into my opinion about healthcare, let's just say the request was denied. I am only 35 years old and there was nothing significantly wrong with my mammogram. I do have a 22% chance of breast cancer invading my life at some point in time, but apparently that is not enough for those who rule Blue Cross. If breast cancer is found, any treatment needed would cost a great deal more than an MRI, but that small detail has not been considered by anyone other than me. What's next? Well, I wait. The Dr. has resubmitted the request and I will know by tomorrow. I have a new appointment scheduled for Wednesday, November 25th IF it is approved. Thanks so much for all of your prayers and phone calls.

I do appreciate them..... and you!

Baseball, baseball, baseball

Seriously.... could he be any cuter?
Eric and Blake sharing Eric's ipod between games.... I couldn't resist taking a picture of them!

Austin, Eric and Blake after a close game.
Blake is currently playing on a Travel Ball team and Aiden is playing Winter Ball. We have baseball 4-5 days a week between the two of them depending on tournament schedules. They are both loving the game right now and we are having the best time watching them. They are both playing for the Yankees. Jeramie is managing Aiden's team and coaching Blake's team and I am a professional team mom, scheduler and cheerleader. GO YANKEES!

May the Force be with you

On Halloween Blake was Obi Wan Kenobi and Aiden was Luke Skywalker. They completely transformed into those characters and had several light saber battles throughout the evening. Their friend Tyler joined us this year and the boys Trick-or-Treated for less than an hour and their buckets were full. I think they had more fun passing out candy to the kids who came to our door. Aiden decided that he should give each person a handful of candy. The benefit was that there was less leftover candy to consume.

The Happiest Place on Earth

We went to Disneyland in mid-October with Jake, Amy and J.P. Our boys have been going to Disneyland together for about 3 years now. Amy and I used to take the three of them to Disneyland without our husbands before any of the boys were in school. We always have a wonderful time with them because our boys get along so well. It was extremely crowded that day, but we managed to ride a few rides and our boys rode Toy Story Mania for the first time. Thanks Wiersma's for another great time at the Happiest Place on Earth!