A busy month and Christmas...

Wow! I've really neglected my blog this month haven't I? I guess that the Christmas Party for church that I did for my Enrichment calling has consumed life. I am also still very run down from this cold that still seems to be hanging on. I somehow found time to shop for Christmas too. I've spent the last week running other errands, doctor appointments, lab tests, finishing up the Christmas shopping, ordering Christmas cards, assembling and mailing packages.

Caitlin broke her glasses in half and so a trip to the Opthamologist to get new glasses actually turned into family appointments to get everyone checked out! Caitlin picked up her new glasses yesterday, cute dark plastic frames (like mine). She also got a "spare pair" - some less expensive wire framed ones that she will keep in her backpack for the days when she forgets her glasses at home. Her vision worsened a bit and she needs to be more diligent in wearing them so that her lazy eye doesn't return.

For the last two years Jared has been teetering on the edge of needing glasses for reading. Because he wasn't reading a lot we didn't push the issue but, this year he has become a big fan of the Magic Tree House chapter book series and so, he spends more time reading. We ordered a pair of reading glasses for him- and he looks quite cute. I'll have to post a picture after he gets them.

On Thursday we had our Annual Kids Cookie Decorating Party. We started this tradition when Caitlin was in first grade. Now that Jared is in first grade he and his friends were included this year too. We had 10 children decorating sugar cookies, making crafts and we also played a game to exchange a holiday ornament. I am exhausted! I think next year I will have to reduce the guest list and make some much simpler crafts.

The Enrichment Christmas Party turned out nicely. I received a lot of nice compliments and I think my body felt numb for a few days afterwards. So much work!! This ward had the tradition of joining efforts with the Activities Committee to put on a Christmas Party for the men and women. It was our biggest activity. The Activities Committee and our Enrichment Food Committee were in charge of the dinner. Miho, Joan and I did the decorations (including the tables) and the entertainment. This year we did a White Christmas theme.

Other things holiday: We've been reading a lot of holiday books from Up On The Housetop to beautiful books about the real Christmas Story, the birth of our Savior. The kids are excited about making gifts for Scotty and I. We haven't done any holiday baking and probably won't until Sunday after church.

We did go on an Elders Quorum/Ward Mission activity to see the lights at the Oakland Temple. It was so beautiful. Inside the Visitors Center they had sister missionaries singing Christmas carols in a multi-language presentation. This is the most culturally diverse area I have ever lived in so, it wasn't surprising to find a big exhibit of Book of Mormons in all of the languages it is published in. You could pick up the books and look at them. Very cool! We had donuts and hot chocolate in the parking lot and enjoyed the company of great friends.

Now, Grandma Barbara is visiting. (Scotty's mom) The kids are so excited! They plan on making Gingerbread houses with her tonight. We are also planing on going to the city's Christmas in the Park. Caitlin's wants to go ice skating there.

 

Sometime last year Jared started to add a second middle name. He's named himself Jared Scott Josh Perkins. It's a little bizarre, but names are important to him. He likes for his friends to call him "Ed". He signs his school work adding the Josh. So, although it's a bit strange, I think it's cute. Josh is the name of my youngest brother and although they've not been able to spend a ton of time together, Josh must have made a good impression. When I ask Jared why he added Josh to his name, he says "because I like to!"

Photos from Thanksgiving

 

My neice, Autumn, enjoying the yummy sugar cookies

 

My sisters Mirriam and Sara - beginning the puzzle adventure

 

My dad and Josh- having a bit of competition... as usual

 

My neice, Summer, dipping her paci in frosting. She LOVED it!


Better late than never, I guess.

Some beautiful faces!

 

Tomoko's Family

 

Caitlin and her friend Jenesis

 

My "Super Girl" - notice the gold reflector cuffs

 

Jenesis, Justice, and Jewel

My friend Tomoko asked me to take her family picture for their Christmas cards. I had so much fun doing it! This is an awesome family. Caitlin and Jenesis had been to a super hero birthday party and hence the gold "reflectors" on her her wrists. I guess she was a Wonder Woman type hero. (?????)

Anyhow, the photos I think turned out okay. It helps to have such beautiful people to shoot! I guess I need to start thinking about my own Christmas cards. It's that time.

Just a little bit about my obsession...

Sara gave me the book Austenland for an early Christmas gift! My SIL, Michelle, got one too! I finished the book last night and loved it! I have to say it is nice to have a good spin on the Pride and Prejudice that I can't seem to get enough of. Why do I love that story? The romance, I suppose... I'm not sure I know a woman who wouldn't like a "Mr. Darcy" in their lives. But, mostly I think that Jane Austen is clever, funny and has the greatest talent in using words! Afterall they have books of quotes from her novels. Compilations of wit.

The other day Caitlin asked me a hypothetical "Mom, If we had a fire, and you could only grab one thing out of the house what would it be? Your Pride and Prejudice DVD?" - "No, dear. I could just go to the store and buy another of those!" - he he he!

About being a girl...

(Can you guess what color my nails are painted??)

Today, Caitlin was using my nails for painting practice. It really is a bright color, but the painting job was pretty good and Cait and I talked about how well she does at painting my nails. She made me laugh when she said, "aren't you glad that Carlee didn't give me some really strange color of nail polish, like turquoise?!?" I couldn't resist, "Yeah, or like hard-to-even-look-at fluorescent bright pink?!" LOL!! (JK Carlee, you did great picking out a gift for Caitlin, she loves it all.)

As I watched her spread the neon pink from nail bed to tip, I felt grateful to see her so happy, so pleased with feeling more "grown up", so loving the color and happy that her mom was sacrificing her long unpainted nails for her enjoyment and growth in girlhood... a rite of passage for all young women, painting nails and smearing on shiny lipgloss.

Together we watched Little Women on a DVD I found for $5. While her brother complained "How much longer do we have to listen to this PERFECT singing?" our little girl exclaimed that she loved it. I'm glad! She has a hard time understanding my Pride & Prejudice obsession but, at least she likes Little Women!

A lot to be grateful for...even pink fluorescent nail polish (?)...

Thanksgiving was fun. We had a nice family meal despite scorched cream for the pie, burnt rolls and apple pie blunder. A great example in proving that you can indeed have "too many cooks in the kitchen". In the end we did have fabulous cream pie, delicious apple pie and golden croissants. So, it all worked out just fine.

It was great to see my family. I have to say my favorite part of the weekend was putting together this ridiculously hard CSI Mystery 1,000 piece puzzle with my Mom, my sisters (Mirriam and Sara) and my brothers (Aaron and Josh). In the end Scotty helped... maybe we were keeping him awake with our insane all nighter, our determination to finish and solve the "crime". I've never put together a puzzle that large without a picture on the box to look at. It was definitely hard! I enjoyed it though. It was fun to be with my siblings, in the end we took turns role playing the character parts of the story. None of us are great actors. Although I think we all deserve an A for effort and bravery.

Also on Saturday we exchanged Christmas presents early. The grandkids helped Grandma decorate the tree and frost sugar cookies. Aaron gave Jared a Razor Scooter and he has been in heaven riding it back and forth every chance he gets. He also got some Pokemon cards and a Pokemon DS game. Grandma and Grandpa gave Cait an outfit for her American Girl doll and a hardbound book of all the Felicity stories. Caitlin was also happy with her girl gifts: jewelry, lip gloss and fluorescent pink nailpolish from Carlee.

We had taken snow gear but, in the end never used it as there wasn't enough snow anywhere nearby to play in. Scotty and I are thinking of trying out snowshoeing or cross country skiing sometime after Christmas.

It's good to be back home - our van now has 142K miles on it.

American Girl Fashion Show

 

Caitlin with a find in her "goody bag".

 

The yummy finger foods served on shiny gold dishes with lemonade.

 

Jalaire, Jenny, Caitlin and Amber

 

The models and their dolls dressed in the Party attire.


Awhile back I got a flyer in the mail about an American Girl Fashion Show. Caitlin has been asking me for some one on one time and I figured that this might be the perfect opportunity. American girl has been her passion since 1st or 2nd grade. I had no idea what to expect, but Caitlin thought it sounded like fun. I showed the invite to my friend Jalaire (whose daughter, Amber, is an American Girl doll fan too) and she thought it was a great idea. It was a Benefit, 2/3 of the ticket prices went to a fund for children without health insurance.

So last night was the big night! The girls were so excited! They were loud and silly in the backseat as we drove to Los Altos. The Benefit was held in a church. We had to walk through a little "store" that sold American Girl t-shirts, hats, books and the miniature dolls. Caitlin spent all of her saved allowance on American Girl books.

Upon entering with our tickets, the girls were given a big party favor bag full of stickers, American Girl coloring items, a Licorice picture frame, a new AG catalog, and mini posters of the dolls. We were assigned a table number and got situated. Each placesetting had an elegant lidded gold tray full of finger foods to enjoy throughout the show. We were served lemonade to drink.

The Fashion Show consisted of young models dressed like the various AG dolls. For those who don't know there are many dolls, each one representing a different era. Victorian time, the depression, around the Revolutionary War, etc... The newest American Girl is Julie her time is in the 70's. Each of the characters have several books written about their lives, the challenges of the times they lived in. They are great books. You love the characters and you learn a lot about history. Last night we learned all about the things girls Caitlin's age would have worn in each of the different eras.

It was interesting and fun! Caitlin said she felt like the "luckiest girl ever"! There were hundreds of girls there with their dolls. When I asked her what her favorite part was, she couldn't decide. She loved it all!

Kid Stuff...

It's a nice change to have Caitlin just walk in the door, drop her backpack and head straight for the piano. I love that she enjoys playing piano lately. She has mastered a "spooky" sounding Halloween song and some fast warm up songs that involve moving her hands up and down the keys. She has now passed me in knowledge of piano and sheet music. I sat down yesterday and tried to play that spooky little song. Couldn't do it. Too many flats... I couldn't site read it. I'm proud of her hard work and her efforts in changing her attitude about the piano. It's very nice to see that she is enjoying it once again!

More stuff going on today:

Me (MOM): Jared, how was school today?
Jared: Wild!
Me: Wild? How was it wild?
Jared: We had a fire drill and NO fire! We also had a code red and I lost my tooth! It just snapped right off!

Sure enough there is a gap where his lower front tooth used to be and a sufficient amount of blood down the front of his sweatshirt for the "laundry maid" (MOM) to worry. He certainly has the appearance of having had a "WILD" time.

Now he is sullen and sad, he lost the tooth on the school bus. Some kid on the bus told him the tooth fairy brings $20 if you lose it and so he is busily writing a note of explanation to the tooth fairy. ("Uh, don't count on it, buddy.")

A good giggle...

I can't sleep. I went to bed with a bit of a fever and although that broke I was having leg aches and coughing with congestion. So, I am "surfing" hoping it will help me feel tired again. I came across these and had a good giggle... ENJOY!!

Grandchildren...

She was in the bathroom, putting on her makeup, under the watchful eyes of her young granddaughter as she'd done many times before. After she applied her lipstick and started to leave, the little one said, "But Gramma, you forgot to kiss the toilet paper good-bye!"

My young grandson called the other day to wish me Happy Birthday. He asked me how old I was, and I told him, "62." He was quiet for a moment, and then he asked, "Did you start at 1?"

After putting her grandchildren to bed, a grandmother changed into old slacks and a droopy blouse and proceeded to wash her hair. As she heard the children getting more and more rambunctious, her patience grew thin. Finally, she threw a towel around her head and stormed into their room, putting them back to bed with stern warnings. As she left the room, she heard the three-year-old say with a trembling voice, "Who was THAT?"

A grandmother was telling her little granddaughter what her own childhood was like: "We used to skate outside on a pond. I had a swing made from a tire; it hung from a tree in our front yard. We rode our pony. We picked wild raspberries in the woods." The little girl was wide-eyed, taking this all in. At last she said, "I sure wish I'd gotten to know you sooner!"

My grandson was visiting one day when he asked, "Grandma, do you know how you and God are alike?" I mentally polished my halo while I asked, "No, how are we alike?" "You're both old," he replied.

A little girl was diligently pounding away on her grandfather's word processor. She told him she was writing a story. "What's it about?"he asked "I don't know," she replied. "I can't read."

I didn't know if my granddaughter had learned her colors yet, so I decided to test her. I would point out something and ask what color it was. She would tell me and was always correct. It was fun for me, so I continued. At last she headed for the door, saying sagely, "Grandma, I think you should try to figure out some of these yourself!"

When my grandson Billy and I entered our vacation cabin, we kept the lights off until we were inside to keep from attracting pesky insects. Still, a few fireflies followed us in. Noticing them before I did, Billy whispered, "It's no use, Grandpa. The mosquitoes are coming after us with flashlights."

When my grandson asked me how old I was, I teasingly replied, "I'm not sure." "Look in your underwear, Grandpa," he advised. "Mine says I'm four to six."

A second grader came home from school and said to her grandmother, "Grandma, guess what? We learned how to make babies today." The grandmother, more than a little surprised, tried to keep her cool. "That's interesting," she said, "how do you make babies?""It's simple," replied the girl. "You just change 'y' to 'i' and add 'es'."

Children's Logic: "Give me a sentence about a public servant,"said a teacher. The small boy wrote: "The fireman came down the ladder pregnant." The teacher took the lad aside to correct him. "Don't you know what pregnant means?" she asked. "Sure," said the young boy confidently. "It means carrying a child."

A nursery school teacher was delivering a station wagon full of kids home one day when a fire truck zoomed past. Sitting in the front seat of the truck was a Dalmatian dog. The children started discussing the dog's duties. "They use him to keep crowds back," said one child. "No," said another, "he's just for good luck." A third child brought the argument to a close. "They use the dogs,"she said firmly, "to find the fire hydrants...

A whine.

All week long I've had a stiff neck. You know, the kind where you must turn your whole body with your head. This has been a busy week (Halloween, volunteering at the school, helping with Halloween party, make up Super Saturday at our house, Movie Night at the kids' school, dentist appointment for sealants on Caitlin's molars)- with so much going on I haven't had the luxury of taking it easy or resting. On two occasions I took a muscle relaxer and it puts me into a deep sleep. On Friday I took a muscle relaxer before going out for a walk, I ate breakfast and then slept all day until the alarm went off to walk to the bus stop to meet the kids.

Last night I had lots of restful sleep and the neck is feeling somewhat better; however, now I'm feeling even more under the weather with a sore throat and general body aches. BLAH!! I sure hope this all passes soon...

We are mutts.

Jared has a school assignment to write about his heritage. The teacher attaches one end of a string to the students picture and another end is attached to a map on the country their ancestors came from.

For most students in Jared's class this is probably an easy assignment. His class is mostly Asian or Indian. One little boy is African American and a little girl is Egyptian. This area has a great variety of culture which is evident everywhere you go, including our own neighborhood.

Our kids have noticed this,they mostly notice that they are different than their friends. They don't have a second language, and they don't celebrate some of the holidays their friends do. Their school has a cultural night and it was amazing! They have learned a lot about other cultures and have wondered about their own. Today, Jared wanted to know "what am I"?

Well... we are mutts. Most all of our ancestors are from Europe. Between the years 1823-1890 most of our lines on the pedigree chart moved to the United States of America. They came from many countries including: Germany, England, Denmark, France, Sweden, Scotland, Ireland, Whales and Norway. A few in Scotty's line had a shorter travel distance from Canada.

Anyhow, just an interesting piece of info we are working on around our house tonight!

Happy Halloween!!

 

Okay, the kids have way too much candy! But, they had a great time! They were a bit spoiled this year and went trick or teating 4 times!! Once at Disneyland, once at the Ward Trunk or Treat, then last night they went to Daddy's Office Trick or Treat Party and then around the neighborhood! We have too much candy... I think that I will have to figure out a way to "share it".

The kids loved Motorola's Trick or Treat. The employees decorated their cubicles and they got all sorts of goodies including a few toys and a gift certificate for a free game of miniature golf.

Here are the Trick or Treaters just before going out last night. We invited our friends the Lipscombs over. Pictured is Caitlin, Jade, Jared, Bella, Tristen and Paula. We had fun enjoying each others company! Paula made homemade apple cobbler and we served it with ice cream. YUMMO!! (to quote Rachael Ray)

 

Little Tristen- what a cute little guy!

 

Halloween School Party

Jared's 1st grade Class

 

Jared (acting the part) - Anikan Skywalker

 

Caitlin- bewitching isn't she?

 

Caitlin's 4th grade class

 

The kids' school has a costume parade and some class parties on Halloween. The kids love it. Jared's teacher asked me to help her out by coming up with a game for the class to play for 1/2 hour. I read about a game online and I made a ghost costume out of a flat white sheet and some scraps of black material.

One student leaves the classroom to stand out in the hallway. Another stood hides under the ghost costume. All of the kids switch places so they are not sitting in their own desks and then the child out in the hallway comes back into the classroom and tries to guess who is under the sheet. The kids loved it! They also had cookies, their pumpkin seeds and juice.

Caitlin's teacher said they were too old for parties (I'm rolling my eyes here, how can you be too old for a party??) but, she enjoyed dressing up with her classmates anyhow!

The parade is around the back field of the school. I'm not sure how many kids are in the school but, my guess is over 600. It was fun to see all of the costumes! The teachers dress up too and their costumes can be very creative.

.... all shook up! (but, not by Elvis)...

... by an earthquake that is. Tuesday night (Oct. 30th) our family was just about to gather at the dining room table to carve pumpkins. Caitlin and I were downstairs. I was making a quick phone call, Caitlin was preparing the table. Scotty and Jared were upstairs directly above us getting ready to come downstairs.

I first heard this load noise and in a matter of maybe 4 seconds all of these thoughts raced through my head: Who fell? What are they doing upstairs, wrestling? No, it's too loud. Just as I was about to call up and ask what happened I noticed the entire house swaying back and forth, everything shook. Realizing what it was I grabbed Caitlin and ran for a doorway. Scotty had grabbed Jared to do the same. But, it was over before we had much time to panic. The phone rang with ward members making sure we were all okay. The "damage" was minimal, a painting was knocked off the wall and several things fell off shelves.

Our first earthquake. (Hopefully our last!) It was 5.6 and the epicenter was approximately 10 miles from our home. I find it very strange that I heard it first, before seeing or feeling it. I now realize that it was probably all the furniture upstairs lifting slightly and falling back down all at the same time.

Within minutes afterwards we sat down to carve pumpkins and watch the local news. I've been warned though. It occured to me that I have this giant water barrel in the garage for water storage... EMPTY. In addition to the counsel given at church about preparing ourselves, the local government of this area encourages all residents to have at least 3 days of food, water, medications, etc... for just this type of emergency. I guess I have some work to do, in making sure we have what we need in an emergency. In a big way I feel like one of the 5 foolish virgins in the Bible. Scotty and I need to get prepared just in case there is another one. Apparently the fault line that shifted intersects with the most dangerous fault lines of the Bay Area. The recent earthquake could cause some shifting in one of the other two fault lines that are next to it.

Jared's Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Here's a picture of Jared's First Grade Class. He's not hard to find. His cute teach, Mrs. Newton.

 

This is a corn stalk maze with big touch and feel story boards - SO CUTE!!

 

Jared, Tianna, and Jenna(3 out of 4 of the kids I chaperoned on the field trip)

 

Here's a picture of Jared and two classmates riding the train around the big pumpkin field

 

I'm still "catching up" since the lengthy Disneyland posts.... (LOL!)

Here are some photos of Jared's class field trip to the Pumpkin Patch. The kids love this place, there are thousands of pumpkins, a train, a carousel, a corn maze, picnic areas, a movie about the growth cycle of a pumpkin, a pumpkin garden with pumpkins growing at various growth stages...

He had a great time! Each of the kids got to pick out a small pumpkin and bring it home on the bus. I was nervous, but every pumpkin survived the ride home. Once back at school they did all sorts of fun graphing projects with their pumpkins. They carved their class pumpkin and the teacher roasted the seeds for them to eat at their Halloween party.

Making sense of Pokemon

Pokemon is Jared's newest passion and I have to say... I just don't get it! He wants a Pokemon game from Christmas that has little figurines and a game board. I went online today (Grandmas want gift ideas) and I was poking around trying to figure out what exactly the Pokemon stuff is or does. Not only did I NOT see a game like that, but most of the Pokemon toy selection looks like collecting cards. Is that all there is to it?

I know more people read this blog than posts comments, so if anyone out there has a clue, I'd really like some help!

Frighty Night Night

It's now past midnight and I've helped Jared walk up the stairs. I've tucked him in neatly in a blanket and pillow. He's sleeping on the floor tonight. On the rug in the upstairs landing. I thought that this part of motherhood was over. I guess I've been smug that the kids just get their jammies on, brush their teeth, crawl in bed, and fall asleep listening to Scripture Scouts.

Older sister has been watching some of the Disney Halloween specials this last month and he is afraid to sleep in his own bed, in his own bedroom. In fact, tonight he refused to sleep upstairs without Scotty and I near by. So, he fell asleep downstairs in the Living Room near his daddy who was on the sofa.

It will probably be just a few hours before he crawls in bed with us. Now normally I would say no because I can't sleep with the kids, I mean I don't get any sleep. But, if I start to refuse his eyes tear up, his lip quivers and he asks me, "Well, then what will I do? Where else will I be safe?"

What can a mom say? This is the kid that rarely cries and usually has a "can do" attitude. Reasoning, which usually works with Jared, hasn't. So, of course I say: "Yes, you'll be safe with me!" - seems to be the only option. Times like this make me wish we had bought the king size bed!

Day 5 - DISNEYLAND the end.

 

 

 

 

After exploring Toon Town and going on a few rides our family split up from the Bell family and went to ride the Nemo Ride. An hour and a half wait, we played the alphabet game. The ride was okay, definately not worth the hour and a half wait. We rode the Buzz Lightyear Ultra Blast ride over and over again, did a bit of shopping, went to the Pirates Island (may not be the exact name- Pirate Lair?), we rode the Jungle Cruise which I really liked, and the Thunder Mountain Railroad. Our family went to watch the parade. I'm glad we did. The kids weren't too sure about it, but I kept them quiet with popcorn and we secured some pretty decent seats. The parade was great! They stop every once in awhile and entertain you with dances and acrobats. The kids liked it and waved to all of the characters. I saw the little girl side of Caitlin come out, where she got excited to see the princesses and called out their names, waving to them. I wish that the camera could catch the magic of that parade.

We met the Bell's for dinner at a little Mexican Buffeteria and then split up again. Our family headed off to Buzz Lightyear again and then came back for the fireworks. We didn't have great seats for the fireworks and kept being "herded" off to other areas of the park. But, we ended up off in a not so crowded area and had a great view. I was glad! Just as the fireworks were ending it started to sprinkle a bit. It was about 11 pm and we were spent. Caitlin had been "weepy" and cranky all day long, now she was just begging us to go to the hotel and sleep. Jared, was also tired. When he gets tired he gets silent. Funny, the kids are so polar opposites in many, many ways... and this is just another one of those.

During the day, Scotty and Jeff Bell had taken the van full of lugguage to a Best Western. So, off we headed... a long walk with half-asleep kids and physically exhausted bodies.

The next morning we met Scotty's brother Jon at IHOP for breakfast. It was fun to see him. He looks great and we enjoyed his company. Hopefully we will meet up with him again soon!

We drove back to the Best Western and said our good-byes to the Bells. Scotty gave them a lift to the airport, the kids and I stayed in the hotel room. The kids did their homework and I took a nap. I took two more naps on the way home and went to bed as soon as we walked into the house. I don't remember ever being this tired except for sometimes on my mission!... oh, and when I had mono at the age of 19.

 

 

 

 

Some fun pictures from Toon Town! These are from Minnie's House (my personal favorite).

Day 5- DISNEYLAND

 

 

 

We checked out of the hotel and piled all of our things into the van. I really enjoyed the Disneyland Hotel. It was convient to stay on the park property, the staff was friendly, the rooms were clean and had fun decor. The beds were so comfy, although I think at the end of each day I was so tired I could have slept on the floor. But, I'm glad I didn't have to!

Day 5 (Last Day) - DISNEYLAND

 

 

 

 

We had a character breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen (inside the Disneyland Hotel). The food was so yummy! Again they had omelets made to order, waffles, bacon, potatoes, breakfast breads, peanutbutter and jelly pizza, chicken fingers, hot dogs (yes, I did say breakfast), salads, desserts, etc...

Goofy lived the part and was very fun-loving with the kids. Jared had no real attachment to Goofy before this but, I have to say that a bond was formed during breakfast. He decided that Goofy is a fun guy to goof off with. He pounded pots and pans with him, enjoyed the teasing and kept hugging him over and over.