Christmas Day 2010

And in less than 10 minutes, the scene we happened upon had turned into this:

But in that 10 minutes there was a lot of this:

Jadyn opened a few presents I had picked out for her myself that she had not asked for. She would open it and say, "this wasn't on my list, but I like it anyway!"

And then the big decision. What do I play with first????



Several hours later, I mentioned to the kids that we were going to Grandpa and Grandma's house for Christmas dinner. They were very concerned of course, about leaving their new toys. I told them they could each pack what they wanted in their backpacks. Well in 10 minutes flat, Jadyn had packed all her bean bag babies, the dog from her Barbie vet set and walkie-talkies and was ready to GO! Notice anything wrong? She is still in her pajamas! LOL!

Christmas with the Funny Nose family was lovely. The tamale dinner was delicious. The kids got to play with their cousins. More gifts were opened of course. And I got to take some pictures by the tree:

With their cousins posing:

And with their cousins playing dog pile:

Our niece Lilly playing with the box Jake's Nerf gun came in. How cute is she?:

Last year Grandpa Bob stole the show from our carefully chosen gifts for the kids with his "Bag-o-crap"(his words) that included noise makers and all kinds of other things parents generally won't buy for their own children for the sake of their sanity. Well leave it to Grandpa Bob to steal the show once again, this year with burp guns! Grandma asked the boys to pose for a picture and while concentrating on that, Grandpa came around the corner with a surprise attack. This picture is hilarious as not only did it capture the surprise on the boys' faces but Jake looks like he is going to inadvertently eat the ball. Needless to say, these guns were played with the majority of the night. And no Aidan is not about to cry. He was laughing about it. Trust me.

And so ends another great holiday. It took us all of Sunday to recuperate from all the excitement. Definitely a Christmas to remember.

Christmas Eve 2010

When the sun finally emerged from our week long rain, it was hard to believe that Christmas eve had already arrived. Friday was the last day of my mom and George's visit so before they left, we snapped a few pictures. There is a smiley one that turned out okay but this one with all their funny faces was my favorite:

Then it was time to get to work because we had a lot of baking to do! Joe had already done the oatmeal cookies the night before, but I still had the sugar cookies to bake and decorate and then he took over the kitchen to do his famous chocolate chip. Plus, we had Cruz and his visiting family over for Christmas Eve dinner so Joe also prepared cowboy beans (also apparently known as drunken beans, although we do not actually put beer in his Dad's version), twice baked potatoes and chicken and beef kabobs with grilled veggies.

Jadyn really likes to bake. I mean really likes to bake. Sure, she likes to lick the beaters and taste test the frosting but she also really enjoys the entire process and she really got into the decorating this year. Check out the carefully placed Nestle chip decorations on these cookies. That was all Jadyn:

And to prove that she put in some hard work, green frosting on her face and in her hair.

I like to spread out the gifts a little because I feel it helps the kids appreciate each one and they are more likely to remember who gave it to them. So that afternoon they opened presents from Great Grandma Anita and Grandpa Ken.

Later that evening, they also got to open more gifts from Cruz and our traditional Christmas Eve presents - a board game (this year was Uno Attack) and new pajamas. We also enjoyed playing our new Kinect Adventures game for the XBOX. After a quick glance on the NORAD site, it was determined that since Santa was in Iowa he was therefore getting close enough that the kids needed to get to bed.

I never want to forget Jake rushing around to do his bedtime routine, running outside to dump the reindeer food on the lawn and excitedly picking out cookies to leave for Santa. He was in such a hurry to get to bed so Santa could come. You just had to laugh.

But of course with that kind of anticipation, it is very hard to sleep and so our streak of getting to sleep in until a decent hour on Christmas morning was broken when he came into our room at 2am exclaiming that he couldn't sleep and could we go see what Santa left. He was fairly certain Santa had already came because he said he had heard the jingle bells before falling asleep. We told him it was too early but he proceeded to wake us up every 15-30 minutes from that point on wanting to know if it was time to wake up. We begrudgingly finally got up with him at 5 am but not before Joe looked over at me and repeated a line from one of my favorite Christmas movies, "Strong. Coffee."

When we made it into the living room, this is what was waiting for us:

And so earlier than we would have liked, Christmas morning had arrived.......

Joy and Magic

That is what our holiday greeting card wished for everyone - the joy and magic of the season. And just like I try to instill in the kids the idea of being thankful all year round, I also try to instill in them a sense of kindness, thoughtfulness and giving, which although at its height during the holiday season, should be carried on into and throughout the new year, each and every year. I think of the holidays as a time to simply celebrate it. I also hope that I can lead by example and practice what I try to teach to the kids. However, it is a journey, not a destination. And I am still very much on that journey. These are my thoughts as we approach the cumulation of holiday season, with Santa visiting tonight and 2010 quickly coming to a close.

And here are the best of the best from our 2010 holiday photo shoot. Last year we captured the beauty of the desert by taking our family photos in Joshua Tree National Park. This year, we went somewhere also located here in the basin but it is the one place you can go and briefly forget that you are in the desert because the landscape is SO different than what you typically see up here. It is one of my favorite places to take the kids to run around on the trails and it is also one of my favorite places to take company when they come to visit - The Big Morongo Canyon Preserve.

And a big shout out to my dear friend Rose, who took family pictures for us two years in a row and really "got" what I was hoping to get.

Happy Holidays!

Santa Claus is coming to town

And apparently due to my attempt to save money by sneaking candy into the movie theater on our recent trip to see Tangled (great flick by the way), I have been put on the naughty list. At least according to my kids. At any rate don't forget to track Santa's trip around the world via the NORAD Santa tracker. It's a tradition at our house!


And no, I do not know where Jake's recent obsession with flashing gang symbols has come from. If you noticed from the picture of us at the Wild Lights, he was giving the thumbs up. With this picture, we asked him if he was shooting guns but he said no. He was just trying to be silly. Well Jake, you have reindeer antlers on your head so regardless of what you do with your hands, mission accomplished!

Jingle Bells!



Jadyn has been singing this song NON-STOP! I love that she is so into the spirit of the season but seriously? It has now replaced Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as the song that has basically been put on a continuous loop. I tried singing some other Christmas carols with her, which prompted Joe to look for some rendetions on the internet. Apparently I don't have much of a singing voice (and that is really not news to me). Only two more days til Christmas.

Winter Wonderland

Since snow is the rare exception, here in the desert we substitute snow for lights. Lots and lots of lights. Which is precisely why I love our yearly tradition of visiting the Living Desert Zoo for their Wild Lights display. Not only do they decorate the grounds in 750,000 Christmas lights but they add their own flare that is befitting of a desert-themed zoo. For example, while there Jadyn got to go on a camel ride:

The kids also got to go on a special carousel that has native desert animals in lieu of horses. However, we were warned multiple times that the giraffes and camels DO NOT go up and down. Apparently some 3-year-old threw a pretty big fit claiming to have been duped. At any rate, Jadyn rode a hummingbird and Jake rode, well I think it was a warthog:

And then of course they have the train. Who can forget the train? And to see it decked out and lit up for the holidays is a pretty cool treat:

Joe snapped this picture as we were leaving, after which Jadyn suddenly remembered I had promised her hot chocolate on the way home. The memory on our little 4-year-old is pretty amazing. She started jumping up down saying, "Now can we go to Starbucks?" The group across the parking lot started laughing. I have created a monster I tell you.

Every year the excitement and participation from the kids around the holidays just grows and grows and it gets to be much less work and much more fun to go on special outings like this. Definitely our own version of a winter wonderland.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

If anyone recalls, two years ago we got the kids a small Christmas tree to decorate any way they wanted and keep in their room. We have always kept it in Jake's room simply because he had more space and the kids tend to congregate there more often than Jadyn's room. But this year, that became unacceptable, as Jadyn felt left out not having a Christmas tree in her room too. So however ridiculous it may be, we have now become a THREE Christmas tree family.

Even more ridiculous is that I figured if she was going to have a tree for her room, we might as well do something befitting of her decor. So if you are ever wandering around all the decorations at Wal-Mart and you stumble across the super cheesy bubble gum pink tree and wonder who would ever have such a gaudy thing in their house, well you can just think of the Funny Noses because we do.

Jadyn of course loves it:

And here is Jake posing with his super traditional tree, which is almost more fun decorating then our family tree because we get to see all the handmade and gifted ornaments we have accumulated throughout the years and talk about what makes each one special:

And finally here is a shot of our new family tree. With the new house and more room we were able to upgrade by about 3 feet:

So 2010 will forever go down in history as the year we became a three Christmas tree family. I guess letting the kids have their own tree just became one of our unique family traditions.

Merry Magoomba

Never meant to take a hiatus from blogging. Sometimes life just gets in the way.

1) First and foremost, my Aunt Janet is getting stronger and stronger every day. I have to admit that first weekend was pretty touch and go by all reports I was getting from my cousin but this past week, she made tons of progress. Thanks for all your kind words and thoughts.

2) The concert was great (Sleigh Bells rocked), the retaining wall is coming along nicely, although the project was stalled due to the unusually rainy weather we have been having, Jake still has not lost that first tooth and the all female doctor duo won the Amazing Race, therefore making history. Hip, hip, hooray! Here are the kids "helping" daddy move the dirt around:

3) I have created a monster. I mentioned that Jadyn recently had her first cup of hot chocolate when we went to meet Santa at the tree lighting ceremony. Then last week when we were shopping at the outlet mall, she got her very first Starbucks kids hot chocolate. She is officially addicted. Here she is complete with her jeans tucked into her boots and Starbucks in hand, looking just like Mommy.

I enjoyed a peppermint white chocolate mocha. My first of the season believe it or not.

4) Speaking of addictions, Jake has been quite into his video games lately. He takes after Daddy on this one. Here he is playing his game while conversing with Scottie who was playing him online. We have set limits on his game playing time, especially now that he is on winter break.

5) So, as I mentioned the weather for the past 4 or 5 days has been pretty wet. Big change from a week ago when we were enjoying sunny skys and temps reaching 70 (warm for us even in this part of SoCal). Here is some pictures to document the contrast.

The kids playing with their water table because it was actually warm enough to be splashing in the water:

The kids all bundled up to play with the mud puddles created around where the water table is standing full of rain water:

Lots of fun festive activities to report on from the past week - Jadyn's preschool holiday party, decorating the kids trees and one of my favorite traditions, our annual visit to the Wild Lights at the zoo. I can't believe Christmas is only 5 days away! Hope you get all your last minute shopping and preparing done. Enjoy the season!

Serious Magoomba

Serious both both because some of the subject matter is serious and also because I can not be more random then all of the following (sorry I got a little link happy, should keep everyone busy for awhile):

1) Two nights ago two of my Aunts (my mom's sisters) were in a car accident when they were t-boned in a shopping center parking lot. My Aunt Bunny is sore but otherwise fine. My Aunt Janet however, sustained some serious injuries including internal bleeding and a broken hip and pelvis. She had two surgeries yesterday, one to remove her spleen and the other to try and control the bleeding. She is currently sedated in ICU. Things are looking better but she is not out of the woods yet. Thought and prayers would be appreciated. I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that this happened in a parking lot. The holidays should be a time when people are extra courteous and kind to others but unfortunately I have seen a lot of people who are just so worried about what THEY have to do and WHERE they have to be that they are rushing around and driving while distracted and it just makes me so sad because that is not what the holiday spirit is all about.

2) Okay enough of my ranting. Yesterday Jake received two awards for the 1st trimester of school - the Star Reading award for reading at or above grade level and the Spelling 100. I am super proud of him for these awards because language arts is not even his strong subject and he has worked very hard to make the progress he has in this subject. Go Jake!

3) In other Jake news, he has his first loose tooth! It kind of took us by surprise because the dentist thought with his premature mouth (courteous of me) that he would be 7 before he started loosing teeth but sure enough one of his bottom front teeth is pretty wiggly. Jake is both excited and nervous. I am however, still trying to figure out when he got so old.

4)Jadyn's ballet class is gearing up for their first recital in late January/early February and therefore she is actually learning choreography right now. I think it has renewed her interest and I just cannot wait to see her and her little friends in costume on stage. I don't think she will get stage fright but we will see.

5) This weekend, Joe has another big project planned as we are getting a ton (or more, they are pretty heavy) of decorative brick delivered so he can build the retaining wall along the back fence line. I can't wait for it to be done because then we can move on from hardscape to landscape. I am going to need a lot of professional help however, as I do not particularly have a green thumb.

6)Tomorrow I am once again taking off the Mommy hat and going to a festival-type lineup concert. I am super excited to be seeing the Black Keys, Sleigh Bells, Temper Trap, Against Me and a band we saw at Coachella, Tokyo Police Club. It should be a fun night.

7) Planning has gotten into full swing for some fun fitness-related activities for 2011. Joe is running the Carlsbad half marathon in January and as part of the weekend's activities we also signed the kids up to run the children's marathon mile, in which the course runs through Legoland. Then on Valentine's weekend I am going to be running the Palm Springs5K ( my first ever, yikes!). Finally, it looks like a group of us are going to run the SoCal Warrior Dash. I think I might be crazy or going through some midlife crisis or some combination of both. For those who know me, doing this would be very unlike me but what the heck, it looks like a ton fun.

8) I still believe. Joanna recently wrote a thought provoking post about doing the Santa Claus thing with the kids. It reminded me of this post from 2 Christmases ago that I wrote trying to figure out why I could not read or watch the Polar Express without crying. From the discussion, someone posted a link to this article, which I thought summed up my philosophy on why I still believe.

9) Finally if you haven't been watching this season of The Amazing Race, then let me tell you why you should: because history will hopefully be made when the season finale airs this Sunday and we finally, finally see an all female team take the top prize. If the couple wins, I will be extremely disappointed, not just because it is a couple but because I do not feel this particular couple would be very deserving. Personally I am rooting for the doctors Nat and Kat but would be equally excited to see the annoying Brooke and her sidekick Claire cross the finish line first too. Girl power!

Hope everyone has some fun holiday activities planned for this weekend. Remember to slow down and enjoy the season and keep my Aunt Janet in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks.

Wordless Wednesday - The cats new favorite hangout