A Brand New Car!!

Seriously we are beyond spoiled! Kenny got his brand new 2012 Ford Taurus today. His 'old' 2010 Chevy Impala had over 60,000 miles on it so according to EMC its time for a new one!! I picked the color, its called Cinnamon.  Loving the new car smell!!

Overloaded with blessings!

Our family is being spoiled totally rotten this holiday season!

Last week we got elfed... it is supposed to be a secret, but we totally knew it was my mom and the boys... My mom went WAY overboard on the whole elfing thing, because she wanted to combine two traditions- Elfing and the BIG Costco yummies that Kenny's dad always sent him. We totally loved it!

Sunday I was lucky enough to 'win' a patio table and 4 chairs from freecycle!! When I am actually able to receive something that is offered on freecycle it feels like a win sometimes. Kenny doesn't think we have enough room, but him and my Brother went over and picked it up anyway. 

Monday I hosted a stocking exchange at work. I borrowed Michelle's idea (each person buys one stocking stuffer item for each participant and you end up with a stocking full of goodies) and ran with it! We had 13 participants and everyone seemed to really love it and I know I did! Everyone got a pretty good mix of items, but Donna had 90% Penguin items and Kenny had 90% Butterfingers in all shapes and sizes - lol. It was a great way to start the Christmas work week.

Monday night we had the chance to go out to dinner with Jereme and Melodi before they ran off on their Jamaican honeymoon. We met at Cracker Barrel - yummo-  and enjoyed some good old fashion food and company.

Wednesday my mom and I opened our secret Santa swaps... My friend Carol hosted a "Santa Sack Swap" basically you made a sack of some kind and fill it with gifts. At the beginning of each month Sept, Oct, Nov and Dec you mail a package with a few goodies for your partner, then at Christmas you have a whole sack of goodies to open.

My mom's partner was a little flaky so Carol ended up adopting her and spoiled her rotten with goodies.

My partner, Cheryl was absolutely over the top AMAZING! I let the boys open the wrapping paper since they just love to open presents even if its not for them and as the would hand or 'toss' the gifts to me I was amazed over and over again. Most of the items were beautifully handmade items - an apron, bags, table runners and more. I love everything and feel totally spoiled and grateful. Cheryl was such a sweet partner, not only did she spoil me rotten, but she was also very understanding and didn't get mad at all when my swap package arrived late. I had a very, very good experience with this swap and it was kind of exciting to see the presents trickle in each month.

My brother's family got a huge surprise, him and the boys were 'adopted' by the Food Bank where he works! When they had asked him about it Brian told them they didn't really need anything, but they insisted. So today was the day they gave him ALL the stuff. A truck load full actually. Presents, housewares, a small pre- lite tree etc. He kept asking them, "Is this really all for us?" They said, "Yes and you deserve it. This is what you get for working so hard."  That evening my mom, dad, brother, Kenny and I spent the evening sorting and wrapping the treasures. Brian even saved some of the items for the boys upcoming birthdays, because it was just too much. I cannot believe the generosity of my brothers coworkers. Although, they are just things it was SO wonderful to see someone else shower my brother with blessings and let him know people care about him, the path he is on and those wonderful boys he is raising. I have always liked participating in adopt and angel or adopt a family type activities, but to see one in action and really see the joy it can bring to people makes it much more a priority for me now. I always thought it was for the kids and about getting the right gift, but I think part of it is also for the parents and them being able to have gifts for their kids to open on Christmas Day. You can say all you want that Christmas is not about the presents, but it is a little bit... and I think that is okay as long as you also remember the true reason for the season.

We have been getting lots of cards, letters and even a few packages in the mail. It fun to hear from old friends and see updated pictures (especially from the people who aren't on Fb or dont' have e-mail).

Hope your holiday season is going as fabulously as ours!!

Reduced Stress holiday

I just can't even believe what a great week this has turned out to be! Being the week before Christmas I expected it to be crazy busy, full of stress and rushing to get everything done... I am not saying I haven't had my moments, but for the most part ; awesome. 

To get to this reduced stress state I cut out somethings I would normally do... 

*I did not MAKE any of our gifts (with the exception of quick blankets for the Ross kids as requested by their mama). I always have lofty ideas of making all these great things and end up working so hard the week before Christmas to complete everything... just ask Kenny- he has been known to cut, glue and clip quilts late at night, days before Christmas. 
* We did LESS Decorating. Kenny and his friend Matt used to love to put up Christmas lights together, but since Matt moved out of state Kenny just doesn't have the same passion for it... I used to try to push for lights to be put up - I mean how can you not put up lights??? You know what? If you do or don't put up lights actually doesn't matter even in the slightest and if the people inside the home are more content without them than it is worth NOT putting them up. Also, we did less decorating inside the house... in years past I was pretty overboard with decorating the house and now have a huge tree and about 15 totes of decorations. I already mentioned about our tree here. This change brought me great joy and we have been enjoying the lovely scented tree for weeks now.  
* I didn't SEND Christmas cards. Seems like a cardinal sin right? Actually with communication the way it is today you really don't HAVE to send out paper cards... Although this saved us a bundle of money and time I will add this back to my MUST DO list for next year. We have received lots of fun cards in the mail with letters and pictures of our friends and family. I SO enjoy getting these and wish I would have sent them out this year... note to self I will do this next year! 
* I didn't give gifts to EVERYONE in our office. Every year since I started working at EMC (7 years ago) I have made a gift for almost everyone in the office. I have made those plastic canvas ornaments, towels, coasters, muffins, candies etc. Although, this is a tradition I love... it makes me a little crazy. There are over 70 people in our office.... 
* I didn't force my family to ATTEND every holiday event known to man and be out every night of the week... This is pretty self explanatory! 
* I didn't try to BUY gifts for every person I know...  I love to give gifts, but narrowing down the gift list really helped out this year! 

Of course all these things helped, but more importantly the support of my loving, patient and kind husband is what helps the most... he shopped, wrapped, mailed etc all right beside me! We still did of fun activities and attended a few parties, but we gave ourselves the breathing room to ENJOY the season! 

These things worked this year, but next year it might be different... my big problem is I always want to do EVERYTHING... which doesn't usually bring peace or joy... and I sometimes don't even enjoy all the activities because it is just too much. Finding a focus and deciding what is important is the best way to reduce your holiday stress! 

Gingerbread House Contest

Jacob and Brian's House 

Our Gingerbread House Contest was kind of a flop... people were so busy several forgot and others had extenuating circumstances and couldn't do it. BUT my brother did it and so did Kenny and I... Brian said he hates those houses (somehow it was really funny when he said it) the sticky frosting, the collapsing walls, etc. We had the same trouble with ours... the walls kept falling and the ceiling separating - it was a mess. I am thankful you can just buy a fit these days... I can't imaging trying to make the gingerbread and frosting and then having to buy all that candy...

Kenny and My House - His says "DITTO 

Lets get this Christmas started!

Christmas came early this year as we celebrated a little early with Barb and Sarah. It sure smelled like Christmas when we walked in! 

Oscar just couldn't wait another second so we opened presents before dinner- 

Oscar opening his present 

Felix opening up his gift

The boys hiding behind the chairs to play with their toys 

 Sarah opening her "Kuhpon" which is good for getting her Kenny -do list done in 2012 

Kenny and his 4.5 lb bag of Boston Baked Beans- He was in Heaven! 

Barb with all her goodies !

Barb, Sarah, Kenny and I with all our goodies 

 We ate a nice Turkey Dinner with all the fixins that was cooked to perfection. Yum yum!

After dinner Kenny and I worked on our Gingerbread Houses while Sarah Supervised and Barb took pictures.

Kenny's House 

Kenny's House 

My House 

We had a really nice, laid back celebration over at the Meyer House this year and just enjoyed each others company - the way Christmas should be!

Christmas Concert

Little Brian had his Christmas Concert tonight.... we found out about it at about 4:30 and it started at 5:30.... Little Brian neglected tell anyone about it, but forgot his homework packet at the school. When Brian went to get it the teacher mentioned that he would see him at 5:30... good thing he did! 

It was an outdoor concert and started with the 8th grade and worked backwards... Little B is in 1st grade so we had a while to wait. 

Jacob got cold 

Finally it was time for Little Brian's class to come out and play the Ukuleles!! He was SO proud!!

Here is a partial video of one of their songs: 

Ugly Sweater Party

Its a little bizarre how popular these Ugly Sweater Parties have become... When Blair sent out the invitation I was super excited and immediately began looking.... and looking and looking for one of those classic 80s UGLY SWEATERS and after the 5th thrift store gave up and decided I would just have to make them. Kenny and I bought a bag of silly Christmas decorations and pinned them to our sweaters (My brother followed suit and used items off their Christmas tree and a TABLE RUNNER OF my moms!) I think they came out awesome and they sure are ugly!!

Me and Blair 

Kenny and I 

Kenny, Me and My Brother 

The party was fun as usual, just laid back chit chat. Someone brought a fire pit (which is where I camped out most of the night because I am such a pyro! ) We burned Blair's huge mound of tumble weeds... an underwriter's nightmare!! 12 foot flames grazing the eves of the house and stray ashes floating about the yard... yikes!! It sure was fun to watch though!!

The white Elephant exchange is always one of my favorite activities at Christmas time... its light hearted, you don't have to worry about getting the right item or the best item... and there is always lots of laughter. I had my item stolen (by BLAIR!)  and ended up with a present we brought ! Kenny and Brian both ended up with cool items.

This is the crazy thing I brought : ) 

Elf'ed

We got Elfed tonight! 

I know just who did it too... my mom, brother and the boys ; ) 

Its an extra special elfing too... it is to help remember Kenny's dad and his tradition of buying Costco goodies for Kenny for Christmas :) 

Ornament Tradition

Barb drove today to hang out with us and help decorate the our Christmas tree. We were all starving so we headed to lunch first. She treated us to Mexican food at Rio Mirage - yummo! Then we headed off to see a movie... We saw The Sitter... I am sorry but unless you just like to hear profanity this is just a terrible movie. 

Once we got back to the house it was too late to decorate the tree, but Barb did hang Kenny's baby ornament before she left. Barb has such a great memory, especially when it comes to Kenny's childhood memories. He really enjoys/misses the tradition they had of opening each ornament and reminiscing that particular year - ie the year he got his car or the year they went to such and such place on vacation. We ended up decorating the tree a couple days later with both of our collections of 28-30 annual ornaments... the tree was FULL! 

Friday Night Lights

My mom wanted to go Elfing. I wanted to go to a craft show and my brother and Kenny wanted to go to Game Stop to exchange some games.... So we all (Brian,Kenny, my mom, the boys and I) piled into the car and mashed it all into one big night and had a blast!! 

We started out at the craft show because it closed the earliest. My childhood friend, Christina had a booth and since she lives on the East side I hardly ever have opportunities to meet up with her which is why I wanted to check out the sale. The other vendors were kind of lame, but they did have numerous tables set up with FREE holiday crafts for kids! Even though we were crunched for time we let the boys pick out one item to make - which they loved of course. It was also nice to chat with Christina even though it was brief and check out her business. 





Next we went Elfing... similar to booing, but for Christmas. My mom choose to Elf our friends Stargret and Jackie. The boys love the rush of ding dong ditching (Jacob more than Little Brian) and it is always a ton of fun to jump back in the car and try to take off undetected. 

While we were in the residential areas we took time to stroll down the streets and look at Christmas lights. Jacob is Mr. Christmas and loves practically anything having to do with Christmas... it was so cute to watch and listen to him oooww and ahhh over the displays. 

Kenny let Little Brian 'drive' a little bit on the residential streets... basically he was on Kenny's lap, but of course Kenny still had full control of the vehicle, gas petals etc. Little B was thrilled, but also nervous. Not knowing the huge difference between a video games and an actual vehicle Little B kept over turning, so Kenny let him get up on the curb before correcting him. My brother and mom were joking with him saying, "Come on get off the curb, lets go" And Little B not knowing what to do just said he didn't know how and asked Kenny to help him. It was so cute. When he was back in his seat and clamoring on and on about his experience he said, " Did you see me; I am a terrible driver!" as he grabbed his head, but still with a smile on his face. My brother was pretty funny during the whole experience too, holding on to the "Oh Shit" handle for dear life. We had a lot of laughs tonight!!