Somebody Stop The Clock

My, the days have gone by fast!!

It is Zak's 16th birthday tomorrow!
I shopped for presents for him today.
He and Steven and Quinn all got to go to the King's Hockey game tonight - a friend called with tickets they could not use.
Zak has asked, (for his birthday), to have fettuccine with chicken and white sauce for dinner tonight, then spaghetti with red sauce for tomorrow. Done.
Nothing is on TV - I may watch a video. Yes, there is always more cleaning to do, but come on!

Tigger and Coco

Kylie and Griffin finished their portraits first, but they were not done painting, so I got them more paper. They made more portraits.

Griffin painted Tigger: It looks like Kylie painted Coco:

The Day After Christmas...a few Photos

Here is first thing Christmas morning I believe that is Christopher in the blanket

Griffin is holding is Storm Trooper helmet

Steven is bending over in the blue sweatshirtOne of our NEW family traditions - painting a self portrait -

Here is a group working on them

more painting

Kylie got this flannel nightgown (I sewed it!)And flannel pants that go with it

Our portraits hung up on the wall

Christopher WILL finish his

We talked to Chase for a long time last night. He is doing very well, happy, working hard. I told him I would send him some more pictures today, so I must work on that now.

Christopher, Zak and Quinn are all deep sea fishing with the scout troop. Steven is home tending his dog....he didn't want to go.

Tonight, Steven, Zak and a possible Christopher will go to their all night LAN party.

Saturday morning is the next Ward Flag Football match.

Stuff is going on here!

I am hungry for a turkey sandwich....I have no turkey here.

Merry Christmas To All

The Village of Whoville remembers what Christmas is really about....

• to be grateful for the gifts that Heavenly Father and Jesus have given us
• grateful for family and friends
• love at home

Merry Christmas to all!

Finally, A Post

Christopher and Steven, SURPRISINGLY came home on Thursday night! I don't know why, but I was expecting them to come home on Sunday. It was a nice and funny surprise! So, I have been doing more cooking, grocery shopping, Christmas shopping (Steven finally gave me his list!) The boys have all been on the computer playing their "blooming games" (!) So I also had a hard time getting a turn!

I have my turn now! We are trying to begin some more Christmas traditions!

• most nights we read a scripture and answer a question about "why the Christmas season" Check here if you are interested!
• using Kylie's handmade Advent Calendar. Very fun. Check it out here.
• Griffin has his own Santa's Beard Advent Calendar
• Self-Portraits! Yes, I am trying to get them all to paint their self-portraits. I told them no opening any presents until their painting is done! I will hang them on a wall. So far, Kylie, Griffin and I have done them. I will post the pictures.

In the meantime....other things are going on.....Indoor Soccer:

Here is Griffin at play:

Quinn also played indor soccer - his team was VICTORIOUS! Their finals are on Sunday, January 4th. The Coach will call Quinn and tell him how they did.

On Sunday, Sandy White gave our family this jar full of Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies! Very yummy. Guess how long they lasted? Sorry, Chase, you didn't get to have any.

(I also spent an hour this morning TRYING to learn how to cut the jar out. I was unsuccessful. I will try again!)

Sweet Griffin at his Elementary School Holiday Concert. I love this pose.
(Don't worry, videos to follow!)

Now, this is Kylie:

Here is Griffin:

Griffin, again. Come on...they are just 15 seconds long; and they are funny!

My plan for Christmas Eve Dinner is Clam Chowder with Fudge Cake for Dessert. Yummy! More grocery shopping for me!

Oh, I guess I could have added this to the last post, but oh well....

Griffin's Santa's Beard advent calendar:
Our self-portraits - so FAR....mom/Julie (green background) Kylie with the pink and Griffin with "Rock Star" hair (his idea for the Rock star hair!)

Jack Hagen, our home teacher brought by this 2 POUND box of See's Candy! Yummy and thanks!

I Could Use a Few More Hours in the Day!

I know the most enjoyable way to see blogs is to see and read their updates every day. That is my goal, but as you can see, it doesn't always happen. I can't even tell you what I have been doing, just know that I have been busy - I guess that means it is "that time of year"! The other thing that I know about blogs is that pictures make them much more enjoyable. So - here are a few pictures along with a few stories:

Here is our decorated Christmas tree - what I really wanted to do was show you the tree, BUT cut out everything else around it. Anyone know how to do that?? Here it is in the dark with the lights on. We have 3 strands of lights and are happy about that.

(please know that my background blogging music is "I want you to want me". That is thanks to Zak. I like it.)

I told Griffin to smile so I could take his picture - just for you. Griffin and I did have lunch at McDonald's today. It was nice. We went directly from his school. We went INSIDE! Then, we did several errands afterward. It worked out great. We saw Jack Hagen there. I wanted to brag about Christopher's TV stand, but didn't know how to tell him to go to the blog, it all seemed so long winded, and that is NOT Jack. Maybe I should keep "blog cards" in my purse...hmm, something for Christmas maybe?

Kylie happily let me take her picture too. Notice the blank space in her front teeth? That is where she had her tooth pulled. The dentist did a great job. It didn't hurt.

While driving down to pick-up Zak from school, I saw that gas has gone up from $1.59 to $1.63. The price increase has happened since lunch.

I took the Green Toyota to get it's smog inspection today. It FAILED! The guy asked if the car had a new battery, "yes", I said. He told me to drive it for 30-50 miles, bring it back and it should probably pass. Something with the new battery "re-set" the "computer". Whatever. Another thing to do on my list.

I have done quite a few extra credit items for School lately:

• fudge for English - hope Sis. Swift does not read this
• taught Zak how to SEW! for a "gift" for a pretend character - again for English - and the project was socks! Zak did great. I neglected to take a picture of that...oops
• guacamole for Spanish - the teacher requested the food to come hot or cold, whichever was appropriate, and bring it to class after school - directly after class. I guess that teacher wanted a free meal that day.

Having spaghetti for dinner.

It looks like Zak will join the soccer team.

The Bonnie Hunt Show

Sylvia, Gil's cousin, got us, (Holly Heslop and I) VIP tickets to the Bonnie Hunt Show. It is on at noon here in Arcadia - NBC.

The VIP tickets let us come at least one hour later than everybody else AND we got seated first. It was very nice.

Before the show started, the BH workers told us don't do the following, or you will look dumb on TV:

1. chew gum
2. wave your arms around wildly (at your son watching at home)

The guests on her show were:

1. The actor from Memento (I can't remember his name). He was very nice, but my, was he tiny! I think Zak wears bigger pants than that guy. Everyone on TV is WAY tinier than what they look like on TV
2. Tim Gunn - he is a judge on show where people want to be fashion designers
3. A new muppet character that is a shrimp. He was funny although I thought he was a chicken through most of his segment
4. a pre-recorded Trace Atkins; for the TV viewers it will look like he was there performing, but he wasn't. He is a country singer. He sang "White Christmas".

It was interesting to see a show being taped. I enjoyed watching all the people that are involved behind the scenes! So many! One guy's job was to move electrical cord around; one woman seemed to just be wandering and possibly moving lint around. She must not have liked her job as she NEVER smiled, even when her picture was being taken.

We were NOT allowed to bring cameras or phones. Believe me, I would have been recording the events for your pleasure.

I have watched the BH show a few times last week; Bonnie has been giving the audience gifts; not fabulous gifts, but gifts. Our gift today was 6 months worth of Tide laundry detergent. Zak said that could be a $50 gift! I'll let you know how that works out.

We did not get to keep our VIP lanyards. That was sad.

The show I watched will be airing tomorrow, Wed, December 17th.

Reasons I Have Not Blogged

1. I have stuff to do
2. It's raining
3. I have pains (back!)
4. I am going to the Bonnie Hunt Show tomorrow

I'll blog later

Duummm, da da da, Duummmmm, duumm, Duumm, da da da, Duuummm

Congratulations, Christopher, on graduating BYU with your Bachelor's degree!

That's quite an accomplishment.
P.S. The title of this post is interactive, just hum what you read. You should recognize the song.

Pictures of TV Stand

At last! I have the TV stand at home. I put on top of it some things that I've made already as well:



I also took pictures of my 3 favorite projects that other people made. These people had a lot more experience in woodworking already. I kinda wish I had've taken a picture of a blanket chest too, because those looked pretty neat as well.




My project was done entirely in walnut. The one that turned his table legs did a mix of walnut and maple. The next one is done out of maple too, but a kind that is called birdseye maple. The last one has the chess squares made out of bubinga and maple, with the rest made out of walnut.

I guess I don't have a really good mix of woods to show here. Another very good looking wood is cherry, and I saw a couple projects made out of Red Oak which looked pretty good as well.

The Christmas Tree CHOOSING

We went to Home Depot Monday night to pick our Christmas Tree!
We are just beginning the hunt!

We find a good area to look

Zak starts climbing through the trees

Quinn climbed up too. Zak kept climbing higher

They pulled this tree up and out

This is what and how we chose it - wrapped up and ready to go!

Zak, carrying the tree by himself

Griffin and Kylie in the trees too

We looked in the 6-7 foot tree section.

Here is a comparison of 2 trees, both in the 6-7 foot area. We chose the tallest.

Tying the tree on the car
The tree is up, watered, light with ornaments. It looks kind of like this.
I will take pictures of the real thing and put them up manana. Too tired tonight.

Sewing 101

This summer I was going to teach Kylie how to sew. I broke my leg instead.

A week ago, I finally got around to it. Kylie sewed 90% of this Advent Calendar. We had all the supplies. Each pocket is filled with some suprise!

Forgot to "Show & Tell"

Zak said I forgot to show & tell you all our "new to us" TV. It is way bigger than the other one. This is that one's mother! It is a nice, big TV. The Johnson's called us and said they got a new, flat screen TV, did we want their old one? "Yes"! See the built out shelf on the bottom! Crafted by Kerry.

The Benefits of Hard Work!

I did it - you can SEE the desk!!

So, I (the royal I) put the TV on the desk. How nice for me.

I know I have a lot of pencils and markers.

This Could Be Famous

This is Zak's Football mouth guard.

If he gets to be a famous football player, this could be famous.

Let's wait and see.

About Town With NO Camera!

I was going to Rite Aid and couldn't believe what I saw! I pulled out my phone to use the camera, but saw I had NO battery life left, so no camera. I took good mental notes and drew the picture for you.

Yes, it was a volkswagon bug that pull up in the parking space a bit too far.

I was sorry for the driver, but I found it most entertaining for MY day.

Just Found

Christopher's Christmas List I just don't know what year it is from

It's good reading
Take note of #9

Try, Try Again

Once again, I am cleaning off the kitchen desk. I am close, but I am calling it quits for tonight. I am hoping to put the big TV on it, so the desk will be full, no where for people to put their stuff!

I also shuttled Zak, Quinn and Kylie to the dentist for cleaning this afternoon.

I have only 2 jokes made up by Griffin then Zak:

Griffin: Why did the chicken cross the road?
me: to get to the other side.
Griffin: no, because he peed his pants!! (hear hilarious laughter here from Griffin) (We need a button for that!)

Zak: Why did the chicken cross the road?
Me: because he peed his pants?
Zak: No, because he needed to get to the poop shack that was on the other side of the road! (Hilarious laughter from Zak.) (Button again).

That's it for me.

Hopes for tomorrow:
Kylie to win her first round of soccer playoffs
Kylie to finish sewing her advent calendar - when done, I will post a picture!
Everyone to clean and vacuum their assigned room
See a cleaned off desk!
Put the TV on that desk
make everyone's Christmas List paper

One last item:
I told Zak I would pay him $10 to try out for Chantuers. Dad told him he would add his own $10. Anyone else willing to add to the pot? I totally think Zak could do it! He could vindicate me!

Just Thursday

No pictures, nothing so interesting. We all just did our stuff today.
Me - I did my list. Played Kylie's violin today. Made oatmeal for dinner! I may soon subject you all to a violin rendition, it will sound just like you imagine.
Dad - work
Zak - track, went to his JV football Whoopti-Doo dinner
Quinn - trying to think up things to do instead of homework. He hates graphing lines.
Kylie - soccer practice, homework
Griffin - he did his homework with the accompaniment of whining to go with it.

We will watch Survivor tonight. That will be good.

P.S. Griffin just said he had to go potty....then asked if he could have a point for it.

Excuse My Staring

I did not feel so well today. My leg hurt, my back really hurt. I reminded myself of "little Peggy Ann McKay"

"I have the measles and the mumps, A gash, a rash and purple bumps..."

I finally figured out by the afternoon to take a few pills, (what took me so long!) which I did. They did eventually help me, but in the mean time stuff had to happen.

I went to the grocery store to get ingredients for Tacos for dinner, (they were good). While walking from my car to the store, I noticed a woman's nice, clean, brushed, fixed, enviously styled hair. I just stared at her as she walked from the door out to her car. I finally got a hold of myself and realized I was really staring (it took my mind off my pain). I was embarrassed, so I just blurted out "I really like your hair!" She said, "what"? So I repeated myself, "I like your hair!" She nodded, as you would to a small, odd child. Well, whatever, I continued on into the grocery store, getting in line for the bank to deposit a bit of money for Christopher. The "pretty hair lady" walked up to me and handed me one of those magnetic calendars with her picture on it. I am not sure what she said, she had a heavy chinese accent. I thanked her. It was a tad embarrassing, but kind of funny.

Remember the Highland Oaks Hawk Walk?

Well, today was the day for Kylie and Griffin. I took some pictures for you!
Click on them to really see the ones you want. I couldn't decide.