Like the old television show claimed kids REALLY do say the darndest things. Ian recently asked me "why was I born so cute?" and Amanda never fails to disappoint with something subtle, witty, and clever.

However, it's ME who recently said something that I would never have imagined I would need to say..........
"Ian what did you do with my bra?" (mind you he was happily running around with it on moments before, but still)

I haven't done one of these in a while, but I thought I would toss one out today.

I LOVE the sound of rain (especially since we get so little)
I LOVE the quiet of our home when the kids are at school
I LOVE when I pre-plan dinner
I LOVE when I feel like I have my act together.

What do you LOVE about your day?

Cue music --Sheila E, Glamorous Life........

BUSY laundry day --- I got everything DONE. All hampers are empty and both of the boys have fresh bedding. Everything is washed, folded, and 85% put away. (that nagging hang-up part) This is a huge accomplishment for me, so flip me a fish. AND I got two Days of our Lives episodes, one Grey's Anatomy, and almost one Private Practice off the DVR. So I really feel like I accomplished something.

After church, I picked up some Chinese food. And now that the kids are in bed, I'm going to watch a movie and scrapbook. Good times. It's like our quiet Fri/Sat. evenings of old when the kids were toddlers. Collin even went and grabbed Starbucks too. Life is good.

Funniest part of the day by far.......Sean was making his way around the table eating random Chinese off the other kids plates after they had left the table. Dh and I were still sitting there talking. Sean pipes up with "I'm like that chess guy who goes around the table beating people at chess....except I go around and eat off everyone's plates." Ooooookkkkk, son. I ask "Bobby Fisher?" He says "yes, I'm the Bobby Fisher of Chinese food" LOL, Whatever. I guess he really enjoyed the new pork dish we chose. All 72 rock solid pounds of him.

Maybe the sun will come out Tomorrow and it won't be 80 degrees outside.

It's a Hard Knock Life being a Mom of four and raising two Little Girls and two little boys. Definitely not Easy Street.

Maybe someday I'll get to NYC and I'll say to myself I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here

But in the meantime, it's ALL Annie all the time. With some basketball thrown in; heading straight toward baseball season.

FAVORITE THING FRIDAY
This is the COOLEST book out there and it truly is invaluable. So imagine my surprise when the book arrived in my mailbox as a surprise gift from my mother-in-law. She's a gem and knows how much I love Eat This, Not That (the fast food version).

I truly do my best to provide healthy options for my kids. I already buy whole wheat bread, brown rice, and whole wheat pasta. I read labels and spend time picking the best options. But his book breaks everything down easily and keeps it real.

For example: Sweet Cereals
EAT Apple Jacks, Not Apple Cinn. Cheerios, who knew?
EAT Fro. Flakes Gold, Not Post Golden Crisp
They are basically saying 'Hey, we know your kids want this stuff so here is the better choice.'

It compares random things and tosses out surprises all the time. It recommends Nature's Own Whitewheat bread. Again, who knew? I've always skipped the 'whitewheat' stuff but this could be a great option as a chance-of-pace selection for the kiddos.
Ragu vs. Prego --- "Ragu wins over Prego in nearly every matchup". Even Hamburger Helper has a page (um, no thanks!)

I think everyone can benefit from this book. Everyone. The kids have even been scouring the pages and telling me that Funyuns & SunChips are on the Eat This page for corn chips.

It's tough b/c I am a sale and coupon shopper, but at least I know what I really want to stock up on when I can.

Now I'm going to eat some leftover See's candy while the kids are at school.

DEEP BREATH

That's what I took this morning. After dropping all the kids off at school(s), I grabbed Eclipse and headed to Starbucks with my gift card. Grabbed a cup o' joe and an apricot/blueberry muffin and sat in the warm while I read, in peace. No one talking to me. No one asking me for a snack. No one I had to share my muffin with.

And then I felt guilty.

WHY?????????

Why do Moms do this to themselves? After getting through a few pages of the book, I found myself getting distracted by the laundry sitting waiting to be folded, the bills I need to pay, and figuring out how is it that EVERY Starbucks has a line when we are supposed to be in a recession..........yes, I probably have ADD, but who doesn't these days. WHY can't I just enjoy this short time? I thought about the women who work away from their homes full-time and get it all done. I thought about Jen and her fearsome foursome and how she GETS it done.

I sat for an hour. Got 35 pages read. Called it good and came home to jump back into life. Break over, but I still feel guilty.

All's quiet on the western front......
Kids are in school; car is at the shop; working on packing up decorations/filling in the calendar/laundry/typical Mom stuff.

But I wanted to share my reading list for the year (as many people are). Amy linked me up to The Library Thing and it's really easy. I'm just going to log in my reading as I go and I hope to surpass my reading for 2008. Hey, I read ten books (not including the numerous selections for the kiddos) and that is a HUGE accomplishment for someone who never read for pleasure. I'm getting there..........my '08 shelf

(that's supposed to be a picture of the covers from '08 but I can't link it correctly, grrrrr)

It all started on a normal day in sunny Arizona. I was packing the car in my pajamas while the kids ate breakfast and played. After a bit of time, I realized I hadn't seen my dog in a while. He had been outside with the kids and they didn't realize it. P.A.N.I.C. I'm 370 miles from home in a strange neighborhood to him. I jump in my car and start scanning the streets (thank goodness for the grid-like configurations). Oh my gosh!!!!! I would drive up to a street and stop to call him while looking right and left. I noticed a truck coming toward me and lo and behold the guy had Fritz hanging out his passenger window and he was out looking for his owner. I immediately asked him 'did you find that dog on the street?' and he said 'yes - he had called my home number on his tag and was searching for me once he realized I was from out of town'. I burst into tears. And Fritz was pretty much glued to my side for the rest of the day.

Moving on.......deep breath.....we hit the road heading toward 29 Palms to stop and visit some friends before trekking all the way home. What's that? I'm going 98MPH; um, NO...I'm going with the flow of traffic. Oh great, my speedometer is on the blink. @@ Lucky I have a full tank of gas and a trip counter. We arrived at our friend's home five hours later. I really need my speedometer; I'm afraid to go fast w/o it.

So we are watching the kids play RockBand and just hanging out. Out of nowhere, Amanda makes a mad dash for the bathroom. Oh freaking no! You guessed it - puking. Another one bites the dust. WHY(*?>(% wasn't I wise enough to just go home? Why was I stupid enough to think after two days post-Ian-illness we were fine? I immediately put a halt to staying for dinner and sent the kids looking for their shoes while I cleaned & Lysoled the bathroom. I am a terrible friend; I feel so bad. With a nice yellow bucket & plastic grocery bags for lining. I started the mad dash for home. 100 miles.

Poor Amanda -- we weren't even to the main road and she was grabbing the bucket. Sigh. Before we got down the hill to the interstate.....I had to stop and ask for more grocery bags from a random store in the middle of nowhere. On or around puke #5 for Amanda, Maggie chimes in with 'why aren't we home yet?' immediately followed by 'OMG, I'm going to throw up'...........I kid you not. I'm completely serious. Amanda managed to swing the bucket back to her with little mess. I'm still 45 miles from home at this point. The boys are both asleep. I will never get home at this rate. [Fingers crossed that Maggie is just nauseous from listening to Amanda.]

With a wonky speedometer that does not work AT ALL at this point (unless I'm going so fast that it doesn't even register) and running low on plastic bags, I'm simply frantic to get home. Amanda lurches once again and I immediately roll down the back passenger window in an effort to get air and noise into the car so no one else will gag from Amanda. The freezing blast of air wakes the boys -- I think I heard Sean mutter 'what the hell Mom, close the window?' but I was to worried about Maggie starting up again to really comprehend it all. Seriously, the poor child is dry-heaving at this point so I do not even pull over to change liner & toss the precious bag.

2-1/2 hours later we arrived home. Home-Sweet-Home. Amanda stepped in the door bucket in hand and started up again. Maggie held out until she had some 7-up and then decided to join Amanda.

BUT - I will be thankful for something:
1) no traffic jams
2) plastic grocery bags
3) hand sanitizer
4) a hot shower
5) my own bed (while dh sleeps downstairs on puke patrol)

Cue Twilight Zone music...........

This is it.....my 100th post for the year! Yes, I'm cheating a little by posting three times today, but who's counting.

I want to wish everyone out there happiness, health, and prosperity in 2009!

2008 was a tough year for many people. Many friends lost loved ones; many people lost jobs, homes, and more; and some folks have even lost hope at some point. But with a New Year here it's a great time to take some time and focus on what is important and what you do have. Lots of folks start anew with gratitude journals, dieting, prayers, or whatever they may choose to help turn a corner. However, the way I see it is that it doesn't have to be something huge. It's the little things.

So over the next few days......hug your loved ones a little more, call a friend or family member that you've been meaning to call, even let someone have the better parking spot at Costco. It won't put money in your pocket, but it will make your day a bit better.

My resolution is to NOT eat while I'm driving. Here's why: 1)because it's not safe; 2)it's not good for me to inhale food and 3)simply b/c NOTHING is so important that I can't take a few minutes to stop and eat. Don't get me wrong - it certainly doesn't mean I won't be eating fast food; it just means that I am striving to STOP and take the few minutes to eat. Whether it's sitting in the parking lot or eating while I sit at a sports event, I just want to slow down. Ideally, I'll even be packing a bag o' snacks when I'm on the run, but I'm not going to get delusional.

What are you looking forward to in 2009?

Ian Update: a little bit of Ginger Ale and back snoozing again. We're at about two hours since his last puke episode. I took a picture of his pure sweetness crashed on the couch but I can't upload it until I get home. Poor little guy.

I owe you a post about our winter break aka Christmas vacation.

1. alarm at 4:00AM
2. hustle out the door/through parking shuttle & LAX security mumbo-jumbo and make our flight with three carry-on bags and no checked luggage
3. SIX middle seats
4. no passengers wanted to trade
5. BEST flight ever for me, HA!
6. big hugs for Grandma
7. COLD, insanely cold temps.
8. Friendly's food tastes good when you are starving
9. why isn't there snow when it's THIS cold?(&$^@#
10. Go-carts rides with Collin
11. through the mud
12. and freezing rain
13. I took pictures from afar
14. Christmas Eve excitement
15. Kids still on Pacific time zone
16. GO TO BED ALREADY, it's after midnight
17. Nothing says Christmas morning like your 10yo daughter bursting into your room
18. "MOM, DAD - Sean just puked all over the bed"
19. Seriously? Seriously!
20. She wasn't kidding.
21. Dusting of snow while we open gifts -American Girl dolls for the girlies; DS for Sean; Power Tour guitar for Ian
22. My best little goodie Eat This, Not That book
23. Breakfast casserole for Christmas breakfast, YUM!
24. Sean attempts only grapes and then loses it again
25. Oh, lovely.
26. Proceeds to sleep for three hrs.
27. Merry Christmas!
28. Turkey dinner with all the fixins compliments of my MIL
29. So. freaking. good.
30. Sean is able to eat a small dinner. Woot!
31. Pecan pie
32. Scattergories
33. It's really fun and hilarious
34. My niece, Ann, has her own 'rules'
35. I like them
36. Nothing like an 'Annie answer'
37. It's a Wonderful Life and two versions of A Christmas Carol viewed in one day
38. The morning after - someone is puking
39. It's Collin!
40. Are you kidding me?
41. It's bad.
42. It's really bad.
43. And it's pouring rain and 35* outside.
44. My niece, Liz, a type 1 diabetic at age 11, is amazing and takes diabetes in stride.
45. My niece, Sarah, is SOOOO a teen-ager at 15-1/2 and she has a cute, friendly boyfriend too.
46. Leftovers are so good.
47. Puzzles and Scattergories fill a rainy day.
48. A sick husband is just awful.
49. Two loads of laundry.
50. Seek-and-find organizing of all the Christmas gifts.
51. What is going in the suitcase?
52. What is Gma going to ship?
53. Going home with minimal dirty laundry.
54. Fingers crossed as we head out.
55. It's 60* degrees.
56. This is crazy weather.
57. Lunch at BucaDiPeppo with all the family.
58. Lazy Susan in the Pope room!
59. Stuffed bellies head toward the airport
60. Everyone else heads to the mall
61. Checking in online is the way to go
62. Airport is crowded
63. No long lines for us :)
64. Collin is still under the weather, but putting on a good game face
65. Seats - two, two, and two
66. How did I end up with my daughter behind me?
67. Kicking my seat
68. Longest flight ever....but got through 380pgs. of Eclipse for the OH trip.
69. No baggage claim once again
70. Home and kids crashed by 9:30pm
71. Thankful for kind neighbors that fed the fish and the cat
72. Aaaaaah, my own bed
73. I love my bed.
74. I love sleep.
75. Except when awakened by puking.
76. Yes, Collin is STILL sick.
77. Sunday was all about relaxing; putting the house back together; errands; laundry; and spraying Lysol
78. Monday AM, Fritz returned home
79. Happy dog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
80. Clean the kids bedrooms and pack for an AZ roadtrip
81. 6pm, fill them full of pancakes
82. 7pm, stop at home for pajamas & the dog
83. 7:30pm, hit the road
84. 370 miles
85. Sleeping children
86. Large cup of coffee/ CDs/ gum
87. five hour drive; 74mph average; arrive 1:30am(AZ time)
88. fall into bed
89. fun with friends
90. relaxing
91. Bedtime Stories movie
92. loved the movie
93. Ian says he feels like he's going to barf as we are walking out of the theater
94. Falls asleep on the ride back to Sandee's
95. Promptly barfs down my back as I attempt to move him to the couch
96. Oh yeah!
97. Frantically washing my hands aftering changing my clothes
98. Ian naps on the couch while we enjoy take-out Mexican, YUM!
99. Ian wakes and barfs again
100. Happy New Year!

We pulled it off!
I took the kids to breakfast this AM while Collin 'ran a couple of errands'. He hustled to TRUs to pick up three bikes and retrieved the other from my neighbor's garage. He then set them up in the living room and met us for cup of coffee.
We were coming home to open presents so they decided to forego the visit to Santa until later today or tomorrow and dive into presents. (which works out nicely b/c Amanda was going to ask Santa for a bike; now she has to think of something else --hint-hint: maybe ask for that Look-Alike doll you wanted)

To say they were shocked is an understatement - the squels and shrieking could have burst our ear drums. Perfect! They had a blast opening and have been happily playing all day.

Let's see...
Ian's favorite - his Hot Wheels car hauler/truck
Amanda's favorite - her doll stroller and/or her camera
Sean's favorite - the pogo stick and his Tech Deck stuff
Maggie's favorite - her Barbie house stuff

Now, if we have snow at Grandma's there Christmas will be complete.

Marking things off the checklist........
gifts for family wrapped AND shipped - CHECK!
finish shopping for the kids - CHECK!
arrange for Fritz/pet sitting - CHECK!
work on a few more Christmas cards - CHECK!
get babysitter for while I'm in play & Dh is working tonight - CHECK!

Eat something..............I'll get right on that.

Just in case you are counting that's FIVE for one day. So I did accomplish something. Next on the top of the list is to WRAP, WRAP, WRAP!

I have to admit that I haven't really been in Christmas 'mode'. I'm usually 95% done with shopping by Thanksgiving. This year it just hasn't happened. Mostly b/c I can't take anyone with me now that they are all aware of what is in the cart and I've been busy working in their classrooms and such. With regular errands to run, Tues. & Thurs. morning with Ian in school doesn't leave me with much time to spare.

BUT after our winter storms this week AND the cold weather and SNOW that it brought AND the fact that we will be traveling for assorted times over the holidays, Christmas slapped me in the face and I'm in hustle & bustle frenzy. A good frenzy. I've got gifts to wrap, boxes to ship, and Christmas cards to finish. Kids have a Christmas gingerbread train to do.

In the mean time we've got Christmas with Scrooge shows to finish. And all Maggie really wants for Christmas in the lead in Annie. (fingers crossed: she's in the final 8 of those called back and the director is picking 6, eeeeek!)

It's raining. Not spit-drizzling the SoCal way. RAINING! and quite chilly. That means a few things to me: 1) insane traffic at school, 2) soup for lunch, 3) slippers, 4) SNOW in the mountains! and last, but not least, 5) neurotic Fritz will only go out to pee if I force him to.

I love Christmas decorations. Some of my fondest memories were of driving around during the Christmas season looking around at the decorated houses. Then came Christmas in the Oaks in City Park. It was a winding journey through the monstrous oak trees decorated with lights galore. One of the funnest dates that Collin and I had was spent shivering our way through the walking portion.
So, I couldn't have been happier than when I got to share Christmas in the Oaks with Maggie during our whirlwind trip to New Orleans last weekend. Complete with Mr. Bingle that used to hang on the Maison Blanche store many moons ago.

.
We rode the Christmas train but sadly the monstrous oak trees are barely decorated post-Katrina. It was mostly a cold, dark ride but my butt was warm squeezed in-between two cute girlies. I realize I look like a polar bear, but it was COLD out there. Remember, it snowed there this past week. Yes, snow in New Orleans - only the 3rd time in my lifetime.

I am still completely bogged down with life. I'm thinking that THIS is just how it's going to be - BUSY, but currently I hab a code in my nose and it's making my head foggy and sleep necessary.

So here's my cheater post -- A little MeMe......
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? both - I love wrapping gifts.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Real - 10-1/2ft. this year.

3. When do you put up the tree? Weekend after Thanksgiving -It's a tradition.

4. When do you take the tree down? Before New Years b/c my MIL said it's bad luck to leave it up. You have to be rid of the old year and start the year anew.

5. Do you like eggnog? Maybe one cup.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My Baby Beth doll.

7. Hardest person to buy for? It varies from year to year.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Sean, my 8 year old.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, but I want a NICE one.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. It's so fun to get something that isn't junk or bills in the mail.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Don't remember - it must be blocked from my mind.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Christmas Vacation (b/c I live with Clark)

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually I do it year round. I keep a running list of stashed stuff.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't think so.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Coke Jello Salad and lots of cookies/chocolate.

16. What decorations are on your tree? All sorts of ornaments; no theme.

17. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night

18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? Traveling this year (we alternate)

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes, yes I can.

20. Angel on top of tree or star? Angel

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Christmas morning (although when we travel they only get Santa & stocking and then small things from Gma & family)

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The commercials.

23 What theme or color are you using when you decorate? Lots of green with red, gold and white.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Prime Rib

25. What do you want for Christmas Honestly? Snow and the Eat This, Not That book.

MUNDANE MONDAY

Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, it's the Monday after! I've cleaned out my car; done two loads of laundry; sweep the downstairs; cleaned the cat litter; set the self-clean on the oven; done Team Mom email for basketball; ordered some Christmas gifts for the girls; responded to a few emails and it's only lunchtime.

I'll empty the dishwasher when I get back from the carwash (& returning the RedBox movie, love that thing!) and from retrieving the kids from school. Tacos for dinner; Dress rehearsal tonight.

That about answers the random 'What did you do today?' -- looks like a bunch of nothing I guess.

For the record, I'm only pg. 210 of New Moon now. It's still slow but getting better.

Tapping the microphone......is this ON?

Lots to update about since the last time I posted --- I sorta got caught up in the Twilight zone, literally. I channeled my inner high-school girl and jumped through Twilight, finished it in a week(HUGE for me), and saw the movie last weekend. I'm crawling through New Moon, but I'm not diggin' it as much and it's slow-going.

Since it's late, I just want to let you in on my little gift find. I'm soooooo excited about it. I got THIS at Kohl's today for my dh (aka Mr. Griswold). It's mostly a silly gift that I know he will enjoy playing with Sean but my brother had one as a kid and we LOVED IT! We played it for hours. I laughed out loud when I found it today.

I REALLY need to go to bed. In my quiet home, that is almost fully decorated outside thanks to Clark.

The week in review ---
we've all been battling colds in one way or another. I still have a lingering cough that is just plain annoying. Now tonight, Maggie is throttled on the couch with a fever (????) - no one else got a fever and such. UGH! (apparently the Motrin is working b/c now she right this second she is making music with her straw and annoying the heck out of the others)....fingers crossed....

The girls and I had assorted rehearsals and there was tons of sports practice(s) as usual. However, next week will be different b/c Sean's football team LOST this afternoon. It was a smoke-filled, ash-laden game that was miserably HOT and we could just see that our boys weren't there. It was a hard fought game but in the end our season was done. As parents, we were so proud of the League Champs, but that didn't make them feel any better as many of them sobbed through the coach's game speech. Moving on to basketball.

On the book-reading front, I'm happy to say that I'm 240 pages into Twilight. I did complete 3rd Degree, so this has got to be some sort of reading record for me. Somebody flip me a fish? Anybody? Fine, I'll just grab some chocolate and go read some more.

And, last but not least, I am happy to report that I have begun Christmas shopping. Got any good suggestions because you know time keeps on tickin'.