December Daily: Day Twenty-One

I can't believe I've been able to keep up with this album! Sometimes I feel like what I'm writing down is so boring and mundane, but maybe one of these days I'll be glad I was so particular about documenting almost everything.

Yesterday's prompt was "Christmas Goodies". I don't normally make a lot of goodies, even at Christmas, but I would really like to start. Perhaps I'll do that next year when DD will certainly be old enough to help me. I took a photo of this new treat jar I got last week that was free with purchase at Hallmark. It's not very big--about big enough to hold about a dozen cookies, but what makes it unique is that when you lift the lid up, it plays "Let It Snow". We've been joking about no one being able to steal treats with this. Of course, the treats don't seem to stick around very long either.

We had our good friends over last night, the Ts. E is DS#3's godfather. We actually saw them at Chili's last night, but until then, it had been several months since he saw his godson. Luckily, DS#3 gave him a hug last night--very sweet. DH made his wonderful chili, and K made her wonderful jalapeno cheesecake. I didn't think to take any photos of it, but she left some for me to fry (yes, it's fried) when my SIL gets here this week, so I'll try to take a photo then. It's very yummy with ice cream and probably my favorite dessert ever! It was a very nice evening full of conversation and good friends. Their 6-year-old son was having so much fun that he wanted to stay with us. We wouldn't have minded really, but his mom said she would miss him. :)

December Daily: Day Twenty

I've been spending a lot of time with the family, so I haven't taken too many photos this weekend. I also wanted to make these next two pages super speedy so I have time to do other things. :)

This is a photo of DS#3 watching cookies bake in the oven. He was just fascinated by being able to watch through that little window. Of course, he also liked pressing the button to turn the oven light on and off. :)

Yesterday, was a lazy Saturday. I made the usual breakfast of banana chocolate chip pancakes and turkey bacon. DS#1's friend had stayed overnight, so after breakfast, they played together and with DS#1's neighborhood friend. Later, DH took the 3 big boys to lunch at Schlotzky's and was amazed at how much they all ate. Our friend this evening joked that he should have taken them to an "all you can eat" buffet instead!

DS#2 spent most of the day with his "new" friend J from our neighborhood. I say "new" because DH and I hadn't heard DS#2 talking about him before. We're happy with how DS#2 set up the playdate himself and the two of them seemed to play pretty well together too. He was so busy playing that he even almost forgot to eat lunch!

December Daily: Day Nineteen

Yesterday's prompt was "Under the Tree" so I took the obvious photo of the presents under our tree. Look at how spoiled my children are! There are even two rather large presents for DS#3 that don't fit under the tree, so they're behind the tree.

Yesterday was party day all around. At work we had our Christmas Party, and so did the two elementary school kids. I haven't been feeling well, so I came home soon after our work party, took some medicine, and took a nap. DH went to the kids' parties and took a few photos and video. One of the photos on the back side of my page for today is DD getting ready to decorate her gingerbread cookie. She put so much candy on top that she really didn't want to eat it. She ended up throwing the whole thing away, if that makes any sense!

When the kids got home, they all got paired up with some visiting friends. DS#2 and DD had friends over that were siblings also. DS#1 had a friend over that was from the school he attended last year; he also stayed overnight. Later, DS#3 noticed his new car ornament from Hallmark. He seemed confused that it was attached to the tree. I had to let him play with it, so the second photo above is of him playing with the ornament, with the ribbon still attached. There's a cute video of him pulling on the ornament while it's still on the tree on DH's blog. See the link in the post below, if you're interested.

DH's new blog

DH just started his own personal blog. I thought it was neat that now I would have two sources for journaling for my scrapbook pages. My dear sis told me that she would still check mine more often because mine had the pictures. I think this got DH going so he put photos in his very next blog post and then yesterday, he posted a video! I thought it was hilarious because he was trying to "one-up" me! So, if anyone is interested in seeing the cute video of my two youngest children, check out DH's blog at At Home in San Antonio.

December Daily: Day Eighteen

I'm getting really lazy in this album now. My pages for the 18th and the 19th will look almost the same except for the background paper and the photos. I'm still glad I'm doing this album. I wish I had the time to keep this up all year long.

Yesterday's prompt from Playground Of Memories was "Jingle All The Way". I thought about those ornaments I mentioned that I mentioned in Day 16--the ones that DS#2 had to have. He started showing a preference for rock music this past year--very different from his big brother who is just now showing a preference. DS#2 has always been more interested in music, I think. I had told him that I would get him both of those ornaments if he would let me take a picture. Well, here is the picture. He even reminded ME to take the picture. :)

Grandma and Grandpa arrived yesterday. DS#3 went right up to Grandpa and gave him a hug when they arrived, then Grandma too. They couldn't believe it. They thought for sure he would shun them until he got to know them better. They were going to be staying in New Braunfels (a little north of us) and because of the cloudiness and fog were only going to stay until all the kids got home from school (DS#1 is the last to return home at around 4PM). When DS#1 got home, Grandpa measured himself against him. A barefoot DS#1 was about the same size as Grandpa with shoes on. Right after they did this, DS#3 got up behind Grandpa. We thought at first that he was going to give Grandpa a hug, but instead he backed up against Grandpa's leg, as if he wanted to see how tall he was next to Grandpa. Of course he gave that cheesy grin. That boy is just hilarious!

In other news, I started getting this horrible cold/allergies yesterday. It's probably a combination of both, but it's been very inconvenient. I took naps yesterday and today hoping to keep it from getting worse. I don't get sick very often so I don't like this one bit!

December Daily: Day Seventeen

Happy Birthday to ME! Work yesterday was not fun, mostly because of some political things going on there, but my family made up for it at dinner! We went out to The Cheesecake Factory. It was a drizzly, cloudy day and there were lots of cars there (since it's located at the mall), so we decided to valet park. We had a great waitress and she really took care of us at dinner.

I had the Chinese Chicken Salad that is always so huge! I went ahead and put half of it straight into a To Go container without the dressing so I could have it for lunch today. DS#2 and DD shared the Fettucine Alfredo, and DS#1 had the Herb Encrusted Salmon. DH had the chicken nachos. We were all so full, but most of us left room for dessert. We couldn't believe that DS#2 was so full that he refused to have cheesecake. DS#1 for once didn't finish all of his food (he said it was a large portion of salmon). We had a piece of the Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake and a piece of the Kahlua Cocoa Coffee Cheesecake (my favorite).

DH has taking the photo see on the page above when the waitress asked if she could take a photo of all of us. I told her that I only wanted one of me with the kids. DH told her that I was the birthday girl. Because of that, when she came out with my cheesecake, she had put a candle in it and a handful of waiters sang "Happy Birthday" to me. The photo on the bottom left is of that wonderful cheesecake.

The prompt for yesterday was "Let It Snow". The photo on the bottom right is of a mini snow globe that DD picked out for her teacher. She was so insistent on getting it that I couldn't refuse. Tomorrow is her class Christmas Party, and she'll be giving her teacher this ornament and a small box of Godiva chocolates. I hope her teacher likes her present!

December Daily: Day Sixteen

Yesterday's photo prompt was "Dear Santa", so I took a photo of my newest Santa. This is from the Father Christmas series at Hallmark. He does look very similar to the last couple of years, but for some reason, these just make me happy, so I bought it.

This page is on a printed transparency. The green background was just placed there to hide the white of my scanner bed. The reverse side has yesterday's other little events:

--DD had her very good friend M come over for a playdate. They've known each other since they were about 6 and 8 weeks old in daycare--they were in the infant room together and stayed together until we took DD out of daycare when she was about 3 1/2.

--Last night, DD and DS#2 went with me to get their ornaments for this year. I try to get each of the kids a Hallmark ornament each year. DD picked a musical Hannah Montana ornament. We got DS#3 a car ornament with "real moving wheels" that is modeled after the car on Speed Racer. It's going to be tough keeping him from playing with it, but that just shows that it's the perfect ornament for him for this year. DS#2 couldn't decide between two ornaments. One is a cool snowman rocking to his IPod (plays a rock version of "Deck the Halls"), and the other has two funny characters saying some "funny" lines. I figured that the two of them really reflect parts of DS#2's personality right now, so I went ahead and let him get both.

December Daily: Day Fifteen

The prompt yesterday was "Sounds of the Season" so I took a picture of this clock at work that gets put up at this time every year. It plays Christmas Carols every hour on the hour. It's rather cool, actually. I wouldn't mind having one of these at home, although DH would probably give me an eyeroll.

The first photo is of DD at Gymnastics doing the warmup. They put on a "Winterfest" show for the parents of the Rec level kids. DD did some simple exercises on the balance beam and the bar. She made doing the splits look really easy.

The second photo is of DS#2 at dinner. We had these Parmesan Spinach Ravioli for dinner. I guess I didn't make enough because DS#2 asked us if we could have this again when DS#1 wasn't home! DH and I laughed so hard at this simple request. DS#1 had eaten about twice as much of the ravioli as anyone else and poor DS#2 had to settle for less ravioli. I am really worried about those growth spurt years coming up soon for both boys!

December Daily: Day Fourteen

I finally bought DD her own Christmas tree yesterday. She originally wanted a pink flocked tree, but someone got the last one off the display just as we got there. This pink tinsel one was the only pink one left, but DD decided that this one was better because it already had lights on it, and pink ones at that. We also bought her some red glittery mini-ball ornaments and a red gold glittery tree topper. As you can see, she was very pleased with it. Today, I heard her telling her gymnastics instructor that some time in the middle of the night, the plug must have fallen out of the wall because the lights were off when she woke up. :)

Later in the afternoon, I helped DD with her homework assignment. She was supposed to decorate a paper doll in the traditional costume of someone from another country. She chose the country where I was born. She also had to write 3-4 sentences about some customs from that country. I called my mom for help on this one, and it was funny trying to simplify what she said to the level of a first grader. The dress on the doll is fabric, the "belt" is ribbon, and the hair and shoes are felt. We had fun decorating the doll and then I got a picture of her with her project. When DS#3 saw her grinning for the camera, he had to grin too, of course. That kid is such a ham! :)

December Daily: Day Thirteen

We're so proud of DS#1! He participated in his first debate tournament and he reached the quarterfinals--one of only 3 from his school! I'm going to provide probably too many details below, but I want to remember some of this for later when I do a full size page on this event.

DH and DS#1 got to the school around 8AM. He had his quarterfinals debate at 8:30AM. As DS#1 puts it, he "lost his first elimination round" and got a "shiny medal" for it.

Next came Impromptu Speaking. For each of 2 topics, he had 3 minutes to collect and organize his thoughts and then he had 5 minutes to speak. The first topic was "The good thing about household chores is..." DS#1 said that he gave three reasons (with supporting information):
--I get rewarded.
--I like to help my parents.
--It helps prepare me for later on in life.

His next topic was "An accomplishment I'm most proud of is..."
"I got into the quarterfinals of the debate tournament":
--This is my first year of debate.
--This is my first time at a school competition this large.
--It was challenging.

They got home at around 3:30PM. We still have no idea how he did because the awards ceremony wasn't going to be until 5:30PM. Hopefully we'll find out on Monday when DS#1 goes to school. We're still so very proud of him because DH and I would not have been able to do what he did at his age, and we still have problems with public speaking even now. DS#1 was eager to do this, and he did it so well! :)

Later that afternoon, we went to Fuddrucker's to eat dinner, then we headed to "Santa's Railroad Wonderland" at the local Texas Transportation Museum. In December every year they transform the place by putting up lots of lights to make it more holiday-themed. They even had their version of Santa Claus named "Choo Choo Claus". We happened to miss out on meeting Choo Choo Claus, but I'm sure DS#3 was not disappointed. We got to ride a real train down a short track. We were in the caboose outside so we really got to experience the beautiful weather and see all the lights. They also had lots of model trains set up to run. DS#3 was absolutely fascinated with the trains. They even had a "Thomas the Tank Engine" train running on its own track. DS#3 is just now being introduced to that but he loves it like any other vehicle with wheels.

December Daily: Day Twelve

Yesterday's prompt was "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year". I got home from work earlier than usual. DH was just leaving to go to DS#1's middle school to pick him up and take him to another middle school where he was participating in his first debate tournament. I spent some time outside with DS#3. It was a gorgeous day--sunny, with a high around 70 degrees and a slight breeze. This time is definitely the most wonderful time in my part of the country. This photo isn't the greatest photo of DS#3, but he just wouldn't stay still for me. Can you imagine that?

Other events today:

--Just in case I didn't get home in time, DH pre-arranged with our neighbor for DD and DS#2 to go over to her house after getting off the bus. Because I was off changing DS#3's diaper, I didn't make it to the bus stop in time. I went outside to see DS#2 walking up with our neighbor's son. DD had already gone into their house. She didn't waste any time!

--DS#3 participated in that debate tournament and reached the quarterfinals. He was one of three from his school that reached the quarterfinals. More on this in tomorrow's blog post.

--We watched DD's good friend L last night so his parents could do a little Christmas shopping. On the backside of this page I put a photo of the two of them. Once I started taking photos, L kept asking if I would take "another one" and then "another one", etc. That boy is a camera hog, for sure! He and DD had a blast here last night!

December Daily: Day Eleven

Yesterday's prompt was "Do You See What I See?" This was a toughie, but I immediately thought of doing a photo of some of DS#3's antics. This was one of the visions that greeted me when I got home, so I took a photo. DS#3 has these toys all over the place, but at least it keeps him occupied and happy most of the time. :)

I took this photo as a runner up to yesterday's prompt. The two of them have an almost nightly routine of watching Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego, Go from 6-7PM. Look at those gaping mouths. They look completely engrossed in the show, don't they?

Poor DD came home with a stomacheache again yesterday. Yesterday evening, she barely ate anything, but she began to feel nauseated right after what little she did eat. She also had a fever up to 102! She was sent to bed and told to sleep in the bottom bunk with a basin next to her. She really had no other symptoms like a bad cough (only a slight one), runny nose, etc. Luckily, she must have slept it off or something. She felt fine today and went to school the full day.

December Daily: Day Ten

Yesterday's prompt was "O Christmas Tree". DS#3 cooperated very nicely for this photo. A cooperative subject and some photo editing make some of the best photos! I love this one!

Some "highlights" from our day today:

--DD stayed home from school because of a stomachache and a low grade fever. She even took a long nap!

--DS#1 took a field trip to the local high school today. He was a little more talkative about this school, mostly because I told him that he needed to help us decide the best school for him. Although ultimately, DH and I will be making that decision, we'd like some of his input.

--DS#2 got his hair cut officially at Super Cuts tonight. ;)

--DS#3 was in a big time snack mood right before dinner, but he still ate quite a bit of the chili that I made for dinner.

December Daily: Day Nine

Today's prompt was "Bah, Humbug". I know this photo doesn't look like it has anything to do with the phrase, "Bah, Humbug", or so it seems...

Monday was DH's birthday, but I was working that evening, so we went out to eat last night instead. DH is difficult to deal with when it comes to celebrating his birthday because he really doesn't want anything. Sure, he enjoys a good meal (and also a margarita in this case) but he didn't want me to get the cake at the restaurant. He didn't want to blow out a candle. He can just get a bit ornery at times, thus the association with the phrase, "Bah, Humbug"!

Yesterday also, DS#1 "shadowed" another student at that Catholic high school where we're thinking of sending him next year. When DH went there to pick him up, DH was talking to the principal about how DS#1 used to go to public school and had a horrible teacher in 2nd grade. That's when we ended up changing schools the first time. Now, DH knows that he should have made more of a stink to get DS#1 the attention and learning he needed. Apparently, DS#1 said that his papa was a "grumpy old man"--in front of the principal! That's what DH has called himself, so DH knew that DS#1 was joking, but he said it in front of the principal!

Other highlights from yesterday:

--I went with DH and DS#3 to Gymboree. DS#3 actually participated in the "Airlock Freeze" song where every so often they stop singing and put their hands on their heads and "freeze". So cute! He also participated in Bubble time again, where the "teacher" blows bubbles and all the toddlers try to catch them. After that, however, he wanted to go home!

--I volunteered in DD's class today. I was helping them complete the May page for the calendars that they're going to give their parents for Christmas. The kids had to use their fingers to stamp flower petals. It was messy but fun!

--DS#2 tried cutting some of his hair with the kitchen scissors. DH and I haven't been able to take him to get his hair cut and he was getting tired of waiting!

December Daily: Day Eight

Yesterday's prompt was "All I Want For Christmas". I took a photo of a bunch of toy catalogs that I had received plus a lineup of just a few of the wheeled vehicles that DS#3 plays with. On the backside I journaled about how I tried to get the kids to give me Christmas lists by having them look through these catalogs. They were supposed to mark what they were interested in, and then give them to me in a list. Only DS#2 really looked at the catalogs, but he marked them and didn't give me a list, so I had to look through the catalogs to find what he wanted. DD circled a few things, but it seemed as if she gave no thought to it. DS#1 didn't even look through them. The only thing he asked for was a video IPod. DS#3 has so many hand-me-down toys that he doesn't need anything, as evidenced by the car/truck lineup in the photo.

I'm posting the scan of the back side of this page just to show what I did with it. There's a whole lot of writing there. Other highlights from yesterday include: DH's birthday which we "celebrated" with gyro sandwiches followed by Haagen-Dazs ice cream at the mall, I was on call at the hospital yesterday evening, and DH and DS#1 finished watching the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show DVR tape. It's still weird to me that my baby boy now likes watching stuff like that!

For tomorrow's post about today (this gets me so confused sometimes), I'll be recovering from working last night.

December Daily: Day Seven

This page is actually just the photo and the number tab. The white space is my scanner background. It's a new concept for me, but it looks cool in the album with the other different types of pages. Yesterday's prompt was "Deck the Halls". We've already finished our outdoor and indoor decorations, so this started out a bit staged. I took one of the Santa ball ornaments that were already on the tree, and I gave it to DS#3 and asked him to hang it on the tree. He's done fairly well staying away from the tree, but you can see that he is constantly being tempted by the car/truck ornaments. He has touched the Santa ball ornaments a few times on his own since they are the ones closest to the bottom. I turned off the flash and I was very happy to catch this moment in time.

The backside is very simple, mostly because we didn't do too much yesterday. My parents, who were originally going to go to church with us, left for home just as we were leaving for church instead. I didn't even have time to wrap the presents for my nieces and nephew that I sent back with them. My mom volunteered to wrap them for me. Thanks, Mom!

We also took a family walk on the new pathway near our neighborhood called "Salado Creek Walkway". I think the whole thing is a couple of miles and we can get to it just outside of our neighborhood gates. It's very cool being able to look at the trees and natural scenery, and yesterday was such a beautiful day to be outside--sunny and in the 60s. Later, DS#3 and I took our long naps, and in the evening, DH, who had the choice of going out to eat for his birthday, decided to grill salmon at home instead. It's nice to get a more relaxed day once in a while. :)

December Daily: Day Six

Yesterday's photo prompt from Playground of Memories was "Holiday Traditions". Yesterday afternoon, we opened gifts from my parents so that they would be able to see the kids' reactions as they opened them. We won't be seeing them again until New Year's Day. They also wanted to make sure that the shoes they got for DD and DS#2 fit--they did, and if the roasting pan Mom got me for my birthday would fit in my oven--it didn't. So, Mom is going to exchange it for a smaller one. Thanks, mom!

We had lots of activities yesterday. The photos you see on this page are from when my mom was distracting DS#3 with an apple while she tried cutting his hair, and from when DD was doing a curtsy during her piano recital. Here are some highlights from yesterday:

--DS#1 took the Catholic High School Placement Test at a local Catholic high school from 8AM to Noon.

--DS#3's hair was too long to suit my Mom (and me, too) so she tried several times throughout the day to distract him with food while she trimmed away. He was good at first, but the sessions got shorter and shorter, but luckily, so did his hair. :)

--DD and I wore our new matching aprons when we made brownies for her first piano recital. I'll have to use these pictures in a page later.

--DD did great at her piano recital. This page is actually a pocket page (or envelope) and the recital "program" is tucked inside. It amazes me that DD can swing her legs to a completely different tempo as the piece she is playing. Her teacher agreed. Her teacher played last and she said that she originally didn't play at the recitals, but then one of her students expressed amazement that she could play piano as well as teach. She played "O Holy Night" which is my favorite Christmas song ever and she played so beautifully that DH and I wished that we had videotaped it.

--DD and I rushed off to a friend's birthday party right after the recital. The friend's mom is a scrapbooker also and I've always enjoyed talking with her. She also loves Disney and was excited when I told her about our upcoming trip.

--DH and I went to my work Christmas party. It was an expensive dinner for what didn't amount to be much food, but still it was a decent evening. We sat with a couple of my colleagues and their wives and we had some enjoyable conversations.

Tomorrow, I'll talk about our lazy day today. It's nice to have those once in a while. :)

December Daily: Day Five

Yesterday's prompt was "Santa's Little Elves" which coincided perfectly with the arrival of my parents for a weekend visit, so I took a photo of all of the gifts they brought. Some were from my dear sis and some were from them. All together with the food they brought they had a fully loaded car. On this page I also wrote about how DS#3 got very excited when he saw them arrive. He kept saying "Lala", which is his version of "Lola", the name for "grandmother" in our native language. He got upset when she didn't come in right away. She was unpacking so much stuff from the car! Even with DH helping, they had to take quite a few trips back and forth.

I also took some photos of DS#3 at his Gymboree class and put them on the back side of yesterday's page. I love watching him play. Most of the time he was just playing peek-a-boo from underneath this colorful hanging parachute. Some of the other kids joined him and there were lots of toddler giggles.

The only other significant event today was DD going to a roller skating party of a boy she plays with from our neighborhood. She would only skate on the carpet, at first, but then she did go onto the wood floor. She said that she was able to skate without holding on, but DH said that she was pretty much hugging the side of the rink and holding on frequently. After the party they had an after-party at their house.

Today will be a full day. I hope I can get today's photos taken and put on a page this evening, but most likely I'll have to finish up tomorrow. I don't want to fall behind because it'll be harder for me to catch up, but what else can I do? I'm really enjoying making this album. I'm not worrying about the design details, but I'm getting our daily lives documented. Love that! :)

December Daily: Day Four

"Naughty or Nice" was yesterday's prompt, and my kids cooperated for once. DS#3 is upset in this photo because I changed the channel to Noggin so he could watch Dora, but then a commercial came on and he was upset because he really wanted to watch Dora instead! Earlier he was upset with me because I wouldn't let him have juice. DD was being a little whiny earlier too. She had homework and she was acting like she wanted DH and I to do her homework for her.

Other events from yesterday include the following:

--I bought supplies to make Dirt Cups for DS#2. He had been so sweet about giving DD that extra tooth fairy money that I had to give him a special reward. He and DD had that for dessert.
--Yesterday was also DS#1's last soccer game for the season. Yay! DH took him to Schlotzky's to get him a sandwich after practice.

December Daily: Day Three

The prompt for December 3rd was "Red and Green". I was working late yesterday, so I knew I wouldn't have much time to take a photo when I got home. Two of my friends were putting up the tree in one of the office areas, and I thought this photo would be perfect for the prompt. After all, we wear green at work all year round! :)

On the backside of this page I wrote about some other things that happened yesterday. I wrote about the tooth fairy pillow (see yesterday's blog entry for details). DH asked DS#2 about this incident this morning. Apparently I was correct in assuming that DS#2 was the one who gave DD the extra coins in her tooth fairy pillow. DH told him that was very sweet, but that he shouldn't continue to do this because she would always expect it. He's still a sweetie!

I also wrote about DS#2's end-of-year soccer party that was right after practice at a nearby pizza place. I met the family (minus DS#1 who stayed home) there because I came straight from work. I felt like I was barely home yesterday since I got home at 8PM after leaving for work at 6AM. What a long day!

December Daily: Day Two

The prompt for December 2nd was "Making a List and Checking it Twice. I immediately thought of Santa and then the fact that DS#3 will not get near any of our Santas that are now decorating our house. This is as close as he gets, and that's with DH right next to him. If one of his toys rolls or ends up near a Santa, he'll fuss until someone else goes and gets his toy for him. Poor little guy!

This is a scan of the backside of the page for December 2nd. This is an excerpt from my journaling on this page:

DD's "teeth were loose, but she wouldn't let us pull them. Our dentist put some topical anesthetic on her gum, then he pulled those two teeth--at a price of $65 each. Ouch! Mama and Papa are the ones that got hurt!" The dentist's office has a TV in each treatment area, and DD requested to watch Dora during her procedure. She didn't even want DH in the room! She can be brave when she wants to be! :)

The dentist had put her two teeth in a small envelope, and she put this in the pocket of her tooth fairy pillow that her godfather had given her a while back. She told me excitedly this evening that this morning she found two dollar coins in there. When we got back from DS#2's soccer party tonight, she found some other change in the pocket of her tooth fairy pillow. She said that DS#2 had told her that sometimes she'll find more money from the tooth fairy. DH and I had nothing to do with that. Hmmmm, I think her big brother might be having some fun with her...

December Daily Album

I've been reading Ali Edwards' blog, and she is doing a daily album for December. I decided to do the same, but I wanted to combine it with the Photo a Day Challenge over at Playground of Memories. Here's the front of my page from December 1st. Note that the page itself is curved. The green background is another piece of paper I laid over my page just so you wouldn't see the white background of my scanner.

The prompt over at Playground of Memories was "Countdown to Christmas" and I chose to take a photo of these advent calendars I posted about a couple of days ago. Much of the journaling on the front was taken from my blog entry. The backside contains journaling about some events that occurred yesterday. I won't post the whole list, but here are some of them:

--DS#3 got up a little after 5AM and said "Hi Mama" when DH put him in our bed.
--DS#3 is napless for the 2nd day in a row.
--I was able to get home right before the bus arrived.
--I took DD to gymnastics, and DH took DS#2 to soccer.
--DS#3 got very upset when DH and DS#2 left because he wanted to go outside. Earlier, he ripped up "Once Upon A Potty" because he was mad he had to come inside to have his poopy diaper changed.

I realize that most of my journaling talks about DS#3, but hopefully on other days I'll be able to talk about the other kids more. I'll try to post each day's entry the following day. For tomorrow's entry, I'm going to journal about DD finally losing her first teeth!

Advent Calendars

I bought these advent calendars yesterday (the tree shaped ones in the link). I was originally going to buy them just for DD and DS#3 but then DD was with me and asked if we were getting four of them and I started feeling guilty. I wasn't sure if the older two would like them. I shouldn't have worried. I brought them home and I let each child keep their tree in their room (except for DS#3, of course). To prevent an insect infestation, I required them to eat their chocolate in the kitchen. They were all excited about the thought of having that treat every day until Christmas. Of course, if they don't know what day it is, they'll eat them a day early. DS#1 didn't realize that today is the 30th of November and he had his first piece of chocolate today. Tomorrow, I'll take a photo of the others eating their chocolate. :)

DH Jr.

I'm always kidding about how DS#1 is starting to sound and act like DH. They have similar humor. That is, they make and laugh at the same types of jokes. They love the same video games and they love playing them together. Usually the games are role-playing type games with some Dungeons and Dragons type scenarios. (DH will probably correct me when he reads this.) Remember that time when the rest of the family was in Houston and DH and DS#1 stayed up playing video games? They also like to eat similar things. For lunch today we ate at California Pizza Kitchen. When we go to Italian restaurants, DH often orders the Chicken Fettucine Alfredo. DS#1 does the same thing, except more often. Today, they both had the Chicken Fettucine Alfredo. We also talked about how DS#1 is about 5' 8" and 120 pounds, which is what DH was when he entered college. DH laughed and said, "Was I really that skinny once?"

I made similar comparisons about DD and me. Of course, I can't compare most of the things yet because there's a whole lot of difference between a 6-year-old and a 41-year-old. Some personality traits, unfortunately, are very similar. When she's in a bad mood, you can't get her out of it. It just takes some time by herself to get in a better mood. Of course, when I sad this to DH, he just tried to have a blank look on his face and he said, "I don't know what you're talking about". Somehow he seems to think that is a loaded question. ;-)

Holiday in the Park

Tonight we went to Holiday in the Park at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. Some of the rides were open and the park was decorated with lights. They even had a lights display that was timed to music by Mannheim Steamroller. I'm not sure what the song is called, but I want to say that it was "Christmas in Sarajevo". There were a lot of people there, so when the kids wanted to ride on the Roadrunner Express roller coaster, it took them about 40 minutes to go through the line and ride. We walked around for a bit just to look at all the lights, and the kids rode on the Wave Runner, which spins your seat as the whole ride spins, if that makes any sense. I'm just glad that we have season passes, because DS#3 was really pooped after only a couple of hours. Have you ever wondered why a child that only weighs about 22 pounds feels like he weighs 2-3 times as much when you have to carry him for long periods?

I have to share a DS#3 story too, of course. Last night, he got very upset when I wouldn't read his "School Bus" book just one more time (after a couple of times already). In order to distract him, I gave him one of DS#1's old Thomas the Tank Engine trains (whichever the small red one is--James, I think). I put him to bed with that train. Even in the dark, I could see him rolling it back and forth. A few minutes later, I heard him calling, "Mama, Papa, Hep Me", over and over again. I went to his crib and he handed me the train. I guess he was done playing with it and was ready to go to sleep because I took the train, told him to lie down, and he did, and didn't fuss at all when I said "goodnight" again. When DS#1 was about his age, he would fall asleep with his trains and sometimes awaken with a train imprint on his cheek. I guess we don't have to worry about DS#3 doing that!

Thanksgiving 2008

I volunteered to work on Thanksgiving. I knew that I was taking Monday through Wednesday off for our friends' visit. At the time, I thought that one of the boys would likely have a soccer tournament this weekend. By volunteering to work on Thanksgiving, I would have the rest of the weekend off. Besides, next year my grandmother will turn 95, and her birthday usually falls around Thanksgiving. I'm earning brownie points for a long weekend next year, right?

The price was that I would be away from my family on Thanksgiving. That's not usually a problem since we're not really big in the traditional Thanksgiving foods, and what matters most to us is being together, even if it's a day later. As I walked into the building yesterday morning, however, I started feeling so depressed. I don't like being away from my family. Everyone else at work was talking about their plans for lunch or dinner with their family (depending on what shift they were working). I like to order takeout when I'm working on call, but most restaurants were closed, so I couldn't even do that.

Thankfully, my family came to visit me, and that was just what I needed. We had food from the hospital cafeteria, some turkey, ham, cornbread dressing, rice, and some glazed carrots. I was the only one that ate any of the carrots. The food was decent, but just not what I would have wanted. As we were eating, DS#2 asked, "So, are we going to have a 'feast' tomorrow?" DH and I didn't know how to answer that. Did he mean that he felt like he was missing out on Thanksgiving by not having all of the traditional food? I told him that I wanted to have Chinese food. He said, "Oh good, I like Chinese food better than this stuff anyway." Too funny--that's my boy! :)

So, I decided to count my blessings instead of being depressed about working on Thanksgiving. I had a wonderful dayshift crew who were efficient, hard working, and great to work with. I have a wonderful family, who visited me at work and gave me kisses and hugs. They even brought some pumpkin pie and yummy chocolate cheesecake from Marie Callender's. This adorable little boy ran up to me and gave me a big hug when they arrived. He was also running with me in the hallway during their visit. It was fun watching how fascinated he was with the automatic doors. Of course, I have to be thankful that I have a good paying job during difficult times like these.

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving! Remember to count your blessings! :)

Meeting Some Goals

Today, I was supposed to finish up some Christmas shopping. I'm so close to finishing that I'm getting excited about Christmas already. Instead, I decided to take some creative time and finish up some scrapbook pages using some really old photos that have been sitting on my desk for years, literally. These were what I call "fast" pages. I just wanted to get these photos in an album. I didn't spend too much time on design or being artsy.

I'm still plugging away at my 2002 photos. This one has photos from my Dad's 71st birthday "party". We were already in Houston for my nephew's birthday party and my family decided to also throw me a small "baby shower", too. I hadn't expected anything since I was pregnant with my third child, so it was a really nice surprise, plus I got some girly gifts!

This one has photos from when some friends were visiting and we took them to the nearby Natural Bridge Caverns. I didn't get to go on this trip, but I still had to scrap the photos. Nothing special about these pages from a creative point of view, but I did get some photos out of the way and I'm almost completely done with my October 2008 Studio Calico kit!

This one has photos of my niece (and goddaughter). She was the first granddaughter on our side of the family. She's still a beautiful girl, but wasn't she the cutest baby?

With this page, I'm finally done with the photos from when these friends visited us in 2002! Yay me! They've since moved to Ohio from Texas. It's too bad, because we don't see them at all anymore.

Last but not least, with this page, I'm finally done with the photos of my nephew's third birthday weekend! Yay me! I still have a few 2002 photos to scrap, but I'm so close to finishing now! :)

No Regrets

Monday night, we went out to a restaurant on the Riverwalk that DH and I had never been to before, called Boudro's. It felt good to be able to leave the two 13-year-olds with the younger kids. Our plans were a little bit "spur of the moment", so it was nice to have that freedom of not having to plan ahead to get a babysitter. DH and I can certainly get used to this! :)

I split the seafood platter dish with J, which was a good thing, because it was delicious but I ate just enough without being so overly full. I still had plenty of room for dessert. J and I decided to split the flan, but that was a little disappointing to me because it had coconut on the bottom which I didn't like at all. We all enjoyed having adult conversation without being interrupted by the kids. After dinner, however, I was really pooped, so we headed back home.

I don't know if I was so tired because of the long road trip, but Tuesday was a catch up on sleep day for me. DH let me sleep in until after 8AM. That's quite a luxury for us. I didn't do too much yesterday and I was still able to take a 2 1/2 hour nap in the afternoon. Our friends left for the airport right after dinner. I've said it before, but they are one of the reasons why DH and I will never regret our time in Illinois. :)

LBJ Library

Our friend Ga has a goal to visit all of the Presidential libraries, so today we went to the LBJ Library in Austin, which is only an hour and a half or so from here. With nine people and eight seats, we were packed rather tightly into the van. You can't see DD who is in that back row on the left behind the seat. Ga was sitting in the front passenger's seat with me and I was driving. DH volunteered to get squished in the back row. DS#2 and Gr got to sit in the middle seats since they can sometimes both be prone to motion sickness also. That is also my problem, which is why I felt like I had to be the one to drive. It didn't end up being too bad, but I still hate driving.

I enjoyed the library visit a great deal. I realized that I really didn't know much about LBJ or his presidency. I didn't realize his administration produced some of the programs that are still around today, like Medicare/Medicaid, and Head Start. I knew about the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but I didn't put two and two together that LBJ was the one that signed that piece of legislation. The exhibit on the events of November 22, 1963 were chilling, and seeing a video of LBJ's address to Congress after the assassination was inspiring. The best thing about this library is that it's free. DH and I decided that we'll have to go back again some time.

DS#3 didn't take a nap again today, but he really traveled very well today. We were all so cramped from being in the van for three hours round trip today that we played outside for a bit this afternoon. It was windy, but sunny with the high in the 70s. This is a photo of Ga and DH that I took outside. They've been good friends since they were both the only dads at Story Hour at the public library. DS#2 was only a few months old then. DH and I have always been very thankful for such great friends. They're leaving tomorrow, but as always, we're already looking forward to the next time we see them again. :)

Two Wins!

DS#1 played in two more soccer games today. He and DH left the house around 6:30AM this morning so he could make it to his team warmup before the game. They came home in between games to pick up the rest of us. Our visitors went to the River Walk area to have some fun while we were at the soccer game.

This is one of a few photos I took today. There were some better ones, but at least in this one, I didn't have to blur out a bunch of other faces. Look at those long, muscular legs! They actually won both of their games today (both 1-0). Those are the only games they've won this season, so it was a very welcome change. We're hoping for the best next year!

Poor DS#3 has been carted around the last two days and hasn't been on the same schedule. Because of our houseguests, he hasn't been getting to bed until 8:30ish, which is an hour past his usual bedtime. He was happy enough at the soccer game. He was even "singing" while playing with his little truck at one point. At least he was able to get a good two-hour plus nap today, although DH had to spend two hours getting him to nap. He was very energetic for most of dinner but at least he was enjoying himself and that allowed us to enjoy ourselves too.

We went to DH's favorite restaurant tonight, El Mirasol. Our guests request this place whenever they come to visit--it's that good. :) We went to our favorite ice cream shoppe, Brindles, for dessert--another request. I took this photo today at soccer. I realized that I don't post too many photos of DH. Isn't he a cutie--especially because he took DD to the concession stand so I could watch the game. DS#3 started following him so it was a family parade to the concession stand. Yes, I'm afraid my kids are well-behaved at games sometimes because we feed them so they stay happy. Whatever works! :)

I Love This Boy!

I took this picture about a week and a half ago, but I only downloaded it from the camera yesterday. DH and I were out to lunch at Paesano's, a local Italian restaurant, and one of our favorites. I tried many times to get a "normal" expression on DS#3's face, but I got lots of cheesy smiles, unhappy faces, lots of looking down and all around, etc. Then, I got this one. I can see his bright eyes and dimples. I can see light brown/dark blonde hair that's too long because he won't let us cut it. I can even see a little mischief in that grin.

DH and I were talking this morning about how lucky we are to have DS#3. We tried for so long and had so many problems before being blessed with this little boy. There was even a time when we weren't sure we wanted to go through diapers and sleepless nights again. It's not that DS#3 is an easy baby. He takes up a lot of time and attention. He doesn't like to take naps. Like most kids, he wants what he wants when he wants it. It's just that DS#1 and DD weren't so affectionate when they were this age, and DS#2 just cried all the time. DS#3 runs up to me after a long hard day at work. He's all excited and all he wants to do is give me a hug. He'll run away soon after to do his own thing, but that one hug just makes it all worth it. The other day he saw another kid in his Gymboree Play class run up to their parent and give them a hug. Then he said, "Papa" and ran up to DH to give him a hug. DH told me that just made his day too.

This little boy was a lot of work today. He didn't get to take a nap because DS#1 had two soccer games. He kept running out onto the soccer field with his little ball. He wouldn't eat very much at lunch. I'm just reminding myself how blessed I am--just in case I forget. :)

The Jeep Incident

When I got home from work today, I saw that DH and the three youngest kids were all outside playing in the culdesac. DS#1 hadn't gotten home on the bus yet. I joined them outside. DH was playing with his new toy/birthday/Christmas present--a new high-definition video camera. DS#3 was happy kicking at an old soccer ball with his tongue sticking out the whole time (see photo). Our neighbor A made a comment that he would probably grow up to be a soccer star since he was surrounded by soccer. DD was playing with her good friend L (A's DS#2) and my DS#2 was playing with E (A's DS#1).

DD and her good friend L (A's DS#2) went riding in the ride-on Jeep. The two of them were so cute, chatting away while L was driving. DS#3 was watching them, waiting for his turn for a ride. Before any of us realized it, L was driving directly towards DS#3 and hit him, causing him to fall backward. He was halfway under the Jeep before I was able to stop the forward progress of the Jeep and pull him out! I think my heart must have skipped a few beats, and he was crying, but he was okay. Thank goodness he was okay! He was just a little scared and I just held him for a while. Our neighbor A pulled her son L into her house to have a little talk with him. She was so apologetic, but really at 5 years old, L didn't really yet understand the importance of looking at the road when you're driving. I didn't get a good "after" photo, but DS#3 finally got a ride in that Jeep with L, who was driving slowly and much more carefully.

Double Teeth

Remember when I posted about DD getting a new tooth growing in behind her bottom front teeth? That was way back at the beginning of September (HERE). Now she has had double teeth on the bottom front of her mouth for a good month or so. Those front teeth are loose, but she's just not wiggling them. It's uncomfortable for her, so she just doesn't want to do it. We've "threatened" her with having them pulled at the dentist, but since she's never had a bad experience at the dentist, she doesn't really know what this means. We don't want her to be scared, of course, so the teeth are still there.

She went to the dentist for her checkup yesterday. He said that he was going to order some sort of numbing liquid (also for his DD who has a loose tooth as well), so he wouldn't have to give her a shot. His office is only open two days next week and we have friends visiting from out of town, so the next time we could go back would be the first week in December. We can only hope that she'll wiggle those baby teeth out before then.