Family & Friends

We started the long weekend off right... ordered B.J's (including pizookies) and had Kim, Kelly and the kids over. They were all great and every day seems to getting so much more fun. I said it out loud, so I have already jinxed myself, but Ruby and Trevor are getting along so much better... don't get me wrong... they just have a love-hate relationship:) Ruby is slowly starting to "toughen up" and Trevor is a little more gentle with her. It has never been that bad, but we (Kim and I) hate having to discipline them when they should be having fun. This is usually what comes out of my my when we are all together: "Ruby... don't start something you can't finish or Ruby... toughen up!" Lately our adventures have been so much fun because we are not yelling at them all the time:) Even Abby is catching on and has been so good. T.T.: you are an angel and I don't care if I am biased:).

Abby finished her portion and moved on to mooch off of T.T.'s.

Thanksgiving Day. I have so much to be thankful for this year that to try and convey seems impossible. To sum it up, I am most thankful for all of my family and friends. This has been an amazing year for me and I truly feel lucky and blessed. This is my Dad and Anthony carving the 2 turkeys we cooked. Bean was waiting patiently for her grub!

My camera is on the brink... A and Ruby eating the yummy food.

Friday we all went to Huntington Central Park. We told the kids if they fell in the water, they are on their on:)

Feeding the ducks.

The Park Bench Cafe has great food and a large field. It had to be the best lunch we have had in a long time. While we sat and chatted (Kim, Kelly, and I) the kids ran around chasing each other. Abby stayed in her stroller for the majority of the time and was REALLY good about it. When the food came, we just yelled for them. They came, ate, and went and played some more.

I love you and your rascally doo!

Burning off some energy.

I love this one... Trevor and his Rarrrrr, as he calls it:)

Friday night I got to watch T.T. so Kim could take Trevor to the football game. I decided we would have a girly night and started it off right with a milk and cookies tea party.

After we had a nail polish party. They are so cute how they sit so still while you put it on(not Abby... she's not tame enough for polish yet... it would end up in her mouth)

Next, we had a make-up party. They both insisted on applying it themselves, but kept putting the eye shadow on their foreheads. For Ruby, make-up is serious business. Seriously, who is this child and where did she come from?

Oh look... it's my little angel:) I fixed her shadow for her.

We ended the night in our bed to watch: Cinderella, of coarse!

The rest of the weekend was just as busy. Saturday we went to the El Dorado Nature Center and then to Kim's to eat some Turkey and watch the OU game. Saturday night my girls were up half the night... Abby has a yeast infection and Ruby... well, I think she is converting to her old ways. I was so exhausted from lack of sleep. They were both up for good at 5:30. I woke Anthony up at7:00 and told him I needed help. I felt like I was run over by a train. I needed to get some sleep to drive out to Angie's for our play date. I woke up at 8:15 and realized I couldn't make it. Sorry Ang... let's make it up. Poor Ruby was asking me ALL DAY when she was going to see you. My mom, bless her heart, let me bring the kids over at 10:45am. I got to sleep for another couple hours. When I woke up I felt worse!!! I thought... what the heck is going on with my body. I put the kids down for their naps around 2:00pm and slept for another 2 hours! I have never been so exhausted in my life. When I woke up I felt like a new woman. Is it possible to feel really sick when you are simply exhausted? I felt so much better that Anthony and I walked to Outback and had a nice dinner. Ruby was up at 3:45am. I finally got back to sleep(after her in our bed, then milk, then in her bed) My sweet Bean slept until 7:00. I think if I was a stay at home Mom I would have to re-evaluate going on so many adventures:) but it sure is a lot of fun.

Movies and Parks

Friday was Ruby's Thanksgiving Feast at school. All week we were practicing her songs. Their performance was in the chapel at 11:00. When she walked out with her class onto the stage I teared up at the sight of her. Anthony and I sat and held hands, watching our first born daughter grow up just a little bit more that day. Overall they all did a great job. In the video below they are singing Jesus Loves me! I love you too and you will always be my baby girl!

The pastor handed out "special" bubbles to all the kids. Ruby could sit for hours blowing these things.

Saturday morning I took the girls to the Nature Center. I love it there! Then Kim had the idea to take the older kids to the movies. This was Ruby's first time at the movies. We saw Bolt and it actually was pretty good, although I think Pixar movies tend to cater to adults more than kids sometimes. They were really good until about half way through. Then they got ants in their pants. Both Ruby and Trevor said they didn't like it. Actually, Ruby told Anthony when we got home that it "wasn't even good". Oh, well. It was cute to try a new adventure.

Saturday night we had our last Bunco of the year. We had a lot of people cancel at the last minute, so I brought my mom. It was so cute to watch her play and we all had so much fun. My mom was the biggest loser, so she won her 20 bucks back!

Abby is obsessed with eating, chewing on, spraying, etc. the baby detangler. I hope that it is non-toxic because she seems to always be able to find it and put it in her mouth. She has a royal fit when I take it away from her. I have a feeling that sharing is going to be a hard concept for her.

Sunday morning I decided to go on a different adventure and took the kids to Huntington Central Park. My parents used to take us when we were kids and I have very fond memories. The ducks and chipmunks there are insane. As soon as you walk up, they come right up to you and start quaking. They were jumping on Ruby and ripping the bread out of her hands. Abby, in the meantime, was busy trying to capture one. She was running and diving at them. She barely caught one and was laughing until I got her off.

I really enjoyed spending the morning there. Amidst all the chaos of city life, I really admire those who put in the effort to set aside and care for these beautiful parks and nature centers. I admit that I let my kids watch way too much t.v. and I am not proud of it. When we are out in nature I feel like a better parent. We explore. We pick up leaves and sticks. We stop and smell the flowers.

To top off my busy weekend... I went and saw Twilight last night!!!! I seriously just finished reading it at 2:30 yesterday. I was really against going because my general rule is to not be out 2 nights in a row... I miss my girls too much and I want to be the one to put them to bed and kiss them good night. Then, my mom actually convinced me to go. Other than the movie theater being 100 degrees, the show was great. All the teenagers screamed when Edward first made his appearance. I could here teens saying OMG he's so sexy and all other kinds of giggles and sighs. After we went to dinner and I got to catch up with Paige... you look amazing btw!!! Pregnancy suits you!

Below is my girlie singing... so cute and I am so glad she actually sang!!! Yah Ruby!!!

How Come?

1. The price of gas is currently $2.17 and no one talks about it?
2. The week before "my time of the month" I can eat ungodly amounts of snacks?
3. I love Taco Bell hot sauce so much?
4. People are decorating for Christmas and Thanksgiving hasn't happened yet?
5. Little kids cannot dress up like Pilgrims and Indians any more? (seriously, if you disagree with me on this one, refrain from commenting.) This one really gets under my skin. The principal that I heard "explaining" why kids cannot do it, also said that it is a new trend(currently being applied at this principals school) to no longer give kids detention because it hurts their self esteem!!! I'm not kidding, if you agree with the principal: DO NOT COMMENT!
6. Anthony are not rocket scientists and when we tried to buy the house we live in 2 years ago - were pre-qualified - and saw what our house payments were going to be - and decided NOT to buy because we know simple math and could not afford it... yet everyone is getting bailed out and still living in nice homes that were way out of their price range?
7. We reward people who are stupid and make poor decisions?
8. Stupid people are home owners we are not?
9. Every time I dress the kids up in "nice" clothes, they are filthy before we ever get to whatever event we are going to?
10. It is not 4:00 yet?

Hope everyone has a good weekend!!!!!

Abby Ramblings

Nothing exciting, nothing new. I just didn't want to go into the weekend on a sour note, so:

Abbyisms:

Abby baby rambles more than any baby I can recall. It is so cute because she can have the longest conversation, and you'd never know what she was saying. I am slowly deciphering her little sayings. She says a few things clear enough that anyone would understand: momma, nana, dadda, yes, no, hi, oh no, oh shoot, what's that. Moving on to the others (I'll translate)

one, two, three : ah, two, eee

see you later : eee ooo ater

there she is : eh eee is

She can sing(not words, but it sounds like da da ta ta): twinkle twinkle little star, abcd's, ring around the rosie's, row row row your boat, wheel's on the bus.

It is funny to say, but she is officially a bully. The good(or bad) part of it is: she only bullies Ruby(for now). When she sees Taylor she hugs her and loves her. I don't think I have ever seen her hit either Trevor or Taylor. She torments the crap out of Ruby. Last night she took a full sippy cup and banged Ruby on her forehead right between the eyes! She didn't know I was standing there and when I yelled "ABBY", she threw the cup and put her face in the carpet. Meanwhile, Ruby is balling saying "why did she do that?" I actually put Abby in time-out. She just looked at me like "what the heck is going on". Later I caught her trying to pull Ruby's hair(which she does regularly). How can a 19 month old be a bully? I hate to say it, but it kind of makes me laugh. At least later in live Ruby will have someone to stick up for her... and then she will be thankful:)

Sick of Sick!

If I have to clean up puke one more time I am just going to grab my keys and walk out of the house. At least I am feeling better. This week we are 3 out of 4 sick in our house with the flu. I am going on my THIRD week in a row with what seems to be some mutating strain of illness... from hand-foot-mouth to colds to the flu. I guess this is a sign of things to come. The smell of Lysol is now making me nauseous. I don't want to give 2 to 3 baths a night. I don't want to get up every hour to get water, clean puke, get a cool rag. I don't want to hear the kids crying. I don't want to clean. I don't want to cook dinner. OK, it's somewhat out of my system. Now that I have vented I can hopefully move on and have a good day:) Hope you all do, too!:)

Zoo's, the Nature Center, and Puke!

On Saturday we met Kim and Angie and all the kids at the Santa Ana Zoo. It was a gorgeous day! Abby was a bit of a handful... but I couldn't love her more. She brings so much joy to my life! All she wants is to get out of the stroller. If I let her out, she runs as far away as possible. What do you do?:)

As usual, we tried to get a group photo. There was NO WAY that I was going to get Abby to just sit there. Ruby fell off twice. She didn't get hurt, but is certainly scared her... my delicate little flower:)

Look at these handsome blondies! Future lady killers for sure.

Miss Aubrey... you make me smile every time I see you!

On Sunday Kim and I took the kids to the Nature Center for the two mile walk. This time Ruby walked about half of it. There is two lakes and several streams. Kim was pointing out all the turtles and ducks.

This was a highlight of my weekend. To preface, I always thought I would only have boys. I am not and have never been a girly-girl. I don't like doing my hair or putting on make-up. I am 33 years old and finally brought myself into Macy's to actually buy make-up: foundation and powder. The older I get, the more I realize that I NEED it. It was a bit embarrassing being helped by a 19-something year old. I just walked up to the Clinique (sp?) counter and told her I have never worn foundation or powder... can you help? Back to the story. Ruby is SUCH a girly-girl. I think in the back of my mind I just thought I could toughen her up and get her to like sports. I had an epiphany yesterday... not only am I going to embrace this girliness of hers... I love it about her! So, after putting Bean down for a nap, I pulled out all the stops. I put on her dress from Jessica's wedding. I painted her nails. Put lip gloss on her. I let her wear my heals. I even put EYESHADOW on her!!! She ran around the front yard like a fairy. Twirling around, picking flowers, singing songs. She was so happy!

Watch out America's Next Top Model! She was rocking my heals way better than I do!

I Love this picture. There is something so sweet about it!

On to the low part of the weekend. As I was getting ready to go to bed last night at 10:30, I heard Abby crying. Not a whiny cry... a hurry up and get me cry!!! I went in her room and she had thrown up all over herself, all over the crib, even all over the bumper. Anthony took all the bedding off. I cleaned up Abby and got her into some fresh p.j.'s. Anthony slept on the couch so I could take Abby to bed with me. We got into bed before midnight. At 1:30am I woke up to Abby throwing up on me, all over our bed(sheets, pillows, comforter), and all over herself. I got up, woke up Anthony, started another bath. Got Abby clean and myself changed and clean. Anthony took our bed apart. I don't know what time it was that we all got back to sleep. I do know that Abby was up just after 5:00. She threw up twice this morning. So, four pairs of pajama's and lots of dirty linens later... and WAY TOO MUCH laundry to do... I am going on my 3rd Monday in a row with a mind changing lack of sleep due to sick kids. Anthony called in sick to stay home with her. I just got off the phone with him and she has been perfect all day. I thought she might have the flu, but she has no fever or any other symptoms. Maybe it was just something she ate... I hope. It was so sad to see her so pathetic. She never just lays on the couch... my sweet little girly! Hopefully it is out of her system now! Hopefully Anthony will do all the puke laundry and get MAJOR brownie points!

Moving on

Ok, I was going to have a Dear Christy post (from emily comment) but I will try to move forward. It is interesting though... just because you disagree with my political beliefs you accuse me of being intoxicated... or were you accusing Don? Either way, I still have love for you:) Ok... now I am moving on. Both the girls are over their sicknesses and things are back to normal... for now. It is amazing to see how quickly children pick up on Christmas. Last year Ruby enjoyed Christmas, but didn't really get the concept. This year everything she sees she tells me she wants for Christmas. The sweet part is that she is always talking about getting other people presents. Last night she said the following list: Mom... I want a doll house for Christmas. I want to get Abby baby toys, you toe polish, daddy some shaving things, nana some toe polish, Trevor a Spiderman thing, Taylor a doll, papa a flashlight, and Grammy some toe polish. What's with the toe polish? She said she wanted some, too.

Here are some pictures from Halloween. I made Abby an Indian costume, but she went incredible Hulk style when I tried to put it on her.

Imagine that? I was looking for her at Shannon's house and she was in the tub playing with toys.

Kyla and Ruby on the swings.

My Bean!

Papa and his girls.

Don't look to closely at her bangs. Maybe I should actually pay for a haircut next time:)