My future flashed before my eyes...

During Christmas break Anissa was invited to the movies by her friend and so she asked her Dad for money...

I thought, "This is so funny...is it starting already!? She's only six." We always put their allowance right in the bank. Maybe we should be better about actually handing them some cash every once in a while so they can learn to pay tithing, budget their money and not always just ask us...

Along those same lines, Jake spent the Christmas break working at the ski rental shop Jeff worked at as a teenager. I think he was pretty excited at the thought of all that money. The one drawback he mentioned was, "Now when I need money for movies or food, I won't be able to just ask you guys". He also came home with a brand new sweatshirt he'd bought with his own hard earned money and an employee discount...maybe this working thing will have some appeal after all.

Some like it hot...

A couple of weeks ago Jake went to Buffalo Wild Wings with some friends. He didn't happen to have any money, so he just sampled some of everyone's and he loved it. He came home and said it's the best place ever and we just have to go (we'd never been there before). So I learned from some ladies at Curves that they have special prices on wings on Tuesdays, so we headed there last night. They have about 14 different sauces to choose ranging from sweet to hot, hot, hot! Jake decided to just go for it and ordered "blazin'" which is the hottest. It was so funny (although I'm sure he would beg to differ!) he was actually sweating and tearing up. I asked him why he got it so hot and he said "Because I'm a man" Ha! Ha! Ha! Before we left he decided to visit the restroom (all that water you know)...and let me just say, after "enjoying" blazing hot wings, wash your hands BEFORE you go to the bathroom!

Let it snow!

The weatherman has been predicting snow and he was right this time! We are actually getting snow in super sunny Las Vegas as I type this. I've been feeling sorry for the dog (with some proding from Jeff & the kids), so he slept inside the last two nights and I'm acutally letting him in the house during the day. When I sent him outside to do his business, he didn't know what to think of the snow...he left a little trail where he walked and licked the snow for a drink. This morning it wasn't even raining, so Jonah rode his bike. It looks like I'll be driving kids and bikes home if this keeps up. They are boys...maybe they'll look at the snow as an adventure? Here are a fews pics of the snow so far...

Poor Palm Trees, they don't know what hit 'em..

P. S. This is how a kid born in the desert during the searing August heat, dresses for the cold weather...

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

Actually, they've both started to come in. She only has one hole left. All my kids were like that. The new tooth comes in behind the baby tooth making you think big problems are ahead, but then that baby tooth falls out and the new one moves into position. I still think we've got braces in our future with 3 out of 4 kids...

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

Last year we had to retire our pre-lit artificial tree (after about 10 years of faithful service...I think we got the $35 we paid for it at Walmart's Black Friday sale!) This year we debated, should we buy a new one now or get a real tree this year and wait for the after Christmas sales. I decided I just wanted to get the artificial...real are beautiful for about 5 days and it never quite seems worth the money. So I go to Costco and they are ALL GONE. I called the other Costcos in town and Henderson ("of course!" Ha Ha...you long time locals will get that joke) is only one that had any left and they only had 3. So, I hoped in my van and trekked clear across town only to find out that their computer wasn't up to date! They were out too. I asked if they'd get anymore and she said no, they're getting ready to go into their summer stuff?? I didn't think it was unreasonable to hope to find a tree on Dec. 8th! So, I guess next summer when they get all the Christmas stuff out, I'll have to go ahead and get a tree then!

Thanksgiving

After a few days of fun in California without "our boys", Anissa and I were so glad to see Jeff, Jake, Aidan, & Jonah. They joined us at Nana & Grandpa's for the Thanksgiving festivities. It was so nice to spend time with all of Jeff's family. Even Tata came up from San Diego. The cousins had fun playing together and the food was wonderful. We have alot to be thankful for...

Make-up Disneyland

We took the boys to Disneyland a while ago and left Anissa home. She was promised a trip without her brothers and the perfect opportunity has arrived. Anissa and I went down to Jeff's parents in California a few days before Thanksgiving. We took a trip to Disneyland with the cousins. Anissa had a great time having them to herself. The weather was great and Anissa was tall enough and brave enough for even Splash Mountain and Space Mountain. I guess we won't have to leave her home anymore!

Wisdom Comes at a Price...

Just ask Jake! He had the great pleasure of having all four wisdom teeth removed on Friday. Anyone who knows Jake, knows he is a reader, a researcher, a seeker of all knowledge (especially all those totally random bits of info on the Internet that will help him win on a game show some day...he remembers everything he reads, so if you ever need to phone a friend...) Anyway, in preparation for the big day, he decided to read all about wisdom teeth and their removal on wikipedia. Including lovely graphic photos of the process and the aftermath. I think he was a little freaked out. I wish I had a video camera so you could all see how funny he was after...but I didn't so I'll just try to convey the humor. Just imagine all of Jake's words were spoken with the true slur of a drugged out post-op patient. When he first woke up, he had a totally shocked look on his face and said "What happened?! Oh yeah....wisdom teeth" "whattimeisit? Whataretheintructions?" Asleep again. Four minutes later "Whatimeisit? Didtheytheygiveyouthe intructions?" Asleep again. "How'd Iget in thischair?" Laughing "I had a funnydream" Asleep again. He was quite adamant about the instructions. This went on for about 25 minutes until he was awake enough to go home. As we walked to the car (well actually he floated) he said chuckling "CanIdrive? Hahaa". He slumped into the front seat and said "Thatwasnsoobaaad". I just thought "Yeah you think that now...poor kid" As it turns out it wasn't too bad. Only about 1 1/2 days of real pain and his cheeks didn't even really swell up too much. Here's the one photo I took (I need to be better about remembering my camera)

School Pics Done Right...Myself!

I decided not to buy school pictures this year and try it myself. They never seem to turn out great...those guys don't know my kids and can't seem to recognize a goofy smile or weird hair. So here they are. I must say, I've got pretty great kids. I love these guys!

A Day at the Races!

Jeff got some free tickets to the DRAG RACES. It was going to be a boys day out, but Jake & Aidan decided they didn't want to go because their friends couldn't make it (and just family would be boring, right?) So, it was me, Jeff, Jonah, & Anissa. The big boys really missed out...it was awesome! I just love how you can FEEL it in your whole body as the cars THUNDER by. My dad used to take me when I was about Jonah's age. I loved it. They still give out lots of freebies(that was my favorite part when I was little and I think Anissa's too...cool stickers and stuff!) Here are a few highlights...