Spoiled Rotten

We had a lovely Christmas holiday and some good Roast Beast that Aunt Leslie has ordered. It was melt in your mouth yummy. The kids were spoiled rotten again this year... just like every year. Ellie's favorite gift hands down was her walk-in kitchen. I am so glad that we (I, Mom, Grandma, and Aunt Leslie) went in together to get it. Here are some pictures:

She is cooking Hayden breakfast

Got to get the right utensil

Like any good chef one needs to taste to see if it needs more spices.

Last minute cooking in the microwave

I believe Hayden's favorite gift was Bop-it that Santa gave him because the toy isn't made anymore and the stores don't have it at all. Hayden says they have the toy in his classroom and he wanted one for home. Hayden also loved the $50 gift card from Aunt Carolyne.

He bought himself a Nintendo DS game and some odds and ends. He also realized that $50 goes REALLY fast.

My favorite gift was the sheet set, duvet, dust ruffle that Mandi and Michael bought for me. Now I can sleep in a beautiful bed and have wonderful dreams. hehehe. I also love my pajamas from Mom and my tennis shoes from Grandma and I am getting great ideas for taking fantastic digital pictures from the book that Jessica and Matthew bought me. It is so hard when you get such great gifts.

Hayden and Ellie have yet to play with all their toys but we are sure working on it. Now.... where to put all their toys at....hmmmm

3 More Days to Christmas

The kids and I went around and looked at Christmas lights. There is a Lawn and Tree Care business that does a really good job decorating and this year the lights were in synch to the music on a local radio station. It was pretty cool.

Our next stop was at Caroler's Lane. It consists of three streets and each have a carol and beautifully decorated houses. They swap carols every year so that they don't have the same one. We drove through the streets with our car but one could take a hayride that drives pass the houses. It was too cold and we were not dressed for a hayride.

Our last stop was a house that was featured on the news. They have beautiful lights and they wanted to do more than offer pretty lights so they are collecting can foods for the local food harvest. Santa was there and I took a picture of the kids with him.

Ellie kept telling me, "I'm scared momma." Look at that little face. aaaahhhh

Here is part of the lights on "Santa's house"

We had fun with making holiday ornaments.

I did the painting and the glueing of the frame and the kids did the decorating. Hayden's star fell off.... going to have to re-glue it back on.

This next one is Ellie's and is a shooting star. She helped with with the glue and she sprinkled the goody stuff on it.

Both kids did a candy cane. I did the antlers and they each glued on the eyes and ears.

The Christmas tree was Ellie's craft and she helped with the glueing and the sprinkling of the paper ornaments. Doesn't it look beautiful.

We also did an edible christmas tree. We took one of the sugar cone ice cream cones and turned it upside down and frosted it with green frosting and sprinkled it with lots of sprinkles. I didn't get a picture of them before they were consumed. hehehe

The next two crafts are what Hayden did at school. They are spectacular.

The snowman lost part of his smile... I can see it in the bottom right hand side of picture. hahaha. Oooppss. I guess that means there is going to be more gluing. Hot glue is my friend. ;-)

Decorating the Christmas Tree

The kids decorated the Christmas tree all by themselves. I put on the lights and they did all the ornaments (except for maybe one or two).

Here is the finished tree:

and I had to try it without the flash. It is dark but it looks pretty.

I have their presents wrapped and under the Christmas tree and of course Hayden had to shake all of them to try to guess what they are. Only thing he cold tell was that some of them were books. It is going to be a great Christmas!!! Jessica and Matthew will be down but unfortunately Mandi and Michael won't make it. Mandi stated that she will be making good money working the holidays and that is always good.



It is looking like we won't have a white Christmas. Per The Weather Channel, our temperature is going to be high 40 degrees. We should be getting some more snow this weekend. Maybe I can get some good pictures of the snow to post. -- I am not trying to rub it in, Hershal. hehehe ;-)

Until next time......

Toodles

Busy Friday

I started off my day taking the TEAS (Test of Essential Academic Skills) test for my nursing application. It went pretty well. I received a 87.6% which puts me at 92 percentile national average but I know that I can get higher and will be taking it again on December 27th.

The nursing application it all about points. There are three different parts to the application with each part worth 10 points. For TEAS test portion you divide your score by 10; therefore, I have a 8.76 and with the nursing program when accepting applications they break your score down to the thousandths decimal point. Which means I have a lot of room for improvement. There were 3 out of 21 sections that I scored less then 80% and they were: Ratio and proportion (forgot some of my metric to english conversions), Data Interpretation (Jessica is going to bring her GRE book that has good examples I can study from), and Punctuation (My friend Heather has a book that will help me with that). I know I will do better the next time.

My afternoon was spent in mediation at the local dispute resolution center with my ex because there were things in our parenting plan that he didn't like. We had two mediators and the process took about 2 1/2 hours to hash things out and we both ended up compromising and meeting in the middle. The weird thing was when I telling the mediator at the end that since it is coming up on the 1 year anniversary of the finalization of divorce, it is getting easier to communicate the more time goes by. My ex started crying. His eyes were red and tears coming out of his eyes. I don't know what that was all about. The man has issues that he needs to get resolve before any of his future relationships can work. (I learned that in my class that I am taking. Resolve your baggage!) ;-)

Well, I need to go. Hayden is having Isiah spend the night tonight and need to get things ready.

Until next time...

O' Christmas Tree

This is the first year that I have put up a fake Christmas tree. I do enjoy the smell of the real one but with not having a truck or the money to get a real one, this is the next best option. Mom gave us her old Christmas tree last year because she had bought a new one. I made it a family event to put it up together and we had a blast.

even Ellie was putting on the branches

I gave Hayden the special task of putting the top of the tree on.

Here is the tree before I fluffed out the branches

Although a fake tree is not my first choice I do agree that it was more of a 'family' event putting the fake one together. I will be putting the lights on today and then we will have a decorating party on Friday. This year I am trying to make some family traditions that the kids and I will do every year.

I remember stringing popcorn and using it as garland for our Christmas tree when I was little and when my brother and I were older and living in S.C. I remember Dad reading the story of Jesus' birth from the bible. They are fond memories and I want my kids to have those kind of memories also.

What are some fond Christmas family traditions that you remember?

2007 Jingle Ball Making

We thoroughly enjoyed Jessica and Matthew's visit from Colorado during the Thanksgiving holiday. Jessica and I did our Third Annual Jingle Ball Making event. We usually do it during the Christmas break but since she is in Colorado and wouldn't be coming down to right before Christmas, we decided to do it during Thanksgiving weekend.



I almost ruined the balls this year. After we made the dough and refrigerated it Jessica was going to start rolling the dough into balls but the dough was still really soft. Then after going over the recipe.... I figured out that I put in TWICE as much butter then asked for. So we had to double the recipe. The batter not was able to fit in my Kitchen-Aid mixer bowl anymore. I found a bowl... but even that was a little small.

With all the Powered Sugar that was there.... it got quite messy, didn't it Jessica? ;-)



The kids wanted to help roll the dough once it was ready. Yes they did wash their hands first! hehehe

Ellie was more into making "snakes" than balls. Somehow how the "snakes" she made ended up in her mouth and not on the pan

Aunt Jessica was trying to help Ellie make a ball and I think Ellie enjoyed the 'rewards' of doing it her way.

We really had a blast and we hope that we can carry this tradition on for many years to come.

"Winter Festival"

Hayden had his "Winter Festival" last night at the local high school. He did a great job as you can see by the following pictures

With so many people wanting to be 'politically correct' and say "Happy Holidays," I am glad that the principal ended the program with "Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays."



Hayden had asked his Grandma Saunders to come and she was able to make it and took us out for ice cream afterwards. I was able to get a cute picture of them.

I was able to get a picture of Grandma Saunders and Ellie too but it took SEVERAL times because Ellie was being a stinker. I don't know where she gets that from. ;-)

Count Down Time

I am excited that I have completed my Anatomy and Physiology final today! Woohoo!!! At first I was worried because the first few questions I didn't know very well but as the test went on it became easier.

Christmas is going to be really fund this year. Ellie is going to LOVE her gift from me, mom, grandma, and aunt Leslie. Hayden and I are going to put it together Christmas Eve when she is at her dad's house so that on Christmas day it will be ready for her to play with.

Hayden is going to absolutely flip over the present that his aunt Mandi and uncle Mike got him. It will have to be the last gift he opens otherwise that is all he will want to play with... hehehe. I have been looking at the different games and accessories for the DS and I tell ya.... I am kinda wanting one also. There are a lot of Brain builders and one for left brain right brain and help you be ambidextrous. That would be cool. They even have the systems in pink. ;-)

I am off to get dinner ready and study for my Chemistry final that is on Thursday and then my TEAS test that is on Friday.

Toodles

I Love My Kids

Nothing is harder than being a mother but nothing has as many benefits either. It was a lot easier when it was just Hayden and I but life wouldn't be complete without Ellie! There are times when I wish that I have at least one more kid but that Hayden and Ellie could have more siblings but then have more than two would be CRAZY.

Hayden has been the best big brother ever and Ellie... well.... she is a good little sister. She tries to mother Hayden. It is so funny to watch this 2 1/2- year- old tell a 8-year-old what to do. Mandi was witness to it last time she was down. It is quite hilarious. She is going to be a great mother. It is already a big part of who she is now.

Hayden has a gentle old soul and will be a "momma's boy" for life. He has a deep spirtual connection that is unbelievable and he is the one that bugs me to go to church. I don't know too many kids that ask to go to church. God has some great plans for him.


Halloween was a blast. It was so nice to have Mandi down and to be able to visit. Hayden was spiderman and Ellie was a pirate. Mandi and I took them around the neighorhood. Here are some pictures.

School is still going good. So far I have a 3.3 out of Anatomy and Physiology and a 3.8 in Inorganic Chemistry. There are four more weeks left of school and then winter break. Woohoo!





It is off to cleaning I go...

Busy... Busy

I can't believe that it has been over a month since I have blogged.

School is keeping me busy but I am doing really great. I am catching on to Chemistry quicker than I though and A&P is pretty hard but it is good. My instructor doesn't test on 'regurgitation' but how well we know the stuff. The school that I am wanting to transfer to came and spoke to the class and basically stated that they not only look at the grades but who taught the class as well. I will be applying to two schools in January and hoped that I get into both and then I choose which one that I want to go to. (In a perfect world)

Kids are doing wonderful. They are growing up so fast. I haven't taken any recent pictures yet but will probably do so this weekend. Ellie is going to be a pirate for Halloween and Hayden will be Spiderman... again

Need to get to some studying done.... studying via osmosis doesn't quite work. ;-)

Ellie Belly

Ellie is growing up and her face is changing. It is becoming less baby-like. :-( I guess that is a part of life that you just have to accept whether you want to or not.



Here are some pictures that were taken on Sept 1st. We were playing around with her blanket. She is a happy girl.

This past weekend Ellie was at her dad's and he fell down some stairs face first. Poor baby girl!

All of the scabs have fallen off. It is now just a little red on her upper lip.

More pictures

I got more pictures from Jessica's wedding. They turned out pretty good.



I love this one of me and my siblings. Aren't we a good lookin' bunch?!?



Ellie looks so sweet in this pic. But we all know the true Ellie! hahaha



Here is Hayden. He is head of the elementary maffia. hehehe



Then there is me. enough said on that.

Side note: School starts on Monday! Woohoo!!!

Cereal Searching

Made a trip to the grocery store and Hayden wanted to get cereal. Of course he likes the commerialized sugar cereals that are attached to Saturday morning cartoons and PBS kid shows. Per the "Trim Kids" book, as long as the cereal has 3g of fiber per serving then it is okay for the kids to eat. Hayden was on the search for 3g and his favorite cereals were failing. Then he picked up "Choco Crunch" and exclaimed that it has 3g. I had to check for myself because I just couldn't believe that it would. Sure enough it does have the right amount of dietary fiber. It has a little green circle in the bottom right hand corner reading, "Smart Choices Made Easy". After that I notice the same symbol on several of the other Quaker Oat company cereal. The label means that the cereal is low in fat and a good source of fiber. I also bought more practical choices as in Kix, Cherrios, and Life Vanilla Yogurt Crunch which has 4g of fiber. Making the grocery store a learning enviroment and teaching Hayden about healthy eating is fun! Makes the trip a little longer but the long-term rewards will be amazing!

Beautiful Day!

Hayden had a great first day of school. He was excited that some of his friends are in his class. For a treat I bought him a basketball and we played outside when he got home. Trying to teach him not to slap the ball when bouncing is proving harder than I thought. hahaha.

Hayden wanted to ride his scooter around the block and Ellie wanted to ride her bike. So off we went.

It was a beautiful day and Ellie was doing a good job pedaling. The best I have seen her do!

She was even doing a good job going down the hill. I walked in front of her and stopped her a few times so that she didn't get too much momentum going. Once at the bottom of the hill she turn sharply at the same time I was giving her a nudge and she fell off. She got a little scrap but no blood. After that she didn't want to get on her bike at all. I carried it up the hill but felt that she should get on her bike and ride the straight-away to the house. She threw a TANTRUM. She was trying to convince me to carry the bike. I stood my ground and told her that she had to take her bike home. eventually I got her to get back on the bike...

...much to her disliking

The little jaunt that should of took us 2 minutes tops took us 15 minutes! But I didn't give in... and for that reason, I am proud. :-D