Seeing Newport Harbor Lights with Byron and Paula

Tonight we had a nice time with Byron and Paula, Paula' sister Rebecca and her friend Dave. Byron got a pizza, Paula brought drinks (including hot cocoa) and we brought cookies, peanut brittle dried fruit and nuts. Byron took us out on one of his company boats and it was really neat! Cole was a little anxious, because he is only used to going on boats in the summer and was not sure about the cold and being on water at the same time. We found the lights to be a little less than we have seen in the past, but it was still a lot of lights! You can see the most decked out of all the houses we saw! After the boat trip Byron told us about the Snoopy house in the area so we went to see that too! It is amazing!

They have been doing this for like 43 years ! Kaleigh and Cole had a blast! We took a lot of photos and hopefully I will get a couple from Rebecca since she took one of us all dancing like the Peanuts characters! The one of Byron and I is supposed to be us ice skating with Lucy and Charlie Brown but I guess they were directly behind us! My favorite shot is of Byron, Paula, Kaleigh and Cole at the fireplace warming their hands! It was a fun evening! Thank you so much to Byron and Paula!

Christmas Day 2009

Every Christmas Day for the last decade or so we have gone to Carl's sister's for Christmas Day. This is a good thing. I don't really have to do a whole lot and the kids get to play all day with their cousins both older and younger. The only drawback is that they are without their brand new toys. It didn't seem to matter a bit this year! We all had a great time eating, playing games or just visiting (especially with Craig and Lisa and 5 year old Will) with family that don't live close. Lot's of laughter and fun and A LOT of FOOD! A really good time to graze in the afternoon because we are so stuffed from the huge breakfast that we eat around 10-ish.

Of course, Kaleigh and Cole were up early and starting putting together legos and having a great time! They got ready after Carl and I got up and we quickly packed up our stuff to bring (juice and dried fruits and nuts) and headed out.

Scott and Michele always do a great job with breakfast with the help of Annette and George of course! Nothing was amiss! After breakfast we cleaned up and then it was time for more gift giving! The kids had a lot less than the night before, but they get it now. It used to be hard for them to understand that they already had their turn and others had more on that day, but they did great and got some nice things from their Aunts and Uncles!

The kids tend to dislike the whole photo taking part of the day, but I tell them some day they will appreciate it! Tyler (16) said, "I'm not even there yet". Haha.

So with photos taken and full bellies the kids just got to play all day! Towards the end of the day they played with the Witte kid's Rockband and had a blast playing with Uncle Craig singing! I am looking forward to that part of the game!

Christmas Eve 2009 - Part 2

So once everyone came in, we got ready to give Jesus our gifts. Cole read the Christmas story, a longer version than last year and Kaleigh played the flute. We have so many that celebrate with us we have condensed some of the traditions my family (there were only 5 of us) had when I was growing up. I am sure Tina keeps more of that sort of thing ; ).

Carl's Mom read a story that she received from a friend and it was very touching and worth listening to. Then since Cole is the youngest he starts and we all wait for him to open everything. Then it is Kaleigh's turn and so on.

After we all opened our gifts, including the Wii that we saved up for, the kids were starting to open things up when I decided to bring out the big surprise! Carl and I decided that since the Wii was really something the kids and I had saved for it was ok to get another big gift for a surprise! So for the Wii we got Rockband II! I think the photo speaks for itself, you just have to look at Cole's face! The Witte family had a good time too and so did Uncle Kenton who made some really yummy snowball cookies to share!

Carl's parents always make the night special with their help and love! So thank you to all the family for making Christmas a loving and fun time!

Christmas Eve 2009 Part 1

This Christmas was a little harried for me, usually I am well able to get everything ready and we are completely relaxed by Christmas Eve. Not to make it sound like it was a bad Christmas, on the contrary, we had a great Christmas, in Cole's words, "the best Christmas ever!". The main glitch was that on the Monday after Kaleigh's Birthday (her birthday was the 7th-but we celebrated the Sunday before on the 6th) Carl came down with the 24 hour flu! That is the day we usually reserve for buying the Christmas tree, getting down decorations and getting the house lights up. Well, since Carl was flat on his back and I don't really like doing the tree by myself, we ended up waiting until the next Monday to do everything. This one week set back started a domino effect of me being off on everything! But enough about that, on Christmas Eve day Carl had to work and we didn't really know what time he would be home and since his family was coming for dinner (Grandma and Carl work together to make Aebelskivers) we were trying to come up with a time that would work for everyone. We agreed on 4pm and so that morning I set to work cleaning the house. The kids were a bit tired from staying up a couple of nights a little later than usual, so were not too happy about helping me clean. Kaleigh especially, she actually had a bit of a poutfest and I sent her to her room! Cole was a little more industrious and helped out quite a bit. Later, after feeling sorry for herself and then later feeling just sorry, Kaleigh came out, and started helping by making the spinach dip and breaking up the bread to go with it. At about 2:00 I started wrapping presents. Yup. I hadn't even started yet! I was a little rushed and it didn't help that I was very clutzy so I cut myself on the wrapping paper and banged my knuckles a few too many times. Then people started coming and I was still in my grubbies so I quickly got dressed. Luckily, my children are good greeters! : )So everyone was there by 4pm (thankfully including Carl, he was able to leave work at 3:30pm) and Carl's Mom and he started the cookin'. Thankfully that was when I was able to make the cookie "Teller" (plates) for the Christmas Eve celebration! It was a lot of work but I was pretty relaxed by then and I was making good time! I had 13 plates to fill with cookies and chocolates! Then we all sat down to eat, gave thanks for the food and for our Savior, the reason for the season! We ate heartily and had some fine conversation! Once dinner was done, we did a little clean up and the guys and kids went for a drive to see the lights. At that point I did what I had to do to get ready for our celebration. We were ready pretty quickly and the group came back to a beautiful candlelit room with packages piled in each persons place. The plates of cookies are the place settings for where your presents are located.

Charlie and Friends

In my classroom we have a class pet. Not a real one of course, I do work with 4 year olds after all. So they get to take the class pet home for a week, and take care of him. Charlie is my class pet this year (far left). It is a huge thing for the kids in my class. They all can't wait to take Charlie home! Now to be fair, I take Charlie home for the Christmas vacation. The kids have all taken Charlie home and taken photos of him and them in different places. One even took Charlie to Disneyland! So for Christmas, I take photos of Charlie decorating the tree and playing with his other forest friends (photo). Kaleigh and Cole are really the ones who come up with the poses and they enjoy having Charlie at home. Charlie also takes a bath while he is home and gets nice and clean for the next round of kids. You would be surprised at how important it is to these kids to get Charlie! They ask every week, "is it my turn yet?" They learn patience and I basically let those take it first that are not asking. If they ask too often or they demand it, they go last. I have noticed that less and less are bugging me with the question when we get to the Charlie book. The book is one I wrote to go with the Chipmunk. I read it right before the next child takes Charlie home. It is a fun way for the kids to know who gets to take Charlie that day. Well, until Christmas is over, Charlie will be at our house. Merry Christmas Charlie!

Headache Journey Part 2

I went to the ENT doctor today...my appointment was for 4:15, I got there at around 3:50. I waited until 5:30 before I even made it into a room! The waiting room was full when I got there and I was the second to the last one in...sigh. Then, the doctor showed me the "slides" of my CT scan and other than a deviated septum, my sinuses are basically clear. So back to square one. He recommended a headache specialist (neurologist) in the area (actually he is just across a major street from this office) and ordered an MRI this time so I go in prepared with my sinus slides and I will have the MRI slides as well. That way I get it all in in one shot! Hopefully the office is not so crazy crowded like this one is! I have to make sure I leave enough time for waiting. I wonder if ENT doctors just have a lot of patients due to allergies and things vs the neurologist?
I hope that is the case, 'cause I don't want to wait around for 2 hours again!
So I am looking at either migraines that have somehow migrated to another part of my head...or something completely different. Hmmm....an adventure to be sure...well, not really. I just want my head to stop hurting!

Decorating Gingerbread Houses

So here is half my class and their gingerbread houses. The teachers all get together and we build them, amidst some mumbling because they are not that fun to make when you have to make 10 of them...on your own time...with graham crackers and royal icing...that we provide. Well, actually the parents provide the graham crackers and the candies for decorating, but we supply the icing. Every year we say, "no more!" this is way too much work! But every year we see the kids having a blast decorating them and we say, "well, I guess it wasn't that bad." So this year was no different and the kids had a blast as usual. This year however, I did notice more mouth stuffing of candy (especially the ones whose parents were NOT there). I controlled it somewhat but really the parents don't seem to mind that much, the kids are so proud of their creations, usually the parent is all, "wow, honey that is great! Good job!" So it makes it worthwhile to do it. Besides we decorate at the end of the school day so if they eat too much candy they are wired for mom and dad not me...muahahahaha!

My Headache Journey

My headache journey began in the spring as far as I can remember. I have always had trouble with headaches, but not like this. I used to get migraines until I talked to a doctor and found out that they were mostly hormonal. So I made some changes (nuff said) and the migraines migrated to about once every 3 months or so. But at the beginning of this year, I started noticing a different headache. Usually it happened when the weather changed drastically one day to another or in the same day. I have had problems with this before but it usually was a mild headache with other symptoms like congestion or itchy eyes. Santa Ana winds caused more congestion and other symptoms as well. But since spring, if this is allergy related it is presenting itself in a headache only. No other symptoms and most over the counter meds don't help. Since I do get migraines I have some prescription meds for those. Maxalt is wonderful! For my migraines it takes about 30 minutes and the migraine is eradicated! Not even a glimmer is left. So when I had this new headache I tried the Maxalt. It took part of it away to the point where I was pretty ok. The problem was I could still feel part of the headache hanging around. This has been going on since Spring or there abouts. When it first started I was not too concerned because I thought it would go away when summer hit...the severity wasn't horrible and I got maybe 1-3 a week. As time went on, they came and went and there were times I went a whole week without a headache! But just recently about the end of October, I started getting them more frequently and more severe. I believe November was the only time I had 3 days relief from headaches, otherwise they have been every day with varying severity. Today was especially bad and it takes a lot for me to write this. Not because the screen hurts my eyes, but because the pain is dulling my ability to think to type and to think in general. So last week I decided to go and see a friends ENT doctor. He prescribed flonase and augmentin. At first he was going to go with that for 3 weeks and then check back with me, but when I told him a little more about how the headaches are (bending down is bad, lying down worse, and so on) he decided to add the CT scan. I did that Tuesday and today I called the office back to find out when I can come in to check what the results were. So Monday I will go in again. Then if there is nothing there, I am back to square one. Eventually I hope to find out why the headaches are occuring and how I can get rid of them! I cannot go on much longer the way I have been. Kaleigh and Cole (bless their hearts) are tuned in to my headache moods now and act accordingly. Kaleigh tries to help more around the house and she keeps Cole from being too goofy where it might annoy. I have told them how much I love them and that I am sorry if I get angry over little things sometimes (here I am getting teary), because I can't stand being that way with them! But that is what constant pain does to a person. Sometimes I can hide it away, sometimes I just go into another room and cry a little, and that helps..a little. So I will post more about my journey...hopefully the journey to no pain will be a very very short one. A plan of action is what I need....something to give me hope that they will be gone soon...one can only pray at this point.

St. Nicklaus comes to our house too!

If you read Lee's blog, you will appreciate this.

Connor and Cole are cousins, they both celebrated St. Nicklaus Day and both wrote notes. Here is the one that Cole wrote. Last year, St. Nick brought Cole a little stuffed animal that Cole named Charlie. That is why he makes reference to him. Cole decided that St. Nick would be interested in something other than cookies this year and put out some of his Halloween candy. We put out cookies and milk for St. Nick and oats and water for his donkey. Cole is very concerned about how we put it out. For instance the couch was in front of the hearth and I had to move it or the donkey would not be able to reach his food and drink. At first we didn't have water out and Cole decided that the donkey would get thirsty so.... They put out their boots and even made name labels so that St. Nick would know which boot was which. Of course they were both Kaleigh's since Cole has no boots...no rain, no snow so....

They (meaning mostly Cole) couldn't wait to go to bed! They were both excited.

This morning when they got up, Cole found that St. Nick had written him back as well. Just a thank you and letting Cole know what a great job he was doing with all of his animals. Cole was very happy with the candies, but more happy with the "Santa Buddies" movie he got. Kaleigh received some Tomo books and together they received the latest M & M dispenser, a red m&m candy nutcracker. Fun : )

Kaleigh's Birthday with Family!


Next day! Sunday was our Family Birthday party for Kaleigh. We made lunch/dinner for Carl's family 17 people in all. Teriaki skewers with white rice and broccoli or green beans with Asian salad and BIG cookie and cream cheese pie for dessert! Kaleigh got some nice presents too! Carl, Cole and I gave her a lego set Toy Shop and a sports car. Omi gave her some cute American Girl craft stuff and a large tub of air dry clay! She will be using this on a diorama report for January, yay! She also received some adorable cupcake photo/place card holders from Aunt Lisa and Uncle Craig (and Will too!) Annette (Carl's mom) made a giant chocolate chip cookie and some super yummy cream cheese pies for everyone to enjoy! The cousins are all in the group photo. The older boys are Spencer and Tyler and they are true cousins. The little ones, Taryn and Trenton are Carl's cousin Tim's children. So second cousins? Something like that anyway. Everyone ate visited and had the usual good time. Now I have to make 30 big cookies for Kaleigh's class tomorrow! Sigh...

Kaleigh's Birthday with Friends!

Monday, December 7th is Kaleigh's 11th Birthday! So Saturday she celebrated with her friends and Sunday she celebrated with her family (more on that next post). So basically I stole Steve V's daughter Lauren's party idea and everyone had a blast...well, almost everyone. We started out with an American Girl craft as an ice breaker (lets wait for everyone to show up). For anyone around the age of 40 you may remember making bracelets out of gum wrappers, you fold the papers and make a zig zag patterned bracelet. The American Girl company put out a kit to make them with really cute paper. So the girls did that for about 40 minutes and I copied the instructions for them to finish at home. Then we walked to the Thrift store around the corner. It is only a block away so it took us all of about 5 minutes to walk there. Then I gave each of the girls $10.00 (looking back $7 would have been better) to find an outfit. They ran off to look except for one. She stuck by me due to the fact that she is not part of Kaleigh's school friends and was a little lost shopping. I don't think she has ever been given free reign in a clothing store! It took a while for us to help her find something. After the thrift store we picked up Pizza and went back to the house. The girls had Pizza and talked a bit, then it was time for the fashion show... as you can see, I taped lights to the floor to make a runway and the girls loved it! We had 4 models while 4 watched, and then they switched. You can see the groups that posed together and one of Kaleigh with her "Scream" shirt. Anyone who has ever seen Michael Jackson's "Scream" video with his sister, Janet, will recognize the shirt. This was hilarious since the runway walking music was all MJ! After the fashion show the girls had Chocolate Fondue with a bunch of different yummy things. I don't know that I would do that one again, it was a lot of work and very messy. I wouldn't have thought 11 year old girls could be that messy! But I think all the girls had a good time!

2 girls had to leave then and Kaleigh then opened her gifts and the rest got picked up or taken home at that time. I was exhausted, but it was worth it...I think. : )

Dad & Me Fishing!

Kaleigh and her dad went fishing with Girl Scouts a couple weeks ago and they had a great time! No fish were caught but it was all about Daddy and Daughter time. Carl was actually pretty impressed with Kaleigh's casting. She did very well her first time. I think for Kaleigh it was all about being with her dad! Cole was extremely happy that they didn't catch anything, because Kaleigh threatened him with fish for dinner!

I have a very bad feeling....
Ok, so this time of year I start some shopping...not really Christmas presents but there are a few items I need for Christmas Eve that I can only get at one place (unless I want to pay an arm and a leg for them). I am talking about my German Christmas "stuff". Tina will know what I am talking about. Lebkuchen-both Contessa and Bretzeln, chocolates and chocolate ornaments, etc. The place I buy them? Cost Plus World Market. They are much less expensive there than most European Deli's or Bakeries. Yes, they are imported from Germany and are Delicious!! So, here is the problem. Yesterday I went to Cost Plus and only found a small percentage of the usual supplies. I asked around because it seemed like a lot of just a few things. A certain type of cookie, a few chocolates, but the selection was about 1/4th what they usually have! I decided to ask someone if there would be more coming. Once I found someone, they didn't really know. I asked if they could find out. The person said they would check with the person who unpacks the stuff. He came back with "Well, there might be more coming, you should check back in a week or so." So I will check back in a few days to a week. I can't wait too long or else if they do get more in, it goes really fast! So I will have to make it a point to check again. Yes, I know it is early but the last time I went in early December, everything was gone! So, we shall see if there is now limitations on what can be imported or if I was just a little too early.

Silent Auction 13th year!

Well, today was our 13th annual Silent Auction! We don't always have too many people, this year was about 45 of us. You wouldn't really know it by how many items are donated and how much we end up making! I believe our total this year came to $1, 867.00! Now for 45 people to put out that much money is...well...wonderful! 100% of our proceeds go to Missionaries, mostly dealing with orphans or just poverty stricken areas. I was a little discouraged last year and there were a few who thought maybe it was time to give it a rest for a year or so. This afternoon, however, made me more eager again for next year! I love doing it and making things! So, if it is only up to me to do...I may have to bow out for a year...but with help I am willing to go as long as people come and give.

One lady came for a visit from Arizona just for the auction! I was also pleased to have Kaleigh's two best friends and their moms come! Kaleigh and her friends are in the photo above. They had a blast trying to outbid people! They are growing up! So I was encouraged! I always get my teacher gifts at the auction. This year I got a homemade soup mix in a jar with Cornbread mix and honey, all wrapped nicely together! I also got some fudge for Kaleigh's math teacher. For myself, I bought a beautiful Thomas Kinkade St. Nikolaus ornament. The last thing was a couple of crocheted dish cloths, I like those cause I can throw them in the wash.

Ewww, Jack O Lanterns on November 6th, after a few warm days!

Actually....nuff said.

Halloween Night 2009!

Ok, so the pumpkin on the lace is our Bob the Tomato pumpkin (Cole's choice) from Veggie Tales. The pumpkin between the grave stones was the wild and goofy pumpkin (Kaleigh's choice). The shot of them both together (kind of dark) you can see the moon above Cole's hand, totally cool! As you can see and if you remember, Kaleigh was a mime again. Cole decided to go with Rock Star this year, but didn't get as many comments as Kaleigh did, so was a little disappointed. They love to hear the people comment about their costumes. I tell them the more they put into them the more people will comment. He was a bit lazy in his costume, he didn't want the tattoos or any of the other extras. he didn't even wear his glasses most of the trick or treating time. So a lot of people didn't even know what he was. Although it was a lot more than some. We tend to have a lot of families that come from other neighborhoods into ours and half the time the kids (even the little ones) aren't even in costumes! They come with plastic grocery bags and don't speak English.

Ah well, such is life. We still give them candy. Sometimes I buy the little pretzel bags at Costco and give those out to kids that don't wear a costume, but they aren't cheap either! Well, it is now 9:15 and their have been a couple of knocks at the door even though our light has been out for more than an hour! Get a clue people! So all in all a good Halloween! Hope everyone elses was Happy too! Boo!

H1N1 Vaccinate or Not?

Ok, I have been struggling with this for about a week. Normally, I don't like watching the news because it depresses me and I have enough to worry about in my own world of school, family and money. So, the other night Carl and I are watching the news, not by my choice of course, and they are talking about 4 hour lines waiting for the vaccine. I don't like flu shots and I and my family have very rarely gotten the flu. Allergy problems yes, head colds, definitely, not too many fevers or stomache bugs. I have a nervous stomache but that is totally different! : P
So, my dilemma. Do I get my children vaccinated or not? I will not get a flu shot. I am not in the dangerous age nor do I really want to do this. I am a wuss and proud of it. If I get ill, I get ill. I will see a doctor if it is worse than a usual illness. That is my stand. You may bash me for this, whatever. I am however, grateful for any and all advise concerning my kids. I have about 50% of my friends and co w0rkers that say no, they will not do it, and about 30% say yes. The other 20% is undecided like me. Give it your best arguement! Yes or no.

Kaleigh learned to knit today...American Style!

Ok, so I am a teacher that cannot teach my own kids! At least not outside of mother-type teaching. I tried to teach Kaleigh how to knit European style, but we both got a bit frustrated. I don't really give steps, I just expect her to watch me and learn. I know, I know, not the way to teach! Oh well.

So at her Girl Scout meeting, they had a lady from a local craft store teach the girls to knit. She was a little rough around the edges, partially deaf and in a wheelchair, but Kaleigh took to her teaching style right away! The lady was pretty impressed with Kaleigh too! What can I say, Kaleigh is a people person, no matter what type of person she comes in contact with! Some of the girls (and the mom's too) were a little intimidated by the lady. Like I said, she was a little rough around the edges (she spoke very loudly due to her partial deafness) so when she would correct someone, she would say, "NO, NO LET GO! And some of the girls were a little scared. One of the mom's told me later that she turned all red in the face because the lady yelled at her! But all in all it was really fun for all the girls! The Girl Scouts by the way, are learning to knit so they can make baby blankets for the preemie babies at the local hospitals! That is a service project that they will earn a badge for! yay!

Kaleigh playing the Flute!

Hey, I did it! So here is a sample of Kaleigh's flute playing! Some sounds are clearer and some are a little breathy. She is doing pretty well, considering she has never played any instrument before! Today was another practice and I must say that the woodwinds sounded a little better than the brass! : )

Enjoy!

Kaleigh playing her flute.

Ok, right here is where the video should be. I am extremely frustrated, because I HAVE done this before and it worked! For some reason it is not working now.

The video is 56 mb and I don't think that is too too big, so I tried again and again but no go. So unless someone can tell me how to do this and get our little 30 second video posted, you will just have to imagine how Kaleigh sounds playing the flute!

Aaarrgghh

Mickey's Trick or Treat Party - Celebrating Halloween a Bit Early!

So this year again, we decided to go to DCA (Disney's California Adventure) park, for the special Halloween party they do each year. This year we went with a different group. Kaleigh's friend, Grace, her mom and her little sister. It was fun, but the sister dragged us down a bit. We tend to move pretty quick since we only have 4 hours to get everything done. It was still fun and the kids got quite a bit of candy. You get to go on all the rides and go trick or treating too! As you can probably tell, Kaleigh and Cole were rockers, (as was I) and the other group were 60's. It was fun, but I don't know if we will do it again next year. It wasn't as crowded in past years and it seems to be getting more and more each year.

Well, at least I got a whole bowl of candy out of it to give out on Halloween! Mostly things like Smarties and Starburst and Lemonheads. But enough to fill a bowl! Cool, less buying of candy this year!