Glaser Family

CHA Goodness

2010-02-19T09:22:00.001-08:00

I have been dying to post some of my favorite pictures from CHA.

These two projects would make cute gifts for those special girls/women in your lives. Mother's Day is just around the corner. Why not start now?

This project is so simple! All you need is a frame, two pieces of scrapbook paper and white buttons you have laying around. Anyone can make this. It is so cute!

This next project was so clever. They used green straws and die cut flowers. The saying "Girls are the nicest things that happen to people", can be changed to sisters or mothers. Just print the saying on your computer and circle cut it.

If you dare not try the paper holder, just purchase a cute flower pot and fill with crinkle paper. Darling!

More fun to come.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-13T21:15:00.003-08:00

We celebrated Valentine's a day early since I have to work tomorrow.

It was so fun!

Can you tell I love this holiday???

My house has been decorated for a month.

I have been staring at these items forever and could not wait to use them!

I was giddy with excitement this morning.

We started the morning with pink chocolate chip pancakes.
Wheehhh they were very sweet!

I think they were more fun to cook then to eat.

I did not make any lunch. We went to a super fun pink dinasour party.

We had a blast until Brendan got his finger caught in our car door.

Poor boy!

We headed to urgent care. It was closed.

Went home and B played xbox...he was fine!

Thank the Lord for that!

We came home and Brian grilled steaks.

Brian made garlic potatos, asparagus & garlic bread.

It is our traditional Valentine's Day dinner. mmmmm!

I then stepped in and made this beauty....is your mouth just watering or what?

Topped off with ice cream...mmmmm!

My boys were reluctant to take a picture.

This was the best I could get.

Aren't they so cute?

I then made some cupcakes for the hospital tomorrow.
I am in love with these sprinkles from Wilton. Adorable!

I also made jello jigglers.

First time making these.

Brendan wanted them so bad.

We ended the night with lots of hugs, kisses and cuddles.

Enough to help me make it through my first twelve hour shift tomorrow.

Wish me luck!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

XOXO

Happy Valentine

2010-02-13T21:15:00.001-08:00

Bring on some love...

2010-02-10T19:05:00.001-08:00

Brendan's Valentines ...check.

Teacher's gift...check.

(By the way it is a super cute mug with a chalkboard apple on the front that you can write on. It was courtesy of Target. I am in love with this mug!)

Oranges slices for Brendan's party tomorrow...check.

I am so excited for Brendan. I have such great memories of my school Valentine's parties. Do you remember those times?

Making a big red paper heart to hold our cards

(with white heart doilies glued on outside)

Eating so many sweets, our tummies would be sore.

Going through each of the boy's Valentines' to see if they wrote anything special.

Such fun memories! I hope this week is filled with many "love-ly" memories.

Monday...

2010-02-08T21:57:00.000-08:00

I was having a hard time leaving Brendan today.

I was very sad until I arrived at class and realized what our study subject was.

Pressure ulcers

If you are ever having a bad day or you want to take your mind off of your current situation, just google pictures of stage III and stage IV pressure ulcers.

Enough said...life is good.

In case you were wondering...

2010-02-06T09:13:00.001-08:00

I made it through my first week of work! I wasn't sure how the transition was going to be. This new schedule will definitely take some getting used to. For the most part, everything went smoothly.

It was an exciting week. I got to wear scrubs everyday (which feel like comfy pajamas! Now, who wouldn't want to wear those all day?)

I also received my new badge that has my new title..."RN". I felt so proud to FINALLY call myself a real RN! I have run across many student nurses and feel so grateful to not be in that position anymore.

I have received many questions on my new job. So, I will post them here.

My new title: RN on an orthopedic unit. 10th floor to be exact with an AMAZING view of Newport Beach! That is a nice perk.

I will mainly be taking care of post op patients with total joint replacements. As this was not my first choice of jobs, I am very grateful to have found a job 7 months out of nursing school. In this economy, many students are not getting jobs. (and NO, there is not a nursing shortage!) If I could only have one dollar for every time I have heard this, I wouldn't need to go to work! ha

What did you learn on your first week of training? Didn't you learn everything in the two years of school? Each hospital has a different standard of care and practice. As a new RN, you have to complete many competencies in order to step on the floor for the first time. So, the nursing staff from various departments come to our class room and teach us the standards of care. We then partake in a short test following each lecture, followed by a competency. You get signed off and you are set to go.

Examples of these: IV starts, IV pumps and therapy. PICC, Central, Midlines. Chest tubes and Tracheostomies. Procedures...there are hundreds! I won't venture to go there but an example would be a coding patient or calling the rapid response team if your patient is not looking so well. There is also medication administration, orders, computer chart training, doctor's orders, receiving and discharging patients (hours in front of the computer!) Phew...I am tired just reading this...and this is not even 1/100th of the things we reviewed this week. My brain is busting at the seams! I have paperwork everywhere!

So that is my week in a nutshell. I will definitely be posting more as the days go by.

I will be spending today cuddling with my family and loving on them. I have really missed them this week to say the least. This is the sad part of being a grown up. Not being able to stay home and have play dates anymore.

Miss you all! Hope I answered a few of your questions without boring you to death!

I am back...for now...

2010-01-29T20:50:00.000-08:00

Ok, my little construction project is taking a bit longer than anticipated. I realized that I have missed blogging. So, I am back...for now.

How can I not blog during my favorite season...Valentine's Day!!! I am a sucker for romance and I love LOVE! Too bad I married to most un-romantic man alive (however, he makes up for it 1,000 different ways...still love you hunny!)

If you have not heard the good news...I WAS OFFERED A JOB! I was officially offered an RN job at a very nice hospital. I put in my notice at the scrapbooking store and tomorrow night is my last crop. 6pm-midnight. Call Timeless Treasures to reserve your spot. It will be fun! Hope to see you!

Under Construction!

2010-01-16T12:27:00.001-08:00

My little blog is under construction.

Please check back soon.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T17:10:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

May the Lord bless you and your family as we celebrate His birth!

Love you all!

Amazing!

2009-12-15T01:26:00.000-08:00

Amazing what can happen when people get together for a good cause...

http://mycharitywater.org/p/campaign?campaign_id=1929

It starts today!

2009-12-14T10:37:00.000-08:00

http://project320.blogspot.com/

Check it out. You don't want to miss any of this week's giveaways!!

Is it really true?

2009-12-07T15:39:00.000-08:00

It is!!!
It is raining in Southern California!

After much cuddling, warm oatmeal and coffee,

I took the opportunity to go jump in some puddles with my cutie pie.

(prob not the best idea when you have the flu...I just couldn't resist!)

I am loving Brendan's new hat and $5.00 shirt from Kohls!

I love black Friday.

Boutique this Sunday

2009-12-04T07:52:00.000-08:00

It is our last boutique of the season.

This was my first year boutiquing.

A bit stressful, but overall it is super fun!

Mariners Church in Irvine

Sunday from 4-8pm .

It is their tree lighting service.

Here are pictures of our little booth in all it's glory.

Come and say hi to us.

Project 320

2009-12-02T09:02:00.000-08:00

I am so excited to be part of project 320 this year.

There are still some volunteers needed.

Follow this link and let's change some lives this Christmas!

Inspiration

2009-11-24T13:11:00.001-08:00

I ran across this verse today and would love to share it with you.

"For the Lord God is a sun and a shield;

The Lord gives grace and glory.

No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly." PS 84:11

Memorize it

Meditate on it

Claim it by faith

Live it!

What an awesome God we serve.

May the Lord bless you today.

Date Night

2009-11-20T16:05:00.000-08:00

I had a super fun date night!!

It included 9 super fun girls

2 hunky men

(one vampire and one wolf)

One embarrassing post

(I feel like I am 13 again)

I am in love with this movie!

I am such a sucker for romance!

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T23:26:00.000-08:00

We had a very fun Halloween. Brendan could not contain his excitement.

He was a wild boy.

He outran us all.

We came in at 9pm.

He still wanted to trick or treat.

That is my crazy little boy. He loves his friends just like his mom.

Brendan was ecstatic that there were other Star Wars costumes. Abby had that pose down. What a cutie!

Look at all these adorable little ones.

Here was Brendan's favorite candy. We let him have it...it had an oozy white center...sick! He loved it.

Brian and I snuck in a few pieces ourselves...actually a lot of pieces!!

Back to boot camp and eating healthy today.

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day

2009-10-16T11:08:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.

It is such an important day for our family as we have 3 little boys in heaven.

They changed my life completely.

Made me the mother I am today.

I am so grateful for their little lives.

Over the weekend, I hosted a scrapbooking booth and the donations are going to help perinatal loss programs throughout our county.

It is such an amazing walk. I feel such comfort being around all these people.

They are family.

I look into their eyes and know exactly how they feel. I feel their heartbreak.

I am so grateful to have hope in my life.

The Lord was so graceful to honor my heart's desire.

I am so in love with this miracle!

I love fall!!

2009-10-12T09:01:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin patches, warm cobbler, a piping hot cup of coffee snuggled with a book...I love it all!

Here is one of our favorite things to do during the fall season. Tanaka farms. We have gone two times already this month.

Here are my two cuties on the tractor ride. The tractor takes you throughout the farm to the petting zoo, pumpkin patch and you even stop to see a pumpkin launcher fling a pumpkin across the farm. We stopped to pick some carrots and onions. That was Brendan's favorite part.

My brother and sister in law came with us. Super fun! Here we are at the corn maze...not so fun. I walked in 6 circles trying to get out!

I love taking pictures with the pumpkins. Such a beautiful background.

It is supposed to rain tomorrow. I cannot wait! Happy fall!

October Card Swap

2009-10-06T21:52:00.001-07:00

A group of friends and I started a card swap last month. I was worried it wouldn't take off, however it has been a success...and so much fun!

This month's challenge was Orange & Black. It could be any type of card, it just had to be these colors.

Look at these amazing cards!!!

Below is my card. I designed it for a child to receive for halloween.

I was drawn to the idea from a treat bag I saw in a magazine made entirely of crepe streamer paper. So, I modified it and made it into a card. I cut each piece of streamer and wrapped his face to look like a mummy. I tucked in some black dots for eyes. I think they turned out so darling!

Happy Halloween!

In just a few days...

2009-09-30T19:32:00.001-07:00

In just a few days my little boy will be 4 years old.

It feels just like yesterday that he was this small.

Where does the time go? This was my 5lb little bean in the NICU right after he was born.

I cannot wait to celebrate my little miracle!

So lucky!

2009-09-27T19:02:00.000-07:00

As I lay here with the stomach flu, my sweet husband has waited on me hand and foot for two days. He even took Brendan to Disneyland today so I could rest.

What did I do to get such an amazing husband?

I love you hunny! Thank you for being so wonderful!

Can you say...obsessed?

2009-09-25T09:28:00.000-07:00

On Brendan's first day of preschool, there was a sign on the door that said,

"My favorite thing at preschool today"

Some of the responses were,

playing on swings

singing songs

playing playdoh

playing with my friends

And then there was Brendan's response:

"Playing Star Wars!".

Then, Brian and I were practicing letters and coloring with Brendan.

Brendan decided to draw a family portrait.

Let me give you the tour of this picture:

1. Mommy with lots of hair

2. Daddy with not so much hair

3. Brendan with his Darth Mal light saber.

This little boy keeps us laughing!

We love you even though you are heading toward oober nerdness! ha!

BOO

2009-09-23T19:07:00.000-07:00

Time to start decorating for the holidays.

Don't miss my class at Timeless Treasures

Tues, Sept 29th.
6-8pm
$15.00
So fun!

For all my out of towners, there are kits available to make this project at home.

Just shoot me an email and I can send it off asap.

This is a beginner level project.

Very easy to complete in less than one hour.

I promise!

Now if only the weather would cooperate and cool down a bit so we could enjoy fall!

First day of preschool

2009-09-17T10:21:00.001-07:00

I cannot believe the time has come to send my little man to preschool.

I am so proud of you Brendan. You make me smile and laugh everyday. Our home is filled with so much love because of you. Have fun at school my sweet boy!

Another treat is that Brendan's best friend Hunter is in his class. It just seems like yesterday Becky and I were pregnant.

Now look at our two handsome boys.

Watch out ladies. :)

Heaven on earth!

2009-09-12T00:07:00.000-07:00

If I ever get married again (which I hope I never will!), I will for sure scrap the wedding cake for these delicious creations.

I came across this awesome blog and found inspiration for some future parties. As I was checking out the "do it yourself" tab, I ran across these scrumptious pictures...(get ready for your mouth to water!)

1. Not a big fan of yellow...it is now my fav color!

2. My dream house has a window like this so I can grab goodies whenever I wish!

3. This one even includes a cute waiter.

4. This next one is my personal favorite. How can you not smile while looking at this picture? I am seriously dying right now!

I will be having some sweet dreams tonight!!

She's in labor!

2009-08-26T23:12:00.001-07:00

So I just got the great news that our sweet friend is in labor. I am so excited to meet her precious little girl.

Check out these adorable shower invites we made. Love them! The title reads "She's about to pop!" and we threw her a lollipop themed shower.

And speaking about her shower, it was one of the best showers ever! All the guests pithced in $15.00 and we all got together here to make her 19 meals and sides. Her freezer is stocked full of super awesome dinners! The best part for us hostesses was that we did not have to clean anything and the lovely owners made the appetizers for us. I highly recommend this idea for a future shower. It was truly AWESOME!

Congratulations Carolyn!

For all those non-creative souls

2009-08-19T10:42:00.001-07:00

I know that all people have a creative side. I don't believe you when you say "I am not creative!"

So, here is a super cute beginners project.

Purchase a journal or notepad. You can find them at Michaels or Target. They have super cute ones like this one. Purchase 5-10 different ribbon styles that match the journal cover. Cut each piece approx 2-3" long. Tie them on each of the binder rings.

Now, how simple and how CUTE is that???? What a fun, inexpensive, CREATIVE gift idea!!!

Recycle Challenge

2009-08-11T00:46:00.000-07:00

Pebbles has a very fun recycle challenge going on right now.

It inspired me to showcase this little boy book. I was looking for some fun texture to add to the cover. As I sat back in my chair drinking my ever so loved Starbucks coffee, a little idea came to mind. I took the sleeve off of my coffee cup, flipped it inside out and viola! Out came some cute little circles to enhance my flowers.

If you are anything like me (which I know you are!), you may have a few of these sleeves laying around.

So...what do you have laying around that you can recycle?

Have fun with this challenge!

Happy

2009-08-06T21:41:00.001-07:00

Now that school is over, I need to re-create the night I sat up making all these cards.
This picture makes me very happy! I love stamping cards!!

Anyone up for a late night card making night?

Reminiscing

2009-08-06T19:54:00.001-07:00

Just going through old pictures and ran across one of my pregnancy mini albums. It brought back such wonderful memories of my pregnancy with Brendan.

I journaled about the day we found out we were pregnant. I included a picture for each month I was pregnant followed by little details of each month and each of my cravings. Finally, I wrote a little letter to Brendan in a mini file folder and wrote some of the things I cherished about him.

I ended this book with one of my favorite pictures of when he was born and his statistics.

I am so grateful to spend every single day with this little miracle that is my son. I cannot believe my little baby is going to be 4 years old in a few months! Where does the time go?

So lovely

2009-08-02T15:59:00.000-07:00

I had a surprise visit from a sweet neighbor of mine this morning. She came to show me the final announcement that I helped her work on a few months ago.

Didn't they turn out just so lovely??? What a cutie pie. Congratulations!! He is a doll!!

80 years young

2009-08-01T21:48:00.000-07:00

What a joy it was to celebrate my uncle Hugo's 80th birthday. I had the priviledge to put together a book for him, requested by my family. This book consisted of all the kids/grandkids writing a letter/wish for my uncle and combining it with their pictures.

This project was so fun and it was so was so heartfelt. This man is so loved by his family and he sets a great example to me.

This book is a simple scrapbook using chipboard as the pages and binding it with 3 rings. I copied each letter in the same font, printed it on sand colored paper and chose coordinating background pages so that the book looked uniform. I had to make it simple as I was very delayed in getting the letters. I was literally scrapbooking the final pictures/letters on my way to the party on the 405 fwy :) Good thing it took us an hour and a half to get there!

What a handsome man!

We love you Tio Hugo! Thanks for letting me be part of this special celebration!!

In love!!

2009-07-30T17:03:00.000-07:00

I am so in love with this layout.
I want these colors all over my house.
They make me smile.

Or....

2009-07-28T18:01:00.000-07:00

As I was looking for ideas for Brendan's birthday cake, I have found yet another AMAZING cake!!! You can find the tutorial here: Rainbow

I really need to stop looking for cake ideas while I am trying to lose weight at boot camp.

Why can't vegetables look this appealing???

Lazy Summer Days

2009-07-26T17:36:00.000-07:00

My hubby gave me the day off and I spent the WHOLE day scrapbooking. It made my heart so happy!! Long gone are the days of studying for nursing school...yipppeee!

Here is my favorite piece today. It is a Bo Bunny beach book covered with their Mango Luau line. I am IN LOVE with the colors!! It was such a fun project to make.

In case you cannot see it, here is the book on a blue background.

LOVE IT!!!

Whoever thought of this...

2009-07-23T19:53:00.000-07:00

Whoever thought of this cake is a genious!

What a fun idea!

I may be attempting this for Brendan's birthday.

Fun with scraps

2009-07-22T10:53:00.000-07:00

It was 1am...
I was bored...
There is nothing on TV...
Or Tivo that I had not seen 100 times...

So I pulled out 5 items and some scraps, and made a few 3x3 mini cards for my friends.

This is one of my favorite stamp sets. It is so fun to create with this!

I cannot live without my punches. They make creating so easy!

This is one of the new punches from Stampin Up and of course, one of my fav colors...Pumpkin Pie. I adore this color!!

And here they are. It was a fun, cute little project that got rid of my scraps that have been sitting on my craft table.

I am LOVING having free time that is not taken up by studying!!!

RIP

2009-07-21T11:00:00.000-07:00

It was a very sad day last Sunday in the Glaser household.

Our beloved coffee maker brewed its last cup of coffee.

So long dear friend.

I could not have made it through nursing school without you. You were there for me when my son would not sleep through the night. You were a party animal and attended all our fun get togethers. And lastly you comforted my husband on Sunday morning while I slept in.

You were loved.
May you RIP in coffee heaven.
You were a good machine!

I love summer!

2009-07-20T22:25:00.000-07:00

I love lazy summer nights with friends and family.

The kids played in the water, we bbqed hamburgers, ate ice cream and cuddled up for a movie night.

Cheers!

Cuties all bundled up ready for movie night.

The kids got too squirmy and we all ended up on one couch. So comfy!

Is there anything better than this?

What are you favorite things to do in summer?

All I wanted...

2009-07-07T20:47:00.000-07:00

All I wanted was a picture of my son, celebrating the 4th of July with a flag.

Was that too much to ask?

Here is what I got:

Flag over his face...

Flag in his ear...

Flag in his toes (pretty talented I must admit!)...

Flag down the shirt...

I didn't get the perfect picture, however, I did get a lot of laughs. My little clown!!

Yum!

2009-06-30T17:15:00.000-07:00

So I have to admit, gardening is not as easy as I thought it was going to be. So far, my little garden has been ravished by bugs, fungus and the sun! My balcony gets so hot that it has burned a lot of my leaves. I have already thrown out three of my pots.

In the midst of my sadness, I have had one plant flourish...my tomatoes!!! These cute little tomatoes must love living on the sun because they are growing like crazy.

Look at our first pickings...

There were 6 total so far, so that makes each tomato worth $18.00 when you take how much I invested in my little organic garden.

Let me know if anyone would like to buy a tomato...that is a steal!! :)

Fun favors

2009-06-08T16:24:00.001-07:00

Every party that we throw, we try to come up with some fun favors for our guests. I have to show you some pics of some brilliant ones that were created at our last two parties.

The Pink Apron Sister threw a surprise party for our friend Becky. She LOVES cowboy music.

We created a cd with Beck's favorite country music songs. Using the die cut at Timeless and some cute cowgirl paper, these turned out so cute! These can be made for any party.

Then, for my surprise party...look what my friends made. SO CUTE!! These are cd sleeves that you can purchase at any computer store, decorated with some super fun labels purchased on Etsy. Brilliant! And they used my two fav colors...turquoise and orange.

These make me so happy!!

Fun bag

2009-06-05T09:44:00.000-07:00

Loving this bag...buy why so expensive?

Fun bag

Also for some fun news...I have an interview in the operating room. I am so excited!

Vegas Baby!

2009-06-01T20:33:00.000-07:00

Three days/two nights

No kids

Doing whatever we wanted

Fun friends

A few embarrassing outfits

(My friends know how much I love wearing matching clothes...not!)

Laying out for the first time in 4 years! Glorious!!

Staying up until 6am having fun. (There are some crazy people around at 4am!)

Loving my friends for planning a super fun trip for me for my graduation!!

Thanks guys! Can't wait until next years trip!!!

Memorial Day Sleepover

2009-05-28T22:00:00.001-07:00

Brendan and I gave Brian a much deserved night of uninterrupted sleep.

Great food, great friends and fun movies!

So fun!!

Cannot wait to have another sleep over real soon!

Truck Skateboard

2009-05-26T06:36:00.001-07:00

Lord keep this little one safe...please!

He is giving mommy some gray hairs already.

Two years...

2009-05-20T09:42:00.000-07:00

Two years of nursing school and all I got was this pin. J/k. I am very proud to graduate from Saddleback.

I will post some graduation pics later. I am still getting them by email.

The Lord is Good!

2009-05-18T22:18:00.000-07:00

When I was going through the losses of my three baby boys, I felt like life could not get any worse. It felt like life was not worth living. My heart physically hurt.

It was the middle of the night, I was sitting on the couch, (balling my eyes out!) and pretty much could not take life anymore. It was at that moment that;

I had no idea what to do.

No idea what to think,

No idea how to feel.

All I felt was sadness and lonliness.

It was at that moment that I gave up full control of life, and let God take control. I won't go into details, however, the Lord changed my life that week.

I never knew why God had allowed my sweet little boys to go to heaven, however, I was reminded of his promise with this verse.

For you know the plans you have for me Lord. Plans to prosper me and not to harm me, plans to give me hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

I am proud to announce that today is the day I am graduating from nursing school. I never in a million years thought that medicine was for me, however, I grew to love it with every visit to the hospital I had. The nurses I had were so sweet and I still remember their names. They treated my boys with the utmost respect.

In 2003, if someone would have told me that I was going to become a nurse, I would have not believed them. 7 years later and I can look back and know...God is good! He had a plan and knew what He was doing. How could I ever doubt His greatness?

On this day of graduation, I want to thank all of my friends and family. I could not have made it without all of you. You were my cheerleaders, babysitters, therapists, and my inspiration to make it through one of the hardest challenges of my life.

Thank you Lord for your promise! I will take what you have laid before me and use it for Your good.

Here is my graduating class and the wonderful men/women who may take care of you one day in the future.

We made it!!!

Where does the time go?

2009-05-14T09:24:00.000-07:00

I have been such a bad blogger. So much is going on right now. With Mother's Day this past weekend and my graduation quickly approaching, life has been busy.

Brian planned the most beautiful day at the beach for Mother's Day. It just seemed like yesterday that we took Brendan there for his first visit. It is amazing how fast time goes by. I am trying to cherish each and every day!

Here is Brendan on his first visit to the beach.

Here he is on Mother's Day. Look at my little man...so cute!

An amazing celebration

2009-05-04T23:53:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday, I had the pleasure of celebrating my uncle's 80th birthday.

My tio Hugo is my mother's brother. Some of you reading do not know me well and do not know that my mother passed away when I was 15 years old. It was one of the worst days in my life and I will never forget that day that I lost my beautiful mother.

On the day she passed, my uncle promised my mom that he would take care of my brother and I. Well he has kept that promise for 17 years and I am so grateful to have him in my life.

This man has played such an amazing role in my life. He is the rock of our family and loves his family more than anything in this world. He has been there in good times and bad, he has been one of my biggest chearleaders and he is always there when I call him. Words cannot describe this amazing man.

As a special surprise, I asked all the kids/grandkids to write a letter to Hugo and send a picture. The book came out very nice considering I started at 10pm the night before the party. My computer connection is so slow right now so I will only post one pic of my sweet uncle and aunt. I will post some pics of the book tomorrow.

Thank you Tio for being such an amazing uncle and for always taking care of my brother and I. I love you dearly and you will always hold a big place in my heart. Feliz Cumpleanos!

Family Hike

2009-04-26T10:04:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since my little family could get up on a Saturday without an agenda. It was glorious!

We decided to take a family hike in O'Neil park. The weather was beautiful and the scenery was even better!

Here is my cutie taking a break under some beautiful trees.

Looking for lady bugs. We found quite a few along with some squirrels and bunnies. Thankfully, no mountain lions!

Look at my two cute boys!!! This picture just warms my heart!

We ran across some horses too. That was super fun for Brendan.

Taking a break and eating some snacks with my cutie pie.

We ended the day with some "skateboard" tricks on the bridge at the park.

It was such a beautiful day. I would encourage your families to take advantage of these beautiful resources right by our homes. How blessed are we???

I PASSED!!!!

2009-04-22T20:33:00.000-07:00

I passed my final today...YIPEEE!!!!

Almost done. Two final papers due, one community day and four precepting nights left. This end cannot come soon enough!

For now, I am celebrating!!!!!!!!

Wish me luck!

2009-04-21T07:44:00.001-07:00

Today is my last day of studying for nursing school...yippeee!! Hopefully, this will be the last test I take (beside my board exam).

Please say a prayer for me. I am very, very nervous and really want to pass!

Thanks friends!!! Love you guys!

Heaven help us!

2009-04-18T00:42:00.000-07:00

Lord, please protect this child.

I am getting a bit nervous.

He is only 3.

I forsee many ER visits and broken bones.

Cornify

2009-04-16T03:00:00.000-07:00

Loving this new link...The trick...keep clicking on the tab below.

Since I have been a Debbie Downer lately, I thought I would bring some much needed smiles to this little blog of mine.

Have fun!

Deflated!!

2009-04-13T20:59:00.001-07:00

Deflated is the only word that can describe my mood today. Imagine you are in a room with 300 new nursing graduates and you wait 45 minutes just to see the L&D recruiter and she tells you that they have no positions open. It hit my heart instantly. I feel so sad!

I have no doubt that the Lord has provided this career and I know 99.9% sure it is his will that I become a nurse. I just wish I could see what he holds for me in the next coming weeks. I would sleep a lot better and not break out as much!!! I have no fingernails and the gray hairs are popping out left and right.

I was super sad driving home and I had an instant smile when I walked through the door. This is what I have waiting at home for me.

This is why I am doing what I am doing! It is all worth it!!

My new babies

2009-04-10T08:48:00.000-07:00

If you have been to my house in summer, you know that my condo is the closest thing to standing on the sun. It is ridiculously hot! I love gardening and have only been able to grow a few little plants/flowers in the past.

Well, I am now going to try to grow a vegetable garden. Last year we started with basil and it grew so well. I was so excited!! I know it is kind of nerdy but I would get so excited to go outside and pick my little basil leaves to cook with.

This year, I got Brian on board and we went to Home Depot and bought some seeds and little plants. We are trying a variety of herbs, peppers, tomatoes and squash. I am SO excited. I get up everyday like a little kid and go to see if anything is growing.

If you have any tips for my little garden, I will gladly accept them.

Prayers please...

2009-04-09T20:25:00.000-07:00

I have a lead on an awesome job and would love some prayers please.

In case you have not heard lately...there is no longer a nursing shortage. Because of the ecomonomy many nurses who were going to retire, are not retiring. Many women who's husbands have lost their jobs, have taken more hours...and the story goes on and on.

So, this leaves my graduating class with no more jobs than I can count on my two hands. It is very sad.

So, I have been driving to quite a few hospitals, sending my resume to as many people who will accept it and trying to network at the hospital I am at right now.

It has been a few weeks of disappointment and today, I finally got an email response. It is in the very early stages so I am praying that something good comes of this email. I don't want to spill the beans yet and I am scared I will jinx it.

Please pray for me if you think of me. I know there are so many other important things to pray for and I feel selfish for asking. I just want to get a job after so many years of school and I want my son to have a backyard :)

I will update as more information comes to me.

Thanks my sweet friends!!!

13!!!

2009-04-09T01:28:00.000-07:00

13 is usually not my favorite number, however today, I am relishing in the fact that I HAVE 13 days of school left until my final!! YIPPEEE!!

So far, I have completed 4 out of the 9 of my clinical night shifts (7pm-7:30am) on the ortho/trauma/neuro medical surgical floor. The nights are difficult to get used to, however, I really do enjoy them. I love knowing my cute boys are snug as bugs in bed and I am not missing out on any fun parties or playdates. The mornings/afternoons after my shifts are spent sleeping and I do feel awful on those days. By the next day, I am back to myself.

Here is the rundown...

1 ATI test to go (180 questions)

1 Exam left (40 questions)

1 Final left (100 questions)

5 clinical night shifts

Then I am done with school for a long while!!!!

You have no idea how happy I am!!!

I will keep you all posted.

Spring is here!

2009-04-04T19:07:00.001-07:00

We spent the day at the Spring Fling event our community puts on. We had such a fun time! I will post some more pictures tomorrow of the fun. In the meantime I will take the opportunity to post some pics I took of my sweet boy as we were walking to the car.

I am so in love!!!

He just melts my heart.

Class Preview at Timeless Treasures TONIGHT!

2009-03-31T12:28:00.001-07:00

Class Preview Night tonight at TT.

It is from 7-9pm with free snacks and drinks.

All the class instructors will be there showing off their quarterly projects.

It is a super fun night.

Hope to see you all there.

Here is a little preview of one on my books.

Happy Birthday Project

2009-03-24T17:39:00.000-07:00

If you have extra scrapbooking paper and ribbon laying around, this is a super EASY project. I bought the round boxes at Michaels for under $10.00. Pulled out my glue gun and a glue stick and completed this project in about 1/2 hour.

This little box will grace the table at a very special young lady's birthday soon. Each box will open up to reveal a little gift. So fun!!!

I hate to admit...

2009-03-22T09:45:00.000-07:00

I made fun of this movie when it came out...

I laughed at cute girls wearing the t-shirts...

I would listen to all the girls at the shop talk about how great the books were...

Low and behold, guess what showed up in our mailbox yesterday from Netflix.

So, Brian and I cuddled up and had a date night at home after putting B to sleep.

I hate to admit...I LOVED IT! I am a sucker for romance and I think I was super surprised by the love story. And the fact that I did not read the book, I had no idea what to expect.

Does this mean I have to wear the shirts now???

Oh so happy day!

2009-03-20T15:22:00.000-07:00

It has been a VERY special week!

It rates up there with my wedding day

and the birth of my son...

BRENDAN POOPED ON THE POTTY ALL WEEK LONG!!

WOOOHHOOOO!

We are so happy!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-17T08:38:00.001-07:00

Hope everyone has a fun day! This day brings me back to elementary school where we would spend hours in the clover fields looking for four leaf clovers. Such fun, care free days. The only thing you would worry about would be not wearing green and getting pinched by the boys.

I just noticed how long it has been since I have updated my blog...bad blogger! I am on spring break now and enjoying every second of it. It is making me a bit lazy.

Here is my update for this week: I start my preceptorship next Monday on the surgical, neuro, trauma unit. I am super excited and super nervous all at the same time. Oh, and I forgot to mention...I am working NIGHTS!! Yikes!! I don't know how I am going to stay up all night and function to take care of Brendan.

It will all work out, I know. So, if you cannot sleep and are up for some strange reason and think of me, a little prayer would be greatly appreciated!!

A long time coming...

2009-03-06T15:31:00.000-08:00

How sweet is this day...

To walk out of Mission Hospital, taking a breath of the cool air, looking up at the big white puffy clouds, a big smile on my face knowing that....

I NEVER HAVE TO WRITE ANOTHER NURSING CARE PLAN AGAIN!!!

You have no idea how good this feels!!!

Please don't quit your day job...

2009-03-02T12:29:00.000-08:00

So here is the situation...

Totally stressed!

Studying and writing like a crazy woman!

Paper due and I have a test in the morning.

It is 9pm and I need to make cupcakes for the am.

I don't have the time!!!
So, I coax my husband into making them for me.

After grumbling a bit, he hesitantly agrees.

He puts Brendan down to sleep and moves to the kitchen.

I am watching him as he is trying to attempt to rip the bag open.

The scissors are 2 ft away...that would be too easy...

The bag rips open and powder all over his feet.

He is now even more mad!

He gathers his composure and moves on.

I am smirking as he is scooping the batter into the paper cups.

My husband is complaining as the batter is spilling over the side.

He finally finishes and pops them into the oven.

14 minutes go by.

My husband gets into the shower.

He asks me to watch the cupcakes. Ok.
I start smelling something burnt.

I look into the oven and see this...

So, what is wrong with this picture...

MY HUSBAND PUT THE OVEN ON BROIL!!!

Burnt tops and soggy insides.

I was so stressed that all I could do was laugh.

Brian told me to pick off the tops and put them back into the oven.

It all worked out. I went to Cinammon Productions and spent a small fortune on cupcakes.

Love you hunny!

Karamel Paper Creations

2009-03-02T06:00:00.000-08:00

I just got an email informing me that a great new little online shop has just opened.

Karamel Paper Creations

I was fortunate to meet Kara and Melanie (hence Karamel...SO CUTE!) through Stampin Up. They are such beautiful, sweet and kind Christian mommies. I wish them the best. They deserve it!

If you are in need of beautiful cards or invites, these are the gals to contact.

Good luck girls.

I did it!!!

2009-03-01T18:31:00.000-08:00

Ok, I am taking a deep breath...

I SENT OUT MY FIRST NURSING RESUME!!! YIPPEE!!

I am nervous!

I am scared!

I am excited!

I know the Lord has been preparing me for this career for 6 years.

Let's hope my resume falls in the right hands.

All prayers are welcomed. Thanks! :)

I love pink!

2009-02-17T17:44:00.000-08:00

Valentine's day is one of my favorite holidays. I love the color pink, I love hearts, I love LOVE!!!

Hubby and I did not go on any hot dates. We were blessed to stay home and hang out as a family and enjoy each other. It was fabulous!! (no homework either!! )

Here are some highlights:

My cute pink pajamas that arrived on my doorstep as a surprise from my hubby from pajama gram. So cute and cozy!!!

The cutest pasta ever! I found it at Cost Plus...got to love that store!!! I made a sausage/tomato sauce to top it...yummy! However, had to fight with Brendan to take a bite. Not as fun as I thought it would be :(

And finally, fun pink ribbon I stocked up on from Timeless. LOVE IT!! I look at it and it makes me so happy!!!

Hope you all had a nice Valentine's day filled with LOVE!!!

Cora's Playground

2009-02-16T10:18:00.000-08:00

Today is the day

To show a family that we care

Cora's Playground

As Cora is playing at the feet of Jesus, let's show her mommy and daddy that we love them. Let's all help contribute to build this playground.

I don't know this family, however, my heart just breaks for them. I am praying for peace as they endure something that no family should have to go through.

You can meet this family here:

McClenahan Family

Sweet Cora, you have touched my heart.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T00:27:00.001-08:00

Nothing says I love you more like giving a valentine with a cow on it.

I "vealy" hope you all have a day filled with love and happiness!

Happy Valentine's to all my friends and family!

I am off to bed to get up early and make some yummy heart shaped pancakes for my boys.

Man, now I don't know how I am going to enjoy our steak dinner!!!

Darn cute cow!!!

XOXO

~Marcela~

You asked for it!!

2009-02-12T21:39:00.000-08:00

Quite a few of you have asked me what a care plan is and what it looks like. So here goes...a comprehensive care plan to bore you to death on a Friday... ha ha. No, honestly, I do learn a lot from them! As much as I hate them, I actually like them, once it all starts coming together. The pics are a bit hard to see...you can come over anytime you like and see it...yeah right!! ha ha

This is our mapping page. You have to patho the disease process and how it affects the body. You have to write two Nursing diagnosis' along with signs and symptoms, goals, interventions and evaluations. This map is one of my smaller ones at 10.5 pages. Here is a close up of my patho. It was for septic shock...so fun!

Then the pic below is of 6 different assignments that go with the plan. I had a 14 page in depth assessment of my patient and why each intervention is done, a 6 page med sheet where you have to know everything about the meds you are giving, a 3 page lab form where you have to analyze why each lab is either elevated or decreased, a full psychosocial assessment about the patient and their family dynamics, an in depth page about the A-line, swan gans, quinton caths, and any other tube the patient has placed, and finally a reference page to site all the books we used.

So now that I have bored you to death, have a great weekend! I sure will be sleeping good, however, I have a ton of studying to do. A test in two weeks again! Cannot wait until May!!!

Praise the Lord!!!

2009-02-11T23:52:00.000-08:00

It is almost midnight and I AM FINISHED with my comprehensive care plan!!!! After two weeks of torture, my plan is ready to be turned in tomorrow at 7:45am.

I will post pics later today since a few of you have asked me what they look like...beware!!

I can finally sleep a little bit tonight :) Thank you Lord for giving me the endurance on this one!!! I never thought I would finish.

Prayers...

2009-02-09T13:54:00.000-08:00

This sweet family http://themcclenahans.blogspot.com/ needs all the prayers they can get right now.

I will for sure be loving on Brendan today.

The boys played...

2009-02-08T22:25:00.000-08:00

While momma stayed home and worked on her awful comprehensive careplan. I don't think I will ever complete this monster of a project!!!

Thankfully, I have the sweetest husband who is so supportive. He took Brendan to the races today to give me a whole day to study and work on my nursing homework. I feel so blessed!

Thank you to the best hubby ever!!! There are no words to express how much I love you and appreciate everything you do for me!

Fun kid friendly project

2009-02-06T12:21:00.000-08:00

It's Friday, I am burnt out from school and I wanted to do something fun and brainless with Brendan. So, we decided to start our Valentine's cards.

1. I started out by printing a heart on a white piece of paper. I used the heart shape in powerpoint. Brendan helped me rip up pieces of pink and red construction paper.

2. I pulled out my handy glue stick and Brendan and I took turns sticking the pieces on the heart. It did not matter if we went over the sides.

3. I then cut out the hearts and viola! Cute hearts ready to stick on to any card. I won't show you the end product as I want these to be a surprise for my friends and family :) I am planning on using some Valentine's Day stamps and some black paper for the cards...so cute! Or, you can just send these as is and write a lovely note on the back.

The rainy weather was perfect for this craft. Brendan had fun putting these together.

Happy Crafting!

On this day...

2009-02-02T00:09:00.000-08:00

On this day in 2003, my life changed and it would never ever be the same.

On this day 6 years ago I gave birth to an angel. An angel that was so pure that he went to meet the Lord before I could meet him. His name was Matthew. He would be 6 years old this year in June.

Happy Heavenly Birthday to my sweet little boy who watches over us. You are so missed and so loved and one day I will be able to hold you again. You changed my life and gave me a life I never would have imagined. Because of you, I am the person that I feel the Lord wants me to be.

May the Lord hold you tight on this day and just know mommy thinks of you all the time. I love you my sweet little boy. Until we meet again...

25 Things About Me

2009-02-01T00:21:00.001-08:00

Alright, I was tagged on facebook so I thought I would post it here too. I never really respond to tags, however, it is 12:30pm and I cannot sleep, so here goes:

1. I met my husband when I was 19 and we are still very much in love. I cannot imagine life without my sweet husband. Today is the anniversary of the day we met 13 years ago...crazy!!!

2. I wear flip flops almost every day of the year. I hate wearing closed toed shoes.

3. My favorite movie is Father of the Bride II. I can watch that movie one hundred times. I always put it on when I need to craft. Something about that movie brings on my creativity. I also love Fools Rush In, Love Actually, Enchanted...you know all the romantic movies. I am a sucker for them.

4. My family all live in South America. Mostly in Argentina and Ecuador.

5. I speak spanish fluently.

6. My biggest fear is dying and leaving my son without a mom.

7. I hate white shoes. I have only worn a pair one time...my wedding day.

8. I am addicted to ribbon. It makes me so happy. Anyone can give me a bag filled with cute spools of ribbon and I would be in heaven.

9. I love the color turqouise. It is so relaxing to me.

10. I hate flying....petrified!!! I actually walked off of a plane and scared the stewardess because I thought for sure the plain was going down. Hated flying ever since.

11. One of my favorite things to do is have coffee and read fun girly magazines with my friends.

12. I LOVE holidays!!! When I was little my mom would put a treat on my night stand for every single holiday. It was so fun. I want to continue that tradition with my kids.

13. I have been pregnant 5 times and only have one living child. He is my life! I have three baby boys in heaven (Matthew 2/2/03, my twins Aaron (1/13/04) and Brian (1/16/04). I also found out one of my early miscarriages was a boy. I really don't think my husband and I will ever get pregnant with a girl. I would be thrilled with all boys. I love them!

14. I do not like reading. Every time I try to read a book, I fall asleep.

15. I love watching reruns of friends. I constantly have them on in the background while I am doing stuff.

16. I would love to go to New York one day during Christmas, however, you would not catch me dead on a plane in the snow...too scary!

17. I swam with sting rays in the Cayman Islands. It was one of the funnest days of my life.

18. I love snowboarding but have not been on the mountain for about 6 years. Hopefully in the coming years, we can show Brendan how to snowboard.

19. I love getting the mail...especially at Christmas. I even like the junk mail.

20. I love wearing glittery lip gloss from Bath and Body Works. I will not wear lipstick without it.

21. I often wonder if I am smart enough to be a nurse. My school is so hard, I am constantly second guessing myself. I have made it this far though so I must be doing something right! ha ha

22. I am also a massage therapist. I only worked in a spa for a few weeks. WAY TOO boring for me!

23. I love the morning time when my son gets up and he is all warm and cozy. We cuddle and watch cartoons. It is my favorite time of day.

24. I wear a white tank top everyday under my tshirts. I cannot go one day without one.

25. I love the Lord and am so grateful for all the wonderful things he had provided for me and my family!

Reminiscing

2009-01-31T01:45:00.000-08:00

When I get super stressed or cannot sleep at night, I usually look at pictures to make me feel better.

This week was one of those weeks and tonight was one of those nights. I feel like I am drowning in school and life, and everything is piling up on me! So, here I am at 1:47am looking at pictures.

I decided to post these pictures because these were the two that brought a smile to my face tonight.

This one was taken at my girlfriend's baby shower. We decided to get the kids together and snap a pic. Look at Brendan's cheeks. He looks so uncomfortable!

And this one is a picture of Brendan's first teeth. I even bought a dracula outfit and put him in it to take a picture. I know geeky mom!!!

Well, I better try to go to bed or I will be hurting tomorrow!!!

Answered Prayers

2009-01-26T07:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was unable to attend my friend Juile's baby shower. I was very sad I could not go, however, I would have hated for anyone to get sick on my behalf.

A friend of mine and I went in on this gift from Etsy.....SO CUTE!!! I need to have a baby just to get my hands on one of these car seat covers. Is this not the cutest??? Miss Janey looks so cozy!

I also wanted to make Julie a cute, simple book for her to display pictures of her new miracle.

And finally, I was in charge of making Janey's sign for the shower. It was the first time I tried to cut fabric at work with the die cut machine. It works pretty well but I still had to use scissors to cut pieces that the die cut did not reach.

Also, if you know me, I am not a sewer! I just modge podged the fabric letters to the fabric flags. It worked great! I did however have to dust off my machine and sew the ribbon that connected the flags. Julie would be so proud. I actually sewed a straight line!

I am so grateful to our Lord for his promises and that little Janey has joined us safe and sound. I know that God has wonderful plans for this sweet little girl.

And for the letter of the day...

2009-01-22T12:06:00.000-08:00

We will be reading a story with the letter:

Pretty bad I have been feeling for two weeks.

Pills a many I have taken for cough and fever.

Pain in the patoots is nursing school when you stress so bad that you cannot get better.

Paperwork flowing last night (9 hours to be exact) to finish my 1st preclinical CICU care plan.

Praising the Lord that at midnight last night, my two friends waited with me at the Emergency Room until 3am when I could not breathe well.

Not loving life today sitting in bed with Pneumonia!!!!

(I won't go into the details of the phlegm, you can just imagine that on your own. ha ha)

And that story was brought to you by the letter P.

Lovely, I know (enter sad face here)

Need a good smile?

2009-01-19T14:37:00.000-08:00

Brendan received this mini tool kit for Christmas. It came with real tools, (just mini versions) and the best part; a pair of rainbow suspenders. We were cracking up looking at our cutie pie. All he needs now is a little plumber's crack and he is ready to go fix something.

It's FREE!!!

2009-01-17T09:16:00.001-08:00

Ok, now that I have bitten my nails off, put myself into a panick and then brought myself back down to reality, I wanted to spend some time posting something fun.

It was Brian's birthday recently and I loved getting all the "birthday freebies" that came into our email inbox. I wondered if there were any that I was missing.

Look at this fun list I found. Birthday Goodies

Have fun getting your free birthday goodies.!!!

AHHH!!!

2009-01-14T18:24:00.000-08:00

Bring them on!!!

First day of school and I am ready to pull my hair out!!!! Seriously, I bit all my nails off today and about hyperventilated in class.

Need some prayers please. One semester to go... please let this go by quickly.

Blah!

2009-01-13T09:44:00.000-08:00

That is how I feel today.

I had my first tour of the hospital last night and it was interesting and frightening all at the same time. I am super nervous for this rotation. It is all critical care! Yikes!

I get home and my stomach is quezy. Not sure if it is stress or sickness. It was sickness...crud! Puking all night, fever, chills. No fun!

I am tweaked today. Let's hope I am better for tomorrow since it is my first day of school!!

I have been tagged!

2009-01-07T13:21:00.000-08:00

Ok, if you know me, I never respond to tags or chain letters. I am a party pooper!

This tag was super easy and really fun actually. Here is what I had to do:

1. Pick the fourth photo from the fourth folder in your computer.
2. Post it and tag four other people.

So here is my picture. I am 25 weeks pregnant with Brendan, in my pajamas! I had been on bedrest since week 9 and could barely wash my hair without help. I was miserable!!! I had 7 more weeks of bedrest after this picture as Brendan was born at 33 weeks.

As I was searching for my 4th picture, I ran across all of my belly pictures. I hated taking them at the time but I love seeing them now. Brendan sat here with me looking at each one. It was very cute. I cannot wait to get pregnant again!!!

Ok, so I am tagging Alison, Courtney, Suzanne and Melissa. Have fun! What crazy pics will you come up with?

Class Preview Tonight

2009-01-06T13:43:00.000-08:00

If you have a free night, come on over to Timeless Treasures from 7-9pm. They are having a class preview night.

Super fun night with goodies, make and takes and all the instructors (including me!) displaying all of our classes for this quarter.

Here is my class I am hosting on Saturday, Feb 28th from 9-12. It is a princess autograph book. It was super fun to make, however, I felt pretty dorky getting the autographs at Disneyland!!! You can put your picture on the page with the princess and get their autographs on the little pull out tabs. That way, you don't have to take your whole book to Disneyland. You can just pull out the tabs and take those.

Hope to see you tonight!

Happy Birthday

2009-01-04T17:20:00.000-08:00

It's a birthday party at my house today and tomorrow. Happy Birthday to my dear sweet husband!! He is the best husband and father I could ever ask for. I am so lucky!

We had a good laugh today. You know you are getting old when your wife and your son give you a shirt, tie and a hand painted mug!! ha ha. In all fairness, my hubby did get pampered at Burke Williams today.

Love you hunny!

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T09:49:00.001-08:00

Time to ring in the new year. I cannot believe how fast 2008 flew by. I have not thought of a resolution yet. The first one that comes to mind is to simplify my life. I don't want another crazy year. We will see. I still have a few hours to think.

I wish you all a wonderful night! May 2009 be a wonderful year for you all and may the Lord bless and enrich your lives!

Have fun and be safe!!!

One of my favorite things

2008-12-27T15:08:00.000-08:00

During the month of December, I love, love, love getting the mail. I love seeing all my beautiful friends and their cute kids as they get older each year.

I look up at my card wall and it makes me smile!

Family Photo

2008-12-25T20:29:00.000-08:00

Last night we went to my step sister's house to celebrate Christmas Eve. It is a family tradition to open our gifts at midnight. It is very fun!

I asked my sweet step sister to take a family picture of us. I asked her to get a bit of the stairway and garland.

Don't you just love this family picture? I definitely think photography is not in her future!

We got this cute one smooching our cutie pie.

Next year, we may just use a tri pod...ha ha! We got some good laughs!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

2008-12-25T20:16:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a wonderful day today celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior and spending time with family.

Today was a very rainy day in California. It was perfect to stay in and be cozy with my little family.

I had the flu so I laid on the couch all day. I got to watch my Brian become a kid again and play with every toy that Brendan got. It was very cute! They had a blast playing chomp car, snake car jump, dart gun, stomp rockets, space shuttles...all boy stuff!!!

Santa visited this morning and the look on Brendan's face was priceless! What a joy to celebrate Christmas with a toddler. I cannot imagine anything more fun!

It is 8:30pm and I am still in my pajamas. Now, that is Christmas!!!

Here is Brendan opening his presents.

Not sure this is how you use the nerf darts. Brendan had fun with those!

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family! May the Lord bless you this holiday season!!!

More fun than Disneyland!!!

2008-12-23T22:20:00.000-08:00

Did those words really come out of my mouth???? They sure did. We had an amazing day today taking Brendan to the snow for the first time. (yes, boring parents, we waited 3 years!)

We went to the Mountain High tubing park. The drive was great, weather fantastic, my boys as cute as they come.

I will post more pics later but here are a few for now. I am wiped out!

Our new family game

2008-12-22T09:18:00.001-08:00

I thought this would be a fun family game.

It was fun for about 2 minutes.

Guess what happened next?

Guess who has to clean it all up?

Maybe we will pull it out again in a few years. It was a good attempt at family time.

Getting into the spirit

2008-12-20T23:27:00.000-08:00

We are getting into the spirit of Christmas. We had a very fun night tonight full of treats, hot apple cider and a drive to see the Christmas lights. We even got snow at the candy cane lane neighborhood. Can you think of a better way to start celebrating?

I got to use my cute plates and coffee cups that I won at bunco. So cute!

The kids having fun playing with the snow coming from the blower.

Just one of the houses at candy cane lane. Amazing!

My camera focused on the scary snowman behind us. It was very cold!!!

4 days til Christmas!! Cannot wait!!!

The innocence of a child

2008-12-19T00:17:00.000-08:00

I am so in love with seeing the world through Brendan's eyes.

My son is so incredibly excited about Santa Claus. I thought it would be fun to write Santa a letter this year. Brendan is old enough now and it was always a great memory I had as a child

So I asked Brendan if he wanted to write Santa a letter. Brendan's eyes got really big and he agreed intently.

We sat down with pen and paper ready in hand

Brendan got so excited and told me "I want to write letters for Santa". I thought great, maybe he wants to write more than one letter.

Brendan continues "Momma, write an A, R, S, M.

Those were Brendan's "letters" to santa. My heart just grew that day. So darn cute!!!

So we sealed the envelope and it is going straight into my scrapbook or should I say the North Pole.

I PASSED!

2008-12-16T16:22:00.000-08:00

Alright, one more semester down and one left to go! I passed my final yesterday and I have a few weeks off to rejuvinate for Christmas.

Let's see if I can get some good blogging time during the holidays.

YIIIPPPEEE!!!!

Cookie day

2008-12-05T07:09:00.000-08:00

Every December a friend and I get together to make cookies. This has become a fun Christmas tradition we both look forward to.

Over the years, we have learned a few things. I will share our wisdom with you so you will not make the same mistakes we have.

Here are our top 5:

5. Pick easy recipes or you WILL be baking cookies for 4 days and it is NOT fun!

4. Make sure you read the recipes. We messed up quite a few batches because we were chatting away and not paying attention.

3. Clean as you go or your kitchen WILL look like a tornado hit. This rule makes for a not so nice hubby!

2. DELIVER THE COOKIES ASAP! You WILL eat the beautiful plates you made and you WILL gain 10lbs!

1. And our final tip for all our friends....Don't let your kids stand on chairs to decorate cookies. They will fall. You think we would have learned this one after the second time. Don't worry though, they just got up and contined. Does this face look sad???

Here are the fruits of our labor...YUMMY!