January Date Night

We did it.  We went on our first date night of 2013.  We used the date night gift I gave to my husband back in this post.  Here is a recap of our night.  It was a fun date and fun to do something different than a movie with my husband.  I forgot how much I like the bookstore.

PS - I gave him a $20 gift card, but of course we ended up using it to buy books for our kids.  One for each kid, so they knew we were thinking of them.

One Year Old

Graham celebrated his first birthday.  It was low-key.  Just some cupcakes and singing.  No presents.  No friends.  Just the basics.  I mean he is only one years old and it is 10 days before Christmas.  Next year we will do better.  I figure the first year I get a break and then I make up for it years to come.

He did great the first few minutes.  He touched the cupcakes and even tasted them without crying.  But then something clicked out of nowhere and he just started crying and wouldn't have anything to do with  his cupcake.  The first kid not to have a bath after his birthday cake.  

WE LOVE YOU BIG GUY!

Christmas Morning

We had a great Christmas day although Jake and Graham were both sick.  All the kids had gotten the stomach flu a couple of nights before Christmas.  The girls were able to rebound pretty quick, but poor Jake wasn't so lucky.  He woke up miserable and came out and saw all the presents and came to me and said "Santa left a lot of presents" but in a very sad, whiny voice.  He told us he was hungry, so we went downstairs to have breakfast before we opened gifts.  (that was new for us :-)

We made it through about an three hours and Jake asked to go to sleep.  That was fine, it was a good stopping point because I was up until 3:00 am and I wanted a nap too.  So, we jake, graham and mom and dad took naps and we picked up opening presents a few hours later.

Now keep in mind, the reason it takes so long is because we wrap every little thing in the stockings and all the other presents and we watch each person open their gifts, so it takes some time.  And we let the kids play with their toys along the way.  But why not, it makes Christmas last that much longer.  In fact for us it took all day.  

Jake is wearing all his favorite gifts at once.  His Mario backpack.  His Jake and the Neverland Pirates accessories and his Spiderman web launcher glove.  He is in seventh heaven.

Hannah got an American Girl doll  -  Molly.  Now Molly and Emily can play together just like the books say.  Hannah really loves her dolls.  Every day they come down to breakfast with us and go up to bed each night.  Well worth the money for his little girl.

Jake is still trying to figure this out, but mom and dad think it is fun.

Ella got the Tinkerbell Secret of the Wings fairy dolls.  She loves Periwinkle and Spike (the newest fairies), but Tinkerbell and Rosetta are still her favs.

We barely got our Christmas cookies made this year.  I almost ran out of time, but we got them done just in time so we would have them to leave for Santa.  And from the looks of the plate Santa was very appreciative.  This year was great with the cookies.  The girls can do them on their own and i only had to help Jake.  That was so easy!  

oopps.  I almost forgot this guy.  He loved the paper.  That was presents enough for him.

He was just happy to be a part of it all.

Teacher's Gifts & Other Christmas things

This year I did the 12 days of Christmas for our elementary teachers.  See past post here.  The girls love  doing this each year.  They love taking a gift to their teacher each day.  And the teachers love it too!

And then for the preschool teachers, I bought the Rachel Ray Olive Oil Dispenser Bottle (just the big bottle).   I thought this would be a unique gift that is not only colorful and fun, but practical and useful.

I included this fun tag that says "Oil" I want for Christmas is you as my teacher."

 

Then we made these cute marshmallows on a stick dipped in chocolate and sprinkles for Hannah's class Christmas party.  So festive and fun and easy to make.  And they were a big hit!

Lastly, I dipped chocolate treats for our friends and neighbors.  I made homemade peppermint patties,

peanut butter bon-bons and homemade almond joys.  A lot of work and I don't believe I will do it again next year.  Still looking for that go-to Christmas treat to give to friends.  One of these days I will find that special treat :-)

a little behind

So much happened during the holidays, it was impossible to keep up with it all.  But now that things are slightly settled down, here is a quick recap of some of the fun we had.  We are going to go backwards a bit.

We took a trip to Salt Lake City right after Christmas day to spend some time with cousins and to be home with Chris' parents.  They returned home after two years living in England.  They were in the Missionary Training Center in Preston, England as counselors.  They are finally home and we got to spend time with the whole family together again.

It was freezing while we were there.  I don't think it got warmer than 20 degrees.  So, we braved the cold and did some fun things.  One was to see the Temple Square lights and walk downtown.  It was freezing but the kids did a great job and had fun because they got hot chocolate!

We went sledding.  The kids loved that too.  The cold barely bothered them.  Hannah loves to sled.  The speed and steepness of the hill doesn't matter.  She could do it all day.  The other two, were slightly more apprehensive.  But they had fun as long as someone was with them and even happier if it was a smaller hill.

The kids had a special lunch date with Nana & Papa.  It was a nice formal lunch and they they got to talk and listen to their grandparents share stories and messages with them.  It was a nice time they spent with their cousins and their grandparents.

We spent New Years Eve together.  We usually celebrate New Years eve at 10:00 pm (CST) and then put the kids to bed.  But not this year.  We celebrated at 10:00 pm and then all the kids stayed up again until midnight to celebrate it for real.  So much for trying to get them to bed early :-)

It was a fun trip as usual and it was nice to be in the cold and snow over Christmas.  That is how I prefer it.  Come for a week and experience winter and than head back home and enjoy the moderate, mild winter California has to offer :-)

Hubby's Gift - the details

Here are the rest of the dates for my husband's christmas gift - A YEAR OF DATES.

JANUARY - BOOKSTORE DATE

Roses are red and violets are usually blue.  there's a million an one things inside a bookstore that we can do.  (but we are going to settle on doing only six of them).

in case you are wondering what the date is exactly, here it is so you can read it.  It is kind of a scavenger hunt in a book store.  We are going to do each of these tasks.  I included a gift card so we could buy something too.

Visit the COOKING section & choose a recipe that you would like to make for your spouse.

Visit the MAGAZINE section & find a quiz in a magazine that you and your spouse could do together. 

Visit the CHILDREN'S section & find a book that was a favorite when you were a child and read 

them to each other when you meet back up. 

Visit the JOKE section and pick out a HI-LA-RI-OUS joke to share with your spouse.

Visit the TRAVEL section and find a picture or information on a place you would like to visit someday.

Visit the POEM section and find a poem that describes the way you feel about your spouse.

FEBRUARY - FUNKY BOWLING

tonight is the night

we are going to do some rolling 

but not what you think,

we are going out bowling

but not just any bowling,

we are bowling with a colorful twist

Without looking, choose an M&M before each turn

and bowl accordingly.

BLUE - bowl backwards between your legs

GREEN - “granny style” push the ball with both hands

YELLOW - bowl under one leg

ORANGE - bowl normal

RED - your spouse gets to bowl for you.

BROWN - bowl with the opposite hand

If you get a 

STRIKE - kiss your spouse

SPARE - hug your spouse

My husband and I like to get dressed up and experience cultural events where we can.  (There isn't a lot of it in our small town, so when good broadway shows come to town, we jump on them).  This year's 

show selection wasn't that great, but West Side Story is a classic and I haven't seen it, so that was the clear winner.  

MARCH - BROADWAY NIGHT

A night to “feel pretty”

and go out “somewhere”

a place in “america”

to show off some flair.

The most beloved musical of all time is coming to Fresno.  

WEST SIDE STORY will be at Saroyan Theatre March 5-6, 

2013.  WEST SIDE STORY tells the story of star-crossed 

lovers Tony and Maria as they struggle to rise above 

the hatred and intolerance that surrounds them. WEST 

SIDE STORY soars as the greatest love story of all time 

and remains as powerful, poignant and timely as ever.

The Associated Press says WEST SIDE STORY “remains 

Broadway’s best dance-driven musical. Five decades 

have not dimmed the extraordinary choreography or 

the score that pulsates throughout.” 

APRIL - TEMPLE NIGHT

a night at a sacred place

where we can feed our spirit

but we can’t forget our tummies

they need something in it.

(at least some dessert!)

And then I included the dessert menu of one of our favorite restaurants nearby. 

MAY - LET'S GO GOLFING

a night out on the green

with my love and the air

let’s hit a bucket of balls

without any worries or cares

just you and me babe

i even know what to wear

RiverPark Golf Center

Voted a Golf Range Magazine 

"Top 100"

in 2010 and 2011

Few outdoor activities are as universally 

enjoyable as hitting a bucket of range balls. So, lets go do it!

JUNE - PICNIC AND A GAME

an evening of dinner and fun

the game of scrabble

just you and me hun!

and to make it more than

your typical night out

let’s do it at the japanese garden, 

this will be great, i have no doubt!

1)  you get to choose the place

for take-out dinner.

2) drive to japanese garden in

woodward park

3) eat dinner and then play a

game of scrabble.

may the best person win!

JULY - WHOLE FOOD DATE NIGHT

time to do some shopping

and get some healthy food

at our favorite grocery store

you know the one, don’t you dude!

yummy fruits and vegetables

some favorite sweets and treats

let spend a night shopping

& we might even get some beets.

(my husbands loves beets and I never cook them).

We are going to go grocery shopping

at Whole Foods.  This will also be where we

have dinner tonight.  To make it

more interesting, we have to buy 

something new (that we have never tried before) 

in the following categories:

1) cheese, 2) dessert 3) drink 4) meat

5) vegetable and 6) fruit

AUGUST - ANNIVERSARY MONTH

a special month for you and me

11 years together or is it 23?

it is time for our annual delight.

dinner at Flemings, 

something simple and light

(just kidding about the light part!)

Where else would we go for our 

anniversary dinner other than our

favorite restaurant in town.

FLEMINGS.

Get ready for some rib eye,

lobster mashed potatoes

and their chocolate molten lava cake!

SEPTEMBER - ICE CREAM DATE

you sceam, i scream

we all scream for ice cream!

it is as simple as that

we are going for ice cream

and some conversation

something we need .... STAT!

it is time to get the latest scoop on each

other while sharing a scoop (or two)

of ice cream on our night out.

Take these questions and use them on 

our ice cream date night.  Time to 

answer some questions and learn 

even more about each other.

OCTOBER - FOOTBALL DATE


nothing like the fall
to root for our home team
a football game is in-store
and it comes with some screams

NOVEMBER - MOVIE DATE

the season for blockbuster hits 

has arrived.

we can see an action

or something more slow

either way, to the movies is 

the date we must go!

I looked up the movies that will be released during the month of November 2013 and included them as options in 11 months.

release schedule for 2013

ender’s game

dreamworks’ mr. peabody and sherman

thor: the dark world

the hunger games: catching fire

pixar’s frozen

possibly the hobbit

DECEMBER - SHOPPING DATE

 what else would we do
in the month of december
christmas shopping for the kids
is always a date to remember

(and a little shopping for each other too.)


we each get $10 and we have to
find some stocking stuffers
for each other.
Time to start thinking about what
we want to get for each other.
TIP: diamonds are the perfect
stocking stuffer :-)
happy shopping!

I tried to take a picture with two $10 bills, but Photoshop wouldn't let me use or edit the picture (crazy. huh?)  So, here is a picture of the bag without the money.

Hubby's BIG Christmas Gift

So, this year, I decided it was time to give my husband a year of dates.  I have seen a lot of different ideas throughout the web and thought it would be a great gift for him.  Our baby is now 1 year old and it is time to leave him at home and get back to doing date nights (just the two of us).

So, this is the year and this was the perfect gift to make it happen.  It was actually fun to try and come up with fun creative dates.  Some I "borrowed" from others on the web and some I made up on my own.  Some of the dates are more creative and fun while others are your typical dates, but good ones nonetheless.

The toughest part was making up the poems.  I realized that poems are not my forte!  So, forgive me if some of them are well, LAME.  I tried my best :-)

So, here is the first date and how I packaged the dates up.  I will post the other 11 dates in the next few days.  Enjoy!

Roses are red and violets are usually blue.  there's a million an one things inside a bookstore that we can do.  (but we are going to settle on doing only six of them).

in case you are wondering what the date is exactly, here it is so you can read it.  It is kind of a scavenger hunt in a book store.  We are going to do each of these tasks.  I included a gift card so we could buy something too.

Visit the COOKING section & chose a recipe that 

you would like to make for your spouse.

Visit the MAGAZINE section & find a quiz in a 

magazine that you and your spouse could do together. 

Visit the CHILDREN'S section & find a book 

that was a favorite when you were a child and read 

them to each other when you meet back up. 

Visit the JOKE section and pick out a HI-LA-RI-OUS 

joke to share with your spouse.

Visit the TRAVEL section and find a picture or 

information on a place you would like to visit someday.

Visit the POEM section and find a poem that 

describes the way you feel about your spouse.

Christmas Gifts to my Parents

I don't know what it is about life these days, but it is busy, busy, busy.  And so my writing on this blog has fallen by the way side.  But I am quickly going to share with you some of the gifts I gave away this Christmas.  Starting with this one.

My parents (and in turn my siblings) have been fortunate enough to be able to take us to many, many exciting places.  Starting when we were teenagers, we traveled all over Europe in a motor home.  Than we learned to scuba dive as a family and went to Belize.  We continued to communist countries such as Vietnam and out of the way countries like Syria.  We have hiked in Nepal and sailed in Tonga.  And many more countries in between.  It has even continued as we have all started to have children (like our trip to Holland with all the grandchildren).  Like I said VERY FORTUNATE!

So, I decided to give my dad and mom a t-shirt that captured all the great places we have visited.  I thought it would be fun to create a "WORLD TOUR" t-shirt of all of our family trips.  I designed it like  concert t-shirt with tour dates and cities.

Here is the t-shirt that I gave my parents.

SOME SIDE NOTES:  The inside joke with our family is that when my mom and dad would talk about going on a trip, they would have to clarify if it was a "BIG WE" (as in the entire family) or a "small we" trip (just my mom and dad).  So, for most of our lives trips were divided into these two categories.   Hence, the name of the TOUR.

On the back of the shirt it has the dates and cities of all the places we have been as a family growing up.  The last section of the shirt says "extended dates" and it includes those cities and dates we have taken with our family, our significant others and the grandchildren.

You might wonder what the "24" symbolizes.  It is the image that appears on a tiny runway in the middle of the himalayans in a little town called Lukla.   We had to land and take off on it to get to our hiking destination.  And to this day, we still talk about how scary of a landing and take-off it was.  Let's just say my dad who was a pilot at the time, had to shut his eyes and say a prayer for all our safety!

The front says underneath the wording "1989 - to infinity and beyond".  1989 is the year we started our world travels and our family has a funny pose that we do that means "to infinity and beyond" and since we believe we will be a family forever our travels will never end.  (I love that part of the shirt :-)