A Big Bear Anniversary

10 years ago Eric and I spent our honeymoon in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. For our 10-year anniversary, Jackson Hole seemed too far away, so instead we decided to head up to Big Bear, California. And I have to tell you, Big Bear is just like Jackson Hole, only better because it has a beautiful lake to go with the beautiful ski resorts.

Upon arriving into town on Thursday we decided to check out the alpine slide. It was a blast. For the record Eric beat me down the mountain but only because I was trying to take a picture, and it slowed me down considerably.

Then we went to check into our cabin. It was super spacious, with two bedrooms, a huge jacuzzi tub, a kitchenette, wood-burning fireplace, rocking chairs, and even had an adorable little Christmas tree. It exceeded my expectations and was perfect.

On sight they have llamas to take for walks, and bunnies to pet.

On Friday, which was our actual anniversary, we checked out Big Bear Lake. It was beautiful and I could have spent all day there just hiking around. But alas, we had skiing to get to, so we only admired it for a short while.

We decided to only ski half-day. Thank goodness we did, because I am pretty sure my body couldn't have made it an entire day since I haven't skied for at least 15 years! On our honeymoon Eric and I were both snowboarders, but I have finally accepted the fact that I don't enjoy snowboarding, even though I think it is super cool. Oh and, I am not very good at it. So I decided to ski, and Eric decided to join me. Thank goodness he did, because I would say at least 90% of everyone there was snowboarding! What happened to all the skiers out there?

It was so cool to ski down the mountain and have an amazing view of Big Bear Lake at the same time.

We also ate at some great restaurants, watched some movies, and played some games. All of which Eric won! We had a really wonderful time, and so did my kids, since they were able to stay with Grandma! Thanks, Mom!!

If Only I Had Her Confidence

Where would I be in life if I had the confidence to wear a tail in public? I noticed her wearing it the other night while we were out shopping.


And just another picture of her hanging around the house. I hope her confidence is life-lasting.

A Halloween Problem

I bought two new pairs of glasses on-line, from zennioptical.com. If you have to buy glasses, I highly recommend this site. I bought both of my pairs for $8 a piece, which included frames and lenses. And shipping is only something like $4, for as many pairs that you want to buy. But anyway, as soon as I put them on, I discovered what should have been my Halloween costume, if only I would have dressed up. I should have gone as my mother! When Megan got home from school she said, "You look just like Grandma." And Eric kind of just stared at me, and told me he thought the same thing.


If only I could wear them as well as she does. And if only I had her mouth. And if only my bangs fell the way hers do. If only, if only, if only.....

Also, Halloween related.....

I am curious what you all do with your Halloween candy. As you can see, I have a lot left. When my kids first got it, they sorted it and threw away all of the candy that they thought they wouldn't like. Unfortunately that only amounted to about 8 pieces. The pile doesn't seem to be dwindling, and I attribute it to 3 main reasons:

1) Eric is usually a candy eater, but this year for some reason he is not eating it. Eric if you are reading this, leave me a comment and let me know your reasons.

2) I don't particularly enjoy candy, so when the snickers are gone, I am no help at all.

3) Jackson and Sadie would eat candy all day if I let them, but I only allow my kids one or two pieces a day.

"Please let me know what happens to your candy?
Do you let your kids eat as much as they want on Halloween, just to get rid of it?
How much candy do your kids eat everyday?"

The Sounds Of Helicopters In The Morning

When you wake up to the sounds of helicopters circling over your neighborhood in the morning, you know that something bad has happened. Another clue is when you are awoken at midnight to the sounds of sirens. For those of you that don't live in Las Vegas, an off-duty police officer was shot in his garage early this morning about 12:15 a.m. (which is when I was awoken by all of the sirens). It seems to have been a random burglary. He was married and had 2 young kids. It is unbearably sad.

Here is one of the helicopters flying right over my house. They started flying over about 5:30 this morning, and have not stopped. It is now almost 11, and there are currently 5 of them out there.

We have had some burglaries over the years, but I am pretty sure this is our first murder. I am hoping the first and last. I felt like a crime photographer taking these pictures. There are five news vans and countless police officers.

It's strange to watch the news and see your neighborhood featured so prominently. It is also hard to be made aware so harshly that violent crime can happen to anyone. This could have easily been my family. Eric is often out in our garage around midnight unloading his truck.

12 X 12 - November

I really didn't feel like taking pictures on the 12th of November, so instead I did my 12 X 12 yesterday. Nevertheless, yesterday I started my day quite typically by getting the kids ready for school. Then my friend Melissa and I went to JoAnne's for some supplies for Christmas gifts we are making! I forgot to take a picture, but Melissa just think you could have been featured in this month's 12 X 12. I am sure you are terribly upset by it (insert sarcasm here). After JoAnne's, and right before picking up Jackson from school, Sadie and I went to buy a Dr. Pepper.

As you can see Sadie was very happy after we bought it. Not because she loves Dr. Pepper, but rather because when we go to this particular gas station (the Chevron on Losee), they give all of the kids fruit snacks for free. Sadie knows this, and as soon as we enter she continually says, "nack, nack, nack", which is code for fruit snack.

Kindergarten pick-up.

When we got home, I opened the pantry door to make lunch and discovered that my calendar was on the correct month. You might say, "Well I hope so. It is November 17 th for hell's sake." Well at least my mom would say that, because she is the one that taught me to say "for hell's sake!" But in my house the calendar is rarely on the right month because the nail I had holding it up was defective. Well apparently Eric changed the nail without me knowing, and now it stays in its rightful place! This may seem insignificant, but it is kind of like when we got TIVO. Life changing. Thanks, Eric!


For lunch we had leftover spaghetti. Well at least Sadie and I did. Jackson hates it. Notice how Sadie holds her juice box by the very top so it doesn't squeeze out.

After we picked up Megan we went to the D.I. I love it there! It is almost like guilt-free shopping. I purchased some books (one of which was brand new) , these lights (brand new), and one other thing that you will see later, all for $15.

After we got home, Jackson and Sadie watched some t.v. I think it is safe to say that I will not see a cuter vision all week.

Eric brought me a couple of books home about learning to play the piano. He was doing a job for a lady that gave them to him. Yeah for more free stuff!


Isn't it amazing how Eric can be so intently watching television while children are climbing all over him? I am attributing it to being Monday night, which is synonymous with football.

Lastly a picture of Megan in front of another one of my D.I. purchases from today. I have been looking for a desk for her room for ages. It had to be fairly small, just big enough to fit in this corner. Well look what I found for $5. A school desk in perfect condition. And the best part is it is hidden by her armoire so I don't even see it when I look in her room.

The rest of the day I spent putting the kids to bed, watching some T.V., and reading. As we were going to bed around midnight, Eric informed me he was flying to California in the morning. I of course said in a slightly angry voice, "You are just telling me this now"? But then I forgave him, because after all, he did fix my calendar.

Megan On Monday

Megan.....

I find her hilarious. She is creative and can make a game out of anything. She found this old sheet that has provided hours of entertainment for her. Some of her concoctions.

She has been parading around as a ghost. But not just a regular ghost, but a ghost that continually dances The Robot. Complete with music I might add.


The sheet has also entered her bedroom and has aided in her a part meditation, part witchcraft game.

She sits on her bed with the sheet wrapped around her and says things like,

"HMMMMMM. May evening arise. HMMMMMM...."
"HMMMMMM. No matter, if it is dawn or evening. HMMMMMM..."
"HMMMMMM. May the blue moon rise. HMMMMMM....."

Lastly she has taken to sleeping with a sleep mask. It's rather cute, don't you agree?

The first night it stayed above her eyes.

But now she goes for full coverage.

Calico Basin-Part 2

Tuesday night Eric and I were watching the weather and they mentioned that Wednesday was probably going to be our last really, really nice day for awhile. Since the kids were out of school Wednesday and Eric was able to make it home early we decided to take advantage of it and head up the canyon again. This time we once again visited Calico Basin, but went farther up and found a great trail that took us to some HUGE rocks.

I love my little Sade.

Trekking up the mountain went quite slowly, until Sadie hitched a ride. However I can't blame all of the slowness on Sadie. I admit that I am not the fastest hiker, due to my lack of endurance!

Jackson and Megan do not suffer from my endurance issues, so they had no trouble climbing up and down rocks. They even took some time out to play hide and seek.

Not to be outdone, Sadie climbed the rocks with amazing 22 month old ability. She would not hold a hand, and my heart raced a few times envisioning her plummeting. But she ended up just fine.

Late afternoon is my very favorite time of day. The sun was behind the mountains and the weather was beautiful.

On our way home we stopped at Olive Garden to eat. Check out how hot our plates were. Eric is melting a crayon on it!

GIVEAWAY!

I bet you were hoping for something exciting. Sorry to disappoint, but I have gone back to Cascade and am now giving away FREE the 2 and 3/4th boxes of Electrasol I have left. If anyone would like them, just leave me a comment. They are the Gelpacs. And delivery is included for FREE if you live in North Las Vegas!

Today I'm Bored (And Tired And Nauseous)

Today I am bored, tired, and nauseous.

Let's start with bored.

I have approximately 150 hours of recorded shows on my DVR (some are movies) , but don't feel like watching any T.V. I am 3 to 4 weeks behind on shows that I don't want to delete because I do plan on watching them. But I have sacrificed some. Just the other day I deleted 67 episodes of House Hunters. That is 33 1/2 hours of time. I was quite proud of myself.

I was also bored yesterday. Yesterdays main cause of boredom was also T.V. related. I would just like to ask why football games have to be so long? I could handle an hour, or maybe and hour and a half. But 4 hours? That's just extreme. I don't watch anything that is 4 hours long. I couldn't sit through a 4 hour movie. How am I supposed to sit through a 4 hour football game?

I am bored with my wardrobe. I could probably get rid of 85% of my clothes. I need some long-sleeved shirts that are not tight around the stomach area. By the way I tried on some long-sleeved shirts that I used to wear before I had Sadie, and apparently now they would be considered mid-riff-bearing. Seriously I am the same weight, why have I become wider? And apparently longer-waisted.

Here is one of the shirts in question. The white shirt is hitting me where a shirt should, and you can see for yourself the discrepancy.

Although I am bored for a number of reasons, I will move on to tired.

I manage to make it through the entire week without napping, but on Sunday afternoons I find myself utterly exhausted. It's strange. And I don't enjoy napping because it throws off my nighttime sleeping schedule, and I am groggy the rest of the day.

I am also tired today! I went to bed at 11 pm and woke up at 7 am (although I didn't actually get out of bed until 8 am) so there is no reason for this. Luckily I have chosen to blog instead of nap, so hopefully my night time sleeping schedule will not be further compromised.

Now to nauseous.

I used to work with someone who explained to me rather long-windedly that you are not supposed to say, "I am nauseous", but rather, "I am nauseated". Whatever! I am nauseous. I was also nauseous yesterday. Yesterday I attributed it to not eating enough during the day, today I am attributing it to my lunch of Dr. Pepper and peanuts (I also had a few Cheetos: They were giving them away at the convenience store, and really who can turn down Cheetos?).

And no my tiredness, and nauseousness is not attributed to pregnancy. Although this last week I seemed to have developed an extra-sensitive smelling sense that can detect bad breath from everyone around me. But really, I am not pregnant.

I should also apparently add ornery to my list today. After re-reading my complaints I say that title fits. Fine with me. Today I will take that label on also. So to recap, today I am bored, tired, nauseous, and ornery. Perfect.

"How are you today?"