Year in Review

SoCalScrap is having a really cool challenge to make a layout with a picture from each month a Year in Review layout. I had never thought of it but I LOVE the idea! I might try to go back and do it for past years too! It was kinda difficult for me to fir all 12 pictures in but all and all I'm really happy with it!

White Christmas!

I have only seen snow on the the very tip top of our mountain here like maybe three times in my whole life. This year we actually got a white Christmas! I know this may not look like anything for those of you who are snowed in BUT this is huge for us!
This is the view from my drive way to our Corona hills! Like I said I've only seen snow on the very tips a few times, Look at all that snow! Crazy!

Now these mountains to the North of us often gets snow but not usually this low. So pretty! I just love it!

And yes I was out taking pictures while I was driving, bad I know! lol


Hope everyone had a great Holiday!

BIG Scrappy news!

My Friend Andrea has some really cool news over at Blueprint Sketches!
Check it out and start scrappin!

Give Away!

Life as Lou is doing an AWESOME giveaway!
LOTS of Cosmo Cricket Goodies!!!

Check it out Here

I love the holidays but...

Man, I'm SO ready for them to be over! No, I'm not ready for them but I'm just tired of being stressed, the traffic being horrible everywhere and every store is crowded! Calgon take me away!! Tomorrow im running out in the morning to get some gifts cards and some more bakign stuff, then baking all day! Maybe getting Kassel's hair cut, thats it! So if it doesnt get done first thing in the morning, it isnt going to get done!
I used to be completely done shopping by Thanksgiving and went out on black friday just to get extra goodies. that hasnt happened in a few years! lol

Hope everyone else is ready for the holidays and relaxing by the fireplace with a cup of cocoa and Baileys!

Merry Christmas!

Wordful Wednesday- Holiday Baking

This past weekend I got together with some friends for the annual Christmas Baking Day! I LOVE doing this and totally look forward to this. We all bring or make there a dozen cookies, treats, whatever per person! So there was 9 of us this year so we made or brought 9 dozen of whatever and traded, so we got a dozen from everyone! Its great because we get to get a variety of stuff and not have to make a batch of everything and get introduced to some great recipes! This year i was SO not prepared and was out shopping for supplies the night before, like i said it was a bad week! lol Anyways it was alot of fun and really enjoyed myself. Really enjoyed getting away from the kids, even tho I was so tired and I really couldn't concentrate on what I was doing! Here we are after all the baking was done!


For more wordful Wednesday check out Angie at 7 Clown Circus

Last weeks mama kats

Mama Kats last week prompts:
Choose a prompt:

1.) Allergies much?


2.) Worst dentist experience ever.

3.) Describe a "new road" you've taken in your life.

4.) What would you say to a mouse who could talk?

5.) Who is the best listener you know? What makes him or her such a good listener?

Well what the heck, I'll touch base on them all...
1) I grew up being allergic to EVERTHING! And I mean EVERYTHING! I had a food allergy test and came back allergic to 98 of 100 foods! Environment allergies about the same! Crazy huh? Yea I was always sick. One year I was out sick more days then I was at school! I have the report card to prove it! NO grades wise my mom stayed on top of homework and made me do it!

2) I dont like the dentist AT ALL! I think every experience there is a bad one! start of with those horrible xrays that make me gag, and just everything else! Have I mentioned I've been 3 times in last week? Yea I dont like dentists!

3) 'New road'- I think being married was my biggest 'new road' I always wanted to be married and have kids but i couldnt really imagine being married and being able to get along with someone all the time.

4) Get outta my house!!!

5) best listener- hmmm I dont think I have one!

Writers workshops- high school friends

Mama Kat has still been going stong with the writing prompts, me on the other hands havent been going strong! lol Here is a prompt from a few weeks ago...
Choose a prompt:


1.) Tag! Post and write about the 6th picture from the 6th folder of your Flickr (or similar) account and then do the same for the 6th picture of the 6th folder on your computer.

2.) Are you still friends with you high school friends? Describe them.

3.) If you had to star in a reality tv show, which one would it be and why?

4.) Describe a time when your pet caused chaos.

I choose #2
2.) Are you still friends with you high school friends? Describe them.

I am still friends with my of my high school friends. We try to get together often but doesnt always work out that way. Here is a piture from ourNovember Girls Night Out.

In the front from left to right is:
Leiani- I met her in elementry school and we were in girl scouts for many years and have always kept in touch. Funny thing is now her dad and my dad are BFF's! lol
Katie- She was always one of Leiani's BFF and I met her thru Leiani in grade school.
Kristi- I met Kristi in high school, not sure what year but we have pretty much kept in touch since.
in the back:
ME!
Mellissa-I met her in high school too probably about the same time as Kristi.
We have all been friends so a long time and try to get together once a month for GNO!

My other friends from high school would include Angela who I met sophmore year when I started on swim team. We also keep in touch often. Our girls are only 6 months apart!
Erica is another friend that I met in Jr high and have stayed friends thru the years!
I think thats everyone, shoot I know im going to forget someone and get in trouble! oops!

Love ya girls!!!!

Catch up

Wow, I'm so far behind. This last week or so has kicked my butt! Let me go back a bit and tell you about Kaitlyn's christmas programs (yes two!) She did GREAT at both of them! She belted out her lines just like she had been practicing! She was very excited to do both and askes to do them again! lol
Here she is on the far right, singing.

Walking up to the stage...

Singing...


I was SO nervous that she would freak out or something but she was amazing! The whole school and each and every kid did their parts so great!

What a week...

Have you ever had one of those days that makes you want to say "I QUIT!!" but wait! your a mom, you can't quit and go hang out at the bar... oh boy did I want to! lol

So Monday after school the kids went down for a nap. Ahhh quiet time. I hear Kaitlyn stirring, then fuss a little then .... PUKE! Oh boy... I do not deal with vomit very well. I can deal w/ snot, pee, poop even blood but NOT VOMIT! So I go in there, she is covered, her bed is covered... EEEWWWW!!! So, I pick her up and run to the bathtub. Pull everything off the bed before it soaks thru... Go back and strip her down, turn on the shower.

Now I hear Kassel stirring... look in the bedroom, hes crawling out of bed. Turn back to Kaitlyn, she's grossed out by the chunks in the shower! Turn around again and Kassel is covered in Poo! It's soaked thru his pants, his shirt and obviously all over MY BED!! ugh. Grab him, toss him into the shower, strip him.... now theres even more nastyness in the shower along w/ 2 nasty kids. Both kids crying, mom crying, house smells like both vomit and poo! AAAGGGHHHH!!!!!

I just stood there in the bathroom for a minute and tried really hard not cry, scream "I QUIT" or or walk out of the house! It was one of those things that its like nothing else could go wrong! Then the doorbell rang! HAHA NO, I'm not answering the door right now! I still have no idea who it was, if it was you sorry I missed you!

So the kids are showering, strip down my bed, start one of the million loads of laundry that were going to be done within the next few days...

Needless to say its been a very... NOT FUN week!
On top of both kids purging everything for both ends, I had dentist appointment and then another dentist appointment and going back again next week. Non of us have had a good week.

Tomorrow is Friday a whole new day...cross your fingers, say a little prayer, whatever it takes tomorrow WILL be better.... right?

Santa Pictures!

We met Santa yesterday! We was gracious enough to come visit with our Mom's Club kids. I was AMAZED at how great my kids were with him. Kassel ran right in and gave him a hug. Kaitlyn was talking his ear off and they both took GREAT pictures! They did the minute long "Cheeeeeeeeessse" Where I was able to take like 4 pics to one "Cheese" it was great! I'm So proud of them! I'm also pretty proud of myself for making Kaitlyn's skirt and hair bows. I couldn't find a skirt to match or a dress I liked so after dropping her off at school yesterday I ran to Joann's and picked up some fabric and made it! It's been along time since I made clothing... might be another new things I'm addicted to! Like I need more huh?? lol OK, OK! I'll show you what you came to see.... PICTURES!!!

Modpodging everything in sight!

Wow, how this last week flew by! I havent posted in a whole week! It's horrible! So I guess this post can work for Angie's Wordful Wednesday! WooHoo! If you have a chance check her out at 7 Clown Circus and show her some love!


I want to share of the stuff I did before but wasnt able to show off yet.
First of all meet Lizzy....

She is so cute and so sweet. She was made just for Kelsy I think she found a great home, even tho she is dearly missed!
Here are a few of the SS gifts..


Then I got hooked on playing with foam and felt. I even made some felt flowers into a really cute hair clip... but dont have a picture of it! Sorry!


I made a few notebooks, all a bit different. I think they were pretty cute.

I made some perpetul calanders to keep track of birthdays and anniversarys. I LOVED this idea! Bonnie showed it to me, she found it on a blog somewhere!


Then I got busy working on xmas and baby shower gifts! I started Mod podging everything! Made some cute wipe boxes for baby shower gifts, purses and craft kit containers for xmas gifts. Whew... what a day!


Im now out of mod podge and no pictures to scrap... guess its time for a Walmart trip...

Thanksgiving Wordful Wednesday!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!This is going to be a post full of pictures and well... words! lol This is a Thanksgiving card Kaitlyn made at CC school. Isn't it darling?
Wednesday we baked pumpkin muffins! I found the recipe Here, one of my FAV blogs if you haven't been able to tell so far! lol

She made the muffins for her Thanksgiving Feast on Thursday at OB school.
Here's the class saying their prayer before their feast. You can tell how many kids are paying attention huh? lol

Kassel was able to sit and eat with the big kids. All the kids love him and enjoyed him sitting with them. I think he enjoyed it too!


Even tho I only got a picture of one of her teachers with Kaitlyn, I'm So very thankful that we found great teachers for her. She loves all of them!


This is the cutest darn turkey I have EVER SEEN! She was wearing this when she left CC school on Friday and I was laughing so hard! Isn't it so darn cute? She refused to wear it anymore, and wouldn't even go for a bribe! So I had Kassel wear it so I could post a picture of it! I love the balloon as the dangly thing, whatever its called! lol The head wont stand up anymore but I still think its adorable!!


From our house to yours we hope you all have a very wonderful Thanksgiving and a super Black Friday!

Still going Green!

Ok, I'm still loving Kassel's cloth diapers. I think he likes them too. I started with such a small stash because I wasn't sure how I would like the whole process. We were doing great except for needing more! Luckily I heard that Bum Genius came out with new colors so I was excited to get the new and improved diapers! Theres not much different then the old ones except for the cool new colors!

He was wearing the green one today and it matched his shirt it was so cute! I hated to cover it up! I think theres a Christmas picture coming soon with him in a Christmas shirt and his green diaper! lol
Mama has also gone green! I was really excited to try the DivaCup I wont go into details but I have to say I really like it and wish I would have gotten it sooner! Like 15 years ago! lol If your curious about it or have any questions let me know! I'm very please with it!
It's funny because I'm really not all about 'Going Green' but I'm starting to sound like it huh? The cloth diaper thing I've always wanted to do. Now doing more research on it and finding out more more reasons to do it, makes me sad I didn't jump into it with Kaitlyn. The Diva Cup, I never knew there was alternatives to the norm. Both changes in our lives are going to make a difference even if it is very small, it is a difference! If you have ever considered cloth diapers please look into it! Let me know and maybe I can help you too! A friend and I are doing a small presentation on Cloth diapering for our Moms Club group and I may post the info here too.

Homework!

Mama Kats homework prompts:

1.) The last time I laughed really hard...

2.) Forgive and forget...I think.

3.) I remember when...

4.) Write about something that bothered you this week.

5.) Write a poem about a favorite color.


I'll just tuch base on all of them!
1) I dont remember the last time I laughed really hard. I mean I remember being in bed and I was laughing so hard I was crying and coughing and had a hard time breathing. So is laughter really the best medincine?? I could have died! Hmmm... now I wish I remembered what I was laughing about.

2) There are lots of everyday 'forgive and forgets' that we all deal with and thats how relationships grow stronger I think. The big one in my life I dont feel comfortable talking about.

3) I remember when... GAS WAS .98 a gallon!!!! Do you guys remembed those days? I remember driving across town to get the gas that was .97 instead. Ya know, gotta save that one cent by driving across town! Man, just a few bucks would get me to the beach and back... now its like 20$, I do have to say THANK GOD the prices have come down some but no where near .98!

4) I was really bothered by the trash truck comming at 6:45am this morning! They usually dont come until late afternoon, so we missed getting the recyling away! Oh and last week... the darn gardener cam at 8am instead of like 6. So yea on top of getting kids up and ready and always being late anyways, I also had to go lock up the dogs and clear off the yard... ok, are those silly things to be bothered by?? lol

5) Ok, I can NOT write poems... back in days I used to write poems and they were pretty good.. so anyways i wont even try this one!

Silly kids- WW

Had to share some craziness of the kids.
Kassel decided he could roller skate! He was too funny, going around the walls and the couch say "Whoa, uh oh!" over and over again! Then he finally fell!


Then today we had somewhere to go later on so I'd rather the kids not go outside and get all dirty. Kids wanted to go outside and play so bad, so finally I give into the nagging let them go with the warning DO NOT GET DIRTY!!! This is what I find a little later....





For other Wordful Wednesday posts check out 7 Clown Circus

Devastation

These SoCal fires have created so much devastation...
These are just some pictures from the 91 fwy going thru the canyon between Corona and Anaheim Hills!
This is looking over the community in Corona has lost about a dozen homes. You can see the fire still burning behind the hills.

Yorba Linda hills completely blackened. These are some of the multi million dollar homes, some that got destroyed and some spared...


Anaheim Hills, These are the apartments Ken and I lived in right after we got married. I love that place. It really took my breath away seeing this.... These were 2 story apartments. about 50 units are gone!



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Copied from Firefighter Blog
Socal Firestorm Losses Tallied

Firestorm numbers:



934 Homes Destroyed
42,000 Acres Burned,
21 Firefighters Injured
$25 Mil. Suppression Costs

The Freeway Complex

Location: Orange County communities of Loma Linda, Anaheim Hills, Anaheim and Corona in Riverside County.

Start Date November 15, 2008 at 9:00 am.
29,000 Acres
155 homes destroyed
104 homes damaged
9 firefighters injured
11 Million dollars in fire suppression costs (to date)
3,700 Firefighters assigned (at peak)

Sayre Fire

Location: Sylmar, Los Angeles County

Start Date November 14, 2008 at 10:30 pm
11,200 Acres
579 Homes destroyed
138 Homes damaged
124 Outbuildings (other) buildings destroyed
2 Firefighters injured
8 Million dollars in fire suppression cost (to date)
1,400 Firefighters assigned (at peak)

Tea Fire

Location Montecito, Santa Barbara County

Start Date November 13, 2008 5:30 pm
1,900 Acres
210 Homes destroyed
9 Homes damaged
10 Firefighters injured
5.7 Million dollars in fire suppression costs
1,900 Firefighter assigned (at peak