I'm 3

Look who is 3!! Who has a party in the suite at the staples center to watch basketball? Our only boy...too bad he won't remember. We got special permission to bring in gifts and decorate the suite.

We got a "give me s'more cake." I think he liked the cake more than the game. Dang good.

One day he will realize how sweet it is to be in a suite.
The Jazz won so that made it even sweeter for the birthday boys dad.

So glad to be done with December birthdays!!!!

Christmas 2010

This is our lion in the Nativity. He did not want to be a sheep but he would wear this if he was a mean lion. Can you imagine if there were a lion in the stable?

A couple other characters in the play.

Christmas eve pajamas from Grandma.

stockings...

Now onto the favorite gifts of this Christmas...

This is Taylor and her new full-size bed with all the accessories.

Carly finally got a pet. Her name is Cinnamon

Sydney says she loved her scooter but she has not taken those socks off.

Brody and Scott got matching ties.

I am a little disturbed by my favorite gift. I got great gifts but I keep wondering why i can't stop thinking about my new car mats. This is the before.

Now it feels like I own a brand new suburban with 110,000 miles on it. I love it. Is that sick? I think it is.

Christmas photo

This is our Christmas photo for 2010

It said

"Forget chestnuts, we prefer roasting s'mores

Merry Christmas!"

Believers

The two who still believe!!

I think next year he will be the only believer.
I am happy though that Sydney told me anything that is too expensive for me she will ask Santa for it.

Christmas miracle #2

Look at the shoes I wore to a Christmas party. A Christmas miracle!! Why is this a miracle? Remember my achilles injury? You would be surprised how much strength in your ankle it takes to wear these suckers.

Christmas miracle

This weeks guy time...Boy dress ups and tools!!! A small Christmas miracle!

Dress Drama

I have to go to a formal dinner and need a formal dress for the night. It is so frustrating. The dresses are either I need a man dress so I will show everything...or I am a grandma of the bride dress. I just want a dress that says I still look good after having 4 kids and am not a frumpy stay at home mom who can keep a man. Anyone know where to find that dress?

Loving December birthdays

Is it sad that my daughter just turned 7 and this is her first friend birthday party. It is so hard to have kids with December birthdays. I finally put some effort in and squeezed in a birthday party. We settled on a movie party.

My favorite part was that Tangled was all about the day of her birthday so it worked great with the theme.

I told the girls I rented out the theater for the party. I think everyone else in the world was Christmas shopping.

I normally like having a great cake of some sorts...not in Dec. Throw on some Tangled characters and call it good. Luckily she probably is my most easy going daughter and loved everything...even the cake. Happy 7th Birthday Syd!! I love you so much I will even throw you a party in Dec. Now on to my next Dec. birthday...Brody!

"GUY TIME"

In order for Brody to not be surrounded by girls all the time I have been arranging for play dates with his guy friend. This is what they chose to do for their guy time. I have nothing else to say about this.

Christmas addresses

I know everyone is done with me talking about London, but my joy lives on in my sweatshirt. I bought Taylor a matching one not realizing how much it would bother her to be twins. Now I wear it just to bug her.

On a side note...I know old friends look at my blog and I don't have addresses for Christmas cards. I would love it if you would email me your addresses.

srandjr@sbcglobal.net

Thankful for London

Pretend I am doing this post in an English accent.

Lessons learned in England.

I want one of these phone booths for my house.

I will be watching the Royal wedding in April on TV here at Westminster Abby. Not ashamed to admit.

America does not even compare to their beautiful buildings.

Once you do the London eye you never need to do it again.

My first and last time in the eye.

I like warm vacations instead of cold. The queen is smart to stay inside Buckingham palace.

I learned how dumb we are. It is such a habit when you look to cross the street you look the direction the cars should be coming. Since the cars are on the wrong side of the street we would continually look the wrong way and almost get hit. They even have it printed on every cross walk but we still were dumb.

The London bridge is amazing but this is really called the tower bridge. The London bridge is a normal boring bridge that would not be a cute picture.

If I had to hear him speak in his English accent one more minute I would throw him in the dungeon.

Stonehenge is smaller than you think.

My biggest lesson I learned was that chivalry is not dead. Scott gave up his first class seat on the airplane for me while he rode in coach.

It was a great Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving

Do we look like Prince William and Kate in London?

Turkey

How do you know what Holiday is coming next.? Look out and see the white trash blow up turkey in your neighbors yard. I am that neighbor. I was not kidding we love our yard blow ups.

cashew chicken

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thigh tenders (don't use chicken breasts)1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp canola oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 can of water chestnuts (optional)
1/2 cup cashews
Combine flour and pepper in resealable food storage bag. Add chicken. Shake to coat with flour mixture. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Brown chicken about 2 minutes on each side. Place chicken in slow cooker. Combine soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, sugar, garlic, ginger, water chestnuts and pepper flakes in small bowl; pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3 to 4 hours. Add cashews and stir. Server over rice.
Review:
I was not expecting to love this dish, but I did. It was excellent and I am so excited that my year is almost over so I can try it again. It was just a little hot with the red pepper flakes, but not too bad. I'm giving this 5 stars. Tell me if you love it as much as I did.

http:www.365daysofcrockpot.com/

I love crock pot cooking and found this blog. She did 365 days of crockpot and rated them 1-5 stars. I only make the ones rated 4 or 5 and like most of them. Here is one that I made and is worth sharing because even the kids liked it.

Summer in November

California has a lot wrong with it...especially after the elections. California also has so much right with it. No, these are not summer beach photos. How great is it that is is Nov. 3rd and it is warm enough to go to the beach and get in the water. I love year round school so they can have days like this.

We really feel so bad for all the cold weather folks.

Our new Cat

Many years ago my dad told a story to the kids about a phantom snowman. At the time I was thinking why is he telling this random story. When we got home there was a 7 foot... white trash... blown up... snowman. Thus began the tradition. Each holiday they know to count on Grandpa for some lovely yard decor. Soon he bought this Jock-o-lantern that lasted a long time. Look how young the girls are. Well, Jack has died and we got a new surprise this year.

A 9 foot cat that we now call Midnight. I have never seen a cat halloween decor, but leave it to my dad to find it. Excitement.

I did not understand why Brody was not as excited as the girls. It turns out he is concerned with the cat pooping in the yard. Try explaining to a 2 year old why this cat does not poop. I finally told him I would clean it up.