Elfin' Fun

A friend just send me a link to site where you can upload photos of up to four people and then slap the faces onto elfs (or is it 'elves'?) then they dance to holiday music! Of course I had to upload my own photos! Click here, check it out!

Toddler Speak

It's funny the things that a child learns. Many things have to be taught but others seem to come without trying. Speaking is a good example of this.

These are words that the child needs assistance with:

Mommy
Daddy
please
I love you
ni-night
sleepy

Words that do not require help:

no
mine
stop
cookie

Dreamin'

I had me some strange dreams last night. Here's a quick recap.

Dream #1 - I had awoken to find Mae still at home and not at school where she should be. Ryan had forgotten to take her to the bus stop then thought she may as well stay home for the day. To that I said I to him 'she was home ALL WEEK last week, she's going to school!'. So I loaded her in the truck and took her to school.

Dream #2 - I was a contestant on my favorite show, So You Think You Can Dance?. (not sure if this was a nightmare) I show up late to the first show, which ended up being on stage at our church back in Modesto. In fact, I am so late that the show has already begun and I just walk up on stage, because I belong there (phht!) and because I am late I am booted from the show before the dancing starts. (maybe that was a good call)

It's just all weird, don't you think? What do they mean? Well, number one, it's time to get back into our routine now that we are back from our Thanksgiving journey to Modesto. This means that every school age child must return to their routine as well! Number 2. Well, I don't know if I want to get into number 2. Let's just leave it at that. Still. It's all weirdness.

Concerns

Mae has seen her share of disaster for one so young. When she was 4 we came home (in Michigan) from our Christmas time with family to find that a water pipe had broken. It had been spewing water for days before our return and the damage was extensive. In Mae's child eyes, our house was broken. Then, last month we fled our home to escape the fires. All this has her concerned about impending doom coming to revisit us. In light of all this she is still a child and sees and says things in a child-like way. Here is a conversation she had with Ryan last night:

Mae: Daddy, what happens if our house gets crashed and broken?

Ryan: Well, that's not going to happen.

Mae: But what if it does?

Ryan: It's not going to happen.

Mae: But if it does will we go to a hell-tel?

Big Love

Mae loves to make cards and write notes for people. I guess she gets that part from watching me. She and Caleb were at the table today making books. They (mostly Mae) go through vast amounts of printer paper and lately it is because they are making these 'books'. The books consist of lots of paper that is either stapled or taped to create a makeshift book. They like to color and write on these pages and clutter fill their rooms with them.

Mae is doing such a great job of writing and creating little stories. Today they were making more books and I found a forgotten page on the ground. It is a great example of her writing abilities as well as her heart. This is what it says, exactly as she wrote it:

I love evry buty in the hole I wruld

Yes, she needs to work on her spelling, but her heart is in the right place. This forgotten page is going in her baby book before she sees that is missing!

Made Over and Made Happy

Remember when I was lamenting about my living room and its (or my) need for a makeover? (I wrote about it here, here and here) Well, I was finally able to do something out it. I saved up my money from my Craigslist sales and bought a tv cabinet from Ikea (love that store!). Now my living room has been rearranged and feels more functional and comfortable. This makes me happy. Very happy!

Just in case you have forgotten what my living room looked like before here's a review.

Before (when I was sad)
























And this is what it looks like now, after the furniture purchase and use of my decorating skills thanks to HGTV! *big grin*

After (in happy land!):
























Looking at the pictures now, it doesn't seem to look much better. But you'll have to trust me on this one. Even my husband, who likes to leave things the way they are, commented on how much nicer the 'new' room was. I was thrilled with his praise of my work! Maybe I can get my own show on HGTV?

Weekend Getaway

Ryan whisked me off to a mystery destination this past weekend. He planned it all out, had his mother fly in to watch the kids, picked the area, booked the hotel, and planned things to do. It was great!

Oh! Where did we go? Well, he took me to Santa Barbara!

Most of Friday night was spent in the car traveling to our destination, but that was fine with me. I was not complaining about a long car ride with no whining, endless questions, fussiness etc. I enjoyed the peace and occasional conversation.

Our hotel was actually in a small town called Buellton, which is about 30 minutes North of Santa Barbara. There is a small community of towns up there and we spent most of Saturday walking the quaint streets of Solvang, a Danish town with yummy food and cute shops. After having a leisurely morning of sleeping in, we had breakfast then checked out the stores, walked around, had lunch, talked, bought some art for our barren walls, sat on a bench and watched people wander by. It was great!

Sunday we stopped at a casino on the way to Santa Barbara. I had a coin purse full of change so we decided to play a few slots. The casino slots are all computerize now. Gone are the One Armed Bandits of yesterday. You can't even put a quarter in and play a game. The slots now take bills and cash cards that you can purchase or load up at the cashiers desk. So we stood in line to turn my bundle of quarters into bills. It was funny, the people in front of us had quite a wad of cash (Ryan guessed they had about a thousand dollars by the way the guy was fanning his bills). I can only imagine the cashier waiting on them then dealing with my piddly coins! We played our slots then left. No big win or cash out. Oh well, at least we didn't blow a thousand bucks! After our brief stop over at the casino we headed to downtown Santa Barbara where we walked the shops and had another leisurely lunch before heading home.

Overall it was a fabulous weekend! I loved spending time with Ryan and having uninterrupted conversation. We just don't have much of that these days and it was great to experience it again. Mostly I love that Ryan thought to do all that planning and made it happen. He's never really done that before, and I love him all the more for it!

More Top Momma!

Yep! I did it again. I submitted another picture for TopMomma. It's just another shamless way to get traffic over here, I know, but I can't help it! I didn't do so well the last time. But I did make one new friend (Karen) so it was worth it!

Here's the picture I submitted:



Now, all you gotta do is go over there and click away on my picture! I get 'points' for referrals too, but I have no idea how to do that. Does anyone else know???

If you're dropping by from TopMomma, then welcome to my little blip in Blogworld! Stick around, browse my oh-so creative ramblings and don't forget to sign my guest book (aka: leave a comment!).

Funny Guy

Caleb is at the age now where he is beginning to take an interest in playing tricks and making jokes. He is a fun-loving little dude and makes friends wherever he goes. Caleb loves to be silly and have fun. Here is the latest little story about my little man.

As I was getting ready this morning, Caleb came into our room and this is what he said:

Caleb: Knock, knock

Me: Who's there?

Caleb: Banana.

Me: Banana who?

Caleb: Banana Apple Head! hahahahaha Get it?!

No. I don't. But that's ok, I love my funny guy!

I'm So Feelin' the Love!

For my birthday, Ryan is taking me away this weekend! I wasn't surprised 'cause I figured that part out (give me a tid bit and, more often than not, I'll figure it out!). My mother-in-law is flying down on Thursday to watch the kids while we are gone too! She hates to fly, so for her to do this just tells me again how much she loves me (that and she gets alone time with her grandchildren - double score for her!). So, as soon as Ryan gets home from work on Friday, we will be off into the wild blue yonder for the weekend. I say wild blue yonder because I have no idea where he is taking me! I'm told that I'll figure it out once we get on the road, but still.....I have no clue as to where or what we'll do once we get there. Ryan has some kind of activity planned for Saturday and possibly a nice dinner too! He has given me some loose guidelines for what to pack but other than that I have no clues.

This is not how Ryan tends to operate, it's not his thing. I know he loves me but to plan this all out; the where's, the what's and arranging child care....it's just not his usual self. Isn't my husband great??! I'm so feelin' the love!

So, this week I'm cleaning the house and getting it ready for my mother-in-law to see that her grandchildren live in cleanliness and organization. I also have to stock the cupboards so as to have sustenance on hand for, well, you know, sustaining life. But it's all worth it. Totally and completely! I. Can't. Wait!

And the Winner Is.....

Carrie! I had Ryan pick a random number for me and it happened to be Carrie's number. My sister in law has won my Fall Y'all giveaway! She didn't leave her email or mailing address, but I think I can find her. Congratulations Carrie! I hope you like them!



**If you're terribly upset that you didn't win, you may purchase them for $1 each (plus shipping, but it does include envelopes for the cards). Another way to get your hands on some of my cards is to do a swap! If you think you have something that you'd like to swap me for let me know and we may be able to work something out!

It's Late

I've done the drawing for the Fall Y'all giveaway....but y'all will have to wait for the morrow. It's late. Me sleepy. Ni-night!

It's My Birthday!!!

Yep, that's right, today is my birthday! And I don't really have any ideas as to what to write about. But I was tagged for a Meme by Karen the other day, so I guess I'll do that and make it work!

So, for this Meme I have to divulge 7 random things about myself. And since today is my birthday I'll see if I can think of 7 random birthday memories.

1. For my 11th birthday my cousin and her husband took me to Great America. I had never been before so it was great fun to be able to go. Another part that made it even more fun was that I was able to take one friend with me! (do you remember that Wendy?)

2. One year, as poor newly weds, my husband gave me a gray turtle neck sweater. As I do remember the gift, it is the 'card' I remember the most....it was a homemade card using toilet paper (see, I told you we were poor!). It had a very sweet message written on it, and I kept it in my purse for years.

3. When I was a little girl I was made to stay in my room one afternoon on my birthday while the family prepared something special for me. When I came out I was dressed up like a queen and at lunch my seat had become a make-shift throne. My mother had used cardboard, decorated it and wrote 'Queen Deanne' across the top. I loved that birthday!

4. The first birthday party I remember was when I was in kindergarten (I think). I had a few friends over and my gift that year was a huge doll my mom made, and a bird. I named the doll Betsy and the bird Christopher. Betsy was taller than me and, if I remember correctly, my mom made Betsy and I matching outfits.

5. When I was in Jr. High I had some friends over to celebrate. We were split up into two groups and each group had to go door to door and ask for toppings for our pizzas that we would make for dinner. I can't remember how the pizzas came out but it couldn't have been too bad otherwise I'd probably remember that, right?!

6. For my 19th birthday, again, I had a few friends over and we had a mystery dinner. The mystery dinner was the kind where the menu was unknown. We were given printed menus with the selections written in code, then we had to deduce what each item was, then order each course. The tricky part was that utensils were part of it too, so once we ordered we had to hope we were not served soup with only a knife to eat it with. My parents put a lot of time into this for me. They got some ideas from my cousin who had done several of these kinds of dinners before, but they also came up with some of their own. Here's an idea of what was on the menu: side of Wilbur, petite foil, great beginnings. Can you figure out what those are?

7. Among my most memorable birthdays was when I turned 20. Ryan and I had decided to get married and my parents had given permission and we had already picked out the ring (I think my dress may have been ordered too, I can't remember), but I had yet to receive the ring let alone been asked 'the question'. Ryan was going to take me to San Fransisco for the day and I just knew that he was going to officially propose and give me my the ring. I had even told my parents, family and co-workers that it was going to happen at that time. However, Ryan is such a sneaky guy when he puts his mind to it. He knew I was expecting it so he tried to throw me off. He tried. We drove to San Francisco and ate a picnic lunch at Golden Gate Park. I thought this would be a nice place for him to propose. He didn't. Then we went to the zoo. In the car, before we went inside, he gave me a package. I unwrapped it and found a teddy bear. No ring. hmmph! My inward dialog told me that the zoo could also be a nice place to propose. Again, nada. After the zoo we went to Pier 39. Nice place, you think? Nope. As we drove home that night I was so disappointed and embarrassed. All I could think of was going home and to work the next day and having to tell people that Ryan did not propose. There was no ring on my finger and I was not officially engaged. Then through the course of conversation I figured out that he had planned to do it later than night. He tried, but I figured it out. So, after we arrived at my parents and we were alone in the living room he pulled out a card that had his proposal written inside. After I read it, he had the little box in his hand then got down on one knee and finally asked me marry him. Yeah!!!!!

According to the rules of this Meme I have to select 7 people to divulge 7 random things about themselves. I choose, in random order:

Caterina
Jenn
Sandra
Amanda
Kim
Wendy
Mary

Fall Y'all Giveaway!!!

**this is a sticky post! Scroll down for current posts.

Rocks In My Dryer is doing a giveaway carnival and there are tons of giveaways going on all over blog-world! I have entered too many a lot already and decided that I can't, in good conscience, enter all these giveaways without hosting one of my own. I have some stamping and card making to do anyway so I may as well make some extras to give away too!

To enter all you have to do is leave a comment (make sure I have a link to your blog or have your email address so I can contact you if you are the winner - - if I can't contact you then the prize moves to someone else....so don't miss out!). I'll do some kind of random draw on Friday.

I will make 10 cards for this giveaway! Who wants 'em?

*Giveaway is open to North America only - and no blog is necessary to win!

October Movie Review

Looking over our list from last month, I am surprised that we watched as much as we did! I didn't think we had seen that many. Maybe it was because some were letdowns?

1. The Ultimate Gift - Jenn recommended this movie a few months back so I put it in our queue. It was finally released last month so we were able to view it! The story line is good but the acting isn't always the best. It's still a good movie (nice and clean) and I, too, recommend it!

2. Mansfield Park - I expected more from this film considering we have loved other Jane Austen movies. Maybe it wasn't one of her better books? It had some weird parts in it, parts I was not sure if I was reading too much into it or if it was really suggesting what I thought they were suggesting. I liked the overall story but it left me with an odd feeling.

3. Next - This movie was just ok. It stars Nicholas Cage, Julianne Moore and Jessica Beil (not that I'm all that fond of either them). Cage's character can see into the future, but only when it pertains to him. Inevitably he gets caught up in some huge terrorist scheme, or at least tries to foil it. The ending did surprise me, but other than that the film was just ok.

4. Sweetland - Wendy suggested this movie last month so I added to out queue. Ryan and I both liked it (thanks Wendy!). The storyline was good, but again the acting wasn't always the best. But hey, it was clean so I won't complain. Instead I'll further along the recommendation!

5. Transformers - Ryan saw this in the theater when it came out. It's funny, he went with a group from his work, during work hours, and the company paid for it. Why, you ask? Well, they were doing research, naturally. Anyway, Ryan enjoyed the movie so much that we watched it again. I must admit that it wasn't that bad, surprisingly. Yes, it had action and extraordinary machine robot thingys and of course what movie would not be complete without a little love? It even had some humor in it. Overall it was an entertaining movie.

6. David Copperfield - Another Charles Dickens movie. Compared to the others I've seen (Oliver Twist and Bleak House) this one was on the blah side. It lacked the usual suspense and intrigue. But it did have some great characters! Movie was ok. Rent it if you want, I'm not endorsing it either way.

7. Lost (season 1, disks 1-3) - I know, I know! I've already seen this. But Ryan has not. So I got him hooked started. I forgot how intense it was and can be! We finished a couple episodes and I was ready to go into the next one when Ryan says he's had enough for one night, it was too intense. He's intrigued with the mysterious monster thing in the jungle. Little does he know that it's really just the security system and quite a let down. I'll let him discover that for himself. Right now we are at the part where Claire is about to be abducted by Ethan/The Others....but don't tell Ryan....he doesn't know that's gonna happen!

Our queue is getting mighty low. Your suggestions on movies would be greatly appreciated!