Brooks Brothers

Right around the corner from my parents' house is a "rural" road which doesn't have any sidewalk or curb. When it rains, little brooks form, and the boys love to jump in them while walking home from Cody's school. On this particular day, Cody instructed me to bring his galoshes for the walk home. It's amazing to me that I used to walk this very same path when I was little (and back then, all by myself!)!

Our House

It's finally happened...
I'm still in shock. We actually have a HOUSE!!! It needs tons of work, but I am still overjoyed and excited!!! Pictures to come. Of course I want to post the "before" pics, so no one will come over AFTER we're done and say, "So when are you going to start work on the house?" HAHAHA!

You may want to skip this next part (boring), but here's our list so far:
1. Fumigate
2. Get rid of popcorn ceiling (samples have already been sent to a lab for asbestos testing.).
3. buy a fridge (our old one is now a kim chee fridge in LA.).
4. buy a washer and dryer.
5. tear out rotting bathroom floor, put in new floor, tub, and tiles.
6. do the same for the master bath.
7. paint all rooms (except the "add on" room, which is going to be re-done this summer because of leaky roof issues).
8. fix the missing floorboard issue in the boys' room!
9. new carpet
10. get recessed lighting in kitchen, hall, and (only if we can afford) the living room.
11. buy window coverings
12. buy new hardware for kitchen cabinets, since the kitchen will have to wait about ten years until we can afford to remodel.
13. buy a new vanity light because the one on there now hangs down and and blocks two of the three vanity doors. WTF?
14. buy slipcovers for the hand-me-down couch and loveseat.
15. buy at least one coffee table.
16. buy nightstands.
17. buy hanging or ceiling lights for boys' room (because I'm tired of them knocking over their lamp and having to change the light bulb!)!
18. see how much money is left to buy some extra furnishings (lamps, side tables, shelving, etc.)
19. the BACKYARD (which is a whole 'nother list!).
20. for this summer...re-do the "add-on" room because of leaky roof issues.
21. ... and find an area rug for part of the "add-on" that has really big gross stains.

List of the Day - Resolutions

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
It's time for that list of resolutions that never fully gets crossed off!

1. exercise
2. lose weight
3. potty train Tanner (yes, this is STILL on the list!)
4. swim lessons for the boys
5. keep things organized and neat (but not until we get a house)!
6. try really hard to get the boys to eat veggies
7. try to not be such a Debbie Downer or Oscar the Grouch!
8. take better care of my husband, who's been neglected for the last 4-1/2+ years.
9. get a mammogram.
10. ditch the Ugly Betty hairstyle I've been sporting for the last 15 years.
11. buy a new casual jacket.
12. try to make cioppino.
13. find new sweatsuits for walking.
14. draw or create something once a week, uh, maybe month!
15. buy a height chart for the boys.

Christmas

There's nothing like Christmas morning with Santa's presents waiting in the living room. The boys slept in, so Ansell was able to take a picture of the scene before chaos broke out. I thought it was kind of neat that he caught the view the boys would have when they first walked out.

Playing with the stocking toys...

Christmas dinner...YUM! Ate tons...again!

My sister Jamie got Cody some Crocs with THOMAS on them. Cody ran to everyone in the room and let them know, "IT'S THOMAS!! IT'S THOMAS!!"

Pump Up The Jams!

The boys got Christmas jammies from Grandma (Ansell's mom)! I love them! When it's time to change into pajamas at night, I tell them, "It's time to pump up the jammie jams!"

Cookie Monsters

On Christmas Eve, Cody and Tanner made sugar cookies for Santa! Cody loved decorating the cookies, and loved eating them too!

Here is one of Tanner's designs. I didn't even get a shot of him decorating because he dumped 3/4 of the jar of sprinkles when I turned my back for about 5 seconds. I didn't know the jar just had a big hole, instead of little holes for sprinkling!! He then refused to decorate any more because he was busy trying to pick up and eat all the excess sprinkles!

Christmas in L.A.

We had our annual Christmas trip down to L.A. on Dec. 19 - 22 this year. We were all sick, but didn't want to miss out on celebrating with Ansell's family. We didn't have any trouble passing through the Grapevine (which can be snowy & icy), but there was snow all around for our viewing pleasure! The boys want to go to the snow, so maybe next year when we're not so sick. (We've had a hard time adjusting to flu season up north, as well as Cody starting pre-school!)

We had a really nice visit with Ansell's family.
Here is Tanner, Ansell's sister Lani, and our niece Carissa. Lani and Carissa are playing Mario Kart on the Wii. Tanner is making mental notes.

Hanging out with Grandma by the tree...where's Grandpa?

Like I mentioned before, we eat a LOT while we are in L.A.
Here is a platter of lobster noodles, filet mignon, sweet potatoes, sticky rice, fish, sauteed mushrooms...oh, and Carissa isn't drinking wine, it's sparkling grape juice!

One of the things Cody and Tanner's Uncle Terry (Ansell's brother) and Carissa gave the boys was Spike the Dinosaur! Cody was so happy, while Tanner was a little scared at first (this picture says it all!). Cody had told us he wanted it, but I took a look at the price and said, "Sorry, we could never afford that!" Cody claimed he could use the money in his piggy bank (which reads $2.54 right now!). Lucky for them they have Uncle Terry, who is also psychic because we never even mentioned that he wanted Spike! hah! Everyone was much too generous, and with all the good stuff they opened on "L.A. Christmas", I was worried that Santa might disappoint when we got back home! HAHAHA!