We were so happy to have my cousin, Robby, and his wife, Christina with us this Christmas Eve! We haven't seen them in a year. He is the youngest of the 1st cousins and tons of fun. And, boy, what a ham!!
Here he is making us laugh and laugh with his Elmo impression...
Btw, Robby is a very accomplished young man! An Eagle Scout and a graduate of the Air Force Academy! We wish we could see him more often!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Another Christmas now in the past...
Did everyone have a nice Christmas? Ours was very good. I have to say, I'm so grateful that I am in a family where everyone really makes an effort to be together. We're far from perfect, to be sure, but we love each other and work hard to stay united and try to get together about once a month.
After working my patootie off on Wednesday and Thursday, the family started arriving around 5pm on Christmas Eve. That is something else I'm grateful for--that, aside from those in the military, we all live within 45 minutes of each other. And now that my brother and his wife have bought a house only half a mile away, even better!
Here are some pictures:
After all of the food had been eaten and the gifts had been opened, things started to wind down. We relaxed for a while, half the families went home, and I started to survey the huge clean up job that was ahead of me. I didn't care, it was worth it! We had a great time!
My mom and her sister's family decided to go to midnight mass at the Catholic church around the corner. At one time, everyone in our family was Catholic. Over the years different relatives have gone to different churches, but everyone still feels very connected with the Catholic church, and we know that my grandpa would've been happy. Early bird that I am, I stayed behind and worked furiously for 2 hours cleaning, cleaning cleaning. I got to bed around 1am, everyone who had gone to mass came back around 1:45am. I never even heard them!
On Christmas Day our little immediate family gathering wasn't until 5:30pm so that my brother could go to his in-laws and my nephew could get a good nap. But then we did our little gift exchange at my mom's and had a "breakfast" around 7pm. Hey, it's tradition! And it gave me a chance during the day to clean the house up from the previous night. Since I don't have a dishwasher and my mom has a new one, I made at least 20 trips back and forth across the street carrying dishes.
Today the house finally is taking shape and looking like normal again after the family Christmas tornado. Good thing too! Because my friend, Eric, is arriving on Monday morning for an 11 day visit! I can't wait!
Coming up on the next post....2 videos I took of my cousin Robby and his hilarious Elmo impression...SO FUNNY!!!
After working my patootie off on Wednesday and Thursday, the family started arriving around 5pm on Christmas Eve. That is something else I'm grateful for--that, aside from those in the military, we all live within 45 minutes of each other. And now that my brother and his wife have bought a house only half a mile away, even better!
Here are some pictures:
After all of the food had been eaten and the gifts had been opened, things started to wind down. We relaxed for a while, half the families went home, and I started to survey the huge clean up job that was ahead of me. I didn't care, it was worth it! We had a great time!
My mom and her sister's family decided to go to midnight mass at the Catholic church around the corner. At one time, everyone in our family was Catholic. Over the years different relatives have gone to different churches, but everyone still feels very connected with the Catholic church, and we know that my grandpa would've been happy. Early bird that I am, I stayed behind and worked furiously for 2 hours cleaning, cleaning cleaning. I got to bed around 1am, everyone who had gone to mass came back around 1:45am. I never even heard them!
On Christmas Day our little immediate family gathering wasn't until 5:30pm so that my brother could go to his in-laws and my nephew could get a good nap. But then we did our little gift exchange at my mom's and had a "breakfast" around 7pm. Hey, it's tradition! And it gave me a chance during the day to clean the house up from the previous night. Since I don't have a dishwasher and my mom has a new one, I made at least 20 trips back and forth across the street carrying dishes.
Today the house finally is taking shape and looking like normal again after the family Christmas tornado. Good thing too! Because my friend, Eric, is arriving on Monday morning for an 11 day visit! I can't wait!
Coming up on the next post....2 videos I took of my cousin Robby and his hilarious Elmo impression...SO FUNNY!!!
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Christmas Tables...
Merry Christmas Eve everyone! My family will be here in little over an hour. We'll be 17 people tonight feasting on turkey, lots of side dishes, and pie. What are you going to be doing?
Yesterday I spent about 3 hours setting the tables. I've learned that a really good rule of thumb is to set them a day ahead of time.
Here are the results. Click on each picture to see the larger image:
The big table:
Little table #1:
Little table #2:
Yay! I love having pretty tables for all of my guests!
Yesterday I spent about 3 hours setting the tables. I've learned that a really good rule of thumb is to set them a day ahead of time.
Here are the results. Click on each picture to see the larger image:
The big table:
Little table #1:
Little table #2:
Yay! I love having pretty tables for all of my guests!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Today's Goal is DONE
It feels so good to set little goals for each day of vacation and to accomplish them. Today's goals were to finish wrapping presents, send 2 of them off to my cousin in Mississippi, and get lights up on the house. All done! Yay! And I even went and saw the Twilight New Moon movie. Yeah, it was just OK.
And, here is a before and after shot of my couch, which got a facelift last week. I wanted something as similar as possible to the original color and design. I'm thrilled with the results! Expensive, but very necessary and worth it!
Before:
After:
And, here is a before and after shot of my couch, which got a facelift last week. I wanted something as similar as possible to the original color and design. I'm thrilled with the results! Expensive, but very necessary and worth it!Before:
After:
Day 3 of vacation...
It is wonderful to be able to plan my day around things I want to do and not around work--yay! Vacation is finally here.
I'm not as burned out as I have been in years past--I have a fairly good group of kids this year--but I'm still tired. And, as usual, a little cold and sniffles has crept up at the beginning of vacation. And, as usual, my body is still determined to keep "school hours" for the time being. (Wiped out by 10:30, awake by 5:30.) That last part I don't really mind so much. I like being a morning person. Always have been one.
One of the great things about being on vacation is that instead of cramming several things into a 2-day weekend, I can set one project per day. Yesterday I was determined to wrap presents. I really scaled back on my Christmas shopping this year. All but 2 are wrapped.
Today I need to get to the post office and mail the gifts for my cousin whose name I drew in the family gift exchange. They have to get all the to Mississippi (she's in the Air Force.) I would also still like to get some twinkle lights up outside of the house on the bushes.
If I feeling really ambitious I may bring down some of the Lenox Christmas dishes from the the top shelf of my linen closet and take inventory on what I've got. Maybe wash some tablecloths too...or maybe that last part will be tomorrow's project.
This week will be all about preparing for the family gathering at my house on Christmas Eve. Next week will be all about my friend, Eric, coming for a visit. 11 days, yay! We've got all sorts of things planned before I have to go back to work. I'm excited!
I'm not as burned out as I have been in years past--I have a fairly good group of kids this year--but I'm still tired. And, as usual, a little cold and sniffles has crept up at the beginning of vacation. And, as usual, my body is still determined to keep "school hours" for the time being. (Wiped out by 10:30, awake by 5:30.) That last part I don't really mind so much. I like being a morning person. Always have been one.
One of the great things about being on vacation is that instead of cramming several things into a 2-day weekend, I can set one project per day. Yesterday I was determined to wrap presents. I really scaled back on my Christmas shopping this year. All but 2 are wrapped.
Today I need to get to the post office and mail the gifts for my cousin whose name I drew in the family gift exchange. They have to get all the to Mississippi (she's in the Air Force.) I would also still like to get some twinkle lights up outside of the house on the bushes.
If I feeling really ambitious I may bring down some of the Lenox Christmas dishes from the the top shelf of my linen closet and take inventory on what I've got. Maybe wash some tablecloths too...or maybe that last part will be tomorrow's project.
This week will be all about preparing for the family gathering at my house on Christmas Eve. Next week will be all about my friend, Eric, coming for a visit. 11 days, yay! We've got all sorts of things planned before I have to go back to work. I'm excited!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
One FULL Saturday!
I'm still in awe by how busy yesterday was, and the steady rain throughout the day didn't help.
Morning person that I am (it's 6:45 on a Sunday and I've already been up for an hour,) I was up early and moving furniture out of my sunroom to prepare for the carpet cleaner guy. He came at 9am, did a great job and stayed for an hour.
After that I ran to Macy's (we have a beautiful Macy's in Pasadena that is not attached to a mall that I really enjoy going to) and bought a few small Christmas gifts and some pajamas for me.
Between each errand I would come home and give Bailey a "potty opportunity" since he was cooped up in the house all day...
I was hungry for some lunch, so I decided to return to the Heirloom Bakery & Cafe' in South Pasadena that I went to last Saturday for a little elementary school reunion. It was darn chilly, but I sat outside and ordered the same thing as last week. It is on a corner with lots of cute shops and antique stores and you feel like you're in a small town. It is probably the most I relaxed all day until the evening.
From there I decided to drive the 15-20 miles to Covina to a wonderful store for teachers and parents called Thematic Attic. I get there about 1-2 times a year and right now I have 3 purchase orders from school that I need to use by Friday. If I don't use them, I lose them, so I had to go. Of the 3 places I need to get to, Thematic Attic is the farthest, so I wanted to get it over with. And, wow, for about 10 minutes while I was one the freeway it was raining SO hard I thought people were on the side of the road throwing buckets of water at my windows. And then, suddenly, it got lighter and lighter until it cleared completely. Once there, I found some great books and puzzles for my kids and drove home without incident.
By that time, I was pretty tired and decided to stay home for a while but still wanted to be productive. Throughout the day I had been working on cleaning out the drawers in my dresser and re-washing the things I was going to keep and bagging the things I wasn't. I was also washing and ironing the curtains in my bedroom. My house has A LOT of windows, so I have a lot of curtains, and since I spend more time in my bedroom than any other room, they get the most use.
Around 5pm when I was ironing I got a phone call. My mom was calling to say that my pregant sister-in-law and little nephew had been in a car accident but she didn't know the details. They seemed to be OK, but we needed to go to them. My brother was working until 7pm.
They were down a long street that has lights at every block, so it was a frustrating drive just getting to them, especially in the rain, but I did. They were OK. My mom was already there and a policeman was taking statements from the 3 parties involved. A 19-year-old girl was at fault, turning left when others had the right of way. She plowed into my sister-in-law's car and smashed up the front. Another car was also hit. The airbag even deployed and did its job well. And the baby car seat passed the test--Xander was fine, just a little shaken. He was a lot better by the time I got there, but apparently he had been screaming when it first happened and then went silent, like he was in a little bit of shock. An ambulance had checked everyone out, but there were no serious injuries, although Quyen's blood pressure did spike a bit at first. She also had a pot of soup in the car that her mother had given her to take home that had spilled everywhere.
Quyen talked to the policeman, I held Xander and tried to keep his hands warm, and my mom called AAA to tow the car. We were out in the nighttime rainy cold for a good hour at least. I drove Quyen and Xander back to their house (good thing they live so close! I think they are already realizing the benefits of being only half a mile away!) My mom met the AAA tow truck there. Then I went to a Vietnamese restaurant that we all like and picked up dinner for everyone. When I got back to their house, Quyen told me that my mom had to go and rescue my brother because he had 2 blowouts on his bike on the way home (he rides his bike to/from work daily.)
My mom and Jonathan came home and the dust from the day settled. We left Jonathan, Quyen, and Xander to be together as a family and my mom and I came back to my house to enjoy some yummy Vietnamese soup and rice noodle California rolls. By that time it was about 8:30pm. And the sad thing is that my mom had planned to take Xander to the church Christmas party so he could see Santa. Those plans got completely dashed.
But the important thing is that everyone was OK and safe and healthy after that scary incident. It really could've been so much worse.
By 9 I was in bed, pretty tired, and talking on the phone to my friend, Eric, as we often do. By 9:45 I was too sleepy to do anything but just crash.
Yep, it was a full day!
Morning person that I am (it's 6:45 on a Sunday and I've already been up for an hour,) I was up early and moving furniture out of my sunroom to prepare for the carpet cleaner guy. He came at 9am, did a great job and stayed for an hour.
After that I ran to Macy's (we have a beautiful Macy's in Pasadena that is not attached to a mall that I really enjoy going to) and bought a few small Christmas gifts and some pajamas for me.
Between each errand I would come home and give Bailey a "potty opportunity" since he was cooped up in the house all day...
I was hungry for some lunch, so I decided to return to the Heirloom Bakery & Cafe' in South Pasadena that I went to last Saturday for a little elementary school reunion. It was darn chilly, but I sat outside and ordered the same thing as last week. It is on a corner with lots of cute shops and antique stores and you feel like you're in a small town. It is probably the most I relaxed all day until the evening.
From there I decided to drive the 15-20 miles to Covina to a wonderful store for teachers and parents called Thematic Attic. I get there about 1-2 times a year and right now I have 3 purchase orders from school that I need to use by Friday. If I don't use them, I lose them, so I had to go. Of the 3 places I need to get to, Thematic Attic is the farthest, so I wanted to get it over with. And, wow, for about 10 minutes while I was one the freeway it was raining SO hard I thought people were on the side of the road throwing buckets of water at my windows. And then, suddenly, it got lighter and lighter until it cleared completely. Once there, I found some great books and puzzles for my kids and drove home without incident.
By that time, I was pretty tired and decided to stay home for a while but still wanted to be productive. Throughout the day I had been working on cleaning out the drawers in my dresser and re-washing the things I was going to keep and bagging the things I wasn't. I was also washing and ironing the curtains in my bedroom. My house has A LOT of windows, so I have a lot of curtains, and since I spend more time in my bedroom than any other room, they get the most use.
Around 5pm when I was ironing I got a phone call. My mom was calling to say that my pregant sister-in-law and little nephew had been in a car accident but she didn't know the details. They seemed to be OK, but we needed to go to them. My brother was working until 7pm.
They were down a long street that has lights at every block, so it was a frustrating drive just getting to them, especially in the rain, but I did. They were OK. My mom was already there and a policeman was taking statements from the 3 parties involved. A 19-year-old girl was at fault, turning left when others had the right of way. She plowed into my sister-in-law's car and smashed up the front. Another car was also hit. The airbag even deployed and did its job well. And the baby car seat passed the test--Xander was fine, just a little shaken. He was a lot better by the time I got there, but apparently he had been screaming when it first happened and then went silent, like he was in a little bit of shock. An ambulance had checked everyone out, but there were no serious injuries, although Quyen's blood pressure did spike a bit at first. She also had a pot of soup in the car that her mother had given her to take home that had spilled everywhere.
Quyen talked to the policeman, I held Xander and tried to keep his hands warm, and my mom called AAA to tow the car. We were out in the nighttime rainy cold for a good hour at least. I drove Quyen and Xander back to their house (good thing they live so close! I think they are already realizing the benefits of being only half a mile away!) My mom met the AAA tow truck there. Then I went to a Vietnamese restaurant that we all like and picked up dinner for everyone. When I got back to their house, Quyen told me that my mom had to go and rescue my brother because he had 2 blowouts on his bike on the way home (he rides his bike to/from work daily.)
My mom and Jonathan came home and the dust from the day settled. We left Jonathan, Quyen, and Xander to be together as a family and my mom and I came back to my house to enjoy some yummy Vietnamese soup and rice noodle California rolls. By that time it was about 8:30pm. And the sad thing is that my mom had planned to take Xander to the church Christmas party so he could see Santa. Those plans got completely dashed.
But the important thing is that everyone was OK and safe and healthy after that scary incident. It really could've been so much worse.
By 9 I was in bed, pretty tired, and talking on the phone to my friend, Eric, as we often do. By 9:45 I was too sleepy to do anything but just crash.
Yep, it was a full day!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
New washer and dryer---put to the test!
Well, here they are...click on any image to see a larger version...
My new washer and dryer were finally delivered today! 5 days later than what I was told last week, but 2 days before the "best-case scenario" I was told when I ordered them 2 weekends ago. It all works out, and the slight delay gave me a chance to learn more about them and become more adjusted to the "idea of the change.
They were delivered and hooked up and ready to use by 3:30 this afternoon. 4 hours later and I'm on my 5th load on laundry. So far, they seem to be working just fine. Yay! And I purposely have done different kinds of loads of different sizes: a medium sized load of towels (one was a "work towel" that was VERY soiled and it came out spotless,) a medium load of light colors, a bigger load of dark colors, two blankets, and right now I'm washing my heavy jacket.
Everything has come out looking great, no unusual smells, the machines are quiet and don't dance across the room, and I'm using 1/2 the detergent because they are water-savers.
All of my worry about this big change and ordering such fancy models and I have a good feeling that everything will work just fine. Whew!
P.S. I did discover the downside of doing so many loads in one afternoon though--I have to put them all away!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Kristie & Eric's Singing Duet Debut...
Now that MySpace Karaoke is allowing duets, people are really getting creative. But the one person I really wanted to do a duet with was my friend, Eric. His voice is so awesome. (And he can sing Elvis songs to make you croon...)
Last night we were on the phone and he told me that he had been practicing the guy's half of a song I had tried on my own a few weeks ago. Did I want to try singing it together and make a duet? Heck yes!
I'm really happy with the final result! He adjusted his microphone volume to compliment mine and did the most incredible harmonies. Yay! I can't wait for the next one!
The song is called Always and you can click HERE to listen to it.
P.S. I thought it would be fun to show pictures of us with some of our favorite kids: Eric with his nephew, Ashton, and me with my cousin, Cassidy. And, yes, we are the best of friends.
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