What are you doing, NYE?

I love this video from Zooey Deschanel singing this song about plans for New Year's Eve.

Let's face it. I pretty much like anything that Zooey Deschanel does. But, this is pretty good, right?

So, what are you doing on New Year's Eve? We'll be ringing in the New Year according to East Coast time so we can celebrate but get the kids to bed on time and be okay for church the next morning. Doesn't that sound grown up and mature?

I mean, it would be fun to go out and get dressed up and celebrate, but it's fun to be where we are in life right now. It's chaotic and crazy and loud and I try to remember that it's not going to last very long. There will be years ahead for going out and not worrying about babysitting.

But, really, I'll be tired by then and will enjoy just being at home then, too. 

Christmas pictures

I snapped a few pictures before the Christmas eve service. Patrick wanted this to be finished quickly!

Pretty cute one here, Maggie was behind me making silly faces at him and he gave us a little, bitty smile!

She's such a cute little elf!

Copper's first Christmas picture!

Ears

This guy loves to put things in his ears.

We first noticed it when he started requesting his "bee" to go to sleep. "Bee" looks just like Maggie's "quame"  and was given to Patrick. "Bee" is a blue blankie with a silk lining and he loves to sleep with it at night.

Patrick will take the tips of "bee" and put it in his ear. He will rub it around his ear and it just seems to comfort him when he is relaxing.

The funny thing is that this has transferred to other items now. In the car, he will take the strap of his car seat and put it in his ear. He will take off his boot and put the shoelace tip in his ear.

Tonight, he was playing with Copper and grabbed his tail. He sat down and put Copper's tail in his ear. Copper didn't appreciate this at all.

Twas the night before Christmas

And all through the house
2 year old little boys dressed up in Santa pajamas weren't quiet as a mouse

He found a light saber and he was rocking this Santa/Jedi look, don't ya think?

Santa Paws

Do you know how hard it is to take a picture of a wiggly, all black puppy? Do you know much harder it is when you want him to wear this adorable santa beard and hat? Doesn't he look like he wants to kill someone?

Christmas eve service

For the first time since we've been here, we had a Christmas eve service. As a child, we usually went to a Christmas eve service and I remember singing songs by candlelight and the choir walking down the aisle while singing. I loved the Christmas eve service this year, too. It felt familiar and nice to slow down in the middle of Christmas chaos and celebrate the birth of our savior.

To up the cuteness factor even more, the kids sang "Go tell it on the mountain" at the beginning of the service. Maggie's in the back row wearing the pink Santa hat.

Owen started off the singing by reciting scripture. He got a little nervous and it was really cute. You can hear him say that he was scared in video. The kids were so cute and as I watched them sing, I had to fight off the tears.  There were 2 of Maggie's classmates in the group singing. They don't go to our church, but come each Wednesday night to our church. Jesse does a great job with this group of kids each week. Maggie and her classmates  begged to sit together after the service and they were so cute sitting together all on our little row. They were hugging and wishing each other Merry Christmas and begging for playdates at the end of the service.

Most of the people at the service were people who don't normally attend our church. Out of the 80 people there, I probably knew 30 of them. They were mostly family members there to see the kids singing or just looking for a Christmas eve service.

I loved every part of it and singing next to Maggie as she nervously held her candle was a great way to end the service. I hope each of you had a merry Christmas eve, too.

Merry Christmas

I probably say this every year, but this year was one of the best Christmases. My kids were so stinkin' excited and it's easy to be happy when they are this excited and thankful and happy.

Here's a glimpse into our world. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas too.

A pretty December day

It has been unusually cold here. I know, not as cold as what you northerners think of as cold. But, pretty cold for us Californians. This afternoon, though, it was pretty outside and Patrick and Copper took advantage of it. This is Copper at around 12 weeks old.

Sometimes having a 2 and a half year old and a puppy is hard work. Lots of pee, poop, and craziness abound. But, sometimes it works to my advantage. They both love to run around in the backyard and chase each other. Look at how cute Copper's ears are in this picture.

This guy can't wait for warmer weather. He NEEDS to be outside running around. I'm grateful for days where it warms up a little bit for him.

CHristmas with a two year old

It's too much for him to bear. He's fascinated by the Christmas ornaments and the Christmas tree. He's always trying to put new things on the tree. He's put a flashlight on there and talks about the star on the top of the tree.

His absolute favorites are the snow globes. I found a plastic snowglobe when we went to Lake Tahoe and he loves it.

A box

Patrick got a gift from Nana and Papa in the mail. He doesn't care what the gift is going to be. Cause look at this box. Isn't it awesome? Maggie and Patrick have been playing in it ever since we got it. Patrick loves watching tv in it. Thanks for this gift, Nana and Papa!

Elf on the shelf

We have had an elf on the shelf for two years now. Last year, the elf mosly moved around the living room. But this year, he has gotten a little crazier. Here are some of his antics.


I guess he was hungry.

Writing a letter to Santa about the state of our family's behavior.

He drew on Maggie's preschool picture.

He fell in the box of dum dums from Halloween.

Hanging out with some Christmas peeps.

Making snow angels in sugar on our counters

 Reading tiny golden books with some other Christmas friends

 Sitting on a little sofa that used to belong to Twink

 Hanging around

Drinking a juice  box


Do any of you participate in Elf on the Shelf? What do you do?

I really miss him

I'm having a hard time looking at his last pictures. Maggie took an incredible amount of pictures of Willie during his last days. It's hard to look at him and realize that he's not here anymore. I really miss him.

When I see these pictures, I remember how much he was hurting. He had to keep his head up all the time to keep breathing and not choke.

I miss him a lot.

Picture with Santa 2011

We planned it right this year. No long lines. Go on a random night after dinner when there won't be a crowd. Talk up Santa and take two adults. One adult stands in line while one adult takes the kids to play with the trains and other things set out at Bass Pro Shop.

Maggie was excited and couldn't wait to talk to Santa. Patrick loves Santa and was going to tell him that he "wants to ride a twain".

I didn't even consider that Patrick wouldn't want to see Santa. He loves things in costumes. His favorite part of Chick Fil a is when the ginormous cow is there to play with the kids.

As we walked up to see Santa, he lost it. He didn't want anything to do with the guy in the red suit.

He compromised by sitting on a stool NEXT to Santa.

Maggie told Santa that she wanted an Elf for Christmas.

Santa replied: That's the strangest thing I've ever heard.

Merry Christmas from the COLES

One year ago!

One year ago, we adopted Patrick. It's been  a great year and I'm so glad that he is officially part of our family.

Tonight, Maggie and Patrick went to Raley's with me. I told Maggie that it was one year ago that we adopted Patrick.

Maggie said, "really, we adopted Patrick today last year?".

Patrick raised his hands and shouted, "yay me!".

Isn't he awesome?

Weight loss

On Friday, Steven and I were enjoying our Starbucks deliciousness and I asked him if he would be able to fit into his suit for Nikki and Jerry's wedding at the beginning of next month.

You see, Steven lost a lot of weight last year. I lost some weight, too. But, it's slowly creeping back on. I've gained about 10 pounds back this year and I didn't need to gain it. 10 pounds is a lot when you are 5 foot 2.

So, he said, "I guess I need to lose about 15 pounds before the wedding."

I almost spit out my Starbucks. But, I didn't. Cause that would be evil.

He was going to lose 15 pounds in 20 days?!

And the  crazy thing is that he probably will do it and I decided to join him in this crazy journey right before Christmas. I need to lose it and I really need to lose it before Lori's wedding. I have to get fitted for my dress at the end of January.

So, here we go. We're on day 2 and still feeling okay. No sugar does make me a little grumpy. But, the scale is already going down so that helps.  Wish us luck!

Willie

We made the decision to euthanize Willie on Friday. He had a horrible night on Thursday where he couldn't breathe. I realized that it was like he was suffocating and it just wasn't fair for us to let him hurt.

It was a horrible decision to have to make. I had seen it performed many times when I worked in a vet's office in high school. I knew what to expect. But, it's different when it's your dog.

I put Willie up on our bed on Friday during the day and I fed him his favorite foods. I didn't know what to do about Maggie. We decided not to let her go. When we told her, she begged us to let her come and we decided that it was okay. I don't know that it was the best decision, but I just don't know if there is best decision in a situation like this. We just tried to do what we felt was right with this.

I dreaded his appointment all day long. I felt such anxiety. I mean, I really felt like it was the right thing to do, but it was such a bad thing to have to decide.

We took him to the vet and we were there when he died. Maggie and I talked about our favorite memories of him when he took his last breaths. We wrapped him in a large blanket and took him home.

Steven put him under the tree in our backyard. We said a prayer and Maggie came up with the idea to make him a special stepping stone.

I miss him terribly. It's hard to deal with just him being gone and forgetting that he's not here anymore.

I went to bed last night and was sad that he wasn't following me to bed. For ten years, Willie's followed me to bed and snuck onto the bed somewhere in the middle of the night. I was feeling sad as I crawled into bed.

Then, Mickey (who never wants to be inside at night) jumped on my chest. He laid down next to me and stayed there all night. It was comforting to have him there.

Willie T. Johnson

This is a picture from a few years ago when Maggie was trying to teach Willie how to talk like Martha on "Martha Speaks".

Willie is really not doing well and it's breaking my heart. I know that he is "just a dog" and a lot of people don't understand. But, I love this stinky, silly dog. He was initially doing better, but now it's setting in that he's not going to be around much longer.

I watch him breath to see if his chest is still going up and down. Sometimes I wish that he wasn't breathing anymore. I know that he would not be hurting anymore. That is hard to write down.

He has been through so much with our family. He was supposed to be put down as a puppy and he was given a chance. He's taken that chance at life to extremes. He survived a house fire, a cross country move, he was hit by a car, he has put up with 4 different cats and he has loved Maggie and Patrick.

My favorite thing about Willie is how protective he is of babies. If there is a baby in the house, he goes and sits by it.

We used to live in a busy neighborhood with a fence that wire fence in the backyard. He would jump on his hind legs all around the fence to see all the people walking by like a very large rabbit.

He has been a great dog and I already miss him.

This girl

This girl is about to explode if Christmas doesn't get here soon.
and literally jumped down every aisle in Target.
and told me how she wanted every single thing in the store.
and loves her new puppy.
and is excited about the family that her classroom is adopting.
and went through her room looking for stuffed animals to donate.
and wants to buy the family more stuff at Target.
and wonders why we can't go buy it all right now?
and wonders why it isn't Christmas yet?
and told me I was the best mommy in the whole world.
and I love her.

This boy

He's adorable.
and silly.
and dances.
and says "huh" about 500 times a day.
and loves to hug the dogs and cats.
they don't appreciate his love.
and wants to touch the Christmas tree.
and crashes his toy cars.
and says "hi" to random strangers at the grocery store.
and has the most beautiful eyes in the world.
and drove me crazy today.
and I love him.

Polar Express

Last weekend, we went on the Polar Express. Patrick absolutely loved it. This was our conversation on the train:

Patrick: Mommy? TWAIN.
Me: I know, Patrick, isn't it great?
P: Mommy! TWAIN!
Me: I know, a train.
P:MOMMY! A TWAIN!
(repeat)

We went with Patrick's grandparents and it was such a fun trip. The tree lighting in Old Sacramento was going on after the train trip so we got to see the lights and then we went to Chick Fil A.

And....

there. was. a . TWAIN!!!