Life with Poot-n-Toots

my, my, how time flies...

**Santa reportedly purchased the ipod used from a friend for $35 and he got the pretend iphone for FREE from the display case at Target

looks can be deceiving, part 2 **EDITED**

First of all, I have to say that it's 1:30 PM on Saturday. Each member of our family is sans a shower or clean clothes and is happily wearing pajamas. Jason is facebooking', I'm eating my breakfast, and the girls are happily playing barbies. Or are they????

Look again... they are actually playing Little House on the Prairie!

The hamper on its side is the covered wagon, the various horses are oxen, Ken and Flynn Ryder are 'Pa' and Barbie is standing in for 'Ma'. Of course once they realized I'd snapped a photo with my phone they were totally embarrassed and told me to go away. I lingered outside the door for a bit and listened to them playing...I head lots of stuff about measles, a broken axel, and Ma yelling 'time for supper!'.

Paige just finished book 7 of the 9 book series, and we've heard ALL about the happenings of each book.

***total side-bar... I have NEVER read these books (I do remember the tv series... I had a big crush on micheal landon...and who could forget Nellie..that girl freaked me out!)..but Jason...Jason read EVERY BOOK. He and Paige have been totally funny lately. They talk about the characters and what's happenning and I generally have no idea. Of course Jason has a freaky memory and can remember all the tiny details.It's been fun to listen to them talk about the books

I begged them to let me take this next photo and they allowed it so long as I didn't 'put it on facebook'. Bwa-ha-ha-ha... ya didn't say 'not on the blog' did ya? What they don't know won't hurt them, right?

Thirty minutes later Paige came in and said 'look Mom, the Ingal's are on the move'...sure enough they'd fully completed the wagon. Look how nicely Ken and Flynn are getting along as Pa-1 and Pa-2 (Ally and Paige each have a full family) Carrie, Laura and Grace are in the back.

the back was even packed with all of their belongings...

I LOVE that they play this way, and use their imaginations. Now I just need to find a brunette Barbie and make her into Katniss Everdeen and maybe the girls and I can play The Hunger Games ...now *that* would be fun!

***EDITED TO ADD***

Kaleena sent me a text saying that if she were 8, she'd totally play Barbie Hunger Games with me....well looky, looky, what I found here. It's on, sister!!!!

 

and if you want to take a trip down memory lane from FOUR and a half years ago..check out 'looks can be deceiving part one'...ah, sweet, sweet, Ally. How I miss that round face and tiny pig-tails

 

Just one.

Just one picture that sums up Christmas for me.

One snap shot on a simple point and shoot.

Uncle and Niece holding hands while on a hike.

Simple joy. Simple peace. Simple love.

This is why I love photos. Why I'm totally thankful that they remembered to take a camera...this meant that although I wasn't there, I get to *be* there now. The day that the girls and Jason went on an adventure hike with Uncle Jon. The same day I helped my Mom pick out her wedding dress.

This holiday season might have just been the best yet.

Full of family...... chaos and calm, zoo afternoons and knitting evenings, music n' marshmallow wars, wedding dresses and hikes, cookies and caroling, new babies and growing bellies, giving and receiving, tiny pink and maroon boxes, gingerbread men and peppermint blossoms, mimosas and 'north pole mai tais', fake nails and fake teeth, gingerbread houses and gingerbread 'dinner's, an 8 year old slouching on the couch listening to her ipod, and the 5 year old that dances around 'texting' on her 'fak fon'.....This....this is Christmas.

Next week I plan on finishing up my December Daily and hope to post photos soon

Sam.

This is Sam.

Sam takes care of the girls Mondays-Wednesdays. She picks them up at the house each morning at 7:05 and has them until 4:30 pm. Sam has been the Nanny for Paige's good friend Ella's family for the past three years. Ella has 3 siblings- Cooper (in Ally's class and totally Ally's best boy buddy), Copeland (3) and London (2). Each day Sam manages to care for SIX kiddos AND be a taxi. She picks my kids up, drives to the H's house, drives them all to school where the kinders and 3rd graders are dropped off, picks up the kinders at noon and then drives back to pick up the 3rd graders. Not to mention the to/from basketball practices, the fun outings, activities, etc.

I was having MAJOR stress this summer trying to find a 'replacement' for Charlene. I finally had to let go of the fact that I couldn't find another Charlene. Charlene was and is so special to our family. Thankfully we found Sam. It's been a learning experience for me. Learning to trust someone new. Learning that the awesome relationaship (1/2 friend, 1/2  parental mentor) that we had with Charlene wouldn't be duplicated. Learning that someone can't 'love' my kids immediately.

But, when I have learned is......is that different is ok. That it's possible to start over with a care-giver and trust a new person. That my kids are HAPPY and so am I. That although I may not sit on the floor and chat with Sam for 30 minutes, it doesn't mean I'm not interested in her life, but just that it's different now. By the first month it was clear that Sam was invested in my kiddos. She understood them and could anticipate their needs. She's kind and patient with my sensitive Ally and is able to rein Paige in(and her 'tude).

To top it off, she's CRAFTY, she LOVES to take pictures (and doesn't think I'm nutty) and she's always up for an adventure. Today was the last day that we'll see Sam until the new year. She had gifts for the girls (the adorable hat/scarf/mittens) and the most awesome gift for J and I.....  A CD FULL OF PICTURES from August-December. There were over 100 images. It was SO fun to look through them and see my girls having fun, crafting, playing, etc.

        
 
   

and here's Sam with all the kiddos today....so, so, sweet.

December Daily, year 4...

It's been a little quiet on the blog in regards to the holiday season,but I assure you, we're in full swing 'round these parts.The Noah tree and mantle (stocking's and all) were done the weekend before Thanksgiving, and the big tree went up the weekend after.

This year I'm completing a December Daily Album again. It's really one of my favorite albums; A daily peek into all that is December. I waffled about doing one this year because I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with life, it takes a bit of work to sit down each day and get the day documented.... I decided to 'just look' at a local store and see if any of the Christmas papers caught my eye. I saw a really pretty new line by Theresa Collins and it jumped into my cart (Thanks Nonnie, for the birthday money). What I find that's REALLY been helpful this year is that we have a new printer.

long story made not-so-short. The weekend after thanksgiving we headed to office max to buy a new printer cartridge, so I could send my Christmas cards through the printer- I'm lazy. Imagine my SHOCK when a combo pack of color/ink was 69.99 (WHAT!!!!!!). Apparently our 12 year old DINOSAUR printer is so out of date it's practically obsolete. The sales clerk said that they had printers cheaper than what the ink would cost me. He showed me an all-in-one printer (April finds it hilarious that I had NO IDEA what this meant..what? it can copy? scan? fax? it's wireless? AND a photo printer? Who knew- apparently I'm waaaay behind the times). Imagine my second shock that this printer was only 49.99. HOLY CRAP!!! No lie- I walked out of the store with a new fabu printer, 2 extra black and color ink cartridges AND 150 sheets of photo paper for 100 bucks. (thanks Bev and Tim for my birthday money!)

It's been fun to print out my photos each night and have the instant gratification of having it done *right now*. It's certainly not cheaper to print all my photos this way. But for small projects and non standardized sizes, it's fantastic.

Anyhoo, enough about my new toy. Here are the first 11 days of my album.

The cover. I'm lovin' my hand-made flowers (for the scrap-girls- the new glubers by cosmo cricket that we got at the Bakersfield store are SUPER- they are so easy to use)... I also love the vintage-y feel of the glitter letters.

 

An introduction and a quick little letter to the girls...

 

Since we had our tree up prior to december, I did a collage of these images on the left side of the layout.

Day 1. North Pole breakfast.

  

Day two. San Luis Christmas Parade.

 

Day 3. The story of Mike putting up our lights. We haven't done this for a few years, and I certainly missed my lights.

 

Day 4. Letters to Santa (or shall I say 'novels' to Santa)

 

I scanned the front and back of each letter and printed them out on 2'x3' inch cards, and them glued them together and strung them with a string before putting them in this pocket).

 

Day 5. Ally's Daisy Scout fieldtrip to J's station. Likely the last little tour he'll do.

 

Day 6. Paige's 3rd grade awards assembly.

Day 7. A little math worksheet of Ally's and a sarcastic quote about how calm and bright it was. Total sarcasm- my day sucked, and ended with Paige puking (all told in the journaling below).
 

Day 8. Jason's uber fun 24 hour trip to Fres-yes to see his man crush Adam Carolla.

  

Day 9. Random photo of my cell phone wallpaper. It's been the same for the past year. The girls with Santa. Still love it. Still makes me smile daily.

 

Tiny little rolled note from Paige's student teacher (it was her last day...Paige cried.... and then asked her for her phone number- too cute.)

 

Day 10. Holiday craft party at Natalie's. They made 101 scarves for the homeless shelter...and a few treats to keep for themselves (the card on the left was the invitation- journaling by Paige)

 

Day 11. The princess trees are up.

  

Day 12. Ally's Daisy Troop made 100 cards to hand out at the old folk's home next week while they do some caroling (I forgot my camera- the troop leader will be e-mailing me a photo from this evening)

and there ya have it. The first 12 days of December. I'm nearly half-way and excited to see how the rest of the month comes together.

I'm voting for...

Mitt Romney....

ok, only kidding (Auntie Marcine, I heard you gasp right through the computer).

But really, he almost had me convinced now that it's been confirmed by the Washington Post that Mr. Romney has officially chosen Kid Rock's "Born Free" as his official campaign song.

Read Article Here

I love what Kid Rock had to say about it

He and anyone else who wants to use my song do not need my permission. I said he could use it and I would say the same for any other candidate. I have to have a little faith that every candidate feels like he or she can help this country. Without faith, we got nothing. I make music to have it be heard. Merry Christmas folks! Rock on.

-Kid Rock

PS: Any candidate who makes "So Hott" their theme song has a good chance of getting my vote

Ah....my heart swoons. I do love me some Kid Rock. And for those of you that won't be following Mitt's campaign, I'd hate for you to miss this great, great song.

Enjoy.

 

and that ends my political commentary.

 

North Pole Breakfast...

Typically on the 1st of December the girls get to open gifts; they get new Christmas jammies (from Grammie) and a Christmas book from us. This year, I thought it would be fun to change it up a bit. I saw a really cute idea for a 'North Pole Breakfast' (on pinterest, of course) and figured it looked quick n' easy.I set it up the night before (using all re-purposed decorations...the only things I purchased were the donuts, orange slices, and silly straws) and quickly made four of the snowman donuts.

When the girls came down stairs yesterday morning they were totally surprised. They both declared it the 'best breakfast ever!'. We'll definitely be adding this to our December 1st tradition.

 

I got very few pictures in the morning, because it was 6:45 am and the mornings are a bit hectic...here's one of the girls chowing down...

expanding our family...

to make room for my new baby....

I haven't named her yet, but am open for suggestions. She and Lola will get along mighty-fine.

Good friends.

Good friends take time out of their weekend to take your family Christmas pictures.

Good friends make sure you don't have any leaves stuck to your butt.

Good friends edit out the crappy pictures first, so you don't have to see your third chin.

Good friends laugh along with Jason's iphone farting app, to ensure that your kids (and more importantly your husband) have *real* smiles.

Good friends chance a mountain lion attack to get the perfect photo.

Good friends take a 15 minute 'hike' around all the paths, only to return to the exact spot you just left *without* complaint.

Good friends take pictures that you'll treasure forever.

Thank you Kelly and Lynnette!!!!!

I'm uploading my cards to costco as I type this. Yay! for a completely stress-free (and FREE) photo session. The rest of you will get to see the photos when you get your Christmas cards. This year the cards will be in COLOR (shocking) and will include Jason and I. Mom and Bev, your wish for FAMILY photos has been granted!

1st annual poot-n-toots costume parade...

This year I figured that we needed to have a post Halloween costume parade so that we get to *see* all of our cuties on one post- with their fabulous costumes (many home made) and equally adorable treat bags of course. I'd say that 2011 was the best year yet! *we* made 26 fantastic bags! Thank you all for indulging me and my Halloween crazies! It really is something that I look forward to each year. I'm missing a few of the collective cuties, but will update as pictures come in....

Shall we begin?????

Little Miss Jenna as pinkalicous. Is she pink-a-cute or what? This little cutie happens to be my niece. Brianne made her bag from a pre-made pink canvas bag (smart, smart, smart) and rhinestone letters and a cute little rhinestone cupcake decal. If that bag doesn't scream pinkalicious, I don't know what would. Great, great job, Brianne!

Erika's little Ninja, Andrew.

Kristy and Abby's bags made by Michelle. Love the country diva and southern belle.

Carson (son of Michelle) in his home-made oreo costume with his cookies n' milk treat bag.

Close up's of April's girls bags (there names are covered)- photos of actual trick or treating to follow- but believe me, they looked FABULOUS! (April- send me one of you and Brian too). I love DBD's pirate bag. The black and white striped fabric is such a great touch, and the skull and crossbones is totally well cut (I have a hard time with clean cuts)....I think the added sash at the top is  my favorite.

RED's fortune teller bag. How cool is the globe? April cut a glittered rubber ball in half and adhered it to the bag. Totally, totally out-of-the-box-creativity happening here, people. I love the realistic coins too. The sparkly red fabric is a perfect background for this bag. April- I LOVE THEM BOTH!

This bag is by first-timer Mia (my cousin) made for her precious daughter Danine. Danine happens to be a mere 4.5 months old, but she TOTALLY needed a cute little coordinated treat bag, no? Who cares if all it holds are a few pieces of candy or an extra diaper and wipes, I'd bet money that she was the cutest kid on the block! Mia- the bag turned out fabulously! I love the goal, the contrasting pink handles and the letters.

And here's sweet little Danine in her costume (Mia is just a teeny tiny sports nut :). Seriously, the cutest little football I ever did see. Mia you scored ....BIG!

These fantastic smuf costumes were made by my friend Anjanette. Anjanette and I go way back :) We went to highschool together.....I haven't seen her since my junior year of high school (she was a few years ahead of me), which makes that about 17 years ago (HOLY COW!!!). But through this blog we've reconnected and I get to *see* what she's up to periodically.....check out these outstanding smurfs...Blaine is Hefty Smurf and Ellie is Smurfette. I love Blaine's little tattoo and Ellie's hat and flower with her wig are just so, so, perfect (and totally spot one). Well done, Anjanette!

Kelly's adorable ladybug and bumble bee...

Cowboy Finn with his Grandma and Grandpa..

Marcus and Amy's cuties Ella and Jack......too precious for words... (psst...for those of you that know Marcus- is little Jack his mini-me or what???)

 

Karen's cuties...Miles n' Maisy

Paige and Ally on Halloween (and why I'm thankful that I got 'good pictures' already...they're always in a hurry to get candy and don't want to stop and smile for the camera)

Super Hailey (is she super-cute or what?)....

Michele's rockin' 'M' kiddos.....Max, Mia and Miles......

Litte Miss Ella, the wicked witch of the west (photo of Dorothy to follow)...

Kirsten is sending me a photo, but did say that Adam chose the Dinosaur costume

There ya have it....Halloween 2011 is complete!