thanks again auntie jody

as you can see, miles was in desperate need of a haircut. he's had a few trims, but none of them were very good. auntie jody was in town, so we hit her up for a cut. we looked up some cuts on the internet, basically we went with the sort on the sides longer on the top so he can do a "faux" hawk.  jody did such a great job, and miles was very happy with the results. it's nice to be able to see miles' beautiful eyes again.  love you auntie jody xoxox

we had a wonderful day...

we had a wonderful christmas this year, despite the fact that david was very tired and sick. we opened gifts christmas morning, after santa made a visit. he left lots of fun things for both kids. he also left some "magic" footsteps... very cool.  we then headed down to nana's for dinner with her and to open more gifts. it was a short, but nice visit. when we came home from there, we went over to papa and sam sam's to have another yummy dinner and open MORE gifts. needless to say, the kids had a wonderful time and  were VERY happy with everything the received. as much as i am happy christmas is over, i am even more happy that my children had a happy and healthy christmas. i am blessed with the two most amazing kids, and that is more than i could EVER ask for.

merry christmas to all...

and to all a goodnight...

teacher gift...

miles' teacher is always commenting on what a good artist miles is.  i was racking my brain for what to get mr. g for christmas, and then it came to me.  i'll have miles paint him a picture. when i told miles the idea, he loved it. he said "i'll paint something from nature because mr. grigsby loves nature." he sketched it out on paper first. then he pencilled it on the canvas and finally he painted it. i loved it, and i can't wait to see if mr. g liked it too.

it's feeling a little more like christmas...

as many of you know, miles has been opening his advent calendar everyday, and each day there is a different christmas themed activity to do. today's activity was to go look at the christmas lights. my friend ann and her son joined us. we started in arroyo grande having dinner at gina's italian restaurant very, very yummy. then we headed to this amazing house that my friend joanna told me about. the house's lights are synchronized to the music on a radio station you tune into when you get to the house. we stayed there for at least 15-20 minutes. we would get ready to leave and then another song would come on and we'd think it was better than the previous.  AWESOME is the only way to describe it. we then headed back to santa maria to look at more lights. the kids drank hot cocoa and enjoyed commenting on all the cool lights we saw. this is a tradition i started with miles when he was just a baby, and i am so glad we have continued it with maisy. she kept pointing and saying "lights pretty". a very enjoyable night and a goo way to start christmas vacation!

O.I.O

back home in cambridge, massachusetts, we have a saying O.I.C. (only in cambridge).  we use this phrase when we see something ridiculous or unusual. so when i saw this, i had to take a picture and start a new phrase... O.I.O (only in orcutt).  how many of you have ever seen the UPS guys riding a bike with a trailer delivering packages? for some reason, it makes it seem a bit more like christmas to me. not sure why, but it definitely puts a smile on my face.

baby it's cold outside...

this is what we woke up to yesterday. it was FREEEEZING! the day before it rained, then the sun came out, but the cold and wind came along with it. being from massachusetts, it is so funny to watch the news here in santa maria. we had a big storm watch and they had stories about how to protect your pipes. i understand, we are not used to this kind of weather out here, but it's still pretty funny. these pictures were taken at about 7:45 AM. when i dropped miles off at school, the kids were dressed like they were expecting 2 feet of snow. i have to say with the weather being this cold, i am starting to get a bit more into the christmas spirit.

this is one of my favorites...

this commercial cracks me up, because it reminds me so much of my family. my brother and i would TOTALLY do this.  i LOVE the girl on the couch just cracking up!

here you go mom...

not the best pic, but you get the gist...

i love edward as a vampire...

but he's really cute as an elf too...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

tired...

this one word sums it up... i am pretty much exhausted. i have been a single mom for about the last month, and it is really catching up with me. i don't know how "real" single moms do it, usually they have to work and be a mommy. i give them LOTS of credit. i took the kids to sam sam's tonight and got most of my christmas decorations up on the inside the house. i will work on the outside of the house tomorrow. hopefully david will be able to take a few hours off this weekend so we can put the lights on the house and get the tree. still need to wrap and ship gifts.  i am really not in the christmas spirit at all. maybe once all the decorating is done, i will feel a bit more in the spirit.


oh and by the way... i LOVE glee.  so sad only one more episode until next season.

the countdown has begun...

yesterday was the start of many yearly traditions...

* our little shelf elf showed up

* miles has 2 yes 2 advent calendars

* and i have started my december daily album... (so excited about this)

so in miles' advent calender this year instead of putting junky little trinkets that just get thrown away, i printed little cards with a different activity/special treat on it. today's activity/special treat was to have hot cocoa with all the fixin's.  we went to the store and got, marshmallows, fluff, candy canes and... wait for it... gummy worms. yup, miles got to pick something he wanted to try in his cocoa and that's what he picked. really all he did with it was decorate his mug.  fun fun fun... starting to get in the spirit a little bit day by day.

I DID IT!!!!

i made a post to my blog EVERY day of november! pretty proud of myself. i am going to try to keep it up through the month of december too.
my mom asked for an after picture of maisy's hair... i'll post it later today.
starting the kids advent calendars today. this year instead of putting cheap little goodies in each door, i cut little slips of paper, each with a different activity for the kids to do... (mostly for miles to do). things like watch a christmas movie, cut out snowflakes, etc... should be lots of fun. i'll keep you updated on each days activity. have a wonderful dec. 1st... only 24 shopping days left...

HO HO HO!!!