Santa Baby

Santa got a visit from the sweetest three munchkins this past weekend. Of course, he asked what they wanted for Christmas and here is what they said... with a little help from me. ;)

Rylie (now 4 1/2 months) and Sofia (10 months) visited Santa for the first time. You can see that it was a normal visit.

It was a notable day...

Christmas is over, the lights are turned off, stockings are empty and my heart is full.
Christmas day had it's tough moments with my sister not being here and me being sick, but being with my family is the greatest gift. I really do love them.

Christmas Eve is always spent with my mom's side of the family and this includes the one little person that gets all the attention. My nephew, Cristian aka Iron Man aka Avatar aka Green Power Ranger. Use one of these and he will love you forever and may even let you hug him.

Christmas decorating is big in my house. I didn't get any photos (worth posting here) except for this one that I love. This magical village is setup on our built-in library. Something a little disturbing about the baby faced man...

We sk*yped with my sister and her family on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. I had them cluster together for a family photo. haha.

Among the wonderful gifts that I opened on Christmas morning was this furry hat that I loved! I don't usually wear hats, but I keep putting this one on. Makes me feel a little French... and maybe like I'm 12 but I still love it.

This is my Gramms and I on Christmas Day.

The next big anticipated event is going to take place in mid January and I cannot wait! My Niece will be here soon and if it's a natural birth I'll be able to see her come into this world. So excited about this!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and an even BETTER New Year!

Baby Jigs - Part 2

I mentioned in a previous post that my nephew, Cristian, loves to sing. Some of his favorite songs I have never heard before and he, at three years old, knows the words! He loves the song 'Poker Face' by Lady Ga*ga and it cracks me up every time he sings it. Here is a short video of him...

Baby Jigs

My nephew Cristian has his own taste in music. He's three years old and knows the words to "Poker*Face" and "Apologize". He is adamant about not listening to any other channel but Hip Hop and he knows when Michael Jackson's music comes on... I don't even know the words to the songs he knows... some songs I'd never heard of. Kids now days are growing up WAY too fast!

This was way too cute to not share... haha.



This is one of the songs that my nephew sings and now I know the words too. LOL
MUST watch the kid in the red...


Happy Friday!

- Deb

It's Monday

I started off this beautiful day by slipping on mud and landing my sandaled foot in the gutter. Dirty brown water and who knows what else. Monday's are not a fun day for me. I think that's a consensus among all working women and men.

I am sitting in my office at work, trying to get motivated for the week... trying is the key word here. I don't think I've ever shared pictures of this place where I spend most of my "awake" time. Completely raw, no cleaning up, it can get a little messy. I've been with this company for almost 5 years and in this office for over a year and I still have not decorated it properly. I have so many plans, at least to throw some pictures on the wall, but it hasn't happened yet. So my walls are a light beige with nothing but a cork board and whiteboard. Bare and bland which is not me, or so I like to think.

I handle records for legal trials for major companies that everyone in the world knows. So we have a ton of work since everyone wants to sue them. Serious work overload. As you can see by the mess of papers all over the office. I have 10 in-boxes. T-E-N. Why ten? I have to separate everything from important to least important. It really makes no difference because it all because important to whoever is waiting for it. So now you know what I see every.single.day. Now that I've seen these pictures on here, I MUST work on getting this place looking more "comfy" (for lack of a better word). Any ideas?

:: :: :: ::

This last weekend was packed with wonderful goodness. I will post pictures in the next few days of hilarious kids program (2-5 year olds singing and dancing - stomachache laughter) and my nephews b-day party.

We visited my Gramps grave yesterday, Our first Father's Day without him. We also saw Nicole Brown* Sim*pson's* grave which is a few feet from my Gramps. You'll know her from the famous OJ* Simpson* trial.

We celebrated my dad by having a bbq and I bought him a gift which was NOT a gag gift but apparently everyone seemed to think it was. What do you get someone who has everything? A cushioned toilet seat cover. Why not? I figure you spend some time on there, especially as you get older and the comfier the better. He didn't think so.

My dad is an incredible Dad, even if he didn't like the gift I bought. Things have not always been perfect between us because I'm more of a Mama's girl and my sister is the Daddy's girl, but my Dad is wonderful. Growing up he was the BEST dad there was. He took us on a big vacation every summer, lavish spending on his kids that most people never get to experience. He exposed us to the finer things in life that his own mom and dad exposed him too. But beyond all that, he's always provided and loved us every single day. I knew that I can go to him if I needed help, which in my early adulthood days I really was a thorn in his side. I had a special place for Nord*strom and other stores that he didn't appreciate very much! ha! Which he never really knew where I spending all my hard earned cash, he just knew that I needed help with this or that. Eventually I grew up and realized that Dad couldn't always come to my rescue. I'm sure he's thankful for that! So, one day late, Thank you, Dad for being a great father! I love you.

RANDOMNESS - Food, FB, and Cristian

I've discovered this new eatery, Lee's Sandwiches, that is so odd and parts of the menu make me cringe, but it sure is good. When you see an avocado smoothie and a cured pork and pate sandwich... what is your first thought? AVOID

I don't have the nerve to try either of these or their sardine sandwich - cringe. I have found that their Baguettes are so delicious and their mocha smoothies make you want to head to the drive-thru every.single.day.

They have these fruit smoothies that taste like heaven... if you live in California, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona or if you live in Korea, Vietnam, or China - Try one of their smoothies or sandwiches. You'll want to stop by, like me, every.single.day.

As a matter of fact - I will be seeing Lee today for one of those Watermelon smoothies... I just can't help myself.

::

I've been so slow at work and spending 99% of my time on Facebook. Whoever thought of this did a good thing... It is so fun to "see" people from so long ago and keep in contact with distant family and friends. Even my kindergarten teacher is my friend on FB! Bizarre. If you don't have one GET one - and if you know my name... haha... we can be FB friends too! =)

::

My nephew, Cristian, is a character these days. We went out on Saturday night and he was so entertaining. Auntie Cacky, my sister, kept giving him Maraschino cherries... let's just say he was spinning out of control and needed a candy sobriety test. I caught the evidence with my phone camera...

His first taste of a Maraschino cherry or as he calls it "Candy"

Aunt Cat's Cherry coke made him yell "Mooooooore!"

Bowllickinggood ice cream.

That sums up my exciting, edge of your seat random post - It's all good in my end of the world this week...

Christmas Pictures

I took some pictures of my cousin Eileen and her family this past weekend for Christmas. Cristian, her son, is the funniest kid to photograph. He has so much character and does exactly what you tell him. These were my favorite shots, I thought they came out pretty good...

Random Pictures and Strange Mail

I was going through my 2 story high pile of mail, really maybe 1 story, and found this piece of mail that could not possibly have been sent to me! I checked the back and I was wrong, It had my name on it... why would someone send this to me? Ha!

Maybe I'll call for a free gift...

::

A couple of weeks back my sister and I made dinner for everyone. I made my chicken pasta and she made a salad with her incredible homemade dressing. She treated us all to yummy tuxedo brownies with strawberries....

In case your mouth is watering... you can get the recipe here - Ghirardelli Brownie Recipe.

::

A couple of weeks back I went to the park with my nephew... He is so much fun and a happy distraction for me. I can watch him for hours and love to hear him try to form words. He is actually on his way over here to spend some time with his aunties!

Anyway, after he'd exhausted us on the swings, basketball court, slides, and everything else on the playground, he settled down with his water cup, a rare moment for this rambunctious boy.

::

This past week at our community group meeting we had the kids make thank you cards for God. This one girl, we'll call her Sally, always tugs at my heart. Her sister and brother have had it hard this year. They've been homeless and now live in a family members garage. Yet, through it all she smiles. She loves Jesus with all her heart and her favorite thing to do is to sing. A recent song that she picked up goes like this, "Faith, faith, faith just a little bit of faith. Faith, faith, faith, just a little bit of faith, you don't need a whole lot just use what you got..." What a testimony she is to me.

She made this incredible card and I just had to share it with you.

"Dear Jesus, I thank you so much for everything."

A Weekend Rundown and Blog Headers

I've officially started my Christmas shopping! I went shopping on Friday night with my sisters and there was something for the Mom that I couldn't resist buying. I now have a plan to buy a couple of things each week prior to Christmas in order to afford the mass amount of gifts that will be purchased with my teeny tiny paycheck. Oh my.

I kinked my back a couple of weeks ago and things just got progressively worse from sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day. I got into the chiropractor on Saturday and prayed and asked everyone else to pray, dramatic, that it wouldn't be too bad. I must say, I dislike the chiropractor more than the dentist! My body is so sensitive and bruises easily, so I am guaranteed to leave with finger and elbow bruises. Sure enough, my back and bum were bruised and hurt-ing. This called for 1/2 a painkiller that I do not like taking. I end up talking so fast about nothing and wear myself out. I was drained by the time Saturday night showed up.

Sunday morning I woke up and bundled myself in front of the TV only to be startled by huge military planes flying over, very low. That always makes me a little jumpy. I spent some time at the park with my nephew on a perfect Fall day and watched as more planes flew over. Interesting...

On Sunday night, we had an unbelievable, make you feel goooood, service. I love it when God speaks directly to your situation and provides answers! If I could put words to the feeling, I would love to share, but I can't. It's just something that everyone should feel in their lifetime.

I woke up this morning with sore stomach muscles from all those sit ups I did yesterday. Okay, who am I kidding, sit ups? Me? No. A Friend of my sister and I took us out to eat after church. We chatted and laughed so much that I must have sucked in too much air! Just like a baby. Ha ha. I had hiccups for a good 20-30 minutes. Who knew hiccups could be so painful! Hence the sore stomach muscles.

::

My cousin asked me to change up her blog layout and make it more her style. This is the outcome...

You can see the rest of her blog here - Say What?!

It's time for Christmas, according to me! I love changing my blog for the Christmas season. This year I wanted a classic, not cute, Christmas layout. Let me know what you think!

Disneyland with a Two-Year Old - Part 2

Part 1 here.

By Mid-afternoon we headed over to California Adventure. E-ver-y-one had the same idea. It was packed and hot.

The minute you stepped into the park, you can tell it was pumpkin season. Candy corn ws everywhere.

Candy corn stalks and candy corn cactus!

First Stop - Hollywood

Playhouse Disney
What's more fun this standing in line in the hot sun for 20 minutes? My thoughts exactly. But it was well worth it, the minute we walked into the playhouse, settled on the floor in a massive room full of kids and parents, we knew this was up Cristian's alley. What's better that tool puppets and tigger? It was so cute and the quality of the show was incredible.

Disney Animation Building
I can spend hours in here. When you walk in, the main room is massive, dark and cool and covered with huge screens playing still shots from the Disney animated movies. In the center are plush sofas for sitting.

There are different rooms with interactive attractions that take you behind the scenes of Disney's animation. Our feet needed some rest so the first thing we did was see Turtle Talk with Crush. Crush, the turtle dude from Finding Nemo, interacted with the audience. How Disney does it is a mystery.

In Animation Academy they show how to draw Disney characters with real Disney Animators. Below is a showing of how animation is achieved. This Toy Story setup shows characters that are slightly different than the others. The setup begins to spin super fast... and magic happens.

We headed back to get the stroller and this is what we came upon... not an easy task, trying to figure out which one is yours and how to get it out. We ran into country fall Mickey and Minney as they ran away from the crowd.

Second Stop - Bug's Land

By this time, the weather was beautiful. The sky's were picture perfect!
Cristian is a water kid. He loves showers and baths, he's already in the middle of swimming lessons. The minute I saw the water zone, I knew we had to stop... As you can see below, he l-o-v-e-d it! We continued onto Bug Land and went on a few kiddie rides. Cristian was now almost over the screaming fear of Disneyland.

As we waited for my aunt and cousin to get off the roller coaster I took some pictures of the California sunset. It was the perfect day to be at Disney.

We headed back to Disneyland for the night, along with the other multi-trillion people.

Third Stop - The French Market and Fireworks

The French Market is my favorite restaurant in Disneyland. My parents would always take us to The Blue Bayou or the French Market. Both are located in New Orleans Square. The food is scrumptious and the atmosphere is priceless. The Blue Bayou is a swankier restaurant compared to the other dining places in Disneyland. The inside makes you feel like you are outside. Tables overlook the swamp that is the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. The French Market is located next to the train station with dimly lit lanterns and iron gating all the way around. You stand in line for your food and then sit down to a serenade of Jazz. I ordered Clam Chowder in a sourdough bowl and a Salad with their famous blue cheese dressing. My family is big on blue cheese. We love it! We split this chocolate cake with a white chocolate castle on top.

After a long long dinner we headed over to the castle to get seats for the firework show. By this time, my feet hurt so bad, I didn't care of there was bird poo on the floor, I was going to sit! I sat under this massive flower bulb...

We waited a good hour for the show to start. I took pictures of the crowd all around the circular square that didn't come out very well. The mass of people was overwhelming. No walking space, barely room to sit on the floor and tuck your feet and hands in.

If you haven't seen the firework show at Disneyland you are missing out. This was my favorite part of the whole day. Incredible! I took a long video to post here... It is worth watching!

Part one - Disneyland Fireworks


Part two - Disneyland Fireworks


All in all, it was a fun Disney day with my favorite kid!

Disneyland with a 2 year-old - Part 1

I've probably been to Disneyland 200+ times in my life time. Our family had this special connection with Disneyland, my dad, his company that is, made the wheels for the rides and certain little pieces, to this day I don't know what they're called or what they do. There was a time my parents would take us a few times a week just for dinner and a ride, which usually was Pirates of the Caribbean. Rarely have I gotten the chance to go with a kid and take them on all the fun kiddie rides and see all the attractions that are meant for the younger Disney fans.

We had the opportunity to take my 2 year old nephew to Halloween Time at Disneyland. The park is decked out in candy corn and Halloween themed foods. Kids are dressed up and running around like it's a fun zone.

Normally I map out what I want to see and where I want to eat. Since this was his first time at the wonderful world of Disney, I was going to to go with the flow. Cristian decided to map out his own day...



On the way down main street, we stopped several times, not once or twice, several times to take pictures. Because, of course, this was Cristian's first time at Disneyland. I had my camera turned on indefinitely, just in case a good shot needed to be taken. In case he smiled, in case Mickey came out, in case there was an opening at the extra large, massive pumpkin in the middle of the square.

The weather in California has been perfect... not on this day. It was hot! Standing in a 15-20 minute line, outside, under the sun... miserable.

First Stop - Buzz Lightyear Ride

The minute we walked in the cool, air conditioned building, relief! But... Cristian didn't feel the same. He screamed as any 2 year old would do the minute they saw an 8 ft Buzz Lightyear glowing in the dark building. "No, no, no Buzz!"

The ride was just as eventful. Cristian clung to Auntie Cat as Mommy and Cat shot aliens. As soon as the ride was over it was, "No, No, No Buzz, all done! All done!"

Second Stop - Mad Hatter and Dumbo

After buying Mickey Mouse ears, with the exception of me who didn't want to pay $12.99 for a pair of ears that would be taken off minutes later, we stood in line for Dumbo. Cristian rode with me, his little head couldn't see over the edge of the "Dumbo", but he still loved it!

Third Stop - Mr. Toads Wild Ride, Lunch at Village Haus, and Casey Jr.'s Train

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is one of the scariest kiddy rides in Fantasyland. You take a dark trip to hell that all kids just love! Not really. Cristian was no different than I was when I was a little girl, he screamed and tried to crawl out while we held on and assured him that it was almost over while we laughed like crazy people attempting to lighten the mood of flames and thunderings (is that even a word?).

Next... FOOD was calling our name. After standing in line for 20 minutes to get cheeseburgers, we headed over to Casey Juniors train, one of my favorite kiddie rides. By this time, the heat had doubled and we were all ready to get into a cooler zone. As soon as we were off the ride, I ran to the refreshment stand and bought a Diet Coke for $2.75. When you come to Disneyland, you have to remember to pay an arm and a leg for a drink that would normally be $1.00.

(Mr. Toad's Wild Ride)

(Not sure if Casey Jr.'s is scary)

Fourth Stop - The Jungle Cruise

You'd think that being a lover of animals, well monkeys, the little man would LOVE the Jungle Cruise. If you've never been on the Jungle cruise, let me tell you about it. ... I don't remember eve being scared of the animals as a little girl, but that was long ago and maybe I blocked it out. After you climb in a boat that is on green swampy water in the middle of the "jungle", your safari captain narrates as he leads you through the waters past monkeys, hippopotamus, and crazy jungle men... with heads hanging from their fist! The minute Cristian heard the strange "oooeeeeahhhh oooooeeeee" he buried his head and begin screaming. The piranhas jumping on the side of the boat didn't help to calm his nerves.

Would you like a little Jungle Cruise Disney Trivia? The jungle became so authentic that real life massive spiders, were talking spiders bigger than your head, and snakes begin to reproduce and take over the jungle in the middle of the park... true story. As for the ride itself, it's one of the first attractions that was installed when the park opened. The canopy boats were designed by Walt Disney after the movie - The African Queen, which starred Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn. Thought you might find that interesting.

Part 2 - California Adventure... to be continued.