Oh Dear!!

Nick decided to throw sand on a classmate, hide from his teacher, spit at his teacher (raspberries-not a full-on loogie) kick sand at his teacher, and call her a "punk."   Happy Friday to me!! Thankfully he did not call her a "frickin' idiot"...that was last month.

His teacher says he has "anger issues."   Lord, help me!

Sunny!!

We got a new little family member today.  We did not think Big Dad would like her, but thankfully he does.  They think she is about 3 months old.  Super cute.  I think she will fit in with the rest of the crew just fine!!  She is a little poodle-rescue puppy.  The rescue group named her Noel, they said they found her wandering the streets of L.A. on Christmas.  We changed her name to Sunny. We thought that sounded good with Luna (our other doggie.)

Two (Too) Funnies!!

First: My Mom (Grandma Donut) has Leukemia and has been going through chemo for the last few months.  Since she has been on chemo, she is bald.  Well, she was visiting this weekend and Nicholas was hanging out while she was getting ready to go out.  Grandma was wearing a hat and needed to change into her wig.  As soon as Grandma took off the hat to put on the wig, Nick said "Wow...Grandma's a Boy!!"  My mom thought this was hilarious.  So did we.

Second:  While in the car, from the backseat, I hear:

Sophie: Mom, what are Buppies?

Me:  I don't know, what do you mean? Buppies?

Sophie: You know that song This Land is your Land, This Land is My Land, (starts singing) As I was walking a ribbon of highway I saw a BUPPY....an endless skyway.

We had to explain that there were no Buppies, too bad.  I think Buppies sound much more interesting.

Happy Birthday Sophie!!

Our sweet girl turned seven this week.  She had a very special day.  She got her ears pierced, then spent her birthday money from Grandma and Grandpa on a Monkey from Build-a-Bear.

Then out to dinner with the neighbors.  Yummy Cheesecake Factory!!  It was great!

Merry Christmas!!

We all had a wonderful Christmas this year.  A little crazy but so much fun.  I was remarking to my Mother-in Law that Christmas just passes too fast for me. It seems like I blink my eyes and it is over.  She reminded me that this happens with any major event (weddings, babies being born, etc.)  The actual event passes all too quickly. It is in the preparation that we must take enjoyment.  My mother in Law is very "matter-of fact."  I am glad that we all got to have fun in the time before Christmas and did not have to do any major shopping or preparation at the last minute.  I always like to get my trees up early and have my shopping done before it really gets into December.  That way we have time to really enjoy the season and all the stuff that goes along with it. 

Yes, I did write "trees" above.  I am a Christmas tree lover. Always have been.  We now get two. One big tree in the living room for my stuff.  I have a collection of  angel ornaments that I have collected through the years which I love to put on my tree. After the kids came along,  they started making ornaments and getting ornaments as gifts from the grandparents.  What started as me buying a teeny tree for Tony, now has grown into an (almost) full sized tree of their own each year.  Next year, I have to get them a bigger one.  We could not fit all of the hand-made beauty on it this year.  No fake trees either.  We like the real things.  We have a fun time teasing our friends who have fake trees.  I know...it is a sick thing to do, but we can't help ourselves. We call it "going over to the dark side"  when one of our previous real tree friends get a fake tree.  Our trees start getting that real sweet piney smell into about the third week. New Years Day, we say adios to my beautiful (dead) trees.

Merry Christmas to all of you!!  I hope you had lots of Joy and Peace and were able to see the wonder of Christmas through the eyes of a child this year. I truly did and I will write about it in a few days so I do not forget the moment, it was the best.   

PS....  If you read this, please leave me a comment to what kind of tree YOU have. We promise we won't tease, even if you have gone over to the dark side. LOL!!! 

Gotcha Day Number Three

Nicky and Cousin Ashley.
Don't be alarmed...Michael did not get in a fight, he got hit in the nose with a baseball.  Yes, his poor nose is broken.  He thinks it is cool.  Michael will be going to college next year on a baseball scholarship.  Not sure where yet.  We are way proud of him, even with his bent nose. Click on the picture and you can see all the spectacular colors of his black and purple eye.  You can also see just how much this kid eats.  This was his first plate, he was just getting started.
The Pelmeni were stuffed with ground beef and onion and garlic. Sour Cream goes on top. YUMMY!!!
Sunday was Nicky's Gotcha Day Celebration. A fun time was had by all.  We cooked up some Russian Food and Celebrated the 3rd Anniversary of bringing our little man home.  The Pelmeni were divine this year. The kids all helped to make them. We also had Russian Salad and Roast Beef in Sour Cream.  We added Hot Fudge Chocolate Cakes for Dessert, not Russian, but delicious.  It is always fun to do this.  Nicky still has no idea of what it is truly all about, but he enjoyed getting to pick out the guest list (his favorite uncle and cousins) and telling everyone it was his Gotcha Day.  He got to eat on the special red plate. Do you all have a red plate? If not you should try to get one.  All of my kids love it when it is their turn to use the red plate.   BTW...we are having a big storm here in CA.  The wind is whipping and it is about 45 degrees outside. Off and on rain. What the heck?  I am freezing.  I have not worn my flip flops in 3 days.  Not a happy camper, here.  Ugg Boots are my friend!! 

Christmas Card Fiasco

In my ongoing quest to save money, I attempted to take my own Christmas Card Photo this year.  It was a complete disaster.  I made my kids put on their Christmas outfits, and report to the backyard.  I took a bunch of photos which all pretty much stink. First of all, my kids except one, take after me and are not very photogenic.  Second, my camera is horrible.  Third, the kids were grumpy and un-cooperative.  This is a sample of what I got.  I think I am going to use a shot I took in Kauai last summer and be done with it.