Way too busy December

Old Town tree lighting.
Addi loving all the holiday cheer.

yeah!

We spent the first week of the month helping daddy study for finals.

Addi's stocking finally got finished. I started it in early October. I decided to pull out all the stops on this one, since she most likely will be our middle child.

Here's Mr. Fluffy-pants Phillips, always watching.

Camarillo 1st Ward Christmas party.

Trying to get a photo of both girls looking at the camera, not posing, and smiling nicely is impossible!

Addi has been officially renamed, The Destroyer!

Mrs. Claus, not Santa, on her sleigh.

We celebrated our Grandpa's 88th birthday. He had a great time and we had 5 of our 8 siblings there along with their kids.

I finally got this officially recorded. Grandpa feeds Addi Dr. Pepper. Isn't that sweet of him.

I really need to be sure and thank him for that.

We can't seem to have a family event where dress-up is not involved.

Beth made Grandpa's GIANT cupcake - cake.

For those of you who do not recognize Slim on the right. That is my oldest brother Matt. I think at last count he has lost over 150 lbs.

Karissa insisted upon giving us our Christmas gift early. She made this at preschool. Let me try and describe this just as it was described to Matt and I. "Karissa this is fantastic. Can you tell me about your plate." I said. "Yes, of course, this is a Mickey Mouse vampire in the middle. See his fangs. And you and Daddy are on the sides. See your mouths, you are screaming because you are scared. And there is me above you. I am in space and I'm wearing a space helmet, flying next to me are 2 bats." Karissa replied. "WOW!" Matt and I say. I also asked where Addi was. She just wasn't there Karissa said.

What more can I say. Matt and I were speechless.

Oh Mr. Elllffff!

This little elf works wonders. One of Santa's special helpers left this on our doorstep last week. Karissa knew exactly what it was because her cousins have one. She was so excited she cried tears of joy! Of course that made me cry too. Karissa promptly named him, Mr. Fluffy-pants Phillips. Our favorite thing about him is every morning we jump put of bed and look for him. Because each day he has a new special look-out location. And whenever Karissa is naughty, Mr. Fluffy-pants Phillips reports it to the boss.

It all started with....

While waiting for some jeans to dry yesterday I decided to browse the blogs. One thing lead to another and I stumbled across http://makeitdo.wordpress.com/. Not only is the blog filled with creative information, it is inspiring. There is a quote on the blog from Theodore Roosevelt that reads; "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

The quote literally kicked my butt into gear and I decided to do something that I've been putting off and complaining about for quite some time....my Windows. (Inside and Out.) Here are some photos of my window cleaning adventure.

While hosing down the windows Addi decided to take a shower in my overspray. Good thing we live in So Cal and the temperature was 68 degrees.
Running in the water while sopping wet.

Guess I wasn't a very good example of keeping dry.

After changing the girls and myself. I headed back outside to finish what I'd started. This time I was a lot better prepared. (Finally found another use for my snow boots.)

Ah, a pefectly clean window. Now all my neighbors can actually see my Christmas tree.

Giving Thanks

There are so many things that I am thankful for; A loving husband, 2 beautiful girls and lots and lots of family. We enjoyed Giving Thanks this year at Solimar Beach. The weather could not have been more perfect. We are so blessed to have such a special family.

Matt, Addi and our niece Ellie. Addi is absolutely in love with Ellie.
Picture Perfect.

A look to the south.

Sunset on Santa Barbara island.

going...going....

BFF's

The crew of craziness

On the Saturday following Thanksgiving, we drove down to the O.C. to spend time with the Kinnons. Here is Addi and her cousin Moises.

And Karissa and her cousin Marcos. What cuties. Love that Karissa was showing me all the food in her mouth! Aunt Joan's brilliant kid friendly tablecloth came with markers. The kids loved it..and some of the big kids (adults) did too.

Ketchup

We celebrated Matt's forty-something birthday on Nov. 2. Karissa insisted upon making him a ketchup cake, because he eats almost everything doused in ketchup. We settled on red icing as chocolate cake and ketchup just don't mix.

Addi turned 18 months old on Nov. 22. Where the time has gone - I have no clue. She climbs everything and let's nothing stand in her way. Oh, and she's no fool. The little climber discovered vanilla shakes from In-N-Out and loves them. (Me too!)

Con queso!

She also copies everything Sissie does.

A tribute to Mom

Happy Birthday to my mom that would have been 63 today. Matt and I miss you terribly and know that you are always with us.

3 generations. My Grandma, my Mom and me.

Mommy of 5. (I wonder if she knew she was going to have 3 more?) I was 2. My brothers; Matt - 8, Chad -6, Trevor-4 and Ryan, still in the Moses basket.

(A huge thank you to my SIL Cate for scanning these.)

Our favorite Veterans

Happy Veterans Day to my 2 favorite veterans.

Thank you for serving our country and protecting my freedom.

Doesn't my husband look so cute! Matt proudly served out country in the Navy for 9 years in Cryptologic Intelligence. Matt is also a veteran of the Persian Gulf War.

Here is my Grandpa, Andy McEuen, WWII Veteran.
This photo was taken in 1944 in Texas.

Ahhh...Treat

Ahh..treat. (This is Addi's version of Trick-or-Treat.) We had a really fun, busy...exhausting Halloween. The girls had a great time Trick-or-Treating. Addi even kept on her pumpkin costume for more than 2 minutes.

Karissa's preschool class all dressed up for a Halloween fun.
We were honored to have been included in Karissa's and Addi's former daycare Halloween Extravaganza. Here is Karissa giving the pinata all she had.

Grandpa McEuen and the girls.

Our house all ready for the droves (literally) of kids who'd soon be knocking on our door.
We went through about 7 big bags of candy.

Karissa, Kayley, Addi and Ellie all to get their candy on!

Harvest Moon

Our family was thrilled to have been included in the

Small Wonder Annual Field Trip to Underwood Family Farms.

All our old friends.

Kayley, Ellie and Travis joined us for some pumpkin fun.

We also crashed the Camarillo 5th Ward Harvest Moon Party. The kids had a blast. Here's our gang. Anna, the Genie, (she is in Karissa and Kayley's pre-k class.) Kelsey as Tinkerbell, Kayley as Sheriff Meyring, Ellie as Dorothy. And Karissa, with her back to the camera, is Cinderella's Fairy Godmother.

Addi is our little pumpkin. And here is our new nephew Jason as a Lobster.

Here is one of the Trunk or Treat Cars. Most impressive.

The girls were "Over the Moon" with all the sweet treats.