Late Night Visitor

One of the perks of vacation is NAPS...or as I call them "nappies." Sunday afternoon we all took nappies and coincidentally were up LATE that night. Midnight came and went and all of us were watching TV in the living room. The boys asked for a snack, so I went rummaging through the pantry. The only light on in the house was the light above the stove. As I turned away from the pantry to walk across the kitchen I saw something move quite quickly below my sink. Luckily the stove light was shining right where I needed it.

I called out, "Luuuuuke...there is a mouse in our kiiiiitchen and you need to come get it nooooooowwwwww." I was frozen.

The boys hop up from the couch and being the fine pansies I have raised them to be, started whimpering. Luke grabs a gift box (thanks Uncle Bobby) and an oven mitt and tries to stop the mouse before he runs back behind the refrigerator. He is successful on his first try.

He gets the mouse into the box and we flip on the lights to see what we caught

We have never caught anything like this before in our house. I was freaking out.

Luke tries to get the boys to come closer and says, "Its just a baby field mouse. Come look."

The boys come closer but are not impressed. Luke gets the mouse some cheese and we throw in some donut crumbs to spoil the little fella. He doesn't seem interested...and then Luke suggests we keep him overnight.

Not a good idea is what I am thinking. The boys seem to agree.

Luke throws in some pieces of paper towel and thinks the mouse needs a bed. I think its funny and tell him the mouse will eat the paper towel. The mouse then begins to freak out, throwing himself up against the sides of the box to get out. After a minute or so he stops.

Bubba begins worrying in his usual "Bubba fashion" and decided that the house needs to go home to his own family.

Luke agrees and we take the mouse out the front yard.

Luke dumps out the remains of the box on to the lawn. The boys run back into the house because its freezing. Luke and I wait to see if its going to take off. It moves about a foot and stops. We get a little closer and he appears to be dead. Luke tries to move it with his shoe to see if its alive---and it doesn't move.

We come to the conclusion that the smart little mouse is playing dead and call it a night. Hopefully no cats will pounce before he takes off.

Monday morning.....Luke finds our late night visitor in the same spot we left him. Apparently the mouse was not playing. I told Luke I wanted to take a picture and he got annoyed with me. So..if you were hoping for an "after" picture you are out of luck. But I tried.

No--the boys don't know the mouse died. Luke threw our visitor into the trash can before the boys went searching for him in the morning.

On an up note, this visitor has been a good incentive for the boys to keep the garage door and back doors shut when they come in and out of the house!!

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning began early at our house. Luke and I made the mistake of staying up until midnight on Christmas Eve watching a movie. We assumed that sticking to "tradition" our boys would have to be dragged out of bed on Christmas morning.

We were mistaken.

I heard the boys crawl into our beds, telling us that Santa had come. I sat up and looked at the alarm clock.

2:45 am

Are you kidding me? I felt sick to my stomach. The boys whispered for a few moments and I thought Luke had talked them into laying down and going back to bed. I tried to go back to sleep when Luke asked me, "Are you ready to get up and open presents?" I couldn't be the party-pooper so I said, "sure."

Again...are you kidding me? This was going to be the longest day of my life!

Within 10 minutes the boys had inspected their Santa presents and opened everything under the tree. The quote of the day came from Tubbs. I was trying to take pictures of him with his presents but I could not get him to hold still. I called out Tubbs' name as he dove under the tree to retrieve another gift. I told him to turn around so I could take a picture and he yells out like a crazy kid, "I CAN"T...I"M BUSY!."

Luke and I couldn't stop laughing.

After the boys were done opening I wish that meant we could all go back to bed---- but as you could guess that wasn't the case. Bubba is my Lego fanatic. Santa brought him a set that had over 1500 pieces and at that moment I was thankful that Bubba had his father to assemble it for him. (I continue to play dumb and tell Bubba I cannot put those things together) The upside is that Bubba has become an expert Lego builder.

Around 5 am I was able to talk Tubbs into coming back to bed with me. We slept until 8am and then it was time to hit the shower, get dressed and head up to Luke's parent's house in Bear Valley Springs.

Poor Luke.

He had been working on this Lego set for the past 3 hours. While he was in the shower Bubba was shuffling stuff around on the kitchen table. Next thing I heard was a crash on to the wood floor. I heard Bubba scream in horror. (I tried to be sympathetic and not laugh because it was so dramatic)

His huge Lego truck had fallen off the table. Ewwwww....I didn't want to be around when Luke saw it. Lucky for Bubba the damage only took an hour to repair and we were off to see the family!

The boys on the drive up to see Grandma and Grandpa

I am thinking next year my boys might need to be glued to their beds on Christmas Eve ---or given some of that "magical" purple syrup. OR---maybe Mrs Claus just needs to hit the sack a little earlier!

Conversation of the Day

Luke cracks open a diet soda while making dinner.
This is the conversation that followed:

Bubba: "Daddy, drinking too much soda is bad for you."
Luke: "Yes Bubba it is. You shouldn't drink too much soda."
Bubba: "Then why do you drink a soda everyday?
Luke: (Laughs) "Oh.. do you want me to cut back?"
Bubba: "If you drink a lot of water then you can drink soda."
Tubbs (chimes in): "Yah daddy. You shouldn't drink soda because that makes us drink soda."
Luke: (Laughs) "What do you mean?"
Tubbs: "Every time you drink a soda I have to take a drink of your soda."
Luke: (Laughs and continues making dinner)
10 minutes later
Tubbs: (Sneaks a drink of Luke's soda) "See you're making me drink your soda!"

As you can see Tubbs is clearly the victim here. He has no chance in fighting the urge to take a hit off his father's beverage.
He absolutely kills me! :)

Illegal Christmas Activities

I am pretty sure this was not legal, but no one seemed to mind.

We were so thrilled to have snow on Christmas so I guess that entitled us to do whatever we wanted.There was all ready a little snow on the ground so we were beyond thrilled when a storm moved in around noon. The wind picked up and the snow was coming down pretty good. The boys got bundled up and headed out with Grandpa and Luke to have some fun. A while later I worked up my courage, borrowed some boots and snow attire from Luke's sister and I headed out to join the fun.

The fog and snow was coming down so good I could hardly see everyone down the street but I could hear Luke's niece screaming "Faster!" I soon saw headlights coming my way and I had to laugh.

Luke had a tow strap attached to a plastic sled and he was driving up and the down the street with the kids in tow.

I wasn't brave enough to try it, but it looked fun...and wet. Luke is always looking for an excuse to use his tow strap and yesterday he had one. Kylee kept telling him to go faster and just ONCE I wanted to see him punch the gas and watch her come flying down the street. But with our track record (and bad luck) I knew she would literally come flying down the street. I really didn't want to go to the ER on Christmas. Maybe another day---but not Christmas.

What you cannot see in these pictures is all frozen snot! Yum!

Chicken Foot Show Down

Every year my family has an annual Chicken Foot competition. It takes place sometime over Christmas break when most of the family can get together. It usually takes 3-4 hours so its a good time---teasing each other, eating, drinking... teasing each other some more ....and did I mention eating?!

What is Chicken Foot?

It's a domino game that I am told is similar to "Mexican Train." Never played that game, but our family has been playing this together for the past 8-9 years.

When Luke won for the first time he was so crazy he went and had a trophy made and had his name and the year put on a plaque. It was hilarious because the first trophy joint wouldn't make the trophy because they thought it was for cock fighting. Can you see that rubber chicken foot on the top of the trophy? LOL

My brother-in law Mike took home the trophy last year and he handed the trophy over to my younger brother Bert this year. Bert beat me by 20 points or so.

Next year that trophy is mine!!

The Bugs Go to The State Capitol

Yes, I have lived in this fair state my entire life....but Monday was my first trip to our state capitol in Sacramento. My 9 year old nephew and 5 year old niece were at grandma's for the day so we took them along with us for some fun. On our way we had to stop by my sister's house to drop off a gift and asked if my other 5 year old niece would like to come along.

So, there we were---all comfy cozy and crammed into our seven passenger Acura. It was about a 20 minute drive and at one point I looked at Luke, looked at all of the kids in the back and said, "Can you imagine..." and before I finished Luke cut me off and said "No I can't!" He knew exactly what I was going to say---as usual.

Our county

To Wrap--or not to Wrap?

That is the question of the month.

My Santa growing up did not wrap presents. Instead his gifts had gift tags taped to the gift in my dad's writing. (He must have been Santa's biggest helper!)

My husband on the other hand, received wrapped gifts from Santa. My husband being the nice, wonderful man that he is, has let me do whatever I want for Christmases in the past. This year I was thinking about wrapping the gifts, but I wanted to know how my fellow bloggers did it. I was actually surprised that out of the whole none 9 people who voted on my survey, 6 bloggers indicated that their Santa is a wrapper! I thought for sure the voting would be in my favor!

I was mistaken. (I can admit this since it rarely happens!)

If you are a wrapper, I am curious if its because when you were a kid Santa was a wrapper---or if not, why your current Santa is a wrapper. Since my boys aren't getting bikes this year, there is more potential for Santa to wrap his gifts this year.

I have to say that the downside of NOT wrapping is that I have to find good places to hide the loot. Its a good thing my boys are little people because I don't know how they could keep from seeing this big box on the top of my closet shelf. I told Luke Tubbs was going to see it and he pointed out to me he is little. So, I squatted down a bit trying to imagine I was Tubbs' height to see if it was possible to see it. He was correct. (Imagine that?!)

If only they would stay this size forever...and keep believing in Santa!

Of course my mom would tell us growing up, "When you stop believin' he stops comin'!" So, there I was in high school saying, "I believe!" I still "believed" in college, but I guess when you move out of the house you are disqualified from Santa presents! :)

CALMNESS IN OUR LIVES

I am passing this on to you because it definitely works, and we could all use a little more calmness in our lives.

By following simple advice heard on the Dr. Phil show, you too can find inner peace.

Dr. Phil proclaimed, 'The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started and have never finished.'

So, I looked around my house to see all the things I started and hadn't finished, and before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of White Zinfandel, a bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream, a package of Oreos, the remainder of my old Prozac prescription, the rest of the cheesecake, some Doritos, and a box of chocolates. You have no idea how freakin' good I feel right now.

Should you feel so inclined, pass this on to those whom you think might be in need of inner peace.

I Love Christmas Cards!

I guess I should clarify---I love getting Christmas cards with family pictures enclosed or photo Christmas cards!
It doesn't matter if the photo card is from someone I see everyday---because the picture looks nothing like they do in person. LOL!
Let's face it---I can attest to the fact that I do not look as good in person on a daily basis as I do in our Christmas card photo. (Don't all nod your head in agreement at once)
When I open up these cards I pay special attention to the moms in the pictures, who actually got to take some time that morning to curl their hair and take their time applying their make up.
Don't you wish it was picture day everyday.....just for that reason alone?!

Dear Santa.....the Song

My husband heard this song on "Bob and Tom" and thought it was hilarious! It was his idea to put it on the blog, so if you don't like it you can let him know! :)

Dear Santa

When I was digging around old memory books I came across my first letter to Santa! It was from 1985...so I was about....hmm....barely 9 years old. When I look back on it now I can see that it is (of course) my dad's writing. What a good sport he was---but that's a dad's job, right!?

My letter asks him to check yes or no if he missed me. What a nerd I was...or am! :)

I can't get my boys to write letters to Santa. They must be pretty sure that Santa is coming. I can't wait until the year they are old enough to appreciate what a lump of coal is so "Santa" can put some in their stocking!

(Page 2 of the letter with a response from "Santa.") I like how I signed my name "Katie" but Santa still addresses me as "Katherine!"

Chef-Boy-R-Tubbs

I had the cinnamon roll "bug" on Friday so I decided to lay out some frozen dough that night. Saturday morning arrived and it was time to make my treats!

Tubbs was excited and asked if he could help. I enthusiastically said yes and we got busy. I asked Bubba if he wanted to help but he preferred to watch cartoons. (It reminded me of the story of the little red hen who asks for help making bread. No one wants to help make it...but they want to help eat it)

I knew Bubba would be first in line for a cinnamon roll.

Tubbs sniffed the dough and said, "It smells delicious!" I laughed because I didn't really think the dough smelled delicious without something in/on it. But it was cute.

I taught Tubbs the first rule of baking: Make sure you wash your hands!

(Hopefully he will remember this)

He helped me roll the dough until he whined that his hands were tired. Then we spread all the good stuff on top. Half with pecans and half without for my picky little bugs!

Don't worry---these are fat free and sugar free! :)

I have visions of Tubbs making these treats for his wife one day and eventually his little bugs! That would make me so very happy.....

These pictures are making me crave an after lunch snack---- I better grab one before my boys figure out there are some left.

Life Really Boils Down To 2 Questions...

1. Should I get a dog.....?

OR

2. Should I have children?

My Wise Man

Finally---a wise man in the house!
Just kidding Luke. Actually you are my brilliant, magnificent, handsome man!

Last night was Tubbs' second and last Christmas performance at pre-school. We have been honored to see this annual event for 4 years in a row since both boys went to school at St John's. I love this Christmas play! This year Tubbs was one of the wise men! Tubbs was originally set to be in the gospel choir but since one best buddy was playing Joseph and the other best buddy was a wise man, they thought Tubbs should be a wise man too.

That made me very happy! Tubbs and his two buddies are inseparable. I would love it if they were life-long friends because they are three of a kind. In this video you can see his buddy spots me first and then let's Tubbs know. Tubbs is trying not to look at me and then points his finger at me like he's scolding me. Bad mommy for standing in the aisle to get a picture!

The Wise Men in Action (Video)

Are they Kings...or Saudi princes negotiating oil prices?! :)

Angels I have Seen on High

Now these angels I would take back to Smith's....

Somehow these boys always find their way back to our bed....and are the last ones to wake up. This morning I thought it was especially cute because Tubbs is laying on his brother's arm.
Such good boys....when they are sleeping.

Can You Spot The Imposter?!

This is only the second year (from what I can recollect) that my boys would sit on Santa's lap. So far this year they have been able to visit with him twice and within 12 hours of each other too! Aren't they lucky?!

On Friday night was our church's Christmas dinner/party. We ate and sang...and the big guy eventually came cruising in at the end. I laughed when I saw "Santa" and went to find Santa's significant other to harass her. (I can't tell you what I said because I try to run a PG blog here folks) Anyways, Santa read a Christmas story to the kids and then he was ready to have the kids sit on his lap.The boys were excited and eventually got into a decent single file line. I warned them not to knock over anyone smaller than them. (If the kid was at least their size or bigger, they are on their own) They sat on Santa's lap and I snapped away on the camera.

As we were walking out to the car that night I was asking the boys what they told Santa and said "Isn't that exciting that Santa was here?!"

Simon turns to me and says, "That wasn't Santa...that was Cliff! Davin told me he could see the strap on his beard!"

I tried not to laugh and didn't know how to recover.

What do I say? Do I lie? (yes...of course I lie!)

But then I thought of Home Alone when Kevin goes to see Santa. (Anyone remember this scene besides me?) Anyways, I began to spew that Santa can't be everywhere so he sends helpers. I don't think he believed me BUT fortunately for him the boys got another shot at Santa in the morning. "This better be good" I thought to myself..."and no beard straps!" Luke assured me he was "authentic!" To Santa's credit, he did have some rosy cheeks! :)

Saturday morning the boys were able to go to Luke's school for "Breakfast with Santa." I wasn't able to go because I was working my bootie off in a kettlebell class. I would have rather been eating pancakes and snuggling up to Santa!

So...can you find the real Santa...because the boys were convinced. All is good in the Hogue house---at least this Christmas. They still believe we have a direct line to the big man and I have had to call a few times. Unfortunately I always get his answering machine--but hopefully he gets the messages.

How many more years of innocence do I have left?? :)

Scream

On Fridays when I pick up the boys from school I like to pretend like I am a fun, cool mom and take them to get a treat. We usually go to either the Vons bakery to the Smith's bakery counter inside Brookside to get a cookie.
This last Friday we ended up at Smith's.
Darn those people for their delicious, overpriced, frosted cookie concoctions!
As we stood at the counter waiting our turn my boys practically had their noses up against the display cases. They were eyeing the "special" Christmas cookies that were slightly larger than the normal ones, but were $1-2 bucks more. When they pleaded for the pricier cookies I calmly told them no, their choices were between the Christmas tree and the star. They didn't like that answer and pleaded some more. I replied with the same answer. After about one more round of this, (and trying to be patient---Hey I wanted a cookie too!)I gave up and told them we were leaving. I turned and walked out.
You would have thought I tore Bubba's heart from his chest. He and Tubbs just lost it.
Bubba comes running up behind me as I approach the sliding doors of the store and grabs on to the back of my jeans. I remove his hands and continue walking to the car. Both the boys run up to the car door and Bubba throws his body in front of my door to block me from getting in.
I smile and try to remain calm. (You mothers out there know the calmness I am talking about)Its the moment where you want to attack, but you are in a public place---so you pretend to be the perfect mother who can handle all situations. Even when your 4 year old has thrown himself up against your filthy car door, refusing to get in the car and is now sitting on the cement....crying like he lost his best friend!
Anyways, after a few moments I am able to get myself into the driver's seat and I tell my boys they better get in the car or I am leaving them there. They quickly jump inside as I start the car and throw it into reverse.
My 6 (almost 7) year old is now screaming in the back...like a girl!
Yes, I am going to say it....like a girl! I didn't know if I should laugh...or go back inside the store and purchase duct tape! He didn't stop all the way home, which made for a very unpleasant arrival at home. I won't go into details on that one, BUT...if you close your eyes and press play on this video you will know exactly what my 1st grader sounded like at 3pm on Friday afternoon as we drove back to the house.
We were watching this movie this afternoon and when this scene played I started laughing uncontrollably!
Luke asked me what I was laughing at and I said, "This is what your son sounded like on Friday when I left the bakery." Luke started laughing and told me I had to put it on the blog!
The rest is history!
Needless, to say there will be no more fun, cool mom on Fridays after school!
Bah humbug!

Are you "Stamp Worthy?"

For those Seinfeld fanatics, you might recollect that this title sounds an awful lot like a particular episode where Elaine wasn't sure if certain gentlemen were "worthy." LOL! Its the same concept. If Seinfeld was still around in this economy I am sure they would do an episode on this...

What is "stamp worthy?"

Let me back up and say that I haven't had to buy stamps since the last time they raised the postage rates. (Hey, we pay all of our bills online because I don't trust the mail to deliver them to the right location) much less on time) So, As long as I can remember any stamps I had in my purse looked like the stamp above. As I was finishing my Christmas cards on Friday I realized I didn't have enough stamps. When I went to the grocery store later that day I picked up a few books when I checked out but paid no attention to how much they cost. When I went to apply the stamps to the envelopes that night I noticed for the first time the price of each stamp.

42 cents .....to mail an envelope?

Are you kidding me?!

I started thinking, "Is this person worth an additional 42 cents?!"

You laugh at me.... but then I began calculating how much each Christmas card was actually costing me. I then decided that most of the people on my list were not "stamp worthy....." or card worthy for that matter! So, if you don't get a card from us this year you know why!

Just kidding.

Next year I am posting my Christmas cards on my blog and Facebook and calling it good! :)

Kettlebells

This morning I took the opportunity to attend a workout class that is offered at the gym where I work. We have a corporate wellness coach who is based out of Atlanta who comes in periodically to train and hold classes. I really like Ron because he focuses on movement to be fit... and not just how to lose weight or build muscle.
This is my 3rd "intro" kettlebell class since june... so I figure now that my hip is on the mend from surgery I could take advantage of doing these exercises on my own at the gym. There are some weird videos online for kettlebells, but this one seemed to introduce them pretty well.
Since I haven't technically exercised since my last class in August I am sure I will be pretty sore tomorrow.
So, if you see me struggling to sit down tomorrow morning at church, you'll know why! If anyone wants to join me at the gym let me know! :)

Oh Christmas Tree....

One of my favorite parts of Christmas is picking out the tree and bringing it home.

Okay, okay....everything about Christmas is my favorite!

Two years ago we traveled to Tehachapi to a tree farm and cut down our Christmas tree. We were hoping to do this again this year, but the old lady who owns it was nowhere to be seen. Luke's mom left messages and said the gates were closed. Looks like we were out of luck this year.

So, we decided to invite Luke's parents down for dinner and to help us pick out a tree. I was home later from work than expected, so I literally ran in the door from work, changed and we headed out. We stopped by the "bucks" so we could all fill up on hot cocoa and we headed to the Alpine Christmas tree lot.

I must note that as we pulled into the Starbucks drive thru Luke sees a Home Depot across the street and nonchalantly says, "Home Depot has Christmas trees." To which I quickly respond, "I am not getting our tree at Home Depot!"

Now...I know some of you are thinking I am a hag and that I think I am too good for Home Depot. ---and the answer is yes to both of those questions! Ha! I don't care if the trees are cheaper or more expensive at the "po"---I like feeling like I am in a forest when I pick out my tree! Got it!

So---we got our beverages, slurped them down, turned on some holiday tunes on 101.5 KGFM (Wink-wink Rachel) and headed to the tree lot. We might have been the only ones there but then again it was only 5:30 on a Thursday night. There were lots of great trees to choose from and after only 5 minutes of aimless wandering I found the one. It was like "Christmas Vacation" when the light was shining down on it! :)

Luke did his usual loading of the tree on top of his Jeep and we headed back to the house. I cleaned up the boys for bed and Luke worked on dinner. It was absolutely delicious---as usual! Luke's parent's stayed quite a while and it was nice to eat, chit-chat and laugh for a few hours! I must also add that the old lady who owns the tree farm in Tehachapi called Luke's mom back today FINALLY and says they will open tomorrow! AH!

Oh well...at least I got a good tree! I can't be too upset now. If I got a Charlie Brown tree I would be a little burnt!

Here are a few pictures from last night!

My husband refusing to be silly (and laughing at his lame wife)

Is it snowing at the tree lot??

Tubbs (with his serious expression) wearing his new beanie Grandma Hogue made.

Thanks Grandma.

What a Surprise

Have I told you before how fabulous my husband and parents are?

As I noted in the last post, Luke took me to SF for an overnight birthday getaway. He told my mother we would be back at 5pm on Saturday. I thought that was a little strange because if we take a trip like this we usually try to get back a little earlier. I also thought it was a little strange because my mom kept telling me "Have a good time.---Take your time!" I know the boys would be giving my mom a hard time, so this seemed a little odd.

Nevertheless, I thought nothing more about it once we took off down the road for San Fran.

Saturday afternoon came and I was exhausted. I fell asleep in the car on the way back to my mom and dad's. I called my mom to tell her we were on our way and she asked how far away we were. Luke said he wanted to stop by Toys R Us on the way home so I told my mom we were an extra 30 miles out. I asked her where she was and if she wanted us to go to their house or my brother's house. She was very elusive but I chalked it up to the fact that she was probably ready for us to take two little boys off her hands. I also ask my mom what is for dinner and if they all ready ate. Again she seems indifferent and doesn't really give me an answer.

She calls back 20 minutes later wanting to know where we are. I tell her we are 30 miles away. Luke is in the background saying, "Tell her we are almost there."

I ignore him and tell her we are 20 minutes from home. (I couldn't change my story from 30 miles to 2 minutes)
We pull into Roseville and I think we are headed to my brother's house. Luke then says he wants to go to Best Buy because Wii games are buy one get one free. I don't believe him, so I get on my IPhone and try looking the sale up at Best Buy. We pull into the Best Buy parking lot and he suddenly announces that he thinks we should pick up dinner for us and my mom and dad. He pulls into an Italian restaurant named "Buca Di Beppo" which I have heard of, but never eaten at. I tell him that my parents probably wouldn't like it and that we should call them before we pick anything up. He starts walking inside and asks if I am coming in or not. I reluctantly agree. I try calling my mom...she doesn't answer. I try my brother--he doesn't answer. I try calling them over and over as we wait inside. A few moments later a waiter walks Luke and I back to this room and there they all are!!

Surprise!!

Yes, it was a surprise. I was shocked that my husband pulled it off--but he did.

Most of my family was there to celebrate my birthday and I was so very happy!
But for the record, I did think something was up a few weeks ago. My mom called and asked to talk to Luke. I questioned Luke and said "Why is my mom calling for you?.....she doesn't like you?!"

I was kidding and left it at that.

He made up some story about my mom needing Christmas advice from Luke for my dad's Jeep---and I bought it. But when Luke announced last week that he was taking me to San Fran for an overnight trip, I figured thats what my mom and Luke were plotting. I give Luke props for his lying abilities. They have significantly improved over the past year. LOL

Bubba, Luke, Bert, Cooper and mom

My new friend

Blowing out the birthday candles!

Receiving a blessing before dinner!

We had the "Pope" room I guess!

Natalie, Autumn and Tubbs

"Don't make me poke your eye out!"

Dinner was fabulous (Thank you dad)!
After dinner we headed back to the "Party House" where we had cake and ice cream and opened gifts!

It was so much fun to be surprised---even if I looked and felt like crap-ola from getting little sleep the night before and sleeping in the car on the way home! HA!

I love my family...and I am thinking I need to make this birthday weekend a new tradition for me!! :)

San Fran-Freako

I hope no one out there gets all offended by the title, but as you can see by the picture on the right, its abso-tutely correct! ---And I paid him $2 to take this picture. He said he charged $1 for a picture of him but Luke gave him an extra dollar and said he wanted me in the picture! Ha.

OK, let me back up and say that I have the sweetest, most thoughtful husband in the whole world.--- And the best parents! We were at my parent's house for the Thanksgiving weekend and my mom offered to watch the boys one night so that Luke could take me to SF for a birthday getaway. I LOVE going to the city with Luke for lots of obvious reasons. But it was extra fun because it wasn't my idea and because it was for my birthday---which meant I would be spoiled.

I do have to give props to my mom and dad for taking the boys for the night in the midst of moving into their new house. Escrow closed the day before Thanksgiving, after a very short escrow. (They have been waiting on this "short sale" since June---so they were very anxious to move their stuff).

Friday morning after everyone was up up, dressed and fed we packed up boxes into my dad's trailer and headed over to the new house. We unpacked the first load of boxes into the garage, got the kids situated with movies, blankets and toys---and Luke and I hit the road! Its about 100 miles to SF from my parents' house so we got in after 2pm. We checked in, got comfy and hit Union Square for some shopping.

What I love about my husband (among a million other things) is that he loves to shop with me. He went into every store with me like a champ! We did a lot of browsing, window shopping and ...well...just checked out the weirdos.

Around 6pm Friday night we just happened to make the corner of Macy's (across from the park in Union Square) and wondered why there was such a large crowd gathered. Everyone seemed to be looking up and 10 seconds later everyone started counting down ..9...8...7...6...5..4..3..2..1.. and the Christmas tree was lit. It was funny because we just happened to stumble upon it, but it was really cool. I was glad we were there that particular night.

.

The front of Macy's (This is how Luke is going to decorate the front of my house) LOL

We put our name in at the "Cheesecake Factory," where there was a 2.5 hour wait. The CF is on the 8th floor of Macy's so to waste some time we wandered around inside the store. While looking for a bathroom we ended up on the 6th floor and because of extreme fatigue tested out some of their mattresses. I found the bed of my dreams--- I didn't want to leave. Families would walk by and laugh...and I would tell them how comfy it was. They would sit down and try it out---and agreed it was perfect. I felt like Goldilocks!

Eventually our "pager" went off and we got a table. Chow time! I order the same thing every time---and it is so good. Its my favorite place to eat because the food is good--and there are so many choices. If I wasn't so obsessive compulsive I would try something new every time from ther 15 page menu. LOL

Licking the sugar off the rim of my raspberry lemonade! (The best beverage in the universe I am sure) I drank 3 glasses--- I was a little wired!

The best appetizer of all time ---fried macaroni and cheese! When I tell people they should order this they think of Kraft M&C I think, but its nothing like it.

After dinner we walked a few blocks to the movie theater and watched the 10:15pm show of "Four Christmases." The movie was hilarious. I was laughing so hard at Vince Vaughn.--I think he had some good lines. (Luke and I have been repeating them like children for the past 2 days) **Don't pay any attention to any of the movie reviews! The movie was only 1 hr 22 minutes and it was great.

After getting in LATE Friday night, amazingly we were up bright and early Saturday morning. We had an agenda for more shopping in Union Square. The weather was a dream! I wish I could have stayed there forever! We ate breakfast at a small diner. Nothing too fantastic, but it was edible.

An hour later I stopped for some Pinkberry frozen yogurt (yum) with strawberries on top. We sat in the window to people watch (or freak watch) and took pictures of ourselves!

Aren't we cute??!

I know you are probably tired of hearing me saying we shopped...but we shopped some more.

After getting our fill and knowing we had to get home soon to our buglets, we headed over to North Beach (Little Italy) for some lunch. After splitting a calzone we took off for home!

I had such a good time with my wonderful husband. I don't know what I did to deserve him---or my patient parents for taking my rambunctious boys for 30 hours----but I am very thankful!!