The ranch house

We are still working away trying to get the ranch house move in ready. It's slow progress because Billy is working full time and then spending any free time and days off over there working on it. Not really fun for either one of us really. We are getting pretty excited to make the move though. Here is a sneak peek at the house (that needs SO much TLC) and THE VIEW!!!

Billy turns 30

Our family celebrated Billy's 30th birthday on the last day of January. The original plan was to go to Disney Land on his birthday as a family.... but he was in class all week at Vandenburg air force base. So we will be finding a different day to go. Because he was getting home a little later than normal each evening, there wasn't a lot of evening time for a night out, but hopefully I can plan a date for us soon too.
Pretty much it was a regular evening at home + cake and ice cream. The boys and I drove over to the golf coarse back here, Rancho San Marcos, and bought Daddy a round of golf. Then we went into town and picked up a dozen helium balloons to decorate the house. We had BBQ chicken and french bread and I made Billy a funfetti cake for the 10th year in a row! Can't believe I've been making his birthday cake for 10 years already. I also made homemade chocolate banana ice cream which is something I made him the first year I made his birthday cake but I haven't been as consistent with.
The boys each made him a homemade card and really enjoyed his balloons too.

All in all it was a nice night as a family. Happy Birthday Billy. Welcome to your 30's! :)

Bunco Finale

I hosted Bunco on Friday night for the last time in our beautiful double wide.... it was a happy/ sad night. Lots of girls came- 16 to be exact. It was a good time. I even came out with the most bunco rolls, 3, and won half the pot! Always a bonus :)
I made a huge pot of sweet potato & black bean turkey chili and it turned out dreamy. The food spread was impressive with all the contributions from the neighbors and everyone was well fed. I also made a batch of Deett's famous punch. It has frozen OJ, pineapple juice, apple cider and 7up. It was a hit as well.
I gave away 2 door prizes since there were so many people that came... I made a small messenger bag that turned out darn good. (of course I forgot to get a picture of it!) I also gave away some JamBerry nails. The girl that won the bag was a girl that showed up that hadn't been in years... didn't really know her, and I couldn't tell if she really appreciated the bag like I know my neighbors would have. Oh well. Whatever. I had invited Rosie Wright, who now lives on west camino, to join us for the night and she left with the jamberry door prize! I was happy about that.
My boys are still recovering from being kicked out of the house until 10pm... we had to get up the next morning to clean the church at 8am on Saturday. Not a very good combination. And then of course another early morning out to church today. We all still need more sleep after this weekend. Sorry boys.

Now I need to get serious about boxing stuff up. It's nice that we aren't moving very far away... I'm really hoping that it will be pretty smooth over all. More of a gradual thing rather than one big move day.

Life

Apparently blogging/ journal writing is not a top goal for me in 2013 ;) Over Christmas, my family all got really sick and Jameson was teething up a storm. However we still made the drive from Santa Barbara to Utah to spend Christmas with my family and then drove over to Truckee to see Billy's family after that. We made it home on new years eve and were all in bed by 10pm. Happy New Year. We both decided that we are staying put next year for the holidays. I had a good time in Utah despite not feeling the best and the rest of my family down for the count. I loved spending time at my parents house with all my sisters, parents and in laws. It was awesome to watch the cousins all run around together and have tons of fun. William was SO excited to play with Grant! It was nice to take a new family picture and awesome to take some new sister pictures. I wish we could have gotten a picture of all the cousins together... one day i guess. I got a short Christmas run in, the snow froze my feet and the air was very cold but it was refreshing to be outside. I started some art on canvas with my sisters one night. I don't know how long it will take me to finish mine- probably a while. Not sure why I chose to do something so challenging, but it should be cool if I ever finish it :)
I got a fancy camera for Christmas. I haven't used it much so far, but I did take a few pictures of the boys the other day out on the playground. They were being really cute. I am looking forward to learning all about what this camera can do!

Billy and I made it to the temple last weekend. Camie said she would hang out with the boys while we went! Now that she lives in Redondo Beach, only 15 miles from the temple, we can do a two for one deal :) Go to the temple and visit friends! Billy and I are still new to it all. We got there thinking the sessions were on the hour only to have just missed the start of one on the half hour. Whoops. Then of course the next session happened to be the American sign language session :) It was pretty neat though. After we made it back to Redondo and the kids, who had a blast and were great for Camie & Ryan, Camie and I went out for an evening run. Ahh how I miss running with Camie. We ran up & down hills, to the beach and on the sand and back home again for 8 miles. I was able to keep up with her, even on the hills coming back, and felt great. I guess after sitting in the car and then in the temple my body was ready to move :)
Now I am starting to get into move mode. Looking around the house at what I can get rid of and what I might be able to box up. It's so overwhelming. I am not doing to much right now because I am hosting all the ladies over in a week for Bunco. No need to box up the house before a party. I will get down to business once Bunco is over.
I want to sew another messanger bag. I made one for my sister for Christmas and loved the way it turned out. I want to make one for me and maybe make one for the door prize for Bunco night.
I think that about catches me up to current life.

Rub a dub dub

Three boys in a tub!

One more mouth to feed

Jameson is officially a food eater. He loves pretty much whatever I spoon into is mouth and he can really put away a good amount. No surprise there, his brothers were exactly the same way.
Here is a picture of him eating pureed black beans tonight at dinner- yummy. If it doesn't get all over the place, it doesn't belong in your face right?!?

Monday, Jameson had a wellness check. He weighed in at 16 pounds, slowing down a little with the weight gain but still well ahead of his brothers at this age. He has relapsed with another respiratory infection and I am back on the same regimen as before... no dairy in my diet, extra immune supplements with meals and Ivy calm for Jameson. Not sure if I will take him to the Chiropractor again though... $40 for a 3 minute lung shaking.... I have a little hand held massager at home that I have been using on him, that should be about the same right?
Anyway, he is as happy as ever. Sitting up like a champ and wants to move soooo bad. I'm really in no rush for that though.
7 months sure has flown by!

Crazy Patch Stockings

A few years ago while in Utah for Christmas with the family, I noticed my sister Kristy's cute stockings. I complimented and inquired only to discover she had made them! Not to surprising, she is so very talented and crafty. She gave me the pattern and instructions right then and there for me to attempt my own crazy patch stockings.
Before I left Utah, I found some table cloths that were on super sale after Christmas which got me started with lots of fabric. Back home I found a few festive fat quarters at the craft store and some shiny trim at a garage/ craft sale.
Fast forward about 2 years (or has it been 4? yikes) I finally made the attempt. I actually started sewing these beauties at the beginning of the year in my evening sewing class. People looked at me kinda funny that I was sewing stockings in February, but I knew I needed an early start to get them done by Christmas. There has not been a whole lot of sewing time in the last 6 months with Jameson joining our family and a VERY busy fire season. However, as of December 1st I have finished 6 crazy patch stockings for hanging and stuffing this Christmas. They will not hang over our fire place... that would be a fire hazard, but they are near by on the cabinet. I'm really happy with them and glad that they are done. I let the boys each pick which stocking they wanted and then we pinned on their initial. Maybe, just maybe, I might try and embroider names on them at some point.

I sure love the Christmas season!