A Stowaway on Board

After a long day with the boys yesterday, I thought I'd give Jim and break and offered to take Dominic to work with me. Not surprisingly, he was very well-behaved all day. He kept several of my sales team members entertained and put a few smiles on customers' faces while I maintained productivity. After missing his normal nap time, he opted for a light snooze on the way home. Thank you little man for being such a great help today.

Happy Black Friday!

Ugh! For many, today symbolizes the first day of madness as shoppers look for bargains and deals. For me, today symbolizes the first day of retail hell. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas time, but I love stress free days and low sales quotas more. As I look forward to the next 28 days of Christmas, I am anxious to see the stars light up in my childrens' eyes, the decorations become complete at my home, and the wonders of retail this holiday season.

P.S If you are looking for a deal on a cell phone, DSL, or Advanced Television, stop by an AT&T store near you to make my holiday even better!!

God Bless Best Friends

Every now and then

We find a special friend

Who never lets us down

Who understands it all

Reaches out each time you fall

You're the best friends that I've found

I don't need eyes to see

The love you bring to me

No matter where I go

And I know that you'll be there

Forever more apart of time, you're everywhere

I'll always care

And I'll be right behind your shoulder watching you

I'll be standing by your side and all you do

And I won't ever leave

As long as you believe

You just believe

Say Cheese!

Today was our annual visit to Sears for our holiday pictures. Unfortunately Jim was held over on duty so we missed out on our first family photo with Matthew. We will revisit the issue in February when we take Matthew in for his 1 year pictures. Even without Dad, the boys and I handled ourselves well and took some pretty cute pics.

Weekend in Review

Michael and Dominic

The kids all waited for the balls to fall on them!


Matty pounded out a beat on the floor

I'm still trying to figure out where the past 5 days went. I can't believe it's already Tuesday, and that in less than 10 days we will be enjoying our Thankgiving feast! This past weekend is already a blur, but since we actually did something constructive I thought I'd post a few pics.

Jim spent the bulk of the day Saturday and Sunday tending to our annual garage sale. Mom came over for the day Saturday to keep an eye on the boys so that Jim could wheel and deal. Mom drug along with her a few items and was thrilled that all of them sold. All totaled, I think she made somewhere around $116. Not bad for 1/2 a days work with 3 rambunctious boys! Mom and I were both shocked when Jim sold her old guitar for $40! Apparently she had it marked $5 but Jim thought he could get more for it....and boy did he! We were able to sell a few larger items from the garage, but had no such luck on the recently displaced fire truck toddler bed. I will attempt to sell it on Craig's List or at the boys' daycare. We made about $315 which wasn't bad either. This is at least enough to cover a few Christmas gifts.

On Sunday, the boys and I visited the Children's Museum with Jill, Noelle, and Michael Mazur. It was nice to let the kids run around without worrying about what trouble they would get into. Matthew watched intently.....I could see the wheels turning in his head. I keep reminding him that soon he will be able to run and play with his big brothers. I've also reminded him that Mommy sure does enjoying having him by her side and wishes he would stay small for a long time more! We invited the Mazur's back to our house for a Ravioli dinner, which I prepared on my own. It was FANTASTIC! I'm sure the 1/2 bottle of wine I drank didn't help either.

Oh where, oh where....

did my camera go? Sometime between Tuesday night and Thursday afternoon, my camera disappeared. Although I am convinced that either Joshua or Dominic have hidden it and can't remember where, this doesn't help the fact that I can't find the darn thing. I'm not too concerned since I already downloaded all the photos off of it and have a new camera on my Christmas list anyway. I suppose I can use the professional size Fuji camera Jim bought me a few years ago until I am able to replace the small purse-sized equivalent. Keep your fingers crossed that the darn thing turns up!

A Bed Fit for a Big Boy

For Joshua's 2nd Christmas, we bought him a new firetruck bed, which he subsequently passed onto Dominic. Today was the day that the truck was to be retired into the garage for our upcoming garage sale. As sad as I am to see it go, I'm excited for Dominic to see his new bed when he arrives home today! Joshua and I spent the day running errands and ended up at the mattress store. The salesman was nice enough to give us a discount on two new mattresses as Joshua was in need of a better twin mattress than the one he had. We spent about an hour tinkering around and putting it together. Unfortunately, when we "dropped" it down out of the attic, one of the wheels broke on the headboard. We decided to remove all four wheels which simply lowered the bed closer to the ground. One day we will replace the wheels, but for now, Dominic will be fine in his low rider bed.

After putting the bed together and cleaning up his room, Joshua and I hauled several boxes of baby and Mommy clothes out of the attic in preparation for the yard sale. All in all we had a very productive day and are now recouperating.

Joshua and I enjoyed lunch at the Cowgirl Cafe - his FAVORITE!

Joshua playing with his Transformers that our friend Jake gave him

Dominic's new big boy bed!

Newest Little Man in the Family

Congratulations to my cousin and his wife Amy on a brand new baby boy! Blake Robert Allen arrived last Thursday, October 30 at 9:15am. This is the first grand baby for my Aunt Pam (my namesake) so I am so happy for her. Welcome to the world Blake!!

Lazy Sunday

With Christmas shortly upon us, I took the liberty of cleaning out the boys room and office this morning to make room for what's sure to be another "successful" holiday. I hauled out a huge box filled with puzzles, books, matchbox cars, Little People sets, and a myriad of other things. Jim is gearing up to have a yard sale in the next few weeks so we are sure to make a few bucks off the pile that is building in the garage. I'm excited at the chance that I may be able to park my Camry inside for the winter.

Joshua and Dominic spent the morning arguing and tattling, an everyday occurance at this stage in their lives. Joshua has started fibbing and this makes Jim angry. I keep reminding myself that he is 6 years old and is going through a phase. I just hope this phase dissipates soon for fear that he may permanently be assigned to his room. Matthew helped organize toys and was more fascinated with the baskets and zip lock bags I was attempting to store everything in.

We have been invited to dinner at the Gammon's house this evening which is exciting since we generally do the hosting on Sunday. On the menu is Carne Asada, Chicken and Rice - YUM! Since I am off work for the next few days, I suppose there will be a beer or two involved as well. Hopefully the boys will behave so that we may visit with our friends.

Round 1: Matthew vs Biter Biscuit

We've all done and wished we hadn't....bought the myriad of teething cookies, etc, that end up dissolving and creating a HUGE mess of both your child AND everything around him. I can't tell if the cookie was eaten, or just used to "draw" all over Matthew's face.

The bath that ensued

Matthew has had a head cold for nearly two weeks now. Yesterday he awoke with small hives on his body; generally a sign that he has had a fever. I took the initiative to make an appointment at the pediatrician and took him in in the afternoon. As expected, by the time we made it to the doctor, the hives were gone. The pediatrician said that they were either a result of a fever or food allergen. Before leaving, I opted to get Matthew a flu shot. Within hours, the hives returned, but were much larger in size. After a dose of Bendadryl, they began to fade and my little guy is back to normal this morning. Regardless of the cause, a mom still freaks out when she sees her child looking like this.

How Will you Vote?

Whichever way you do, please make sure you voice your opinion in the most sought after Presidential race in history today. Happy election day!!

Matthew Discovers his Reflection

Matthew is fascinated with his reflection. I shot this video while at the Fire Station last week. He found himself in the entertainment center and put on a show for us.

Week in Review

As expected, Blogger has jumbled up all the photos I uploaded. Sorry for skipping around.

Matthew tries his first piece of Chocolate (no he didn't really eat it)

Dominic decorated a ghost....unfortunately Daddy turned it upside down!

Michael, Dominic, Noelle, and Joshua

Joshua bowls at the Zoo Boo! Guess he thought it was baseball bowling.

Dominic making witches brew

Dom makes a wish with the fairy Godmother

Like father, like son

Joshua decorated a bat cookie

Whew...what a long week! I took the last week of October off to catch up on life and spend some time with the boys. I had a fantastic time and accomplished quite a bit. Below is the summary of our week.

Sunday - Jim and I spent time cleaning up around the house. We rearranged the family room, which provided much more space for the boys to play, and made some changes to the kitchen as well. Generally, I grocery shop alone, but opted to invite the entire family along so everyone could pick out their favorite muchies. The boys enjoyed running around Food 4 Less and we bought way more than we had on our list. All in all, we had a quiet day and enjoyed spending time together as a family.

Monday - with Jim back to work, I was looking forward a quiet day, or so I thought. I ended up working for most of the day and got absolutely nothing done on my list. I walked to the daycare to pick up Dominic and Matthew late in the afternoon and realized that Matthew is getting a bit to heavy to carry in the Baby Bjorne. We made it home, but my back was pretty dang shot. The boys and I brought dinner out to the fire station in the evening.

Tuesday - After running errands in the morning, I spent the afternoon baking Halloween cookies for us to decorate. I picked the boys up early and we ventured to the fire station and made a big mess for Jim to clean up. We enjoyed decorating cookies, and ate far too many to count.

Wednesday - Pumpkin carving day! I spent the morning Christmas shopping and the afternoon napping. I fell compelled to share my shopping trip to Kohls. I bought 3 pairs of Capri pants, 1 pair of work pants, 4 shirts, a jacket, 2 candles, 2 books, 2 wall plaques, and 4 toys for Matthew all for the bargain price of $125! What a bargain shopper I am! This was the only day I actually spent several hours relaxing on the bed. My new laptop computer arrived mid afternoon so I spent some time setting it up. It's sooo nice to be able to surf the internet from anywhere in the house. I picked the boys up early again and we ventured to the fire station for pumpkin carving and, again, left a mess for Jim to clean up.

Thursday - After working in Joshua's classroom for 30 mins in the morning, Jim and I headed to San Luis Obispo for a trip to Costco. We bought some really cool things for Christmas (a music system for our outdoor decorations and light-up stocking holders for the boys)! We also found some good deals at Old Navy! Jim and I visited our local Sushi restaurant for our weekly lunch date and both volunteered in Joshua's classroom for an hour in the afternoon. Jim worked on a pumpkin quilt with one group of children, and I tried my hand at leaf art with another. We picked the boys up early and headed to the Charles Paddock Zoo in Atascadero for the Zoo Boo. Unfortunately, the weather was bad so I wouldn't let the boys wear their costumes for fear they would get cold or dirty. They appeared to be the only kids without them. Either way, they both enjoyed playing games and eating hot dogs.

Friday - HALLOWEEN DAY!! STARs, Matthew and Dominic's daycare, has an annual Halloween Carnival. Children at the daycare are asked not to wear costumes, but I felt compelled to dress Matty Moose up in his costume for everyone to see. The moment we walked in the door, we were being hunted by all the cameras. They all thought he was adorable!! Jim and I spent some time with Dominic at the carnival. Jim and I met a friend at "Good Ol' Burgers" for lunch (YUM!) and spent the afternoon cleaning up around the house. We picked the boys up and headed to The Mazur's house with a pizza for dinner and trick or treating. We enjoyed ourselves and the boys ate way too much candy.

Saturday - I made a 6am run to Kohls for Christmas shopping and found some pretty good deals. I drove into the parking lot expecting a gang of people and found that I was the only one that woke up before the sun. It's always nice to shop in peace, and I made record time. I picked up donuts and headed back home for a carbohydrate fill. Jim had a softball tournament so me and the boys played with their GeoTrax train for most of the day. By the time I had had enough of the boys tattling on each other, Jim arrived home to save me. I finished the evening at Target rummaging through the after Halloween sale. In addition to a Superman, Cowboy, and Jack Sparrow costumes, I grabbed a few large pre-carved pumpkins and the rest of the boys Christmas gifts.