Last blog of the year

Wow, kind of crazy that this is the last day of 2009. It has been a great year and a not so great year. We had a lot of things happen....we moved from Illinois to California and we had our sweet little girl Hayley, 2 of the biggest and of course Hayley tops the list. Its hard to think that in the year 2010 I will have a 1 year old, a 4 year old and an 8 year old!!!! Am I old enough to have an 8 year old? Lol. Hopefully this is a great year. I am hoping to go back to school, Cassidy has decided she wants to be baptised and we are having Kendall and Hayley dedicated at our church on Mother's Day. So far it seems like it will be a great one :) I hope all of you have a wonderful and safe new year and I cant wait to make more memories together!!!

School?

So I have been making cakes and baking for a long time now and have always had it in the back of my mind. I love to do it but have never had any formal training and there's a lot I don't know how to do when it comes to decorating a cake. So, the thought of me doing it professionally scared me and I put that thought away. But, my mom told me a couple of weeks ago that she was talking with her friend Anne and they both agreed that I need to become a baker. I love doing ti so much and for no training, I feel like I am pretty darn good at it. So, today I made some calls and did some research and hopefully will be attending the Art Institute for Culinary Arts. They have a baking and pastry course that not only includes anything and everything about baking, decorating etc, but they make sure you take a business course so you will be able to open your own bakery one day. My mom and I are planning on touring the campus when she gets back from her trip and I am so excited. And nervous, I feel like the old lady going back to school. Plus it would be even more time away from the kids and that thought makes me want to cry. I don't know what will happen but I am kinda excited at the thought of me brushing up on my skills and doing something for me :)

Baby blues

So our house has been a disaster since Christmas Eve. We had been super busy going to different peoples houses that by the time we got home I was not in the mood to put everything away where it should go, so it pretty much got dumped in the front room by the tree. Then of course the next morning, after Christmas day, the girls went nuts with all their new things and the house just continued to get worse. So, yesterday was my day to clean it all up, I was starting to go a little nuts just looking at it all and knew it had to be done. I was about to vacuum in the tv room and if you have been here you know it is not a huge room so the swing we have kind of angled in there is pretty much just in the way. It was then that i realized, we never really use the swing anymore, I actually couldn't remember the last time I put Hayley in her swing so I asked Will if he could remember and he said no. Yeah, we don't use it, lol. So, we decided it was time to put away the swing. And yes, I cried!!!!!! It just seems like one more step towards no more baby in the house. She is crawling, well army crawling but she is a military brat :), and even eats real food from time to time, not just the yucky baby stuff. She is just growing up so fast and it makes me so sad. On the plus side, we do have more room in the tv room now and it doesn't look as cluttered :)

Merry Christmas!!

What a blessed Christmas we had this year!!!! It was Hayley's very first and I was super emotional about it. I have a really strong feeling that this is really our last baby so all of her firsts make me super emotional, I hate to think of my kids growing up and not being my sweet little babies anymore!! But, this year was amazing. Christmas Eve started with a contractor coming out to the house and fixing our broken counter top, woo hoo. I felt awful that he came out that day, wouldn't he much rather not be working? Granted there could have been other houses he had to go to but what if we were the only house, I am sure he cursed us on the way home :) Later that night we drive out to Corona to spend Christmas Eve with my moms side of the family. My mom wasn't there because she is in Washington having Christmas with my sister and her kids but my grandma and grandpa, Aunts, Uncles and cousins were there. It was very strained and we felt very uncomfortable but I am glad we went for my grandma and this could be my grandpas last Christmas so it was nice to be with him. Then we got home and the girls got to choose which cookies santa would eat that night......they chose kahlua balls!!!! Pretty awesome, hahahaha. So, with kahlua balls, carrots, milk and a sweet little note, it was time to sleep so santa could come. I don't think they have gone down that easily in quite a while, lol. Needless to say that next morning came early and there were big smiles on all the kids faces. Then it was off to my dads side of the family. I haven't had a Christmas with them since I was a little girl and we had an awesome time. The food was fantastic and I even learned a new recipe :) So, if anyone wants a super yummy corn casserole I will have to have you over one night :) My niece Kayla and her mom Brandi were there as well, so good to see that little one on Christmas!!!! Of course the void where my brother would be was apparent and it made me sad but seeing that little face and those gorgeous blue eyes made up for it, you cant be sad seeing a face that sweet. So, all in all we had a fantastic Christmas. Oh, Cassie and Kendall both got cross necklaces from our Aunt and Uncle in Idaho and it was so special seeing it around Cassie's neck. Not only did it make her look so grown up but after she just accepted Christ and wants to be baptised, it means so much more!!!!! I hope each and everyone of you had a great Christmas!!!!!

Busy Busy Busy

It is the end of the year and I am busy beyond belief. Saturday I rehearsed for the children's play at church for 4 hours and as soon as I got home my mom was already here. We planned on having Christmas with her that day because she will be leaving Wednesday to spend it with my sister so we did it early:) But, that meant turkey and all the fixings:) Super yummy when all is said and done but a pain in the butt to get ready for!!!!! The girls had a great time with grandma as usual and of course loved opening presents!! That night Cassidy started running a fever and since we cannot let it get too high with her Epilepsy, we had to take her into the ER. My mom stayed back home with the smaller girls. While there she ran a high temp and had a couple of small seizures but they got her temp down and she was fine. Then Sunday was the children's play at church so again I was there for 4 hours. They did such a good job, those kids are so talented it is nuts!!!!!! I am not sure if the church has the play on its website but if so you can fine it on Pacific Coast churches website :) After that was over I came home, picked up Kendall and we were off to Cypress where my cousin Matt lives to bake cookies. Both my Aunts were there and my Grandma, it was fun, but then again it always is with them. And we made tons of cookies, we have plenty to last us through the New Year and then some, so if you are aching for a cookie, come on over :) And then there was today. I wouldn't call it busy because it was fun but I wasn't home so now it feels like I have been busy all day. My mom and I met at the Spectrum and did some last minute shopping and had lunch. It was nice to get out with just my mom, I cant tell you how long it has been. But, now I am home and ready to relax. Maybe I should get off of here then, lol.

The best blog yet!!!!!

So I am going to be quick with this weeks happenings only because they pale in comparison to what I really want to talk about :) So Monday night was the girl scout Christmas party, it went really well and the girls looked so cute singing in front of everyone. We had one get sick but she was picked up by dad and felt better that night when we stopped by to wish her well. After that I went to my MOPS meeting, well, I guess I can call it the after party, lol. We had a get together at Lynne's house again and had coffee and too much yummy food while talking about what inspires us. And even though I have my "what inspires me" I must say that those women who have come into my life inspire me beyond words, they are just plain amazing!!!!!! That night was the night we learned our internet wasn't working so we have been without for days now. Who knew I depended so much on a freakin computer?!!!! 1 Christmas party, 1 rehearsal and girl scout field trip to CHOC hospital later lands us here tonight. While I was catching up on e-mails our sweet 7 year old girl came to us and excepted Jesus into her heard and as her Lord and Saviour!!!!!!! My heart is filled with joy and my eyes with tears :) It was the best feeling in the world, I cannot even explain it. We told her the angels in heaven were celebrating and among them are her Grandma and Uncle Justin :) I don't even know how to keep writing about it because I just lose words, I am so happy i feel there are no words. Just praise be to God, I am so blessed!!!!!!

A good and broken weekend

Seriously, my end of the year theme is officially "broken". First it was the tree and my baking pan. This weekend my mom came down and we made lefse. My grandma was always the one who made it, namely because the recipe is written in Norwegian and it is hard to convert measurements to English.........and for the most part she bakes it by feel and not real measurements. But, we found a recipe online that seems exactly the same so I made it for the very first time. As the lefse was baking we heard a huge bang. We looked all around and saw nothing so since we saw nothing we went about making our lefse. Halfway through we had to stop to make dinner and when I moved my griddle form the counter, I saw the huge crack in my counter top. The heat from the griddle had cracked my counter top!!!!!! I always use that griddle to make pancakes and bacon on but it isn't on for that long in one spot, it was probably on for a good 5 hours. So, add that one to the list :) And then it didn't stop there. Kendall was like an accident prone kid this weekend too. She fell I don't know how many times and one of the last times has a huge bruise running up her arm to show for it. Then as I was getting her dressed I unzipped her jammies and felt it tug, followed by a scream, yep, I zipped the belly button!!!!!! I think I might need to put myself in a protective bubble. Not for my own sake but for the sake of my friends and family around me :) The good news is, we have lefse!!!!!!! It tastes amazing, not as good as my grandmas but hey, it is a learning process and I am sure it will get better as I go. And to end the weekend on a good note, we had the Girl Scout caroling event. Kendall went along with us and we went Christmas caroling. It was such a good time. After we got done caroling we had hot cocoa and cookies, that's always a good time!!!!!!

Good News

Will sent me a text last night that said he might be coming home today instead of Friday, and he confirmed it this morning!!!! I know a day might not seem like much but it is for us :) And, we got our window this morning!!!!! I am so happy, the room is so much brighter and warmer! After the window broke our maintenance guy put a thin piece of board in there so the room was super dark and it wasn't fitting the window properly so we had huge gaps of space between the window and the board so it was always freezing in that room and pretty much all of downstairs. And in return it was sweaty hot upstairs. I had to keep the heat on to keep us from freezing but in return the heat was always clicking on since it sits near the drafty window so the upstairs stayed stuffy. But, we are back to normal now, woo hoo!!!!!

A week alone...........again

I am still not used to the Marine Corps lifestyle. When Will was stationed on a ship he would go out for training but it seemed to always be right before the deployment and maybe only once or twice. He seems to be gone a lot these days, always going away for weeks at a time for training. Which is the case this week. He left early this morning and wont be home until Friday. I know for sure we have another one in the beginning of January and then the big one is when he is gone for over a month in April/May, I am not looking forward to that one!!!! And Cass is home from school today as well. On Saturday, after date night, we came home and Lynne (the amazing lady who was delighted to watch our kiddos...........seriously, she really was, she is amazing) said Cass had just started to have a runny nose and it has gone downhill since then. And yes, I mentioned date night in that last sentence as well. How sad is it that we had no idea what to do once we left the house because we haven't been on date nights in several years. We went to the movies and after we sat down, I had the moment of panic of "wheres my kids..............oh wait, we didn't bring kids.....WEIRD!!!!!". It was a nice night though. We went to see the movie Brothers, which is really good but very hard to watch. It was war scenes in it and they are just too hard to handle. I covered my eyes and cried quite a bit, but all together it was a great movie. And we saw it up in Mission Viejo at the Kaleidoscope. We had never been, it was pretty nice. There is not too much there but we saw a dueling piano bar, we will have to go sometime, it looked like fun!!!!! So, here I am now, alone in the house. But, it is super rainy and cold outside so I am kind of excited to curl up with a blankie and watch movies tonight. I am sure Will wishes he was home, he is somewhere sleeping on a cot tonight in the cold rain :( Who wants to take bets he will come home not feeling so hot and possibly have the flu? Lol

A Great Week

So, this week has actually been a really good one. I have been super busy as normal and feel very out of control but I feel closer to God than I have in a very long time and for that, I say this is a great week. More so that came on Thursday. In our MOPS group we had to tell our life stories. I knew the girls in my group were amazing women, I have come to know them somewhat. But after Thursday I have so much more respect and am in total awe of these women. Some of the stuff they have gone through is just amazing and heartbreaking all at once. I think at one point all of us were in tears (until Patti cracked a joke and made us laugh, haha). I just feel like now I have these amazing women surrounding me. I would love to take away some of the crud they have had to go through, but then if I did, I feel like they wouldn't be at my table and I wouldn't get to call them friends, and that would break my heart!!!! I think I left that morning just thanking God for being awesome and knowing just what I needed and for those amazing girls!!!!!!

On some other news, we had some sad news today. Wills dad remarried after his mom passed away and his new wife had a son. He was married with 2 kids and living in Seattle. The last time I saw them was when we lived in Washington and since we really don't have a relationship with Wills parents anymore we never kept in touch with him either. Well, Wills Aunt just let us know today that he killed himself. Granted, we lost touch and never were that close but as soon as I read it my heart stopped. I thought of his wife and 2 kids who now have to deal with daddy being gone. I am sure his wife is angry and sad all at the same time. My heart just breaks for them. So, if you could be praying for them, I am hoping God will help to heal the hurt. I know they were not believers when we lived there and were actually a little angry when asked to pray or anything relating to God. Things could have changed in the years we lost contact but I know God heals and so that is my prayer for them. I think their sons would be about 9 and 6 now and I am not too sure if they ever had more kids.