I'm not all the way finished

And I'll save you the really gory details....



The above is before.

The below is after.



I'm going to be adding some lighthouse stuff, and I have a serious wainscoting fetish.
I'm hoping this pacifies the fetish before I put it all over the house :)

Call Ripley!

George cleaned his room AND vacuumed. Scary, isn't it? I think it's because there were like 50 boys here for days. It had quite the pungent odor :)

The evolution of a skate shoe

I'm afraid the pic is going to be so small that you can't see it, but this is what your entry way looks like when the skaters converge on your house for Christmas break. If it's visible in the pic, you'll see that when the shoes are new, they are nice looking shoes. Then they get skated in. Then they generally have to go with some new shoe strings. Any color will do. Then it progresses to shoe goo, patching the holes. None of these are to the giving of last rights stage yet. Give it another week though!

I know when she grows up, she will want to remember this.....

When I was younger and prank called people,

there was no caller ID. Therefore, nobody came to my parents' door and asked them to kindly have me stop prank calling them.

Does my daughter KNOW what caller ID is? Sure, she does. Is she smart enough to realize that if she pranks someone 40 times, that they WILL do something about it? Apparently NOT :)

So she's at her friend's house yesterday. I come home from working, and there is a family van blocking my driveway. After they gave me access to my own driveway, they proceeded to tell me about my delinquent daughter.

I guess the last time she called them, they let her know that they were going to come talk to me.

They left, and I called her telling her I was coming to get her. She opens the door and EMPHATICALLY says, I SWEAR I wasn't prank calling people. HAHAHHAHAHAHA

She's not a very good liar! Needless to say, she didn't have a very fun night last night. She wrote a bazillion sentences about not lying to mom. I asked her something later in the night, and followed it up with, "are you sure?"

She said, "YES, MOM, I don't want to write ANY MORE SENTENCES."

Lessons learned!

Humor me!

I just like this picture, OKAY?


*PS. That's my husband, not my son :)

The gang was all here!

That's my Christmas present in the background. I got it a little before Christmas, but it's still the best present ever!!

I think the boys were teasing that this little guy was

A world class singer, and he was going to serenade her by singing Happy Birthday :)





Ooops, I got the pictures backwards. You get the gist tho. I have not heard so much giggling and laughing in all my life!!



Happy Birthday, Suzi!

Did I mention she likes zebra print?

What's funny is, when she was about 4 or 5, she really liked zebra print then too. She kind of outgrew it, but I saved her zebra bags and stuff. We cleaned her closet out the other day and ran across all the Old Navy zebra stuff from 6 years ago, and boy was she in HEAVEN!!!

I was looking in the wrong stores!

We looked all over the place for a jacket that looked like this. She has a hot pink one, but wanted a white one too. I had been searching since about Thanksgiving. No luck.

He-man and his girlfriend went shopping today and found it. Can you tell she likes zebra?

Can you feel the

This is multi-tasking

Roasting your sister at every opportunity, and playing Pokemon at the same time!

Yes, Pokemon!

I should have wrapped those gameboys and games up for Christmas. I don't even know how old those silly things are, but I saved them all. A wrestler brought a gameboy to a meet one week, and all the boys were salivating wanting to play :)

I brought those gameboys out, and these guys were SOOOOOO happy. I bought a couple games on Ebay for Christmas. I definitely like the prices better now than 10 years ago :)

She was a little embarrassed

When her brother asked her if that was pink zebra underwear!

She got a serious payback tonight because her little boyfriend was here. George was pretty relentless.

In fact, I thought he was staying with a friend. He said, OHHHHH, NO! I am gonna be here for THIS!

Suzi was quite embarrassed, but all her little friends thought George was a hoot. He was quite the comedian :)

Which of these salesmen

Is BS'ing the other one more here do you think?

It's a total toss up for me :)

Aren't they so darn cute?

This was the little boy who wouldn't go to bed

So that Santa could come. This was the little boy who didn't want to wake up to open presents. So he brought his blankie down and tried to "sleep" on the floor.

Coal is on order for next year!!

Merry Christmas!

Look at the goodies the Studmuffin Santa just left!! He came late to our house because SOMEBODY was staying up VERY late! Methinks Mr. George should have gotten a lump of coal! I don't know how he got on the "nice" list.

I hope all your Christmas wishes come true!

Christmas Eve in California

It still looks like fall!! This is back across the mountain though. Most of our leaves here are gone.

The countdown is on! I know that the first of February we have cherry blossoms! Bring it on!!!!

It's official!

I have sold my first house!

Merry Christmas to the clients who are now homeowners 2 days before Christmas!

Jackpot! Or Diegopot!

I have never had a dog who liked toys. I would buy them for Jack and Honey, and they would just stay in a heap wherever we put them.

Diego, on the other hand, has found all of the toys I have ever bought Jack and acquired many of his own. While he DOES like to "find" the squeaker in a stuffed toy, he doesn't chew on anything else. He's a puppy and rotten as all get out, but he only chews his toys. And chew them he DOES!!

Last night, I was at a company Christmas party that had a White Elephant Gift Exchange.
If you don't know what it is....read here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_elephant_gift_exchange

I had number 6. The person at number 5, I love her to death, she is our escrow coordinator. She makes sure all my paperwork is done and that we can close a sale! Well, number 5 picked this wonderful gift FULL of doggy toys.

Instant envy on my part :)

Do you know how much dog toys are??? haha

So instead of just going and snatching it from her, which would have been perfectly okay, I asked her if she WANTED her dog toys. Her reply, I don't even have a dog!!

So YAAAAAAY I was able to "steal" the toys.

A couple of the agents were checking out the goods when they were deciding which gift they wanted. I was trying to hide them :)

In the end, Diego made out like the bandit that he is! He was a happy, happy camper.

I, on the other hand, was NOT when I had to pick up all these toys all over my house!!

Is it any wonder?

That the boy is so good at wrestling?



He's had to wrestle this beast for almost 15 years!
And look at him wiggle away from him! He's gotten quite good at that. No wonder he can wiggle out away from the little 140 pounders!

22 second pin

This was his quickest one today. He-man has had one in under 10 seconds before :) So he's striving for that!

My boy was back today

No more attitude problem. It's a good thing too. His brother might have slammed him if he was acting like that again!!




He-man didn't have to wrestle this weekend, so he was "helping" the freshmen!

The best Christmas!

The internet is really a powerful instrument when it comes to friendships. I have met many people who have made a difference in my life in some way or another.

Most who know me know that I would do anything to help someone, friend or no friend. It's just the way I am. I believe in the whole golden rule thing and treating others the way you want to be treated.

I met an incredible woman on the internet who I have seen really go through hell and back. Through it all, she stands tough, and she always gets through it. We kind of want to laugh and cry at the same time when we chant "this too shall pass."

This awesome lady is a grandma, and she stepped in to give her grandchildren a stable life when their mother decided that drugs were more important to her than her children. So she has kids my own childrens' ages, plus one younger one. I honestly don't know how she does it!!

Her dear husband went into the hospital a couple of weeks ago. He ended up needing a pacemaker, and then from there had a stroke. It's just not been a good few weeks.

I have a group of friends that I hang out with on the internet. It's an amazing group that is very supportive and as much as we're all so different, we all have the same kind of nurturing spirits.

I knew I could get this group rallied together to help this family. I knew it would be rewarding, but I had no idea just how rewarding!

I called on my friends to help me out, we have all done our parts, and gifts are pouring in from all over the globe for these wonderful people. She had to make 2 trips to her car at the post office today! A friend in her town (who has cancer) brought groceries to them yesterday. The Christmas spirit is alive and well!

I can't even begin to tell you what a wonderful feeling it is, not only to get this project off the ground, but to be a part of it.....there is nothing better!

To me, this is what Christmas is all about!

Unloading the memory card for the camera

I asked him at the wrestling tournament Saturday to just humor me and smile! You see why I don't get a lot of pics of him!

His eyes are still the coolest, aren't they?

And he's still a skater. Instead of his wrestling warm up suit, he wears this! Goofball!

We got snow!

Actually, we have had snow for a couple of days, but we haven't been able to see it. Blue skies? That means sunshine! woooo hoooooo

Not a heavyweight wrestler anymore!

My firstborn baby went way down to Southern Cal for a tournament this weekend. He pinned his first guy. He was about to pin the 2nd, the round was over and the guy wouldn't come back to the 2nd round :) He got pinned on his 3rd match. The 3rd team they wrestled was a nationally ranked team.

While they were down there, they got to watch a college wrestling match.

He texted me and said, THIS IS INSANE!

I said, cool, huh? You want to do that?

He said, oh, HELL no. I mean IT'S INSANE!!

Couldn't forget the babies

Plus I had to make this picture suitable for family viewing. SOMEBODY (mr. korndog) was grabbing somebody's butt!! And you thought you were going to get away with it, didn't you!!

George didn't bring out his guns.

He said he didn't want to show up the other two and make them jealous :)

You're really lucky to be getting this! haha

If you only knew what it was like to get these guys all together. AND if you could have heard the moaning over those "gay" shirts! haha

Probably if I hadn't waited til the last minute, I could have found shirts to match everybody. But hey....at least we got this!

George wanted to know if he left the tag on his, could he take it back!

Most valuable player

Yep! That's my baby boy. We keep telling him he's a natural. His team placed 2nd again today. Those host teams like to stack to make sure they win their own tournaments ;)

He has improved so much from even last week. Daddy has been working with him, and he's just absorbing it all!

I have never in 3 years seen a MVP award. This tournament gave them.

Congratulations, kid! You made us all proud!

Isn't it funny?

How kids know where to get a pan or a dish to make themselves something to eat, but when they pull those same dishes out of the dishwasher, they don't know where they go. :)

Weeweechu

It's a romantic full moon, when Pedro said, "Hey, mamacita, let's do Weeweechu."

Oh no, not now, let's look at the moon!" said Rosita.

Oh, c'mon baby, let's you and I do Weeweechu. I love you, and it's the perfect time," Pedro begged.

"But I wanna just hold your hand and watch the moon." replied Rosita.

Please, corazoncito, just once, do Weeweechu

with me."

Rosita looked at Pedro and said, "OK, one time, we'll do Weeweechu."

Pedro grabbed his guitar and they both sang.....

"Weeweechu a Merry Christmas, Weeweechu a Merry Christmas, Weeweechu a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year."

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

One more, just cuz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3CGufn-WKg

He's actually doing something besides skating!!

The beast

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw1XKF07a4s

Here's the big boy wrestling. He dominated this match, but said the boy was "hella strong."

It stops abruptly because when they fall at the end, they fall on the boy's leg. He-man said he heard a crack.

Excuse my horrible video skills

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6WbtbfZOsI

I could say I meant to video the ceiling :) No, I'm just a stress case when my baby is on the floor!

This is the end of the 3rd period on this one. He had been fighting for a while. He looked pretty tired.

You can tell when I am trying to assist! I stop looking into the camera and who knows where it ends up! haha

#1 out of 20 something schools!

These boys kicked butt on Saturday! As you can see, my baby boy is no longer the biggest one on the team. He weighed in at 213 on Saturday.

He got up at 4:30 in the morning to get to the school by 5. His first match was at roughly 10ish. He lost that one. Poor kid didn't wrestle again until about 2:30. In fact, he was calling me, begging me to come get him. I told him he needed to stay there for his team. We were way across town at his brother's tournament. As it turned out, he wrestled 4 more times. 3 he pinned, and the last guy, they were tangled up when they dropped to the floor, and the opponent's leg went the opposite way it should have. We don't know if it was broken or what, but he couldn't finish. So that was 24 points contributed by He-man for his team.

Those who were still there at the end of the day (10 pm) were shocked and surprised by the fact that out of 22 at least schools, we aren't sure exactly how many, that Liberty won 1st place. That's pretty darn good if you ask me!


I am currently looking for some videos that I can post that I am not hollering or jumping around with the camera. I tend to get a major adrenaline rush when the kids are wrestling. It is amplified a ton now that George is doing it too. I never really worried about He-man getting hurt, just that he would hurt somebody. George on the other hand, he's still my baby!! Although, I have to say, the kid can hold his own. He's been wrestling all of about 4 weeks or so and already has about 6 pins. WOOOO HOOO!

Here she is....Miss America!

This is my little princess before she went in to the orthodontist this morning.



This is what a mess her teeth really are! (thanks to her daddy!)


And she's still the prettiest thing, isn't she? She is so proud of these things.

Yes, Suzi, one day when you read this, let me just remind you how BADLY you wanted these things AND you wanted the colored ones!!

Also, at this point in the day, she's ready to tell the boys what wimps they were when they got their braces on. She's a tough girl, and they aren't hurting her......




YET!

He won't earn his keep!

No matter how hard I try to train him!

Since I have been busier than crap

In my two hours of daylight hours (okay it SEEMS like just 2 hrs!)

I have barely even talked to my mom. Hopefully she doesn't disown me, yet anyway!

I spoke with her for about 3 minutes today. I completely forgot to tell her. In my running around today, George had an orthodontic appointment. He no longer has the expander in his mouth. His tongue can touch the roof of his mouth now, and he says he CAN ENUNCIATE! Hallelujah!!

Are you ready for this? Ms. Suzi got expanders put in today so that her brackets can go on next week. She is just so excited. The boys are laughing their butts off at her because THEY KNOW!

I know this will shock you, but she too has ginormous teeth like her dad. They have to pull some of hers too. They showed me on the x-rays how her teeth kind of jet out in the front. They are going to pull them back in. I think her face will change some.

Oh, and just so you know. When Ms. Drama queen embarrasses me to death at the ortho office, I am sending her to live with you! It could be as early as next week! haha

Do fish blink?

And do fish see in black and white or color?


These are the important questions that my daughter would like the answers for.

WHERE

In the heck did January through November go???

My middle of the night earthquake

At 3:30 in the morning, I was at the computer looking to see if there had been an earthquake. I didn't know if I had dreamed it or what, but I know I heard a boom and thought that there was movement. But I do dream things like that too, so I was just checking. It was very real though and woke me out of a dead sleep. Hubby got up right around then and went to the bathroom. I think he might have heard it too.

There was absolutely nothing.

So then, of course, I laid in bed and fretted. I hoped this didn't mean there was about to be an earthquake.

After about an hour of tossing and turning, it hit me. I should have opened Suzi's door and made sure she was still in her bed.

You know, they name hurricanes. I think I might have had an earthquake Suzi :) I should have checked because if she did fall out of the bed, she'll never remember it!