Prayer

Samantha just said the breakfast prayer and our favorite line in it this morning was.....

"Please bless Mommy's cold to go away and go to someone else."

Andy just explained to her that it doesn't really need to work that way and that the cold could just go away on it's own without getting anyone else sick. Although, if it takes someone else being sick for mine to go away, then so be it!!!! I am not a fan of clowns so I'll go find a clown and lick his face to pass the cold along! HA!

Sprinkles

I've heard about Sprinkles. I thought it was just hype. You know, a cool place to buy a treat even though the cupcakes aren't very good. I was wrong. Oh so very wrong. YUMMY!!!

Merry Christmas!

Total tally for goods bought at Disneyland yesterday.....except I think I am missing a couple of receipts so I think the actually number is a bit higher........

$270

That was just on toys and stuffed animals and hats and junk. Not including food. Or admission to the park. But the kids raked in the goods!! It was like Christmas all over again especially because they had a ton of money from Grandma for Christmas that they were able to use to buy anything they wanted. It took a lot of pressure off of me because I didn't have to say no to everything they wanted. I really enjoyed buying them everything they wanted. I have pictures of the loot I will put up when I get home tomorrow. Let's just say Disneyland is not a cheap trip!

Never want to leave!

I really like the weather here in Southern California. Who wouldn't?? We even got sunburns yesterday! Sunburns......in January!! So great! We spent the whole day yesterday at Sea World and it was lovely and hot and great. The kids have been pretty good except in the car where they fight like 2 wet cats! They are just in booster seats and we just have a Honda Accord so they can touch each other which, as we have found, is a very bad thing. They haven't napped or gotten much sleep either so that has been a challenge. Today we are just chilling on the beach and swimming at the hotel pool so I am hoping that the relaxed day today will recharge them and get them ready for our Disneyland day tomorrow! We found out that our friends, the Fausts, are in town and at Disneyland as well so we are hoping to hook up with them tomorrow. They live in Virginia so we don't get to see them too often so we are glad that our paths are crossing.

Well, I'm off to get ready for the beach!! Wahoo!

Sillies

Yesterday I had my nephews Cameron and Spencer in the car with me. Here is how our conversation went.....

Cameron: Kristi, are you allergic to cats?
Me: No, I'm not buddy.
Cameron: Oh, I thought you were cuz my mom and Shell-Bell are.
Me: Nope, I'm not, but I think I might be allergic to my birdie!!
Cameron: How come?
Me: I don't know, I just sneeze a lot when I'm around him.
Spencer: Hey, I have an idea!!!!
Me: What's your idea Spencer?
Spencer: I think we could FIX the bird!


Also, just now we were telling the kids that our fish, Merrie, is sick. He hasn't been moving much or eating much so we thought we'd prepare them for us being gone and maybe coming home to a fish belly up. Samantha piped up and said, "Well, maybe if Merrie is sick we could turn on a show, or some music and he could just take a little rest!!!!". You can tell what we do for our kids when they are sick! Sweet little girl!!

Joys of Parenting

The great thing about going on a trip - especially a trip for the kids - is that you get it hang it over their heads for so long. We are taking the kids to Disneyland next week and just now Samantha was throwing quite the tantrum. I picked up the phone and "dialed" Mickey Mouse. I wish you could have seen her face!!! She totally thought it was serious and immediately tried to calm down. I was talking to Mickey telling him that Samantha was having trouble and needs a big nap before we come visit him. In the end I got her to tell the phone that she was going to take a nap before we visit Mickey. Alex also promised Mickey he would take a good nap tomorrow. For real though, the trip will be so much more fun, for everyone, if both kids are napped before we go. I doubt there will be much napping or resting going on while we're gone, so I'm trying to get it done before we leave. Wish me luck!!!!!

Oh, we just found out my sister Richele is having a baby boy!! Yipppeee!! It didn't even take me 24 hours before I went to Janie and Jack and bought him a little outfit! I'm the best aunt! We can't wait for the little guy.

If it takes him 3 times to pass the first grade, we'll know why!

Take a lesson from Alex.....this is what will happen if you don't listen to your mommy and you run in the bathroom on a slippery floor!! DUH!!! I told them to stop but since no one listens to me Alex crashed and hit his head right on the tub. Poor little guy! This kid has had some major head bumps in his life but this is the worst I've seen. After a little tylenol and some ice it looked better. Let's just hope he can sleep the night without a headache.

My fav

One of my favorite presents this year - and probably my favorite present ever from Andy - was this.......
This is the poem that Andy wrote me when we were first dating written in hand calligraphy and framed. I thought it was beautiful!! I have always wanted something special done with this poem since the only copy I have is on a printed out email sitting in a drawer! I guess Andy has been looking around for a long time to get this done and finally found the perfect place (at the perfect price). The vines and flowers are even hand drawn. I was so happy when I opened this present and even though it might embarrass Andy I bet you could click on the picture and read the poem!! We had only been dating a few weeks when Andy wrote this poem for me and when I read it I thought, "Oh my....he really likes me!!!". Turns out I was right! If you know Andy very well you know this is a very uncharacteristic thing for him to do, but what can I say?!? I bring out the poet in him!!! Love you Andy!

Little diddy

I'm not sure who said this but I heard it in church on Sunday and really liked it:

Little by little time goes by,
Short if you sing, long if you sigh.

Where does she get this stuff from??

Today at lunch Samantha started growling and then loudly explained, "I'm a hyena. A hyena in the PRIDE LAND!!". Really, I don't know where she got that from. All I know is it made me laugh!

Middle Name

You all know how it is.....when you're mad at your kids - or when your parents were mad at you - you use the middle name. When I was little and got in trouble with my mom it was always "Kristi Janell!!!!!!!". Now, when I am mad at Samantha she gets a "Samantha Janell!!!!!!" and Alex, "Alexander Christopher!!!!!!!". Well, Alex pays quite close attention and now when he is angry with me or just trying to make a point I get a "Mommy Janell!!!!". I should get angry at him for using that tone of voice with me, but I think it's quite clever so I usually let it go. Smarty pants kid!!

The mean, scary dentist!!!!

Ha ha, just kidding! We are lucky to have sweet Aunt Kami as our dentist so the kids have no problem with getting their teeth cleaned. Their PERFECT teeth, by the way!!! Both Samantha and Alex have lovely teeth with plenty of space between each tooth for their growing mouth. They let Kami clean and check out their teeth and then the dentist came in and they let him take a peek as well. Little angels! No one had any cavities which was the best part of the visit! Thanks Kami for taking such good care of us!

Awwwwww

Now they are the same height, but look how much shorter he was!

He still looks the same when he cries....only with a less round face and more teeth!

She is still as beautiful only she now looks more like a little girl than a baby! I DON'T miss the drool, however!

Samantha's haircut

A couple of weeks ago I cut Samantha's hair short and I just love it! It is so much easier to manage and when she doesn't let me put a clip in it still looks cute. The curls aren't as noticeable but brushing her hair has become much less of a battle and that is ALWAYS a good thing. I think she is the most beautiful little girl ever! This isn't her real smile but look at those eyes! I've always wanted to be exotic looking like she is instead of being the plain-jane white-bread looker that I am, but oh well! That's life!

Just to make you hungry and jealous you don't live with me!!!!

These are some scrumptious cookies I made this week. I know you're jealous. And you should be! They were homemade, gooey, rich, buttery and perfection!! Not that I'm bragging or anything. Everyone loved them so much that I'm trying to find a baking contest to enter them in. Yes, they were THAT good, and NO, you may not have the recipe! ;-)

The close of 2008

I've never really been a big fan of New Years and I really don't get all that sentimental about the close of a year either. I am, however, grateful for the little things that have happened this year. Like the fact Andy still has a job. And we still have a house. And we still only have 2 kids. We didn't have any major catastrophes happen to us or our immediate family. We enjoyed time with our families and friends. As I look back on the year I can't think of one thing big or major that happened. And I think I like it that way.

It sounds like 2009 will bring in at least 1 baby to the Loveridge family (courtesy of Richele!) and if Kami makes my wish come true then we'll have 2 babies. 2009 will put Samantha in Kindergarten and Alex in Preschool and me in HEAVEN!!! 2009 will have Andy graduating from MBA school!! Yippee!! 2009 will have us paying off a lot of student loans! We are still holding out hope that 2009 will bring us closer to the possibility of moving to London.....but if not, that's okay. Instead maybe we'll be closer to buying a bigger house.

2008 got me in touch with a lot of old friends courtesy of this blog and Facebook. Proof that the internet CAN be used for good!! Thanks to everyone who reads and comments on my blog and keeps in touch with me and my family. See you in 2009!

I'm off to have a candlelight dinner with my husband in the comfort of our own home and then a prompt pre-midnight bedtime! Just the way I like it!!

Sledding videos

We took the kids sledding today up Hobblecreek Canyon with my sisters. We also ran into a whole bunch of other friends and people we knew along with the Hall family so it was a ton of fun. We didn't take any still pictures but we got some videos that are very fun to watch (at least for their momma!) Alex LOVED every minute and after only going down one time with me declared that he wanted to go down alone! He was very brave. Samantha was a little hesitant but after Daddy worked with her for a while she went down a few times. Still though, she preferred the tiny hill that she had to herself. So here they are!!! You will get very familiar with my kids noses!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas. We had a great day. Alex woke up at 6.30 so we brought him into bed with us to wait until Samantha woke up. The poor kid wanted to go downstairs so badly and Samantha didn't wake up until 7.20, so he had a while to wait. Once everyone was up we went downstairs and enjoyed opening presents and eating cinnamon rolls. The kids seemed very happy with what Santa brought and the candy in their stockings. I think they would have been just as happy with only those presents since we had to coax them into opening the rest of the presents!! They were ready just to eat and play with what toys they had been given already! Cute little bugs!

We went to my parents house at 10.00 to have our traditional Christmas breakfast and it was outstanding! My mom put together quite the feast. After our bellies were full we let the kids rip into their presents and play. The four oldest kids got digital cameras so they proceeded to take blurry picture after blurry picture! Nicole felt a little left out I think but I got her a fake princess camera so that seemed to help a little. Have I mentioned lately how in love I am with that little Nicole?? Anyways, I am! After the kids finished their presents the adults dug in and opened their gifts. We sat around munching on leftover food and played with the kids and their toys until it was time to go home and put the kids to rest. We were hoping for a nap from Alex since he sorely needed it, but all we got was a little rest. Oh well, better than nothing probably!

After the kids little rest we went to Andy's parent's house and enjoyed presents and prime rib dinner there. Andy's family hooked us up with money and gift cards and matching sweaters for our Disneyland trip in 3 weeks!! I can't believe we go in 3 weeks! But now we have plenty of money to have fun with in California, so thank you to the Highams!!! We got the kids home around 5.00 and had them in bed shortly thereafter. They needed the sleep!! All in all it was a great day and we are so grateful that we were able to spend it with both families!
Dear sweet Grandpa went downstairs and played dress up with my kids!! What a champ!

Samantha and the 100m dash

Here is Samantha playing the Olympics game on the Wii.

Possibly the weirdest question EVER!

Tonight Alex asked me....."Mom, do gophers eat bananas??".

Today the kids FINALLY took a nap so we took them to The Mayan restaurant (which they love) and they had a Santa there. Alex was a little scared which is why I am in the picture but he was more than happy to take the candy cane afterward! Samantha wasn't shy at all! After dinner we drove to Thanksgiving Point to look at the Christmas lights. I think the kids like sitting in Andy's lap and steering the car more than they liked looking at the lights. Oh well, whatever keeps them happy (and quiet) is good by me!