merry christmas

we hope it is magical

it is so good to be home.

VIVA

Don't you wish you were having a Las Vegas Christmas too?

well you should.

it will be grand.

good food.

good times.

great company.

we leave tonight after the traffic rush. please pray that my children will sleep!

awesome

my favorite christmas song. ever.

i want to do this to my house. for real.

danny would never.

A Few Things....

seriously?

The upside of this upside-down 7-foot pre-lit Christmas tree is that you’ll have more room for presents underneath! This strange tree was originally designed for specialty stores to display ornaments while using as little floor space as possible.
It’s $600 and is currently sold out at Hammacher Schlemmer. via neatorama

About Christmas


1. It feels wonderful to have the shopping done early. And then I have more time to wrap everything. Low stress.


2. I have decided I like instrumental Christmas music best. That way some "hot right now" pop singer can't ruin it. Mannheim Steamroller and Wyndham Hill take the cake. (am I my Father's daughter or what?)


3. It has rained (and by rained I mean poured) two of the four days this week. Ahhh California Christmas weather. And next week we brave the snowy cold of....Las Vegas?? seriously it has been snowing there. My sister even had a snow day from school.


4. I cannot wait till the children open their gifts this year. I tried very hard to get them splendid gifts while also staying on a budget. I think I may have succeeded. Of course they are little and easy to please. Trying to do this in about 12 years with two teenagers will be a whole different experience.


5. I love this time of year. Busy busy. And filled with family and friends and people we love.


Merry Christmas.


Happy Birthday to Baby Jesus, as we have been telling Eden.

Straight Hair???

Eden has always been fond of her curly hair. She has also always been curious about my straight hair. So when she told me she wanted straight hair the other day I told her there was a way. And even though I told her it involved a hot iron, she was all for it. After 20 minutes or so and a very patient three year old, we had straight (as I could get it) hair.



really it was her idea.

but i was curious.

and yes, i do know what they say about the cat.

wait a second! he is one already??!!

my little guy. 365 days ago (plus a few more because i procrastinated) he came into our family. and we changed. our hearts grew. we love life even more now that he is a (huge) part of it. awwwww. i love my charlie.


although he still seems to have no desire to walk, he did have a desire to get away from while i attempted to take pictures of him on November 23rd. (his actual birthday.)

i managed to get a couple good ones of young mr blue eyes. (i am a sinatra fan. does it show?)

sibling love. sort of!

he has teeth on the top now too. that is 5 total. but who's counting?

he loved the ripping.

b-day party. held day after the feast. attendants: besides the obvious 4 of us, mimi, papa, abby, cami, johnny, sha sha, jordan and lauren and colin.


perhaps he will inherit the musical talents his father and mother so obviously lack.

the cupcake.

i made buttercream frosting. yum-o. and if you are asking yourself who on earth eats this stuff the day after thanksgiving the answer is: me. back off. it is too good to pass up.


tasting......

and enjoying!

more pumpkin pie, please

THANKSGIVING 2008
at woffinden manor. (meaning: i cooked turkey! woohoo!)



thanksgiving morning. a little itsy bitsy spider action whilst i chopped veggies for stuffing.
yes. i made sausage stuffing for those we were wondering. (all 2 of you.)



dining room table. the gold pumpkins were my mom's idea. very clever, i thought.

kitchen table.

i might have been a little too proud of myself.

charlie's first thanksgiving. for being such a voracious eater most of the time, he wasn't too into thanksgiving dinner.


the peeps: (starting with eden) abby, jake johnson, taylor johnson, charlie, marsha, johnny, justin johnson, cami. we were lucky enough to spend thanksgiving with my bro johnny's wife's family (the johnson's). they are truly great company. we loved it.

the 'dults: my mom, my dad, my grandma betty, my grandpa whit, lisa johnson, dave johnson, me, and danny with camera. mind you we didn't enforce any kind of seating arrangement. this is just how it went down. not to say i didn't mind eating my meal without my kids!


a small window for a photo op.

the post eating rest fest. thanks so much tryptophan.


more rest fest.

just a nice little reminder.

lovin' me the holiday time. i can't wait to pull out the decor for christmas. i just need a few days to recoop before we entertain our next group. (ie: this weekend. entire woffinden family. including our brazil living branch.)

yes i have seen it.

twice.

and loved it both times. (robert pattinson...sigh.)

and now i am re-reading the books. second time through. all four. in a row.

don't judge.

ahhhh amour

is this anyone else's life?

trying to find a balance

between romance (candles by the master tub)

and parenthood (bath toy also in the master tub)

and if you have found it, please share. danny will thank you.

Hot Date

dinner at PF Changs, which is basically our go to date restaurant. it was the birthday boys choice.

followed by a walk down the san clemente pier. i was wearing heels and kept stepping in the cracks. needless to say we did not make it to the end of the pier that night.

these photos represent our many attempts to take pictures of ourselves. yes there are more of these odd pics on my camera. these are actually the best of the bunch.

belt

a night well spent if i do say so myself.

Ode to Danny

It is my LOVE's Birthday today.

I try to remember life before I fell in love with him, but it is boring.

He brings color to my life.

He (helped) bring beautiful babies to my life.

He brings a smile to my face.

Happy Birthday Danny.

I love you.

edit:: the internal calendar on this thing is busted. d's bday is the 7th and i totally posted on the correct day. i am a good wife.

Vote Yes on Prop 8 Tomorrow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K1FL7vZBD0

because without traditional marriage, where would we be???


please watch this video. it is very good.

(charlie's first) Halloween

**disclaimer** i promise not to post pictures every time we go to disneyland. just these from yesterday as this was charlie's first halloween and therefore it had to be fully documented.

(ben, eden, hannah, harrison, preston, braydon, aliya) not pictured: charlie and carson

we had the best disneyland group! eden was loving life. charlie was in heaven with all the snacks. (i came prepared.) and the weather was pretty great all day. never too hot.

i think eden and hannah can die happy now. in about 90 years.

carousel. i couldn't resist this smile.


messy faced little snack lover on the carousel.

just girls. obviously they picked out a pink tea cup.


tram on the way out.

story: we are riding along on the lion king tram at the end of a fun disney day. then the stroller flew off the tram and landed in the road. great. the handle broke. we lost charlie's softi (a tragedy. seriously. he didn't sleep a wink on the way home without it.) moral of the story: make sure the guard rail is up if you sit in the stroller section of the tram. and triple check the stroller brakes. because apparently double checking (which i did) is not enough.


jungle cat and princess.

eden even got to wear lip gloss, blush and a little eyeshadow. she had a lot of fun trick or treating--for about 10 minutes. she was much more into handing out candy to the kids who came to the door. she got so excited every time the doorbell rang and would run to the door as fast as she could.





i just love the tail!

See....

Charlie really was in Arizona.

(thanks Lauren for sending me this pic!)

Carving it up....but not in the snow

h a l l o w e e n t i m e ! ! !

prepping her pumpkin. apparently this involves drawing all over the entire thing.

what? i'm involved aren't i?


yes. that is a drill. greeeeeat idea.

jack. o' lantern.

one finished pumpkin before bed time.

by the way, this is Charlie's first Halloween!

we will be hitting up Disneyland (yes again) on H Day. Then--hopefully--napping before trick or treat time.

ps: have i sung the praises of (our recent upgrade to) the king sized bed yet? no? well then. la la la de freakin da. so wonderful. have taken full advantage. sleeping, rolling about, children joining the (not so) restfulness, pillow talk with the hubby, etc.......... =)