Not my favorite.

Whenever my children don't like something, I encourage them to say, "This is not my favorite." instead of, "I hate this." or "This is gross/ugly/disgusting...etc." I can honestly say, "I hate this." While I'm ridiculously grateful for the friend who dropped them by. I hate that I am reading these, to prepare my family for the challenge my mom is facing. Her breast cancer has returned with a vengeance, and the outlook is grim. If only they sold miracles on eBay.

Last year I read this great book called The Middle Place and it describes my situation perfectly. I'm a mom with my own family, yet I'm still my Mother's Daughter. I'm in the middle. It's a tough spot to be in, there is a constant pull on both sides, as I want to be there for everyone.

When I heard the news, the first thing that went through my mind is, "I don't want to do this. I don't want to do this." I wanted to scream it from the rooftops. I'm calling on everyone I know to say a prayer, send good thoughts, vibes, whatever you believe. I'm not ready to lose my mom, she is such a vibrant person, I just...... I don't want to do this.

Today I am grateful

Today I am grateful for this kitchen filled to the brim with family. They are my family by marriage, but make me feel like we've been related since birth. This is Mr. Man's Aunt, Uncle, and a slew of cousins, who have families of their own. There are oodles of "kid cousins" who are really second cousins to my kids, but they don't care, they all love each other. I love that my house was full of kids running around... Even if that meant it was really loud and all the boys wanted to do was wrestle. I love it, and Mr. Man and I whispered at the end of the night, "This was exactly what we imagined when we built this house." Lots of friends and family, loads of kids running around, and everyone having a good time. I love Mr. Man's aunt, she is the kind of person I want to become. She makes everyone feel like the center of the universe, and has the most contagious laugh. She has been a cheerleader in Mr. Man's life, cheering him on to do great things. When I first visited his Aunt's home, he said to me, "You are going to love my Aunt and Uncle, their house feels just like home to me." He was right. I love that the cousins make fun cupcakes that make me laugh and provided fun Kodak moments. And that there are girly cousins, who enjoy a whimsical purse and can talk about hair accessories for an hour. These are the kind of cousins I always wanted. On this day of giving thanks, I am grateful for family who embraces us, encourages us, and loves us just the way we are.

Mr.Old Man

Shortly after midnight I snapped a picture of my favorite old man. He turned 40 today. We spent the eve of his Geriatric years out with some fabulous friends. We joked that at midnight, his body would fall apart, and he would wake with aches and pains. Soon, he'd be able to predict the weather with his "bad knee". While getting up from a seat that night, he tweaked his back. It was hysterical, and oh how I mocked him. But in all honesty, men just get better with age. I love him, and I hope he lives for 100 more years.

I also snapped a pic of our sweet dog after midnight, it is her birthday too. Sandy has outlived all expectations and is just too dang stubborn to die. She is the eternal dog with more than 9 lives. This dog has officically been "2 weeks from death" for over a year. My brother said that when it comes time to put Sandy down, they are going to inject her. She will lie down and close her eyes, then just when we think she is taking her last breath she will pop up as if to say, "Ha! I fooled you, you can't kill me!" And she will immediately do something naughty like eat my wedding ring... again, then carry on for 10 more years. Man, I love this spunky dog. In the afternoon we opened presents, and Mr. Man was surprised to recieve a book full of Birthday Wishes and memories from his friends and family. Mr. Boy gave him a Lego Book & Star Wars Mugs. I gave Mr. Man the ultimate gift! Lip Massage-ing Chapstick. Truthfully, Mr. Man is hard to shop for. I tried to plan a surprise party, but do to the proximity of Thanksgiving, it just wasn't working out. AK was so ridiculously excited about her gift. A chocolate fish that says, "Merry Fishmas" on it. She thought that was hysterical and could be found muttering around the house all weekend, "Merry Fishmas" and then laughing out loud at the joke.

This dog was spoiled all day by the family. She got In-n-Out for dinner and cuddled with all day. I found on the internet this awesome place that does Slot Car Races on Saturday afternoon and it was local! Mr. Man loved Slot Car's when he was little, so I thought this would be perfect. We jumped in the car... But apparently, it went out of business. Dang it! Mr. Man thought it was a ploy to get him out of the house for a surprise party, but Surprise! There was no party. Shhh... I'm planning on doing one in the summer. Won't he be surprised!

Ladies Night!

By now you all know Cinnamon is my spunky friend. In passing she mentioned that a charity she works with was doing a "Drag Queen Bingo" fundraiser, the first thing I said was, "I'm in! I have the perfect hat!" I'm not actually sure that she intended on going, but she couldn't resist the idea of a girls night out. After all, it was for charity! We put on our best boas and headed to West Hollywood.It was super fun... we laughed a lot, ate a lot, and cursed the Bingo Gods. Bingo is a little messy. And although we didn't win.... I got some hot fashion tips from a Draq Queen who had my exact same hat! I'm hooked, who wants to join us?

Christmas Card Photo Shoot

Yesterday we took our annual Christmas Card Portrait I think both shots turned out great. Anyone want to vote for the one we put on our annual Christmas Card?

a.) with Juansb.) sans Juans
Psst... These pics are also a sneak peek of the pool!

The Floor Debacle

Sometimes things just don't work out the way you planned when it comes to renovating a house. Overall, our construction project has been fairly smooth as construction projects go. We have been very lucky. There were no serious delays and the whole process was short. When we moved into the house we had the floors refinished but then they didn't take. The floor guy offered to come back and redo them after the addition was done. In the end it worked out for the best, because the floors would have been scratched up by the workmen. Overall it would take 4-5 days, no big deal. We moved all our furniture into the new part of the house and packed our bags to be gone for 5 days. We piled all our clothes into the bathtubs of the old part of the house, this would prove to one of the worst decisions I've made during the whole construction process. I thought I was genuis, using the shower curtain rod as a closet rod!

With everything piled to the ceiling, something called Clausterphobia Crank-i-titus set in. I got a BAD case of it. I was so disoriented, but no big deal it was only for a few days. So I took some deep breaths and muttered my daily affirmations of, "It's just for 4 or 5 days." Then with renewed energy I carried on. Mr. Boy loved the clausterphobic mess, but I think it had more to do with the fact the Juans moved his bed into the playroom so he could play X-box from bed. On day 3 we realized things were heading south. The rain fell steadily and our super-mega ultimate heater would not work. Yep, the same super-mega-ultimate heater we installed this summer. The floors were not drying and we couldn't mimic a dry heat to help dry them.

By Day 5, the rain still fell, the heater still wasn't working, and the floors first coat still was not dry. Even worse, our super-mega-ultimate heater was so amazing, only one guy in the world knows how to fix it and he had other commitments.
By Day 7, our floor guy had to move onto another job and I was going out of mind. AK's birthday party was quickly approaching, so was Halloween. There was a glimmer of hope the Heater Man arrived. The house was quickly heated to a toasty 85 degrees and I was ready to whip up some Mai Tai's for more reasons than the tropical atmosphere.

I begged and pleaded and cried to the floor man, who came back in the wee dawn hours to slap more coats on the floor, but the rain wasn't helping move things along. On Day 15, we got to move back in! I cried when I saw my bed in my very own room, there was nothing more beautiful than seeing your house put back together.

In the meantime, remember all those clothes that were stashed in the bathroom. That included church clothes and Mr. Boys Halloween Costume. For church Mr. Man had work clothes and AK had her school dresses, but Mr. Boy and I were in trouble. I was tempted to buy new clothes, but it didn't make sense, because it was only going to be one or two more days, or so I thought.

I wore a swimsuit coverup that I fashioned into a dress. For Mr. Boy, I climbed up into the attic and retrieved his church clothes that were a size too small. I squeezed him into a pair of dress pants and a polo shirt that he wore two years ago. It just so happened to be the day when the kids were performing during the service. Mr. Boy stood up there before God and the congregation with his bellybutton showing the entire time.

The following week Halloween approached along with AK's 3-months-late birthday party. It was the party that Miss AK had said she wanted "at home with a hundred friends!" The house would not be ready in time, so we got permission from our neighbors to close the street for a party in the cul-de-sac. And then the rains came... or at least threatened. In the end the party was held in the garage & driveway, and it was a huge success. The week leading up to and planning the party in the midst of chaos.... not so fun. Mr. Boy has wanted to be Jango Fett from Star Wars for an entire year. I had secretly bought a costume for him and we surprised him with it in the beginning of the month. It was not uncommon to find him sleeping in full costume as we checked on him before bed. His costume was trapped in the old part of the house, completely inaccessible. Dissappointed, Mr. Boy wore his Boba Fett costume from the dress up box that was missing a few key elements. It was definitely not the same as the other costume. Oh Internets, thank you for the free therapy session, will you provide free therapy for Mr. Boy? I have a feeling he is going to need it.

The Annual Torturing of the Canines

Every year I take a Halloween pic of the dogs in a theme costume. I was running late taking the picture this year with the whole floor debacle. (details coming up when I can talk about it without crying) I had grand visions of Dorothy up in the meadow behind the house, with the Wicked Witch growling at the Cowardly Lion. Instead I got one sneezing Lion, and a Wicked Witch who looks more like a clown in a dark meadow. Also, have I mentioned that Sandy is going a bit senile? Which explains why she hasn't died from her many ailments, she just forgets that she is sick. Here are some of the outtakes:

Skoopi is bored out of her mind and Sandy is asking, "Where am I? and What is going on with this outfit?"

Grouchy Girl.Grouchy Dog. Skoopi is currently giving me the death stare as if to say, "I will cut you." Dorothy is gesturing somewhere over the rainbow, and Sandy is wondering, "Where am I?" This one is decent, the dogs spy Mr. Man down by the house and they instantly turn their frowns upside down. Heading home... Guess who else dressed up this year? Mr. Man as Mr. Boy Scout with his Member's Only Jacket, and I'm a Wendy the Good Little Witch.I screamed out loud when Mr. Man walked out in costume. I love it when he surprises me with this stuff.