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.
AK wrote about how much she loves Santa, and his reindeer. She also wondered if she could ask Santa for a Princess Sink! Yikes, I'm not even sure what that is. Instead she decided to ask for a Polly Pocket Princess. 
We took the kids out back to play in the pool. We were finally allowed to walk on it. 
We tried out the hot tub, very very nice. 
Man I love the backyard, I can not wait for it to be done.
Skoopi can't wait either. She loves the Wading Area. 
When I was AK's age, we built a pool in our backyard and my neighbor friend and I spent days running around the pool just like this. 
My older brothers could not WAIT to skateboard in the pool during the concrete phase. As soon as the concrete was dry, they schemed to get my mom out of the house. They even tried to lure my mom out of the house by the, "Mom! We are out of milk!" (I believe they poured the milk down the sink.) The minute my mom pulled out of the driveway, my brothers were skateboarding in the pool. I didn't have a skateboard, so I resorted to roller skates... bad idea. Then I tried my banana-seat rainbow Huffy bike complete with training wheels. Bad idea again, but at least I tried! 
So maybe it was a replica Bethelehem Village, but it was really well done. We love these kids, they made us laugh the whole night.
Their personalities are perfectly matched with our kids. We loved the Stable the best. Our pal is telling a secret to the little lamb. 
AK perferred to pass out hugs to all the animals.
And Mr. Boy.... couldn't get over how soft and fluffy these lambs were. 
For our family activity we attended the International Festival at the kids school. I thought it was going to be something that talked about Christmas around the world... but it wasn't. 
We decorated the tree. Our tree was lovely in the other house (Masion du la Francais, but I keep thinking... "Does this tree make my house look fat?" The tree is tiny in scale compared to the new living room. In keeping with this years theme, I'm thinking it's time to upgrade the tree for something a little bigger.
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.
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. 
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!
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?
b.) sans Juans
Psst... These pics are also a sneak peek of the pool!
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!
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. 
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.
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. 
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:
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.