Out With the Old...In With the New

Well, today is New Year's Eve. I've reluctantly taken down all of the Christmas decorations, done laundry, cleaned the bathroom, and cleaned the scrapbooking area. As of midnight it is a new year and I'm determined to stay organized. I guess that will be my New Year's Resolution. That, and quit spending money I don't have. :0)

2007 was a great year after all is said and done. Quentin was a fantastic student and a stellar little athlete. He has learned to help out around the house. I did a lot of traveling this year. I went to Oregon, Bridgeport, Bodie, Disneyland (twice), Bass Lake, San Francisco, San Diego (I don't remember how many times), Yuma, and various other local places. I love my job and our little apartment.

Quentin and I have been blessed in 2007 and I pray that we continue to be blessed in 2008.

Christmas vacation was spent in Yuma, AZ and San Diego, CA. Quentin got almost everything he wanted for Christmas...yes, I know he's spoiled. I got everything I wanted also! No, I'm not going to admit that I'm spoiled too...well, maybe just a little bit. Anyway, we had a great vacation. We went on sleigh rides, ate until we were going to pop, spent time with friends and family, watched lots of movies, went to lots of parties, and Aubrey and I took tons of photos! Here are few...

God bless you all in 2008!

3rd Grade History Pageant

Last night I attended the 3rd Grade History Pageant at Sonora Elementary. Quentin played the role of Fat Cat Matt. He was a gold panner in the 1800s. He was so cute and he did a great job with his lines. Unfortunately, my camera did not cooperate with the setting, so I didn't get a lot of good shots. Here are a couple though.

Report Cards

We went to meet Quentin's teacher last night for our first trimester Parent/Teacher conference. He's doing an excellent job this year! His behavior in class is not an issue 95% of the time. He needs to focus a little more when they change "centers", but other than that he is an excellent participant in class. He's got an A math. They're already doing multiplication, fractions, decimals, and they're dabbling in division now. I can't believe they start them this early. He's still behind in reading, but is above where they thought he'd be at this time. So, all in all, he's making tremendous progress and I'm very very proud of him!

Here are updates of our tree farm with snow...

Oh and here is a tree that Jeanne bought today and I love it!

Misc. Musings

Hi Everyone,

Just a little update....

We are getting in the Christmas Spirit around here! Here is a picture of a wire Christmas Tree that I purchased at a local antique/junk store. The picture really doesn't do it justice. It really is very cute! The next picture is of our "Christmas Tree Farm" in the office. Yesterday Jeanne bought some of that fake snow to put under our trees, so when we get that set up I'll take a picture of it. I'm thinking it will look a little better with some fake snow. :-)

I'm all done Christmas shopping! What a load off of the mind (and wallet). Now, the challenge is to get everything wrapped! How am I supposed to do this with a little boy that keeps a very close eye on me and any shopping bag that enters the house?!

Last night we purchased and watched Pirates 3. Quentin was so excited he couldn't hardly stand it. He even took the celophane wrapper off of the DVD in the car, so that the process would go faster once he got home! I believe it's the first time he's turned a movie on without waiting for me to get off of the phone and join him on the couch for "movie theater." He did eventually pause the movie and said sorry, but he just couldn't wait!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi Everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and shopping weekend! I know I did! I love hitting the "Black Friday" sales with my sister. We were in line at Wal Mart at 2:15 a.m. and we got everything we planned on getting! After Wal Mart we went to Target to meet Mom and then it was on to Game Stop...AT&T...Christian Bookstore...Michael's...Lowe's...Best Buy...Office Depot...the list goes on and on. Somewhere in there we went to breakfast too. Most people in the crowds were on their best behavior, but we did witness a few that were just not morning people! People like that ought NOT go shopping at 5:00 a.m. If you're going to be up that early for shopping you have to make it a fun and exciting time. Aubrey took pictures while we were in line and I think she'll post some on her blog.

Aubrey and Jeff were invited to spend Thanksgiving Day at Lake Jennings with Jeff's family. They were also nice enough to let us tag along. By us I mean: Mom, Grandma, Quentin, Me, and Rob! We all had a great time. It was very relaxing and the food was good too. The boys played football, Aubrey had a run-in with a weiner dog, and at the end of it all Quentin got a new scar on his left eye. He apparently walked straight into a tree branch and narrowly escaped poking his eye out...no, I'm not kidding.

Here are some photos...

Howdy Neighbors!

Quentin and I have new neighbors! Justin, Chandel and Lily moved in to unit #1 as of yesterday. Lily came over this evening and told me to tell her Mom to leave. She wanted to play with Quentin without her Mom hanging out. I think the kids are going to enjoy living next door to each other again.

Happy Halloween

Well, I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Halloween! Quentin and I will be heading to San Diego to visit Aub and everyone. Aub's birthday is Saturday, so I'm going to go down there to "bask in her glow" for a while. :-)

Here are pictures of Quentin and Lily in their Halloween costumes. Chandel and I took them trick-or-treating at the local shopping center this past Saturday. They do a costume contest and each of the stores pass out candy. Quentin is Captain Davey Jones and Lily is Raggedy Ann. Quentin was the only Davey Jones there, but there were tons of Captain Jack costumes! There were a few other Raggedy Ann costumes, but Lily was of course the cutest one!

Take care everyone!

Fires

Hi Everyone,

I'm in Anaheim right now at the CalPERS Conference. There are fires all over Southern California. There's a huge one just down the road in Irvine. There's an even bigger one near Magic Mountain. The air quality is absolutely horrible. Of course, the fires I'm most concerned with are the ones in San Diego. I spoke with Aubrey this morning and they have not evacuated, but they are on watch. Her Mother-in-law has been evacuated and I believe that Addison's girlfriend and her family have also been evacuated. My friend Barbi has a sister who is a firefighter in Tuolumne County and last night her crew was dispatched to the Witch fire in San Diego. So far, she has not had good luck with her firefighting experiences, so please be sure to keep her and the other firefighters in your prayers. My other friend Jeanne has a brother who moved to Spring Valley last year. We're sure he's been evacuated also. My allergies are killing me, but it's really nothing compared to what people are going through that live in the area of these fires. Love you all and remember to keep all these people being displaced by the fires, in your prayers...

Take care,

Jenn

Feeling Crafty...

It's 4:30 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon. The consensus by Jeanne and myself is that we'd rather be at our homes...scrapbooking! Instead, we are being good little employees. (Can you tell?)

I haven't had too much creative energy flowing lately. As Aubrey would say, "The Scrapbook Fairy has left the building!" Here are a couple projects I have managed to do lately.

This is a picture of the ornaments I'm making for the ornament exchange at work. I have to make a total of 12.

This is a picture of a balsawood pumpkin cut out that I decorated with scrabpook supplies.

This is a scrapbook LO I made. The pictures are from when Q and I went to the pumpkin patch and corn maze. (The pictures were taken pre-sweaty-butt.)

Some miscellaneous information...

I'm going to Disneyland again. This time it's for work. I leave Sunday and will return on Wednesday. Quentin is staying with Ashley on Sunday and then with a friend from school on Monday and Tuesday. I'll pick him up from school on Wednesday.

Justin and Chandel have decided to move back to the apartments. Quentin is very excited that Lily will be next door and he'll have someone to play with. Chandel came over on Sunday and scrapbooked with me, so maybe I'll getting someone to play with too now that I think about it!

Take care everyone!

For my "Special" Friend...Jean-NA

Jeanne is very upset with me because I have not blogged in a long time. I tried to explain that I did not have internet access anymore. She does not accept that as an excuse.

Here is a short list of happenings over the last couple of weeks:

1. Yesterday Quentin and I went to the pumpkin patch and corn maze in Lathrop. We got lost in the corn maze and Quentin was getting a little irritated about it. A few kids walked by us and one said, "Are we almost out of here? My legs are getting tired." Quentin said, "Well, my butt is getting sweaty."

2. The last weekend of September my Dad and Yvonne came to Sonora to visit. It was the first time he has visited since we moved here. We went to Calaveras Big Trees Park and Lily peed in her pull-ups and said, "I peed. Oh, I peed in my shoes."

3. Quentin and I went to see the movie Game Plan. It's a cute movie and "The Rock" is a babe as always.

4. Jeanne and I went to Bass Lake for a conference. On the way there I got a little car sick. On the way back I got A LOT car sick and Jeanne threatened to take my picture if I threw up...she really is a great friend. :-)

5. Love ya' all!

Jenn

Acts of Kindness...

Today I was having a pretty horrible day. I called my sister at lunch time to whine to her and to check on how things have been with her. While I was on the phone with her, I decided to stop at the Post Office and check my mail. I didn't tell her I was stopping there. I checked my mail and there was a ticket saying I had two packages to pick up! I was a little confused, because I hadn't ordered anything recently. I handed the lady my ticket and she brought me my two packages. Guess what they were! They were scrapbooking goodies that my wonderfully kind and thoughtful sister had gotten me while she was at Creative Escape! You see, Aubrey was supposed to bring the goodies to me when we went to Disneyland last weekend, but she was running behind and forgot them so I wasn't going to get my stuff until I went to San Diego in November. It was so very nice of her to mail me the stuff! It totally brightened my day! Oh, and I did notice that Mom's handwriting was on the address label, so thank you to you too Mom! Love you both!

Day 1 - CA Adventure

Well, we made it! We to got the hotel around 3:00 p.m. and made it to CA Adventure by 3:30 p.m. The park closed at 6:00 p.m., so we didn't get to stay too long, but that was all right with me. We still went on a few rides and took some pictures! Here's one...

Hi Ho Hi Ho It's Off to Disneyland We Go!

YEAH!!!!! I got an extra day off of work! Woo Hoo! I was planning on leaving Wednesday and going to CA Adventure on Thursday, Disneyland on Friday and Saturday. Now that I have Wednesday off of work, I am thinking of leaving tonight and going to CA Adventure for two days and Disneyland for two days! Our passes are for four days anyway... It would be a shame to let a day go to waste. Hmmm... decisions, decisions.

7 Days and Counting

Quentin's birthday is one week from today. He reminds me every morning how many days are left until his birthday. For the last three days he has also inquired about a party. I keep reminding him that he's not getting a party because he chose to go to Disneyland instead. All of the sudden it has hit him that no party means no gifts. I think he's becoming a little distraught about it. I reminded him this morning that his father has already gotten him a gift, I am getting him a gift, he's going to have dinner with Goofy (the Disney character...not me) and he's going to have a WONDERFUL time at Disneyland!

My child is spoiled. There is nothing more I can say.

Have a good weekend. Here is a picture of a LO I did with pictures from his 7th Birthday. Spoiled or not...he's still a cutie!

It's Done...

Okay, so I feel like I'm going to be crippled at any moment. My back hurts and my muscles are burning. The boy's room was horrible! It took the better part of yesterday to get it cleaned. But, you can now see the floor, the top of the dresser, and even the closet floor!!

Today, Justin came over and took apart the old bed and we went and picked up the new bed. Quentin loves it! I think it looks pretty stinkin' cute too. I got the quilt and sham at the new TJ Maxx.

Here are before and after photos...

SCORE!!!!!

Woo Hoo! I now know what my plans for Labor Day Weekend are!

I'm cleaning out Quentin's bedroom! Why on Earth would I be excited about this? Because the boy has way to much "stuff"...aka crapola. He also has been complaining that he does not have enough room in his bedroom because his bed is too big. For those of you that have never seen his bed, it is a bunkbed that has shelves on both ends and has a cover that hangs over it. The cover is red and is decorated like a firetruck. (He doesn't have the cover over it right now though.) It is really very cool, but he is right that it is too big for his room. So, my friend Ann mentioned that she was looking at getting a new bed for one of her kids, but the one she wanted was so expensive she changed her mind. I offered to buy the one she would have to get rid of and that would help offset the cost of the new one. The one that she would have to get rid of is a trundle bed made of pine. This is exactly what I wanted to put in Quentin's room when I had the money to replace his bunkbed. She said OK! This was a few days ago... This morning she came in and said she had found a new bed and that she is GIVING me the old one! (Insert Woo Hoo SCORE!!! here.) The only down side is that my darling brother does not know that I'm about to call him and ask him to help me move beds! :-) I'll post pictures of the new bed when it is all set up. Have a great Labor Day Weekend everyone!

Soccer Saturdays

Okay, I thought I never wanted to be a "Soccer Mom." Turns out, I rather enjoy it. The Little Man's team (The Blue Sharks) is two games into the season and they won their first game and tied their second game. They were up by one in the second game then in the last five seconds of the game the other team scored and tied it up. Seriously! Not exaggerating about the five seconds. They played a great game! Here are a few pics...

San Francisco Trip

Here are some photos from our trip to San Francisco. The first is of Quentin in China Town. He couldn't help but try out the fans and the umbrellas. The second is the Palace of Fine Arts. The third is Quentin from behind with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. I love how his hair looks against the bridge.

This one is for Mom...

Hi Mom,

I know how you love the trees and are missing them (and us). Here are some photos from Calaveras Big Trees for you. Love you!

And so it Begins...

Today is Quentin's first day of school. He's a big 3rd Grader now. Last night when he was going to bed he said, "Wow, I can't believe I've made it this far, this fast!" Too cute! Here are pictures of him in his new school duds and also one of him with his new teacher...Mr. Strand. (He's also the wrestling coach, so I'm hoping he won't have too hard a time keeping the little man in line.)

In the Beginning...

Okay, so I've finally given in and started a blog. Aubrey made me do it! Peer pressure these days! JEEZ!!!!! Just kidding! She really did tell me to start one and here is the reason why. I sent her the email below and she thought the world (or the one or two people who might read this blog one day) should hear the story and see the picture. So, here it is:

This picture was taken in San Francisco at the Palace of Fine Arts on Thursday. The look on his face is so funny. When I saw it, I was laughing so hard I cried.

The story:

I told him to go stand by the plants along the water's edge so that I could take his picture. Surprisingly, he did what I asked (probably because there was water involved). When he got to the water's edge he of course had to inspect the water before he could pose for the picture. So when he turned around from his inspection I snapped this picture. Little did I know that he would be making this face! The reason for the face is the fact that there were two dead ducks floating in the water!!!!!!

P.S. No, I did not take a picture of the dead ducks. Surprised?