Waiting For the Ball to Drop

We celebrated the New Year on East Coast time! We had family over. We ate. We talked. The kids played. When the ball dropped in New York, we called it an evening! It's actually safer for everyone that way. So let's take a look at the rest of our evening, while we wait for the ball to drop for the West Coast.

There's champagne, waiting for midnight-for Kevin and I. Sparkling cider for the boys.

My girls are ready, and they are sporting new hats from Elifins. Super cute huh? The girls really really like them. See how happy they are?

The boys in the family played Clue, Haunted Mansion version.

Maya slept. She was exhausted as there were lots of people to play with her tonight.

Owen-this is his normal corner. He's been here since late afternoon. What a life!

Happy New Year everyone! Be safe and may you have a great 2011!

I am making no resolutions, but I will say that after watching a Locked Up marathon on MSNBC today, I have NO plans to be incarcerated this year, or any year hereafter.

UCONN vs. Stanford

I think I may have mentioned that my in-laws were expecting company this week. Or, maybe I didn't. Relatives from Connecticut were due here the day after Christmas. With the weather so bad, their flight was cancelled and rescheduled for last Tuesday. Well, Tuesday came and their flight was cancelled again, and unable to reschedule until January 7! Soooo... they were unable to come out at this time. Bummer. We were all looking forward to the visit. One of the things my in-laws had planned was for all of them to go to the UCONN vs. Stanford women's basketball game, for some healthy family rivalry. Since they couldn't make it, Kevin, the boys and I got to go in their places! What a game!!

We showed up all decked out in Stanford colors! All 6 of us-and we soon joined 7,000 others who had the same idea. Imagine that. There were an assortment on UCONN fans, but it was mostly Cardinal red. The guy behind me was for UCONN. He was rather obnoxious about it too, and they left kind of early. Hmmm. I thought I might be in the middle of an opposing sides brawl, with the guy in front of me yelling "Go Stanford!" everytime the guy behind me yelled, "Go UCONN!" Lucky for me, they were mostly mature.

The teams are warming up. You can see the band back there. They were very lively.

The Stanford Tree. He danced around any chance he got. Such a happy tree. What a gig too. He gets to go to all of the sporting games and participate. I believe there's some big football game coming up soon too-wonder where I could have heard that? (Picture my finger on my chin, pondering).

Half time break. These guys were cool, from Shaolin Kung Fu-apparently, they are Monks!! My MIL said it was much better entertainment than the usual 7 year old girls shooting baskets.

The game intensifies. It was nail-biting. Stanford never lost the lead, but they got within 4 points.

Penalty shots galore. Lots of falling all over the floor too-a lot like soccer.

Stanford WINS!!! 71-59

Let the celebration begin!!! We were so thankful that we were able to go. We are sad that the relatives couldn't make it because the weather on the East Coast sucks so badly, but we were more than happy to take their places.

PS: I updated my Etsy shop, so go have a look! I still have more bracelets to add, but this is a good start.

Video of the Last Minutes of the Stanford/UCONN Game

Shopping in the City

What a fun...and interesting day! It started with a shopping trip in San Francisco with my BFF. First I had to set my alarm (I know, gasp). We drove in and parked where I always like to park-big garage behind Bloomindales. It was a little rainy when we first got there, but it didn't last long. We browsed around Westfield Mall-Nordstrom Centre, then headed outside, toward Union Square.

We had lunch at the Burger Bar inside of Macy's, on the 6th floor. It was yummy. I had a veggie burger with avocado slices and sweet potato fries. Oh and a yummy cocktail called the Riviera. This was our view-we had a table right by the window.

There were, eventually, people ice skating, but it took a long time to prep the ice out there. We enjoyed watching the endless stream of cars entering the big parking garage that's under that ice rink area. Lots of cars going in, but not as many coming out. It was also fun to watch the sight seeing tour buses go by-especially the open air buses-those people looked COLD. You can hop on and hop off. Really cool if you ever plan to visit SF. They have a Duck ride that is lots of fun too.

You can just see my purse there, on the ledge. Obviously, that's the street way down there, and Macy's big Christmas tree.

These are boots. No, I didn't buy them. I had to try them on though. Horrible aren't they? This fur thing is stylish now-I could have had a matching vest or even an entire jacket made out of what I hope is fake fur. Alas, I left them in the store.

While in the Holiday Lane section of Macy's, I found these Paper Jamz guitars. They had a ton of them, and they were on sale for...ready?....$7.50!!!! I could not pass up such a bargain. They regularly sell for $24! I thought the boys would like them, and they do! These things are pretty darn cool. You can play along with programmed songs, or you can free play. There are even directions for playing real cords! If you go to YouTube, and google Paper Jamz, there are many videos, including one with a singer from some band. He introduces his real guitars, and then the Paper Jamz. The boys really like them. Best $16.43 (9.5% sales tax in SF) I ever spent!!

Maya getting treated after a skunk spraying, yep, a skunk spraying. So after a day of shopping, and then a movie for Kevin and I (How Do You Know? with Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd), we came home to guitar playing boys and a happy dog. We no sooner let the dog out to potty, when I smelled skunk. I opened the door and Maya came running. She ran circles in the kitchen, blinking. She had been sprayed, in the face, by a skunk. Kevin quickly got her to the bathroom while I googled what to do. While he tended her, I went to the store to get the fixings for a cure: baking soda, hydrogen peroxide and dish soap. My friend called and offered me some special skunk stuff to help eliminate the odor, so I ran by and got that too. Oh how it stinks in this house. The whole ordeal took about two hours! We still have a stinky house, and the boys were a bit freaked. Let's hope dear doggie stays away from stinky skunks. I'm not holding my breath, but I am holding my nose. Tomorrow, a visit to the groomers, and to purchase some skunk stuff of our own.

A Little Crafty

I set today aside so that I could do a little sewing. I decided to tackle a dress from my Simplicity pattern for Blythe clothes. The pattern was kind of hard to follow-not as many details as I would have liked, and I had to text my mom to find out what the heck a "yoke" was. My first attempt at the bodice was unsuccessful. It's really hard to stitch little tiny seams. I decided to double it, and sew from the wrong sides, and flip it. It was easier and a lot thicker for the skirt part. The skirt directions were strange, so I just improvised.

This is my final product. I didn't intent to do the bottom red layer of the skirt, but when I looked at it, before it was sewn, I thought it would be too short, so I added the red. I'm happy with it, but I will make some tweaks to it.

Accessorized with a jacket, hat and boots, and her pal Arden. Oh and that cute little reindeer I just got in the mail. I packed away all of my Christmas stuff, except for our tree, this reindeer, and a few snowmen. It had to be done before I go back to school, because who knows how long it would take me to put it away then. It's done, and I am happy. I am also working on a little bear, that I will probably give to Quinn. So far, the bear is cute. I hope to finish him tomorrow night or Thursday.

Oakland Zoo

Kevin and I took the boys to the Oakland Zoo today. We met up with one of my college friends, her husband and her son. It was lots of fun. Perfect weather-no rain. Lots of cool animals!

We almost got an education in giraffe breeding, as these two appeared to be "in love." The male was ready to go, but when he tried, the female walked away. The male then hung his head really low as he walked away. Rejected again. Quite funny-for us, not for him.

A giraffe huddle?

The Oakland Zoo still has elephants! They are spectacular. They have a nice enclosure too and seem happy. The San Francisco Zoo hasn't had elephants for awhile, and when they did, they were in these horrible cement enclosures.

Check this guy out! Posing for pictures seems to be a hobby for this river otter. Super cute!

Quinn is an upside down tortoise.

Alligators. Super cool.

Look at those teeth!! I climbed in the enclosure to get this picture...JUST kidding. I zoomed with my camera. I love my camera's zoom. It looks like I am inside though. I am smarter than that though, and I value my life. That reminds me of those guys who tormented the tiger at the SF Zoo until she jumped out of her enclosure. Oh, and let's not forget the crazy that climbed into to grizzly bear enclosure-also at the SF Zoo. From them, I learned not to torment tigers, and to stay out of the enclosures of animals that can eat me.

Riley, grooming a goat, and looking pretty happy about it too.

Quinn walking on lily pads.

This chimpanzee was sitting on a tire, right by the glass. He just sat there and watched the people, watching him. Amazing. His hands and fingers so human-like. He seemed to like the little kids best though. He would stare at them.

It had been awhile since we had visited the Oakland Zoo. The boys were just there for Zoo Lights, while Kevin and I were in Florida. I hadn't been for quite awhile, and they have made so many great improvements. We bought a membership so now we can go back! Yay Oakland Zoo!

Merry Christmas!!!!

Merry Christmas everyone! It's been a great two days! Nice Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, with family.

I made a turkey, and had my parents and Kevin's parents over for dinner. This was a big turkey-18 lbs. He was very yummy and the house smelled great!

My table, set for dinner.

My mom brought this yule log (Buche de Noel) for dessert. It was really chocolatey and very yummy. I love the mushrooms on the cake.

The boys got lots of stuff. Lots. Do you think they are lacking in Star Wars Lego sets? They are all built already too.

Pure joy as both boys got DSi games from Kevin and I. They expected Santa to leave them, but he left them a Lego set instead. They are both thrilled with their DSi's and some new games.

My mom and dad got me this! Super cool. It's made from vintage tin pieces. LOVE it!

My MIL and FIL gave me this! A Heather Bailey pattern-those are lunch bags, super cute. The fabric is laminated. So fun! LOVE them!

I got this mini Blythe doll (Blythe loves Little Pet Shop), from my SIL and BIL and nieces. Isn't she cute? I already made her my avatar for Instagram-an app that I can connect to Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, etc. LOVE her!

Kevin got me this case for my iPhone. I searched every store at every Disney park in Disney World and could not find this case. I could find the other ones in the series, but not Mickey. Kevin found him on the internet, and ordered him for me! LOVE him!

I installed some crazy apps on my phone. This one is called Photo Antlers, and you can put things on the heads of your photo subject. Riley got bunny ears.

Quinn got antlers. Tons of fun.

What a great Christmas! I hope everyone had a great day! Now I'm feeling a little restless because I suddenly have nothing to do.

Around the House Today

I did a ton of baking today, for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I also finally wrapped all of the rest of the presents. Tomorrow I need to make deviled eggs, have the boys decorate cookies, and clean the house. Then we will be all set for Santa's arrival, and Christmas dinner!

I bought this box kit for these snowglobe cookies. The dough was kind of a pain in the butt to deal with-it was too wet and sticky, so I had to add lots of flour. The kit comes with everything you need to make the cookies. I just had to add butter and one egg, and powdered sugar and water for the icing tomorrow. It has these edible paints in them so the boys can paint scenes inside the globes.

I made peanut butter fudge-recipe HERE. It's a big hit with Quinn. He LOVED it. He requested chocolate too, but my dad is making some chocolate.

I also made sugar cookies. I am going to try a recipe for a glaze icing-recipe HERE, to decorate these. The boys can decorate them, using the glaze and sprinkles.

It was so busy around here, Riley was on his own to cook his dinner.

I ordered something for Quinn, for his stocking, and I added this guy to my order. Isn't it so sweet? It was made by All About Kendra. I love it!

A pretty productive day in all. Three fourths of us didn't even get dressed or leave the house. Don't you love days like that?

Just About Ready

Here's our tree. It looks like it's leaning. I wonder what's up with that? The boys helped with the tree decorating this year. Other than to move ornaments sharing the same branch, I left the ornaments just as the boys put them on. I just had to let the spacing of them go. They did a great job, and it's up.

I have our presents wrapped and ready for Christmas, but nobody else's are wrapped. Tomorrow. Lots to do tomorrow.

I think I show you these snowmen every year. I love them. I made them myself from directions that I got from a magazine. I bought the little diamonds this year, at Pier One. They are so cute! Quinn is fascinated with them.

We're rich! Rich I say!!! He's mesmerized by the diamonds.

Here's an ornament we bought while visiting Disney World. It has the "hot dogs," from all four parks. While putting up our tree this year, I realized how many Disney ornaments we have. I think I will do a Disney tree next year.

You are in luck today, because following this, a bonus post! It's a good one too!!