"Mary Christmas 2009"

We had a pretty low key Christmas this year. Just how I like it!
Christmas Eve we had Grandpa and Grandma Mary over. Kids opened their gift from them and we ate yummy snacks. I did a lot of "sem-homemade" this year.
I did the traditional new pajamas for Christmas Eve for all of us. The kids are getting bigger than I realized because both of theirs were too small. My babies are growing up! We snuggled in and watched How the grinch stole Christmas. Had root beer floats and were all ready for bed early. My jammies fit! Tyler and I were trying to stay awake for the movie. I saw "most" of it. ha! We never did get our gingerbread houses made. Oh, well. Maybe for new years.

I set up an awesome bar for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. (with family around you need it. ha ha!)

My semi-homemade scones. (who am I kidding. I bought them from Starbucks and they were yummy blueberry). Delicious..Me and my girl. She was annoyed that I was taking so many pics. Too bad. I'm the mom. I will take as many as I want!

Tylers first ever $100 bill.(it's real. I didn't get presents like that when I was younger!) Grandma and Grandpa Mac are in Arizona and couldn't be here but they sent gifts! Missed you guys :)

My boys. :) Daddy was a little grinchy this morning. But he snapped out of it. And cooked a delicious prime rib for dinner. KayDee, Brandi, Colton and Grandma and Grandpa Mary came over for dinner. Kept it simple. So good.Ahhhhh.........Christmas morning. My favorite.

Nicole took forever to get ready. I let her sleep in until 9:30 am. Funny how when they get older you have to WAKE them up for Christmas morning. Tyler was just content with his stocking stuff until she got up. Made coffee and ate scones and fruit. I bought her some beautiful new makeup brushes (so she would stay out of mine). Unfortunately it didn't help her get ready any faster! But she did look beautiful... (and her personal hairstylist did her hair for her at her request).

I love my family!

My tree. Scrawny but free. Thanks dad. Heard it was quite an ordeal. Once I got it decorated we all loved it.

The aftermath....................

Missed my sis Donna and her family. They stayed home and relaxed too. Shout out to Gunner and Drake. Love you, Merry Christmas......... (notice Tyler's hat? he has defected to the other side.)

Nicole was done with me taking pictures. ha!

I got an awesome new Nikon Coolpix camera from LeRoy and the kids. SO EXITED! I can't wait to figure it out and start using it. Nicole was excited cause she gets this camera.

Kids got Oral-B electric toothbrushes. They brushed their teeth 10 times last night. How funny that was "the gift" they were both so happy about?????

My camera was awesome but I got an even better gift than that.

My 14 year old daughter had 2 teeth pulled the day before yesterday for her ortho treatment and the dentist gave them to her in a little plastic box and she wrapped them up and gave them to me for Christmas. Hilarious. We have the same sense of humor. Would have been even better if they were her 2 front teeth....................................

Over all. Christmas was good.

Everyones healthy (minus a few teeth). Tree didn't burn down. Dishes are done. Boxes and paper are out in recycle. Tyler went to grandma and grandpa's. Nicole went over to Cassandra's to exchange gifts. Still listening to Christmas music. My buzz is wearing off (ha ha). Tomorrow tree is coming down. Can't wait to work out. Christmas is over...............................until next year.

"and the party was a blast"

Salon Christmas party was so much fun. I am still laughing.................................. Martinis, pooping reindeer, really hot shoes, great food (oh, the fondue), hilarious singing, people in the bathtub and the closet (party was at Andreas fabulous house), taking random pics (not to be posted, tee hee), me driving the drunk girls home (no names will be mentioned), funny stories before we even got there. (hobos, kidnapping and not going to a 2nd location..............I'm still laughing.............) And I totally changed my outfit option. Didn't get my toenails painted so I had to wear a different outfit with a different pair of really hot shoes..................

Me and my good friend Teresa.

Cheers!!!

"party shoes"

I am wearing these shoes to my Christmas Party on Friday night...........

Now I just need to find an outfit. Probably shouldn't wear just the shoes. ha ha.

Maybe, snug dark jeans. Crisp white collared shirt. Black jacket. Some bling-bling jewelry?

"winter formal"

"Isn't she lovely.....isn't she wonderful.................................."
First high school prom. Winter formal................ My girls looked so grown up and beautiful...............

Nicole and Donald "double dated" with Jasmine and Trenton. I love these kids.

Nicole's dress was so huge we had to put her in the front seat of the Tahoe and she could barley see over it! LOVE. Her dress was the perfect Cinderella dress. The bronze/brown looked so fabulous with her skin and hair color.

Getting all the girls ready was a nightmare. They had a basketball tournament that they didn't have scheduled until the day before. I did Nicoles and hair for 3 of her other friends that all play on the team. We got started really late because the game went longer than planned and one of the girls ended up being an hour late to the salon (not her fault.) They looked beautiful and had a great time.

Hard to believe this is my baby girl.

She had a great time and said they "boogied down" and danced like crazy. She wore her brown UGG boots the same color as her dress and said that was a good choice. A lot of girls were wobbling around in heels and there feet were killing them. Nicole said hers were warm and cozy.

After the prom I dropped them all off at Applebee's and they had dinner. (we used to go before prom, but times have changed! Girls didn't want to get food on their dresses and food in their braces. And Nicole said she couldn't breathe in her dress. lol. I guess that hasn't changed!)

And on that note......................

Nicole was asked to go the the Santiam Christian Banquet this Saturday night with T.J. Oh, my. Can't wait to post those pics. And the great story about the invite :)

"TGIS"

Thank god its saturday......................
Last Saturday we went to a family wedding. I did wedding hair all day before the big event. Wedding as at country club in Albany. Was lovely. Elegant and simple. My beautiful daughter...........

I am probably biased, but I have a good looking family :)

Cutest face ever............

Grandpa and Grandma Mary.

I am so glad it's Saturday and I don't have to be ANYWHERE! I am so tired.

Still have this annoying cough. Have worked so much this week. Taking a few days off for Thanksgiving so I have to make up those hours somewhere!

Today I am taking Nicole and a friend to the library to finish some homework and check out some books (we are nerds. I love it).

Going to work out at the gym. Pick up house.

Last night I went to the new "Vault 244" downtown with some friends. It's a new martini bar. So classy and nice. We had a few drinks and appetizers. Food was great. Company was great. Would recommend it.

Have had some great quality time with Nicole lately.

Talking about life. Boys. Dating. School. Careers. I love that we have a very open relationship and she feels she can confide in me. And that I have strict rules! lol.

Parent 1st, friend 2nd. So far having a "teenaged high-school girl" has been lovely.................

"i wanna rock and roll all night.....and party every day....."

Yes. I attended the KISS concert last night in Portland. Got home at 1:00 am.
My husband takes me to rock concerts (Metallica. this time last year)
Concert was good. Kiss is one of my favorite groups (older stuff). The encore was awesome. Buckcherry opened for them.
We went out to dinner and drinks in Portland before the concert.

The people watching was great.

Overweight, mullet sportin, middle aged men was the main "audience". Oh, and pre-teen boys. A few old hag groupies. Talk about a diverse group. Lots of makeup, wigs and odd choices of clothing.
Reminded my of a drag queen, halloween party.

We sat next to a dad about our age with his 15 yr old son. They were pretty normal. Had great seats right next to the stage. With binoculars I could see the sweat dripping off of Gene Simmons face. TMI?

*I have been too busy to blog, check email and facebook.(work, kids, sports, gym, work, laundry) Have some great pics from the weekend from a family wedding. (will post soon!)

*Have had same annoying cough for 3 WEEKS........ (was in Target today and BFF heard me "hackin up a lung" in the store and knew I was there. I hear "missy, where are you?" )

I've been to the doctor, but maybe should go back?

*Been workin out at the gym. My gym-rat friends keep bagggin out on me. Been going by myself, hopeing not to die cause I can't breathe. I will put 911 on my speed dial.

*Thanksgiving is next week already?????????????

"the recorder......."

came home from school last week. so old school.......... remember those????

Tyler has been dilegently! practicing. Almost every second he's awake. (a select few got a video performance from my phone :)

Hot Cross Buns

Nutcracker

and a few various others.

So cute. So sweet. I remember it from back in the day when I was in school.

I was laying awake in bed on Saturday morning and all I could hear was "hot cross buns, hot cross buns, one a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns............................."

"happy halloween!!"

I love that Halloween fell on a Saturday this year. It was one of the most laid-back, non-stressful Halloweens we have ever had. I guess when it falls on a weekday it's really hard for a working mom to get it all done!
I didn't get everything done, but that's ok.
Got stew in the crockpot, cookie dough is still in the fridge (didn't get that one done), pumpkins got carved THE DAY OF (I didn't make it to the pumpkin patch this year. boo. and hubby forgot to get ME one so this is the 1st year ever I haven't carved a pumpkin. And I'm never going to let him forget it!) Didn't have trick-or treat buckets till we were pulling out of the driveway. Whatever. Don't judge....................
Maybe I'M getting more layed back and what gets done-gets done. Let it go..................
The kids had a GREAT halloween. Nicole said "best one ever".
She was a cute ladybug and Tyler was a Clone Trooper from Star Wars. He has been almost every star wars character that's possible for halloween. Tyler isn't really big on Halloween. Never has been. He's as happy as can be staying home passing out candy. And then after a while he just wants to trick or treat our neighbors. Then to the end of our street. And then just around the block.......lol. funny kid.........Pumpkins were weird. Nicole made a Nike swoop in about 4 minutes and Tyler has plastic cutlery sticking out everywhere from his. Whatever............. :)

Since Nicole is in high school now she's too old to officially trick or treat. ha ha! So her and some of her friends planned a casual get together at a pizza parlor. And they all went in costume. LOVE IT. I had so much fun getting them ready. "Hair and makeup" was the best part. We were all in the big bathroom for HOURS. Curling hair. applying eyelashes. figuring out what shoes to wear, giggling (the girls, not me!), texting, taking pics, just having fun.

They all looked GORGEOUS!

I bought these fab eyelashes for Nicoles costumes. They were thick and long and had red rhinestones on them. I was a little envious. I want to wear them. She looked so awesome.

After they were all FINALLY ready we made a few "stops". Trick or treated some of their friends houses. We stopped by BFF's and got some candy and wanted to see Maddy's outfit. She rocked it! Best Nerd Ever!

Oh, I like to be in the spirit and dress up too. This is me and Teresa at work! She didn't come to work in costume so I brought the flourescent pink wig for whom-ever didn't dress up. Ha ha. She got it. (it only stayed on for about 5 min.) I wore my cute zebra dress and stole the ears from Nicole!

This pic makes me laugh cause you can see Tyler "smiling" with his mask on. Guess the kids are so "trained" when the camera comes out after all these years. ha!

This is the "group" that showed up for the pizza shindig. HILARIOUS! I asked one of the other mom's to go with me. So we sat clear across the restaurant and ordered their pizza and drinks and just observed. So funny. Great group of kids. Great sense of humor. (sumo wrestler guy was just some random guy? not sure if he worked there? weird. little creepy. we kept our eye on him. lol)

I felt so lucky to be able to sit back and watch my teenage (high school) daughter interact with her friends. The boys all came over and talked to me and they were all happy I was there. Such a carefree, safe, good-clean-fun halloween for my kids. Nicole said "fun-est and best halloween ever".

Then we trick or treated a few more houses on the way home. Girls all gathered their stuff and I drove them all out to Raelynns to stay the night. There were all sugared up and hyper so I was more than happy to drop them off. lol. It was about 11 pm so I knew they would all be crashing soon. Tyler ended up going over to g-mas after all the treaters were done and porch light was off. Very successful and fun halloween for all.............................

"rainy day.............."

Fall decorating, cooking (sorta), and spending the day with my boy............. So the kids don't have school today. I took the day off to take them to the pumpkin patch. POURING down rain. Ummmm.......pumpkin patch didn't happen. Nicole stayed at a friends house last night, so it was just me and my boy today. Got up, made him breakfast. Had planned on running errands (bank etc). To rainy and ugly to leave. So I decided to decorate a little for fall/halloween. (obviously, these pics are NOT my house, just cool pics that I found on the internet, I wish...)Made homemade guacamole (recipe to follow) and homemade granola.

Guacamole was excellent. Made it in time for LeRoy to try it when he came home for lunch.

Granola didn't fair so well. It was almost done and I wanted it to be a little bit crunchier. So I put it on broil and set the timer for 3 minutes. Got busy doing other things and didn't keep an eye on it. HOLY SMOKE. Literally. Opened up oven and entire house was full of smoke. I told Tyler to open up the garage door and be ready for fire alarm to go off. BEEP, BEEP,BEEP! I opened sliding glass door and took my charred granola out. Opened up all the windows and turned on stove fan. Not good. Was smelly. And I don't have my granola. boo.

Tonight I'm going to drive the girls to the varsity football game in Cresent Valley. I don't want to sit in the rain so I will kill a few hours in Corvallis before I pick them up. (nice mom!) guess I'm goin by myself. No takers to go with me..... :(

Tomorrow I have a funeral and a bridal shower to go to.

I want to go on a date with my husband tomorrow night.

Sunday is cleaning day and I need to go to the grocery store........

I guess this answers my question of "where did the weekend go?"

*Guacamole*

3 coarsly mashed avocados

1/2 c diced (seeded) tomato

1/4 c sliced scallions
3 tbsp fresh lime juice

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp ground cumin

3/4 tsp salt (or to taste) I like Kosher salt

1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce (tobasco)

Mix all together. Serve or cover surface directly with plastic wrap (to prevent from turning brown, important step) and refrigerate up to 4 hrs.

Serve with tortilla chips. (make approx. 3 cups)

I double recipe cause it's SO good...................

"i need a vacation........."

so I can get caught up on my blogging!!! (and laundry, housework, cooking, bills, paperwork etc)
I still need to post about......
my boy's 10th birthday. This pic was on his big day at school. ........the dress (prom season approaching) (of course I BOUGHT IT!) crap....girls are expensive

Nicole's best "Taylor" impression from the Rachel Zoe Project. (If you don't watch the show, just forget it. lol) My daughter makes me laugh. Out loud. Really hard.

I'm still tweaking my haircut a little. DON"T want it to look like an a-line. Texturized it a little more today. Work in progress........(only had one "person" tell me it made me look old) oh, I punched her in the face. just kidding...............................................................................

Yachats Weekend.
This really is my glass of wine on the balcony. Have so many great pics to post.......

This past week was crazy, out of control.......

Volleyball tournament in Canby, Nicole's been sick, I've been sick, I layed on couch all day yesterday with the worst migraine of my life, work, school, swimming, did I say volleyball? Will be glad to see the season end. Basketball starts up right before it ends...............I need this glass of wine......................