Big Changes for the New Year?????

For 2012, I may or may not be making a big change in the way I scrapbook....we'll see how this plays out. I LOVE scrapbooking. It's a creative outlet for me and I relive the moment while I'm working with all the photos. My books have mostly been glorified photo albums, lots of photos and not much journaling (writing about the event). I still portray what's happening, mostly just facts. This summer a read a book written by a scrapbooker. I thought I was purchasing a book with sample pages to copy, but that's not how it turned out. That happens sometimes when you're not in a physical store and able to touch and look. Anyway, this woman encouraged the reader to get out of the photo album mode and make it more of a personal reflection of your life...a journal with photos. Not that I live that interesting of a life, but I may want/need to remember things years from now when my mind is going....oh, that's happening now!!!!!

I bought "Project Life", which is a scrapbook system that includes a binder (not too impressed with it, a little too industrial looking for my tastes), pages that you just slip your photos into (don't know how this will work because all the slots are horizontal and I sometimes take vertical), and pretty stuff that you can slip in to the slots to pretty it up. The big advantage is the options are limited so it should be faster...which means it should be easier and I'm more likely to keep up.

I have been feeling so stressed over my hobby that should be enjoyable. I can barely keep up with the albums for the boys...oh wait, I'm not keeping up....T is 4 months old and I'm only up to 2 months...and I don't even want to think how far behind I am with E.

So this new system encourages taking a photo every day. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be doing that. But I do want to get a little more of the every day and not just big/special events. For day one, January 1st, I took a photo of the first thing I see in the AM...well, other than my adorable husband (could be because he gets up so much earlier than me!)...and here it is......

This oak tree is in my backyard. It's a majestic tree. It's almost as wide as our lot. I can see it from every window on the back of my home. As you can see, right now it's naked, without leaves. Did you know that some oak trees keep their leaves and others drop them? Sometimes when I wake up I lay in my warm, cozy bed staring at this tree for as long as I can stay in bed. There's not much happening during this time of year...in the tree....although watching the colors change as the sun rises is beautiful. A time lapsed photo series would be awesome! During other seasons, mostly when the leaves are back, there's plenty of activity in the tree. It has it's own eco-system. There are several types of birds, squirrels, etc. It's very busy and entertaining. This is my most favorite thing about my home...oh, and that adorable husband I share it with is very cool too.

It's a MINIVAN!!!!!

The day after Christmas we all met up at the local Kia dealer to look at their model of van. I don't think it's called a minivan anymore, just a van. J has been driving the boys around in a two door VW Cabrio. It's pitiful to watch her load up the baby by rolling down the window, sliding him in to the seat, then climbing in to do the buckles, and then rolling the window back up. Al the while E is climbing over the seats to get to the driver's seat, pretend he's driving, pushing buttons, etc.

Everyone had done tons of research on the internet and talking to people. They narrowed it down to Kia, Toyota, and Honda. We were there for moral support, financial experience, and babysitting duty. The Kia was not impressive so we were off to Toyota. This was a hit, but we went to Honda too.

They decided on the Toyota so the negotiations were on. Dave took over and before we knew it a van had been purchased. I'm making it sound quick.....it wasn't.....it took ALL DAY.

E has the automatic doors all figured out and T no longer screams and wails.....and they're way safer than they were in that little Cabrio. We're all very pleased with the new addition.

Christmas 2011

Our busy season begins gearing up right after Thanksgiving. We begin to shut down our social calendar, just about the time everyone else begins to ramp it up. We've been through this drill for so many years, that it's just natural to us now. We doggedly work at not getting overwhelmed with parties and everything else that swallows you up during this time of year. I try to have all the cards and gifts wrapped up early too. My approach is to keep it as simple as possible, sticking to what is important to us. This is so difficult to do.

We're also not in to buying tons of gifts for the grandsons, especially while they're so young. Although we may have gone a bit overboard in the last couple of months with Ezra. Anyway.....I started a new tradition last year, I got PJ's for W, J, & E..all in red. They were rather stylish. Then I realized that they LOVE footed PJs. I think it has something to do with not turning up the heat in their home and camping. I found matching sets for W & J, and then scored matching sets for the boys at Costco!!!! Which turned out funny, because W's mom bought the boys PJ's at Costco!!! It's all good, the boys need plenty of PJ's. Don't they look cute and matching?!

We go to their home on Christmas morning to open gifts and have a breakfast of Swedish pancakes. Later in the evening we end up at our home for a big dinner of Prime Rib (which was a tad overdone this year), smoked Gouda mashed potatoes (which I may have gone a bit overboard with the cheese this year), lemon jello salad (special request of my MIL), Pillsbury refrigerator rolls (LOVE), asparagus (mixed this up, we usually have Dave's spectacular green beans). And for dessert, we break open the various gift tins we've received along with coffee (made from our new Keurig this year).

This year we did mix it up for Christmas Eve. The tradition is cioppino with bibs here at home. The kids were lighting the last Advent candle at their church, so we have postponed the cioppino (J may have had a mini fit over this) and joined them. I must say they were so cute. W, E, & T all had matching ties....T's was a bow tie! W was holding E while trying to read the scripture while E kept grabbing for the mic, then W was lighting the candle while E kept grabbing for the flame. This brought a chuckle to the entire congregation.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas, spent time with family & friends, and thought about the birth of Jesus.

Cold Day at BlackHawk Plaza

We like to take a trip to San Francisco during this time of year...to see the Christmas decorations and do a little shopping. With two little guys, this just wasn't going to happen. Jessica came up with the idea to go to the Blackhawk Plaza...we could shop, feed the ducks, and grab a bite to eat. It was sunny but VERY cold..I was not bundled up properly and was freezing with the wind and all. Our first stop was Starbucks where I discovered that my 2 year old grandson knows how to order steamed milk...there's something terribly wrong with this...I blame his parents. Then it was off to feed the ducks.

I'm not wild about photos of me...funny because I'm always taking photos of others. I'm learning to include photos, even if I don't like them, just to prove that I was really there

G.Pa is still a super hero in the eyes of Ezra. It's a heavy burden for G.Pa. I'm learning this because all of a sudden he's started asking for me...which is really odd because he wouldn't even say "Grandma", he just grunted for me.

Lovely Mama Jessica with sweet baby Theo

The ducks got fed

Park time....G.Ma did have to chase off Evan, the resident bully

We didn't stay for dinner because we were all cold. Jessica and Theo were dropped off at home and we took Ezra back to the house to spend the night. We watched Toy Story, the original, for the first time...it is scary! But we all were able to fall asleep before 8 pm...grandparenting is exhausting!

Our Gift for Ezra

After much research, we bought Ezra a Harley Davidson Big Wheel. We were thinking about an electric one, but it was recommended that we keep him exercising....plus the electric one didn't have sound effects and Dave said that is not acceptable. I was a little concerned about the volume level on the one we bought...the reviews all mentioned how loud it was....but after Auntie Donna & Uncle Bret's gifts, we figured we could handle anything.

This combines Ezra love for motorcycles and bicycles

Dave was so relieved that the assembly was easy...nothing compared to the horror of assembling the Cozy Coupe...thank you

Edie put the decals on...not as easy as it looks

It's a HIT!!!!

Jessica can not believe we're letting him ride in the house

So Dave took him outside. He likes to go to the high spot of the driveway and go fast down the hill. Dave told him to bring his helmet next time...the thing isn't that stable.

I can hardly wait to see what we do next!!!!!

Ezra turns TWO!!!!!

I can't believe it....Ezra is now TWO YEARS OLD!!!! Wow, this has gone by so quickly. We just can't remember life before he arrived. We're really not in to big birthday bashes for little guys (can you say over stimulated?), but we had planned on a party to introduce Theo to family and friends, and well...that just didn't happen. So we decided to combine the whole thing. Since we are the "Swenson Annex", taking care of overflow or when they just need a little more room, we ended up being party central. Jessica did all the work...we just cleaned up.

You know it's important when all the Grandma's show up.....

Dave's mom and both of Edie's moms :)

Jessica set up a simple and elegant display. She used an Exacto knife and a stencil for each letter. I told her I owned a Cricut, for next time

The cupcakes were delicious and William used his skills to frost them

Teresa snagged Theo and Annette is ready for her turn

Auntie Rhonda got some snuggle time

Granny is loving baby Theo

Auntie Donna is a natural

Michelle brought Scott so we could all meet him...we approve

Ezra approves of the cupcakes

Ezra LOVES the remote control car (the big guys like it too)....another great gift from Auntie Donna & Uncle Bret (and not nearly as loud as prior gifts)

The motorcycle and car had races on the coffee table for HOURS! Yep, Dave is correct....we're not getting new furniture while our grandchildren are around.

A good time was had by all! The late arrivals missed out on Theo, he insisted on napping. We were all totally exhausted but content....the way life should be for everyone.

Christmas Birthday Party 2011

Simple, cute, and everyone gets to take home the water glass and snow globe...such a deal! LOVE the chargers....I might even buy those!

Here's a December tradition {three years and it can be a tradition, right?} that I really look forward to each year. A local church has a huge, amazing Women's Christmas Dinner. It happens during the first week of December, which is also my birthday week. And what do I want most for my birthday? To spend some time with friends.

The way this works is each table has a hostess, so I I'm the hostess. The church provides a table, chairs, tablecloth, packets of sugar and cream, lemon for your glass, water, and/or coffee. The hostess must set the table and then clean up the area at the end {which can be a little yucky, but we have this down now and we're finished in no time}. Oh, and Scott's Seafood caters the buffet dinner, which is always VERY delicious.

I try to come up with a theme. I rarely stick with the traditional Christmas theme. Or with the green and red. One year it was blue and white and circles, one year it was the Grinch with bright green and brown. Very cool.

I head over to Pleasanton Rentals for inspiration. This year was really tough because I went during November and all I saw was Thanksgiving stuff. My brain was clogged with autumn, harvest, and turkeys. After much texting with photos to my go to foo foo friend, Margaret,....and eventually I just had to call her. She's very good at getting me focused. Then I went to the Grand Affair in San Ramon....nice shop, great linens, but VERY limited on everything else {NO napkin rings!!!}. At about this time Margaret was leaving Anthropologie with her daughter. They had found snow globes {which were WAY too expensive, but they made them and they were so cute}. So excited, this was our inspiration!

So back to Pleasanton Rentals. Cherie helped me pick out everything and I put it on hold. Margaret made the centerpiece and snow globes {along with her very artsy daughter}. The water glasses were ordered from Amazon (and they do not hold HOT liquids!) and I spent time on Saturday making tags for the glasses, cleaning them, packing them. Oh, and I picked up the glass jars on Friday at Michael's.

Monday I loaded up the car, picked up all the stuff at Pleasanton Rentals and headed to the church. After lugging in a couple of loads on a cart, I spent a touch over an hour to decorate. Now this is challenging for me. I don't do this often......well, once a year! And I had such a time getting the darn table lines even. After I had the table set part way, I noticed the tablecloth was so uneven, I undid the whole thing and started all over again. One of the ladies at the next table helped me determine some of the centerpiece arrangements, very kind, she showed mercy.

The event begins at 6, I wasn't sure of the traffic so I arrived almost 30 minutes early! D would be so proud of me, shocked, but proud too. I had to get in to start up the battery operated lights and light the candles. I fussed with the candles for 30 minutes!!!!! When you see a candle floated in water in a jar without the wide mouth, be VERY IMPRESSED! I burnt a few fingers, used a knife to carve around the wick, prayed.....it looked good, but not a fan of this.

We had an hour to walk around to look at all the tables. I'm not sure how many ladies attend, and this was the second of two nights, but I'm pretty sure there were at least 70 tables of 8 over the two nights.

Mom and Daughter. This is really odd because Mom had on flats and Daughter had on VERY high heels.....there's a much bigger height difference. This looks really good.

This is another table, not mine

Here we are, having a GREAT time!

There was a musician that played the keyboard and sang. We were the percussion for the Little Drummer Boy. I wanted to stomp our feet since that's the way we sing it with E.
The main speaker was Patsy Clairmont and she's wonderful. She's hilarious and profound. Big take away is that Feelings do NOT have Reason...or something like that....should have taken notes....but I was just in the moment and enjoying the evening. And she was hilarious when she explained what it's like when she has to zip her lip.....all her words are swirling in her body wanting out...like a game of Scrabble in her throat! I know how she feels! She totally makes her point hit your heart and your head.
I can hardly wait until next year! Not the birthday part, just the fun time with friends.