Christmas with the Riets

This evening we had Dave and Sandy and the kids over for Christmas. It was nice to have everyone over Sandy brought over presents from them, and then we ate. I made a brown sugar ham (of course) along with squash and a bunch of other yummy things. Byt the time we got up to the table, Sandy, Jess and I could barely eat anything because we had picket at so much of the ham while we were fixing the kids' plates. The kids had a blast playing with Jess and Ad, and I had fun sitting around talking and visiting with everyone.

Adriaan, Dave, Sandy, and Jessica with all the kids.
Me with Jessica and Adriaan.

The kids opening presents from Sandy and Dave.

Christmas Morning

This morning went great. The kids each got 5 small things, so I didn't feel overwhelmed at the end of the day by all the stuff X 6 kids. 3 from us, 2 from "Santa", plus stockings (yay for Target and their dollar bins full of cute stuff). They had fun opening all their stuff, and then we just hung out around the house for the rest of the afternoon.

The kids waiting on the stairs to come down.

Checking out what's under the tree.

Opening presents.

Hailey and Brooklyn.

Amelia playing with her new castle.

Austin helping Camren out with his new train.

John opening the new back massager I got him.

Christmas Eve. Pt. 2

Every year I get the kids Christmas jammies that they get to open on Christmas Eve and then wear and look all cute for their Christmas morning photos. They looked so adorable, I had to be sure and post pics of them before I head to bed.

Christmas Eve Pt. 1

Today Jacob and Natalie came by to visit with us for a while. They are down to be with Natalies family for Christmas. I am glad that Natalie is from Utah, so that they come down here (from Idaho) more often than they would otherwise. We had fun hanging out and did exciting things like watch the kids sing silly songs they made up and watch Hannah Montana. It was nice to see them and spend time together, since the rest of my family is in California. For some reason I ended up with more pics of Jacob than Natalie. Probably because she was sitting on the couch with Hailey most of the time.

Me and Jacob.

Jacob and Natalie with all the kids.

Jacob with Brooklyn and Camren.

Jacob and Amelia.

Jacob and Hailey.

Freedom Sweet Freedom

One thing I have learned since I started doing daycare is how fabulous it makes your days off. I do daycare M, T, Th and on Wednesdays and Fridays I feel so elated that I can run errands with just one child. On my daycare days I am always at the house because I don't want to drag around an extra people, esp. since one is an infant so then there are baby carriers and diaper bags and all the things that I don't have to deal with anymore. I guess I didn't realize how much I enjoyed the fact that all my kids are older and I can just run out and bring nothing with me but them. So today I am going to enjoy my freedom of having just one at home and get done all the things I have been needing to do. Like running to the store, doing some exchanges, doing some bulk cooking for the freezer, cleaning my room, etc. It may not sound exciting to you, but the fact that it will be so much easier to do today makes it a lot more appealing to me. :)

My Blog By Any Other Name

is still me flapping away just like I do in person.

I'm trying out a new name for my blog. The more I looked at the word Joyful, the more it didn't look like a word anymore. (I know I'm a freak.) Also, for those who know me, I found this to be much more fitting. :)

Not sure 100%, still deciding. Should it be of or for? Something else entirely?

Hmmm . . . .

Comments?

An Actual Full Night's Sleep Really Helps

It's amazing how awake I can be when I go to bed at 10 pm instead of 1 am.

Here's what I have done so far today:
- Find a dentist and schedule appointments for our entire family
- Find a pediatrician and schedule Hailey's 9 year well visit (her b-day is next month)
- Run Brooklyn to school on time so she wouldn't be late (thanks to Christina coming and sitting with Amelia and the 2 boys I watch because we missed the bus because AGAIN I forgot it is Monday, which is 30 min earlier. Grrr!)
- Get a couple loads of laundry done
- Get the entire downstairs spotless, with the exception of the dishes which are in progress
- Finish the book I was reading. "Barefoot" by Elin Hilderbrand. Good book. It was a little hard to get into in the beginning, but then I really enjoyed it.
****
The pediatrician and dentist I found are not only in the same parking lot, but they are 5 minutes (if that) from my house! WOO-HOO! I am SUPER excited about that! I hate having to pull the kids out of school because they need a check-up and no one is open in the evening. However, since we are so close, I can just take them in the afternoon right after school. I can also take them in the morning because they both open at 8 and my kids don't have school 'til 9:15. Yay for me!

Season Of Light

My husband put lights on the house this weekend. I am SUPER excited about this because I have NEVER in my entire 28 years of life had lights on a house I lived in. My mom said that Justin says he remembers having lights on our house once when we were little, which is hilarious for 2 reasons: 1. My dad has never put lights on the house, and 2. One time my parents did put lights around the inside of the living room window on our house in Mesa, but considering we moved to CA from AZ when he was only 2, I doubt he remembers that. So my mom says I should just let him think that so get can feel happy that one time we did. I said it's my job as his older sister to inform him that he is on crack and we never had any and since I am 7 years older I would remember it more than him if it had happened. I mean, I don't want to shirk my sisterly duties. (Or miss out on an opportunity to use the word shirk. I mean how often does that come along?)

My dad wouldn't never do it. He always said the house or the tree. Obviously his way of getting out of it because who wants a tree with no lights. If I had been smarter, I would have said fine the house and see what he had to say about that. Then my ex wouldn't ever put any up because he was too lazy and didn't want to do it. 4 years of asking, 4 years of nothing. So I thought I was pretty much resigned to the same fate with John. I kept whining about lights - nothing, pleading about lights - still nothing. Then we went to Walmart and (without a word from me) he just headed over to the Christmas decor section and starting looking through lights. Then debating the different lights. Then PUTTING THEM IN MY CART! I was afraid to say anything, that I might jinx it and they might go back on the shelf. But no, they are now on my house. 8 strands of white icicle lights decorating the first and second story of my house. It looks beautiful. I like to look out the window from the inside and see the icicles hanging down above the window. I'm glad John didn't fall off the tiers of our roof (even though I was sure he would) and kill himself. I had to stay inside because I just couldn't watch. But now I love to drive up to them every time I leave the house. Someday when we have a lot of money (assuming that someday ever comes) I want to be one of those houses COVERED in lights. You know. The houses that everyone drives to see and it has a bazillion (which is totally a word even though spell check says it's not) lights and displays and you have to get out and walk through the yard to see everything. I figure if I add a few things every year, that's the most economical way to do it. For now I will just enjoy my icicles for Christmases to come.

Wii Need Help - Or At Least I Do

Dear John,

-

If you're reading this, I want a Wii for Christmas. Yes, you read that right.

ME. The one who's last marriage went down the crapper partly due to the fact that my ex was married to his ps2 and xbox and I was the girl on the side - very far off on the side.

ME. The one that got rid of all of your nintendo and video games and swore that I would never allow any of that in my house again.

Yeah, that me. I really, REALLY want the Wii fit and the DDR (dance dance revolution) that goes with it. They're both really fun and I think I would use them - a lot.

Great. Now I'm justifying nintendo as a weight loss tool.

Call the doctor. I obviously need to be medicated.

(Just make sure you get me the Wii too.)

-

Love,

Your Shel

Ta-Dah!

My blog is now decorated for Christmas. Now on to the rest of the house.
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PS. Don't expect me to add any Christmas music. Not a big fan of most of it. I did make a new playlist of a few of my fave songs on my ipod though, so there.
-

PPS. Yay for after Thanksgiving sales. I got a new camera. A Nikon Coolpix P80. For about $200 less than retail. It has 10.1 megapixels and 18x zoom. Which is pretty exciting if you realize that our old camera has 4 megapixels and 3x zoom and is as old as Tyler. Pretty much a fossil. And it cost 3 x's as much as the new one. They sure have come a long way! We also got a new BBQ since ours bit the dust while living in Concord and we had yet to replace it. It is really nice and we got an AWESOME deal on it too. So, Merry Christmas to John and me. Now I just have the kids to worry about.

-

PPPS. Sorry, I just love writing these. Remember when you were younger and you'd pass notes in school and you'd have a zillion ps's at the end of your notes? I do, cause I have a huge box of all my old notes from friends and boyfriends from jr. high and high school. Yes I am a freak and I save everything. Then again, maybe I could compile them as a book and sell them and strike it rich. Hey, I can dream, right?

The Aftermath

I enjoyed last night. It was more fun than the disaster I had waiting for me when I got up this morning! There's a reason I only photographed one corner of my kitchen. Sigh. Off to work.