Christmas is Done

Ahhhh! Christmas is done for me now. I greatly enjoy giving gifts to my loved ones and sharing the excitement with my son, but I am always relieved once it is over.

As we have become acustomed to, he got way too many clothes and toys. We are thankful many of the clothes are in larger sizes which we are certain, will fit him eventually. As for the toys, as I said in my last blog, we handled that. We took back all the toys from Nana's house and combined them with the abundance of toys that had his room so croweded you couldn't walk through it. Then we made 4 piles. Trash, donations, New batch for Nana's, and keep at home. It went extremely well. We feel wonderful to be able to donate so many toys as well as keep a lot of fun toys at both home and Nana's house. (His Nana is my Mother-in-Law btw, my mom still has lots of youngin's around so she never needed me to bring toys over.)

I got all our things put away and organzied and the house is clean. I am still awaiting two things.... New Year's, so I can put away Christmas decorations, and my Husband to go through his closet. But the house looks good and I am happy, refreshed, and anxious to start 2010.

Christmas 2009 Tips

• - If your kids are being good, let them skip a nap and/or stay up late. It's a once a year deal and when they crash you will find you get better/longer rest as well.


• - Don't expect children to wear fancy uncomfortable clothes for too long. Put them on as late as possible, take pics right away, and bring a change of clothes or pajamas.


• - Gather all the gifts for one household (if you visit more than one) in one bag for easy transfer from you home to theirs. It helps prevent lost and forgotten gifts.


• - Don't be afraid to ask for gift receipts. At the very least, find out where the item is from, many stores will still give store credit without a receipt.


• - Aim to have at least one special tradition you share with your kids that brings them the joy of Christmas without the commercial side being involved.

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So much to do, So much time

This blog might be for "Parenting Adventures, in Their Natural State", but as anyone knows, that blends in with "Spouse Adventures". There are two things I'd like you to know before we continue.... My husband literally has 3 times as many clothes as my son and I put together---And our house was a major shambles after our three days of Christmas.

I used to have this game for the PS2 called, Harvest Moon. Actually, I started playing it way back in the day on N64. I also had it for the DS when I had one. Tough times came and I didn't think twice before selling my favorite luxuries to help feed and clothe my son, nor would I ever think twice about that. The point is, the game is my FAVORITE!!! My lovely Husband got it for me for Christmas. YAY!

I sat on my butt for a painful yet fun, 6 hours, this morning playing the game. (Of course I did get up many times to take care of my son, and I was lucky he played with all his new toys for so long too) Somehow, even though I did play that long I still managed to get the entire house organized and put away from Christmas gifts, I cleaned the kitchen (and did dishes twice), I washed and folded 6 loads of laundry, took out the trash, organized my sons many toys into "keeps", "Nana's house", and "donations", I made waffles for breakfast (for the first time), played a two hour game of Monopoly City with Hubbo, and a few more odd jobs. It's only 8:22 pm as I am writing this. Looking back, I have no clue where all that time came from HAHA!

However, last night I asked my Husband to do one thing and one thing only today. "Go through your clothes and get rid what you no longer need." I do this every year, hoping one day his clothes will actually fit into his dresser and closet instead of hanging out due to overcrowding. It didn't get done. He slept, since he works graveyard, that's fine. Then he played video games, hung out with a friend, played Monopoly City with me, and who knows what else. Once his friend went home I asked him if he was going to sleep and he gave me a clear look of, 'no way, I'm not tired'. Yet when I asked if he was going to go through his clothes he threw a fit a went to sleep.

I tell you one thing, I should be prepared by the time our son is a teenager since I seem to be married to one most of the time. Then I also find myself wondering, "Why is it that I am not as demanding as practically every other woman I know?" "Why am I so easy going? And does it harm us or make us happier?"

These things I am still learning to deal with in our relationship, and in the meantime I am getting everything done and still managing 6+ hours of fatty video game time. :)



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Tracking Santa

So much fun for the whole family. Watch Santa pack up his sleigh and take off. Then you can track him all over the world. But when he gets close to your house... make sure you go to bed so he can come make the special delivery. NORAD SANTA



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Shopping and Wrapping, on the 23rd

Due to finances, this year we had to shop very late. It turned out alright though. We managed to get it all knocked out in about 5 hours. We seemed to be extremely lucky with lines and parking spots all day. It was wonderful!

Came home and wrapped them all up, while my pooped out son and husband slept. My son picked out his own "Diego" wrapping paper and he's now got all kinds of gifts under the tree.

Currently I am making some yummy chocolate chip and chocolate chip walnut cookies to share with my neighbors and friends. I got the recipe from eHOW and it is a really good one!!!
Of course, I am doing a thorough taste test :)


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On Strike Against Sleep

This afternoon was extremely trying on both my son and myself. We were not at home, which always poses a problem when it comes to his nap time. Most of the time if we go to one of his Grandmother's houses there is a playpen to put him in so he falls asleep. Not the case today. No playpen, just me, my son, and a bed.

I went to lie down with him in bed hoping he would dose off. No go. Then he started to get up and leave so I held him. Made him mad. Then he started to hit me in the face so I held him still and kept his arms from getting to me. Pissed him off. At the end of the experience we had been through an hour of him screaming bloody murder, and I was growing more angry each moment. So, the time came to leave and I planned on the car putting him to sleep while we drove to the next house to visit for the day.

He fell asleep in the car. Yay! Now, how do we simulate a driving car inside the house for my two year old next time?

p.s. the worst part is that even if I took him for a drive to get him asleep... he always always wakes up when we stop the car and will not go back down, unless it is the middle of the night. Ugh!


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Handmade Ornaments

After a few Tweets about the ornaments I finally have the recipes ready to share. I completed the ornaments tonight, it took a lot longer than I had expected, but I am very happy with them and want to share the knowledge I now have so that others can make some heart felt, handmade gifts in the years to come. Key thing to keep in mind, these can take a few days to dry and decorate. A lot more if you are making multiple batches. Prepare to make them ATLEAST a week in advance to when you will need them. I finished two separate flour batches and one cinnamon batch (including drying, decor, and glue) in just about a week. With a toddler that's not too bad, but honestly it is time consuming to make quality ones. Plain Jane shapes without paint would be adorable as well. But you should still add the glue.

First, the flour dough ornaments. (tree and heart in picture)

You will need:

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

1 cup water

food coloring

rolling pin

cookie cutters (in holiday shapes if you wish)

cookie sheets

a straw

acrylic paint

white glue

string or yarn

Baking

1. mix together flour and salt.

2. add food coloring to water and stir until mixed.

3. gradually add water mix to the flour mix until you have a nice dough. Add more flour or water for the proper texture. Knead it smooth.

4. roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick and cut out shapes.

5. With the straw, giving enough space around, make a hole for the string to fit through.

6. Carefully lift off shapes with a spatula and transfer to cookie sheets.

7. repeat steps 4-6 until you don't have enough dough left for one shape.

8. bake at 250 degrees for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until dry, being careful not to burn. Remember to flip them half way.

9. lay them out to cool and continue drying. Depending on their level of dryness it may take a few days to completely harden. Cracking is normal with this type of dough ornament.

Decoration

1. use acrylic paint to decorate your ornaments any way you wish. Add googly eyes, glitter, or confetti if you want also.

2. when paint is dry coat the entire ornament in white glue and allow to dry again. (remember to sharpie in the year on the back before you add the glue)

3. when completely dry, tie some string through the hole and your ornaments will be complete and ready to hang.

((makes about 12-15 ornaments))

Now the cinnamon dough ornaments (brown man in the picture). In my opinion, these turned out much better overall. I will probably only make this type next time.

You will Need:

1 cup applesauce

1 cup ground cinnamon

straw

wax paper

cookie cutters (in holiday shapes if you wish)

string or yarn

white glue

acrylic paint

rolling pin

Directions:

1. combine cinnamon and applesauce in bowl until dough forms. Add more cinnamon or applesauce if needed until you have a good thick dough. Knead smooth.

2. place ball of dough between two sheets of wax paper. Roll out to about 1/4 inch thickness.

3. remove top sheet of wax paper and begin cutting out shapes.

4. carefully peel away the excess and roll into another ball to repeat on a new sheet of wax paper. (Reuse the top sheet to conserve)

5. repeat steps 3 and 4 until you run out of dough.

6. use the straw to make holes for the string in each shape, remembering to leave enough space to prevent breakage.

7. Place full sheets of wax paper in a safe place to dry. (remember to tell your husband they are not cookies)

8. When they are mostly dry on top (which can be a couple days), carefully peel them away from the wax paper and flip over to continue drying on the bottom side for a few more days. Repeat this flipping process until completely dry.

Decorating:

1. use acrylic paint to decorate your ornaments however you wish.

2. when the paint is dry, remember to write the year on the back, and then seal the whole ornament with white glue.

3. Once the glue is dry, tie some string through the hole and your ornaments will be ready to hang. The strong cinnamon smell should still be noticeable through the glue.

((make 12-15 ornaments))


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Always Save Money Online

This is my short and sweet blog entry on saving money when you shop online.

Always, always open a separate tab/window and go to Google or Yahoo! (or your fave search engine) and type in the stores name followed by the words "coupon code".

I have done this will all my purchases in the last 6 months and I have saved so much money already. I have found and used coupons for 10-50% off, free shipping, and much more! Seriously, this blog sounds like a huge ad, but I am tell you all as a fellow bargain hunter, this is a great deal.

How I do it: After typing in the store name followed by "coupon code", I click on the first website and check out the coupons they have to offer. I will use the best code I find and test it in checkout to see if it works (many won't, this takes lots of patience). Then I proceed to go down the list of my Yahoo! Search and do the same with each coupon site. Sometimes, I find a decent code quick and then after I click on 6 or 7 links I find an amazing deal of 30% off plus free shipping or something else amazing like that.

For example: Today I wanted to purchase an Anti-Virus software. It was on sale for $29.95. I found a code right away that took it down to $27.82 and I kept clicking on more sites for better codes. I took it down again with another code to $23.43. Finally, I found the mother code about 8 links into my search. I bought the software at $15.95. Almost half off. I am a firm believer of these things.


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New Job

I got an offer to be the West La Stay-at-Home Moms Examiner over at Examiner.com. I'm totally thrilled about the opportunity to expand my writing experience. The best part is how at home I feel with the subject and how confident I am that I will make this an amazing opportunity.

Not much has gone up yet, waiting on some finalizations. Even then things might be a little slow until after Christmas. After all, it is a very busy time of year.

Please check back to the site and tell your friends about it if you enjoy what you read.


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Enhancing Disneyland

For our trip yesterday I had done quite a bit of research on tips, hints, and tricks for enjoying the expereience at Disneyland. What prompted my search is the rumor I heard about Disneyland being required to give you one toy per child if you cannot afford to buy them. I still have not found any confirmation to this rumor, nor have I tried it yet myself. I have no clue if it were true if you'd need some kind of proof. But if it is true, don't expect Disney to confirm it or advertise it. What a huge loss it would be if lots of people found out :X

I did find some cool websites though.
Snopes.com lists rumors, and facts about the park and all things related. Most of them have to do with actual events rather than tricks for the park, but it's still interesting.
Yesterland.com provides awesome information on "old" Disneyland, with amazing old picture as well.
Disneyland Vacation Tips is a great website for all kinds of tricks to use to maximize the fun. I enjoyed this website and wrote down quite a few.

The compliation of tips I wrote down and took with us were as follows...

1) If you buy coffee, save your cup, you can get free refills all day long.
2) Broken or lost balloons (with proof, even if found) can be replaced free with any balloon vendor.
3) Ask to go in the very front of the Train, Monorail, and Mark Twain's Boat for a special experience.
4) Visit the Hanuted Mansion elevator for a different view that most don't see.
5) Try to take the golden apple after the Snow White ride and wait for a surpirse.
6) Watch above the Snow White ride to catch a glimpse of the evil Queen.
7) After leaving the Heffalump and Woozle Honey Room in the Winnie-the-Pooh ride, turn around and look up to see the past still there. Three moose heads from the old Country Bear Jamboree which used to stand in that same place.
8) Ride Peter Pan first thing in the morning. It usally fills up fast and stays packed all day long.
9) Most people travel to Tomorrowland or Adventurland first. Head to Fantasyland or Toontown to beat some crowds.
10) The line on the right for Pirates of the Carribean is shorter.
11) Get drinks at Rancho Del Zocalo and go back for free refills all day.

We tried all those and they worked for us. Good luck to anyone who goes.


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Christmas at Disneyland

All I wanted this Christmas/Yule, was to spend a day at Disneyland with my Husband and Son. Neither of them had seen it dressed up for the holidays, and I wanted to share this excitement with them. I got my wish this year. Today we spent a very fun (and towards the end painful) 13 hours at the Happiest Place on Earth!



I couldn't get the pictures to come out to well today, so I only came back with a few. But the memories should last forever. I ended up inviting my younger sister and her boyfriend as well, and that made it more fun and merry. Her boyfriend had never been to Disneyland at all, so that was a lot of fun for him.




We did park hop to expereince the joy in both parks. At night we saw the fireworks display at Disneyland. That in itself is a memory to last us forever. The way our sons face looks as he watches in awe at the show and says, "Wooooooooow!" Is so priceless.




We enjoy Disneyland for ourselves, but we also want to take advantage of the fact that our son will be free until he is 3 years old. Even the first time we took him at 18 months he fully enjoyed his time there and we love to be able to bring him so much joy at such a young age. Thank you Disneyland. If the prices were lower we too could get just as much excitement out of the trip :) Still, I highly suggest if you have the opportunity, that you visit Christmas at Disneyland atleast once in your life.

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Tree Differences

We picked up a Holiday tree today. (To celebrate both Christmas and Yule in our house) This is going to be our third holiday season in this cozy little apartment of ours and so, our third tree.



Year one we received the tree as a gift. Our son was just three months old, and we had a happy and tiny little tree, which was actually the top of some other too large tree. I'd say it was about a foot and a half or so. Cute for our first ever tree together.











Year two we were settled in to our home and set out on a mission to get a tree. Driving only a small Honda Accord we thought it was perfect that we lived in equal (and close) walking distance of two tree lots. We chose one and went to visit it. We came home with a 3 foot tree that cost us $29.95 plus tax. Ouch! It's all we could afford at the time so we took it not knowing better.









Year three (this year) we took my Mother-in-law's offer (and advice) to go get one at Home Depot. WOW! What a shocker to walk in and see a huge 6 footer for only $24 plus tax. We were thrilled at how large we could go for the same price we shelled out last year. Also, size wise, we could go much bigger this year. We have tried many arrangements in our 10 by 12 living room and our current one is the perfect one all around. It gives us the most space, light, and room for a tree. Even with two couches. We shall be pros at organizing small places by the time we move out of here.










My husbands family is a Douglas fir type of family. I personally prefer the Noble fir. I think they look more Christmassy. But so far all three have been the former. Next year maybe we will try the Noble fir.



At any rate, don't shop at tree lots, especially if you don't have a lot of cash to waste. Happy Holidays!


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Cold as Ice

Today was a cold and wet day. At one of my (many) sister's school, they had a snow day event. A nice winter festival of arts and crafts, some carnival games, and a tented area in which they brought in snow. YAY! It was raining all day so this made for a very fun, wet, and cold adventure.

Although I had been planning to go to this event for at least two weeks, I still forgot to pack some gloves for him, so his hands got super cold super fast. Big surprise there. Thankfully, I did remember the warm change of clothes for when he got wet.

One thing I realized today... him and I both need to get some rain friendly shoes. Chucks don't cut it for either of us. Oh, and ALWAYS bring gloves to the snow!! Even if it didn't fall from the sky.


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The Mundane Adventures for This Week

Last Monday, after spending time at a friends house, we came home and found out my son had a high fever. Nothing really developed of it and he woke up just fine the next day. I think he was just the fancy little carrier boy and passed the virus on to me. Friday night I started to get stuffy headed. Saturday, full blown cold. Sunday still kinda sick but mainly just recovery.

Since I haven't been out much this week due to the sicknesses, I had planned to go out for a nice long walk today with my son and enjoy the outdoor air. But mother nature had another plan for us. It's been raining all day long.

We were still going to get out of the house just a little bit, since we needed to go grocery shopping. Somehow, something got left on in the van I guess. When we all piled in, we found the van would not start thanks to a dead battery. Mostly dead anyway (who else thinks of The Princess Bride??). None of the AAA numbers worked, YAY for roadside assitance (sarcasm), but I put in a request online. Thank goodness we were stuck while at home.

Now I am waiting for the battery aid, starving like a pregnant woman, hoping the rain doesn't pick back up when it comes time to go. Perhaps I should have checked my horroscope today, it probably says, "This is a good day to stay home". But would I have listened?? Chances are slim.


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A Pregnant Night

My Husband had to be to work by midnight last night, and I usually stay up until that time. Since he left before midnight I decided to watch a little TV to make me tired and fall asleep. We had eaten dinner at about 5pm so I was feeling the starvation coming on. I thought maybe I could just ignore it away with sleep. I was wrong.

I kept flipping channels even though I was planning to fall asleep, and that's when I found "Whose line is it Anyway?". Well, it happens to be my favorite show which I haven't seen on the air for quite a while, so I started watching. I rolled over an hour later to finally go to sleep (as an informercial about back fat came on). The starvation was getting worse and I tried to fall asleep anyway. That's just when craving teamed up with starvation and ambushed me.

So there I sat, eating a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch cereal, watching TV, at 1 am!


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