Christmas 2009

Our attempt at getting a picture of all the grandkids on Christmas Eve

Marco's getting away!

Cute girls-oh and Brian too!

Crazy Uncle Brian chasing the kids.

The Hernandez family

Marco and his trains

Lucia with her loot

Moving a week before Christmas is very hectic. We have decorated our tree three times this year! The first time-in the duplex, the second time in our new home, then said tree fell over and the stand broke, so the third time was decorating an older fake tree we had that is only 4' tall. That was not exciting! But after a crazy week of trying to unpack and get settled in, spend time with Tami and the kids-Christmas snuck up on us quickly. I wrapped all the gifts on the 23rd-it took me about 3 hours. On the 24th-Noelle's birthday- we went and saw The Princess and the Frog. It was so good! Despite having to chase Sylvie up and down the theater steps, I did enjoy it. So did the kids. Christmas Eve we did our traditional stuff-a yummy ham dinner, celebrated Noelle's birthday and then our crazy White Elephant Gift exchange. It was slightly less fun without the Aldama's-but we still had a good time. We then sang carols with Callie playing the piano and Tami gave a devotional. By that time, we were ready to go Santa hunting. We packed the kids in the car and drove around to see some lights. The kids were out before we got home, so Julio and I had our night free to put together stockings and set up gifts. It took Julio until 2 am to set up Marco's new train table. We were so exhausted.

Christmas morning was so much fun. I love having that magic back with the little children in our home. I know it won't last forever, so I try to enjoy it as much as possible. I couldn't sleep soundly, because I didn't want to miss hearing the kids sneak out of bed to see their presents. Lucia was the first one up at 7:30-I sent her back to bed. The other kids woke up a little bit later and so we took them out to the living room to see their gifts. They were so happy! I loved seeing their faces light up. Lucia got a Fancy Nancy doll for her birthday and didn't play with it, so I put it away in my closet for the past few months. So when she saw the doll under the tree with a bunch of new clothes and a new bathtub-she thought Santa had brought her another Fancy Nancy-I had to tell her it was the same one. She was ok with that. She got a lot of girly stuff and was very content. Marco was excited about his train table, dinosaurs, and new Planet Hero. Sylvie got a Winnie the Pooh ride-on train and some books. We then went over to Grandma and Grandpa's for another round of gift opening. With so many people in the family, it is quite the production! The rest of the day was just being lazy and eating! The best gift was being with the family and being in our new house!

We did a Shirley family portrait yesterday at the park and that wrapped up our time with Dan and Tami-they went back to Utah today. The rest of the group came over last night for pizza and a movie (Julie and Julia-the guys mostly left). It has been such an enjoyable time. I don't know when we'll see my sisters and their families again. It might be a while and that makes me sad just thinking about it. I'm excited for the new year-especially because I don't know what is in store for us. We would like to make some trips this year. Now that we're in our house, it's time to start travelling!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a Happy New Year!!!

The Ward Christmas Party and Santa

Marco wouldn't go near Santa-just stared at him from Daddy's lap.

Lucia told Santa she wanted a teddy bear and a hug.

Sylvie was very curious about Santa and kept walking close to him and laughing, but when we put her on his lap, that was another story!

We had a very busy weekend, but thankfully, we had friends and family to help us out. Dad, Julio, Kevin, Ben, Gina and Josh painted on Saturday and got a lot done-despite the heavy rain outside. Brandon was gracious enough to watch the kids so I could run errands and help painting the house too. We still have to do the bedrooms, but a lot of it is done!

Saturday night, we decided to go to the Ward Christmas Party. It was a success as usual. The activities included singing carols, eating, crafts, cookie decorating, Santa, and stories. The kids did a presentation on the symbols of Christmas. It was very nice. Lucia was excited to see Santa and sit on his lap, Marco was petrified and wouldn't go near him, and Sylvie was very curious-she kept getting near him, shreeking, and then running away. When we put her on his lap-that was another story! I guess she's brave, but not that brave!

Marco did tell me today, "Santa's fake!" I asked him who would bring him presents on Christmas Eve. He said, "Nobody". Oh well, we'll see.

We are excited for Tami and the kids to come this week! We have so much to do to finish packing. We're going to start moving stuff over on Friday night and finish up on Saturday. It is crazy moving during the holiday season, but it's just how it worked out!

Lights, lights, lights!

We have a holiday tradition of going to see the lights at Dovewood Court. This year, Mom and Dad invited us to go with their ward (church group) to ride one of the member's little trains through the court. It was about 30 degrees out that night and so we froze! But, the lights were worth it. Marco said on the way home, "This was the funnest day ever! We got to go to Grandma's for dinner, ride the choo choo train, get a candy cane, see the lights, drink hot chocolate and read scriptures!" Whew! what a fun day!

Christmas food

I felt in the Christmas food mood today, so I spent the bulk of the afternoon in the kitchen making empanadas and gingersnaps. YUM! Empanadas are a meat filled pastry from Argentina. The ground beef has tons of spices in it and is mixed with raisins and hard-boiled egg and then put inside the dough and made into a pocket. They're baked until golden brown and are delicious! The gingersnaps turned out really good too. Guess I won't be losing those extra pounds anytime soon.
I've been sick all week and therefore have not made much progress with the packing. The contractors told us the house would be done on the 15th. But, with the rain, it will be delayed. We can't wait to move! We still will have to paint the inside before we move in, so that will delay us a few more days as well. We're counting on lots of helping hands.
I'm happy to say I am done with my Christmas shopping! I didn't do too much this year, but that's ok. We've been doing our scripture chain every night and have some fun activities planned. I still need to get Christmas pictures done and a few Christmas cards out to family.
Have a great week!

The Season is Upon Us

Last night we decided to just go for it! Even though we should be packing everything to move, we got out the Christmas decorations anyway. We had a hard time deciding where to put the tree where Miss Sylvie couldn't pull it down, but with such a small place, it was impossible. So far, she hasn't attacked the tree-let's keep our fingers crossed that she doesn't.

I have been trying to think of ways to turn our thoughts more toward the true meaning of Christmas and lessen the Christmas chaos. I made a paper chain with scriptures relating to the Savior and his coming and birth. We'll read one each night until Christmas. I also got the kids their own advent calendar to go with the scriptures-a little incentive to sit still-eating a chocolate at the end. I'm also going to make a gift box and put in different items that symbolize Christmas (I got this idea from the Friend magazine) and have the kids put them in. We'll talk about each item (ie. candy cane, star, gifts) and what they mean. Now, I just need an idea for service for the kids to do...any ideas?

Another thing we're doing with my parents and siblings, is making a memory book for the year. We'll each write memories of 2009 and include pictures to put in a binder-each family will get a copy. We also scheduled to get a family portrait done (for the whole Shirley clan).

It's not always easy to stay focused on the true meaning of Christmas and not get caught up in the buying of stuff. But, it's a start, hopefully we can get better at it each year.

A Wonderful Weekend

It is now Sunday morning, I'm home sick from church-one of the downers of this weekend, besides it being almost over. It's been a nice 4 day weekend.

To start out, I went to Target on Wed. night and almost finished my Christmas shopping. The store was practically empty and it was nice to shop in peace and quiet.

Thursday we slept in pretty late, I went for a walk and then started cooking. I made the green beans with bacon, sauteed onions and toasted almonds, the mashed potatoes with roasted garlic and a chocolate pie, and the fruit with fruit dip. Mom did the turkey, yams, rolls and pumpkin pie. Brandon did the stuffing. It was all delicious! Tami and Dan and the kids were able to drive out for Thanksgiving and we were so excited to see them! Unfortunately, Corom got sick and couldn't be with us for the Thanksgiving dinner. Lucia, Marco and Noelle played and played-they really love eachother! The adults just visited and adored baby Elijah.

Friday was a busy day-I was able to go to the temple to see some friends go through for the first time. That evening we drove out to Ikea and got some furniture for the new house.

Saturday, Julio was a saint and watched the kids-including Noelle-so I could go out to lunch and shopping with my mom and Tami. We then went back to Mom and Dad's for a yummy turkey tetrazini dinner and games. It was so nice to be able to spend time together and talk. It was the perfect combination of busy, relax, shop, eat, visit, play. Can't wait until they come back for Christmas.

* House update-We still don't know when we'll be in our new house-but we get the keys tomorrow! The contractor said it would be three weeks to do the rehab-including the roof. So, hopefully by the end of Dec. we'll be in there.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The kids and I are watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and so I decided to make our Gratitude lists. Here they are:

What Lucia is thankful for:

turkey, mommy and daddy, sylvie, marco, grandma and grandpa, blankie, puppies, my jammies, our house, and Thanksgiving!

What Marco is thankful for:

mommy, cia, daddy, sylvie, grandma, a gorilla, elephant, the animals in the ocean, bluie, my treats, now I already done.

What Mom is thankful for:

A husband who has a good career and can provide well for our family, three healthy children, parents and siblings who are supportive, the gospel, having all our material needs met, being able to buy a house, staying home with my kids, holidays and good memories.

Here's to the beginning of a wonderful holiday season!

More great finds

(I don't know how to turn this right-side up) Anyway, here are some more great finds from Thrift Town! The Gap skirt and sweater were $2 each. Marco's cute hat was $1.50 and his Old Navy sweater which looked like it has never been worn, was $1. I also got a Banana Republic sweater for $6 and a cute Naartje dress for Sylvie for $3. I love that place!

A little ray of sunshine

So despite all the escrow drama, something positive happenned. When I went to pick up Lucia from school today, her sub said to me, "I could use a few more like her."
Another new thing, I made my favorite food tonight; gnocchi! I tried them for the first time on my mission and when they're good, they're good! I made sweet potato gnocchi tonight and they were delicious!!! Here is the recipe (this is half of the original recipe)
2 sweet potatoes peeled and quartered
1 cup riccota cheese
1 cup flour
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. salt

Boil potatoes 25-30 minutes in salted water until soft. Drain potatoes completely and return to the stove to mash and evaporate all water.
Put mashed potatoes in a bowl and add all ingredients-leave some flour to knead the dough on a heavily floured surface. Knead the dough until it forms a soft ball. You will need to add more flour so it isn't too sticky. Divide the dough into 4 parts. Form long snake like pieces and then cut them into 1 inch pieces. Form a dimple in the middle with your finger. Place the gnocchi in boiling water for 3-4 min-when they float to the surface. You won't be able to boil them all at once. Place gnocchi's on paper towels to drain and cover to keep warm.
To serve-put melted butter, parmesan cheese and pepper on top. !buen provecho!

Some recent pictures.

Sorry these are sideways. I posted these on Facebook, but I know all you who read this don't check Facebook!

Ladies NightSSS

I am so lucky I have a husband who let me go out not once, but TWICE this week with my girlfriends! On Thursday night, I caught up with my friend Celeste. We were on cheer together all four years of high school and then we worked at a law office together during college for a couple of years. We hadn't really talked in about 10 years-so there was a lot of catching up to do. It's interesting to see how much you change-and yet you are still the same person you were at 15. You also find that life happens-so much. Events and people in your life shape you and take you in so many directions. But, we talked for four hours and could have talked on. I realized you can't let friendships lapse like that. People are important and you have to make an effort to keep up on them. I'm so thankful for my health and my family. They have made me who I am and I love them so.
Last night, I went out again; this time to the church for a ladies' game night. We had a blast! A bunch of Mormon women together eating junk food and drinking diet Pepsi can cause some craze! We played games, laughed and got to know eachother so much better. It was invigorating! After two late nights, Julio let me sleep in too! He got up and fed the kids and now he's folding laundry. I am one lucky gal~

The life of a 5 year-old

Lucia got "Star Student" at school.

With her best school friend.

She got to do a 4 week gymnastics class. I'm going to have to sign her up for regular classes because she really enjoyed it.

At gymnastics class.

Today she got to go get a manicute with her best church friend and go out to lunch and have a play date. Lucky girl! I got to sit with Marco at the doctor all day. Poor kid had a major asthma attack and was coughing so badly he couldn't breathe. After some oxygen monitoring, breathing treatments and an x-ray to determine he didn't have pneumonia, we were sent home with lots of medication to keep him comfortable. We don't know what brought on this attack. He usually gets asthma when he's sick, but he wasn't sick until the middle of the night. It came on very suddenly. We do know to keep him away from cats. Lucia said they were playing with a neighbor cat yesterday in the yard, but I don't know if that could have caused it or not.

Hopefully he'll be better soon. So much for a "holiday".

GOING PRIVATE!!!!!

Ok, I'm going to follow the trend and go private on my blog. I really would just like to know who's reading this-I'm very curious! So, please leave your email address if you'd like continue reading (by Friday). Thanks!!!
Nikki

To homeschool or not to homeschool?

That is the question I have been pondering a lot lately. There are many reasons why I should homeschool Lucia:
1) So as not to put her in a new school mid-year (we are moving out of the area in about a month)
2) The charter school allows the parent to chose the curriculum.
3) The charter school gives you $1500 per year for supplies and books and for extra activities like dance or music lessons.
4) The charter school offers mini classes like art and science where they get to meet with other kids.
5) Lucia would get one on one concentrated instruction.
6) We'd have a more flexible schedule.
7) We'd have more time to do things like visit museums and go to play groups.

The reasons I shouldn't do homeschool:
1) Lucia and I butt heads a lot of the time-she doesn't listen to me very well.
2) Marco and Sylvie might get in the way and/or neglected.

So do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?

Halloween Part 2

I'm glad it's finally over! I love Halloween, but it's been going on for over a week now. This year was actually the first year I've gone trick-or-treating with the kids. Julio has taken them in the past. It was so fun! We first went to Gina and Josh's house next door and then tried the court around the corner-no luck. So, we went further down the street and found some great houses! Some were decorated really spooky and the kids thought they were cool. Marco was terrified of two people dressed in what looked like a horse and a bull mascot costumes and freaked out every time he saw them. Never the less, when we went into a "haunted house" where a grumpy old troll opened the door-he wasn't quite as scared. We went to quite a few houses until Lucia started complaining that her feet hurt.


Oops posted these backwards! Here the kids are checking out their stash!

One of the not-so-spooky, but spirited houses.

Another cool looking house.

The black lit, haunted porch with the grumpy old troll. The house was pitch dark and he opened the door very slowly and crept out. It scared me! Marco started to cry, so he took off his mask-he looked like Colonel Sanders! It was pretty funny.

The happy children pre-trick-or-treating.

So nice

Julio started his new job today. He decided to switch firms and it was a great move! He no longer has to be at work at 7:30 am and stay until 7:30 pm. He doesn't have to wing it anymore. He gets to learn from a 30 year experienced bankruptcy expert. He's in a low stress environment. He doesn't have to push sales. He gets to do quality vs. quantity. He has a 10 min. commute instead of a 30 min. commute. He doesn't have to bring files home to work on. And the best part is... he was home for dinner tonight! I think I'm gonna like this.

Halloween Part 1

Aargh, don't touch me loot!

Lucia and her best friend-two pretty princesses.

Hello fellow fairy!

Trunk-or-Treat

Let the Spooky Season begin! Last night was the Ward (our church) Halloween Party complete with a chili dogs and nachos, cupcake walk, carnival games and lots of cool costumes (including a Mormon Che Guevara!) Marco was scared to death of the clowns and the Easter Bunny. Lucia was one of a million princesses, and Sylvie was running around in her ballerina/fairy costume like a wild child. I also got into the Halloween spirit in my witch costume. To end the night, we did "Trunk-or-Treat" in the parking lot. Now we are overflowing with sugar in our house, and this is only the beginning! We have numerous Halloween activities next week....

This week: dinner, doctor's appts, house update

This week: (sorry I don't take pictures of food!)
Mon: Spaghetti with pancetta, escarole and garlic chips-cucumber salad
Tues: Chicken quesadillas, spanish rice, carrotts sticks
Wed: Tuscan Potato Soup, cheesy garlic biscuits, broccolli
Thurs: Crab cakes, rice, green beans
Fri: Homemade pizza and some veggie

Doctor's appts this week: Sylvie had her 12 month check-up (even though she's almost 14 months) and she is healthy but tiny. The doctor recommended I up her calorie and fat intake and she been seen again in 2 months. Marco has had hearing tests which were normal and a speech evaluation. He has been recommended for speech therapy. Another thing on my list of things to do!

House update: Our closing date is Nov. 20th. We met with one contractor this week, but there are certain repairs he's not licensed to do, so will have to meet with another one. We were scolded by our realtor saying we are not allowed in the house unless with the contractor and we notify the bank ahead of time! So why did they give us the access code??!! So we will probably move in Dec. We are super anxious and ready for more space and something to call our OWN.

I guess that is all for now. Wow! So much blogging this week! Gotta go make dinner.

A Must-Do Fall Activity

So there are many reasons we love going up to Apple Hill. The beautiful scenery and fall colors. The delicious food-The Forester Pub and Grill, the Fudge Factory, the homemade apple pie, fresh apples. The hay maze, the farm animals, the pumpkin patches. There is one reason we don't like Apple Hill: the crowds and traffic! But, it's something you've just got to do in the fall-it's such a festive place. That's why everyone in the Sacramento region goes there, including us!


Waiting for food at the Forester Pub and Grill.

One of many pumpkin patches on Apple Hill.

Look! It's a goat!

Fun running into the Finks!

The crowd!