Twas the Night Before Christmas.........

And all through this house, creatures Were stirring, I think even a mouse....
The stockings were hung by the kitchen with some care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be here.......
Our Jonathan, Finallyyyyyy....nestled snug in his bed,
Certainly with visions of Avatar & Legos in his head,
And Mamma back in her jammies, & Seannie with his Kindle in hand once AGAIN!!!!

With the dilemma of wrapping still not complete,
I set my mind to better visions of what I'd rather defeat,

Our tree is fake & 3 foot tall at most,
My father makes fun from the southern coast,
But, simplicity this year is what truly matters most.....

Boxes arrive with last minute gifts,
this year we stay home and avoid all family tiffs ;)

A special envelope arrives that says "do not open until Christmas Day",
Ha, yeah right, no possible way,
It must be urgent as far as I deem,
The best gift on earth, gift certificates for massive amounts of Ice Cream,

So at age 31, I still do not listen,
My Dad will laugh & smile with glisten,

I say silent prayers for all of our soldiers near and far,
Having great pride for them all, for they are all Exceptionally above par,

So tonight, this one night, regardless of health,
My Husband & Son define my great wealth,

I sit next to my husband with love in my heart,
Knowing that soon we again shall be apart,
I will enjoy some hot cocoa & snuggle with Sean,
& have peaceful dreams of Ms. Aida's delicious flan..........

Merry Christmas to all, and to all A Good Night...............

Thank you for a Wonderful Dinner Sanchez family!

Christmas Cookin

It's a tradition every single Thanksgiving & Christmas Eve to make Orange Glazed Cinnamon Rolls by the one & only Pillsbury for Breakfast. My Dad started this & it has lived on in my home for 12 years now. I have had many homemade Cinnamon Rolls over the years, but to me and mine....none compare ;) It's simple & if you take them out of the oven at the perfect time, they melt in your mouth.
I think Sean enjoys the blog even more than I and he is behind the camera encouraging an update. Me in my Christmas PJ's making the crust for Misti's simple Double Layer Pumpkin Pie.
The crust is simple, 1 1/4th cup of crumbled Graham Cracker Crust, 3 Tablespoons Sugar, & 1 1/3rd cup of melted butter.
Bake in the oven on 350 degrees for 8 minutes or cool in the refrigerator for an hour.
Fixins you need for the pie.
The bottom layer is 4 oz cream cheese, softened, 1 tablespoon milk or half & half, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 1/2 cool whip (extra creamy). Mix & spread.
For the filling 1 cup cold milk, 1 can pumpkin (16 0unce), 2 package jello vanilla instant pudding (4 servings), 1 tsp, ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, & I modified by adding 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie seasoning and sprinkle on top of pie.
Misti's recipe says "set 4 hours in refrigerator and serve your daddy with a great big loving smile ;) ". Misti made this pie for my Dad several years ago at Thanksgiving & it has now become his, Jonathan's, & Sean's favorite. I myself do not like pumpkin pie, but I must say, if you have to eat it, this one goes down with the least amount of "GAG" HA, every pumpkin lover seems to love it & I'm bringing this one to our friends house for Christmas Eve Dinner!
Merry Christmas Eve all........

Fool's Toffee Recipe

Here's the Recipe Kristy, from the kitchen of Elissa

Fool’s Toffee

1. cup butter 3 –4 dozen
1. cup packed dark brown sugar

36 2x2 – inch saltine crackers

11½ ounces milk chocolate chips

½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts (I used Heath Toffee)

In small saucepan over medium – high heat, blend butter and brown sugar. Heat to boiling and boil for 4 minutes. Cover 10 X 15 – inch jelly roll pan with foil and butter lightly. Place single layer of saltines on foil close together. Pour butter mixture over crackers, spreading evenly. Bake at 375 degrees for 5 minutes. Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Allow to soften and spread evenly over cooked crackers. Sprinkle with nuts. Refrigerate until cool. Break into pieces and store in tin container in refrigerator. Can be kept in refrigerator for 1-2 weeks.

Divinely simple. Simply divine!

My Husband, Fools Toffee, Flowers, & Friends

Sean bought me these festive Christmas flowers for the table.......
They looked so pretty on the table & two of my friends stopped in tonight and visited with me for quite a long time. It was so great to eat, chat, and laugh with them. We did a bit of eating & a lot of laughing.
Thanks to our sweet friend Elissa, I was able to make "fools toffee" today. She sent me the recipe for the 2nd time and I actually followed the directions this time ;). I did however use toffee pieces rather than nuts.
It's so tasty & makes great goody gifts.


Winter 2009........

Invictus

Aside from Morgan Freeman, who makes a fabulous Nelson Mandela, there's this to savor about Invictus, a rosy tale of racial reconciliation neatly wrapped in a triumphalist sports movie: The film is blessedly free of Obama parallels. Also, we could use a happy global moment, and Eastwood picks one out of the otherwise rocky history of South Africa, when the country's first post-apartheid president stepped out of the jail where he'd languished for 27 years and firmly set aside revenge politics in favor of national unity.

An Inspiring Movie worth seeing, I loved it & for me it was well worth the outing!

Thanksgiving in our Jammies

Around 3 o'clock today I apologized to Sean & told him I needed to get back in my pajamas, and without skipping a beat, he looked to Jonathan and said "how would you like to have Thanksgiving in your PJ's"?
And.......that was that, the 3 of us enjoyed a small, very peaceful, relaxing Thanksgiving in our jammies TOGETHER!!
I'm so Thankful that Sean is here for a short period of time with us during all of this................

Angel to My Rescue

I relapsed quite vigorously with this flu on Friday night, Jonathan came down with it too. Luckily, my Friend Renee came without hesitation Saturday morning and has been here since! She has been staying the night, taking care of us, and has been a complete Angel!!!! I can't thank her enough!!!

Ride for a Cure

Southern California Bike MS 2009 Achieved: $1,079,699.61 Goal: $1,260,000.00 Register Today

My Dad will ride 100 miles yet another year in the MS Bike Race tomorrow morning. He will ride 100 miles over a 2 day period to raise money for this debilitating disease. It's a long race, my Dad is 58 years old & he rides because he is passionate in helping to raise money to find a CURE!!! I'm thinking of you, Andi, and Dusty every pedal along the way!!! Wish I were there to ride with you! I love you DAD! Thank you for riding!

Feeling Better

So, today I woke up not feeling good, but MUCH, MUCH better. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! I'm still praying that Jonathan does not get it!

I took a shower this morning for the first time in 3 days, GROSS I know, but that's how bad I felt. After ward I decided I'm not laying on this couch another day and need to get out of this infectious house. When Sean converted my craft room into a guest room he put this table out into the garage and I have been using it now for the "package" table.
I took a trip to the post office and I took this photo so that ya'll could see that I SEALED the boxes before going into the post office!!!!
And this is the picture of my NEW CELL PHONE IN MY PURSE ;)
Then this afternoon after I had lunch with Renee and Mick I walked to J's school to pick him up and here was a package for ME!!!

Sean sent me my cell phone back!!! ;) The old & the new finally meet after my trip to the post office today. And, as far as I can tell, I'm not missing anything so hopefully I didn't ship anything to Iraq or Afghanistan today.
I want to thank all of my friends for helping me with Jonathan while I was sick. I'm so grateful to Eric Sanchez & Loraine, Holanda, and Mick & Renee for stepping in to feed Jonathan, house him while I was in the hospital, and just take care of things for me. I truly appreciate it!!!!

Prayer

Jonathan and I have been looking forward to our trip to CA next weekend for my Cousins Wedding. I came down with the H121 (Swine Flu) on Tuesday & feel just down right awful. I ask that you all Pray that Jonathan DOES NOT get this & that we will both be healthy to board our plane a week from tomorrow!

Precious Moments

From the Mouth of Babes:

After I picked up Jonathan this evening from after school care we were driving home and I received a call from my Dr. on my cell phone. For the most part, I'm very mindful of what is discussed in front of Jonathan and did not realize the impact of my conversation was having on Jonathan with this particular Dr.. As soon as I hung up the phone, Jonathan immediately asked with joy "Your Pregnant"?? I was baffled and said "NO, why would you think I'm pregnant"? We proceed into conversation and Jonathan demands to know then "Why are you NOT pregnant"???? For me this is the last conversation I want to be having with my 8 year old child, and I usually shoot straight from the hip, but I was desperately searching for the "right and perfect" words for this topic. I try explaining to Jonathan without detail that you need a husband and a wife in order to make a baby. He quickly spouts "YOU HAVE A HUSBAND". Yes, I know Jonathan, but a husband and a wife have to be together in the same physical location in order to make a baby. And, just like a Man, my little Man comes quickly with a response to "FIX" this problem ;)
He says as Confidently as one can "Mom, Mr. Sean says I'm the Man of the House while he is gone, I will help you make a baby, can we make one tonight"????!!!!!!! ;)

Jonathan loves to help in the kitchen, it never dawned on me that he thought "baby making" was like making a batter of brownies!!! ;)

Then by the Grace of God, we pulled up to the mailbox and got the mail. Inside was a letter for Jonathan from Sean. There is only ONE thing BETTER than receiving gifts from your spouse, and that is watching the pure joy in your child's eyes when they receive something unexpected from them!!! Jonathan was beaming from ear to ear with this AWESOME very vividly detailed letter that captured Jonathan's attention!
So, Jonathan read his letter from top to bottom and examined all the drawings on the back and was now onto a NEW TOPIC!!!! And, off to Soccer we went!!! ;) Phewwwwwwwwwwwww, THANK YOU SEAN!!

Sometimes it's the smallest things that touch the heart the very most!!!!!

Fall Soccer Photo Shoot & Scare Crow Festivities

Team & Individual Photos before the game. As you can see, what an Adventure. :)
He has the look of "I will Crush this Ball" I'm not even going to post all 9 other shots I took of my 8 YEAR Old Child as I'm saying "Jonathan Smile, Jonathan STOP, Jonathan, Jonathan, Jonathan"!!!!!!


And if your asking why I would say "Jonathan STOP" This picture says it all. What is Jonathan doing?????? Acting as if he is the Crowds Entertainment. It does me no good to Yell, Plead, and have Steam brimming from my ears as EVERYONE EGGS him on with laughter, Parents to be included! So, I might as well take a Picture to show him one day when he has his own child and wonders "WHY" ;)


After the Game we went to one our favorite Deli's on the Sound in Olympia. We enjoyed the BEST Claim Chowder!
These pictures are taken from the window where we sat and enjoyed the view and our lunch.
This is just a TINY Glimpse of the Fall Foliage here. WA has the most Beautiful Fall Scenery to be seen. I will have to bring my camera along for a Walk and Share the true Beauty here during this time of year. The Reds, Yellows, Golds, & Greens are Stunning!
The Weather is very much Fall here right now. We woke up to Cold Rain this morning and lucky for us the Sun popped thru the Clouds and we enjoyed a Crisp Day.
Late Afternoon we met Ms. Renee and drove out to Sumner for the Autumn Leaves Festival. We went thru all the shops & had a great time. We seeked out treasures in the Antique Shops, and enjoyed all the Halloween and Fall Festivities in the Boutiques
The streets were filled with Scare Crows & YES they do SCARE!!! ;) I thought they were FAKE until we approached the first one that jumped out to SCARE ME! Renee & Jonathan got a great belly laugh ;)
Renee posing with this Corner Crow
The Scare Crows were Students from this Adorable little Towns High School.

The 3 of us & Jonathan of course still unwilling to corporate for a photo!!! Santa can see this Blog MR.!!!!!!!!!!
The Scare Crows were just Everywhere and so very much enjoyed. This town is Alive with the Spirit of Fall & makes you want to Carve your Pumpkins Now!!! My favorite store was the Picket Fence where Renee and I fell in Love with some Vera Bradley Purses, Wallets, & More! I definitely made my contribution to help stimulate the Financial Crisis today. Worth every drop in the bucket too! We ate at a cute little Mom & Pop Family Italian Diner in Town and off we went home with bags in tow. Jonathan feel asleep on the car ride home, much to big & grown for me to carry up to bed these days. I couldn't help but stop for a moment and get a good look at my little/big boy peacefully sound asleep after a long day of fun! ;)

It's Official, I really am NUTS!!!!

1. CHOCOLATE

2. ICE CREAM

3. WINE

4. MEXICAN FOOD

5. FUZZY SOCKS

I'm posting my 5 favorite treats in life for when ya'll come to visit me at the NUT HOUSE!!!!!!!

I'm sending a small part of the end of Sean's email to me today below:

Oh and I almost forgot. You also sent me your cell phone. At first,I was little confused, like what is this gadget? Sure enough I have your phone. I love you babes!!! I will try to send it back tomorrow. If you get it in time, you could return your new phone if you wanted!!!

YEAP, MY CELL PHONE WAS NOT STOLEN, I PACKED IT UP IN SEAN'S PACKAGE AT THE POST OFFICE!!!!!! Sean I'm sure has to know by now, that he has married a complete NUT!!!!

Which brings a childhood song to mind that my Mother taught me......

Boom, boom, boom, here comes my wagon, my wagon, my kitty car, my bus, boom boom, ain't it great to be Crazyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, boommmmm boommmmmmmmm, ain't it great to be NUTSSSSSSSSSSSSS, silly & foolish all day long, boom boom, ain't it great to be Crazy...............................!!!!!!

To all my fellow crazies out there, I'm sure my reservation has been bumped forward for my stay, please make room at the Nut House! ;)

Life's Greatest Treats........

I'm forever grateful for life's greatest treasures...........YES, ICE CREAM & WINE!!! It's 8:30, J is in bed, I'm going to get my favorite flannel PJ's, eat this ENTIRE pint of Ice Cream & I'm going to limit myself to only one glass of Wine in this rather LARGE wine glass ;)
This bottle of wine, Jazz Berry, a dessert wine from the Adam Puchta Winery from Herman, Missouri ...............my absolute favorite! My last bottle, must mean I need to book a trip to Missouri!!!!!!! ;)

I saw a sign at an Antique Shop a few weeks ago that said:

MOTTO TO LIVE BY:

LIFE SHOULD NOT BE A JOURNEY TO THE GRAVE WITH THE INTENTION OF ARRIVING SAFELY IN AN ATTRACTIVE AND WELL PRESERVED BODY, BUT RATHER TO SKID IN SIDEWAYS, CHOCOLATE IN ONE HAND, WINE IN THE OTHER, BODY THOROUGHLY USED UP, TOTALLY WORN OUT & SCREAMING, WOOOOO HOOOOOOO, WHAT A RIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;)

Love It!!!!!!!

Game 1

Jonathan's first Soccer Game was this morning for this Season. Oh man, words can not express, nor can these pictures convey just how much of a little Soccer Stud J Man is. Without a doubt I'm the obnoxious Mom that screams with excitement from the side lines. I wish I would of calmed down long enough to get some better shots, maybe next time ;)


Here he goes, playing defense and yet ahead of the pack taking the ball down the field
And Again...........


Jonathan is in the way back, you can see his arms swung all the way back after he threw the ball in.

And my favorite of all. Jonathan SLIDE TACKLED 4 TIMES!!!! As I said I'm so focused watching, yellin, screamin, that all my pictures are after the fact. But you can see how quickly he gets back to his feet to get to the ball!
And now he is down
Game Over, Good Job Cougars!!!

Good Bye JPPSO

Today I came to work and on my desk were a few Good Bye Goodies.......Tomorrow is my official last day at JPPSO (Joint Personal Property Shipping Office) at Fort Lewis, WA. I received a small promotion and on to the Freight Section I go come Monday.

I was not expecting gifts, I had heard that a potluck had been planned, but I was truly thrown back by all the goodies I received today.

Stuff was just scattered about all over my desk & tons of good bye emails & phone calls. I even received a very unexpected phone call today at work from my cousin Donavon. He was not calling in regards to my party, but he actually called my work line and was teasing me about one thing and another :) These flowers were from my Boss.
Senior Master Sgt Gallop presented me with a very nice Plaque.
And, look at ALL that food. I'm the talk of the office when it comes to food. I love it, they all know it, and we all enjoyed it!
I'm all smiles, b/c I get to be the first to Dive In!! I think we have almost 40 people in our office, so you gotta take it while you can get it. There was so much food, I even down dressed today, but I should have wore my "Pie Pants"!
Marcie & Robert...Marcie is the Chief of the Customer Service Division and my former boss when I first came on board. Robert is my side kick and sits next to me in our QC office, he is a Total Trip and I really get a kick out of him. The two of them are the same age as my parents & have children the same age/older than I!!!
The 3 amigos...... There are a few people I will truly miss from my office and these are 2 of them. Eric came on board the same week I did and he now lives just down the street from me. Eric sat in the cubicle next to mine when I worked in Customer Service, I used to throw stuff over the petition to annoy him. He has a beautiful family, and it's a joy to have them so close by, now I can throw stuff over his fence (ha, ha). Holanda has been a breath of fresh air since she joined the JPPSO team, she is truly NUTS and I love her "I don't give a crap what people think" attitude. Her & her family have become close to ours!
Holanda being Holanda, multi tasking in our photo! She is talking to someone at the same time ;)
My camera died b/c I failed to charge the battery so I did not get photos of everyone, but this was a gift from one of the Women in my Office Susan. She shares my passion for Great Food & she has given me some Excellent recommendations to places here in the Pacific Northwest. We have shared many stories and she has obviously really gotten to know my personality with these gifts!!
Just a few of the cards I received. I even had many of our agents call and send emails today wish me well.
Inside some of the cards were these great Gift Cards!!!!!!! Wowwww Weeeeeeee
My picture I took did not do this Plaque Justice, but it's a Fabulous picture of Beautiful Mt. Rainier with my name (married name ;) and my time of service here with Outstanding Performance.
Sean was even in on it and had flowers delivered to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is an Amazing Husband!
My Boss also bought me this Mum that is now sitting on my table along with an additional generous gift card! You don't know people appreciate ya, until you go to leave!! ;) Thank you all & Good Bye!