Thank you 104.3!

One of our local radio stations, 104.3, has a contest where you submit a playlist of 5 songs for their "5 at 5" portion of the show. Well, Brad's playlist was chosen as the winner the other day...and not only did they play his songs (which he swears he doesn't remember picking at least 2 of them) but they talked to him on the readio (which the kids thought was VERY cool!) AND they gave him a prize of 4 tickets to Walking With Dinosaurs...something that we've been wanting to take the boys to for quite a while now! We watched the "Making Of..." on the Discovery Channel last year, and ever since then we've wanted to go...but the tickets are quite pricey, so we decided against it. The show isn't until Sept. 2010, but that is something fun to look forward to! If you haven't heard of it, check out this little 1 minute video:

these are days to remember...

...and they go a little something like this:

Credit for the artwork goes to none other than Joshy. :)
Except for the orange scribble under the picture -- that was Drew.
Big brother needs to set a better example for little brother.
We're working on it.

As you can see, Drew has also learned how fun it is to jump on the bed. :)

Joshy lost his first tooth yesterday morning...yes, he's only 4, but hey, the kid got his
first tooth at 4 months old...so that sucker was ready to fall out!

The Three Stooges, I mean, My 3 Little Angels. ;)

Visiting Santa at the mall...he was kind of in a grumpy mood...what's up with that????

Riding the christmas train is always a treat...they had the whole train to themselves!

I found Joshy and Drew sitting in this container behind the chair the other day...
It reminded me of this picture of Jakob and Joshy:

Joshy was a shepherd in the nativity at our ward's christmas activity - SO cute!

the cast of the nativity -- don't they look darling??

I didn't catch a picture of it, but when the 3 wisemen came up on the platform, Joshy
was giving them "thumbs up" -- it was hilarious!

the theme was "A California Christmas" -- and Jakob had about a 5 minute conversation
with Santa. Everyone else waiting in line didn't really appreciate that...oh well!

Here's Drew with Santa...didn't quite know what it was all about, except that he

knew he wanted a goodie bag, so he kept asking for candy. I don't have a pic
of Joshy with Santa because he was one of the first kids in line and I didn't
even realize he'd already seen Santa by the time I got in line with Brad and Drew. Oh well!

I planned a little lunch out with the girls to celebrate my friend Tori's upcoming
baby boy...it was nice to visit with everyone and eat out at one of my favorite places!
(The Corner Bakery)

Not only does Drew enjoy jumping on beds, but he also enjoys dancing on tables...Joshy
jumped up to join him for the picture...SILLY BOYS!

And last but not least, just for kicks...We went to a wedding reception a few
weeks ago, and this was one of the streets on the way there...
so of course the twilight fan in me just had to snap a photo of it! :)

I can't believe Christmas is next week!!!!!! This year has flown by!

procrastinator? who, me????? no way!

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in February, I posted THIS.

So...Tiffany, Kristie, Melissa, Kristen and Jessie...even though #3 says "It will be done this year..." it doesn't specify that it will be DELIVERED this year....

ha ha!

I have a few ideas brewing...but haven't put anything into action YET.

Maybe, just M A Y B E, you'll get an extra goodie for Christmas this year from lil ole me.

Just wanted you to know I haven't forgotten about it...

:)

xoxo,

Shari

p.s. Kristen and Jessie -- I need your addresses! please email me: sharibeth78 AT hotmail DOT com -- thanks!

p.p.s. THANKS to Megan for her cute homemade gift to me...pics coming soon!

We'll miss you love sac!

This was the final time I sat on this love sac with the boys...because we just sold it on craigslist! We were sad to see it go, but it just wasn't working in our new (smaller) place!! AND now we actually have a spot to put up our christmas tree! (pics of that to follow...we are setting it up and decorating it tonight for FHE!)


I think the thing I am most thankful for is no more jumping from the train table to the love sac! It's just one less thing for the boys to possibly hurt themselves on... Maybe someday if we ever have a basement or a big bonus room, we'll get a bunch of them and it will be fun to hang out and watch movies!

I am thankful for...

People who inspire me to be better. Namely, Laurel Christensen. I only knew her briefly a long time ago...when I was living in Salt Lake. She was my sister's friend...and our paths only crossed a few times...and I'm sure she just knew me as "Sonya's little sister" as did a lot of my sister's friends. I bumped into her at Time Out For Women 3 years ago, and wasn't sure she even remembered me, but when I said "hi" she DID remember me! Well...I recently discovered her blog...and am so thankful for it! She is amazing with words and truly has a gift for speaking. I always feel uplifted after I read her blog. Please take a few minutes to browse her blog...you won't be sorry. Her latest post is about the atrocious act that Adam Lambert (former American Idol contestant) performed the other night on the AMAs. Check it out HERE. She says what I was thinking much better than I could...it's worth reading.

LOVE YA LAUREL!!!!

New Moon Party!!!!!

The long wait for the release of New Moon was finally over last night! Kristie, Melanie, Megan and I had so much fun planning and putting on this party! I love all the fun little details...it was awesome! We were sad that a lof of our friends couldn't make it because of the stake leadership training that night...but I know they were with us in spirit! Most of them met up with us at the theater...some went to the big newport though...anyway... We had so much fun waiting in line for the movie and the movie definitely did not disappoint! ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!!!!!! (I wish they'd remake Twilight!) We even got interviewed by an aspiring broadcast journalist about our homemade t-shirts...if she ever sends the link to the youtube video, I'll post it!

I never thought I'd say this (because I LOVED Edward in the books)...but through this whole process of planning the party and rediscovering New Moon, I realized that I LOVE JACOB! There were a few times in the movie that I seriously started to cry -- teary eyes -- and my heart was just aching for Jacob!!!!!!! But...ultimately I am happy he didn't end up with Bella -- he deserves so much better! Ha, ha!

I never got a picture of my t-shirt...but here is what was on the back...I found it somewhere online and was laughing so hard I knew had to use it for my shirt!!!!!

The front of my shirt said, "Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?"

Now, for pictures of the party!!!!

Our yummy spread!!!!!!! I'm so proud of how all the food turned out! It was fun!

Kristie's famous home-made oreos!!! DELISH!

Jacob wolf cookies

sparkly Edward cookies

ICE cold apple water (Edward) - with bloody rim!
(We also had Red Hots Cider - Jacob - but it's not pictured)

Vampire Bites Cupcakes... so cool!

Dog Bone Bread Sticks in our cute doggy treat cannister!

garlic dog bones

quotes and decorations..

Melanie had this christmas ornament out...we thought it was very appropriate!

more quotes

Thanks to Barbara for helping with the banner! It turned out SO cute!
and we replaced all of Melanie's family pictures with Twilight Saga pictures -- even one of Stephenie Meyer!

a close-up of our "ruffled tulip" pens

a happy Bella and Edward -- don't come across pics of them smiling very often...
and the movie soundtrack, prize for the trivia game

quotes from edward and jacob -- and pics of both of them kissing bella
+ our super cool book marks - edward and jacob!

werewolf kibble goodie bags -- chocolate peanut butter chex mix with miniature dog bone sugar cookies! I thought they turned out SO cute! (and tasty!)

a close-up of the tag that i designed and the cute little dog bone cookies (1.25 inches!)

The party planners! (L-R, Me, Kristie, Megan and Melanie - our gracious hostess!) I helped design Kristie's and Megan's t-shirts...Kristie's says "Edward Prefers Brunettes" and Megan's says, "I run with the wolves" -- Melanie's neighbor did hers, and it has a kind of stick figure lamb jumping off a cliff and says "Stupid Lamb" -- So cool!

our fun sign-post...Melanie actually found out the exact mileage from Fountain Valley to those locations...we thought it was pretty cool!

our first guests arrive... Erica is putting on the final touches... They had the coolest glitter spray and looked so sparkly!!!!

Barbara shows off her cute t-shirt -- it says "Team Jacob, Real Men Don't Sparkle" :)

Cheyenne and Kelsey taking our New Moon Trivia Quiz...

Chelsea looking so cute, enjoying herself

Hannah -- our Trivia Winner!!!! GO HANNAH! She won by 1/2 a point!

Our t-shirt contest finalists: Maddison and Barbara -- Maddie won! Her prize was the New Moon Movie poster...which I think she already had...oh well!

Some of us waiting in line at the movie...(L-R: back, Tracy, Edie, Me, Kim, Julie, Kristie, Melanie, Jessica. front, Julie and Melissa.)

We actually had about 17 people in our group...it was awesome! And we scored on good seats because Kim's cousin got in line at like 11am - so when Kim and Edie showed up they got in line with Kim's cousin - like 14 people back! Then when they got in the theater, they saved us seats...it didn't make other people very happy, but it all worked out in the end!!! So, even though I was ticked off at first that they didn't stand in line with us...(I just wanted them with us b/c they are so fun!)...it was really nice to have that advantage and to have them save us seats. Thanks for all the fun times ladies! Can't wait for Eclipse next year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

a sweet poem

In preparing for my talk this coming sunday, I came across this poem on sugardoodle.net (LOVE that site!) and unfortunately, it doesn't have an author...but, I really liked it and wanted to share!

Thank You, Lord

Lord, thank you for this sink of dirty dishes;

We have plenty of food to eat.

Thank you for this pile of dirty, stinky laundry;

We have plenty of nice clothes to wear.

And I would like to thank you, Lord, for those unmade beds;

They were so warm and comfortable last night.

I know that many have no bed.

My thanks to you, Lord, for this bathroom,

Complete with all the splattered mirrors, soggy, grimy towels and dirty lavatory;

They are so convenient.

Thank you for this finger-smudged refrigerator that needs defrosting so badly;

It has served us faithfully for many years.

It is full of cold drinks and enough leftovers for two or three meals.

Thank you, Lord, for this oven that absolutely must be cleaned today.

It has baked so many things over the years.

The whole family is grateful for that tall grass that needs mowing,

The lawn that needs raking;

We all enjoy the yard.

Thank you, Lord, even for that slamming screen door.

My kids are healthy and able to run and play.

Lord, the presence of all these chores awaiting me says

You have richly blessed my family.

I shall do them cheerfully and I shall do them gratefully.