It's time, once again, for Pete Schweddy!

It's just not Christmas until the popular SNL skit, Delicious Dish, appears. So, in the effort of filling you with the spirit of the season, here's the beloved NPR duo of Margaret Jo and Teri, featuring Pete Schweddy. Enjoy.

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Dr. 90210

Most of you know about Jon's illness last year that almost took him. We've had a whole year to be thankful he's still around and also a whole year of frustration from visiting doctors to correct some problems that were left behind following his final surgery. After being referred from one doctor to the next, we finally stumbled upon Dr. Gary Alter, a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon from the show Dr. 90210. He can fix all the problems and before the end of the year, which we totally didn't expect. Sooo, our Christmas is going to be VERY different this year! We've arranged to take Meghan and Max with us, and the older kids will stay home. I'm having a lot of anxiety over it, because this is the first Christmas we won't all be together. At least Ian and Olivia will have our friend's home to go to that day so they can spend time with their friends and have a lovely Christmas with a lovely family! We will leave for California on Tuesday, Jon's surgery is Wednesday, then he recuperates in a lovely hotel room for 7 days. We found a great place, the Millenium Biltmore, when we traveled there a couple weeks ago for his consult, and we liked it sooo much that we're staying there again. It's a beautiful old hotel, full of charm and LOTS of history, right in the middle of the financial district in LA. There's a huge Christmas tree in the lobby that will serve as "our" tree for the kids. I have lots of fun plans to keep them busy while Jon rests. It's going to be interesting, to say the least. I'll keep you posted during our trip. I'm sure there will be LOTS to report. In the mean time, here's a few cool pics from our trip 2 weeks ago...

Our hotel!

The GREAT smelling tree in the lobby!

:::sigh::: my happiest place on earth!

Of course I HAD to visit Mr. Depp!

Christmas Is All Around Us...

Christmas is everywhere but our house right now! Usually we're so on top of decorating and right now there is ONE Santa hanging on our door. Just last week I finally took down the Thanksgiving decorations outside. We have been rushing to this and scurrying to that. Jon and I went out-of-town last weekend for a quick doctor's visit, and a few days ago I had outpatient surgery. It's been one thing after another that has taken up our decorating time! It's got to get done quick...only 13 days left! :::sigh:::

I Hate Sandcastles...

Do you ever feel like this?

This week has totally been that way for me. Life stuff is piling up and bogging me down! I am Grrr-ing at EVERYTHING. I am stressed, overwhelmed, frustrated...I want to knock down the other kid's sandcastle. Sheesh. Stinkin sandcastles.

Then there's the "kid stuff". My kids, other peoples kids, big kids, little kids, kids who climb on rocks, fat kids, skinny kids, even kids with chicken pox. I am grrr-ing them all! Sometimes I totally understand the animals that eat their young! (ew)

Obviously this mom isn't "eating" her young, but it reminded me of those that do and the cub totally looks how I feel right now. I love my kids. I love most all kids, don't get me wrong. But this week, all kids are making me crazy! I need my friends. I need to play like a kid. I need to be one of those kids who are making me crazy. I need to put my crazy-ness onto someone else! Grrrrrrrrrr!

Fall....

I heart fall. It's my favorite time of year, followed by Christmas, which I guess is a time, too; but, fall is it for me. I find it indescribable. . .some use the words crisp, leafy, bright, brisk, chilly. . .those are all great, but don't do it for me. Yes the air turns crisp. Yes the leaves are bright. I feel fall all the way down to my toes, but I can't describe it. It's a very special time. Everything changes. The anticipation starts with our Halloween pumpkins.

Once they start to wilt, mold, and shrivel up, I start to experience moods from elation to depression then, just before Thanksgiving, ultimate comfort and joy sets in. Sweaters come out with comfy clothes, fires start to burn in our fireplace,

soup is ever present on my kitchen stove, my kids are running through leaves at Meema's house, we start to watch all the classic fall movies while sipping hot apple cider or cocoa with whipped cream in HUGE mugs so it never ends,

warm jammies at night with soft slipper socks, snuggling into a big, comfy chair with a soft, fluffy blanket and starting to read Pride and Prejudice or Anne of Green Gables for the umpteenth time...this is how I describe fall. It warms my heart and puts a smile on my face.

Happy Birthday Meg!

8 years ago today our little miracle came! She surprised us all, first with a HORRIBLE pregnancy, THEN by coming 2 months early. Our 2 lb., 4 oz. baby bird arrived on Sunday, October 14, 2001 at 8:40 p.m. by emergency c-section. She spent 7 weeks in the NICU, came home 2 days before Thanksgiving, and has been living life to the fullest ever since! Happy birthday sweetie, we love you so much!

Ahhh, Reno and friends...

Yay for my friends. I love spending time with them, especially when it involves Reno! I heart Reno! This past week I drove Max up to spend the week with his best friend Taylor in Wellington, then continued on to Reno to spend the week with Erin, Shonse, and Melaroo.

It was so nice to get away and soooo much fun to spend the week with three other crazies. I haven't seen Mel in almost 2 years and it was so great to get some chocolatey goodness hugs from her! The only thing that would have made it even better was if Jessie and Jo were there at the same time! We'll all get to be together in a couple months when us Vegas chicks fly up for Women's Retreat at Shontell's church...sooo can't wait!

We spent relaxing time at the river watching the kids play, got yelled at by a window washer dude, and even visited the Cupcakery...yummmmm!

There was great girl time catching up on movies at home and we even went to see Julie and Julia with Erin's family. OH.SO.GREAT! Have to see it again! (ErinHarrison your family is so great!)

After a GREAT week with my girlies, it was time to pick up Max. We spent Sunday at Lake Tahoe with his buddy Taylor and headed home Monday. This was such a great trip for both of us (despite my 2 unrelated bouts of food poisoning). It's sad that his buddy and most of my Bowlies have moved to northern Nevada, but it's SO FUN visiting often and making up for lost time!

I even got a great barn pic. A trip for me isn't complete without an old barn picture! :::Sigh:::

YAY FOR MY KNEE!!!

I had knee surgery this past Tuesday. Totally expected an ACL replacement and a long recovery and woke up to my husband telling me the doctor didn't have to replace my ACL, he cleaned out tons of arthritis and I had a piece of cartilage missing (that had to have been removed by the sucky doctor last year). He drilled into my bone to "create" a replacement for the missing cartilage and said that in the next 2 months we'll know if the surgery worked. If not, then we're looking at knee replacement in the future.

I have to say that I was expecting pain, pain, pain because after last year's surgery, I woke up and, after throwing up from the anesthesia, had PAAAAAIN so bad that no prescription helped. My knee was also swollen almost double the size. This time the most perfectest and bestest anesthesiologist gave me a nerve block, which numbed the pain in my knee for about 24 hours. I was able to walk as soon as I got up in the recovery room, and the rest of the night at home. The next day, when I felt it wearing off, I expected pain beyond compair, but it didn't come. Friday I was able to take off my big bandages and, to my surprise, absolutely NO swelling. My knee looks like the other one, except it has 2 little incisions for the arthriscopy. Yesterday and today, 4 days after surgery, I'm taking a little Aleve...no Percocet! Woohoo! It's a little tight, but that will be fixed with therapy starting next week. I'm walking around with SOOO much pain relief. The past year has been so miserable, and the last month has been the worst. This is so great! I can't express how excited I am!

Thanks friends for all the prayer and love, visits with food, and Facebook posts!

Oh, the things I'll do for a little blue box...

Is this SOOO cool?

Meggie's twin wants her new laundry room to look like a Tiffany & Co. box, so she painted it blue and I added the bow the other night. SOOO COOL! It'll be finished in a couple weeks with a quote on one wall (my post title) and custom logo (Tadmor & Co., which will be her new last name) using the Tiffany font under the ribbon to the right of the bow, and some crown moulding. Will post more pics as soon as it's completed. Seriously, in person it looks SO GREAT!

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Bat...

Ooo ooo ooo, I can't wait 'til March!

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland...here's a pic of Mr. Depp as the Mad Hatter! I must say, he looks MUCH better as Carrot Top than Carrot Top does, eh? (snicker)

I Want An Adventure...

I heart the Disney/Pixar movie UP. I took the kids to see it last night so Jon could have a Father's Day night alone to relax, and it changed me. This simple movie had me crying the first few minutes and I never stopped, even through the credits! It caused me to think about so many special things and created a new vision in my heart for my marriage. I came out of the theater with plans for my own adventure with my husband. I want to have our own special pop cap badge, create a "Paradise Falls" fund, make our adventure scrap book, and love my husband as much as Carl and Ellie loved each other. I've got a great start with the love thing, cuz you've gotta have that in order to want all the other stuff, right? Next I'm going to start on the scrap book...complete with the line "Thanks for the adventure. Now go have one of your own." :::tearysigh:::

The Best Dad Ever!

Happy Father's Day to my sweetie. You've stuck it out through thick and thin with my miserable pregnancies to gain the "dad" status over and over. We love you! Thanks for being such a great daddy!

Ahhh, Summer At Last...

The babies are gone, for now...

The kids are home for the summer...

We're not traveling this year, but plan on having LOTS of fun together until...
Remember Jon's brush with death last summer? Well, he has to have one final surgery to correct some pain issues. Hopefully it won't be too bad for him. Also, I'm having another knee surgery on July 24th. Ick.

Usually we're camping on the beach right now, then getting ready to head up to Idaho to spend the 4th of July with my brother and his family in Rigby and a few side stops in Montana and Yellowstone. Not this year. I get to have surgery AGAIN on my right knee the end of July to replace a damaged ACL. Grrr. My last doctor should have caught it. Apparently it's RIGHT THERE on the MRI films. Guess I should have been a doctor OR a lawyer, like my mom wanted. If I were the doctor, I could have read my OWN MRI films and found the problem. If I were the lawyer, I could persue this last doctor for missing the problem and making me have to go through another painful surgery with a much longer recovery time. YAY.

We're working on projects around the house, trying to get it ready for me to comfortably lay around for a couple weeks before I start therapy after the surgery. We've started with the kid's bathroom, removing EVERYTHING down to the wallpaper. Walls have been painted, New vanity installed, new light fisxtures and fan, floor tile next, and a new toilet. Bathtub tile will be replaced later because.......next will be our bedroom. THIS.WILL.BE.COMPLETED.BEFORE.MY.SURGERY. If I'm going to lay around on the bed most of the day, it's not going to be while starting up at a repaired ceiling that needs to be repainted, or looking across the carpet that needs to be replaced at spilled paint stains compliments of a mad dash to the toilet during my 4th pregnancy, OR starting at the walls that need to be repainted and trim that needs to be replaced along with crown moulding. I want! I want! I want! Oh, and did I mention our masterbath? Umm Humm. :)

In the midst of all this, Jon and I will try to squeeze in a weekend trip to Lake Tahoe for OUR vacation that we never get to take when the kids go on THEIR vacation each summer and bring us along as their personal slaves. I'm not sure why we didn't figure this out sooner.

I'll keep you posted. I'm sure it's going to get very interesting in the next few weeks!

It Hit The Road...

Sadness. :::heavysigh:::

Our fun little Mercedes convertible has moved on to a new owner.

We miss it already!

I forgot to add...

Two words. Dish soap.
One word. Sanchez.

The Mark of Sanchez...

Senior Sanchez strikes again...today it was a whole can of powdered drink mix AND half a box of Cream of Wheat. Yay. For those of you who are wondering "how does she let this happen?" In my defense, the kid has an invisibility cloak.

Another GREAT Concert...

Bringing back the 80's. Sigh. Highschool, boyfriends, hanging out with friends, going to concerts, meeting Jon...that's what the 80's was all about for me. Saturday we took Olivia and our friend Jill to the 38 Special, REO Speedwagon, and Styx concert. Yay. TOTALLY GREAT CONCERT! Excellent seats! Lots of "people stuck in the 80's" entertainment around us! Here's some pics taken with my new camera and the great zoom lense. Click on the pics to see 'em bigger.

38 Special...Don Barnes and Donnie Vanzant

Cool Styx background videos

Styx...Tommy Shaw and James Young

Renegade

REO!

Yes, this is Carrot Top

Styx and REO jamming together