It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year....

As I can remembered I've never really been so excited for the Spirit of Christmas. In years past I typically wait until the day after Thanksgiving to start decorating, listening to Christmas music and shopping, however this year I've kicked things off early. It's the middle of November and I cannot stop listening to Christmas tunes and I have begun planning all of our Christmas events/activities for the month of Dec. One thing for sure is living in California I'm not going to miss the heavy snow fall that we usually experience around this time of year. Here's a pic of my dad and our dog, Oodles and an image of what kind of snow we normally experience during the winter months. Looks brutally cold doesn't it. It sure is, however I will say it is amazingly beautiful!

Now....to prove my holiday spirit is in full gear, I've done my research and listed below some upcoming Christmas TV Specials that I tend to think are some of the most popular hits of the season. Tune in and tell me what you think.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas - TBS - Nov. 21, 8 pm

Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas - ABC - Nov. 30, 8 pm

A Charlie Brown Christmas - ABC - Dec. 1, 8 pm

Christmas in Rockafeller Center - NBC - Dec. 2, 7 pm

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - CBS - Dec. 2, 8 pm

The Polar Express - ABCFAM - Dec. 3, 6 pm, 8:30 pm

Carrie Underwood an All Star Christmas Special - FOX - Dec. 7, 8 pm

Santa Clause 2 - ABCFAM - Dec. 12, 6 pm

It's a Wonderful Life - NBC - Dec. 12, 8 pm

Shrek the Halls - ABC - Dec. 14, 8 pm

Saturday Night Live Christmas 2009 - NBC - Dec. 17, 8 pm

Frosty the Snowman - CBS - Dec. 18, 8 pm

Miracle on 34th Street - ABCFAM - Dec. 23, 7:30 pm

A Christmas Story Marathon - TBS - Dec. 24, 8 pm

These movies are all wonderfu, however my 2 VERY favorite Christmas movies are not listed. I'm know they'll be airing sometime this season, just not sure what channel and/or date. To me these are the best Christmas movies of all time. They are...........

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

and.... Home Alone

Well I guess that's all now for my holiday spirit.... I will soon be sharing with you some of my favorite holiday recipes & memories. Until then jingle, jingle. :)

You MUST Snag a Snuggie!

So it's true. I'm clearly not embarassed to say that my favorite new thing is my SNUGGIE! I always laughed when I saw those commercials for Snuggies...and thought to myself.. "who would actually buy one of those things!" One day I got home from work and my hubby had me a very special surprise, my very own HOT PINK, might I add, SNUGGIE.

And............ I LOVE IT! The only issue is almost every night when I put it on and lay on the couch, it makes me fall asleep. No joke, ask my husband he finds me asleep every night on the couch curled up in my snuggle sometimes only at 9 pm! It has sedative like powers...!!

Well, if I don't say anything else, go grab yourself one! You can get them at Wal-Mart and/or Walgreens for around $14.99. Let me know what you think!

Fall Times...

It's official, I'm back. I was almost ready to quite and shut down my blog because of my inconsistency... however, I did not throw in the towel... and I'm committed to keep blogging.

So since I've kept you all out of the loop for so long, I'll give you a quick run down of the last few months!

Most recently, we've been enjoying our 2nd fall in California. It has been absolutely gorgeous...about 70-80 degrees in November! Unbelievable! I sure don't miss that cool bite of the Indiana wind.

So we've been out and about a lot lately. We've been doing a lot of pumpkin carving, partaking of all the fine fall delictable foods and out sight seeing in the vineyards and wine country.

Here are some recent pics of our trip over to Napa. I absolutely love that we live so close to Napa. Right now is the peak season to visit all the wineries as you can see the grapes are full on the vine.

We visited 2 wineries that particular day, Franks Family Vineyard was our first. Here is a pic of Mark & Max outside Franks..

We also finally made it a point to visit this "castle" winery that I'd heard of. It's called Castello di Amrosa. It was gorgeous! It truly is a castle with hidden tunnels, a huge courtyard in the center, a drop down plank bridge entrance... very, very cool. Can't wait to go back to this one!

There were absolutely gorgeous views from every tower overlooking all the vineyards. Speaking of views, last weekend Mark, Max & I ventured over to Walnut Creek (about 30-40 mins away) to visit Mt. Diablo. This is one of the highest points/altitudes in the Bay Area.

Before we embarked on all of our fall ventures, we celebrated Max's 1st B-day! Boy did we have a "BALL". We hosted him a "BALL" themed party at our house, on his b-day, Sat., Oct. 10th.

Max's first word was BALL and he has always been fascinated with balls more than any other toy. Enough said. Here are some pics of his party.

Max also had a birthday party back in Indiana during September. He got sooo messy we had to give him a bath in roaster after he messed in his cake!

Lastly, I leave you with a cute pic of Max & PaPaw when they were out on the boat during that same trip. What a cute pic!

Well, toodles! Gotta run now! I will try to give you some more daily updates!

Loving Life

My little MaxiMoose is now almost 10 months old.
Every day he is changing and becoming more & more special & unique. Here' s a pic from last weekend at the pool. He absolutely LOVED the water & splashing around. Some of his other favorite things to do right now are:

• Playing with doorstops & flinging them so they make noise


• Saying "Hiiiii"


• Saying "Ahh Ohhh.." we he knows he's done something he shouldn't have


• Motoring into all our bathrooms and pulling the toliet paper of the roll and dragging it out into the nearby room


• Eating dogfood (hehe, we've had to discipline him to stay out of Rocky's dog food)


• Giving you a high five


• Throwing Balls across the room (Balls are his favorite)


• Pushing anything that moves across the floor (I need to get him a walker, he'd love it.
  

Anyways, he's quite the joy these days & so much fun. :)

Fun In the Sun

So, I am such a bad blogger. It's been almost 6 weeks since I've last blogged. Too long. I'll try to get better.

Little Max is now almost 9 months old and is as lovable as ever!

He has found a new love... We took him to the park this past weekend and pushed him the swing and could not stop laughing. He loved it! As it was a very sunny day, it was hard to get him to look up for a pic...I think he was also facinated at watching the ground as he swung back & forth.

I HATE SICKNESS!

Actually, I hate the devil! After all, he is the author of sickness & every evil.
Last week, I got really sick. Wierd, some sort of 24-48 hr. bug... was not fun...3 days later my little son, Max came down with some sort of illness.

I absolutely do NOT believe that God teaches you through sickness, like some ignorant people believe, however .... through this trial, I feel like God reminded me of 3 great slogans that increased my faith & spirit:

Number 1: Trade your Worry, For Worship. I had heard this saying before, but it is sooo important to literally take every negative thought captive as the Bible says, and begin to worship & thank God for his completed work on the cross. The Bible says we "are" and "were" healed from his stripes.

Number 2: Focus on your Position and NOT your Condition. The devil wants us to focus on our condition, whether it be deteriorating health and/or lack of finances, etc. He wants us to forget our position, that we are the righteousness of God in Christ. If you can remember this it will give you the power to change your condition. If you pray against lack, abundant supply shall flow. If you pray for healing, sickness will have to leave. These things can't happen by our own doing, but by Christ power & life flowing through us. Remain conscious of WHO YOU ARE.

Number 3: Focus on Healing and NOT Feeling. Sometimes we get so caught up in how horrible we feel that it is hard to remember the price Jesus paid for us on the cross. As I saw Max sick, it broke my heart. No one wants their child to be sick. And even more so... God as our Father hates to see us sick and unhappy. His desire for us is to be full of joy, strength & life!

Fourthly, - I would encourage you to start to take communion everyday. Mark & I have been taking it every morning. Jesus said... DO THIS... and REMEMBER ME. It's so good to be reminded everyday of his forgiveness & healing that he provides us.

Well, new adventures are awaiting... the fam is coming in town this weekend and we have some great things planned! Will try to post again soon.

Easter Break

Because I work for a school I got the priveledge to have off the same time our students did for Easter Break. I traveled back to Indiana and got to spend some valuable time with the folks. Here are some of my favorite pics from our trip.

Go Ahead & Laugh

Go Ahead & Laugh!

Today I had one of those great "belly" laughs. Really it was over something that most would not even consider that funny. Out of no where a thought came to mind, and I couldn't contain it... and I had a great kackle! One of those laughs that bends you over to your knees and makes you cry and almost pee your pants... oh, how great! :)

Did you know there are great benefits to laughter some being:

• It strengthen's your immune system (through the release of certain endorphins)


• Provides an emotional release from negative feelings such as anger, guilt & stress


• Prevents Heart Disease (when we laugh we lower our blood pressure)


• Relaxes Your Muscles
  

How often do you laugh?

It is estimated that a child laughs approximately four hundred times a day while an adult engages in some humor only fifteen times a day.

So laughter is a great therapy...

Share with me what makes you laugh.

Work Perk

Here's the incredible perk of working at a job/school that provides daycare for your child.

Max & his friends came on a mini field trip to visit us at the High School. Aren't they adorable!

One pic is from a couple of months ago... and the other is from today.

Happy Droolin'

One Thing I Miss....

One thing I miss about living in the Midwest is the Thunderstorms. I've lived in California for almost 10 months and it has not stormed here once, and rained very seldom. In Indiana in the Spring we would have a powerful storm every couple of days.

There's just something thrilling about knowing a storm is coming. I love the calm before the storm and how you can sense it's on its way by the way the wind blows through the trees. There's a chill in the air. I love to get on the radar and watch & detect when it's coming & how strong it will be.

I love the security of being all tucked inside. I love to turn off the t.v. & radio and step outside watch the clouds roll in and listen to the thunder. I love the smell of the fresh air after it rains. It's calming, relaxing & comforting.

Do you like storms? Or do they scare you?

Jaw Dropper!~

Over the weekend my check engine light on my car came on. Yesterday I dropped my car off at a repair shop only to find out it was going to cost $800. to have my car fixed. Over the phone I told them to NOT fix anything.... that I needed to think about what I was going to do, how to come up with the money, etc. and that I would be back later in the day to pick up my car.

When I arrived they had ALREADY done all the work, without my consent!! I was shocked, irrate and my jaw dropped! I made the decision right then not to blow up on the people, but to keep my cool. I guess there had been another Amanda who brought her car in and she called and told them to go ahead and repair her car, that her grandmother was going to pay for it.

Long story short, after waiting 1/2 hour they came out and said, "you better just thank God, because we are going to just "eat" this". They went on to explain how it was their mistake, and unbelievably I had $800. worth of repairs/work done for FREE! Yes, free! Totally Incredible! I give God all the glory!

Roll Over

Roll Over.... nope not talking about cell phone rollover minutes....I'm talking about MIGHTY MAX!!!! Last week he started rolling over from his back to his tummy for the first time. Here's a pic of him playing on his belly last night. "He guys, look at my tongue! Naa Naa Naa Naa Naa Naa!"

Thank God For My Job

Yesterday I came out of the grocery store in the rain and saw a employee collecting and pushing in all the grocery carts...and the thought came to me.. "boy that job would suck".

I thank God for my job. I work at Vacaville Christian Schools in the High School office as the Registrar. I work with some wonderful Christian people and am blessed to bring my Max with me to work everyday. He isn't with me in the same building but I get to go and visit him everyday during my lunch hour which is a huge privledge that most mothers don't have. Do you enjoy your job? Tell me what you do.

More Rice Chex, Please. :)

So our darling little Maximus has finally started eating "baby" rice cereal. He absolutely LOVES it! Here's some recent pics of him after he's chowed down.

"Let's Talk About PETS Baby...."

Let's talk about PeTs!


Why do we love our beloved animals sooo much? Above you'll see our little "stinker"...and believe me he does have some smelly farts... his name is Rocky. Rocky will be 3 years old in July.

I love Rocky because:

• He's very cute, soft & has very fluffy fur.


• He's very playful and likes to wrestle on the ground.


• He runs back and forth really fast right before he poops.


• His personality is much larger than his size... he likes to paw at pit bulls and dogs much bigger than himself.


• He fetches the newspaper.


• He's very protective and cries when Max cries to try to tell us to do something.


• He grows at me when I kick him out of our bed at night.


• He has more toys than any dog I know: his fav's are his tennis ball, snowman, his birdie and his rawhide stick.
  

Anyway.. I love pets! If I didn't have to work a real job... my dream would be to work for ASPCA (that stands for American Society of Preventing Cruetly of Animals... haven't you ever seen their commercial with Sarah McLachlan singing.."In the Arms of an Angel" makes me cry everytime!

Tell me what you love about your pet!???

Also...featured today is my brother Joe's new adorable Yorkie, named Chloe.

~Whatchamacallit~

There is a lady in my office who always keeps a large basket of candy on her desk. It is always filled with an assorted variety of Jolly Ranchers & Life Savers. It fulfills all of our sweeth tooths and has become a magnet to us all. Yesterday... I watched as a student grabbed a piece of candy and a huge smile came across his face. Wow, what joy candy can bring us all!!

What is your favorite candy? Here are a few of mine:

Jolly Ranchers

Shock Tarts
Airheads
Starburst (in particular the red & pink ones)
Lemonheads

WarHeads

& Chocolate, Chocolate, Cholcolate (Whatchamacallit's, MilkWay Dark, Dove Dark Chocolates, Peanut Butter M&M's & Whoppers)

The SANDMAN....

Do any of you remember the SandMan? My parents used to have this picture of this mythical man who would sprinkle sand into a child's eyes to help them fall asleep.

Well the SandMan must have visited Max last night. He slept from 7:30 pm to 6:30 am this morning! I was amazed! He sleep all night... which gave me some incredible, much needed shut eye.

My husband used to tease me because before Max came into our lives...I would get so giddy to go to bed every night. I just loved to sleep, sounds like someone else in our family... uuummm Big Daddy...

Now that we have a 4 month year old son, I truly cherish any and all sleep that I do get.

Did you know that adults require on average 8 - 8.5 hours of sleep every night. Before Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb, people slept around 10 hours at night.

Here's to more sleep for all of us....!!! To All a GOOD NIGHT!

PS. This is a lovely picture from over Christmas break of Max & I sleeping. You caught us didn't you!

~~Finally, It's Happened to Me!!~~

I did it... I finally decided to start my own blog! Yeah! It's been on my "want to" list for a while now... I just has an awlful fear that I may never be able to update it... but here we go..I'm up for the challenge. What better way to share my life with all of you...of whom some are now much further away now that we live in beautiful California. Speaking of beautiful..... we are now entering into Spring here in Fairfield. Our spring is Feb.-April here. This is our rainy season and the foothills are turning a gorgeous bright green color. It looks a lot similar to those pictures you might see of Ireland and/or Scotland.

Well... soon to come are more exciting snapshots of my life and the important things in it, including my wonderful husband, Mark, my awesome son, Maximus aka "Badouche", "the Bambino" and Max Man, as well as our involvement with our church, Remnant, friends, family and the ever so infamous Rocky Road Balboa. See You Next Time!