holly, jolly Christmas

i do love to write on my blog, it's sometimes like a journal - but seriously... who has this much freaking time to post and upload photos and arrange and actually sit down and think??????

so much is going on in our lives and homes and families that it gets to be exhausting at times. don't get me wrong, i'm all for taking a breather, but by the time i sit, or lay, down to do so...i usually fall asleep.

i've got a million things left to do on my list this morning (yes, it is now 12:26am) and i'm on this blog instead of doing them. i just had to take a moment because if i don't i just won't make the time.

we celebrated halloween, ethan's bday, thanksgiving, and have had some fun family outings that i haven't posted about. maybe before the end of the year, when the kids are on break (and i am too!) i will do so.

until then, enjoy Christmas shopping, baking, card sending and receiving, wrapping, visiting, mailing, decorating, vacationing, stressing, drinking (oops, i mean eating), crying, spending, and trying to decide which photo to choose of all the 263 shots the photographer took!! always go for the one you look the best in!!

highlight of the day: receiving a Christmas card in the mail from the prophet and his counselors - i guess that's a perk for being a bishop. nice.

NOVEMBER BREEZE

these are some wrapping paper patterns that i saw at the container store that i thought were pretty:

today it just hit me that the holiday season is officially upon us. i ran into vromans, one of my favorite places to visit during the holidays, and thought to myself, "wow i am so not ready for this"! there were tons of beautiful cards and wrapping and bags and tissue and holiday platters and napkins, blah, blah, blah. and in all the stores you here Christmas music playing in the background. it would almost be a winter wonderland if it weren't so dang warm.

so i had to go into the container store for a pick up and was amazed at their overwhelming display of Christmas wrapping, gift boxes, waxed tissue paper for kitchen goodies, tags, and stocking stuffers. they have some beautiful wrap by rosanna inc. that is so pretty. let me tell you - if you want to spend a little extra for special wrapping and a beautiful box...that is thee place to go! i will only allow myself to buy 1 or 2 rolls there and maybe some tags. i've got champagne taste but always on a beer budget!

found a couple more blogs i've been stalking these dayz: http://www.shabbynest.blogspot.com/ and http://www.lalalovelythings.blogspot.com/ and i'm always looking for great inspiration for bath and kitchen makeovers and home decor. it's just my thing.

i'm off to plan thanksgiving dinner, ethan's bday and a Christmas party.

calling all gringos

so my mom sent me a link to this GREAT mexican blog. it's a mexican gal, who's nose even reminds me of my own, who is this UNBELIEVABLE mexican cook. she has awesome recipes and photos and classes (sorry, they are in d.c.).

i think it struck a cord with my mom as she is a mexican from texas and proud of her heritage.

in fact just yesterday my friend was telling me about this movie that came out a while ago entitled, "a day without mexicans". about some guy who is sick of them and then one day there is not one ANYWHERE - cooking in restaurants, cleaning hotel rooms, house cleaning, nanny's, doing construction...you get the point - mexicans ARE thee worker bees around here!!!!! what would we do without them? i mean us?!

so anyway, go to this blog and check out all these great recipes and food: http://www.patismexicantable.com/

after i was on this blog for like an hour last night, i was SOO hungry for mexican food. i had none. so i did what any mexican blooded woman would do - i heated up a homemade tortilla and scarfed it down!!! it was thee best tortilla i have ever had!

by the way, i usually catagorize all hispanics into one.

U2 ... baby

yup...still love 'em. yup...best concert ever. yup...we went.

the housewife with no life

a rhymn. by suzy tervet.


do you ever feel like all you do
is clean and cook and shopping too?

dirty dishes, dirty socks and dirty underware
a shower sounds just oh so nice to wash my scary hair!

tend the yard, sweep the porch, pick up the dog's gross poo
shop for food, call the dentist, is this what i agreed to do?

fold the laundry, wash the car, put the toys away
mop the floors, clean 2 sick toilets, i feel so happy and gay!!

pick up kids, run more errands, listen to them yell
they go nuts, then i go crazy...i am so going to hell...

cook more food, do more dishes, homework for 3 hours
change the sheets, clean the dog pee on the rug, and pretend i don't see the solicitor knocking on the front door while i walk right in front of the window where he see's me...and i know that didn't rhymn

ignore the phone ringing 13 times and then the cell phone too
didn't they know i didn't want to answer??? wasn't it a clue?!

make eggs for dinner with frozen corn--ooooh aren't my kids so lucky!
their mom's so talented and a cooking queen - she ain't a lazy dummy

do your homework, do your chores, i'm freakin' goin' nuts
reading time, just CALM DOWN before i kick some butts!

call your father on the phone - what time's he comin' home!?
warn him of my mental state and for heaven's sake...leave me alone!!!!

i'm losin' it. i'm really tired. love you...but i need a break
you walk in and i walk out, and make sure everything is DONE by the time i get home at 11:34pm, again, no rhymn.

then one big sigh...they're all asleep and the house is still a mess
calls to return, laundry to fold, i swear i have no stress (compared to some people)

give me some chocolate, give me some meds, let me just chill out
i really know i have no reason to scream and yell and shout (like a maniac usually)

so i go to bed and then i remember, tomorrow will be THE same
i'll scrub and cook and clean and mop and shop and fold and....sometimes i can be so lame

cuz the life of a wife really ain't so bad
and when i think 'bout what i got - it's like totally RAD!

i lay awake

last night, or this morning rather, at 3am. i was awakened by a very loud little cricket in the wall who was making a sound that sounded like a mating call. it was soo freakin' loud! we have a lot of crickets. they live in the walls. of course they do. that way they are out of reach for me to pull their heads off and kill them!

so at about 3:30 it stopped. then, at 3:31 ian started snoring. is there no rest for the weary? honestly. then the cricket started up again. i tossed. i turned. i kicked the covers off. i had hot flashes. i had cold flashes. i got up. i pee'd. 20 minutes later my bladder was full again. of what i asked????? internal sweat from my hot flashes??? good hell!!!!!

i tried to convince myself that i was outdoors camping and that's why i was hearing crickets. then the dog started in. i had to let her in our room so she wouldn't pee in the boys room on their rug. fyi...if any of you are thinking of getting a dog....don't do it. just trust me on this one.

it seems the middle of the night is when i have a lot of inspiration. perhaps it's the peace and quiet - obviously not in my home, but maybe just the still of the night. i had lots of crazy thoughts and ideas at 3am last night. none of which i can even remember now. it's no wonder i'm dead tired by 4pm and fall asleeep by 9pm these days. which also explains my inability to get up and go to the gym at 5 am either. being in shape is SO over-rated. who needs muscle tone and good health anyway? i'm really at piece with my cellulite now.

mid october...

...means it's almost halloween. i love the fall. i love the colors and sipping on hot chocolate. i love that crisp smell in the air and the cool evenings. of course it was hotter that "you know what" the past couple of dayz and i'm waiting for the heavens to remember that it is fall, now!

and with fall come HALLOWEEN. oh how we love halloween around the tervet home! i can't wait to get out our boxes and pull out my little collection of witches and fun decor. every year i add more junk to our collection. this year i put out the goods while the kids were in school. they were not happy that i did that. they want to be involved in the process and have a say in what gets put out and where. why does it turn into a battle?? for heavens sake it is their holiday, isn't it?? but i have this idea in my head of how things should look, and where they should go, and what doesn't get to be put out anymore! i can't stand standing back and looking around and feeling like i'm standing in a Kmart aisle. this year...it feels like a kmart aisle. meaning there's too much stuff out and it's bunchy and packed and there's too much orange. i like orange. and black. but, i've always had this idea that my halloween was gonna be white. i love the white decor and white pumpkins.

so let me explain. about 15 years ago i decided that i wanted an all white home. during the seasons i could add a splash of color depending on the holiday or whatever, but the all the house was gonna have white furniture - because i was and always have been "shabby chic" at heart, even before rachel ashwell claimed it...i had already thought of it and lived it!! thank you very much! anyway...so we had big, white, fluffy bedding. white couches. that was my start. then we had lauren. and a dog. then another kid, and another. and...white was just not practical. or clean for very long. in fact, it was a stupid idea. but in my heart of hearts...i wanted white!!!!! all over!!!!!

now my little ones aren't all so very little. they don't stick their fingers in their butts and wipe poop on things. they don't spill juice or milk out of bottles. they don't pee all over beds and carpets. they don't barf on beds or carpets - because i make them hold it in while i push them to the toilet, plus, we have wood floors through out. thank heaven. the dog? still a problem. she occasionally pees and when she's on her period (gross, i know) has been known to jump on furniture and leave a stain. that's disgusting. despite all this, it's still just not practical. they love color. they want things to be bright and happy and tacky. i figure, it's their home too. for now at least. in like 10 years i will have an all white home. its gonna be so rad! i can't wait. i already have it planned out. seriously. i've already begun. with our room. then the bathrooms. then the kitchen. and my husband? i haven't even mentioned his opinion. is that supposed to matter? let's just say, as long as he gets what he wants, i can have whatever i want.