I have a ton of pictures about Christmas to share with you, but for now enjoy my genius son in his first solo concert performance. Mothers, try not to feel discouraged, not all children can be this perfect!

Thanks to Kristin for this idea. It is getting me out of my funk!

It hits me every year! I over do it starting the day after Thanksgiving and then I just poop out. I started to feel it a few days ago. Requests were being asked of me that I just didn't have the energy to accomplish, but I did it anyway. I've been staying up way too late for the past 2 weeks, then sleeping in a little bit, only to rush for the rest of the day because I didn't get up early enough. Getting bad news about several friends have been making my heart hurt for them. It all takes it toll and my well is dry! Why is it that I allow outside obligations to take over, causing me to have nothing left for my family or myself? I understand that this is to be the season of giving, but sometimes I feel like I've given too much of myself sometimes. Whatever the reason, I've got to regain my stamina and get out of this grumpy mood. Even my dog is grumpy, he's eaten three bags of fudge and now growls at every body. I'm trying to work on this "oh so lovely" mood I'm in. Just give me a day or two.

I am watching "Singing in the Rain" working on a craft that is for my own home, Wyatt is sleeping soundly, and there is a blanket of white snow falling outside my window. I am in heaven!

Snow is Vegas! What a rare treat! Looks like it might stick!

10 Thank you candy bars

20 scenes for a Powerpoint presentation

and 97 Christmas Star Ornaments.

Kimberly M.'s table

Julie D.'s table

Lisa Q.'s table

My slideshow

For those who don't know, my "Nini" is my grandmother and over Thanksgiving weekend she moved back to Vegas from Pahrump! This sassy 80 year old women just moved into her very first brand new home that belongs to just her. It was a very exciting moment! The house is adorable and we are so glad that she is closer to us. We're looking forward to a Nini-Wyatt playdate real soon!

Me: Wyatt, are you ready to get out of the bath?
Wyatt: Not 'et Mommy, not 'et.


(While playing fetch with the dog)
Wyatt: Swop the ball, swop it! (Drop it)


(In the bath tub, splashing me with water, Wyatt holds up his toy life preserver and says...)
Wyatt: Here Mommy, the "necker-ring" will save you."
Me: What, like a nectarine?
Wyatt: Yeah, the "necker-ring."
(In his defense, it is a ring that goes around your neck!)




This morning I walk into Wyatt's room while he was doing a puzzle...

Wyatt: I doing great! (Clearly, he takes pride in his puzzle skills)


(While admiring himself in his camo hat and Bass Pro Shops t-shirt)
Wyatt: I'm a hunter daddy!

I'm going to be ruthlessly honest. And my honesty is not meant to offend anyone. Just some thoughts I've been pondering. I do not enjoy Thanksgiving. I do not look forward to the debate of which family's turn is it. I do not look forward to the overeating of turkey and stuffing that sits in my stomach like lead. And what's the deal with having dinner at 3:oo in the afternoon?

What were the moments on Thanksgiving Day that I treasured? The rain. The crisp walk to the store to buy apple juice. My family's reaction to Wyatt's Indian costume. My grandmother's excited reaction when I brought out the Uno card game. Winning the first round of Uno! Those things are what I was thankful for this Thanksgiving.

We had a fun little camping trip a bit ago to celebrate Byron's birthday. Just some things we did:

• Wyatt falling asleep while riding the Rhino
• long sleepless night because you're in a new place
• puzzles and bubbles with Wyatt
• taking pictures for our Christmas card
• campfires and marshmallows
• people watching in the Ely grocery store
• I miss my laptop, so does Wyatt

Looking for a great place to go? The Bellagio Conservatory is all decked out for Fall until Nov. 29th. Our Play Group from church had a great time seeing all the Fall colors. Then there was the chocolate waterfall! We were doing great until we started splashing in a water fountain and was chastised by a security guard! Oops! Enjoy the pictures and don't forget to go to Summertime Designs for these digital pages.

Thanks to Cooper and Particia for inviting us to come along! We had a great time!

A few days ago I noticed I was just a few posts away from my 100th post! So here I am! 100 posts of useless information! 100 posts of late night rantings! 100 posts of family outings and pictures, in the hope that someone would care about our simple little family! What have these posts taught me? What have blogs, in general, taught me? Well, I've said it before, and no matter how cheesy it sounds, the power of a blog is insane! I have found so many old friends through blogs, and some have even found me! (Hi Travis!) People visit my blog from North Las Vegas, Washington state, even Ireland, and Japan (Hi Yuki!). It is so cool. And I am addicted to knowing about what is going on in my fellow bloggers' lives! I check your blogs every day, people! What else I have learned? Recipes, craft ideas for Wyatt, how to change my blog background for the holidays (so important!), how a mother is recovering from being severely burned in a plane crash, and how another mother grieves the loss of her child. Blogs allow my cute friends from Japan learn to read English (though my grammar is not the best), and blogs give my grandmother a way to see her great-grandson grow to be a big boy. I actually felt guilty starting this blog, because my job, though only part-time, was a lot more demanding than I thought, and I had just started some big responsibilities for church. I had no time and no business starting some frivolous activity wasting time on the computer, but I'm so glad that I did! Along with some other hobbies of mine, this is a stress release. I can write and vent, and let you in on feelings that I don't like to share with people face to face. So friends, keep on reading! I wonder what the next 100 posts will share?

I just finished helping put on a craft night for the women in our church. I am tired. For the last 3 weeks I have been cutting words, squares, paper, snowflakes, lettering, blah, blah, blah. I've had lots of willing help putting kits together for cards, cutting blocks of wood, phone calls, etc. But still being in charge of an evening for a large group exhausts my mind. Constant thoughts of doubt fill my mind, "What if they don't like the crafts? How much money should these cost? Who paid? Who didn't pay?" I never really know if it was worth it until the end of the evening. When I see smiles of gratitude on these women's faces. There were a few times certain woman seemed really grateful and it made me feel a little better.

On an unrelated note, my dog Duke is having some self esteem issues today. I must be neglecting him. He has been under my feet constantly and as I sit at the computer he is staring at my whimpering and whining. How sad is my life that I am so busy, not even my dog gets the right amount of attention.

I need some ice cream. Just discovered a little trick yesterday: Melt Crunch bars (leftover from Halloween) and a couple of spoonfuls of Peanut Butter in the microwave and pour over vanilla ice cream. 5000 calories but soooooo worth it.

Pray for our country. We are going to need all the help we can get.

I finally tried my hand at digital scrapbooking and now it is all I can think about. Here are my first attempts. And go to http://summertimedesigns.blogspot.com/ for the free digital kits. The designer's name is Summer, too! Dang those Summer (Sommer) girls are talented!

We had a great night spending time together for Halloween. If you haven't figured it out, Wyatt dressed up as Diego, I was his sister, Alicia, and Byron was Diego's dad, the animal scientist. However, while trick or treating, if the people didn't know who Diego was, they just saw Byron in his hunting clothes and thought we were all on safari, with Wyatt wearing an odd felt wig. Most of the kids knew what Wyatt was and that was all that mattered. We ended the day having breakfast for dinner (our favorite indulgence these days) and I watched in amazement as my little Diego ate a plate and a half of scrambled eggs and dutch babies. It was a great day and so perfect as just our little family.

Halloween is my favorite holiday and it has been really fun to see that Wyatt is old enough to figure it out and express an interest in it. Here are some fun things we did to celebrate:

• Pumpkin carving (Wyatt REFUSED to touch the pumpkin guts)
• Played with glow in the dark bracelets


• New Halloween books from the Target dollar section every night this week


• Watched a Diego Halloween video


• Went to Candil Hall's (my old school) Halloween carnival


• Went to a nearby Pumpkin Patch and Carnival with Grammy, Pappa, and Nini (Wyatt loved the roller coaster, my little thrill seeker, and we ALL rode the train that took us through the Boca Park parking lot. That was hilarious as we drove by fancy people eating at Gordon Birsch and the Cheesecake Factory.)
  

Tonight will be trick or treating at our ward party and then in the neighborhood. We all get dressed up as a family, so more pictures to come!

Wow, 6 comments! And that's not counting the number of actual emails I got asking how I was feeling. I'm going to start begging for more attention more often! Seriously folks, thanks for the love. I am feeling better, still a stuffy nose, but thanks to a great ENT, Dr. Walter Schoerder, when I blow my nose, EVERYTHING comes out! That may be a little too graphic for you, but he is a really good doctor! He put in the tubes in Wyatt's ears, and did it so fast we got in trouble for leaving to eat breakfast in the hospital cafeteria!