My All Time Favorite Musicals!

I have always had an obsession with musicals. I recently told Devon that when I was a child, I secretly wanted my life to be a musical. Weird, I know. To me these films are magical, make my heart flutter, puts a skip in my step, and leaves me with a smile on my face. So here are my all time FAVORITE (movie) musicals...


When I was in the 4th grade, I watched this at a friends house and fell in love with Danny and Sandy. For years I had a huge crush on John Travolta...Summer lovin' had me a blast...

The Hills are alive with the Sound of Music...my 2nd grade teacher invited a few girls in her class to spend the night and watch this at her house...I have loved it ever since!





I love anything with Doris Day, but Pillow Talk is my favorite!

This year, I finally felt that Taylor was ready to watch the Wizard of Oz...she fell in love with it too!Aaaahhhh, Mary Poppins, practically perfect in every way!
I was really obsessed with the movie Annie, when I was a kid. I don't know how many times I watched it, but I wanted my parents to buy me a dog that I could name Sandy.


No one can deny the magical story of Cinderealla. I love the way this one is told to music.

I don't remember how I was introduced to Summer Magic, but I have never forgotten how much I enjoyed it. Michael and I used to always sing...to the ball, to the ball, to the ugly bug ball...
The happiest millionaire...love this one too!
Bye Bye Birdie! I drove my mom crazy asking her to rent this for me. I think I had dreams about the cute Birdie boy. I also secretly wanted to have phone conversations the way they did in this movie...it looked like so much fun.
Finally, my newest favorites are High School Musical 1 & 2! I know they are totally for teenagers, but I love them. At the top of my list for Christmas, this year, was this movie and I was so happy when I got it!

The Best Christmas Ever!

This year, we truly experienced one of the best Christmases ever! My parents flew in from Nashville which really added to the fun and helped make this Christmas so great! We have felt so much love and kindness from our neighbors, family, and friends that our hearts will forever be filled with gratitude and joy whenever we look back on this time and the Christmas spirit that has filled our home!!

We had such a good time and made so many memories that I thought I would share my top Christmas favorites for this year!

• My generous Dad treated his girls to a Spa Pedicure. This was Taylor's first and she was, somewhat, hesitant at first, but then went along with it and enjoyed being pampered.
• Luke Mooned us! My mom kept teasing him that he lost his bum (I can't remember why), but then, to show us that it wasn't lost, he pulled down his pants and mooned us saying, "no I didn't, it's right here."
• I look forward to Christmas lights every year. We all piled into our Yukon and drove down to the Fairgrounds to see the lights. It was a 2-hour wait, but worth it! We brought along hot chocolate and sang Christmas songs. Blake may never be able to taste again since he grabbed my hot chocolate to drink and burned his mouth in the process. The shock of it made him throw up and temporarily ruined the moment, but he is our Blake and recovers quickly. Moments later he was smiling and being his silly self.
• Nothing beats 75 degree weather and a trip to the Beach! Although Taylor and Luke were pouting and grouchy, Blake, on the other hand, loved soaking his hands into the wet sand and had a great time!
  
• I love Christmas Eve, maybe even more than Christmas! This Christmas Eve my Dad went a different route this year and cooked an amazing Beef Tenderloin (rather than prime rib) and my mom made all of the yummy trimmings to go with it. It was a dinner to remember! No matter what you say, Mom, there's no denying it, it's tradition!
  
• I dressed the kids up for the story of the birth of Jesus and they were just so darn cute and had a blast playing the parts!
• I loved it when the kids kept looking out the window for Santa (Blake too)! Taylor swears she saw an elf's hand and a hat...they really brought out the magic of Christmas!
• Every year we give the kids PJ's to open on Christmas Eve. This year Taylor was certain she knew what her present was and Luke had no idea, but when he opened his he said, "I don't want this present." He was so bummed that the first present he got to open under the tree was PJ's.
• Taylor slept horribly Christmas Eve. She woke up numerous times during the night. I think she was hoping to see Santa and get a glimpse of her presents.
• We saw two movies, yes, 2! We saw Enchanted, which I loved, and took the kids Christmas night to see Alvin and the Chipmunks! We debated whether or not to go because Blake is so busy, but he sat on my lap the entire time. We couldn't believe it, he didn't struggle with us once!
• I loved watching the excitement on the kids faces when they woke up in the morning and as they walked downstairs and as they opened their gifts. There was a lot of squeals of delight and jumping up and down in excitement. As we sat on the stairs for our annual picture Luke said, "I know what I got...Legos and Transformers." He was so sure of his gifts since that was all he asked for. Sure enough, he got Legos and Transformers.
• I will never forget and always remember the generosity received by our family this year and the love felt in our home this Christmas!
  

The Nutcracker

On Friday night, Taylor and I attended the Nutcracker with her my friends, Pamela and Cyndi, and their daughters, Abbie and Ally. It was a night to remember! The girls were so intrigued by the entire production and were adorable to watch as they sat on their booster seats in their dresses with eyes wide, glued on the stage, and hands ready to clap for every moment of applause. It was a very fun night and put us all in the Christmas mood.

Prior to the show, none of us paid attention to where Pamela had parked her car. We are all so used to our husbands doing this that none of us even thought about it. When we left, we randomly guessed a floor (level 3) and continued walking up each level searching for her car. When we finally reached level 10, and there were NO cars, we really started to get worried. Taylor kept telling us that she remembered seeing the number 4 and that the doors were purple. Well, we had been on that floor, or so we thought, and didn't see the car. Cyndi suggested that we split up and look for the car. Neither Pamela or I were very excited to do this, but went along with it. I stayed with the girls, who were crying and scared, while Pamela ran down each level that we had already walked up and Cyndi took the elevator down. We finally found the car, and, sure enough, it was on level 4 with the purple doors! With all the bums sleeping on the sidewalk nearby, we were sure that one of us was going to get mugged or something...luckily, we all survived and on our way home had a good laugh about it!

Singing Silent Night with the palm trees a blowin'

Despite the fact that our camera broke during the middle of our Christmas card photo shoot...the card, itself, turned out pretty darn cute!! Thanks to my terrific hubby and his genius graphic design skills...without him, I would still be screaming at our camera for busting and there would be no Christmas card. I don't mean to brag, but to all of you who are living in the snow, there is nothing like a California Christmas!

Elf Dance

Click HERE to check out our Family Elf Dance!

Things I learned This Week...

Last picture taken before the (VERY STUPID and VERY OLD) camera broke. I didn't even get one decent shot!

1. Once you begin instructing Pilates, you will be willing travel anywhere within North County to sub classes to gain experience.

2. Within 7 days, you will teach a total of 5 one-hour classes! Two, of which, are your own and the others you will sub.

3. You will feel satisfied when other class members approach you to say things such as, "You teach a really great Pilates class," and "are you going to be the permanent teacher...we really hate the lady who teaches on Mondays." Both of these comments will really make your day and the traveling (with kids) worth while!

4. Despite all of the de-stressing and endorphin highs from doing Pilates, you will still feel the weight of Christmas and wonder if you should still make a traditional ornament for friends and family and send out a Christmas card.

5. You will remember that it is tradition! Especially when a friend reminds you that people expect it!

6. With this friendly reminder, you will quickly trot over to Michaels to buy supplies for your last minute traditional ornament creation.

7. Not only will you still have Pilates classes to teach, but you now have an ornament to create, Christmas cards to write, a combined YW project to prepare for, Christmas shopping to complete, laundry to fold and wash, a house to clean and scrub, customer orders to create and envelopes to address, meals to make, homework to help with, carpools to drive, and much, much more...

8. The clean laundry will not get folded, the dirty laundry will not get washed, the kitchen and downstairs bathroom floor will get mopped, the upstairs will remain a disaster, homework will be turned in late, customer orders will be completed, and some Christmas shopping will get done!

9. Once the Christmas tree is up, you will do your best to keep little hands from removing ornaments from the tree, but you will still find yourself constantly picking them up off the floor and returning them to the tree.

10. Very expensive electronic devices will break this week. First, your laptop will get dropped and the screen will shatter. However, the hard drive will still be in tact and the husband will hook it up to a VERY LARGE (and old) computer monitor so you can continue to blog and check your e-mail. Second, after dressing the kids for Christmas card pictures, your (very stupid AND very old) camera will just stop working.

11. Now you have to figure out how you are going to create a picture for your Christmas card!

12. Do not be surprised when your husband races down the stairs, early in the morning, shooshing everyone, and turning on the t.v. to listen to Mitt Romney's speech. He has no greater passion than Politics and Religion! Such passion will lead him to creating this...

13. Your heart will melt when your daughters teacher tells you that your sweet girl attended to someone that got hurt on the playground and your son tells you that he wants to be just like you when he grows up!

14. Your eyes will fill up with tears as you trim away your baby's mullet. You will realize it was time, but you just did not want to let go of his long, golden, baby locks!

25 Questions for 25 days of Christmas!

Christmas Morning, 2005, traditional picture on the stairs!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Definitely Hot Chocolate with lots of whip cream and a candy cane!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Santa ALWAYS wraps presents and places them on the couch in individual piles. AND, each persons presents are wrapped in different wrapping paper (Santa, himself, wouldn't have it any other way. To him it is just, plain, un-American!).

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
I equally enjoy whited and colored lights. However, this year, I chose white lights.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
Never have, but I have always wanted to be that girl in the movie who gets kissed by the "Hot" guy who passes by her while standing under it.

5. When do you hang your decorations up?
After Thanksgiving.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
My mom always makes a traditional, very yummy, breakfast casserole with homemade muffins and juice. This is my favorite! If I could eat this all year long I would! Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without it!

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?
When I pretended to be one of Santa's Elves, named Candy Cane, and left notes for my little brother to open every day before Christmas.

8. When and How did you learn the truth about Santa?
In the 3rd grade, a few of my friends told me that Santa wasn't real. I decided to ask my mom and dad, during dinner, if this was true. My dad took me to his room and broke the news to me. I remember feeling like the smartest kid in the world because I had figured out their great, big secret.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Yes. We always get new pj's.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
Mostly with homemade ornaments and other cute stuff.

11. Snow? Loved it or dread it?
Loved it as a kid. Hate it as an adult!

12. Real tree or fake tree?
I love a real tree. I love shopping for one in the cold and I love the smell of a real tree. However, I have succumbed to the husbands wishes and have a fake tree, but in some ways it is nice because I don't have all those messy pine needles to vacuum up!

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Santa brought me a golden retriever for Christmas, we named her Duchess.

14. What's the most important thing about Christmas for you?
Remembering our Savior and spending time with loved ones.

15. What is your favorite Holiday dessert?
Anything chocolate.

16. What is your favorite tradition?
Going to the annual Holiday show at SeaWorld.

17. What tops your tree?
A really ugly, tinsel, blinking light, star. We bought it when we first got married because we couldn't find any other star to top our tree and Devon refuses to let me throw it away.

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving?
Until I had kids, I looked forward to what I would receive for Christmas, but now I would much rather buy them and others gifts and watch their faces light up as they open their presents.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
My favorite hymn is "Silent Night" and my Favorite Song is "Little Saint Nick," by the Beach Boys. However, I do have to say that I really do love that song where he sings, "last Christmas I gave you my heart, but the very next day you gave it away..." That song always makes me smile because we used to make fun of that song when we were kids.

20. Candy canes, yuck or yum?
I love them in Hot Chocolate!

21. Favorite Christmas Movie?
"Home Alone," "Elf," and, the classic, "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer."

22. What do you leave for Santa?
Cookies and Milk.

23. Do you have a Christmas morning tradition?
Devon's family always took a picture on the stairs before they went down to see what Santa had brought them. We now have the same tradition in our home.

24. Do you prefer to shop on-line or at the mall?
I love to shop at the mall! I love the hustle and bustle of Christmas and all the decorations, music, you name it--I LOVE IT! (Devon hates it because of the parking!)

25. Christmas letter or Christmas card?
I wrote a Christmas letter one time. Now we just send a Christmas card. Coming up with the design for the Christmas card and pictures that we will use for the Christmas card is stressful enough!

Now that I have answered these 25 questions, I am going to TAG my Mom, Robyn, Michael, Amanda, and Darci to do the same! Have fun...I can't wait to see what you write!

Christmastime Is Here!

Taylor lost her first tooth and just in time for Christmas! Devon told her that the Tooth Fairy would pay her according to how much her tooth weighed. Evidently, it weighed A LOT because the Tooth Fairy gave her $2! She was so excited! For the first 2 or 3 days, she carried her "cash," as she called it, around with her everywhere she went. I just love her toothy grin!
It is now officially Christmas at our home. We decided that our 6-year old, 39 dollar special from Wal-Mart, Christmas tree had seen better days and purchased a new one. As you can see, Taylor and Luke were good helpers and couldn't wait to get the tree put together.
And, of course, no Christmas Tree decorating event would be complete without setting the timer on the camera and posing the family in front of the tree for a picture. Merry Christmas!