Santa was here! and so was some virus......

Christmas morning was fun this year. For the first time Devin understood that there were presents from different people under the tree-Mommy and Daddy, Santa, Grammy, Mom Mom and Pop Pop, Kelly, Dana and Aunt Lauren and Uncle Don Ferry. I wrapped all the presents from Santa in kid specific paper. Devin had Spider man and Riley had Santa adorned paper. This allowed for Devin to pick out presents for himself and some to give to Riley without any confusion. Gifts from other people were in different paper and were labeled. He can read Mom, Daddy, Riley and Devin so he was able to give out the gifts to everyone.

Riley woke up first around 7 am and wanted to come downstairs as she normally does after she wakes up. I came downstairs and turned on the tree and some lights and got the cameras ready. We went in and woke up Devin and I told him I think Santa was here. After he registered that it was sunny out he sat up immediately and asked if Santa came, and if he brought gifts for him and Riley. His first reaction when peeping down stairs through the banister was,(whispering) "Wow, that is a lot of presents, look at all those cool presents." We had a table and chair set by the front door covered by a sheet and he walked by and looked at it. Then looked at the presents and couldn't resist in lifting the sheet. Then he walked over to the tree and just stood there in awe for a second and then saw the Spider man paper. The fun then began and it took about an hour and a half to open gifts. It was not a free for all so to speak since we wanted him and Riley to take turns, but since she saw her dolly stroller first she really wasn't interested in gifts. She would open a gift here and there, but then she spotted the dolly pack and play and she played the rest of the morning.

Frank gave me a lot of things but my most favorite present is a pair of Tory Burch flats I have been asking for forever! I cannot wait until I leave the house and get to wear them somewhere. Anywhere. I think he was most excited with his new Persol sunglasses or maybe the center stage tickets to Jersey Boys? Boys are tough because there was no major excitement. Just a bigger smile with certain stuff. I do know he hates one of the sweaters I got him from Ralph Lauren. He told me it is too "stuffy" when I think it is very "Chesapeake" so that item I may have to return.  Overall it was a great morning. I would have loved to have gone with the rest of my family (minus Dana and Troy) to Baker/Sullivan/Viguers brunch at Cousin Debbie's house Christmas morning. I miss being able to see the family and do the once in a while family get togethers with them. Skinner family Christmas is not until next week so that would have been great too since Devin and Riley would have kids to play with. Devin still talks about how "cool" his cousin Jonathan is. Funny how younger kids idolize older ones. Jonathan was 5 in June so that whole 2 years is big enough to make him the coolest kid ever!

Frank started to feel sick Christmas morning and through the day got progressively worse. I was starting to feel under the weather by dinner time and by 10 at night we were both laid out. Some serious stomach virus attacked us and were were up all night sick. Yesterday was bad since that is when the stomach sickness was accompanied by body aches and pains. Kids thankfully never got sick and I am feeling much better today. Some 24 hr thing really did knock us on our asses.

My all time favorite diaper bag company-Petunia PIckle Bottom chose me (and 6 others)!

OK. So I am SO excited. Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bags are to die for. I first learned about them when Devin was a few months old and I tripped across one at a boutique here in Vegas. HELLO gorgeous bags! I am a frugal gal, but there are a few things you do pay money for in my mind. Those are shoes, bags and jewelry.  These bags are euro chic and just to die for. They have brocade, velvet patterned material (Cake), men's diaper bags and now glazed ones that can be wiped down. I have had three of these over the last 2 years and still have my Teaberry Roll back pack and my Parisian Pansy Cross town clutch. I love that people compliment me on my bag and are shocked when I tell them its a diaper bag.

The gorgeous bag they are giving away

Living in Vegas I see the bags everywhere. I never would have noticed them before being a mom, but now that I am-I see them everywhere and appreciate the beauty no matter the pattern or style. My girlfriend Tina has one of their Cake collection bags (Society Satchel to be exact) which is so amazing. I cannot afford that one ($325-$350ish) so I just ogle hers when we are out. Petunia runs sales every few months to let us other gals buy their bags at lower prices being on discontinued patterns or bags with minor flaws. I have bought a second bag and never found the flaw.

They also run contests through their facebook page every month or so to win a bag. They also post on their facebook page when authorized dealers run giveaways. I enter every time I qualify for what they are giving away. I have been doing this for almost two years now and have never won or made it to the finals. I know my time will come and today is that day. They ran a recipe contest for the month of December to submit your favorite recipe for a chance to win one of their Red Velvet Cake Clutches. They ran the same contest last year and sadly my dutch apple pie did not make the finals. BUT, my saltine toffee bars this year did. I actually included this recipe in the Family cookbook I made in 2008. Love love love this recipe. My mom used to make these when I was a kid and I now make these now that I am a grown up. :)

Saltine Toffee bars

2 sticks of butter

1 c sugar

1.5 sleeves of saltines

1 12 oz bag of choc chips

Preheat oven to 375*. Line a cookie sheet with sides with Reynolds nonstick foil. Lay out crackers side to side, top to bottom to cover whole sheet. Melt butter in a small sauce pan on med low heat. Add sugar and dissolve stirring constantly. Pour over crackers and spread out with spatula. bake in oven on top rack for about 10 min or until light brown. Pour choc chips over top and let melt. Spread out with spatula. cool completely then break apart.

These are always favorites on the cookie plates I make for friends and family every Christmas. So simple yet so yummy. I made a batch for Devin's teachers this week and for the contest. (Frank did not mind that there was a lil extra to take to the office) The lucky staff gets to make all the yummy recipes and then taste test to pick the top one. Talk about a fun day at work. Wish me luck!

Making room for new toys-Christmas is here next week-Tree is up!

So I told Devin last week that he needed to make a pile on the coffee table in the playroom of toys that we can get rid of. He told me that we cannot give them away, that we need to have a yard sale like in Toy Story. He is one smart cookie. He said that he can give a new home to the toys that way. He started to slowly walk through our toy room and was handing me Riley's toys. First her dolly, then her teapot and so on. I reminded him that we are getting rid of his old toys and that Mommy will take care of the baby stuff. He actually did surprisingly well and filled up the coffee table and spilled over to the couch.

I started to take pictures of the stuff today to list on Craigslist and he asked when the yard sale was going to be. I told him I was going to do it online and he said, "Oh cool, will the kids come over and play with me when they pick them up?" I told him most likely Mommys and Daddys will get them as surprises for their kids for Christmas and he proceeded to ask me if I was going to a lady's house this week to get him a surprise.  I listed about 35ish toys and have had numerous emails and people already coming over today to get them.  Devin has helped me wiped them down and separate them into bags with who is buying what. I am proud that he is not putting up a fight, but he does remind me that Christmas is next week and he "Bets he will be getting a toy from Santa, maybe a truck (with huge grin)" Good thing we bought him that truck back in the summer time.

I think this will be a yearly tradition. In November/early December we can have them go through the room and whatever they do not play with we can sell or donate. That will give the kids a feeling of sharing with the unknown and generosity. He is still begging for a cement truck (Cookie (gmom) got it), the Toy Story 3 landfill (Cathy (gmom) got it) and a log truck (Santa). He reminds me about every other day about those three things. I cannot wait to see his face when he actually opens them up.

Tree got decorated Friday night. We bought the tree from a empty lot which is sadly the norm in Las Vegas. They bring trees in from Oregon and we walk around the make shift tree lot. We picked out a 9 ft noble fir and it is beautiful. They (not openly) charged $4 to net the tree to bring it home after we shelled out $110 for our tree. Talk about a crock! I complained to the lady and she said its a corporate thing. I mean come on, it costs a whole 25 cents of net to go around the tree and we are not to tip the guy who tied it to the car! I should really look into the Christmas tree sale business next year. Yeash.  There is no scent to it anymore so I have been burning a balsam candle to get that Christmasy feel in the house. Devin LOVED decorating it and Riley LOVES undecorating it. So far in the past 4 days I have only had to super glue 3 ornaments. Not too bad :)

Holy Crow they are getting big fast!

Riley has been able to take her pants off for some time now. She hates wearing clothes. It does not matter if she is wearing jeans, or the most comfy fleece jammies.....she wants them off. So, she takes them off. Every day. Yes, she can now officially take her shirt off too. Socks were first to figure out when she was a baby, then came pants when she was a little over a year and most recently shirts. She does put her clothes in the hamper like I trained her to do which helps with the mess. She also takes off her diaper which becomes the issue. She is doing well with peeing on the potty when prompted to, but at no means walks to the potty to pee. Since she is not potty trained, and she likes to strip down to her nakey bottom I have to make sure she is not over carpet. I am going to start to potty train her in January sometime I think.

She is also cutting eye teeth WHICH SUCKS BIG BALLS! She has never had teething issues other than a little whiney and nothing some orajel couldnt fix. These teeth on the other hand  are awful. I remember the same thing with Devin. Riley was up last night at 2:33, 3:00, 3:08 then 3:15 until I finally changed her diaper and put orajel in. She slept until 6:30 after that. Her top right is cut through with just the tip and the top right is right there. Her bottom two are coming up as well. I know this must hurt and some tylanol may have to be handy today.

Devin is a VERY verbal kid. He talks and talks and talks. I think it is his way of getting back at me for always saying, "tell mommy what you want, use your words." Man alive does he use his words, and phrases that make me laugh out loud. I will say something like, "Wow that house's Christmas lights are pretty aren't they?" His response is, "Sure is mom." I mean what 3 year old says that? Or he will ask me to get him a drink of water while he is doing nothing but I am busy. (we have a water cooler so he can do it himself) I will say, "No Devin, get your own drink." He then responded, "I can't mom, my legs are broken." Now I know I have said to him before that he has two legs and that he can do it himself, but to hear him say it in the correct context makes for a comical evening. He is a smart kid and his teachers love him. They gave me his progress report yesterday and he is excelling in all things social and academically. The only category he needs some guidance with is numbers. He apparently can count well forward 1-20, but forgets numbers when going backwards. Do they really expect a 3 year old to count backwards from 20 without guidance?

I think this winter we will actually be able to put ornaments on the bottom third of the tree. Riley was 9 mo last December so we were not able to and the winter before Devin was 18 mo and was tornado like. Now Riley is 21 mo and Devin is just 3.5 so I think we are good to go. I can only imagine how long it will take to decorate since I know Devin is going to insist on helping. I may have to give him a separate task to do while we put the ornaments on. Our desert house does not really have a place to put a tree so we will be trying a different location throughout our family room until we find one that works. Pictures to come.

Back from NJ, Santa Visit-no tears this year!

Ok, now that it has been a month without a computer we are back on top with a new lap top. I am getting used to all the ins and outs since it is SO different than our old one. The kids and I just flew back in from NJ yesterday so we are slowly getting back on PST.

We went to see Santa the week before we left. Now there is this little out door shopping district I have mentioned before. It is called Town Square and has upscale and regular stores, but every holiday season they decorate to look like a page out of the Saturday Evening Post Norman Rockwell lifestyle. They even have life size Norman Rockwell statues from the Post stationed throughout the shops with the story behind the painting. They have a cottage where Santa lives in the middle of the shops and for the past 3 years Santa has been great looking and great with the kid(s). I have learned that you always go mid day, mid week to avoid the lines waiting. We were the only family this year when we went which really worked out. I walked inside and it was a different Santa than the past 3 years and Mrs Clause was there? With some stupid stuffed animal dog on her lap? Since when did it get so GHETTO? Who the F wants Mrs Clause or some dumb dog in their pictures with Santa? At first I did not care, I just wanted to get a picture that both kids were looking forward and not crying. I do not care if they smiled, just no crying. Success, but I then asked if we could nix the dog and they were ok with that, then I asked if we could do just Santa and they got pissy. I was paying $12 for a sheet that contained 1 (5 by 7) picture-I think I have the right to ask to eliminate the "fluff."  Unfortunately, by this point in the game Riley was done and the "best" picture ended up having both the dog and Mrs Clause in it. Boo to that. Next year we will just request Santa alone from the beginning if they bring back the stand ins.

All the Skinner grandkids                                                                       Riley and Devin with Aunt Kelly and Great Grandmom

NJ was a great time. Frank has been traveling back and forth to NJ every other month or so for meetings and this time those meetings ended up falling on the same week as his company's holiday cocktail party. We decided it would be great to take the kids home and attend the party. It was super fun. Who doesn't like to get a cocktail dress on and go to a wedding style event? Cocktail hour followed by sit down dinner and dancing, not to mention open bar :). It was great to see some of our old friends who Frank works with back in NJ. I miss seeing them all on a regular basis. We were able to see our family throughout the weekend as well. Frank flew back Sunday and I flew with the kids Tuesday. They were great on the flight and people sitting around us did not even know that kids were w me until we got up to leave. That is a huge relief because I stress out the whole time hoping that they behave. There was one screaming kid on the plane and I never saw that mother get up with them. To be honest, I do not feel bad for that mother since she never tried to walk them around or distract them with getting up. Some kids just hate to fly, but man alive, get UP and walk around. Riley was on my lap for the last time since she will be 2 in March and we will not be flying before then. Although it sucks to have to pay for her seat after that, I know that she will have a seat and not have to sit with me.

                                                                                                                   a promotional picture taken at Janie and Jack

Other than that, Devin is SUPER excited for Christmas and cannot wait to put out cookies for Santa. We will be making a paper chain today so he can count down the days. I wanted to get together an Advent calender but with traveling to NJ I just never got my act together in time. He is pumped to decorate the tree this week when we get it.

Riley girl is such a doll and it is a good thing because when she wants to be she is a feisty magoon! She is really starting to get interested in talking and she has mastered "NO." She has really cute mannerisms and I am glad that the family was able to see her show some of them this weekend.

family vaca highlights and lil update

OK, so it has been a while but for good reason. ten days ago the laptop hard drive died so i have been without a computer. i still am, but i do h.ave a droid so i can do limited stuff on my phone. we took a mini vaca last weekend and went to Arizona for a few days. we left Thurs afternoon and drove to flagstaff which is about four hrs from Vegas. Friday morning we made the very scenic half hour drive south to sedona for the day. frank and i went there in 2006 for a trip we took before we moved west but not since. Sedona is one of the most beautiful places in my opinion. I love how it is so colorful and it truly is so unique since it hosts ponderosa pines and agave on the same mountain side. We did a small hike to a creek which took about an hour and half round trip and of course the kids gave up half way through. I will upload pics when i get a computer ;). Sat we woke up and drive 90 miles north-ish to the east end of the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Absolutely beautiful and the sheer size of it was amazing. It really is something everyone should see in person and just stand there and take it in. I remember when a college friend of mine had never seen the ocean before and she just stood there and looked at it with amazement. I take for granted the magnificence of the ocean since i grew up sitting in front of it all summer long.

After spending the afternoon driving the rim we drove south 50 miles to a lil town called Williams, AZ. Williams is on historic 66 and is where the Polar Express departs from to drive to the North Pole to see Santa. Devin was so amped up for this portion of our trip and rightfully so. What kid wouldn't die to ride on a century old locomotive to the North Pole at night? The Polar Express book was read, cookies and hot cocoa were given out and Santa gave Dev and Riley a bell just like the book.

The next morning we drove down the road a few miles and drove through a new drive through animal thing called Bearizona. They had bison, white bison, wolves, long horned sheep and bears in different 'natural' habitats with a dirt road to drive through and check them out. Kids loved that!

Now onto updates for the kids. Devin is doing well in school and wants to go more often than two days a week. If we are still in Las Vegas next year, hopefully we can send him M, W, F instead of Tues/Thurs. He is getting better at writing and more interested in taking initiative to do it himself. He really does love playing with older kids and thankfully we have great kids in our neighborhood who are nice and let him join in with them when they play in the street out front.

Riley is a pistol! She is one hard  nosed kid who knows what she wants. I cant imagine where she got that strong personality trait from. Haha, but in all honesty she is so sweet. She does not put up with any bs from Devin either. She is starting to talk more and more each week and has such a sweet little voice. We are starting to work on potty training slowly and she does pretty well. She will tinkle if I sit her there before the shower/bath and she claps for herself but she is nowhere near telling me she has to go.

Janie and Jack is having another Friends and Family weekend!

So ya'll know how much I LOVE Janie and Jack! They must not be doing so well because they are hosting another Friends and Family weekend this coming weekend. It is only 25% off total purchase instead of 30% like last time...but that is ok. 25% is better than nothing. There is only 4 things I really really want to have. Now, I already have the brown tights to match this stuff. They are actually from three different lines. The first two are from Autumn Classics, bows are from the Halloween line and the dress is from Le Leopard. I am not sure if they have Riley's size but I will call today and find out. Janie and Jack in the winter is a little on the queer side for boys so there is not much cool/preppy for Devin. All 4 pieces will only cost about $58 after the discount when they retailed for $132...so that is a big savings. There are a few pieces that I would buy if they did not have this available that I would save for Riley for winter to spring transition. There are two other dresses that I LOVE but Riley does not fit well in them. . I mean how pretty are they? And can I tell you how awesome the colors are on her! Ugh it's time like this I wish she was more averaged size and not so petite. I do love the dress in the Le Leopard line though because it looks like a baby Chanel to me. These two are on my backup list because I think that they would go great with a dark pair

of jeans she already has from Old Navy that I got for $7 during their deal days sale.

I have some extra money from selling Riley's winter wardrobe from last winter on EBay so this is stuff will be bought with that extra money. Gymboree is also hosting a Friends and Family this weekend and theirs is 30% off and their prices are lower to start....but their stuff is not half as cute and there is really only one line for Riley I would buy a few items from. They are giving gymbucks away right now when you spend $50 but I do not think I have $50 worth of stuff to buy from there. Gymboree does have a fire engine line and football line for Devin that I know he would like,  and he could use play clothes. We shall see if anything jumps out at me Thursday when I go while Devin is at school.

Weather has been HOT here again and I hate it. I do not want 85 I want 65....time for fall to stay. Most people would die for this weather....but man alive lets cool down and have real fall weather. Other than that, not much else to report. Oh Riley peed in the potty last night before her bath and she clapped for herself so she knows what she is doing. Not bad for 19.5 mo. Now if I could just get her to do that more often we would be in business.

Halloween has come and gone....Success or failure? What do you do when your kids had to pee and you are in gridlock?

Ok, so now here in Las Vegas they have trick or treating in outdoor shopping areas. I never heard of this back east. There hours of trick or treating are 4-8 at the shopping areas which works out well because our neighborhood does not start until 6pm so that allows a lil time at the shops before dinner and back home.

Our first Halloween here we took Devin all dressed up as a monkey to The District over by a casino in Henderson. This is where Devin was photographed by the local newspaper and was the only kid from that event featured. We were proud first time parents to have their 4 month old in the paper already :). The major negative about this place was there were seriously long lines to wait to trick or treat at the stores. So, we decided to skip The District this year and try out Town Square which is another outdoor shopping area since Devin definitely was going to want to trick or treat.

being a kitty cat meowing while she crawled

We arrived at Town Square around 4:15 and it was packed already. The lines were 20-30 kids deep and parents where shoving their kids forward to try and cut my 1.5 year old kitty off. F off lady! You are messing with the wrong mom if you think your 8+ year old child can butt in front of my 1.5 and 3 year old children. I mean, I expected there to be a lot of children/parents from less fortunate areas since this is a safe place to trick or treat and maybe their neighborhoods are not....but that in no way means you can be rude and pushy when you are waiting for a frickin thing of sweet tarts. Ok, now that I am past that rant....Devin and Riley were photographed all over the place. Random moms and grandmoms asked for my or Frank's permission to take their picture. I do not know these people from Adam, but hell at least they asked. Frank was asking me if this is the type of attention we always get and I smiled and said yes. I tell him all the time that random people tell me how cute the kids are, but at least now he sees what I am talking about. He probably thought I was just making it up.  A guy with a media necklace also took Devin's picture but he never asked our info so I have no idea what paper he is from.

Devin was also entered into a costume contest for the center by suggestion of UNLV cheerleaders that were there. In entering the contest, he got to take a picture with two cheerleaders and it was made into a trading card. The guy running the contest told us to come back at 6 and I told him we most likely would not be in the square at 6 and he said it is highly suggested that we be there for the winners announcement (as he smiled and said he has good pull.) Devin then gave him pounds and blew it up and I think that sealed his fate because at 6 pm Devin was announced as winning funniest costume out of all the kids that entered. There were two other winners, scariest and cutest. Devin won 4 tickets to UNLV's season opener basketball game, but unfortunately we will be out of town that weekend so our across the street neighbor and his friends are going to go.

Now Town Square was a total bust as well besides the fact my kid got recognized for being awesome. Stores were out of candy by 4:45 and the lines were amazingly long for the stores that did have candy left. We walked to the car just after 6 when the contest ended. It took us 57 minutes to get out of the parking lot. Frank ended up having to go to one of the bars and get take out kids meals for our two. I wish they gave beer in take out cups because I definitely could have used one of those last night. Devin had to go potty after Frank went to get dinner and we were in gridlock traffic....I searched my car for a water bottle since I am NOTORIOUS for having a bazillion in there but none. Shit! I couldn't let him pee in the parking lot with 100s of people around. Then wait, I had a nalgene in the back seat...emptied it out and he peed into that. Thank God for my nalgene container. He told me he felt "much better" after he went and that for sure bought us a lot more time to sit and wait to get out. I just kept thinking of that scene in Dumb and Dumber when Harry and Lloyd were on their way to Apsen and peed in the beer bottle and the cop drank it. I made sure to tell Frank not to drink the nalgene when he did get back in the car. My friend Mandy also went to Town Square and it took her over an hour and half to get out of the parking lot while my other friend Tina went to The District and said it was a total success! Not sure how the trick or treating was for her there....but she said it was a breeze to get in and out. BOO!

Once we got home around 7:15, Riley went straight to bed and Devin and I walked around our immediate neighborhood for an hour. He was exhausted by then and since there were hardly any trick or treaters out, each house was giving him 2-3 pieces of whatever they gave out. He filled up his little PBK spider within 15 or so houses and we came home. He laid out all his candy and we put it in piles of like things. He went to sleep soon after that as well. They were wiped out!

I am SO glad I bought pretzel bags now. I did not want to buy candy because too many kids are fat and I do not want to contribute to keeping them fat and because I do not give our kids candy so any leftovers had to be something they are allowed to have.....we had two, yes two trick or treaters. Last year we blew through our treats we gave out and this year....two kids came! I am going to have to do a mock trick or treating with the two kids tonight so I can get some pics for Riley's photo book.

Peacock pride is back! Did I ever tell you how cute Riley is? See for yourself!

Devin had his Halloween concert and parade today at school. The parents were to arrive at 9 am and we went to his classroom. All the students were lined up around the carpet and they all looked SO SO SO cute. Devin got to stand next to Orphan Annie! They sang a good 6 or 7 songs all about Halloween and scary stuff. They acted out waving their hands and doing all sorts of movements throughout the songs. Sweetest kid ever. Once I figure out how to upload videos off my camcorder to the Internet I will do so.

 Devin and his teachers

 We then went to the all purpose room and the kids came down in a line about 5 minutes later. The 4 year olds were in front of his class and it is hysterical to see how much better they walk in a line and wave at the same time. I swear the 3 year olds have a hard time concentrating on doing both while dressed up with lots and lots of moms and dads staring at them. I know there were not parents there for every kid in Devin's class and that makes me sad. I would hate for my child not to have someone there to smile back at them. After they marched out of the preschool wing and into the elementary wing they went outside. Riley and I left at that point and ran some errands.

After our errands we had an hour or so to kill so we went to a park down the street from Devin's school. My friend Mandy and her daughter Mia swung by for the tail end for a little fresh air too. Her daughter was 1 in August so she and Riley are the perfect playmate age. I took some pictures of Riley while we were playing and here they are. She is SO easy to take pictures of when she is in her element. That was NOT the case last Saturday when we went to the portrait studio to try and take our family photo. She wanted nothing to do with sitting still or lookingat the photographer. I got some goods ones none the less and cannot wait to share them. There is one serious face one that she looks identical to me as a kid. I know my mother would say she has my puss. The rest were just so cute I could not decide. I have another 15 or just that are just like these.

Halloween is almost here! Everyone is missing his first concert/parade :(

 I was never really into Halloween....but now that I have two kids I find myself LOVING it. They are just so fricking cute in their costumes. Devin is going to be a chef. I got the costume during Gymbucks redemption period at Gymboree last month and Riley is going to be a kitty cat that is from Old Navy. I scored Riley's at a community yard sale new with tags for $5 last fall....SCORE! Devin has been asking if it is time to wear his costume now for two weeks. We thankfully had a chance to put them in their costumes last Saturday for a friend's Halloween themed birthday party. They were so cute and got lots of compliments. Kids are just so cute all dressed up for the holiday. Devin's hat is a tad big so it pushes his ears out, but he does not seem to mind. Since Riley is now finally talking a bit she can say "meow" when she is in her costume. Cami (the birthday girl) was a lil ladybug and was sweet as can be!

taken at the park last Friday

 taken at the park Friday

Devin is SO excited to go trick or treating this weekend. In Las Vegas we have perfect weather for it. The average is usually 65-75 so there is no major layering needed like there was back East when we were kids. I bought Snyder's pretzel bags and fruit roll ups for the trick or treaters. Frank calls me lame and told me we were going to get egged since I did not buy candy. I will not buy chocolate since childhood obesity is everywhere....and if we have left overs, I want our kids to be able to eat what we have (and I will not give them candy). I got the fruit roll ups to satisfy him with giving out sugar.  Last year I gave out goldfish snack bags and Annie's snack bags. Devin also has a Halloween concert and parade at school on Thursday. I am so sad that all of our family is missing it. It is times like this I really hate living so far away from everyone. He is overly excited and anxiously awaiting for Thursday to get here so he can "walk in a line" with his friends and "smile and wave to Mommy and Daddy." I guess the teachers have been prepping the kids on what a parade is. I will be that mom who has her video running and camera out as well.

Devin officially is staying dry overnight. He has been potty trained for over a year during the day time, but up until last month had been peeing in his pull up at night. The kid is the soundest sleeper ever. I was taking him to the potty when Frank and I went to bed around 10 and he stands and pees in his sleep, carry him back to bed and he rolls over and continues sleeping. Hysterical! Now he wakes up dry everyday. So glad because those pull ups are expensive! I was proud to have potty trained him so early for a boy....but confused as to why he was still peeing at night. At least that chapter is over and now Riley is next. I will hopefully have her potty trained started in December. I figure she is 21 mo by then and is already interested now.

I took the kids to the local park yesterday since the weather was absolutely perfect out. I really want to get better at taking pictures so I brought the camera along and was playing with the settings. These last three pics are some that I took. I love taking pictures and I love having the camera to be able to do it....I just wish I had the knowledge of all my camera offered. I am starting to read up on it more...but I guess I just need to get out there and practice more. Kids are tough to take pics of though since they are all over the place. I like action and candid pics better than still sitting portraits. I love kids in action and seeing their personality first hand. None of these pics have been edited, so that is my next chore....figure out how I can play with the settings of the picture with editing software.

Trip to Palm Desert, CA-A whole week to relax? and do nothing but relax?

Owning a Marriott Timeshare has been an awesome investment for us. We are able to vacation twice a year in fully equipped 2 bedroom condos instead of hotel rooms which is awesome when you have kids. Having a full kitchen and separate bedrooms is just heaven on Earth when traveling with young children that go to bed before you do and still take naps mid day.  This past week we went to Shadow Ridge in Palm Desert Cali which is about 10 minutes away from Palm Springs, CA.  As Marriott owners we were able to receive special privileges to a private pool area and they allowed us to change our room (to a whole different building) because I did not like the view. We were originally placed in a second floor unit facing the back end of a water feature and stared at the maintenance path that the crew takes. BLAH! So I called the front desk and they moved us to a third floor unit across the way that over looked a lake on a beautiful green. Score! There was little bunnies and ducks every night that played in the grass below our room.

There were three adult sized pool, a toddler pool, water slide with pool and two splash pads on the grounds. There was never a problem with over crowded pool areas which is so surprising. The weather was hot and averaged about 95-98 daily and cooled down at night to about 70. Who wouldn't want to vacation in that weather? Our guess was that during this time of year desert golf courses over seed and they are closed for 4-6 weeks at a time including the Nick Faldo course that was in our resort. Frank did not golf while we were there. He did not want to go alone, and without a babysitter I could not play with him. Maybe next time we can recruit some friends to vacation the same time we do and then the boys can play golf together or we all can go? 

As suspected, the kids LOVED LOVED LOVED the water slide. Devin and Riley both went down the first time on our laps and then after that it was the highlight of their day. Devin must have gone down on that slide 150 times with no exaggeration. The slide attendants got to know him by name. We sent Riley down a few times alone with one of us catching her at the bottom and she then swam with swimmies to the stairs where she would climb up and walk back to the stairs to go again. The loved the splash pads and the one pool where we had privileges to was zero entry so they could just walk in like at the beach. The majority of this pool was 3-3.5 feet where we played so Devin was able to jump off the side and stand when he was in the water.

There is a big shopping area called Paseo Drive which they compare to Rodeo Drive in BH. Now I was not that impressed with it and Frank told me I was spoiled by living in Las Vegas and so close to Philly and NYC growing up. They had the usual round up of Tiffany's, Gucci, Kate Spade, Burberry, Lucky, True Religion, Janie and Jack, JCrew, Coach etc....but the cool part was the art galleries. There were so many art galleries and jewelry stores. We went into a few galleries and fell in love with one painter. His name was Michael James Smith from England and does oils. He paints English countrysides and it takes him 15-16 layers to create his finished product. We SO would have bought one, but there was a downside....smallest one was a 16 by 20 and was 10K. Largest one was 4 ft by 5ft and was 75k. A bit pricey for us, but they were amazing none the less.  We went to a nice dinner there at a place called Pacifica Seafood and it was pretty good. Kids behaved well and we were complimented on them. I was stressed out worrying that others would get mad if they were too noisy, but nothing that a few glasses of wine couldn't fix.

Besides golf and shopping there is not much to do in Palm Desert/Palm Springs. There was a small zoo that we could have gone to, but we decided to skip it. We literally went to one of the pools everyday and just hung out. Believe me, we loved it for the first 3 or 4 days, but after that we were bored and ready for something else. So sad that we cannot just sit back and relax for a week. I think it would have been different if we did not have the kids with us because we would have been able to lay around and read a book or float in the pool, but with a 1.5 and 3 year old that was not in the agenda.

On the way home, we took a little detour to go to a U Pick Farm in the San Bernandino Mountains.  The place was called Riley's at Los Rios Rancho and they had apple picking and pumpkin picking. By the website and the reviews I thought this place was going to be the best farm on Earth. Our apple orchard here in Las Vegas was better than theirs and the pumpkin patch was about a 40 ft by 40ft patch of dirt with pumpkins scattered here and there. Kids loved it which made it all worth while. Frank got some fresh pressed apple cider and said it was the best he has ever had so that trip was totally worth the detour. The ride home was about 4.5 hours since we went the long way home by the children both took naps and the traffic coming into LV from LA was light for a Friday afternoon.

All in all it was a great week with the family. Kids had a blast and Frank and I were able to have a beer or two on the patio while the kids hung out. It is always nice to get away from home too (even though the landscaping and weather is exactly the same as our back yard haha).  I am not sure we would go back to that area again, unless like I said we were with other people.  Next up we have Sedona, AZ and the Grand Canyon leaving Vegas on  Nov 11th. We will also be going on the Polar Express in the Grand Canyon that Saturday night to see Santa. How cool! Totally stoked for that one.