Here Comes Santa Claus...

Last night we went to see Santa Claus at Irvine Regional Park. We took the train through the Christmas lights to Santa's village. Santa was very jolly and he might have been English or Scottish...I bet you didn't know that but he definitely had an accent.

Waiting in line with my wonderful hubby. The train starts running at 5pm and we got there at 4:40ish...I would highly recommend going earlier rather than later because as we were leaving the line was crazy!Hayden told Santa her Christmas wishes...we will see if she is a good girl and gets what she asked for. Santa is just hoping she doesn't change her mind on Christmas Eve like she did last year!
The boys didn't cry when they sat on Santa's lap...and that's all I could ask for.
The whole family and Santa.
Bobpa, Nonni and the kids.
Thanks Bobpa and Nonni for the great visit!!

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving yesterday. Joey's parents are in town and we had a feast fit for a king, if I do say so myself. I stressed about the turkey all week and, to be honest, it was the best thing about the meal...beginner's luck apparently!

Bobpa, Nonni and Hayden

The table before the meal


The boys decided they wanted to wear their Thanksgiving meal

I'm so thankful for my family. I have a wonderful husband who loves me for me and, most of the time, I'm grateful for his sense of humor. I have three beautiful children who bring me joy daily. I love being a mom and I'm grateful for all I learn from my children. I'm thankful for my extended family. I have wonderful in-laws who treat me like a daughter. I have wonderful brothers, sister, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law. I'm thankful my parents moved back to the States...even though they live in Tennessee, I can call my mom at normal hours and talk to her. I feel like I have so many people who love me. I'm thankful for this time of year to reflect on what's important.

He passed!!!!! (Not that there was any doubt)

This afternoon and evening were a little stressful but at 6pm this evening, Joey found at that he passed the California bar exam on his first try. He didn't seem all that stressed out but I managed to stress for him. I'm so proud of him and all his hard work. I love you baby!

Our little clown...

Hayden cracks me up...here are a few of her "funnies" from today.

I was giving the kids a bath and they were splashing and being a little crazy. Hayden pulled a towel into the bath and I said, "I'm so mad, I can't even speak" to which she replied, "Mom, you need to have surgery to fix that." I couldn't help but laugh.

Then right before bed she was playing in her room while I was reading on the floor in the boys room. I put the boys down and went to put her down to bed. I opened her door and said, "Wow, Hayden it stinks in here." She said, "Yeah, my Barbies tooted." Too funny!

Thank goodness kids are funny!!

A Typical Saturday Morning...

This is a typical Saturday morning at the Anderson house...

Lincoln loves his "glasses" from his doctor kit. He was doing a little reading in our bed this morning.


Hayden was in a princess dress by 7am and playing in her room.

Spencer was in time-out...poor kid has a hard time listening.

My little sweetheart...

I went to the library to pick up some books for preschool the other day. Since I had the books sent from other libraries there was a $.25 fee per book, so I owed $1.00. I didn't have any cash so I told the librarian that I would pay next time. Well this morning at breakfast Hayden looked at me and said, "Mom, I've decided to give you all my money since you don't have any, that way you can do what you need to do." Be still my heart...she is so sweet!

Want a good laugh??

After Joey and I got married, he showed this baby picture of himself to me. Things might have ended differently had he shown it to me before I said, "I do". I always laugh when I see it and we all need a good laugh sometimes...even if it's at my husband's expense!

I love you babe!!!!

Tagged...

Favorite Person (outside family): I have some amazing friends I couldn't pick just one...I have been really blessed!

Favorite Food: Chocolate and Mexican...Ohhhh how I wish Cafe Rio were close!

Quirks about you: I have a little bit of OCD ...Joey makes fun of me and says I'm like Howard Hughes and afraid of germs...he's kind of right!

Any regrets in this life: The big, ugly tattoo on my back.

Favorite Charity/Cause: I give most of my charitable contributions to the LDS church and as many of us know, they do amazing things with the money.

Favorite Blog: My sister's blog because I never see her!

Something You Can't Get Enough of: If Joey gets home early enough, we turn on the music and have a dance party in our family room. We all dance and have a blast. The kids laugh and laugh and it is perfect!

Worst Job You've Ever Had: Ohhhhhh, that's hard. It would either have to be when I was in-between jobs when Joey and I were first married and I waitressed at a hole-in-the-wall diner or when my parents thought they should teach me responsibility and made me work at a friend's catering business during Spring Break to save money for my choir trip to NYC...I have done a lot of food service jobs that I thoroughly enjoyed...anyone know Rosa's in Provo, I waitressed there for a few years in college and loved that job!

What Job Would You Pay NOT to Have: Sign waver...I loved holding signs for Prop. 8 but I believed in it. I can't imagine waving a sign for Subway or Mervyn's...I would go bananas!

Guilty Pleasure: America's Next Top Model, Project Runway and Top Chef. I watch them by myself. Ohhhh and I love cookie dough, whenever I make cookies, I love sneaking cookie dough.

Got Any Confessions: Not that anyone deserves to know!

If you had $1000 to spend on yourself, how would you spend it?: If I HAD to spend it on myself, then I would spend a day at the spa and go shopping. That would be heavenly!

Favorite Thing About Your House: I'll be honest, I LOVE MY HOUSE! My parents moved overseas when I was in high school. Since they lived so far away, I never went "home" for breaks from college. I feel like I have the home that I missed for so long. It's comfortable and it's peaceful and I love it!

One Thing You are Bad at: I wanted to learn how to knit and I tried and my fingers wouldn't listen to the directions from my brain. I know it takes practice but someone is going to have to sit and show me if I'm ever going to learn.

If You Could Change One Thing About Your Circumstances, what would it be?: I would have our student loans paid off!

Who would you like to meet someday: Ummmm, that's hard. If it's someone fun that I would like to meet then I would pick Clinton from What Not To Wear...he's my gay crush! We could go shopping and have lunch...a girl can dream! If it's a serious person I would like to meet, ummm that's too hard....I'll stick to Clinton.

What makes you feel sexy?: Working-out...I wish I could do it more! Since I had the boys my
body isn't the same, I don't think it will ever be, but working out makes me feel like I'm my old pre-baby self.

Who is Your Real Life Hero?: My parents moved to Japan my senior year of high school and my brother and sister-in-law moved into our house. I was not the easiest teenager to live with and they were soooooooo good to me. I would have to say that they helped me more than they will ever know. My hubby is one of my heroes too. He sees more potential in me than I will ever see in myself. He expects a lot out of me because he believes in me. He really makes me a better person...I know it sounds cliche, but it's true!

What is the hardest part of your job?: Trying to communicate and reason with two 21-month old boys.

When are you most relaxed?: I have gotten three facials in my life and I wish I could have one once a month. I love feeling warm under the blankets and then the smell of the oils...ohhhh, it's so nice. I prefer facials to massages...I'll send hints Joey's way for my birthday!

What can you not live without?: My family...I love Joey, Hayden, Spencer and Lincoln more than life itself!

Do you agree or disagree with the recent article that reported that blogs are authored by narcissists? Haven't read it, but it's just like a photo album and people choose to read it...I don't expect anyone to read this...it's more for myself...maybe that means I'm narcissistic!

Why do you blog? To keep my mom and mother-in-law happy! I enjoy reading everyones blogs and I'm sure there are one or two of you out there that like reading mine!

Who are you tagging? Abby, Karin, Bethany and whoever else wants to do it!!!!

Snow White?

One word...blackmail!

I think I might hate Halloween!

My boys have never been candy eaters...and then there was Halloween and they discovered the goodness of chocolate and the deliciousness of chewy fruitiness...at breakfast this morning they saw the candy bowl on top of the fridge and pointed to it. It's their sign for, "I want that right now." Of course, I said, "No, we are going to eat a good, healthy breakfast" and all you-know-what broke loose. Sorry about the quality of the video but my camera died right after I shot this even though they continued telling me how upset they were for quite a while!

Happy Halloween!

My brother and his family were in San Diego this past week. I took the kids down to their resort on Tuesday. We swam at the pool and had a great day. On Friday they came up to visit and stayed for trick-or-treating.

Here are the kids with their fantastic Halloween shirts that I made with some friends. Thanks Charise for getting that together!!!!
Princess Peach and her cute cousin Cambridge!
Mario and Luigi...I'm a huge dud and forgot their mustaches...I remembered for Joey's work party and the Trunk or Treat at church but on the most important night of all, it slipped my mind.
Our little family!
I bet you didn't know that Mario supported Prop. 8...well he does!!!


My brother, Brennan, and my cute neice, Addison! It was the first time I had met her and she is the cutest, little thing! My nephew, Parker, aka The Surgeon!!!!
My sister-in-law, Sandi. My brother and she started dating when they were in high school so she is like a sister to me because I feel like I've known her forever...and she has still loved me through all my awkward stages!

Pumpkin Carving

We carved our pumpkin earlier this week. Joey designed the face and I did the cutting. This is the first year that Joey has entrusted me to do the cutting. The Anderson family has a special technique for making the teeth and apparently it's taken me 5 years of watching to be able to finally do it!