Santa Claus Expedition 2007

Well, it's that time of year again! Time to visit the man in the red suit...at the mall. Seriously, though, we have a lot of fun getting together with our best friends, Christina and Marcus, and their kids for our annual trip to visit with Santa. We get a few weird looks from the elves when they realize that the ten of us actually think we are going to visit Santa all together. In the end, we give Santa a break and split up into our respective families for the actual "gift Q&A" and subsequent picture. If you ask me, there's still an overwhelmed look in Santa's eyes when all four of my kids start coming at him fighting for a knee! It's the best spot you know! Honestly, this year, Tayler and Liam were very gracious and relinquished both Santa knees to their younger siblings without incident. Needless to say, I was very proud of them for giving up the best seat in the house without causing a scene! Santa was great too, though, and made sure that despite the distance between them, he leaned over to Tay and Lee and still had a private "talk" with each of them as well. All of the kids enjoyed their trip to Santa this year...even our Godson who sternly "opted out" of sitting with Santa, had a good time just looking at the big guy from afar!

Santa Expedition 2007 was a success (complete with a picture that we can actually share with others)! After, we just spent the rest of the day (and evening) at our friends' house playing games and laughing until the wee hours of the morning (warming up for New Year's Eve). It was a great way to spend a day of our Christmas season...having a great time with the best of friends!

Viva Las Vegas!

Howdy! Scotty and I went to Las Vegas for one of his conferences December 3-8. We had a pretty good time, but unfortunately, my feet were killing me all week long so I declined to walk up and down the strip too much! I mostly spent my time in my hotel room (which was incredible really...aside from a host of small problems with customer service at our hotel, The Wynn).

Other than spending some "me" time taking bubble baths (complete with flat screen television in the bathroom), having leisurely breakfasts (which included things like banana pancakes and smoothies, french toast and cocoa) while overlooking a breathtaking view of the strip, I only made a few jaunts to the Fashion Show Mall directly across the street to pass the time while Scott was in conference. There were a couple of hopping events while we were there including a party hosted by Microsoft, but my favorite evening there was simple and quiet...kicking back watching License to Wed after raiding the mini bar of its entire stock of Diet Coke and snacks!

Although it was very relaxing having nothing to HAVE to do, or no where I HAD to go, I missed the kids so much! I found myself sitting in my luxurious bubble baths (which were special treats that I never have time to indulge in at home) watching, of all things, Nickelodeon! All day long I'd find I was most comforted just having our television "staples" playing in the background (i.e. Dora/Diego, Backyardigans, Spongebob, etc.).

Here are a couple of pics from our trip...enjoy!

Halloween Pictures -- (courtesy of my Dad)

Hi everyone!

There were quite a few pics to show you so I put them in a slide show to make things more amusing...not that they weren't amusing to begin with!! Liam knew before anyone that he wanted to be Spiderman. He was very set on that. Tayler didn't know what she wanted to be...she didn't like anything she saw until she spotted the Bratz Bat costume. It was all over from there. Max wanted to be something spooky...that's all he knew. So we got a spooky mask and little robe, but if you ask me, he was too stinkin' cute to be scary (I just won't tell him that)! Abby Gracie didn't have trouble finding a costume. Quite frankly, she wanted to be everything! She's definitely not hard to please. As long as she looked "pretty", that was all that mattered. So, she picked out what she believed was the "prettiest" outfit there (meaning the one with the most fabric, lace, sparkly doo dads, etc.).

Halloween day/night were very different this year because Scotty was away on a business trip. The kids were very disappointed when they heard Daddy couldn't take them trick-or-treating. Hopes for a super-fun evening were renewed, however, when they found out that a couple of their friends, Hunter and Courteney, were going to be able to trick-or-treat with them. In addition, Grandpa and Grandma D., Uncle Bud, and a special visitor, Great Grandpa H., were going to be able to come help us keep our minds off missing Daddy. That was very helpful!

During the afternoon, I took the kids for a special afternoon outing to Sweet Tomatoes (in their costumes they were itching to finally wear), and we met Grandpa and Grandma D. and Uncle Bud there.

It was a very unusual Halloween this year, but it turned out to be alright. The kids and I sure appreciated everybody that helped make our day/evening a special one. Thank you!

Love,
Kimi

Disclaimer: I just wanted to make it known that the quality of the pictures as they appear in the slideshow are not accurate. The haziness or spotting you see is a characteristic of the slideshow itself. The original pictures themselves are clear. Thank you!

Blogging...such a brand new thing for me!

Well, it's about time! Seems kinda weird...my husband is an internet marketing expert, we have an internet marketing business, and everything internet-related seems to be oozing out our ears, and yet, this is the first time I've touched anything resembling a blog! Brand new territory!

Yes! I've finally embarked on my very own blogging adventure. I finally decided to just sit down and get one started. I was so tired last night that I swore I was going to bed at 11:00. Then, of course, I sat down at the computer for "JUST A SEC...gotta check my email." Famous last words! At 4 a.m., I finally closed up shop because I could no longer see straight. Anyway, the result was very basic and I haven't had the time, or the mental capacity, to think of several clever posts yet, but at least I finally have something up on the web for your entertainment.

So, that's it for now...hope to be back soon with some more updated photos and posts. Thanks for visiting us!

Love,
Kimi