HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We want to wish all of you a Safe & Happy New Year!

Whatever it is you are doing, have fun & be safe!

Cheers to 2007!

LITTLE STROLL DOWN CHRISTMAS CARD LANE...

At least the last 5 years! That's all I came across while taking the tree down! Yep, it's outta here!!

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

DOES THIS QUALIFY FOR MOM OF THE YEAR???

Okay, the sign reads...
"We will only have 7 Wii on 12/17. Availabilty not guaranteed at opening"
Well, guess wht I did the morning of 12/17?? I got up at 4:45am, headed down to our local Game Stop, in the FREEZING cold, and was #5 in line!!! Yeah, it's crazy and those who know how much I am anti-game systems are probably laughing right now, but I got one!! If I would of showed up 5 minutes later I would of been like 15th in line. It was a crazy experience let me tell you! The "gamers' mean serious business! People showing up had been driving all over looking for "no" lines! The first guy in line showed up at midnight and lived about 60 miles away and another guy lived about 75 miles away. Crazy crazy! I do have to mention that had I been that 8th person to get there my booty would have been straight back into my warm bed but you'd be surprised how many *dumb* people actually waited all morning thinking the sign was lying!! Probably about 30 people there when the store opened at 10am. Hello people!! I did feel quite "cool" when they only let the first 7 of us in to pay and all the other people were standing at the windows just staring in at us! Now I know how the celebrities feel being stalked by the Paparazzi! Everyone was cheering though as we were all being escorted out of the store with our purchase..It was a strange day....This rates right up there with a Mud Bath...something you only need to do once in your lifetime! I will never wait in line again for a game system and I will never do a Mud Bath again! Both were experiences I am glad I had but no need to do again!

But, it was all worth it when the kids opened up the Wii! Funny thing is, this is a gift from $$$ Uncle Pooh, Michele and Joe's parents sent for the boys. It wasn't even from us! Am I the best or what?!?! :-)) The kids and Joe and I hate to admit it me too LOVE it! It is soooooo cool! I have never been into these game systems and don't even know how to turn on the GameCube but I think I might have to figure out how to turn this on. It really is great excercise..even though my Wii Fitness Level is that of a 76 year-old. Sad, but true! Anywyas, Thanks Uncle Pooh, Michele & Pop & Shirley!

CHRISTMAS 2006

CHRISTMAS EVE AT DAVE & CATERINA'S
We had a great Christmas Eve-ning at Dave & Cat's with their family traditinal Italian Christmas Eve Seafood Feast! And, of course, it was FABULOUS with lots of great food! We always have a great time hanging out with Joe's sister and her family! I did not seem to get many pictures the whole Christmas weekend, but I will share with you what I did manage to take! Also at Cat's was Grammy Sue, Joe's Uncle Larry & Aunt Judi, Steve & Craig, Cousin Rick & Melissa, Melissa's Mom and brother and several friends and neighbors! It was a great Eve-ning even though we had to scoot out early to get home and tuck the kids in so SANTA could come!!

The boys with their Cousins Matt & Mike.... The boys and Grammy Sue....
The boys and Joe's cousin Rick and his wife Melissa. They are so great with the kids and always give them to coolest toys!....

CHRISTMAS MORNING AT HOME....
We always like to wake up at home on Christmas morning! The kids promised they would let us sleep until 5:30 and not wake us up before that! Well, I woke up just before 5:00 and could hear them talking so we got up! I remember being a kid and not being able to sleep Christmas Eve in anticipation of what Santa brought! I love watching my kids open their goodies and how excited they get over the littlest things!

Justin with his K'Nex Vertical Vengance Roller Coaster from Santa...

Jake and his Doodle Monster....

Joshy was way too fast for me to get a picture of him checking out his new "kid" sized Golf Clubs from Santa! Nothing is better than a Day of golfing with Dad! (Especially for Mom!!)...CHRISTMAS DAY AT MICHELE & LANCE'S....

After having a quiet morning at home we loaded up and headed up North to my brother Lance's house. Nothing says Christmas like "kids, here are all your wonderful gifts now you can't play with them for 3 days 'til we get home" haha! We had another FABULOUS meal Christmas Day...Prime Rib, and Salad & Potato Bar with all the fixins'! Of course, we all ate way too much but it was great! It was great meeting Michele's family-her Mom & Step-Dad and her Sisters family. Of course Momo & Papa were there as well!

Michele & Lance with Michele's kids Antonio, Vanessa & Kayla...
The boys Christmas Day. They were exhausted and thrashed by the end of the day!... Michele, Lance, Vanessa and her NEW CAR she got the day before for her Sweet 16 Birthday! Lucky!!...

DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS AT POP & SHIRLEY'S...

The day after Christmas we headed even further up North to Joe's parents house for the night. Another FABULOUS meal! We missed seeing Andy by a couple of hours but got to hang out with his oldest son Caleb! We had a good day just hanging out while the kids ran wild! Three straight inside days or in the car caught up with them at Grandma & Papa's!

The boys, including Caleb showing Grandma how weird they can be...
Pop and his "Questa Cuesta" sign telling us the story behind the sign... We ended up taking the kids Bowling while Pop was getting dinner ready. It was storming so bad and they had a serious case of cabin fever so we had to get out!!...
Josh & Caleb-they had such a great time playing and go along so well! It's too bad they live SO FAR away!...
So, as you read, we had a great Christmas week with lots of traveleing but it was worth it getting to squeeze in a little time with lots of the family. We did come home pretty thrashed and now Joe, Jake & I are fighting some sort of *bug*. Hope everyone else had a great Christmas as well! For even more pics click on my flickr box on the right --->>>

WHAT IS JOE DOING???!!!!

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS FROM THE BOYS!

We hope that all of our Family and Friends near and far have a Wonderful Holiday Season filled with family, good friends and much holiday cheer! We will be thinking about each of you that we are not able to be with this holiday season! Merry Christmas and here's a little message from the boys... (P.S. THANK YOU for all the Christmas Cards you have sent and all the great Christmas Picture Cards! We love them all!!!!!!!!)

WHAT JOSH WANTS JOSH GETS....

...at least that's what his brothers think!! But, all he wanted last night as we were heading out to a Christmas Party was a MOHAWK!! So, guess what Josh got? A Mohawk!! He thought we were going to cut it, no chance, but had to settle for just "gel-o" as he calls it in his hair! I really don't know where this child came from!! What 4 year old asks for a Mohawk?!?! Does he get that from Blue's Clues or Dora? No! Spongebob perhaps? I just don't know! All I know is we are (and already do!!) going to have our hands full when this one becomes a teenager!!!!

He was so proud of his do and strutted his stuff all night!!! As I'm sure most of you can imagine!

JOSHY'S DINNER PRAYERS

Okay, I have started a YouTube account just for Joshy's dinnertime prayers. We all wait with anticipation of what he might pray about! ( Of course Joe always says a proper prayer before or after! ) You really have to know Josh and his personality to really get these and appreciate them! And ever since his field trip to the fire station and the smoke detector battery dying in the middle of the night he has been a tad obssessed with fire! Anyways, go check out the videos I posted on YOUTUBE. If you have any problems just search for "Funny Dinner Prayer" or my username "3crazyboys".

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE POOH!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

TO MY

BABY BROTHER LANCE!

HOPE IT'S A GOOD ONE!

STAY OUT OF

TROUBLE TODAY :-)))

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASON!

Happy Birthday to my Brother-in-Law Jason! Hope your day is a good one!!

JUSTIN & WOLFIE

Okay, I "stole" this picture from Steph's flickr photos but I couldn't resist! This picture was taken last week at Jake & Lexi's Christmas Performance. Like Steph said, it's hard to believe these boys have been best little buddies for almost 10 year now! It's been fun watching them grow into the 6th graders that they are! They are funny little boys that's for sure! They were lucky enough to be in the same class to finish off Elementary School and in 6 more months off to Jr. High! Watch out! Such a scary thought!!

JAKE'S 1st GRADE CHRISTMAS PERFORMANCE

Jakey's class had their Christmas Performance last week and it was so cute. All the 1st grade classes joined together to sing about 5 songs! Sorry these are the best pics I got even being up front. It was hysterical when the kids started the parents were like paparazzi pushing their way to the front trying to get pictures!! The kids only have 2-1/2 days of school left then they are off for THREE WEEKS!!! Jake and Lexi! You can check out Steph's blog for more pics!

MY PAY IT FORWARD CHALLENGE!

** THIS WILL STAY AT THE TOP FOR AWHILE **

Okay, did anyone watch Oprah today? I only catch Oprah once in awhile and today was one of those days and it was awesome! Awhile back Oprah gave each person in her studio audience a $1000 BofA giftcard to spend on a complete stranger within a week. Today the same studio audience came back to tell their story of how they used it. It was such an inspiring episode! If you missed it and don't have it Tivo'd you can go to Oprah's website here to watch and read about all the stories! It's definetly a must see or read!!

This episode reminds me of a little something that happened to me about 2-3 weeks ago. I was in the drive thru at Starbucks, ordered my usual Venti Mocha, got up to the window to pay and the sweet Barista told me that the lady in front of me had paid for my order! I was completely shocked, she was a complete stranger because I remember sitting there looking at her car and not knowing who it was. In a small town like where I live chances are pretty good you know the person in front or behind you, but I specifically remember not knowing who it was! So, after chatting with the drive thru Barista about it she told me this happens every now and then and one time it went on for about 30 minutes straight during her shift. So, I paid for the person behind me and from there I'm not sure how far it went! Anyways, something so simple as that completely made my day and I think about it every time I go thru Starbucks now!

So, this is MY PAY IT FORWARD CHALLENGE FOR YOU!!! Next time you are at Starbucks, McD's or wherever make the day of the person behind you! Or anything else you may think of...give a complete stranger $10 bucks in the parking lot or buy some flowers and put them on someones front porch, buy a book at the bookstore or toy at the toystore and give to a child in the parking lot, anything, just PAY IT FORWARD!!! I know we all don't have the $1000 like Oprah, but anything small and simple will make the day of a complete stranger I guarantee it!! Then, leave a comment and share your story!!

AND THE STOCKINGS WERE HUNG BY THE CHIMNEY WITH CARE....

The lights are up outside, the tree is trimmed and the stockings are hung...now all we need to do is start shopping!!!! We finally got our tree decorated this weekend. The kids did all the decorating by themselves. I'm sure you can tell where Josh was working!!

And, here are my three little angels listening to Christmas Carols and playing a game oh-so-nicely together!!

JOSHY'S DINNERTIME PRAYER SATURDAY NIGHT

Joshy's Dinner Prayer...those who know Josh will get this and find it funny...those who don't will find it quite random, because it is!!! You never know what he might "pray" about before dinner!

MY TV PICKS!

Okay, as our shows wind down I have my definite favorites!! I definetly want Tyler & James to win Amazing Race! I can't stand Rob of Rob & Kimberley (he's such a jerk and she better dump him!!!) and Lyn & Karlyn are responsible for the Cho brothers leaving who I loved!!! So, that leaves me with the Boys! Actually, my whole family is rooting for them!!

And, Survivor!! Love it! It still has a few weeks but I LOVE OZZY!!!! He rocks! I love it when he climbs the coconute trees like a monkey :-))) The more rugged he gets each day the cuter he gets!! He is our favorite by far but we also love Yul!!

BRIAN'S 50th BIRTHDAY PARTY

We had a GREAT time at Brian's 50th Birthday Saturday night! They went all out and had a full Casino Night with a Craps Table, Blackjack Table & Roulette Table! Everyone had a great time and it really felt like we were in Vegas! Down to Scott serving us drinks when needed!! And, the best part was playing with the Casino's money!!! It's always a great time when we get together with all our family! Kelly & Brian always throw a great party, with yummy food from New Mecca and my Aunt Dolores has the perfect house for entertaining!! I did not get many pics unfortunately...I was too busy playing Roulette...But, you can check out the few pics I did take here... Flickr Pictures

Here's a rare pic (ya'all know how I hate having my picture taken!!) of Joe & I heading out the door...courtesy of Justin