If I can't beat them...join them....

So when your hubby works in the wine industry.....he brings home some good wine.....last night I decided to partake in a glass with dinner. I had some of the Big Red Monster and it wasn't bad. Especially with french bread, EVOO and Balsamic and a nice pasta meal!!!!

I got Photo Shop Elements for Christmas and the photo above is showing you that I'm in need of some serious help using it!!!

Okay I got's to take a shower now. We are heading out to a family New Years Eve Party. It's only about 2 miles from the house and we will be very safe and careful driving. I hope that everyone has a wonderful New Years with some fun photos to post tomorrow!!!!

How the day started.....

It started as any good day would start with a strong cup of coffee and still in my pj's!!! Well Christmas Day did anyway. Today it starts with me getting ready for work. Yep you heard right. It's maybe the first time in a long time I have had to work this day. That's cool though as I love my job. Hubby is home with the kiddos today and if I'm lucky (please lady luck smile down on me today) then when I get home the tree will be gone. POOF just like that!!! Loved the tree and the walk down memory lane as I watched the kids hang the ornaments but as of 7:50 AM today....I'm done.....So Santa baby just one more wish since I didn't get the Nikon under the tree...please get this dang tree out of my living room!! :-)

I will be back with lots of photos....but in the meantime if you want a good laugh take a look at the beans funny hubby doing ____________. You can fill in the blank.....dont' worry all those under 18 fans out there....it's rated G.

Only for the Serious Reptile Lover

You can check out my son's reptile blog if you want to take a peek at his new baby. You can also check out his You Tube videos. Have fun and thanks for reading his stuff!!!

Girl Scout FUN!!!

We had girl scouts last week at our house and made adorable gingerbread houses. Huge props to my friend Vicki who helps me lead these sweet little girl scouts!!!

Photoshop Elements ROCKS!!!!!

Here's Tam and I in the MUD week ago or so. It was a very interesting experience . I think I would do it again sometime but with a huge amount of lavender rubbed under my nose!!! Or peppermint!!!!

This was at Golden Haven in Calistoga.

Evil Cookie Eater!!!!

This boi was at my house last night!! He could not wait to get his hands on this cookie
and bite his head off!!!

See the glimmer in his eye...He's loving this!!!

See his smile?

Oh no he ate his smile off!!!! Dont' be sad boi!!! It's okay!!!! There's more cookies!!!

Okay so this was totally posed !!! That's Justin for playing along!!!!

He caught me a bass !

I got a birthday card from Napolean this year!!! How cool is that? I'm also sending out lots of birthday love on my flickr photos!!!! I'm sure by now you know where to find them!!!

Today is Saturday. I hope to stay in my robe (my new super soft robe) all day and putz around the house. I got a new clothing storage thing in our bedroom and it's not quite working cause I have been to busy (or some may say lazy) to keep up on it. Also I thought I would put this funny photo in about how different Rob and I are. I'm a thrash and he isn't!!! We are truly ying and yang and that's okay!!! That's what makes it work for the last 18 years!!!

I got my holiday cards printed and they are still sitting here. So if you get yours for New Years...no worries!!! Hope everyone has a nice holiday!!! Peace and Love to you all!!!

What's up 39 ?

Okay so it's here....the year before the big 40!!! Oh yeah!!!! It was a great day due to all my friends and family that made it special....check out my flick photos for more celebration and holiday fun!!!

A few of my favorite things!!!

Tam took me to Calistoga for my birthday today. We left about 10 AM and got home around 7pm. She only called home a few times to check on her adorable baby girl. Hey she's only 10 months old and I would of been calling to check in also!!! I accidently left my cell phone at home charging so I was "out of the office" today!!! Oh well!!!

The day was beautiful and it's been a really long time since I had been up that way. Well except for Rob's work party in Yountville. St. Helena had the best make up beauty product store and we had a great time laughing in there at all the funny products they were selling. Some of you may see some of these at BUNCO in February!!! We stopped at the Napa Outlets on the way home and Tam got some cute clothes at Gymboree Outlet for Kendall.

Calistoga's downtown is really cute and we had lunch at Checkers. I guess that's where alot of the locals eat. The COBB salad was yummy and I always like a Roy Rogers to complete my meal!!!

THANKS TAM!!! Love our birthday spa days!!!!!

Just bring my refills and make sure to add the grenadine!!! YUMMY

We got mudd'd

What a very interesting experience the mud bath was. It was both of our first tims doing this and I give Tam HUGE kudos for trying something so "un-clean". First of all...mud does not smell too good. It would of been better if they had some aromatherapy to rub under my nose. The mud is so dense and think that it's really hard to even get down to the bottom of the tub in the mudd. The heating coils are at the bottom of the mud and your not even supposed to lay on the bottom. It would of been hard to even get to the bottom anyway. Getting out was laughable and was hilarious. We were like two pigs stuck in the mud !!

I have a few cute photos but need to do some Photoshop work to two of them before I can post. This is a G rated blog after all. Tam and I were laughing hysterical several times during this experience. I suggest that everyone try it just once in their life.

I think a little birdie told me that I'm getting Photo Shop Elements for my birthday so hopefully sometime this week I will get to re-touch those photos and post them!!!

got mud? I did!!!

got mud ?

I'm off to Calistoga with Tam. It's a celebration mudbath and massage for my upcoming birthday this week. It's our first mud bath and should prove to be interesting!!!

Will post later with photos!! LOL

Happy Holidays !

Brotherly Love!!!

The First Graders had their winter performance last night. They did so great and were so cute!! You can check out FLICKR and see more photos of friends and family at the event!!

Big Big THANKS to Aunt Wen!!!

How cute are these ? The kids went with Aunt Wendy last weekend and had some gingerbread house fun!!! We had Rob's company party so the kids went to the BAY for the weekend. It's always fun with Aunt Wendy!!!

Thanks Aunt Wendy for always making it fun for the kids!!!

You can see more Aunt Wen photos here.

East Bay Vivarium

My kid wants to live here. He also wants to work here. I wonder if you could drop your 11 year old off there on a Friday night and pick them up on Sunday? Kind of like a work program for kids!!!

This is his favorite place and Christmas might come early next weekend for the little reptile freak!!!!

Even if you are not a freak about reptiles but your kids just like to look at them....I highly encourage you to take a weekend trip here and check it out. It's like going to the zoo ! Plus 4th street Berkeley is really fun!!!

Dinner Time

Every night we sit down to a full meal just like this..the crock pot on one end of the table and the rice maker on the other. ..okay TAM get off the floor and stop LAUGHING!!!!!! I did start the crock pot this morning and before gymnastics the rice maker. Rob got home and sat the table and got the "trees" steamed!!! What a guy!!!!

He's just a skater boy !

Is it just me or does he look huge in the above photo?

My little guy is growing up!! He's almost 12 ! Goodness where does the time go?

Excuse the white trash, tarp covered summer bar!!! We have to protect it from the elements!! Wolfie's been practicing going off his jump and wanted me to capture it!!!

Fun & Games

Anyone ? Bueller ?

Okay so no one has guessed yet where we went.....so here's a virtual tour of our day!!!

Check this out!!!

Study Buddy!!!

That's my boi!!!! Thanks to my stand in mom for snapping the photo!!!

Guess Where ?

We had such a nice day yesterday. I don't have time to post all the photos but want to take a guess where we went? If you grew up in this area it should take you down memory lane!!!

Lexi Loves Piano !

Daddy Brought Home FUN!!!

Rob went to a class in San Francisco and meet up with his sister for dinner that night in China Town. He brought some sparklers back for the kiddos. The smell always brings me back to being a little kid and the excitement of the 4th of July.

I have been good Santa !

Think he will leave one of these under the tree? Yeah I don't think he will but it was lot of fun using this for a weekend!!! We took family photos and used one of Rob's friends Nikon cameras. It was the one he used at his old job. It's not every day that I get to use a $5000 camera!!!

Hat Girl !

Some of my favorites!!!

Now that I'm working and need to put a fresh face on each day I have been having fun with make up. After going virtually without makeup for quite some time it's been fun to experiment. My sister in law got me hooked on a new powder Bare Escentuals. It works great and I don't even need any liquid foundation. It's a little pricey at first (about $60 for the starter set) but it last's a long time and comes with 2 or 3 nice brushes and 3 powders. Also it comes with a primer moisturizer.

I also love the face products that philosophy makes. They work great and don' feel greasy on my face. They are a bit more spendy than the Neutrogena I have been using but I don't go through it that fast so it should last a while. Plus I'm almost at the amazing age of 40 so I need to take better care of my skin!

Here's some of the fun lotions I have been getting. Also a few Smashbox sample products that are good for getting a matte face.

These are 2 of my favorite everyday perfumes!!! Can't go wrong with these fresh scents!!

Okay so what are a few of your favorites?

Relaxing Sunday !

We went to church last night and tried a new church. It was like going to a rock concert. Very uplifting and a great pastor. It was nice to sleep in a bit and here's a glimpse into our relaxing morning!!