Christmas '08!

Seems I have to post pictures of our Christmas just for posterity's sake, but there really isn't much to report. We had a lovely Christmas. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Where else in the world can you ride the bike Santa brought you in shorts and a t-shirt on Christmas morning?!


Santa brought Buddy this new bike. He has a bike, but he always wants to ride Mallory's bike because it's taller (too tall for him).


This is Buddy punching Tiny because Tiny won't give him his little $3.00 airplane. Nevermind Buddy received a Leapster, a new bike, and several other great toys!


Syd has decided she is collecting Barbies. Santa brought her the Holiday Barbie from the year she was born and her favorite Holiday Barbie from 2007.

Daily Voting!

It seems you can vote every day for the week, so you must keep voting! I have fallen out of first position. Come on, friends! Just click the cute, little Tip Junkie widget next to this post and place your daily vote!

Rock The Vote!

I have been selected as a finalist in the tree decorating contest on Tip Junkie! I need your vote to make me a winner. There were just about fifty contestants, so it's nice to be named a finalist. Go vote, please!

Just click on the little Tip Junkie widget next to this post to get there! See, I make it easy for you even! Vote every day if you can!

Milestones!

I had a little laugh to myself today and thought I would share. It may seem silly to some, but others will appreciate it.

With some of my babies I have looked forward to each milestone. With the first and the last I haven't been as eager. I'm pretty certain Strider is our last, so I try to enjoy each stage (some days not so much). Some milestones I have enjoyed reaching would be sitting up, holding their own bottle, crawling, walking, etc. Typical milestones. Well, today a new milestone was reached here in our Lemmon home, and I smiled inside. My nieces and daughters opened their own ketchup packets! Yeah for me! Two down and two to go!

Gymnastics!

One day Mallory was doing some floor type exercises at home. I told her if she could do a back walkover I would put her in gymnastics. She asked what it was. I described it. She did it! Needless to say, she's in gymnastics now. She started in mid August and just loves it. She moved up to level two fairly quickly and enjoys every minute of it! I am so impressed with her and her abilities. I have no flexibility whatsoever. Never have.

Two Birthdays!

We celebrated two birthdays this week! Zac's girlfriend, Adriana, turned 19, and she came over for gifts and cupcakes! We had a fun time with her and love giving her a hard time about how tiny she is. I'm sure it gets old for her, but we never tire of it! She's amongst the giants now! What does she expect?

I can't let Don Johnson's birthday pass without special notice. For those of you who knew me in the 80's and 90's you might remember my love for Donnie Wayne Johnson. Yes, Sonny Crocket of the Miami PD. I dedicated many years to DJ! I will forever hold a spot in my heart for Sabra K & Don J! Happy 59, old friend!

Kids Say The Darndest Things!

I generally don't quote my kids because it's never as cute or funny as it was in person, but this one was too good to pass up.

The other night I was in bed with *Maverick, and Bobby was still up but getting ready for bed. I don't remember the specifics of the conversation Bobby and I were having, but I said something about getting new boobs, and Maverick piped in with this reaction, "Mom, did you lost your boobs?"




*Yes, Maverick is almost four and still sleeps in our bed.

O Christmas Tree Contest!

My favorite part about Christmas traditions would have to be the tree. I love to decorate my tree. I collect things year round to add to the collection, so it's something I anticipate all year long. My girls have their own trees in their room this year because they were tired of being denied putting their own custom made ornaments on my tree. I know. I'm a terrible mother! I just like to have this one thing the way I like it. Well, not everything on the tree is the way I like it...The bird at the top lost its beak. Irritating. I'm famous for saying, "I can't have anything nice." It's true. These aren't very great pictures, but I'll post them anyway.

I had already created this post when I discovered www.tipjunkie.blogspot.com is having a Christmas tree contest. People are always telling me my tree looks like a "show" tree. I saw this opportunity, and I figured it would be fun.

I am to include photos and decorating tips. So here are a few tips:

1. Choose a flexible theme for your tree. Choose colors you can add to easily. Start with two or three base colors and go from there. I started with white and added purple and green through the years. This year I added a little teal to make it current!
2. No one wants to see the fake trunk of your fake tree (the pole). I suggest wrapping it in fabric that matches the theme of your tree.
3. Splurge on a tree skirt! Consider making one that matches beautifully. I could never find just the right one, so I took sewing lessons just to make this particular skirt.
4. Stuff decorations inside your tree. Don't just stick to the outside of the tree. Put ornaments inside as far as the eye can see. Don't feel like you have to use ornaments either. I use twigs and berries and all sorts of things. Stuff those in there, too. Again, no one wants to see your pole!
5. This year I bought yardage of fabric and cut it into squares. I then bunched it up and tucked it in to bald spots near the pole of my tree. Adds a little something different.
6. For the topper go nuts! Just try it. You might like it. Treat it similar to a floral arrangement. You'd be shocked at what works. And remember...It only matters if you like it!
7. This year I put my tree in front of a huge mirror. This way people can see all angles of it. I would love to put it smack dab in the middle of a room, but that will have to happen when my kids are a little older!

I hope you enjoyed my little tutorial. I'm no expert. I just love to decorate, and I believe the tree is the focal point of Christmas decorating!

Choir Girl!

Syd's program was tonight. She is a member of the school choir, and that's all she was interested in doing for the Christmas program this year. She and Mallory see things very differently in this world, but they are the closest sisters I've ever seen. Anyway, here are pictures of Syd from tonight's school program. Tomorrow is the girls' piano and singing recital. Sunday they sing at another Christmas program. Then I think we are done with performances for the season!

Soccer Season Begins!

Sydney and Maverick are starting soccer this week. Maverick is pretty excited for his debut tomorrow. He discovered his cleats and was given a ball. This is a picture of how he ended his day.

P.S. Maverick's cleats are a size ten which is one size too big. They don't carry anything smaller, and the guy working isn't even sure they make soccer cleats any smaller.

Little Bell!

Mallory had her school program tonight! She had the part of "Little Bell." She sang a couple of solo lines and spoke a couple of lines and performed them perfectly! We were true proud parents tonight! Here are some pictures of our bell!

Newest Hair!

Gone is the a-line, stacked bob, Texas bob, Mormon bob, or whatever you want to call it. I have had it for eighteen months, and I was ready for a change! I didn't get any new color due to a tight schedule, but I'm thrilled with the style I chose, and as always, Shami executed what I wanted EXACTLY!

Middle Names!

I can't sleep, and since I have absolutley nothing of importance to do (sarcasm) my mind drifted off to the topic of middle names. I was wondering how it would sound if all of my kids' middle names were actually their first names. Make sense? For instance, Mallory would be Paige. Strider would be Zane! Then I moved on to thinking about my middle name(s). I've had a few over the years, and now I've simplified it to the letter "K." Long story for another post. I thought I would try out a survey to see where we all stand on middle names. Try it out! It's a Lemmondrop first!

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

Tiny!

This is just a funny picture of my baby. He loves these old, shiny, red boots that belonged to Mallory years ago. They were her favorites once, too. Now, he has taken them over. He won't wear shoes as a general rule, but he loves to wear these boots!

The Regrets Headline At The Hop!

The Regrets played at an awesome sock hop this weekend. There were quite a few people there, and everyone seemed to be having a good time! I have a ton of pictures, but I decided to just post the band this time around.

Now That Was A Good Time!

What a wonderful night! Words can't express my gratitude to the Vining family and my pal Shannon! We did it! Yeah! It's over. Now what?

It's a Date!

See you tonight! We have a date with Edward (or Jacob)! Truthfully, I tried to find a picture of Jacob, but I couldn't resist this one of Edward. Sorry Team Jacob! I'm obviously on Team Edward.

P.S. I think Edward (Robert Pattinson) is a hybrid of Elvis and James Dean (with a dash of Joaquin Phoenix). Anyone agree? I have to say Pattinson growing on me.

Going, Going, Gone!

We are officially sold out! You might be able to squeeze one or two out of us if you sweetened the deal, but I'm pretty sure Shannon and I are ready to get to the fun stuff like decorating and hosting the biggest party of the year!

We are so excited to see this one through. Please remember to come ready to share some food and conversation at 10:00! I hope by the end of this event everyone has met someone new!

Going, Going...

Due to some cancellations we have nine tickets remaining! If any of you need an extra let Shannon or I know asap.

Also, if you have yet to pick up your ticket you need to do so! I don't mean to nag, but we are two days away!

Twilight Update

Tickets are in and available for pick-up! Get in touch with Shannon or myself to make arrangements! I'm here all afternoon and evening, so today is good. We special ordered these tickets, and Shannon designed them! They are so great!

Twilight Update- There's No "I" In Team!

The Yuma Daily Sun featured an article on their website today regarding our upcoming event. Check it out if you have a chance. During the interview I mentioned my partner and friend, Shannon, over and over, but she's not mentioned once in the article. I'm hoping the article that goes to print in the actual paper will note my friend! I'm making it clear here on the blog that I really wanted to do this event, but Shannon made it happen by actually making the call to Harkins Theatres! I never would have followed through. Let's cross our fingers that Shannon gets a shout out when the article comes to us in print!

Tickets should be delivered tomorrow, so Shannon and I are hoping to give you your ticket when you bring your money this weekend. These tickets are awesome! Shannon designed them, and they are fantastic! You might want to keep it as a bookmark. That's what I'm going to do anyway!

Party Update!

Darin Fenger of the Yuma Daily Sun just interviewed me in regards to the Twilight Tailgate Party! It will be in print tomorrow! If you do not have your spot reserved at this point, you better give Shannon or I a call! The article will give my email address for those interested in attending. This could get scary.

Our custom made tickets should be available by Friday, so we would love to give you your ticket(s) when you pay. These tickets along with the article would make great keepsakes for true Twilight fanatics.

We have an exact location reserved for the tailgate portion of the party but have decided to keep it quiet for now just to avoid uninvited guests.

Also, we have changed the time to 10:00 rather than 10:30 just to allow for plenty of mingling before hand. We don't want to have to rush!

I think that's it! Keep your eyes open for the article in tomorrow's paper! I hope I didn't say anything dumb or rude! Cross your fingers!

Twilight Party Update!

Things are moving right along! If you have made contact with Shannon or I (via blog, email, or phone) we have you down. Your spot is secure at this point. We would like the money by Friday. You can drop it off at any of our three homes (Devra, Shannon, Sabra)! We have less than a hundred tickets available now, so if you have yet to contact someone I suggest you do so now!

Just to review a few points of interest...We have blocked out the first three rows of seats. No one will have to sit in junk seats unless you want to! Also, we are going to have a tailgate party starting Thursday night at 10:30pm. There we will have some trivia to get you warmed up for the movie, and we will have drinks provided. We are hoping everyone will bring finger foods to share. This is a great chance to mingle and share in the excitement! Once inside our theatre we will hold several raffles which we are most looking forward to! Mind you, there will be no line to wait in, and you will have your own special ticket already in hand!

Battle Of The Bands!

Come see The Regrets perform tonight at Battle Of The Bands! Should be a good time! They are on at 5:30, and it's free. We'll all be down at the new mall in the circle cheering them on!

Twilight Tailgate!

Shannon, Devra, and I are hosting a Twilight Tailgate Party! We have reserved an entire theatre at Harkins and have huge plans for a tailgate party in the theatre's parking lot! Party starts at 10:30, and the movie is at midnight. Contact me if you are interested in a $15.00 ticket! We are limiting it to 200 tickets, so we aren't cram packed, and no one will have to sit in the first three rows unless they want to! We will be raffling off some goodies, and we have a surprise or two up our sleeves!

Auntie Sabra!

This is Maggie. She is the newest addition to the Downing family. She was born November 1st to my sister, Kelly, and her husband Jaime! I am so excited for them and even excited for me. This is my first niece/nephew on my side of the family.

Election Day!

First, I'm glad it's over. This "road to the white house" is getting much too long for me. Years, folks! This is getting ridiculous. The money spent on campaigning is just embarrassing. That money could be put to much better use. These politicians should be ashamed. America should allow campaigning to begin the year of the election. No more, no less! Okay, maybe less.

Second, I have to say I'm excited. Things are a changin' that's for sure! Change isn't always bad, and if it is bad we know it comes in cycles. These are some pretty bad times, and if it's going to get worse before it can get better then let it happen. If it's going to get better now with a new president then let's see it! Either way, I'm good.

Third, I'm proud to live in a country that has come so far in the last fifty years. Just a generation ago this would have never been possible. My parents as youth couldn't have conceived of a minority leading this country. I say "minority" because he is black, but let us not forget he is white, also. Bobby calls it "Halfrican American." Anyway, I'm just impressed with our country for all the progress we have made over the years, and though I might not agree with everything Obama stands for and believes in, I live in a country run as a democracy, and we as a country voted him in. This means I will only show my respect. I teach my children to respect their leaders, so I must do the same.

Trunk Or Treat!

This is the first year of many that I had Bobby's help with the kids at Trunk Or Treat. I was even extra lucky to have my sister, Katie, visiting. It was really a nice evening. Here are a few pictures, and I'm dying to put more up, so I might! We'll have to see.

Maverick wanted to wear his fireman costume from two years ago (still fits), and he stripped out of it within minutes of getting to the event. Not to mention he wouldn't wear the fireman's hat. He had to wear the muskateer hat Shannon brought over! Strider wouldn't have anything to do with dressing up. Like his mother! He was going to be a cowboy, but all I could get him to wear was the shirt, and that was even a chore.