Michelle's Birthday

28 November 2011
So we had Michelle over to celebrate her 25th birthday. Normally I give my kids money, but Michelle had expressed that she enjoyed getting presents and surprises from her family. Therefore, I attempted to purchase something that I thought she would like. Yes, I would try something different to please my new daughter.
My husband told me not to make this attempt, citing the fact that we have very different tastes and it probably wouldn't go over so well. LOL! Of course, I didn't listen to him. I figured I would at least give it one shot before giving up. Hahaha!

Before Michelle opened her gift, I prefaced that if she didn't like it, she had no obligation to keep it and she could return it and there would be no hard feelings....I had her really nervous! Ewww the pressure! Fail #1. Michelle does not like jewlery.Fail #2. Okay. First off, Michelle didn't even know what this was! Hahaha! She had it upside down and thought it was a skirt. Then she started turning it and said it was a halter top. LOL. Uhhhh....no. It's a blouse. :) I thought it had a little Asian flare and assumed she would like it. Uhh....no. Wrong.When she realized she was clueless and we were all laughing at her, she got a little embarrassed. Yeah, we tend to do that to people! ;)Then when she pulled her next item out, Gabriel told her they were her "Eskimo hooker boots!" Hahaha...she got a kick out of that.Hmmmmm....Michelle considered the boots for a minute and said she might wear them. See, I look at that outfit and think they are smokin' hot cool! Complete with blingy jewelry. Who wouldn't like that? Wellll...apparently Michelle. :)Despite the fact that Michelle was unsure of her gift, Frankie made her go into the bathroom to try everything on.Michelle was a little afraid to admit this is not something she would wear. However, she broke down and confessed that this was not her. :( Okay. My husband was right. Ughh.... I hate recognizing that fact. I guess next time I will just give her money. The good news...Michelle took her items back and bought a Christmas tree for their home. :) She got something she wanted after all AND she didnt' have to pretend liking something she didn't. I figure we all win. She got something she wanted and we got a laugh out of it. SWEET!

Thanksgiving 2011

24 November 2011 Thanksgiving morning I was able to go to BlessFest and help provide service for some of the homeless here in Las Vegas. There were a few thousand that were provided for on this day. When I drove up I immediately began to cry, because the amount of people in need were staggering. It was hard to hold back my emotions. Basically, the homeless were fed, given clothes, sanitary supplies, bookbags of provisions, medical attention, haircuts/shampoos, dental care, counseling, and all sorts of help. I was able to go and provide my dental hygiene service and do screenings, and actually send the people with immediate need to the dentists there to have restorative work done. It was amazing! I'm so glad I got to be a part of this! Gabriel even went with me. He worked at the Children's Ministry section and helped supervise the children who were allowed to play in the bouncy house. He had such a good time that he said we definitely have to do it again next year. I agree. It was a great way to spend Thanksgiving. Since we spent our morning and afternoon at BlessFest, we didn't have our family meal until later in the day. My hubby had sat back with the little ones frying turkies for friends. Therefore, he was happy when we returned, because after he had been smelling food all day, he was ready to eat! Hahaha!

We had a great time together! Family is definitely something I am grateful for!!!

After much fun the kids were finally wore out! (I woke Kela up when I took this pic.)

**Frankie and Michelle went to St. George with her family, so we missed them. And, Brandon decided not to eat with us after I asked him to do a chore for me. :( Normally, I would have been upset over this outburst, but after spending the day with people who were truly in hard circumstances, the dysfunctions of my family didn't seem so bad. I love Brandon regardless of whether he wants to spend his time with us or not. <3

Early Turkey

22 November 2011
My hubby fried a turkey for a friend on Sunday and the skin was a little blackened. Therefore, he wanted to find out why before Thanksgiving. Apparently, the people rubbed it with something that had sugar in it, so it caramelized the outside, but Frank wanted to make a turkey anyway to make sure. When I got home from school on Monday, I found my family out in the street partying down. Gabriel and Noah were dancing in the bed of Brandon's truck, Frankie and Brandon were trying to jump the curbs with Noah's scooter, and Kela was laughing at everyone while Dad was cooking in the middle of the street.

It was awesome seeing my family having so much fun together. Michelle even showed up too and enjoyed the party. It was funny because the cops drove by slowly to make sure we weren't
being mischievous. Hahaha! Needless to say, the turkey turned out fine and we had an early Thanksgiving meal. MmmmmMmmm

Noah's 9th Birthday

23 November 2011 I normally give my children money ($50) on their birthday and let them pick out what they want instead of me surprising them with gifts. This stems from the fact that when I grew up my parents always allowed us to go and buy our own presents, come home and wrap them, and then surprise our siblings with what we decided to get. Hahaha! Honestly, it was fun. We would be sneaky when we came back into the house after our shopping, because our brothers/sisters always wanted to know what we got. We would wrap our gifts and then everyone would gather around anxiously for the unveiling. :) We also got to pick out our cake and my mother would always make us homemade icecream (flavor of our choosing). So. That's kind of why I've never really surprised my kids with presents before. However, I did decide to surprise Noah this year. I don't know why, but I did. I figured I would try something new.

Well, I stayed within my $50 budget and carefully picked out two things that I thought Noah would enjoy: a scooter and a Kinex motorized roller coaster. After I bought the items I started worrying, so I asked Noah if he would rather have the money and he pick out his own things or allow me to surprise him. He relunctantly decided that he would trust me and accept what I got him. Unfortunately, as he was shopping with me at Target for stockings for Michelle/Frankie, he saw something that he wanted! Ughh! He had his eye on a scooter and started begging me to get it for him. I reminded him that he agreed that he was going to trust me to get his birthday presents and that he should just wait and see what I picked out. Well, oh my goodness! He started to have a breakdown! He was crying and was just distraught over the whole ordeal. As we approached the car to put our packages inside, I openend my trunk to show him that I had already gotten him a scooter. :) I couldn't surprise him after all. :( It was just too painful!

Anyway, I also decided to surprise him for Christmas too and get his presents in advance. Did I mention I do the same thing for this holiday? I give my kids money (a little bigger budget) and they pick out what they want. Hmmm...well, after Noah received birthday money in the mail from his grandparents, I took him out shopping again. Would you believe that EVERYTHING that he wanted to buy with his money, I had already purchased for him for Christmas???? Unbelievable! Thankfully, I diverted another breakdown and just convinced him to trust me and buy something different with his money. :) He didn't spend all of it. He only picked out one thing and decided to wait to spend the rest. Yay!

You know. I had no idea that I knew my son so well. Hmmmm...I guess I do! :)

Addictive Starcraft

November 2011 Can a computer game really absorb a person's entire life? Answer: yes! Every moment that Brandon is off of work, he is playing this game. Hours upon hours upon hours... (sigh)