Christmas 2009

8 Years and Counting...

And they have flown by...here's to many more to come!!!

Santa 'n' Me

Up Go the Tree and Lights

The kids were really excited to get out tree up this year. They are finally old enough to help without breaking things. David also worked hard climbing on the roof to get the lights up while the weather was nice (It snowed today) putting up lights everywhere! It looks so good!! The pics don't do it justice!!

Thanksgiving 2009

It was just the four of us this year. Nice and relaxing.

Scuba Girl

She wanted to swim, so daddy let her in our big tub. She had a blast!

Happy Birthday...

I turned 30 yesterday!!
It was a good day and I don't feel any different than I did before. We went to dinner and then went shopping and David bought me some new shirts and a jacket. Then we came home and celebrated by singing and eating cheesecake with the kids and some friends.

Slideshow - Nana's Visit

David had to go on a business trip to Orlando, Florida so Nana and aunt Lynne decided to drive out here to visit and keep us company while he was gone. We had a fun hanging out, shopping, eating out, reading stories, and teaching Isaac how to play Skip-Bo (a Lillie family favorite card game). We also went to the Denver Zoo and The Downtown Aquarium. Isaac and Briana loved showing their Nana and Great-Aunt Lynne their favorite sea animals. We had a great time and hope they come visit again soon!

Trick-or-Treaters

Here are my trick-or-treaters as they are headed out the door to go get me, I mean them some candy!! They had a blast and enjoyed going through the candy and eating what they could before bed when they got home!

Halloween 2009 - Year of...

The Phantom of the Opera

& Abby Cadabby

Isaac had a great time in class with their 1st grade Halloween Party!


Families were invited this year, so we all came to support Isaac on this special day. We even dressed up for the occasion. (that bright white on my face is from the projector mounted on the ceiling).

The story behind the Hot Dog: Every time we would go to a store to try to decide what the kids were going to be Briana would always tell David that she wanted him to be "the hot dog man" so David finally found the costume (believe it or not most places were sold out of it) and surprised Briana by showing up in it today. Isaac didn't know that David was coming to his party and was happily surprised when he did!
The kids couldn't wait to get to bed tonight- so excited that tomorrow is finally the night they get to go out trick-or-treating!!

Snow In October??

It snowed in October!! It was crazy b/c it came so fast! Isaac ended up getting a day off school, which enjoyed. He spent the day playing down the street with his buddies and didn't want to come home! Briana loved getting out there in the snow too, but it wasn't too long before she got cold....just like her mom!

Cookies...

Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, Butterscotch Chip, Cranberry Cookies

I don't normally post pics up here of food that I make, but David was so excited that I made these for him the other night- they are his favorite (or at least one of them). They were super yummy! That is all.

Pumpkin Carve 2009

I am terrible and forgot the camera when we went to Munson Farms to get our pumpkin this year, so I have no pictures from the pumpkin patch.

We did carve our pumpkin, and it turned out great! The kids had a blast! It's getting more fun now that they are old enough to know what do to! I need to post some pics of them lit up...I will do that tomorrow!

Pooh & A Nap...

Briana went into her room to play, and when it had been quiet for a while I went to check on her and she had fallen asleep like this:

( Sooo Adorable!)

PB Kid

We gave Briana an apple with peanut butter, and a couple minutes later she comes over to us and says "Mommy, Daddy, look at me!" And this is what we saw:

She wasn't happy at all when it came to washing the PB off her face! She promised not to do it again though.

We Will Miss Him...

Strider 11.02.01 to 10.16.09

Our hearts go out to our next door neighbors Brian, Aileen, and Alex Grabill who lost a dear family member yesterday. Since moving into our home 2 years ago Strider had become not only a friend, but also an unofficial member of our family. We would often buy him treats that Isaac and Briana would feed him through the backyard fence. They would play with him and snuggle him every time they got the chance. They also loved his tricks.

He was a great, gentle dog and loved my kids.

I will miss seeing him sitting in the backyard, staring at my house, waiting for us to come outside with the treats. I know that the kids (and David and I too) will miss him a bunch.

Since their blog is private, I copied this directly from it and posted it below:

(I hope they don't mind)

"Words cannot express the depth of loss we feel today as we report that our beloved four-legged son, Strider, has passed away. What started as what we believed was the typical "ate something he shouldn't have" tummy distressed turned into a discovery of a malignant cancer that was running through his body. A large mass attached the wall of his abdomen and numerous masses in his GI tract. There was no option to remove the large mass and based on consultation with the Vet Surgeon and we determined the best option was to let him go peacefully.
Strider was the kind of Labrador that made those that met him want a Labrador. He was kind, gentle, wise, noble, soft, and laid back (that last one was very unlabrador like!). He taught us so much - more than most humans in our lives - he made us better parents for Alex. better friends, and better people. He impacted every life he touched. Please share a word, a thought, a story, or a feeling to add to this obituary.
Strider. We love you so very much. Thank you for all that you did for us. We don't want to continue with life without you, but we must, we will, and we will keep you in our hearts (and on our black clothing for some time)."

A New Friend...

I watched my friend's little girl Evangeline for her yesterday and today. Briana has LOVED having another little girl here to play with. They get along real well. I took them to the store today and everyone asked me how old my twins were! How funny! Just b/c I did their hair the same!

Boggle Eyed Princess

Briana fell asleep with these funny Halloween glasses on. Isaac thought it was SO funny we had to take a picture.

Introducing...

Mr. & Mrs. Mark Ontiveros

09/25/2009

New Moon Trailer

OMG!!!

I CAN"T WAIT to see this movie!!

New 'New Moon' Trailer

I Think I'm Going to Cry!!

Look what she did!!!

I asked her why, and her adorable response was:

"I cut it, just like Mulan did."

How could I argue with that. But it made me want to cry! At least she cut "bangs" and she didn't chop it so bad that I have to take her to get it all cut off. I really hope she doesn't do it again though.

We Should Post This On YouTube

This is Briana singing "The Edward Song" (Leave Out All the Rest by Linkin Park - from the Twilight movie). This is her favorite song to sing these days, and we finally got it on camera...

Me 'n' My Girl

Briana wanted me to take pictures of us on a "girls only" day.

She loved her hairdo! She called it her SHREK HAIR.

Nap Fighter

Some days Briana just fights nap time, like today for example. I tried for over 2 hours to get her to take a nap, but she wouldn't.

As I was preparing dinner and cleaning up the kitchen I found her asleep like this on the floor. The main problem with this is that she sleeps late and then has a hard time going to bed!

Little Stinker!

Edward

My kids are big Twilight fans if you couldn't tell. In this house we are TEAM EDWARD. We bought this costume for $5 and Isaac loves to wear it. When he dresses like this he is Edward Cullen. It's so cute! And he think he looks awesome, which he does!

Krazy Kid Fun

The kids were super excited to watch a movie like this the other day. What can I say? My kids and their imaginations!

Truisms

My friend put this on her blog and I've read it a bunch of times and I decided just to copy it here. It's scary how true they are. I'm posting it here for your viewing pleasure so enjoy:
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Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
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I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter?
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Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.
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I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
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The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase "Regards" again.
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Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know" feature on Facebook people that I do know, but deliberately choose not to be friends with?
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There is a great need for sarcasm font.
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Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what was going on when I first saw it.
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I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.
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How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
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I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
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I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
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The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.
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"Lol" has gone from meaning "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".
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I have a hard time discerning the fine line between boredom and hunger.
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Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".
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How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?
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I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!
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Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies".
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While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.
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MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
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Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
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I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.
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Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.
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I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
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Bad decisions make good stories.
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Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!
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Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?
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If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.
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Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....
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You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.
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Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.
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There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.
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I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my huge document that I swear I did not make any changes to.
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"Hand wash only" means I will never wash this, ever.
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I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'
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While watching the Olympics, I find myself cheering equally for China and USA. No, I am not of Chinese descent, but I am fairly certain that when Chinese athletes don't win, they are executed.
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I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and runaway?
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I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
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I like all of the music on my Ipod, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs.
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Why is a school zone 15 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...
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As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.
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Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
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It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.
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I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
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Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.
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The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fatty before dinner.
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Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...
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It really ticks me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.
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I wonder if cops ever get ticked at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.
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What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?
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My four year old son asked me the other day in the car "Mom, what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How do I respond to that?
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Was learning cursive really necessary?
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More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can’t wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that’s not only better, but also more directly involves me.
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Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no Internet or message boards or faq's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.

Briana's Birthday Slideshow