Holiday magic

I am in love with the holiday season. I love the music, the lights, disneyland, cooking, fancy wrapping paper, charlie brown everything, the smells, and the magic. In our home we do the chocolate advent calendar in addition to our manger scene advent calendar. Everyday we do both of them and Noah helps mommy with both calendars. I tend to eat the chocolate:) The other evening we were driving around as a family and out of nowhere Noah said "ohhhh pretty!" when he saw the lights. It was so magical! Seeing Christmas through a child's eyes is amazing! Every time Noah see Santa he says-"Ho, Ho Ho!" It's so funny. Now don't get me wrong...I love me some Jesus, and I love teaching my son about his birthday. Christmas is all about Jesus; which is why Noah will have three gifts under the tree. Jesus received three gifts on his birthday, and so will Noah:)

This year I experienced Christmas in a new way. Now that I am teaching at an elementary school, Christmas is much different. There is a wonder and excitement that starts on December 1st. I was not used to Christmas sing alongs, holiday crafts, and all the Christmas schwag. The teachers at my school wear the sweaters, and tee shirts, fancy Christmas gear. Me, and the other two middle school teachers were the only ones all December not sporting some Christmas gear. *note to self-get to the goodwill and purchase ugly sweaters pronto! I was taken back by the showering of gifts that my students gave me on the last day of school. It was a little uncomfortable-but secretly inside I was jumping up and down like a kid. When I got home and unloaded my bounty Noah kept screaming and jumping up and down. It was hilarious. One of my students baked me beautiful cupcakes. They were super yummy. I have the most amazing students.

One of the holiday traditions at our school is the Barnes and Noble night. The students come dressed in their jammies and the teachers read to them. My students went to the event as elves. Their job was to greet people and help the students find books to read. It was really fun, and I love how my 7th graders really took on the role as elves.

Shannon really got into the holiday spirit by dressing as Santa for the whole school. We had a school assembly where the students sang Christmas carols led by the grade level teachers. We had to sing "let it snow" and our song had the longest musical interludes ever. It felt like we were up there for eternity in front of the 900 students. At any rate-Shannon came out at the end and the students were besides themselves. He then went around to all the kinder classrooms. Each student got to tell one thing that they wanted for Christmas. Some of the responses were hilarious. Of course most kids wanted video games, a puppy, barbies, but some of the requests were so precious-new shoes, a cupcake, or the simple "I want to have a Merry Christmas!" It was such a magical day.

I hope that this holiday season brings you peace, happiness and joy.

Praying for radical change!

Ok...I have to admit it. I hate showing weakness, or even letting others know that I am struggling or sad but lately I have been grumpy, anti-social, and down right impatient. I have been in a funk. Everyone has been getting on my nerves, situations have really frustrated me to the point of no sleep, and I have been stressed out. The other day I came home from work and collapsed in my husbands lap and cried. I mean cried all my makeup off and convulsed. Then yesterday on my way to tap class I got a phone call that literally put me in a tail spin of sadness. What has been so frustrating is that I cannot even talk about it. The other day my friend Rece called me a 5:30 am because she knew that I was hurting and needed a girlfriend to talk too. It was so comforting to have her to talk to but I felt like I couldn't even put into words all the stress that I was feeling. I felt like I was just complaining telling her everything that was wrong. It's like I cannot even voice where I am at right now. Even Shannon tries and I just say, "I'm fine. It's all good."

After tap class I started thinking. All day I went about my errands, family time, and church in a state of thought. " What is my problem, and how can this funk change?" I came up with all kinds of scenarios of how to solve all my issues, but in reality they were not realistic. At work when my students are frustrated I like to quote the great Vanilla Ice, "If there was a problem; yo I solve it!" Then last night while putting Noah to bed and saying his prayers it came to me.

PRAY FOR RADICAL CHANGE! I am going to PRAY FOR RADICAL CHANGE in all areas of my life. I am making a sign and putting it up in my bathroom so that every morning I see it and PRAY FOR RADICAL CHANGE. I am going to let go of my stress, sadness, and fear and PRAY FOR RADICAL CHANGE!

I am also going to post these verses on my bathroom mirror so they slap me in the face every morning! It is time to get out of this funk.

Philippians 4:6-7 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 107:28-30 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven

Fall Break.

Fall Break was awesome. It was super fun for me to pretend that I was a stay at home mom and just get to play with Noah. Two weeks of Noah and mommy time. I believe that it is harder for me to go back to work than it is for Noah to get back on his schedule. While teaching my students is such a joy, there is nothing like just being home.

I was able to take Noah to Sea World a couple times. Grandma even joined us one day!

We ran into a our friends Ed and Vivienne at Sea World!

Soooo remember in August when I said I had scabies....I didn't have scabies. I actually had bedbugs. It's very shameful. The only thing we can think of is that we brought them back with us from WDW. Thank you Mickey Mouse. So I threw away all of our bedroom furniture. It was very sad and painful. We are free now and our house is safe. However now I have no money to buy all new bedroom furniture so I got a little creative. I took a bedside table that we had in the garage and created a new bedside table for me.

Before

After-I love the purple! Now our bed room is grey, eggplant purple with our lime green bedding.

I had to get creative since we were not going to buy a new head board. So I took the left over spray paint and painted frames. Then Shan got the deer head from zgallerie. I love our new "headboard" When you have deer in your dreams it means peace, and tranquility.

We took naps.

We giggled. Alot.

I visited my old students at Montgomery.

I sewed an "night owl" pillow for Noah, a robot pillow case, and a chord cover for Noah's robot mobile.

We decorated for Halloween.

We tested Halloween costumes but Noah will be Mickey Mouse again this year. The rocket was not happening.

We got super messy!

We also got Noah's first hair cut EVER. He was such a big boy.

Shannon did a triathalon and he is doing another one on the 30th. I am officially married to Richard Simmons.

I cannot wait for Thanksgiving break. It's only 4 weeks away!!!!

My Hero.

My Husband is UH-MAZE-ING! Today he completed his first triathalon. I could not be more proud of him. He is such an inspiration. When I got pregnant with Noah-Shannon was the most supportive husband ever. He took care of me, started using a body pillow (not kidding and still uses it), and he even gained weight with me. :) Shannon literally gained about 50 pounds. What a guy:) He weighed about 240 at his heaviest and now he weighs under 175. Once Noah was born and the weight wasn't leaving Shannon started biking. Now many of you know that Shannon is not calm, chill or even mellow. Whatever Shannon does he goes at it with full force! Well all of a sudden I was married to Richard Simmons-minus the glitter, 80's Reeboks, and man love. Seriously.

Our friends Bryan and Christine are super awesome. We love hanging out with them. We have known them for years and they are such a blessing to us. We attended each others weddings, they come over and cook for us at our house (you seriously need friends like this) and they are athletes that inspired Shannon. I tend to be less inspired by athletecism as you can see from my BMI. We watched them do the Solana Beach triathalon in July and Shannon was set. He decided that day that he was going to be a triathlete. Shannon and Bryan trained and prepped, we bought some spandex, and I cooked a carb fest last night. Fast forward 9 weeks to today and Shannon and Bryan are competing in the Mission Bay triathalon. Shannon did the whole thing in one hour and eleven minutes!!!!

This is Shannon at o'dark thirty getting the bike ready in the parking lot.

Noah was extremely happy for 5:30 am.

Shannon's mom and cousin Janessa came out to support Shannon in his big race.

Shannon was so excited before the race.

Bryan and Shannon before the swim.

We got Noah to hold the sign and cheer for Shannon for about ten seconds.

The athletes started in the water in the Bay. It was crazy. Christine and I ran down the beach in order to catch Shannon coming out of the water. It was exhausting.

Then we ran to the bike path to cheer on Bryan and Shannon!

This is the end of the race where Shannon was crossing the finish line. He was so inspirational.

After the race Shannon was ready for more:)

He was so pumped up.

The boys in all their spandex glory!

Shannon is the most amazing husband ever!

Here is a comparison picture of Shannon from one year ago. He really is awesome. We are so thankful for the Crosby's. They rock!!

Travel is good for the soul.

Hello Friends...

Lately I have been so focused on work and stress that I almost forgot to take time out for myself...I said almost. A couple weeks ago our family went to our most favorite place on earth. Mammoth Lakes. Shannon and I started a tradition last year that will be our summer vacation spot forever. Shan mountain bikes, and I relax in the mountains. This year we went to the same resort, but this time we brought more family. Grandma Anita (shan's mom), Aunt Linda and cousin Jon joined us. We got a bigger condo and had the best time. We laughed, danced, ate, explored Yosemite, and had a quiet moment of reflection for their late Uncle Bobby. We are already looking forward to next year and bringing even more family. There is something about getting everyone together that just brings joy to me.

Then a week later I got to fly to Denver to meet up with my best friends from college. The three of us have really remained the best of friends. Even though we live in three different states, we have managed to keep in touch. They know me inside and out, we are there for each other in the most joyous moments, and our darkest days, and they are truly my soul sisters. We all had our first baby within three months of each other and then Minta had her second by the time her first was 13 months! She is busy. We love to conference call, laugh, and even cry together. There isn't anything that I wouldn't do for these two. I cannot wait for our next girls weekend getaway.

Here is a picture journal of the last two trips...

Minta and Rece with baby Jack. He is the most laid back baby ever and his cheeks are so kissable.

We took Minta out for dinner one night without the babies. It was magical.

Seriously...Minta is super mom!! She made the best Indian food for us AND the naan was even from scratch. She is the most amazing cook.

We busted out our dorm shirts one night and laughed so hard I peed my pants. Yeah.

This might be the moment I peed my pants:)

I love you girls!!!

Noah loves Mammoth Lakes.

Walking with Uncle Jon and Daddy. My fav pic of the vacation.

This was near the entrance to Yosemite. It just took my breath away.

The family at the overlook of Dome rock. It was magnificent.

Dome Rock!

A highlight of the trip was teaching Noah how to throw rocks in the river. The boys thought that they would be cute and bend over like Noah.

Attempting a family pic in Yosemite.

Rock throwing at its finest. It was so awesome!

Family pic over a stream. Are we adorable? I love my little family!

Yeah...This picture will be ammunition for life!

Hanging out in the village.

The boys dancing after a long bike ride hence the shorts!

Playing with snow at the top of the mountain. It was his first snow!

Riding in the gondola with grandma!

Family pic.

God's beauty is amazing!

At the lookout with a crabby Noah.