Last home game this season....

Uncle Josh asked us if we wanted his 4 tickets for the Cardinals game today. So, with last minute notice, we all threw on our red and off we went. We got there just after kick off and it was fun. We had never been to a football game at the new stadium so it was great to see it. I was able to get pretty close with my little point and shoot.

The kids had a total blast and were super well behaved. This is the first time that we have been to a game of any kind that the kids understood when to cheer. Jaya was absolutely enthralled with the cheerleaders. She has not seen any before and she love love loved them! Jace took her to the team shop to get her some pom poms shortly after she discovered that cheerleaders used them. She does not call them pom poms though, she calls them her "cheerleaders". Unfortunately, everyone within arms reach got a mouthful of "cheerleaders" at least once during the game. I was forever apoligizing to everyone around us!Jaya even sported her red "lips" gloss.
She was really getting into her "cheer" here!

I took a lot of pictures of the "fans". They turned out really well.

I love how the pics of Jaxx and Jace look....

This is a great pic of Jace explaining something to Jaxx. Perfectly rosy skin!

Then there was "Big Red" or "the cardinal bird" as Jaya referred to him.We decided he looks like Red Robin from the restaurant!

So, this just added to a great weekend. Jace and I actually went to a movie last night, what? huh? What's a movie, you ask? I know that feeling. We have not been to a movie in months and months. We saw Four Christmas's and it was funny. I like Vince Vaughn though so I figured we would like it.

Thanks to Grama for babysitting on Saturday night and to Uncle Josh for the tickets.

It made our weekend really fun!

Cortney K.

Catching up..

Yes, behind again in the bloggin' thing.

I am starting at Christmas eve.

While I was getting the food ready Jaya was helping me but her baby was acting up so she put her in "time out".

This is Makayla and Andrea gave her to Jaya for Christmas. It was a nice thought but I may have to send this doll to Andrea's house if it doesn't shut up. This doll has sensers and can respond to sounds and touch. She asks for food, water and to play. If you want to see what it is like to have another child to take care of, you may borrow her. You have to rock her for 10 seconds to get her to go back to sleep. I can tell you, when you are in a hurry, this seems like a long to time to be rocking a plastic object.

Jaya, evidently, agrees because she was putting her in time out a lot on this night.

Mimi, Reagan, Emily, Drew, Papa, Grama and our family were all at are our house, on Christmas Eve. It was relaxing and fun and the Honey Baked knock off ham from Fresh and Easy was delish! We hung around and got caught up a little. The best part was making S'mores outside around the fire pit. I broke sticks off the tree that hangs over our fire pit and hoped they weren't poisonous. Don't worry, I made sure I watched everyone else eat theirs before I tried mine. ;)

Mimi brought the kids this really neat machine that opens and has brass strikers that hit about 9 different bells. It plays all sorts of songs and the kids love it. This did not get put away yet(see below)!

When it was time for bed (for the kids) and my side of the family left, it was time for Santa's elf to get to work. I helped Grama get all of her gift wrapping finished too. Josh, Rachael and Grace were going to come over in the morning so we had our Johnson Christmas at our house Christmas morning. Unfortunately, it was nuts once the first wrapping paper got torn off and I didn't get many pics at all in the morning. You know, everything needs to be wire cut or screwed out of its packing materials. It is like trying to get through the airport with more than 4 oz of water. Then, once you get it out of the packing stuff, it needs batteries. Now that there are 2 kids, this process must move along quickly and efficiently, like an assembly line. So, there was no one left to take pictures. This was the only one I got :(

When I went to sleep Christmas Eve. This is what I left downstairs.

Grama and Papa got Josh and Rachael this recliner/rocker to rock Grace in and this is what was in it before they got it, in the morning.

When Jace did wake up and come upstairs, he asked my why he was in the chair downstairs? I said I didn't know but that is where I left him. I guess it is comfy, guys! It was pre tested. Then Santa left his footprints as he came out of the fireplace. Hmmmm....

It was a really great Christmas even though it was the first time we have ever missed the Swaine get together on Christmas morning. I sent all our gifts with Mimi so she could take them. It was way to crazy at our house to try and take the kids out of there so we just enjoyed the morning at home. We loved every minute of it and all while being back "home". Life is good and God has sooooo blessed us.

So, most of you that know me will not be surprised at this at all..... but remember all those pretty lights and tree that took hours? All put away and stored by 5 on Christmas. Did I mention that I was a little obssesive/compulsive, liked things in there place, or get tunnel vision about getting things done? Well, if you know me at all, you already know this! So, yes! It was all put away and clean as a whistle in our house before going to Grama and Papa's for dinner. It was like Christmas did not happen in our house that morning. Now when we see lights or decorations other places, Jaxx wants to know why they still have their stuff up since Christmas is over!? I know I am crazy but it just takes a hold of me, grips me by shoulders and forces me to get the mission done! WHY wait? I mean, after all, Christmas IS over so the purpose is done. On to the next holiday! Bah humbug!

On to the 2009!!!

Cortney K.

Holiday Bustling!

Let's go back to last week. The rush started to make sure I had everything ready for Santa.

Jaxx had his class party and I ordered these cookies for his class. Remember the pink "J" cookies for Jaya's birthday at school? Well, these were made by the same bakery. It is Barb's Bakery and it is very well known in the Valley of the Sun as "THE" bakery. Their stuff is fantastic and these cookies were perfect for the occassion. I did get repremanded on the phone a little bit when I called to order them because they like to have their orders 3 days in advance and I wanted them the next day. What can I say? I thought they would have Santa cookies coming out of their you know whats, this time of year, but apparently that is not the case. Anyway, the cookies were a huge hit and it makes up for the trouble of getting them, worth it.

So, after dropping Jaxx off for school. I went to my tennis ATA open house party held by Jill. It was very nice and Jaya made out like a bandit. Jill packed her a bunch of goodies to go. We left Jill's and headed to Jaya's dance class. She will be off of dance now for 2 weeks so she will really be ready to go back.

I love this picture!

Hmmmm, not exactly built like a ballerina quite yet.

She can put her nose on the floor and stretch like crazy!

We left ballet and went back to school to get Jaxx. Then we went to Papa and Grama's house. Dad needed a picture taken for a bio and I snapped this at the end.

It has been crazy just like your life has been. You know the last minute things that you forget about until it is almost to late.
The kids and I went to lunch today with Andrea and Dillon. I stopped at the bank first and in that same center as the bank, there is a Honey Baked Ham store. It was RIDICULOUS to try to find a spot and manuever through the sidewalk, just to get to the bank. Talk about crazy. The line was insanely long and I was thinking about my cute little honey baked ham knock off from Fresh and Easy sitting in my 'fridge. It was a good feeling, as if to say silently to these people, "Ha Ha, I already got my ham and paid less". I haven't tasted it yet though so I will have to report later.

Anyway, after bustling (what a funny word), delivering cards and Fairytale Brownies, wrapping, driving, shopping, returning and shopping again, this is what I feel like.

I found Jaya in bed last night looking like this. My client gave her the cutest purple purse and lipgloss's from one of her favorite hotspots "Sweet and Sassy". She always loves their bags because the handles are little crowns. She went in her closet and got her Princess hat on and fell fast asleep. This pretty much sums up the feelings after all the "bustling".

Hope your finished "bustling" too.

Cortney K.

Deck the halls.....Fa la la laaaa la la la la

The kids and I drove around tonight to look at lights. We started doing this when Jaxx was 2. I could hardly wait until the lights started going up. I would put him in the car and drive around to let him look. I loved all the sounds and excitement that came out of him. Guess what? I still love them. He is so funny! You can pick out all the phrases he gets from Jace. He has the funniest lines because he puts his own little spins and expressions on what he hears from Jace. He has a comment for every new house we come upon. Then Jaya started saying "I love baby, Jesus" everytime we found a manger. Jaxx said he loved Jesus too and she was trying to tell him that she could only love baby Jesus. He said no, she said yes, she said he was being mean and he said she was being rude... I still chuckle under my breath as I try to untangle the words. I have loved packing them in the car and looking at Christmas lights for years now and there will come a time when they refuse to go, ugh. I am just trying to soak it all up before they forget how much they love me. The house at the top was definitely the winner. It was totally decked out. The pictures don't do any of these justice but it is hard to get a good pic out the window.

Jaxx thought this was great!

This house was really done up too. How do these people have time to make all these little wood figurines and then where do they store them?

Same house!

Jaxx wanted to go by Grama and Papa's house because "I love the red pepper lights"!

This is was much prettier in person. It was super bright!

These people do their palm trees every year and they are huge!

This was my favorite house. I love the Grinch. He just needs to be loved. It was funny that Jaxx understood what each figurine was doing. He knew that the figurine with the lights in his hand was taking them down not putting them up. He isn't very fond of the Grinch though.

I hope you take time to enjoy what is going on around you rather then rushing through it. Make your own memories. They can't be bought or wrapped but you will have them forever.

Cortney K.

Let's Dance!

Here are some pics from Jaya's first ballet recital on Saturday. It was very cute and very packed. I was hoping that Jaya would not get shy but what was I thinking? This is, after all, THE PINK TORNADO.

After her dance she came and signed autographs for all her fans. Andrea brought her the sweetest little plush ballerina doll. When you squeeze it, it make a little magic wand sound. She loves and has been carrying it everywhere since. You can see her holding it as she settled into Mimi's lap for a long relaxation while she watched the other dancers. She was very intrigued by all the other girls.

Andrea also took all these pics as I was video taping. Hopefully, at some point, I can figure out how to get the video on my blog.

It was fun to see her. She really loves ballet so I am sure there will be lots more!

Cortney K.

Holiday spirit!

This is what you call Holiday spirit. I found this car in the parking lot at Targe' while shopping. I wasn't the only one taking pics either. It is so cute!

I am happy to say that I am 90% finished shopping. I have a few things left and then I will have to wrap. I have had some close calls where I had to tell the kids that the toys they saw were for someone else. :) Sorry for the fibs!

I can't believe we are about a week away. It has all gotten away from me because of the move. I luuuuv this time of the year and wish it didn't go by so fast.

We have 2 parties to go to this week and hope to post pics of the social activities.

On the tennis news.....USTA end of the year ratings came out. At the end of each year, USTA rates all their players based on their match play (all match scores are posted online). This is the United States Tennis Association. Well, I a higher rating! Yea! 3.5! It means I may have to find a new team though. I play on a 3.0 team and I won't be able to play down. They have talked about playing up with me though. You can play up from your rating but not down. I was the only one on my team that moved up. USTA ratings are slightly more difficult strict then ATA so I already play on a 3.5 team with ATA. ATA is Arizona Tennis Association. We ended the sesson in first place so we went to championship match play. We are posted here http://www.ata.tenniscores.com/newsletter.php?nid=1845 near the bottom with this pic

Carla and I played on court one and we lost. Our team took the other 2 points so that means we won the match even though Carla and I lost our court. So, now this team will move up to 3.5A and I volunteered to be the captain. Diane has done it the last few seasons and she is tired of it. It should be interesting :0

So, off to try to do some more shopping online!

Holiday spirit is all around, I hope you are spreading some cheer!

Cortney K.