Green....

...with envy. There is just a little part of me that wants to live Bryce's life: Palm trees last week...famous Rockefeller trees this week. Bah humbug!

The Happiest Place on Earth...Again

I honestly can't believe I'm doing another Disneyland post. But yes, we did it...AGAIN! Grammy and Paca came and we met our sweet Arizona cousins for a few days of pure Disney bliss. There is nothing on earth like Disneyland in December. If you want an idea of how the kids felt, take a look at Max in the picture with Mickey. We're laughing at that still! (He had just conquered California Screamin' and was so proud!) What a way to kick off December. Thanks Mickey!

Thanksgiving recap

We didn't go over any rivers...or through any woods for that matter. But we did drive through plenty of cactus fields to Grammy and Paca's. It's always a treat to be in a place where you can spend half of Thanksgiving day swimming - and the other half eating. Now were back to temperatures in the teens - brrrr! but loving our December days singing in choir concerts, preparing for our annual neighborhood Nativity program, lunching and exchanging gifts with friends, cozying up by the fireplace, and addressing Christmas cards. I love the holidays!

Thanksgiving by amr

Tangled and True is one of my favorite (and first) blogs to follow - so how excited was I when she decided to feature her readers' Thanksgiving ideas? Check out my guest post on her blog today. Thanks Brittany - and a happy holiday to everyone!

Patterned Paper Place Mats

*Image via Paper Source

If you have a big crowd coming for dinner and don't have enough matching table settings, here's a quick trick that can really pull your look together: scrapbook paper. For less than $1 each you can place a square 12x12 piece of paper under your place setting in any color or pattern you can dream up. It's just paper, but you will be amazed how much spark it adds to your table.

Gifting Time Savers

I'm all for time savers this holiday season so I've been perusing Etsy for some personalized tags for our gifting goodies. These simple black and cream with jute are topping my list. You can find them here.

It's been sparse around here lately...

...and here is the main reason why. I've been starring in a major role since late September. It's called "Stage Mom." And last night the big production went down. My girl Kalli was Portia in Shakepeare's "The Merchant of Venice." Of course I'm going to say she was wonderful, magnificent, and beautiful. Because I'm her proud mom - and she was.

Story Deli

School house tables, vintage mirrors, cardboard stools, and chalkboard menus. Not to mention the yummiest organic pizzas with the craziest toppings. It's been about 7 weeks since we've eaten there (right off Brick Lane in London) and I'm craving to get back. Who's coming with me?

Halloween 2009

Our Halloween celebration consisted of one elementary school Halloween parade, three classroom Halloween parties, two soccer games, two piano concerto recitals, one neighborhood chili party, and of course two entirely separate rounds of trick or treating. It was a blast but also utterly exhausting. Mix that busy cocktail up with nursing kids back to health (who really shouldn't have been trick or treating in the first place) and the results are this: 1. Halloween decoration coming down 8 days too late 2. Pictures posted 8 days too late 3. One sick mommy who didn't get out of bed for two days

Is it Thanksgiving yet?

Oh Gourdy!

I know! I know! Halloween is over...but I just had to share. It's no secret I LOVE my Jeni Gochnour Gourds. In fact, at a recent party I hosted - a few guests wanted a house tour. Funny enough, it eventually turned into a gourd tour. I was kind of dying that I had so many to show. Now to the fun part - Jeni saw the picture I posted of my living room and posted it on her blog! You can check it out here. If you haven't been to one of her shows, be sure to put her Christmas show on your calendar. It's one of my favorite holiday art shows of the year.

It's Looking Awfully Spooky Around Here...

I Can't Wait...

...to show the girls the perfect accessory I stumbled upon (at another one of my favorite haunts :) for them to wear to jazz class tonight. They've been learning the dance to Thriller during October and tonight's class will be the Thriller finale. How fun will it be to show up with this on? Thank you Tar-Jay!

Something's Gotta Give

*Image of my favorite house in one of my favorite movies as per listed above...

I'm finally just coming up for a breath from nearly a month of my life running me versus me running my life. I'm hoping this choke-hold I've got on it this week will last for a bit and slow down this beast known as our schedule. When life gets this crazy - something's gotta give ... and it's not only been my blog. In all the madness, however, there have been many shining moments and that's what I'd like to share and what I hope you'd like to hear (rather than what's been making me pull my hair out.)

1. On October 10th, a special little girl at our house celebrated her 9th birthday. It was a Saturday so the whole day was dedicated to indulging her - including soccer games, shopping, burgers and shakes with Grammy and Paca, a chocolate cake with a rainbow (her specific request) and topping the night off with a 3-d movie in Paca's theater. (Have I mentioned before that friend birthday parties only happen on "even" numbered birthdays? Love that.)

2. Kalli has been cast as Portia in "The Merchant of Venice" for her 6th grade play. We've been waking up early to attend 7:15 a.m. play practices and memorizing lines. She's amazes me every day. Keeping up with that girl's schedule is a full time job in and of itself!

3. Max is a boy with a sweet and sensitive heart. We had Monday off of school and we drove by a different elementary school that was having recess. (With the windows rolled up, of course) the girls and I laughed and teased, "You have school...and we don't...na na...na na...na." Max didn't participate in the teasing and with a fornlorn look on his face he said, "Aww those poor kids shouldn't have to go to school if we don't have to." Needless to say, we all melted and stopped our teasing immeditately. :)

His "sweet" does have a limit, however. After an afternoon matinee watching Aladdin with the girls, I asked him what he thought of the movie. Without hesitation he said, "Too much kissing."

4. I was in charge of a dinner for the faculty of our elementary school during parent/teacher conference night. I had most of it catered, but did make a little treat for each of them myself. I bet you can guess what these are. Think chocolate. I swear I'm never making them again!

5. We've been working hard on our primary program (which was last Sunday...whew!) and I love every minute I get to spend with the kids in my ward. Honestly, I do! I treat them much like I treat my own children. If they do particularly well on a song (I'm chorister, remember?) I praise them upside down and inside out and sometimes even surprise them with a treat. If the song is well...not so good...I'm honest. And we try it again. After one particular song that was only "so-so" I told them, "On a scale of 1 to 10, it was about a 3." One cute boy from the front row said to me, "Sister Roberts, you are the Simon of Primary Idol." I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

6. I spent one lovely night last week indulging myself in a little birthday shopping spree at a couple of my favorite stores. I told Bryce he is lucky I consider "a couple of my favorite stores" TJ Maxx and Ikea.

7. Bryce had a couple weeks worth of sick days when he came down with bacterial pneumonia. On the bright side, it wasn't the swine flu.

8. Ella has been obsessed with this song lately. I don't know why...but she won't stop singing it. I can't help but smile and sing along.

9. And speaking of music, here's another funny one. Josie fell asleep in the car on the way home from my sister's house. I knew it was all the nap she would get that day so I decided to pull into the garage, turn off the car, and let her sleep for another 20 minutes or so in her car seat. I left the radio on to mask the noise of the garage door closing and the car door open so I could hear her the minute she woke up. After about 10 minutes, I checked on her...still sleeping. Another ten minutes went by...still sleeping. A few more minutes passed and I went to check on her and sure enough, she was awake. Not crying, as I suspected she might be after waking up in the car alone. No - she was singing. This song! Down. Down. Down. Down. Down. I'm still laughing about it.

10. And lastly, you'll never guess what amazing invention I've been parading around the house this week. It keeps me warm and amazingly enough, it keeps my hands free to do what I need. Are you stumped?

Yes, the kids got me a Snuggie for my birthday. Naturally, they want to be assured how much I adore it and insist I wear it each and every time I sit down. I'm sure Bryce had no hand in it whatsoever. It's currently the single most loved item in the Roberts' household. If you've ever wanted to see or touch one in real life, come on over and take it for a spin.

P.S.
On a completely unrelated and yet related tangent, did you know the "Something's Gotta Give" house has been for sale for year or so? Check it out on the Sotheby's Real Esate Section here. Don't get too excited, though. I'm pretty sure I'll find the house key in my stocking from Santa this year ;)