Early Giving

If I haven't already announced it... we are going to Oklahoma for Christmas this year. I am so excited to celebrate with family again and to just have fun for two weeks with my hubby. That is what is so great, lots of time together.

Of course one of the challenges is transporting gifts from point A to B. I know people do two Christmas's and open at home and then go elsewhere. But to me, Christmas wouldn't be the same without the glob of presents under the tree. I shipped most of them straight to mom's house by buying online with free shipping. Easy easy for me. The only exception was Logan's bike that he wanted. Yep, Santa was not going to attempt to bring that sucker back. So Santa made an early appearance after school one day to drop it off. Not as exciting as Christmas morning, but he was excited just the same. Must have made a great impression because Gabe kept talking about how much cooler it was than his. Guess Santa has some tastes after all.

I am sure we are not the only people in America suffering from Arctic air and chilly temperatures. It has been bone chilling cold the past couple of mornings. With the temperature hovering right around 20 and the wind blasting to make it feel single digits. I passed on running Monday and Tuesday but I had to get out today. You just gotta suck it up I guess. I was telling Corey how cold it was going to be last night and he gives me an "early Christmas" present so that I could make good use of them.

First let me say that I am a cheapo. When I buy stuff for myself it is the cheapest and not the best by any means. He knew my hat was still allowing air to hit my head and then my gloves were the dollar special at Target that don't do any good. I would come home from running and I couldn't use my fingers for a good 20 minutes. So my thoughtful husband got me the best gift ever...

This stuff is awesome. The hat is thermal dry weave and pull the moisture away from you head so you don't get cold. The gloves are my favorite. They are thermal running gloves and my hands were not cold for one minute this morning. I gave both things a big thumbs up after running for an hour in the cold. So tomorrow when my alarm goes off I won't be as reluctant to get out there and go.

And what better way to end my post than the fact that Lexie was sick today. High fever and headache this girl was immobile this morning. You could tell she felt crappy. Plus she was up at 4am watching TV. Gave her some Ibuprofen and her fever went down and my Lexie emerged all ready to go. Now I am just crossing my fingers that no one else gets this and we can all be healthy and ready to go to Grandma's on Friday.

Sleep Walking

I don't know if any of you know someone who does this....well we are lucky to have a kid who does this. Logan has become our regular sleep walker as of late. At least once a week he will make his appearance and it is really entertaining. We keep wanting to get it on video, but we never have it around when he decides to come out. We have had several trips into the kitchen to start making food, random places to have a bathroom break. One of my favorites is when he came out around 11pm with his scriptures in tow and sat down for family scripture reading. Corey and I just busted out laughing because he is sitting there with his eyes closed and his scriptures open.

The latest was a couple of nights ago when he came out and stood there for awhile. Then he told me he was scared. I told him to take me into his room and show me what was scaring him. He just kept pointing to his empty bed and saying it is right there. So random, but I finally convinced him to lay down and relax. He is on the top bunk so as he was laying on his stomach and I was rubbing his back and I was right next to his face talking quietly not to wake Gabe. Logan decides at that moment to throw up. Yep, right in my face. It was so gross. And you know the best part....he was still sleep walking. He didn't even remember any of it the next day. Go figure.

It has been ages since I posted pictures....I couldn't believe what was on the camera. I decided just to post them all and give a out pour of pictures. I will try try try to keep on top of it again. With the holidays there should be some great moments to snap some pictures. Enjoy!!

So I went with Christy (hey girl) and her girls with Lexie to watch the new Disney movie "Tangled" which was so so good. In fact, it competes for my favorite Disney movie. I can't wait for it to come out on video so I can watch it at home.

Christy and her girls, don't you love her sweater? Black Friday find.
Lexie and I getting ready to enjoy.

So I have developed a love for baking within the last year or so. I love to try new recipes and Thanksgiving was that chance. I did three new ones and they turned out ohh so good. Everything I made from scratch except the peaches in the cobbler because I couldn't find them. I guess they are not in season right now. But everything else I did by hand literally since I don't have a mixer.

Peach Cobbler

Deep dish pecan pie (this was my favorite, I ate half by myself)

Apple pie

Gabe had his choir concert and the assembly room is tiny and always so crowded. We were lucky to get seats, but this is what I got to sit behind. I had to get a picture of that hair.....WOW.

There is Gabe...fuzzy I know but he was so funny. Pure cheese up there.

Random yes, but this is me getting ready to run on a Saturday morning at 6:30 with my running group. I have come to love Saturday morning runs. Maybe I will actually get a group picture one morning.

Logan had his football party at a skating ring. When was the last time everyone went roller skating? Me.....um how about forever. Since our kids had never been I felt obligated to get a pair and help them out. It seems I was the only mom who was willing to get on them and go. I felt like a little girl out there with all those boys. There was tons of falling down and I worried Gabe would break something because he was fearless and just tried to go as fast as he could. Surprisingly all three got pretty good by the nights end.

Lexie and mom

Gabe crawling to the floor....

Logan getting the hang of it.

Lexie looked like a roller derby girl with her stripped tights....oh so cute.

Gotta pose for that picture.

Breaking out the old backwards skate. I was so shaky at first.

And as a side note, I was looking down at Logan's feet one day at the store and realized his toes were basically poking out the end. I was shocked because we just bought those for school in August. He had grown a whole shoe size in a couple of months. So off to the store we went to buy another size up. The boy is only one size away from what I wear in little boys. Plus he has grown a whole pant size going to size 12. The waist is still big, but the length is right on. He needs to slow down. He is getting huge.

And we just thought she looked too cute passed out on me.

Just Gonna Do It

So I know I haven't posted in awhile, but I lost the camera, found the camera and then just got lazy. When I did remember it the batteries ran out and then I had no pictures. I promise I will load them soon. I have to wait and get the ones from Corey's phone so I can make my post complete.

I have been going back and forth about doing a full marathon. With the Gilbert's Syndrome it makes it tricky, but if I keep on track of my eating and train right I shouldn't have issues. In fact, I think this will help me in a certain way to get to where I need to be. There is a marathon on May 1st that I want to do in Gettysburg. I did a 5K last spring, but this is a really cool idea for the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War. They will have two different courses that will start at the same point and end at the same point. Depending on what state you register from is the course you take. So if you are from the Southern or all other states you run the South route. If you are from one of the original northern states then you run the northern route. Each route takes you through the side of the Battlefields that were controlled by that side. The country side is so beautiful and I think that will help to pass the time. I am in the process of recruiting people to train with me. I like that this is my first and I have just the goal of finishing and not a time limit to beat. I am excited for the challenge. I start training the first week of January and so I am enjoying just 10 miles now on my long runs.

Other than that we are just getting excited about going to my Mom's for Christmas this year. I can't wait for all the family time and memories. Today is Mom's birthday (happy birthday Mom!!) and she is enjoying it in warm sunny Cancun while I am holed up in my house in a winter storm.

Black friday target commercial

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this commercial. I laugh everytime, even Corey laughed last night.

Lost Camera

Lost Camera.....Last seen Halloween night in the hands of a toddler with blond curly hair and bright blue eyes. If seen, please return to the Esquibel family who is in need of some updated pictures. Reward would be knowing that you are saving people from endless entries with no pictures.

Completed Family Pictures

I have been waiting patiently for our family pictures for a little over a week now. I am so used to the instant gratification from having a digital camera and looking right after. What did people do before digital? Oh yeah, they suffered like me not knowing what our pictures looked like. I am happy with how they turned out. I can't really control Hailey or her faces. Most pictures she just looks lost and has this blank look. But at least she wasn't crying. And then Gabe had to have his extra goober smile going, but if you know Gabe that is just him. I really didn't expect him to have a normal smile. Because for Gabe, this is normal. I can't wait to get some printed out and hung on my walls at home. I love the colors in the background.

This is my favorite one, besides Gabe pulling his extra cheese, and I will probably get this one printed out and framed.

What a happy and complete family we are.

Update

As I was reading my blog I realized that I forgot to update some news that I had blogged about before. Talk about leaving everyone hanging forever.

First item of business is that I got my ring back. It was a miracle in itself. The very next day Marshall's called and said a lady had found it in a shoe box as she was trying on a pair of shoes. I was so relieved. Corey made me take it in the next day to get it sized. It was a size 5 and we are getting it a size 4. It will be nice to have my ring snug and not have it wiggling all over the place.

The next thing was this whole medical episode that I went through. The ER visit the consecutive specialist visits and test. Blah blah blah, I was so sick of getting my blood drawn. They did another in depth ultrasound of my liver and it came back normal. So I am left with Gilbert's Syndrome which is what they thought it might have been before. You can read more here. So basically I just have a yellowish tint to my skin thanks to this and the fact that I can't over stress my body. Looks like I am stuck doing only half marathons, but I am ok with that.

And the last thing is that we are going down to Tulsa to my parents house for Christmas!!! I am so excited. I miss home and my parents and I can't wait to spend some quality time with them. My sister is also coming with her hubby and cute new baby as well. It should be a grand holiday season with lots of treats and memories. Now I just have to survive the 18 hour drive down. Should be easy enough right?

Cunningham Falls

This past weekend we decided to have family pictures taken. We haven't had any done since Hailey was born and I didn't want studio pictures again. So we enlisted a friend of a friend to come and do them. He does great work and we went up to a National Park here called Cunningham Falls. The leaves were so pretty and it was a crisp nice day for it. It turned out great and I am anxious to get the pictures. Corey took some great shots while we were just waiting around.

Before I get to the shots, on Sunday morning I did the girls hair in little buns all over. It looked so stinkin cute we had to get some shots in there. Isn't she just a doll? How can you not think that little face is cute? Even with no make-up smeared all over....

Check her out.....don't you just want to pinch those cheeks? Her hair has gotten so long and I can do so much more with it now.
Lexie was being a nice big sister and helping Hailey up the trails.

This is our friend Christy....you just gotta love her.

Brothers and best buds, I swear these two are always together.

Little poser, she knew exactly what to do.

Gabe was a little less enthusiastic, but we still got a decent shot.

Logan's squirrel smile, I swear he has such a handsome smile when he isn't trying so hard.

Daddy and daughters

mom and kids, we love this shot. (and yes I hiked up that trail with high heels boots on.)

Corey took this, reminds me of my high school senior shot...

The girls

What a great shot of Gabber....

Logan, now that is one handsome little boy.

This was Corey's idea, he loves those behind shots. You should have seen all the butt shots on his camera when I didn't know it.

She loved it outside. She played in everything.

We had such a great time and taking pictures imagine that. We will have to repeat this idea next time. It was well worth it. I will post the actual family pictures when I get them.

Halloween Friday

Happy Early Halloween!! We have learned since moving here to Hagerstown that you have several different days for trick or treating. Each little town in the area has different days that they participate. Hagerstown was Friday night so we got all geared up and ready to go. You can hit other places on Wednesday and Thursday if you really want to go crazy with the candy. One night is good enough for me. It was really cold and windy tonight too. Wished it could have been a little warmer. We had fun just the same though. And with all four we got A LOT of candy. It should last us till into the new year. This all happens because they have a huge Halloween parade here called the Mutter's Parade. It is a pretty big thing on the Saturday night around Halloween. So that is why trick or treating is so spread out. We didn't make it last year, but we have plans to go tomorrow night. That should be interesting.

I have a hard time staying out of the candy on Halloween. After we got all the candy combined I hoarded for a little while till I got what I wanted out of it. This is my sinister greedy face...

We were tight on money this year so we just used what we had around the house. Lexie was a princess as usual. We even got some blue eye shadow on just for her.
Hailey was a cute little kitty. We borrowed this costume and it worked great. She loved going up to doors and asking for candy. She ate more than all the other kids combined. She take after her mom with her chocolate tooth.

The boys just wore their uniforms. Logan was a football player and Gabe was a karate master. They were disappointed that they couldn't be something scary. Next year I want to try and make their costumes. That will be very interesting. But I did get a brotherly photo opt. I love this picture. This is how Gabe is.....enough said.

We had a great time. I do have to say I missed trick or treating at Grandma's house. I miss Grandma period. But I try to keep a smile on my face and make it a good year anyways. All in all, Halloween 2010 was lots of fun.

Oh Me Oh My

Well it has happened to me now.... I am so bummed that it did. I went to lunch today with my friend Christy at Panera. We had a great lunch. I had a bowl of their black bean soup which is to die for if you like beans. Marshall's is right next door and we decided to scoot on over to take a look. I LOVE Marshall's. Every time I go in, I come out with something. Today was no exception. I had bought my first pair of skinny jeans about a month ago and have loved them. So I decided I needed one more pair. I found them and they fit great. Found a cute shirt to go with them too.

For those who wear garments you know the challenges of tucking in your pants as you put them on. Not an easy task with skinny jeans. As I was walking away from the dressing rooms I suddenly realized that my wedding ring was gone. Yep I had lost it. I searched everywhere. My friend Christy even looked all over the store. She said she saw it on my finger at Panera so I know it had to have fallen of in the store. I know it had to have been while trying on the clothes, but I searched all over with no results. I gave my name and number to the manager and asked if they would call if someone turned it in. I knew I had to tell Corey and I was a little nervous. He has hinted several times I needed to get it re sized because it just falls off sometimes. But I never listened to him. He was actually very understanding, but he did get his "I told you so" in there. I told him we would just wait a couple of weeks to see if someone would stumble upon it. Then I guess we will wait and see. We definitely don't have the money for a new wedding ring. All of my other rings are too big as well. I am just hoping that someone accidentally spots it and turns it in. What a pain. Now I feel almost naked without it.

Does anyone else have a lost wedding ring story? Might make me feel better.

Weekend Fun

Corey and I have had a blast lately. Maybe it is the holiday season, or maybe we have just come to realize we haven't been spending enough time together. Any way you want to look at it, this past weekend was so much fun. Besides snuggling on the couch while Corey watches football and he plays with my hair we also went over to our friends the Ryder's house for their daughter's birthday. It was of course a Halloween theme, and it was so cute. The kids loved it. There is something about birthday parties and kids that makes everyone happy. The Ryder's really dressed up, Corey did at least put forth some effort into being a construction worker. I am not really into dressing up so I went as myself. I know lame, but hey at least I went. We took some couple pictures that were really fun. Corey made me wear his Hilti stuff so I wouldn't look so out of it. Plus I think he really liked me in that tool belt. He wanted me to wear it later at home, but it really wasn't my style....

Ready to work
Christy and I, she was such a cute witch.

Aren't they great?

Full body shot, he really likes that pocket.

The vampire and the construction worker.

After the party we went to Reynolds' Farm which is a huge pumpkin patch together. They have this huge free playground area and the kids had a blast just playing around. I did take a couple of pictures, but I looked through them and realized how lame they are. I really need to work on my picture taking skills. So sorry no pictures to go with that. On Sunday the Ryder's had us over for dinner and we had chicken enchiladas, which were so good I had seconds. After dinner I was showing Christy what bjj was and of course Corey got a picture. He said this is one of his favorites. I sure hope Christy won't be too embarrassed that I posted it.

And I just have to say how proud I am of my husband. He told me he wanted to start working out with me in the mornings. I was shocked, because Corey hates physical activity. But on Monday morning he got up at 5:30 with me and went out in the garage for some high interval weight training. He did great, and he also felt sick afterwards. I was scared he was going to quit. But this morning after I got back from my quick run, I ran two miles with Corey. He did really well just walking once after mile one. It is so nice to have Corey as my workout partner. Maybe tomorrow morning as we are doing our interval training I can snap some shots of us. I am just so proud of my baby.