Farewell 2010!

I'm starting this post to journalize the remainder of the year I didn't cover, but the driving force behind me is the promise I gave to my mom. I told her I would post pictures of the shnazy white elephant gift Jeff ended up with this year at our Selin/DeWitt party.

Another driving force is to get rid of pictures still on my camera while proving the major need for a better memory capturing device.

First up: Superstition Farm

While still hot weather, I took Kai and Treyson out to see the dairy and "petting zoo" (which turned out to be about 5 animals you could feed out of your hand through a fence and a rooster that ran around). Funny how it always works out this way, but their favorite part, even more so than the ice cream they gave us at the end of the dairy tour, was this dog and it's ball throwing device. Kai AND the dog could have done this for HOURS!!!

Onto Knotts Berry Farm:

It's by far MY family's favorite theme park. We go almost every year.

The boys loved it, of course. Jeff was not able to be there because of work and my parents were a big help staying with the little kids for most of the day while I got my fill of the roller coasters.

I already posted about Halloween COSTUMES but have yet to recap the festivities. At our church Fall Festival, we had booths set up amidst the Trunk or Treat. A fishing booth, donut eating booth, and digging through guts for bones booth.

The Gardners have a Halloween Dinner every year with delicious, sometimes gory looking food. And lots of fun! We opted to make one cute treat (Griffin did a great job on the ghost faces) and one "EW!!" dish. Puff pastry intestines with a taco, guacamole filling.

Here are some other memories unrelated to any holiday.

Kai was trying to be helpful by asking if he could get Treyson and himself some Goldfish crackers for a snack. I said, "Sure. Just put some on the table for you and some on the table for Trey then put the box away." (We always buy the big box.)

This is what he thought was a fair amount for a snack:

And later,following Kai's definition of "serving size", Trey decided to grab himself some gum:

----There are four pieces left in the box which he finished off a few days later in another sitting. I know, I know. I take full responsibility. I had put the box back in the exact same spot. ---

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Some months I'm better than others but coupon shopping is something I try to do regularly.

This particular trip, I was at the register checking out and the cashier had to call the manager over to approve the sale. Apparently I had the new "highest saved total" of the day. Now, I know there are WAY better shoppers out there but I was pretty proud that day. So I made myself a sash out of the extra long reciept:

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Jeff worked so hard to get the backyard looking beautiful this winter. Griffin was able to mow the lawn for the first time and did a great job!!

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So here it is Mom....

What you've been waiting for:

When you open a white elephant gift and the first things you see are Richard Simmons videos, there's a good chance you'll be getting some fanciful workout clothes to go with it. I had not anticipated the matching set though. Way to go Selins! Next year I fully intend to regift this with a gigantic curly wig and some bright white shoes. And maybe, just maybe, an at home spray tan kit with body oils.

A sad part about this Christmas was that we taped the whole morning with our video camera and took zero pictures to document. But the theme for Christmas 2010 at our home was definitely TRANSFORMERS. The boys were given more than they could appreciate in one day, but they loved every minute of it.

It was fun seeing Treyson get into it this year.

A few days ago, while eating yogurt, he yelled for my attention and said while laughing, "Mom, mom, look! I'm Ho-Ho-Ho!", followed by a big grin. Here is his Santa-beard face, I guess. He looks mad, but he had just finished saying, "Ho Ho Ho!" with his lips pouted out.

Love that kid!!