Here are four of my favorite shots (click on them to enlarge). At the bottom is a link to the slideshow on Flickr, to see more.

Perfect

She's Ready!

Chris and Scottie

Pretty girls!

Cheese!

Check out the full slideshow

Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

I would like to say that I took Ferris’s advice, and looked around once in a while over the holiday season. That, however, would be a big, FAT lie. There was simply too much to do. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the holidays—I enjoyed them very much. I was just very busy which is really ironic, since I had 12 days off. ((That doesn’t include the other 3+ days I had off earlier in the month )) Let’s see where all the time went.

First stop, Thanksgiving

We had a really nice Thanksgiving, even if Chris did try to add his thumb to the stuffing. If you don’t take anything away from this post, take this away: iPod, cleaver, onions, 80s dance moves—they do not go together! Injury aside, it was a blessed day with FL family, and we all ate way too much (sans Johnson thumb).

Zachary and Jonah ham it up for the camera

Once November came to a close we rushed right in to December, and the arrival of mom. Things just weren’t working out in Denver. Mom’s friend passed away earlier in the year forcing her to move, and putting her out of a job at the same time. In this economy it’s tough to look for work and mom ran out of options. So we asked her to come back to FL, either for an extended visit or for the long haul, if we can manage not to kill each other.

Work was as busy as always with fun projects and interesting clients, both with eCollege and freelance. While December is usually a slower work month, since I had to take all of my vacation and personal time or lose it, I only worked 14 days. That would explain my workload, lol! Add to that a Christmas program, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year’s and Jonah’s birthday, and you’ve got “Wham! Bam! Thank you, Ma’am!” I can tell you this, it’s not easy playing mommy, Santa, Web Goddess, wife, daughter, and dominatrix, uh, wife. ((Wait, I said wife already, didn’t I?))

Christmas did seem to come and go, but it wasn’t a total blur. We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Eve at Nana’s house. It was nice having so much family, mom included. Christmas morning brought another flurry of gifts, including a full-size telescope for Zachary and a plethora of Star Wars ships, figures, and clothing for Jonah. The gift that stole the show, however, was Rock Band 2. In a word, it ROCKS!!  ((Is that why it’s called ROCK Band?)) I don’t know who loves it more, Chris and I, or Zachary. We have had so much fun playing it. I even received the The Beatles version as a gift and it is awesome! Now that vacation has passed it’s been tough putting Rock Band on the back burner. I think we’re bummed out more than The Goose.

After Christmas we had Jonah’s birthday. I thought the stores had run out of Star Wars items, but if they did it’s because we bought everything. He won’t run out of Star Wars things until he’s an adult and by then he can sell them for a profit. It was awesome watching Jonah run around the house playing with the Millenium Falcon and Yoda. At 3 he actually flies them around and plays with them. Is that odd? Of course not!

Jonah blows out his candles

And there you have it. A flurry of activity in six short weeks. Or six long weeks, depending on how you look at it.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s. I hope that 2010 is happy, prosperous, fulfilling and fun. I hope that all my family and friends get everything they deserve in this new year, and in many new years to come.

Viva Las Vegas! I know, really cliché, but really true! Chris and I spent 4 wonderful days in Sin City, celebrating our TENTH wedding anniversary. We planned it for a year, actually followed through, and had one of the best vacations ever. Maybe because the kids were back at home? For those of you interested in our fantastic trip, or if you just want to hear about a totally cool, new off-strip resort and see some fun photos, read on!

I will probably spend most of this post discussing a fabulous place called The M Resort. ((Of course it’s fabulous–it’s named after me )) I came across the resort while trolling the web looking for great Vegas deals. And a deal I got! We paid $74 a night (including Fri and Sat) and even though the resort tacks on a $25 resort fee per day, our deal actually gave us a $25-a-day hotel credit to be used anywhere in the hotel! Of course Chris and I had NO problem spending that!

The M is truly a beautiful place and we were thrilled to see $5 minimums at the craps table, and find that the six restaurants offered competitive pricing. I guess being 9 miles off the strip you have to make some concessions! We spent our first evening (Thursday) really just hanging out and enjoying being a) in Las Vegas and b) kidless! While Chris went to play in the 6:00 Hold ‘Em tourney, I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of two of my eFriends (who I am proud to call my friends now), Perpelina and Cajun Vegan.

We hung out at the Lobby Bar enjoying a pitcher of something very summer-ish and just chatting. I truly felt at ease with them both and was disappointed when the time came to say good-bye. ((I was on vacation, and they, unfortunately, were not.)) Believe it or not, our first night in Vegas ended pretty early (by Vegas standards). That 3-hour time difference is a bitch!

Good morning Friday and Happy 10^th Anniversary! Chris and I spent a leisurely morning reading in bed. Yes, reading in bed! No kids, no work, no nothing. We could do whatever the hell we wanted! After an über-delicious breakfast buffet we hit the pool. AND WHAT A POOL! I felt like I had just walked on to the set of a movie. Sweet cabanas in the middle of the pool, ivy-lined walls, gaming tables outside…it was pretty fantastic. We grabbed some chairs by the water, grabbed a few drinks ((Hey, we’re on vacation!)) and proceeded to do more of nothing!

Our anniversary dinner at Hugo’s Cellar in the Four Queens casino on Fremont street was amazing. Chris and I made our own surf ‘n turf. I ordered seafood, he ordered steak, and we chowed down. It was great enjoying a meal in a place where I’m not allowed to write on the table with my crayons.

We did make it to The Strip on Saturday thanks to The M’s free shuttle. Of course it dropped us at the Fashion Show mall and the Puma store was just calling my name. So was the iPod custom wrap cart and Sephora. It was definitely hot, but we certainly weren’t complaining. No humidity!

Chris also scored us a free dinner at The M’s Japanese steakhouse at the top of the resort by charming the pants off of the craps pit boss. We may not have come home with any money, but we certainly came home with some great memories!

Viva Las Vegas!!

I do have the October slideshow ready, LOL!

(TIP: if you want to see a pic’s details, just click on it.)

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

I know my fans are dying for more. Okay, I know my kid’s fans are dying for more:

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Hang on for a busy December!

Can you believe a year has passed already? This time last year I was lying in a hospital bed, with my beautiful newborn by my side. Now that baby is a year old. Unbelievable! We spent a nice night at Nana’s house with all of Jonah’s local family in attendance. Jonah dove right in to his first cupcake like a pro!

The next few weeks went by in a Flurry. First we all enjoyed a nice weekend with Nana for her birthday (I’m not at liberty to say which one). We had dinner at Kobe, of course! Cory came down from Miami and we had a great time.

Next we had to start gearing up for Santa, and some time off. Work kept me on my toes, right up until my vacation. Nothing like working against a few deadlines while trying to play Santa at the same time. We got it done though. There was the visit to the mall for some shopping and to see Santa, which actually went pretty well. Jonah wasn’t too fussy and Zachary always has a smile ready for the camera! Nicole, Rick and the girls met us at the mall and we had a nice dinner at the Orlando Ale House. What made it even nicer is that it was paid for with the garage sale money we made earlier in the day!

The week before Christmas we went to Zachary’s school for the Christmas program. It was a great night–not too cool and everyone was in the holiday spirit. Zach’s class sang the Dreidel song, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Of course Zachary was the cutest, loudest performer The next night it was the cookie exchange at Uncle Dave and Aunt Ivonne’s. Christmas eve was spent wrapping…wrapping up last minute shopping as well as wrapping up gifts! Everything was done on time, and Santa was ready to stuff the stockings.

Christmas day started early (of course) with a sick baby and an excited pre-schooler. Jonah was cranky and stuffy all morning and spent his time sitting in Daddy’s lap. Zachary patiently handed out presents to everyone and even took turns opening. Of course, we all opened one gift to his three, but that’s the way it’s supposed to be. 2 1/2 hours later, we were ready to head over to Nana’s house to have breakfast and open more gifts. Unfortunately, Chris started feeling sick so after breakfast we went home and Chris and Jonah went down for naps. When everyone was awake, it was back to Uncle Dave’s for dinner where there were 35+ people assembled for the feast. The food was awesome and it was great to be surrounded by so much family. My one regret was that my brother couldn’t be there with us.

Now we’re on the verge of a new year. We’re working on resolutions to be a stronger family and better people. We hope that 2008 will bring joy and prosperity to everyone we hold dear and that the new year will be even better than the year that is passing.

Happy New Year to you all!!!