well, christmas was fun for all. the kids especially. they got to decorate cookies...

they practially passed out in their gifts for most of the day...

here is the tree before they got to it...

Here is CJ in a santa hat chillin' ...

And here they are last week after decorating the tree...

Hope everyone had a great holiday with Family and Friends. We are all blessed to have what we do and sometimes it is too easy to forget that.

my daughter is an artist!! see this cute little picture here!

i think christmas is going to be fun this year... the kiddos don't know it yet but Santa has decided to get them a Wii. this excites me too because it means i get a Wii fit! we also found them a few games off the parenting site's best games for kids list. G is also getting a DSi from his dad... he should be all set on video game stuff for a while i think. Of course this also means that we can pass the Leapster on to M because she likes to play with that too and it is more age appropriate for her as well. we will have to get her some new games for that because i think G lost most of the ones we had gotten him.

the kids are adjusting to daycare again. CJ has never been but he did pretty well last week. he had a small meltdown this morning, but i think that was more because he seems to have a slight cold and just wanted to stay with me. other than that they all seem to love being able to go play with other kids. the younger two don't really get to go out and play much where we live because it is a town home area and the front is mainly a parking lot and the back just isn't very big and they tend to wonder to the street a lot more than i like. so it will be good for them to get out more.

looking forward to finishing all the other christmas shopping i have to do... i didn't really want to resort to gift cards, but i am coming up blank on ideas... we'll see i guess.

To my best friend... it is your birthday today. Happy birthday! I love you and I thank you for being part of my life, i couldn't imagine it without you!

Toddlers

at times i think it is just me... apparently it is not!

i know it has been some time since my last real life post. not a whole lot has been happening lately though. the big news is that the hubby is finally going to be returning to work. no more trying to live off my fairly puny paycheck. so YAY to the good news there. of course this means that i am going to have to figure out what to do with the kids during the day. i have been looking into the daycare that picks up from the school they are in but i was not really impressed. i was spoiled by the daycare i used to use before the hubby was not working and i would prefer to put them there but they do not pick up from the school. it is all pretty frustrating. i may have to have G do the after school program 2 days a week and put the other 2 in the daycare i like, but then i have to pick up from 2 places on those days and that just seems like a lot to do. i am already tired at the end of my 10 hour days so to add all the extra driving around in... i guess we'll see.

i have also been in the process of applying to a top raiding guild on my server. for my non gaming readers - i don't really think i can explain and have you understand why i would need to apply to play a video game... you just won't understand. to my gaming readers, i am sure you understand that this can be pretty time consuming, making sure you have all the right gems & enchants and that your gear is up to par. having them inspect and comment on every little thing and such... well, the good news is that they are interested in taking me on. i have to talk to one of the officers in game and they want to make sure they have room for me. they currently were not actively recruiting resto shamans and they have 3 main ones right now that are better geared than me, so even if they don't take me now, its pretty great that i look good enough for them to have interest.

so, better late than never, but here are some better Halloween pics of the kids. one is out of focus, but since i am at work that is as good as it is going to get. =P

**photos courtesy of Grandma Carol as i am too lazy to take my own off my camera.

**Edit: i was accepted to the guild i applied to. Yay!! I am now Khaelie of Cadia. My first raid with them will be on Tuesday, wish me luck!

**Healing WoW Post**

so, i dont normally WoW blog, but there is this "circle of healing bloggers" going around and it looked like fun so i thought i would put in my own 2 cents.

• What is the name, class, and spec of your primary healer? Khaelie, Resto Shaman
  
• What is your primary group healing environment? (i.e. raids, pvp, 5 mans) She is pretty much just doing raids at this point... occasionally i will do a daily for some extra badges but at this point 5 man healing for her is just too boring (yawning and tabbing out to facebook are not good thinkgs to do when you're supposed to be healing...). She does mostly 25 mans, but ventures into 10 mans as well.
  
• What is your favorite healing spell for your class and why? Riptide. it certainly isn't my strongest heal but it splashes and leaves little flowers on the floor.
  
• What healing spell do you use least for your class and why? healing wave. even with all the haste i stack the cast time is just too long. the only time i really use it is with an "oh S***!" Natures swiftness.
  
• What do you feel is the biggest strength of your healing class and why? we have big heals. Chain heal alone often heals the first target for upwards of 10K and then it heals 3 other targets for smaller amounts. that's a pretty big heal!
  
• What do you feel is the biggest weakness of your healing class and why? i think we could benefit with either a stronger HoT or instant. Ours is combined into one heal and everything else has a cast time, and those cast times are not little. I have a LOT of haste and still my LHW is about a second to cast (that is the fastest one).
  
• In a 25 man raiding environment, what do you feel, in general, is the best healing assignment for you? this really depends on the fight and the other available healers. if the fight is so spread out that chain heal stops after hitting just 1 or 2 people it really isn't worth it and i would be more useful on a tank. if there is a Disc Priest on the tank my big heals don't really help unless the tank is taking boatloads of damage and i would be more useful on the raid. but overall i have become quite comfortable doing whatever i am assigned to.
  
• What healing class do you enjoy healing with most and why? I really enjoy a nice Druid. Maybe i am just spoiled with the one i usually run with, but we work really well together and even though neither of us is a "tank healer" (a fact i think is outdated) we can usually 2 heal 10 mans without any issues.
  
• What healing class do you enjoy healing with least and why? Disc Priests. it is a pretty selfish reason, but when we have a disc priest i never get tank duty. :(
  
• What is your worst habit as a healer? getting too focused on grid and not seeing what is going on. Deadly boss mods has saved me from fire more than i like to admit.
  
• What is your biggest pet peeve in a group environment while healing? I think all healers dislike when there are calls for heals in vent. all we do is look at health bars, so if one is lower than it should be i guarantee we know it before you say it!
  
• Do you feel that your class/spec is well balanced with other healers for PvE healing? I think all healing classes have their own special abilities and so in a perfect raid you would have one of each. So balanced, yes, in that you can have a successful raid with any combination of healers.
  
• What tools do you use to evaluate your own performance as a healer? The fewer deaths the better! I admit i do look at recount, but mostly just to make sure i am pulling my weight in a straight healing encounter.
  
• What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about your healing class? lol shammys can only raid heal. in the absence of a disc priest of a holy pally, i think we are the next best choice.
• What do you feel is the most difficult thing for new healers of your class to learn? i think most think that chain heal spam is the only way to heal with a shaman. i admit i use it a lot, but i also use LHW and Riptide all the time as well, depending on what needs to be healed. i think that most know that they need to keep Earth Shield and water shield up, but many don't keep track of it and it gets lost in the action.
• If someone were to try to evaluate your performance as a healer via recount, what sort of patterns would they see (i.e. lots of overhealing, low healing output, etc)? it really depends on the fight being evaluated. if there is a lot of movement in the fight i am likely to be lower in the meters due to heals having long cast times. if there is little to no movement i can easily be in the top 2. i tend to have a lot of overhealing because i am almost always casting something whether it is needed or not, but until i have mana regen issues i am unlikely to change that.
  
• Haste or Crit and why? HASTE!!! i am sure i have touched on cast times already, but i like to have enough haste to get LHW to about 1 second with my totem down.
  
• What healing class do you feel you understand least? Holy Pallies. they have a beacon and a flash of light and that is quite literally all i really know about them.
  
• What add-ons or macros do you use, if any, to aid you in healing? I use grid & Clique. the only thing i use clique for is cleanse spirit. all my other spells are keybound. i really haven't even modified grid all that much. seems to work well for me.
  
• Do you strive primarily for balance between your healing stats, or do you stack some much higher than others, and why? for any shaman i would recommend stacking mana regen and intellect until you are comfortable with your mana and then switch to spellpower and haste. currently in 25man raid buffed i have about 3000 sp, 25000 mana and my regen is around 800.

I'm not tagging anyone since this isn't really a WoW blog anyways... i just wanted to share my opinion with anyone who wants to know.

we made it to Boo at the Zoo this year!! we always seem to miss it for one reason or another, and with it snowing we almost missed it again! most of the animals were hidden away inside, but we still got to see the giraffes, monkeys, and all the other inside habitats. the hippos were making noise too and they sure are loud. as most years, the kids got to put on their carefully picked out costumes and then cover them up with a big coat. CJ was able to wear his coat under his costume only because it was that big. here are a few pictures of them all dressed up. maybe halloween will be a bit warmer and then i will be able to get a picture of them without the jackets on... i guess if it is cold i can take the picture before we leave the house too, we'll see what happens.

M as a Kitty

G as a Power Ranger (with a random Captain Jack)

CJ as Buzz Lightyear with G and M

I am sick.
and it sucks.
:(

i know, i know, i haven't posted in a few weeks now. i tell you, when school starts back up it just gets hectic. boy scouts has started and G is selling popcorn right now... which coincidentally if you are reading this and you would like to help him out, please call me and let me know. it is nice that if he sells enough that i don't have to pay for any of the planned activities for the year, but boy is it a pain in the you know what to walk around the neighborhood with a kid who does nothing but complain about how much his legs hurt. this being the same boy that will play outside for hours with no problem...

in other great news, M can write her name. by herself. she was the first in her preschool class to do that so now she gets to learn her last name. i don't think she even knows her last name (i am a bad, bad mom, i know) so i wish her teacher luck in teaching her both her last name and how to write it. a couple months ago i called her by her full name and she responded with a "who??" i guess i also have some work ahead of me.

and finally CJ is absolutely to no end fascinated by Woody and Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. the other day we were going to the store and he got in his car seat and was then like "where's Woody?" we told him it was still inside and he broke down into full on screaming... i guess Woody cannot stay home alone yet. so, we went back in to get him and, of course, he was no where to be found. we looked upstairs, downstairs, in the basement, searched the car... must have been about 15 minutes later that i found him and brought him out to the car. well, one of the neighbors got to see much of this and commented about how it looked like something she had to do for one of her kids when they were younger. now, i try to make sure he had Woody before we leave to avoid all of this.

so, school has started and the kids have been out of my hair for a few days now... wait, that's not what school is about. let me start over.

so, school has begun!!! the kids packed up their new backpacks, put on their new shoes and headed off into the unknown. G has been very good about riding the bus, which is one less trip to the school each day since we have to take & pick up M from pre-school. apparently the bus is not an option for the 4 year old. G has yet again had some trouble adjusting to the social environment that is public elementary school. he seems to have very limited social skills in this type of fend for yourself setting. i am having some trouble understanding what it is that he needs in order to thrive here. i know that attention is very high on his list of priorities. he seems to feed off of any attention that he can get. good, bad, he doesn't really care. and, unfortunately, he has become a pro at getting bad attention if he doesn't get the good attention right away. i guess it will be off to a counselor with him this year because i am running out of ideas at this point. on a good note, they have looked at his scores for math and reading and for his grade level he is in the 89th & 99th percentile. the gifted program starts in 3rd grade, so if we can manage to get his focus where it needs to be by next year, the teacher thinks he would be a good candidate for that.

M has surprised me. i wasn't so sure how she would do around other kids or adults because, let's face it, she has made herself the center of her daddy's world and has been staying home with him all day for the last 2 years. but, she is becoming quite the socialite in school and has been playing nicely with the other kids. she also seems to really like her teacher.

well, here's to hoping everything works out and we make it through the year. G has decided he would like to do cub scouts again this year which means busy times for me. i think i am going to look into another activity for him to do as well, the more stuff he is doing, the less time he has to get into trouble at home.

the last week of summer...

it is true... school starts next tuesday and the kiddos are all excited and stuff. i wanted to make the last week kinda special since we didn't really get to do a whole lot this year. so we started off in loveland for the weekend visiting james and solitare. we took the kids to the park and they played for a few hours there. CJ seems to like being dizzy as there was a thing there that you could spin on and he did not want to get off of it.

after that, we met the hubby in denver and headed off to grand junction. we got there about 8 or 9 and so the kids got to go to bed right away. on tuesday we went up to a place on grand mesa that the chipmunks are friendly and they will eat right out of your hand. the kids would have fed them all day if they could have. then we stopped for lunch and ice cream on the way back to town.

we decided to celebrate M's birthday on wednesday since that worked better for ed and rachel. we finally got to meet the baby and boy was he cute! all the other kids got to play in the little kiddie pool and also the sprinklers until dinner. after that they had cake and played until bedtime. it was a pretty long day for them but i am sure they would have stayed all night if we let them.

after coming home, we decided to have a picnic today and play at the park for a while. M got a kite for her birthday and G already has one so we thought we might try to fly them. unfortunately the breeze was not good at all and the kites did not fly. but we did get to play for about an hour and then the kids came home and packed to go to grandma and grandpa's for the night. after the last week... i needed a night off!

YAY!!! G is back from his summer break with his dad!!! i am glad he got to go and visit and all, but it is nice to have him back at home. and since there are only 2 weeks until school starts up again, i have decided to take one of them off so that we can all go places for a week and hang out. we will be heading up to uncle james & aunt solitare's home this coming up weekend and then we will be off to grand junction to visit the grandparents there as well as uncle ed, aunt rachel and the ever-so-lovely cordelia... and we also finally get to meet wyatt!! this should serve for much fun on the last week of summer break.

when we return it will be all about getting ready for school. i did get them both new shoes and M is very excited about going to preschool. it is only a half day for her, but i am sure it will prove to be quite interesting. she's not really into the whole authority thing right now. G will be starting second grade. it is nice to see that the kid who managed to get suspended from kindergarten (not once, but three times!) is progressing quite nicely through the elementary school food chain. the only other thing i have to work on is getting them both in the same school... G doesn't go to the one he is supposed to go to because, well, i don't even know where that one is. i think they changed the boundaries again and now i think he is supposed to go to the one that M has been enrolled in, but i didn't really want him to have to change schools since they already kinda know him where he is now. so i am hoping that i can get M in that school so that we only have to take them one place in the morning.

CJ is 2 today! happy birthday baby!!!

we had his party yesterday because i had to work today. it was only us and grandma and grandpa and brandi. we still had fun. he got some new toys and books and i made cupcakes with Elmo on them. after the festivities M & CJ watched his new Elmo video and fell asleep on the sofa. seems they had a good day.

the birthday boy with his cake.

M posing for the camera.

me 'n brandi.

me 'n the hubby.

CJ with his pile of gifts.

i have been busy lately and for that i apologize. i will try to get more up here soon. i had jury duty yesterday and i am probably the only person in the world who will say it was great! i got there at about 8 and was out before 11. then i went home and took the kids to the park! what a nice easy day for me!

CJ

as i was reading my moms blog i noticed she had a few pics of CJ just kinda crashing wherever he landed. i thought i would share a few of my own since he does this a lot.

here he is curled up under M...

passed out on the floor...

and sleeping under a couch cushion.

need a closer look???

how does he do this? no idea. but it is always a surprise to find him sleeping just anywhere. in fact, the only place he doesn't seem to want to sleep is bed. go figure!

G, M, & CJ in May

wow, it has been a few weeks now, i guess i have been busy! we did get M's room finished and it looks really cute when it is all picked up and clean... the mirror isn't in yet, and i don't know where we will put it when it does come in... over the dresser will be too high for her for a while.

i managed to finish the two baby quilts and they turned out quite nice. i am now working on two more in the same pattern, one for my new nephew and one in pink for M. she wanted ponies on hers, and i found some farm yard material that has horses as well as cows, pigs, sheep and chickens... i think it will be cute.

the "bug" quilt for Amber's baby

the "robot" quilt for CJ

everything else has been going well. i do need to get G's room cleaned out so that i can sell that bedroom set on craigslist as well and then when those beds come in i will have somewhere to put them. i don't really know how CJ will take to sleeping in a different bed... i hope it goes well. the new position at work is going well. all the people in that department have been very friendly and helpful so far. i am still in training for a few more weeks, but so far it is all coming pretty easily.

yesterday, my mom & stepdad celebrated their 16th anniversary. considering they were together for about 9 years before they got married... that is like 25 years! we all went out to help them celebrate the occasion. it was a lot of fun. M & CJ got to spend the night out there as well. they sure do like grandma's house!

in celebration of the holiday yesterday, i went shopping! well, i went to order all the new beds. the only one that we will be able to get until later in june will be M's... but hey, that was the plan anyways, right? so i should be able to pick that up on friday or saturday of this week as well as the dresser... i guess the mirror was backordered so she will get that later as well. i wasn't going to get the mirror for her at first, but since i was getting the other 2 pieces of the 3 piece set and the price to get all 3 was less... well, you do the math there. it just made sense.
we did end up going with the daybed since that is the one M wanted to get. we didnt get the trundle yet though, we will have to get that later. i like the dresser that this one has... if you see the one in the back it has baskets on the bottom shelf... totally cute! i am very excited to get this all set up for her. of course this also means i can no longer procastinate on all the other stuff i need to do. i am going to have to move the stuff that is currently in her room out and make room for it in the garage until i can get it sold on craigslist.

so that is what i will be working on this week... i have tomorrow before work and thursday to get it done... well, and friday if i need more time.

i have a lot more time for the boys room... i think the biggest hurdle with that one is actually going to have nothing to do with the furniture... it will be getting CJ to move out of our bed and into his own. that boy is spoiled!

so i am quilting again... i am working on a quilt for amber's baby. she had this baby in march and i was originally supposed to have it done before then. i am a bit behind. but no worries, this quilt is quite easy to put together. i have only worked on it for about 4 hours total and i already have the top pieced and all i need to do now is add the borders 'n such. it was so easy in fact that i think i may use the same pattern to make CJ a quilt with some trucks on it. he likes balls, trucks and dirt - definately a boy all around. i was going to go pick out some nice truck fabric today... but it got late and i had to run to work. oh well, i will do that this weekend.

i havent made a lot of progress on the cleaning and organizing that i need to do in order to get started on the kid's rooms, but since this is my "friday" at work, i hope to work on that some more tomorrow. i have to get the garage cleaned up before i can really move anything around because i have to have somewhere to put everything. although, i think i will be working on M's room first since she is here and since her current bed is the bottom bunk to the other bed. otherwise i have to do them all at once. that would be quite burdensome to say the least.

in other great news, i got a promotion at work. i will be moving to our tech support area here at work to work with all the morons, er... i mean customers that are having issues with their conference lines. it will definately be an interesting change. but of course the most important thing is that it will pay better. and since i am still the lone worker in our house, every little bit helps.

well, it has only been a couple days since G went off to spend the summer with his dad, and though it has been quieter, i still miss him. i know he will have fun though and that is important. i hope to get working on the kids rooms soon so that they are in order by the time he returns. my plan is to get matching captains beds for the boys and a nice girly bed for M.

the bed i found for the boys room

i think that will work nicely since they will be sharing a room for a bit... the drawers underneath will take away the need for a separate dresser for a while (maybe for a long while). i haven't totally decided for M... there is a cute sleigh bed with a flower in the headboard and flower shaped knobs on the dresser at the same place... but i was also thinking we could go with a daybed and trundle in her room so when she is old enough to have a sleepover there will be a place for her little friend to sleep. this was kind of my intention with the bunk bed set that G has now... but after having to move that thing 2 times and the fact that is takes up an insane amount of room... i think i will never do the bunk bed thing again.

in doing all of this i will have to venture into the world of selling stuff either online or via garage sale in order to rid myself of their current bedroom furniture. i am sure this will be a stressful event for me as i have little patience for such things. on the other hand... i guess if i cant sell them, i can always call the folks that take donations and give them away. either way, it will be a task that i am not looking forward to.

i hope all the mother's out there had a wonderful day on sunday... i was stuck at work. boo hoo. but i did get to spend all day friday with G... we went out to lunch and skating with grandma and grandpa. M & CJ also got to skate a bit.. i think i will take them to a few classes this summer since they seemed to have fun. i also got to enjoy a lovely dinner with M & CJ after we took G to the airport on saturday.

Quilts

OK... i may as well get the quilts pics i took up here too so i can get it out of the way...

these first 3 are variations of the log cabin pattern... i gave them all black/gray centers to keep the theme, and each was 2 toned for the same reason. i liked how they all turned out so different even though the pattern was the same. the funky looking squares was probably the most fun to put together. you should never make 3 log cabins at the same time though as it gets to be pretty monotonous.



this one was pretty simple... just a 3 bar rail fence. i liked how it turned out though... very "Americana."

these were all christmas presents though, so they have all been given to their new owners to enjoy. i am now starting on a baby quilt for another friend of mine.

Pictures!!

well, i finally got around to moving some pictures off my camera! so here it goes...

G with his birthday cake.

M being silly at the birthday party.

CJ at the birthday party.

CJ the day after he got stitches... *cry* ... this was a few weeks ago & he is all healed up now. I will get more up later... i have a long day ahead of me tomorrow and i gotta get the kids to bed.