Tomorrow, I will be older but am I wiser????

Tomorrow I turn 33. Wow. 33...what an age. Are there any major milestones...no, not necessarily. But the numbers are pretty cool. I will be 33, I have 3 kids, I have moved 3 times in my life and I have owned 3 cars.

I know I am older but am I wiser. Maybe...I have more patience, I can think faster on my feet when given a challenge and I think I finally have part of my life figured out. A VERY SMALL part of my life but nonetheless, I have it figured out.

What is wisdom anyway? According to Dictionary.com Wisdom means:
–noun
1. the quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight.
2. scholarly knowledge or learning: the wisdom of the schools.
3. wise sayings or teachings; precepts.
4. a wise act or saying.
5. (initial capital letter) Douay Bible. Wisdom of Solomon.

Hmmmm, do any of those meanings even remotely fit me? You decide.

The best "lovies", "Soothies" ever!

I am thinking about all of the soothing items the kiddos use/used as their soothies. I need to take pictures of them but they are all very near and dear to the kiddo's hearts. Take away any of these items and the kiddos are sad and MAAAADDDDDD!

Anthony: "Carter" - little (8" long) yellow bear w/a rattle inside it...from Carter's. And patterned cloth diapers/burp rags.

Jackson: Velour beach towels or blue "doggie" blanket. Sometimes, blue dolphin but mostly a towel of some sort. Also a small handmade pillow w/Clifford pillowcase on it.

Taylor: A piece of new kleenix twirled between ring finger and thumb while sucking on her left index finger. Purple blanket, star blanket or white blanket...all made of soft cushy fleece.

Home Improvements

Small ones, but they will make a difference. After 2 years of living in this house we finally purchased programmable thermostats. They little boys helped the big boy install the one for the main part of the house. They still have the master bedroom side to do but they can wait on that one for a few more days. The new thermostat will keep us from having to manually increase or decrease the temp in the house when we leave or come home. Hahaha, allows us to be about 30 seconds lazier.

We also got our 3 trees that we ordered through the Trico Electric tree program. OK, they are "bush trees" but nonetheless will grow up to be trees...hopefully! Cousins Eric and Christopher helped pick them up and cart them and plant them at our house. So on the South side of our house are our 3 bush trees. Fortunately they are low to the ground because the wind is blowing like CRAZY today. They were so small that we didn't bother to stake them. Thus far it's late afternoon and they seem to be holding up nicely. Today Tony and I purchased mulch for them but due to the wind will wait a little bit before adding it to the tree burm. Hopefully the wind will die down in a few hours and we can get out there and cover the ground before it gets too cold outside.

Now the next thing to work on is clearing out the garage and getting the house to a full decluttered state. Of course there will always be yard work/landscaping and any necessary cleaning that needs to be done...dishes, laundry, vacuuming, dusting, picking up, etc. But I'm hoping that we'll get the rest of the clutter finally put away by the middle of next year. hee hee.

Halloween Pictures

So finally, I am posting pictures from Halloween.

Little Anthony and Tony went to a classmates Halloween Party. I have no pictures (I had the digital cameras) of the event so Tony took a video. It looked great! The family's nanny and the 2 kids made all sorts of Halloween goodies for the party and decorated the interior and exterior. There was a scavenger hunt...girls vs. boys, Halloween games, and of course trick or treating. Both boys were exhausted after the event! Fortunately for me, they brought me home white chocolate covered strawberries made up to looked like ghosts, some Halloween sugar cookies and chocolate bat sucker cookies (chocolate cookies stuck onto popsicle sticks w/candy corn ears.) YUMM-O!

Anthony is a black ninja. This costume finally fits him...he got it from our cousins Christopher and Eric about 4 years ago to wear on Halloween.

Nana and I took the little ones trick or treating. We walked (while they rode in the wagon) from the La Madera house into Winterhaven. Nana and I got a good workout...pulling 2 kids in a wagon and walking several blocks. We were exhausted. After our stint in Winterhaven we walked back towards the house and the nearby church was having a Trunk or Treat event...FREE to the public. So we stopped. They gave out water, hot chocolate, candy (of course)and popcorn! I think the 2 kids got as much candy there as they did in Winterhaven. CRAZY! Each car trunk was decorated and all the people were members of the church. They loved seeing all of the kids. I guess they have done a Trunk or Treat for several years now...apparently we've always missed it except for this year. Afterwards we unloaded back at the house, we went to see Papa and Tina and Nanette at the store. Of course Taylor kept her costume on but Jackson was so tired and hot that he changed immediately. Then we headed home to meet up with the other 2 boys.

Jackson is a black and platinum ninja and he was so excited about it. The costume is a bit big so he can grow into it and wear it plenty of times throughout this year.

Taylor is Dorothy from the movie "The Wizard of Oz". She can sing almost the entire song Somewhere Over The Rainbow. During the week leading up to Halloween she kept asking to wear her "Dorothy dress and ruby red slippers" around the house.

Heading off to Winterhaven. Who would have known that Taylor would outwalk her brother that night Trick or Treating? All she kept on saying was "I want to go to the next house..."