Family is Fun

Erik's sister and her sweet daughter visited us recently and we had some major fun. The boys have been complaining that everyone else has cousins around but them and thankfully a cousin came to see us!A ride on the Santa Monica pier ferris wheel. At least one person was into the picture taking...Playing on the beach Her first time in the Pacific
I think she was worried about messing up her pedicure...

We found a ladybug in the water and these two had to check it out.

I Know, I Know, I Know, I Know....

Hi, my name is Missy and it has been 18 days since I last blogged. I'd say "we've been busy" but I guess that's a bit trite...but we have.

One of the most fun things we have done lately is visit Grandma Lou (she gave us our rabbit) and her mini-zoo. I think this one is a little under a week old. It's a rabbit, thought you city folk might like to know.

This one is about two weeks old.

On another note, when Erik returned from China last summer he informed me that we were starting a business selling handicrafts made by neat people he met. His suitcases were overflowing with chopsticks, scrolls, aprons, laquerware, etc. and said items have been occupying most of our closet for the last few months. But though I've suffered so, the point of it all is not to make up for the losses in our 401k but to provide a market for the ladies in China to sell their crafts as well as to start a fund to help impoverished families in the region send their children to school or start businesses that they might be able to bring themselves out of grinding poverty. I like my husband! :-)

On Saturday Em and I had the pleasure of selling for our little company for the first time at the church's annual Christmas Boutique. Thanks to Em for all of her hard work in attaching pricetags, decorating the booth and selling merchandise all morning. Maybe we should comp her some free chopsticks or something. I think that would totally make it up to her.

We also had the pleasure of having Erik's sister and her sweet daughter visit for a few days. We like them, alot. More pictures to come from that visit. Us ladies decided to have the awesomest dessert at the church Thanksgiving Potluck to prove that we are the best so here it is.

Yep. We're good. And on a final note, the trees are plotting against me and choreographing their leaf droppage so that their staggering forces me to regularly rake the yard to avoid being the eyesore (and continuing redneck) of the neighborhood. The tiny yard waste trash cans are not capable of handling the ridiculous quantities of leaves and I found myself needing to compress the leaves last night so I grabbed the first thing handy and threw it in.

Works pretty well. I'm thinking of telling Erik I'm starting a business and we're selling leaf squishers. Buy two, get the third free.

I Declare Today to be Festivus and Shall Now Begin with the Airing of Grievances!

I have been trying to "be ahead" for once and began ordering my Christmas cards back in mid-October. I looked through an abundance of online discount card shops and settled on a design with a certain "members only" club, very exclusive I might add. I ordered. I went to pick them up only to be told they were lost in cyberspace.

I ordered again and this time paid online so as to help them not be lost in cyberspace. I went to retrieve them at the prescribed time to be told that they were late. I returned again and was thrilled to see the clerk pulling envelopes from the bin but dismayed to be told they weren't paid for. I called the bank and refuted this claim. The clerk conceded, I decided to give the pics a quick peek before leaving in victory only to find 100 of these:

See any problems? I know two children that will be telling their therapists the problem in 20 years! How does this happen? The clerk said she needed more proof that they were really paid for before she could refund Daniel's little victory and now we are at a stale mate. The bank needs 48 hours to fax the statement to this warehouse store that shall remain nameless and the nameless store needs this proof before they can give me my $24. "It's only $24!" you may so, but I say "No! It's the principle of the matter!"

Just for educational purposes, Festivus: A Holiday for the Rest of Us, is a real holiday and it is on December 23. It began in 1966 and traditionally starts with "The Airing of Grievances," which is where you tell everyone how they have been a disappointment over the year. You share a meal and then complete feats of strength. Check Wikipedia, it never lies!

Monkeys and Divas

Halloween was so fun! From about 6 am on the boys asked every 5 minutes to wear their monkey suits. I think they thought that once they donned the monkeys suits, candy would magically start falling from the sky. Costume = immediate candy.Here is Miss Diva herself who couldn't be troubled to walk all the way next door. The boys were willing to run to the moon if it meant candy, Libby has higher standards and demands it be brought to her hastily and unwrapped. She did seriously like the bucket, I think it was a purse in her mind.The forced march next door...I'm wearing my new sweater, thank you Dad!So we visited the neighbors, ran over to see Grandma Mary and then went to the church festival, complete with a giant slide. Apparently next to bananas and candy, monkeys really like slides!

Can You Spot the Difference?

I really don't like those puzzles with two similar pictures that have a few differences to find. The first few are really easy to locate, there is a pig instead of a dog and the girl's hair is now hot pink instead of black, simple enough. Then the rest are something like, "This tree has 1,254 leaves but this one only has 1,253." How could I have missed it?

The difference here shouldn't be too hard to find...thank you Sarah from Real Life Design for the new look!