Christmas and all the jazz....

Christmas morning was splendid...

I picked my two very special guest up at 8:15am in Gig Harbor. Then we were off to grammy's house for a quick visit and gift exchange.
At our house the kids had a blast opening their gifts... Mazie was so entertaining to watch, this year was her first Christmas that she actually understood what was going on so that was super fun!
Ryder was on cloud nine when he opened the big present for the whole family---A XBOX 360!!!
Both the kids got to open the other super big present for the family----Rock Band!!!
Other than new shoes, clothes, games and babies the kids were very grateful...

Then I made a very yummy breakfast for the four of us... Eggnog french toast,bacon and eggs.
Tim,Ryder and Mazie were in heaven...
Then I made a cheesecake to die for to have after all our yummy Christmas dinner delights.

That night we had friends over to play with our new toys!!! Tim and I stayed up until 3:30am playing Rock Band together, hey we had to start our career geez.
Saturday Tim took Ryder to Cabela's with him and Andrew... While Mazie and I had girl time with my sister and niece......
Sunday was my day to spend with my kids, we went to lunch, to the movies to see Alvin and the Chipmunks and then to Target so the kids could spend their gift cards... It was the most wonderful holiday weekend I have to say... Its sad that it is over and here I am back to work on a Monday that seems to drag on forever...
Now I am in partay planning mode yet again... We are having a adult/kid 2010 New years party... So here I go again being the hostess with the most est, don't get me wrong I love to host parties and get togethers its the best way to try new recipes and old ones too.
Bring on 2010!

Smooches,
Andrea~ Mommy of two~
Ryder~8
Mazie~3
Hoping for #3 someday soon...

A Festivus for the rest of us....

T'was the day before Christmas~
Wow time just flew by didn't it? To think Christmas is just a day away and I still have a huge to do list:
Work-7am-12pm
Meet up with my sister's-12:30
Go shop and fight all the craziness and crowds... Good thing I will have my two sissy's to keep me sane and laughing!
Go home and prepare my annual Christmas eve snack foods such as Teriyaki meatballs, mini sandwiches, hot dips and chips.... oh and you can't forget the hot buttered rum's to go along with my yummy sugar cookies.
My Christmas doesn't start until tomorrow at 8am when I pick my babies up. I will be preparing a perfect Christmas breakfast and a dinner for my children and The Bates family at my home. I am super excited to share my cooking skills with everyone yum PRIME RIB! I will let you know how that goes....
My kids are all I need to make my Christmas a wonderful delight... All the hustle and bustle of the holiday madness is well worth the looks on my kids faces as they look under the tree, the giggles, the excitement, and the family memories all wrapped into one big present for this mommy right here.
My son Ryder will be telling us the story of the real meaning of Christmas (it is one of his favorites to tell). Any 8yr old boy is super stoked for the presents,candy and treats of the holidays, but that boy never lets us forget what its really about. I love that my son feels so strong about his beliefs and loves to share them with his little sister.
It gives me comfort to know that on the many days I don't have my children my son can still
keep the faith alive for himself and his sissy bear. He is a amazing big brother,protector and leader for her.
Mazie Lue is going to be a delight, she is 3 and is now starting the understand the excitement of the Holiday...
She has asked Santa for BABIES! Now mind you my sweet little sugar dumpling is super cute, of course she knows it. Which can be a issue at times... You see my Mazie Lue can be a bully at times, has that sassy tude and won't take crap from anyone.
This is sometimes perceived as bad behavior, but it is in the works... Mommy may have to get a lump a coal for her stocking one of these Christmas' (hehehe). For those of you who know my daughter will get the humor in that one!
My little miss bossy pants is just like her mommy... As a little girl baby dolls where my world, and yes they were treated as if they were real... My mumsy was always good at playing along with me on that. I was always in the kitchen with my mumsy watching and helping her cook, I loved the idea of being a homemaker from day one. Now I enjoy the time in the kitchen with my daughter, I sit her right up on the counter top and she sits and watches, helps and asks 21 questions about everything I am doing. I adore each and every moment of it!

Does anyone know where I got the title for this blog from?

First one to answer wins!

May your days be merry and bright!
Smooches,
Andrea~Mommy of two~
Ryder 8
Mazie 3

Me&My Drum

A Christmas play to remember....
Since my children are not partaking in any Holiday plays or performances, I had the opportunity to attend my Niece Ja'Kayla's performance in Me&My Drum.

Now a little a bit of information about this spunky little girl we call "Kayla". She is full of talent, in showbiz that is. She is a mini diva for sure... She loves to sing, dance and act. She even plays a bit of the acoustic and yes she is only 6 years old.

My mother saw this special talent in Kayla and signed her up to be in the Church holiday Play/Musical. Kayla has been go to rehearsals every Saturday since September.
The play was great! I was so proud of her and seeing her get some of that energy and talent out there for all to see.
I hope she can start taking acting/signing lessons cause next year she will be ready for a lead solo part. She has a awesome voice and not a shy bone in her body.
She was excited to see her Auntie there for support! She was presented with a bouquet of carnations for her final show from Grammy.
It was a great ending to my weekend of family Christmas parties,last minute shopping and cookie baking.

Merry Christmas
and
Happy New Year!

Smooches,
Andrea

The Candy Cane...

The legend is...

It was invented by a Christian in England in the 17th century at a time the government would not let people celebrate Christmas.
So a candy maker made candy shaped like a shepherd's crook to be a secret symbol of Jesus. The three small stripes represent
the father,the son, and the Holy Spirit. The large red stripe is for the life of Jesus, that He gave up for us.
The candy cane was a double gift, a sweet treat and a symbol of Christmas.


A patient gave me a candy cane the other day with this story attached to it. It made my heart smile!

How ever you celebrate the holiday season in your own special ways or beliefs, I thought this was a good way to share a little of mine with you.

Merry Christmas
and
Happy New Year

Smooches,

Andrea

Frosty the snowman

Allow me to introduce FROSTY......

Yes the jolly old soul is here at our office to visit for the holiday season. He is a year old and stale as can be...

You see Frosty is made out of candy, yep all eatable goodness. He is very popular here at the Front Office. People just go gaga over him, he has this special power over everyone that passes by...he makes them all hungry for sweets!

Frosty was made a year ago by my co-worker George and a few other ladies in the office. George is the one who designed Frosty and did the cardboard cut out. The ladies helped him hot clue gun all the candy delight on. This took them a good 4 days to finish.

Making frosty:

The hat-Black licorice & Laffy taffy

The nose-Orange slices

His eye-Black jelly beans

His mouth-Red hots

His scarf-Christmas tree peeps, red gum drops and red licorice

His mittens-Green gum drops

His cane-Red licorice and white mints

His head-mini marshmallows

His body-Regular marshmallows

Now our Frosty stands about 5 feet 3inches (he is a big guy).

I wanted to share this fun & yummy holiday project with ya'll that is fun for the whole family.

So give it a try and take pictures cause I would love to see how they turn out.

Smooches,

Andrea

Another day another dollar....

So here I am at the end of what I call a off day.
Not an off day because I was off work... but a off day because I am so not with it today.

It all started this morning when I rolled out of bed, over slept and rushed to get myself ready for work.
Of course I was late... but then I kept making mistakes on scheduling and the same person had to come out and point them out. Not to me, but to my co-worker George. That just irritated me even more, if I make a mistake I would rather it be pointed out to me so I am aware of what I did...
Then I had my mind focused on other things, such as getting custody of my kids and having to find a lawyer, paperwork and just all the life lessons I am going through.
I would say bah humbug! That is just not me... I am determined that off days like these can only make you stronger. Right?
Hey I am trying to look at the bright side of things which has been very challenging for me as of late.
I have to say that I am very thankful to have a great co-worker to calm me down and give me good advise through out the day to keep me just a little bit on the sane side.
Thanks George you ROCK!
I am now ready to spend a nice evening with my wonderful friend Jeni... We need to have some girl time and catch up. We are determined to bring each other's Christmas spirits up no matter what.
Smooches from the loving mother of two, Ryder Ion 8 & Mazie Lue 3
Andrea

Here comes Santa Claus...

This is my mumsy w/Santa. She wanted the kids to know they better be good.... Cause Grammy is good friends with Santa. Watch out!

Yep you read that right... Here comes Santa Claus!

Well the reason for this blog title is simply because its true in so many ways for me and my family this weekend.





Tonight after work my children will be joining me at the annual building Christmas party. Its where every department in the whole Gig Harbor Medical Park building has a holiday get together for employees and their families.





There will be stocking decor contest,cookie decorating, games, treats and my favorite KARAOKE!!!


Ryder and Mazie are super excited...


Then tomorrow after Mazie's dance class we are going to visit Santa for some pictures and hot cocoa. We will then take a slight detour to Kent to go look at some cars.





Then at 4pm we are venturing off to Down Town Puyallup for the Santa Parade...


We can't wait to welcome Santa who will be arriving on one of Puyallup's finest fire engines. Now do you get the title?


I plan to take tons of pictures and will post them as soon as I can.





Our final destination for our holiday fun filled weekend is to go pick out our Christmas tree and decorate it... I am going to try and control my OCD this year and really let the kids help. Not like I do every year when let them help. As soon as they aren't looking mommy rearranges the ornaments where I would like them (hehe). I promise, I will even post pictures of the final tree lighting to prove it.





Happy Friday to everyone and hope you have a nice fun weekend, I know we will.





Smooches,


Andrea

All I want for Christmas...

I have been thinking about my Christmas wish and it did not take much thought...

Something I have been craving and needing since December 2007 is full custody of my children.

As most of you know I have been dealing with a recent custody battle with my ex-Miles. Since he decided to no longer be friends nor civil with me anymore back in July 2009. He has tried in every way to keep my kids from me. Now mind you Miles and I never had issues like this before. It was never a fight for me to see my kids, in fact we did stuff all the time as a family with our kids. For some odd reason just weeks after starting his new relationship that normal lifestyle for the kids and I came to a complete halt.
Our current parenting plan is a joke! I would of never signed it if I knew he would come back and use it against me 2 years later. When he first sat down with me to go over the plan (2yrs ago) I read it and did not agree with it, I told him I can not be with out my kids that often. He looked in my eyes and told me: "Andrea, you can see the kids and have the kids anytime you want and this can always be changed". Pretty much he wanted on paper to have more custody so I would have to pay child support (he couldn't afford the house on his own). So I agreed and I trusted him... Big mistake!

Now I only see my kids 2 nights a week, I get a total of 10 awake hours a week with my babies. I had my son and daughter cause I wanted them and I always had the desire to be the best mother I could be. Now I have their father/ my best friend of 12 years keeping me from succeeding as a mother for our children.

The most hurtful part is my kids miss me so much. I have not seen or talked to them since Saturday afternoon. I call and leave messages every night to talk to them. Their dad will not return the calls back.

Who is this man I was once married to, had 2 children with, just months ago loved me and would do anything for our children not to be with out both their parents?

Well I am done trying to figure that mystery out. I have been very cooperative with him the past 2 years with the kids schedules... I will no longer sit back and let him have control of when and where I can see my children.
I am a good mother, I have done nothing to deserve this and neither did my kids. I have a full time job and a nice home to provide and support my children in every way I can. I even relocated my job back to Gig Harbor so I could be closer to my kids and have them more during the week... Now he won't even let that work out for us.
So how does he think that he is more of a stable parent than me?
All I want for Christmas is my babies (Ryder Ion and Mazie Lue)... My heart breaks everyday I don't see them or talk to them. I just know a day will come that my children will know that it was not my choice to be away from them.

The things that tug at my heart strings:
Ryder: "Mom every time I hear your voice my hearts starts to beat fast, cause I love you so much"
Mazie: "Mommy I want to be with you". Her brother says she talks about me non-stop when I am not around.
These are some of the things my children say to me over the phone. I call my kids every night I don't have them just so I can hear their voices and let them know how much I miss and love them.
Ryder and Mazie are my babies... My number ones!

I would love to get any feed back on this subject. This is a matter that I feel so lost and alone about...
Smooches,
Andrea

4 day weekend.........

Back to work we go...
Thanksgiving was very calm for me. I woke up with no kids, only had to get myself ready for the day.
To start it off I cut myself shaving, then I fell down my stairs racing out to my jeep to get my make-up bag. Yeah you read that right I fell/slipped, I hope you realize what a long way done that is for a tall gal like me to fall. Its all good I landed on my big bum, pulled my groin and hit my elbow and shoulder on the stairs. I will explain about my clumsiness later, November was my month of cuts, bruises and falls.

I then managed to get up and take care of making my fabulous Sweet Potato casserole dish. Sped off to Mom's and was there just in time to help out with the cooking. My mother and I love to be in the kitchen together, we both just laughed and talked. Dinner was great it was just Mom,Alisa,Kellie,Greg, Me and my 2 nieces. It was very calm and quite, which is not the norm for the Jackson family.
Later I went and picked up my little ones from their Dad and took them back to my mom's to see the family for a bit and have some sweet potato pie.
We called it a early night, so I could get up at 4:30 to set off to do some black Friday shopping...
One word to explain black Friday.... Crazy!!!
I brought Tim along with me and he had a rude awakening on what it was all about... Crowds,lines and sold out. Just put it this way, I will be doing my black Friday shopping solo from now on. Or try and pull the all niter...
After all the shopping madness, I went home and made the family crepes for breakfast and made Pumpkin and Chocolate cream pies. This is how I do my black Friday, I make my thanksgiving dinner... I made a Turkey, Sweet potato's, mashed potato's, oyster stuffing, and plain stuffing, gravy, asparagus,corn, rolls and Mac n Cheese. We have tons of left overs, got to love that.
I also got all my house Christmas decor up (minus the tree) and started putting the out side lights up on the house. Our house is huge so it is a process...
Hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving and hope you survive the holiday season.

Smooches,
Andrea