The search continues

Well, here we are well into January 2011 and I still have not found my replacement at work. I have a Lady coming in tomorrow for an interview, keep you fingers crossed for me. Its a bittersweet feeling, one hand I am so excited to be at home and the other so nervous that I will get bored or money is tight which causes stress on any relationship. Keep my family in your thoughts and prayers that all will work out perfectly!

I have a simple request to my blog stalkers, oops I mean followers. I have a Live traffic feed on the side of my blog and it shows me where people are that read my blog, however, it doesn't show me who it is. I know who some of you are and would really like to know who everyone is. So if you could click on the follow button to the right of the screen, to create a FREE account I would love that. Then I know who is reading and also leave me a comment now and again, I would appreciate it. =) Comments are nice, they make me feel like you care! ;)

Can you believe we are in 2011.

I have so many things I want to accomplish for the new year. I'll save that for another post!

2011

New years in Ocotillo!

It was cold very cold.

Still fun, always fun.

Kent was getting Hannah to follow him on the quads so they could make a little track to follow.

My sweet baby 2.5 yrs old and riding a quad like its nothing.

My sweet 7 year old riding and jumping. Ugh how do they grow up so fast?

Our camp.

Happy New Years's Hannah!

Hannah and her BFF Payton.

At the Gas dome.

Say Cheese Link!

We had a big group on this ride. It was cold!!

Had a great New Years! Can't believe its 2011.

Santa Came

Did Santa come to your house? Well, did he? He came to ours and left us all kinds of good stuff. He left Kent a couple of travel mugs and a new boning knife. He left me a new Starbucks coffee cup and a gift card. Rick got new bedding and a stocking full of Wii game, candy, dart gun and a few other fun things. Amy got a new bike 20 inch beach cruiser, when she walked out she thought the bike was for me. She said that is too big for her. However, Santa new best it fits her just perfect, she also got a stocking full of underwear, candy, movie and a few other fun things. Hannah got a new bike too a real one with training wheels and a stocking full of Fancy Nancy panties, socks, hair pretties and a few other fun things.

Santa sure is good to the Cozarts!

We couldn't get Rick out of bed and the girls were dying to get into the living room so we let them see their Santa gifts before Rick stumbled out to us.

Ricky finally joining the family. =)

Checking out their stockings.

Minnie came to see what Rick got. Minnie had a stocking full of treats too.

Then we moved into the formal living room to open our gifts to one another.

I bought Kent a ping pong table conversion for the pool table. We are having fun with this.

The girls wanted to try out the bikes.

This one rode the bike like she always had a 20 inch.

What a good brother, notice the tag on his pants?

Girls wanted to put on one of their new outfits to go to grandmas.

After we had our family Christmas and Kent made us a yummy breakfast of biscuits and gravy we cleaned up and headed to his parents house for Christmas with the Cozarts. This is mom Cozarts Christmas tree.

Some of the family opening gifts.

Hannah really enjoyed the gifts this year. She wanted to open everything, she was very tired from the festivities and suffered a few meltdowns but we survived.

After the gifts we ran back home, put Hannah down for a nap. Then Kent and I became mad men in the kitchen we made 3 pies and a PW green bean casserole to take back to his parents house for Christmas Dinner. We were sweating and running, we had so many dishes and even had to use the oven in the house and the one in the motorhome to get it all done.

My first pumpkin pie EVER! It turned out amazing. This is the same PW apple pie I made for the birthday. It sure is a big hit and then we made PW creamy pumpkin pie that was in the fridge and I forgot to get a picture of it, but oh my was it good. The PW green bean casserole was AWESOME! Oh my gosh I used the french's onions instead of the panko crumbs and it was PERFECT!!! We had a great day, very busy but very fun. We all got so many nice gifts that made the family time even better!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas.

Christmas Eve 2010

Christmas Eve? Wow, doesn't seem possible does it?

Every year, we rotate the Christmas Eve and Christmas day holiday between the 2 families. This year it was Christmas Eve in Simi Valley. Kent worked for a few hours in the morning and I delivered some PW cinnamon rolls to a few neighbors and friends. Then we packed up the car and headed to my parents house.

Here is my parents tree.

My mom made a wonderful dinner. We had marinated Flank steak, twice baked potatoes, green bean casserole (courtesy of me), green salad and garlic bread. My mom made pumpkin pies for dessert as well. It was so delish!!

After dinner my mom wanted to take a picture of all her grandchildren together.

Back row left to right: Kory, Kilee, Rick, Samantha

Front row left to right: Hannah, Amy, Luke and William

Cute kids!

Then my mom wanted us kids and spouses. Seriously cropped photo due to I am starting a diet ASAP!

Me, Kent, Tami (my sister), Tim (my brother) and Mandy(my sister in law)

What a cute bunch!

Then we did just the original 5.

Dad, mom, Tami, Tim and me.

Opening the presents we gave them.

Ahh, me and my baby. When did she get so big?

Hannah and Amy both got pillow pets. Think she likes it?

I think someone else likes it too.

New jacket = Check, Pillow pet = check, Happy baby = check

Merry Christmas Eve.

Thank you to my wonderful family for the amazing time together as well as the amazing gifts you gave us. We are so spoiled with love and affection.

Good night and sleep tight.

Hannah Pie

These pictures were taking a couple of weeks ago, when Hannah turned 2 1/2. She is my baby and I don't want her to grow up EVER! Hannah is certainly her own person. She is very loving, very smart, very stubborn and at times very trying on all of us. We love her. This particular morning Hannah wanted to wear a dress and not any dress will do. She picked this one that was a bit dressy and size 18 months. So its a little short, but dog gone she looked so cute in it.

First we rode bikes in the driveway.

Then she ventured out into the horse trail.

Then she came up to me for a close up picture. She says "take a picture of me!"

Then she found the skate board.

Trying to stand on the skate board.

Nope, more fun on my belly.

This is Hannah and life just wouldn't be the same with out this perfect little pumpkin!

All in a week

Wow, I had no idea it has been so long again since I blogged. Things are getting crazy around this time of the year. Amy came home from a sleep over on Saturday and had a pretty hefty cough and cold. Sunday was the trip to Bass pro shop for Santa pictures. (note to self next year go on a week night and earlier in the month.) Now I will move onto Monday.

Monday: First day of work for the week, always hard to get out of the house. this past Monday was really hard. Minnie was not feeling well, she throw up in Hannahs room Sunday night and then was up almost all night. So when the time came to get up iI was slow moving. Amy was still coughing and not feeling very well. She managed to get to school.

Tuesday: Oh my what a night. Hannah came down with Amy's cough and was up ALL night. Crying, coughing, congested just over all miserable. So Tuesday morning was day 2 of no sleep and I was exhausted.

Wednesday: Day 3 of NO sleep, Hannah again up all night coughing and gagging on her phlegm, she was tossing around and crying in our bed and gagging when all of a sudden she throw up on Kent's pillow right next to his head. So we all jumped up Kent took Hannah to the couch so I could take the bed apart, start laundry and remake the bed. Needless to say by Wednesday afternoon I was EXHAUSTED!!! So exhausted that I went to talk to the girls in the back office and lean against the wall, well I sprained my ankle and fell into the doorway hitting my shoulder and bruising my shoulder and my foot. Of coarse the girls laughed at me, I laughed at me otherwise I would have cried.

Thursday: What a surprise another sleepless night. Hannah up all night crying coughing and miserable. this time I had to get ready for the office Christmas party. the doctor I work for took us to South Coast gave us some spending money and then we met up at Charlie Palmers for Lunch. this was my first trip EVER to South Coast. I really liked the Macy's and Nordy's but it was just a a very expensive mall. Would I go back you asked? Probably not. Way to high end for my budget. I had 2 other girls and an infant with me in my car and I never drive to Orange county so by the time we left it was 4:00 p.m. and traffic, well I missed the 55 fwy and lets just say we made it back to Corona in 2 hours!! I was so frustrated and tired and mad that I was lost. Might just be another reason I wouldn't go back. I could go to Riverside or Victoria Gardens and be just fine. Now home totally exhausted and just wanted to go to bed, I met Kent and the kids at Rodrigos for dinner. Across from us was a family that I read her blog from time to time, I didn't have enough courage to say hi, besides not sure that she has ever read mine. So what do you say Hi my name is Traci and I blog stalk you.

Friday: Are you freaking kidding me another sleepless night? So tired that I poured Amy's coco puffs into my coffee cup! UGH Not a great way to start the morning nor to end the week. So now I am debating taking her to the doctor or not. I was afraid I would go and pay the copay and like always be told she just has a viral cold and nothing they can do about it. I ended up calling and getting in at 10:45 a.m., turns out Hannah has a DOUBLE ear infection! She never one time complained about her ears. She must have just been so miserable that she didn't know what hurt. We got an Rx for Amoxicillin finally, we knew why she was so sick.

Saturday: Whoopee first almost full night sleep all week. Hooray!! I woke up once about 2:30 a.m. but was able to get myself back to sleep without too much hassle. I rarely sleep ALL night long, for some reason I wake up many times to check the house, bed check the kids, make sure Rick is home and if not check my phone to make sure he didn't try to call. Usually Minnie needs to go out at least once a night and then Kents snores so bad that I usually have a hard time getting back to sleep. Not this night, I don't think much would have keep me awake for long. I will say that I do have a sore scratchy throat now and my ears feel like they may be getting a little drainage to them UGH, hope I don't get what Amy and Hannah have.

Do you know the big guy in red?

Well do ya?

We do, he is visiting at Bass Pro Shop.

Hannah was so happy to sit on his lap. He asked Amy what she wanted she said a horse and then he asked Hannah and she said a horse. However, the whole time in line Hannah said she wanted a dolly and a stroller. Anyway, Santa told them maybe a stuffed horse.

(Hope they won't be disappointed.)

Notice given

Some of you may have remembered back in August my long time day care provider went back to teaching at a school. My amazing in laws offered to watch the girls while we decided what to do. We have been able to pay a lot of debit off because of their generosity. Which has made us able to be a one income family. It will be tight and we will have to watch our spending. No more luxurious Target trips, splurges at Costco, spontaneous purchases as well as cutting back on camping trips and river trips. However, I will be able to stay home with my kids, take Amy to school EVERYDAY and work in her classroom. I am so excited to have this opportunity. I will admit I am a bit nervous too. I have worked full time since I was 15.5 yrs old. So to not have my own money makes me a little uncomfortable. To raise my own kids and cherish the moments with them each and every day I know is priceless. So without further ado, I gave Dr. Pearson my resignation a week ago, we have spend the last 9 years together and its a bitter sweet moment. I am now looking for someone to fill in my shoes. By the way they are BIG shoes to fill. As soon as I have found the right person and have them trained I will be taking my final bow as a working mother and step aside. I know that I want to do something part time and would love to be able to that from home. If any of you have any ideas for a little extra income, please let me know.

Kent's Birthday

Monday 12/6/10 my hubby turned (gulp) 40!

I wanted to give him a small surprise party, he said if I have a party he wouldn't show.

So instead I had his parents and sisters family over on Sunday for Cake or pie and ice cream.

Kent wanted an Apple pie and he wanted homemade. So being the amazing wife that I am, I just whipped up a PW dreamy apple pie! Let me tell you AWESOME! First pie I have ever made. The crust and everything was wonderful.

Just look at this beauty!

The 2 birthday boys.

I see Amy was trying to get in on the action.

Kent had apple pie and Rick requested Cheese cake.

Can you believe he is 20?

Kent and his dad.

Kent's mom and sister.

Happy Birthday Kent!!!

HA! Now we are the same age, you can't tell everyone I am the OLDER woman!

Hahaha