Getting the Christmas Picture just right!

Aren't they adorable. What you don't see in the picture is Chris and I grinning as I was yelling at him to keep his eye behind the camera while I tried to make the girls look at the camera for 10 minutes. What you don't know is that Rose is jumping because she sees Simon (our cat) across the street. It was a mad house with kids flying, running after dogs, scaring a very fat cat away. But in the end... we'll just remember the cute pictures. :) So I put a bit of foundation and lip gloss on the kids to see what it does for the pics and I liked the effects.

14 Million People!

"This is our moment, this is our time." said by President Obama.
Isn't it incredible that 14 million more people voted this year then ever before. I am so proud to be an American. We as a country have come to a point where we will not stand for anything else but improvement and change. Obama is such an amazing symbol that our country can change and last night with his incredibly articulate and inspiring speech it has. I believe our President will be able to unite our country in a way we desperately need it to. If there is any man that can bring republicans and democrats (and everyone in between) together in a short period of time, Obama is it.

I actually cried this morning when I watched his speech. Given that I am a white woman who was born in 1978 I have not experienced first hand what the African American population has been through. It has always been a lesson in my history class. Old black and white pictures. Something I have honestly underestimated and put in the back of my mind. But today I actually felt the emotion, the growth, the pride.

"So now it is time we get to work." says Diane Sawyer. We get to work. That never occurred to me. I've been watching the debates as a cheer leader, maybe even more like a fan that smiles and doesn't get to involved. But WE do have work. I haven't decided exactly what that means for me personally but if Obama has a job cut out for him so do I. In fact each of us does. It is going to take change on all of our parts to make our new master mind really make history in a short time. So I'll keep you posted as to my actions but I encourage everyone one to make a commitment, make a stand, take a HUGE Leap for our community. I felt today that I could actually go and work for this man and his cause. Now I honestly have no idea how I would even begin to help, let alone which of the several areas of interest I would choose from as there are many on the table I am passionate about. But I definitely think the first is educated myself and more importantly educating Kaitlin and Emma. Pretty cool stuff I tell ya!

So I was out doing my official business until about 12:30am driving thousands of ballots from Morgan Hill/San Martin/Gilroy area up to San Jose. You should have seen the back of my trailblazer. There wasn't an inch to spare. Then I went to our local bowling alley bar to celebrate with a friend over an apple martini. (yeah it was literally the only place open in Morgan Hill, we live in a very family oriented community) Got to bed around 2:30 and woke up at 7am. I am in love with the new coffee mate flavor cinnamon vanilla. Yummy yummy yummy. But I'll tell ya what watching all of these rallies this morning on TV made me SO sad. I wish I had been there! The energy was seepingly cool. Is that a word?

Ok it is 5 minutes before we need to head out-o-here and get Kaitlin off to school!
Have a great day everyone!

It's election day!

Daddy with his princesses

Sister Love

This Pic was from few months ago but it sure is cute.

Emma..so happy on a horse:)

I am so excited that today is voting day! This has been the most amazing election. You know what I am most excited about though? The voter turn out. I heard on NPR today that 80% of California will have voted this year. This is so amazing! Regardless of who wins for President or which propositions are voted on our country is fired up! It is so great to see that people are taking a stand for what they believe in. Yes there are millions of us voting, but each one of us counts just the same. It always blows my mind that my vote counts just as much as Brad Pitts or even Obama and McCains. Pretty cool that we are all on the same page.

So tonight my girlfriend Leah and I are helping out with the voting polls. I've done it twice before. It is top secret stuff. VERY IMPORTANT. At least that is what my bright orange jacket and super cool sign will say on my car. Basically I will be driving the ballots from Gilroy/San Martin to San Jose. And I get paid to do it! The first time I did it with Chris, the second time with a girfriend Ang. Really it was just an excuse to get out of the house and away from the kids. But this time around it actually means more to me. I do feel a bit a pride.

So on to life. Halloween was great. Saturday I had a test in Anatomy. I'm 1/2 way thru the semester now. I have been enjoying my Saturdays so much that I don't want them to come to an end. So far I have a 95% in the class. About a third of the class is not passing. Not to glote, but I do feel I've earned this A as I study like I should have when I went to Cal Poly. I also had my Human Development midterm last week. It went well. Just shy of an A on my exam but overall I am still carrying an A in the class.

Kaitlin, Emma and Daddy had fun Saturday building forts and watching home videos Saturday. It was super cute to come home to chairs, blankets and all sorts of fun things. He is quite the active dad on Saturdays. Last weekend he took them to the exploritorium in the city to go play and to see the Largest Blimp land in Moffett field.

Sunday we had some family time in the afternoon after I co-thru a babyshower for Ang. It was such a wonderful babyshower. She is having a boy and I have to say the boy things are far cuter now then I remember seeing before. It is so fun to be a part of someones pregnancy. But I have to say I AM so glad I'm done. Of course I still say anything could happen and maybe we'll have more later.

Kaitlin is excelling in school. She is REALLY into writing stories. And she wants to learn spanish. Chris and I are working with her with our limited knowledge. I'm looking into programs in the bay area to expose her. I wish we had a ton of extra money for programs like this. But I do have to say her Tae Kwon Do was the best investment we've made with her. I see her self confidence, self control and spirit. The only hard part to Tae Kwon Do is that it is 3 days a week so extra activies is a bit crazy unless we don't need downtime at home. And I am starting to feel like downtime is truly overrated anyways...

Emma is sassier then ever. She goes from sweet to sour in 2.5 seconds. It's just her age. In fact I've learned a new term in my class. Conservation. It is when a child can not escape an emotion. They fixate on it. It has to do with brain development. So anyways.. it has made me be a bit more patient. Oh yah.. given she is round 2 it also helps to say. "I remember this." But she is far more joy then sorrow. She is IN LOVE with princesses, specifically the barbie princess movies and horses. A few weeks back a friend let us go onto her ranch and ride horses which we will definitely be doing again. You should see her face when she gets on a horse. Pure heaven.

Halloween is FUN!

Awww.. aren't we so cute. Kaitlin choice our pose. Sat us in our "spot" and had us smile on queue. Such a proud mama

Emma loves her pumpkin! Daddy helped her carve it after she drew pretty pictures on it.

Super Girls to the rescue! The girls were both super girl this year. They loved being twins. Pretty cute.. I figure it might be the last year where they want to be the same costume:) Halloween was a blast this year. I made a MONSTER Tamali Pie, cut up bell peppers and carrots for the face and hair. We went to our neighborhood parade, and then walked at least a mile or two and got a ton of candy. Chris and I brought our own treat. A bottle of red wine and two wine glasses. We polished off the bottle on the run. I definitely reccommend this trick-or-treating style. It rained off and on which made it even more fun for the kids.

Yum Yum! Nothing like slimmy pumpkin guts!

I've started a blog!

Hello Everyone! I've started a blog thanks to my bestest bud Erin. I go on her blog all the time and love it! She's funny, honest, and I think it is awesome that she keeps us all up to date on life in Alabama. So I've decided the do the same brain download on the internet as she has:) Keep granparents up to date, get out what I have to say, show off my kids and more.

On to my day...
Today I have a midterm in Human Development which should be a piece of cake. At least that is what I'm telling myself as it has been 6 years since I've taken a scantron test. Besides there is nothing that can compare to 80 questions in a 45 minute timed anatomy lab practical at 8am on Saturday. OH yeah.. for those of you who don't know I'm back at school! It is so awesome.

So outside of studying like crazy this AM I have been..how do I say this.. COMPLETELY PMSing. Which usually just makes me get quiet because internally I am so passionate about EVERYTHING and therefore to save relationships that are dear to me and not say things I will regret I keep my mouth shut. But today I had a HUGE internal movement that just couldn't be stopped that I actually have to thank Judge Judy for. Strange huh? She said on Regis and Kelly something to the effect of, "if you don't stand up for what you believe in, then your not standing for anything." Our neighborhood is plastered with McCain/Palin and Yes on 8 signs. Now the McCain/Palin signs don't bug me so much as we all know who is going to win:) So put a sign your lawn to make yourself feel better. The second sign though has been eating at my stomach the last month and though I have been feeling super passionate that any church or political group would try to make it a law to discriminate people, LOTS of people all based on what they believe GOD thinks is down right ludicris. Back to the signs... I never like to "rock the boat" and yet the idea of actually plastering my own views on the lawn originally seemed tacky has become a fication in my mind. So today I put an Obama and No on 8 sign on my lawn. Amongst the many "other" signs in our neighborhood I felt SO good taking a stand. So thank you to my neighbors and town for inspiring me to join the club and stand up for what I believe in!

Oh... and granparents the kids are great:)