family hike

*On Saturday we decided to do an easy family hike, followed by lunch. We've done this same hike numerous times and the kids always enjoy it.

*I just finished up, Killing Lincoln and am now deciding between, Killing Kennedy and Killing Reagan. Sometimes I feel like I don't know enough history, despite loving to learn about it. These books make me feel at least a little smarter. :) I also need to work on current events. If it weren't for Chris filling me in on what is happening in our world, I would be pretty uninformed. :(

*Yesterday we had some friends over to hang out and decorate cookies. I love to bake, but I'm not a huge fan of making fun shaped sugar cookies. They are a lot of work. I cheated and made cake mix cookies, which aren't that tasty, but the kids never seem to mind. :)

numbers

7: Days until I'm allowing myself to dive into Christmas music. Next Saturday we'll be heading up north for an early Thanksgiving, so I figure that will be a great time. Hopefully I can hold off. :)

5: Christmas presents I've bought so far from my list.

4: Tortillas I bought the other day from Cafe Rio. They are the BEST in the world, so Chris and I will sometimes purchase just the tortillas and make our own burritos at home.

5: Time my eyes popped open this morning. Ugh. I even went to bed late last night (10:00!!!) so was hoping to sleep a little later. :(

2: Number of the best buddies in the world. I just adore these two. Yesterday Cam played hooky from sparring class and we decided to take a walk up to a Redbox so they could rent Inside Out.

30: Pounds of chicken we BBQ'd, chopped, and froze yesterday. This should last well into the new year!

4.5: Hours it took to finish above BBQ from start to finish. Well worth it.

charlie brown

*I'm really getting into the whole making coffee at home thing. :) I wish I was more adventurous when it comes to creamers, especially since there are so many fun sounding ones around the holidays. However French Vanilla and Hazelnut are what can most often be found in my fridge.

*I chaperoned Kendall's field trip today to the Living Desert.

*I love doing most anything with my kids...except going to movies at the theater. I typically have zero interest in seeing kid movies and have always made them, "daddy outings". :) Yesterday Chris took them to see the new Charlie Brown movie. He said it was one of the best kid movies he has ever seen, was super clean, and overall a really fun movie.

*Sometimes I let Cam get a donut before our early morning hikes. However knowing we would be hiking for 4+ hours this past weekend, I told him he needed to have a healthy breakfast. But once the hike was done, he definitely deserved a big, fat donut!

*Now that the weather  has turned cold, my motivation for getting up early to work out has turned cold. I'm going to take a few weeks....maybe months...off :)

murray peak

Chris' parents came to visit this past weekend. Chris' dad had built a desk for our loft and the kids were anxious to see it. It is beautiful! Friday night we went out to dinner and then frozen yogurt for dessert.

While it was not late when we returned home, I think a week of early wake ups (thanks to the time change) had taken their toll. :)

On Saturday morning, Cameron and I headed to the desert for another hike with my dad. It was such a fun hike. We had done Murray Hill before, but had not made it to the peak. Cameron REALLY wanted to complete this one, so our goal was to make it to the top. Since it was six miles, we prepared him that it might not happen...but it did!  Here is a 10 second video of us reaching the top.

Usually hiking clubs volunteer to build picnic tables on many of the summits. It's such a great feeling to get to the top and just relax and enjoy the view. :)

Taking a break on the way down...

Here I am reading our directions.  There were numerous "goat trails" around the mountain which can make it difficult to get to where you want to go. :)

We were pooped when we made it back down, but felt so accomplished! I can't wait for the next one!

coffee maker

*Every day (multiple times a day) I make a hot drink. I can't quite describe how comforting it is for me to have a hot mug in my hand. It's usually either hot cocoa or the french vanilla powder. The other day I finally decided to get out our coffee maker and attempt to become an official coffee drinker (meaning someone who makes it each day).

I was somewhat successful, however a couple of times I found some grounds in the bottom of my cup. I'm still working on figuring this out. :)

*Yesterday I watched the Leah Remini interview from last week's 20/20. I have always found Scientology to be very interesting, especially those who have left. I mentioned a while ago reading, Beyond Belief and really enjoying it. I'm thinking I'll probably check out Leah Remini's new book as well.

*I snuck the new Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cup out of the kids' Halloween stash. YUCK! It tastes like chemical peanut butter.

*Speaking of Halloween candy, I decided to store Kendall's in an old casserole dish holder. She quickly turned it into a backpack so she could go trade with the quads across the street. :)

halloween

*Yes!!

*Harry Potter and the cheerleader (we forgot to borrow the glasses/wig from Chris' mom but luckily he didn't mind).

*Love these guys :)

*Yesterday my dad and I went shopping for some hiking boots. For the past couple years, I've only had old tennis shoes that were about five years old. The tread had disappeared and they offered very little support. Here I am attempting to break the new ones in a bit before our hike this weekend.

*Candy I never eat but realized again how good it is (thanks to the kids' Halloween stash): KitKat

sick kid

*I've officially decided that carving a pumpkin is NOT my favorite thing. The kids are super excited about picking it out and drawing the face, however it ends there. Mom has to actually scoop out the guts and carve while they watch. Not a fan. :)

*This past weekend Cam had his belt testing and advanced to his blue belt!! This was the first of the more difficult level tests he will encounter and we are so proud!

*I went along on Cam's school field trip to the San Diego Safari Park on Tuesday. I LOVE this picture of a bird landing on his head. He thought it was funny...for about a second. He quickly wanted it off. :)

*I had to cancel my sub job for today last night around midnight. Poor Kendall came down with a fever and has been off and on all day (mostly off). I must admit, though, that I loved taking care of her and enjoyed our one on one time. So while I'm bummed she is still not feeling well enough to go to school tomorrow, I'm not too sad that I'll get her to myself another day. :)

p.s. I'm also not that sad that I now don't have to put together a scarecrow costume for her, "Dress like a scarecrow day". Ha!