Hungry anyone?

Don't think we will be forgetting Christmas Dinner 2009

The Holiday has ended!

I am so greatful that it is over and done with and all my decorations are back at the storage unit. I can not bear to start a new year with all the old stuff up reminding me that it is still Christmas. Even the lights are down from the bushes. wow! It looks like we have so much more space in the family room without that giant needle dropping Noble Fir tree by the TV. I have started thinking of my goals for this coming year.
1.Move out of California
2.Get rid of the "stuff" that we have in our place including the stuff in storage.
3.let my hair grow out again.
4.Cook every recipe in this cookbook
5.finish Personal Progress and receive my adult medallion

Not too hard in case God throws us some curve balls. I think we could really move out of here if something opens us anywhere but here. I would move to Alaska if that was avaliable. But mostly I would like to move to Oregon, Warshington, Texas, North Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, Alabama, Kentucky, Kansas etc. Just not L.A. County or the rest of California unless it was in mountains and away from lots of people.

Merry Christmas!

with love,
The Warrens 2009

Happy Merry!

I watched the funniest episode of Community where they were so PC about the holidays that they just called it Happy Merry. Can America get anymore ridiculous??
Anyhoo here are some Happy Merrys goings ons at ours houses.

can't stop hugging jeremy when he is wearing Stetson All America- I call him my Tom Brady
Ho Ho Ho! Santy came early to our house this year!
This is what happens to your tree when the kids take the pictures
lens wouldn't open all the way, but Emily is enjoying the fake snow AKA- Rain.

My Own Personal Miracle

5 points for the one who guesses where that line comes from.

anyhoo we had our christmas break early this year. in fact we combined it with thanksgiving and took the following week off from school and work. I thought we were going to palm springs and there was no way Sarah was gonna miss school for that. But the night before we left for the weekend Jeremy tells me we are spending a week at Disneyland and California Adventure!!! Totally sweet news! (The kids had no idea where were until on the tram going into disneyland and the drive said welcome to Disneyland. Boy were they shocked and excited!) So we packed and piled into the car for a long 30 minute drive to Anaheim and checked into the time share and headed off to Disneyland. It is suppose to be the slowest holiday week but for reals people! it was pretty packed. We did almost everything and i think we had more fun at california adventure than disneyland. It was less crowded and had a ton of rides for the little darlings. the lines were no wait at all too. major bonus! It was perfect weather and we saw a great parade and great characters. I love Frontier Town and New Orleans Square the best. So i got to take a picture with Jesse and Woody and I yelled out " There's a snake in my boot" and jesse started laughing and woody just turned at me and shook his head. it was hilarious! well our camera was dead so we had to borrow one and all the pics on that camera. so the pictures will just have to come later. oh yeah and with the Princess and the Frog coming out this week they had a huge jubilee that was mardi gras style and I was lovin all the jive!!! i can't wait to see that movie! So we ended up with season passes and literally broke the bank account. Disney did it again to poor california family but this is our Christmas present and I can't wait to go back!

My Experiement

So for all my life I have had issues with food. Not with comsuming too much or too little but the whole digestion thing. I felt like any time I was going to eat something there would be a problem. And I eat pretty healthy. Hey the daily brownie is healthy right? So finally at age 100, I mean 31, I decided something has got to change and I wasn't about to go through some crazy tests with a doctor. I simply don't have the time or patience to listen to some bozo "try" and figure out what went wrong with me. I am pretty smart and not clueless about different digestion problems. Heck, my mother has Colitis, so I know about THOSE problems. Not cool and very painful if not eating properly. So I was challenged to do the Atkins Diet cuz I mocked it so badly. And yeah, I totally believe in the Food Pyramid so it was easy to laugh at Dr. Atkins. Wow. Big. Mistake. So about 2 1/2 weeks ago I set aside my craving for sweets and breads etc. I lost my craving treats *sob sob* and guess what? I also lost my painful digestion problems. I didn't figure it out until taco salad night at my house for din din. I asked jeremy to grab some chips on the way home from work and he shows up with Gluten Free Chips. I started laughing and asked him why he bought Gluten free chips. Jeremy says: They were the cheapest.
Little did we know that was going to change my life. Within 20-30 minutes after eating I start to have a serious, painful problem along with other unsavory responses to the food I had just eaten.
After Taco Salad, I have nothing. I was confused. I stopped and looked at Jeremy and said "Something is wrong, different, I feel good with no tummy aches. Why?
I went through what we ate. Ground Beef, cheese(my enemy cuz i thought i was lactose intolerant), tomatoes, lettuce and gluten free chips. I knew it! The chips were the only thing different. I had a gluten problem. After that I night I was strictly adhereing to a gluten free, sugar free diet along with Atkins and the results have been astounding. I accidently had a soup with barley in it and was suffering but I didn't repeat that. It was my control soup if you know what i mean. So now I begin a new chapter in my life as a Gluten Free Mom.
It works for me and I am happy to follow this new food lifestyle. I started losing a ton of weight with no other changes to my exercise. Who knew?? I don't need a doctor to tell me otherwise cuz this seems to be working. Finally I can eat without wanting to die afterwards. Now I just have to annoy everyone else by asking what is in their food all the time. How do I do that tactfully? I guess I will figure it out as I go along.

PTA rears its ugly head

How do I get the old PTA pres to hand over all the budget and bylaws so we can do our audit and get on with the new year????? any suggestions cuz threats aren't working!

PTA PREZ in da HOUSE!

That's right folks. I am now the president which was quite easy to win since i live in a very uneducated, i-don't-care-to-speak-english community. This is only the 3 rd year since PTA has been up and running and I feel like a Kindergartner(say like Joe Pesci on Home Alone). I really have no clue and the fund-raiser has already been under way so I have no worries until the first of the year. At that point we will begin our Appreciation Brunches, wave good bye to our kids as they head off to field trips that we fund, and have awards ceremonies. Can't be too difficult. I would like to throw in a talent show but who knows. The parents just don't care. It bothers me alot, and i want to be like those penguins in Madagascar and blow this dump. I have been elected for 2 years and we have to "motion" everything before we can do it. Also I am on the District Board as the School Rep and the Vice-Chairman on the School Site council. Can I do it? We shall see. I could take time from my busy marky mark pants dropping schedule to help my daughter and her school. After this though, I am thinking we move to the country get a ranch and home school my kids and have them take horsey lessons. Sounds good to me. I am so over the whole California City Life. Get me outta here!

A new man in my life...or return of Robert Jordan

So the new Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson book is out and i have been devouring and i am sad already cuz i know i will finish it this week and have to wait a whole 'nuva year until the next one comes out. If you might recall, Robert Jordan passed away in 2007. I remember seeing the article online the night it happened and i just burst into tears. and I cried for 3 days after that. I actually have a picture of him that my MIL took at the book signing on my dresser. he was a genius. So sorry I have to get back to my book. and Shaun if you are reading this. you can't tease me about this. oh , and leaving that book on my bed knowing I would cry was a mean trick. but there is time for me to get you back. just wait. BWAHHHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA. sorry, reading now........

Katya the Koshka

Sweet she has a tail. emily complained that she couldn't hold the tail like a real cat. I said "too bad kid". i spent more time on it than i wanted too.

Emily needed a cat. She adores Katya the Koshka. Glad I could swing this one. I wasn't sure but I think it is just purrrrrrrfect!

Meet Boris

So i was at the Claremont stroll on saturday when all the craft vendors jack up their prices and sell their wares on the street and saw some wonky looking stuffies(stuffed animals). they were so cute and on a weirdo level but it wasn't my first time seeing them. I looked at the price, laughed devilishy, and walked away knowing that when i got home i was gonna make my own. So I would like to introduce you to Boris- A toodletoots creation. Move over Coraline!

emily thinks he is funny

As Spooky as it gets around here.

Well I decided to do a little with some vinyl lettering and I mean little. Amanda helped me out with the lettering that i wanted so i ordered the words, BOO, EEK, and Spooky to work with. I had some old blocks from a couple of years ago that i swiped off Tamra's front porch(i asked first) and have kept them in the stride rite shoe box they were in. I didn't know what I was gonna do with them until this halloween.

I made the black rose topiary myself! major props.

For the Spooky I just copied one bloggers idea and made it my own. Good thing i kept that vintage scrapbook halloween paper too. i think they turned out cute but seriously this is the most i did this year. I am too hot and sweaty to make anything else.

Happy Halloween

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs!

Gotta See it. I was giggling the whole time and down right laughing out loud at its wit and humor! great for moms, dads, kids, old folks, italians, pets, and food! go....go right now and watch it! let the nerdy-ness come out of you for a short hour and a half. you will be glad that you did.

HELP PLEASE!!! TIME IS ALMOST UP!!

I can't decide who i should be for halloween. help me pick

1.Snow white- my hair is perfect for it since i am super dark and it is the perfect length but i have to sew the costume since the cheapest one to buy is $50.

2.Lucille Ball- all i need is the wig and eyelashes. I already have the dress. but the wig is anywhere from $19.99 plus shipping to 29.99.

i could make the snow white dress for less than the wig for lucille. but it would be very time consuming and the wig shipping could cost more and take a while to get to me.

see my dihlemma??? please respond soon. i should go to joanns today and get the material if you pick snow white!

One Month ago today

Sarah started first grade. WOW! I am just blown away at how much she is changing. School is so much fun to her. She was ready for school at 6AM. It was very funny that she had to sit around for an hour and a half until it was time to walk to school. Sadly, daddy had to get to work so he missed out on her first day back to Gladstone Street School. She was lucky enough to get her same teacher and alot of her friends from kindergarten were in her class again. When asked what her favorite part of the day was, she replied " Recess!" True that, Sarah, True that.

p.s. sarah likes to use her shirt as a towel so of course it was wet and dirty before we got to school. she also dressed herself and she could care less about dressing up for the first day. so she arrived in a CTR hand me down shirt and old grey jeans with holes. lovely.

So only one month later.........

I am finally posting our trip to the Long Beach Aquarium ( which is right on the ocean and also where they do filming for CSI:Miami) So we only ran into one celebrity and I swear I was the only one who recognized him until I showed my sister and she was laughing and agreed that it was in fact Breckin Meyer of clueless, Kate and Leopold, Josie and the PusseyCats, etc. So we went on August 31st and had a blast. I want to go back but the best was watching Sarah and Emily light up at all the crazy fish, sharks, sea stars, and seals. It was a huge success and they loved it. Here are a few pics for you to enjoy in case you can't make it to the aquarium any time soon.

Tijuana-Not Fun.

Ok so I drove to tijuana-MEXICO yesterday. Yes i left the country for a few hours. Let me explain before you scream " WHAT!!!!"

I came out of the shower yesterday morning with the intent of getting ready for church. My friend Elizabeth was downstairs waiting for me. I get dressed, come down and ask if she is alright. She is in a different stake than me. So she tells me this crazy story about a Mexican employee of her uncle that lives in utah. She had a baby(super darling, named Cathy) and the baby was going to be baptized in a little village in Mexico where her family lives. Rosa, the mommy, had an expired visa and could not leave the USA. that is awesome-not! if you live our friggin country you better get yourself legal! So Uncle Mike says " hey, i will take baby cathy to mexico for you and hand her off. So passports were ordered and hers came but his didn't. So he couldn't fly into Tijuana as planned. So I say Ok and get in the car. We race down to LAX to pick up the baby and uncle mike. Before I leave Jeremy tells me not to go crossing the border. I had no idea what to expect when i got down there or where to park and take a cab or what. So we are driving and I see passing me by a sign that says " last exit before entering mexico." We waved to it, already stuck in line to cross out of the Red, White, and Blue and into unknown, terrifying territory. Once you are in the lanes you can't get out. You can't back up...nothing. So I am starting to giggle nervously, hands shaking, rubbing my face, saying " oh my gosh oh my gosh what now!!" We had to find an airport since Tia Julia couldn't cross the border to meet us. Either way we were stuck going into Mexico. Of course we had no idea where anything was and they don't follow any traffic rules. Apparently you are suppose to get insurance on your car since anything can happen. I did not know this and I was innocently driving through round abouts hoping i wouldn't get hit. After much praying and reading the map and signs we made it to the airport. Yes there were Federali and machine guns and regular people at the airport. We of course had to get out and go potty, which was surprising super clean. no chickens or livestock in the airport. so we had to circle a million times until all was settled and then we had to get back in line to cross back to the USofA. I was terrified at this point. We use all our Jesus points yesterday just trying to get home. The line moved pretty fast and only took about 30 minutes but the vendors were insane just all up in your face selling food and crappy toys or souvenirs. I was the only one with a passport. Did you know you need a passport now? And it was expired. I was hoping that we would not get stopped and locked up in jail. So we get to the station and she checks our papers. She sees mine and doesn't care that it was expired but my friend and her uncle had to have explainations about who they were, who was getting divorced what was the maiden name, what was the nature of our business.......etc. The story was crazy but i did the explaining about the baptism and she was ok with that. I guess that is common. so we safely passed through to the great land of America waiting on the other side of the road. wow that was a long story but the anxiety was so high I could slice the air with a knife. I was a nervous wreck and I almost cried. but I held myself together pretty good and I can safely say that I will never do that again. we did get a warning that we could not come back to Mexico without passports. I wanted say that I would never be coming back to Mexico ever. I had ever worst case scenerio running through my mind even though the car never park and we were always moving with the doors locked. Jeremy was shocked that I disobeyed him but it was the only way to get this baby safely to her family. Now I look like a baby Mule, trafficking baby slaves across the border. Well I am done doing that kind of service. I couldn't wait to see my girls and jeremy again. Well I feel safe and sound and it feels like it happened a lifetime ago instead of yesterday.

WELCOME.....to Medieval Times!!

I started this post of August 17th:

Today is my 8th Anniversary with the best man in the whole world. That's right ladies, you missed out. I got him! Jeremy Glenn and I, Nicole Tanya Ortega were married in the San Diego Temple 8 years ago. It was a race to the temple at break neck speeds for 3 hours. We were the first couple to be married that day in that temple.

August 18th continues:
I couldn't have as much fun, or trials, or experience as much love as I have with anyone other than Jeremy. He is my Be Fri, Priesthood holder, Father to my children, bread winner and lover. He knows how to hold me and say "everything is going to be alright"(like the old man on Wedding Singer). He works hard and sometimes doesn't get to do much but still keeps going because he has a responsibility to his family. I love him more than myself and sometimes my children come second to him.
We were suppose to go to Catalina this year for a romantic getaway and it was all planned out in our minds. Then some family things came up and we sacrificed that trip. Instead I was brilliant enough to make up for it by getting two Royalty tickets to MEDIEVAL TIMES. I have been a few times like 15 years ago and this was Jeremy's first experience with dinner and a tournament. It was fantastic. We giggled alot and cheered for our Evil green knight. Jeremy couldn't believe his luck when our Knight was announced as a lover of war and master of weapons. He came to carnage and blood shed. It was an amazing (k)night. hee hee. I begged to do a picture where you dress in the clothes and pose behind the sword and get your picture in a folder that only cost $15 and jeremy finally consented! We look so cute and Sarah at home this morning said " Mother, you look so beautiful and daddy is handsome." I wonder how I became mother and why is it surprising that I am beautiful??? It made me smile and laugh at her honesty. We also had our names read off during the show as celebrating our anniversary and had a large certificate printed and we bought a spoon to go with our spoon collection. I have a rack that is filling up fast. It was simply so much fun. I highly recommend going if you have the chance. Jeremy also fixed our blanket box. someone sat on it and broke the bottom. they were way too heavy. It has been an eye sore since may and now it is ship shape. He let me take a nap while he worked on it and the farthest thing from my mind was our once planned catalina trip. There is always next year! Oh yes I am sure you are wondering what our presents where to each other. Well we are working on it together. I am picking out the frame and he is photoshopping one of our wedding photos that will be enlarged to 22x36! holy huge kissing picture!! I will show it off when it is done!

One Powder room done, one kitchen to go.

Hey y'all I think it is safe to say that the powder room is complete. There is always more room for decorations but i like to keep it simple and as open as possible since it is a tiny space to be in. No one wants to be crowded in the bathroom. so here are the after pics. the before was just a plain old yucky off white that had a little too much yellow in it. the new colors are wave crest and relaxing green with some vermont cream. tell me what you think.

Baby shower gifts

So what do you make when you are in a pinch for a baby shower? Well I had to come up with something. I am so use to making girl things that this time around for boys I was totally stuck. So i went with the mommy gift instead of baby gift. I have been wanting to make my own for a long time but just never got around to it. I know you are asking out loud " are you going to tell us what you made???" Ok I made a rice therapy heating bag and to follow with a cold therapy flax seed eye cover (for those hang over mornings when the babes kept you up all night watching M.A.S.H.) I made a little pillow case cover for the rice bag but I sewed the flax seed straight into the bag. That one took a bit of work to keep from spilling all over the place. And I found a blog that made free tags so i just printed them out and viola! All done. I hope mommy likey. The best part was just using what I had for scraps and food. The scent for the rice bag was Lavender/Vanilla. Kinda of smells like clean baby bums. It made me laugh. This is a super simple project with or without the velcro. I opted for velcro cuz it just made it feel like it was finished off. What do you think? Also I was wondering how all the people in Costco get a membership when it is suppose to be a Business Card? Do they just make up a business? I think that if I did start a business I would name it ToodleToots. Don't steal it cuz i just TM'd it. (Trademarked it). So now I have a business name. What to sell at a fraction of the cost? I hate looking at handmde aprons that cost $35. What the H-E-double hockey sticks are they thinking? There is no way I would pay for that. Maybe set between 10-15 buckeroos I would spring for but not $35. Not no way not no how!

1 engineer + 2 Wild kids = Mega Fort

I was upstairs yesterday playing by myself when I hear Sarah ask me " Mama, can I ask daddy to build a fort?"
Now understand this. It was Sunday and I like them to do Sunday activities, but children just don't seem to get it fully so I said it was ok to build a fort. I didn't realize what the fort would turn into with daddy employeed as well.





The kitchen table + chairs got involved along with the thermostat and bars from the bannister.

Painted Bathroom

I am almost finished with our tiny powder room. Who knew that painting one tiny room would cost about 150 buckeroos! we totally didn't need a gallon of each color. one quart would have been enough. Fool me once, shame on me. It won't be happening again. But we need to do a few touch ups where the nice little blue tape took some of the paint off from being left on for several days. We are gonna paint the ceiling and then viola, a new bathroom(powder room). Why, do you ask, is it called a powder room? Well it can fit one person semi-comfortably, two people very uncomfortably. It only is a potty and a tiny corner sink. Great for company so they don't have to run upstairs to use the "powder room" wink wink. I will post pics when it is all done. I didn't do a before pic cuz it was impossible to do so it might be impossible to do the after pics. hey i could just use microsoft paint and draw it for you. That is just as good in my book.

Art Lessons from a 6 year old

my teddy named Brownie

Warren Family Portrait 2009

Sarah is really into drawing our pictures and she is fantastic! I woke up to her saying " don't move mom, i am drawing your face." She has done quite a few of me and of my teddy bear, and of Emily and just now she has finished our family photo. I don't know about you but i am thinking of using it for Christmas cards.

mom in the morning-Don't ask...

New Obsession

It isn't mine but I do indulge them. My girls are so darling and beautiful. I swear they are my Jane and Elizabeth Bennet. I know they will marry rich husbands. Why else would they be so beautiful? Anyhoo inside those sweet little bodies and behind their beautiful faces are super heroes in disguise. Without a mask they can transform themselves into anyone they want to be. As of late they are Shark Boy and Lava Girl. Did you ever watch that movie? I love it so I let them watch it only once a day. I do get requests for 2-3 times a day. Can you just picture these two girls pretending to shoot lava out of her hands, or go into a shark frenzy? It is the funniest thing and no matter many times they quote the lines to me, i can't stop laughing. Even George Lopez has me laughing as the teacher/villian. I really love kid movies that make my children's minds go into a frenzy(shark)! How are your kids doing this summer with their imaginations?

Kill the Summer boredom!

Are you getting bored already? School starts in a month and a half for Sarah and we are already tired of the heat but managing to hit the pool everyday that we are not sick! So I have done two projects that I want to share with you in case you are getting bored. They are super easy and will make your kids happy if you choose to share with them!

1.Polynesian candy bracelets(much like the candy lei)-lay plastic wrap down on the table. put your candies in a row and then roll the wrap around the candies. try small ribbons between each candy and tie up the end to make a bracelet. these won't last long though so take the pics quickly!

2.Pillow magic- use any left over scraps of material(if you sew and have any) cut out your favorite shape(we used hearts) and sew right sides together leaving a hole big enough to stuff. stuff it as full as you want with fiberfill(the best deal is at walmart in the sewing section-less than $4 a bag) and then top stitch the opening closed. VIOLA! you have a fun new pillow. It takes about 30 minutes from cut out to cuddle!

I hope everyone is having a fun summer so far and not getting too bored. Hopefully I will be seeing my new Neice, Lavender Dawn, this weekend. Jeremy's sister, Amber, had her baby last friday and we have yet to see the baby in person. I did watch her big sister Emerald yesterday and it was easy as pie with three girls. I have watched 3 kids + 1 infant all at one time and I know I can do it, I just don't know if i can handle the birthing process again. But every night I am dreaming about babies so I think I am almost ready for #3. We shall see when that happens. Every day gets easier and easier with little girls who can take care of themselves for the most part.