So Santa is real!! You better BELIEVE it!!

Twas the night before Christmas, and we were visited by a louse. 
The "Grinch" came prowling and took the tree, decoration and presents right out of our house.

The boys were all nestle and snug in their beds,
but what the "Grinch" wrote, couldn't be imagined in their heads.



The tree was so beautiful upstairs all clothed,
but down to the gym & the gameroom went the ribbons and bows.

Santa, that saint knew just how to save the day,
Of course he did it in his own magical way.



But when the boys woke
All they saw was the note.



Aiden, pouted and bounced and gnashed a few teeth.
Hoping to crush his "There's no Santa" belief.

He gathered the troops to find the gifts.
He was bound and determined to give us Christmas lifts.

He checked all the rooms and then ran down the stairs
and burst the gym door with a shock and with stares.

Although in shock and in awe, we saw a BIG grin,
and a note that Old St. Nick had pinned.

Pillow pet for Mom....

A magnetic bowl for Dad...

...Presents all around were going to be had.

And to their surprise....what could it be!!!!!
The boys had snagged that elusive Wii!!

So Santa is real...you better believe it!!
Aiden wouldn't have said it, if he hadn't seen it.

We hope you had very Merry Christmas.

Christmas Letter 2010

 This year has been, for the most part, a blessed year.

Alex had surgery, David graduated for the U of U, I started again with my education at the U & Aiden began kindergarten at a pretty great school.

No complaints here. 

We are grateful for all of our good and true friends, family members and associates.  We have been blessed with great and knowledgeable doctors who have been nothing but kind and supportive of Alex.  Aiden scored with an awesome kindergarten teacher.  And we had a birthday party for Aiden with Ms. Carrie, and Ms. Jess and their families that brought nothing but joy to our home.

So we have been blessed.  We have received some of the very best kind of gifts all throughout the year.

Thanks all of you who have blessed our lives this past year.

and

We hope we have been a joy in yours.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Fly like an eagle

Alex & Holly {Eagle Scout Ceremony}

Yes

We are proud. 

Yes

We have worked hard to see this day.

I am so glad that Alex has reach such a great goal.  This is something that makes his dad very proud, since he didn't get his eagle.  I really don't have much to say other than...

Good job Alex.  You've worked hard to earn this recognition and you deserve all the accolades that comes with it.  Keep your head on straight and never stop believing you can achieve anything.

Better than the last

Every year my family spends Thanksgiving with my husband's family and every year we we learn and grow closer to them.  We love to sit around the table and hear what everyone is thankful for and are always pleasantly surprised by what one another says.

This year it was very intimate, given that the family is a huge family and it was just my little family and a single son, a single daugther & her boyfriend, grandparents and great grandparents.  It was pretty nice.  Yes, it would have been more nice if the rest of the family was there, but this was just perfect for this year.

I learned from great grandpa, how much he loves all of us.  He talked about how he missed out on Christmas with his family when he was deployed to Guam as a young man in the Navy and how just remembering that makes him appreciate being with the family.

It was very nice to see David, relax.  He is usually all "dolled" up in work clothes that to see him in relaxed jeans, hair disheveled, sweat shirt hanging at the parents house...well, that is one thing I am thankful for.  I love that man so much and he works so hard.  He deserved the day off and to be with his family, well that was just icing on the cake for him.

The boys loves to be with their grandparents and I have always hoped the feeling was mutual and I saw that it was as we all played games.  Aiden is a catch phrase PRO.  It was totally hilarious.

I am so thankful for this holiday.  It was better than the last and I am just the ones to come with out do this one as well...I am just glad that I was around for this one.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

YES!....It is a Spinach Smoothie

"Would you like to try my SPINACH SMOOTHIE?"  I usually get scrunched up faces followed by a very big YUCK!!!

{Ironically, this is not from my kids}

Well, I think you should try it and I have a recipe {of sorts} for you. 

It is by far the best thing I have come up with that the

KIDS WILL LIKE

This is what I used in this version, but you can use any berry you like, flavored yogurt or any kind of juice.

I used a personal blender here....Hamilton Beach.  I filled it with about 8oz. OJ.  Then stuffed it with two large handfuls of SPINACH

This is a half cup of raspberries.  These are more tart than most other berries.  I usually use blueberries {sweeter and less seedy}

Plain yogurt...just to give it a creamer texture.  But if you want use a sweetened yogurt like, vanilla, strawberry, etc. 



Blend Blend Blend



Now you can pour and enjoy.

{I did add unflavored fiber powder (the kids never knew) and agave nectar (I wanted it a little bit sweeter without effecting glucose levels)}

So there you have it....a great and delicious way to get more veggies in the kiddos and you....

that they'll LOVE!!!!

A little time...

...is all I really want.

bobbles?.....Nope.

food?.....I will be happy to eat later.

books?.....I get plenty of reading materials from school.

money?....Goes to quick and usually there's nothing to show for it.

I want the most expensive thing you have.  I need it in abundance.  I don't want to have to beg for it.

I don't want to have to settle with what's convenient.

I need your TIME.

It is the most precious gift you can give me.

That's all.

It seems to me...

...that I have to just make the decision.

Last night my very insightful husband, me and the rest of the family were talking to my mom on speaker phone.  It was a great time....honestly it was.  Lots of giggles and ah ha!! moments that I didn't express, but the bells were going off in my body and mind.

We were talking about health and Aiden, piped in and simple stated, "Lala, just stop eating the bad stuff, it's not good for your body, you just need to stop."  Which took my mom by surprise. 

If you know nothing else about Aiden, it is that, the boy, is very opinionated.

David added, "You just have to make the decision that you want to feel better." 

WOW!!!

Sounds simple right???  Well, really......it is (at least I hope so). 

Deep deep deep down in conscience I have not  made the decision TOTALLY to be healthier.

Yes....I do sign up and do the 5Ks. (I really like them, but I am sure I can push harder.)

Yes...I think I am making the right food choices for my health (except when I allow the burger cravings, chocolate cravings, salt cravings, pretty much anything get the best of me and I eat until I am pained...I realize that this is not good and that I need to find out what's "eating" me).

Yes...I weigh myself like I should (however, lately have been allowing the number to determine my value).

So, my intentions are great and some of my actions....but I haven't made the concrete decision to be healthier...TOTALLY.

Right now, I am trying a new food approach.  Vegetarian...I was going to do Vegan, but that is too hard for me at the moment.  I am on day 3 of this new journey and so far so good.  The family had not recognized that they have not had meat since Sunday and they don't seem to mind.

So it seems to me, that a decision to be healthier is simple, yet there are many layers to the TOTAL decision and maybe I am just at the beginning, and I don't necessarily think that is bad...you got start there anyway.

Living in 2 Worlds

"Luck", Nakia, Oynx & "Ma" Joeann

I have always lived in 2 separate, yet rewarding worlds.  My family back east can confirm that statement.

Growing up I never was a 100% fit in either and over time, years...I have learned to navigate artfully through both.

Going "home" this last week I have come to grips that living in the different worlds is okay and beneficial.  And please DO NOT let anyone tell you that there aren't 2 different worlds, with rites, roles, standards and traditions....THEY ARE LYING TO YOU!!

Nakia & Yolanda "Luck"

In the world of my youth and honestly with the help of a very "black" sister, I learned a lot.  Me, being black, is not just a given to knowledge of my culture...it is learned also.  My sister as well as many others spoke and speak to me in an intelligent dialect that is spoken within the community and yes I do believe that the dialect spoken in the black community can and is of intelligence.  I believe all language is, especially when it services a purpose, conveys a message and understood.  It is a language.  But I am digressing from the worlds.

I loved being at home with my family and listening to the speak.  I loved knowing the fact that although I have been away from them I could still easily slip in and still understand and know what was going on and being said and if need be I could communicate in the same fashion, but I didn't need to...."I just did me."

Now with that in mind, I traveled home to Utah...my other world.  My world where my husband and children are.  A world vastly different than the world of my youth.  Standards...different.  Speak....different.  Traditions...different. But the fact that I can navigate back into it is all a wonder and a pleasure to me.

Knowing that little bit of information had me thinking on my trip home about my best gal pal, Brandi.  I really wanted her to come home with me, to see where I grew up.  To really witness the beauty of Charlotte.  But as I pondered my experience...I don't think she would have been ready for how culturally different my 2 worlds are.  One day we will go and hopefully experience the joys of Charlotte. 

Being that my worlds are different and I have family in both, I am really going to make efforts to bring them together.  The hard part is where to start. 

Long time coming...

I know 6 years ago, this was not  a thought or even something that we could have even image for us. 

We didn't know at that time how much we would love a woman that we would only meet for a few short hours.  We had no idea that she was as remarkable as she was and is.

That is our Ms. Carrie and we love her.

September 28, 2010-Carrie tried to find our house and got lost, but not for long.  When I initially invited her and her family to come to Aiden's party, I wasn't sure if she was ready to see him again or for him to meet her little boy.  But she was excited and so was I. 

We both have been open and honest with our boys and they have always known of each other.  Aiden was overjoyed knowing that Jayden was his half-brother.  And for him the best part was that Jayden was younger and therefore made him "the BIG brother."  He kept double checking with me, making sure I was not lying about there being a Jayden.

So just a couple of hours before his party, I told him that Ms. Carrie and Jayden were coming to his birthday.  I was trying to gauge how he was feeling about it and he was just happy that he was going to get to see Jayden.  It was great to see everyone together.

This just goes to prove in my opinion, that open adoption is best. When all the people involved are healthy and mature enough to handle it, it is so good for the child, for the parents and the birth families .  Open adoption is not for everyone and for some it is just not possible. 

I love adoption.  My family would not be what it is today without it.  It is a kind of love that takes courage and faith.  You have to be a strong.

So for Carrie to be at our home and celebrating with us, was awesome.  To share her family with us made us so grateful.  She is a good mom and friend. And I look forward to many years of her and hers being a part of our family.  We love you Carrie, Jayden and the rest of the the "Den" family.

Happy Birthday to a truly Happy Boy!!

So much joy has come to us in a little package.

I am so grateful to be his mom.

Happy Birthday Aiden!!

Keep on smiling!

I love you tons.

Introducing....

"Vivian"

Congratulations Ms. Shaunda Eppes!

I love her name.

Thank you to Natalie Carroll and Becca for being apart of this.  I appreciate everything.

And the Choices are......

"Summer Nights"~ Becca

"Vivian"~ Shaunda Eppes

"MoKimo" { Modern Kimono}~Natalie Carroll

There you have it.

Let the voting begin!!!

Thanks to all of you who gave me some AWESOME names.  And just know, as I continue to come up with more designs I will be looking to you to help me name my babies, in a contest just like this.  Again thanks.

Now go ahead and cast your vote there on the left.

AND

Come on over and be my friend on facebook:

The Rubied Apple Aprons

CLICK LINK

THIS IS WHERE I WILL BE MAKING MY CONTESTS FOR THE NEW APRONS KNOWN

Name that apron CONTEST

Cute, right?

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Well, I designed this apron style from scratch, no pattern to work from, just an idea rolling around in my head.  It took about 4 hours to get everything just "sew", but in the end... this gorgeous apron was born.

BUT......What's her name???

I am having a hard time coming up with a name for her.  I could be narcissistic and call her Nakia Apron, Nakia-Syree Apron, Syree Apron, but that is just not me.

I want to know your ideas, so I am going to have a contest to give her a name.

For those, ...

"and what's in it for me-'ers'" ?

**********

you'll get the honor of naming the very 1st Rubied Apple original design & the apron prototype above.

**********

So how is this going to work:

Between September 13-15, submit your name suggestion for the above apron.  Keep in mind that the fabric is just that, fabric.  The name I am looking for is more about the style, as more this style will be made with different fabric, although if you have a great name for the apron inspired by the fabric, submit it.

Every suggestion will have an = chance to be considered.

On September 16th, I will literally draw three names from a hat and the three names will be posted for voting for 1 week.

MAKE SURE THAT YOU LEAVE YOUR NAME, EMAIL ADDRESS & NAME SUGGESTION

IN THE COMMENT LINK BELOW.

ANY SUBMISSION SENT ANY OTHER WAY WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

THIS IS OPEN TO U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY

In order for this to work I will need to have at least 10 submissions. If I don't get that many by the 15th, I will pull the contest and have to be narcissistic.

So, go ahead, make your submission and tell your friends and family to do the same!!!

This apron will fit most sizes S to M

and to see more aprons please visit my store:

The Rubied Apple

or

Like me on my FACEBOOK page:  The Rubied Apple Aprons

14 reasons....

...why I am pleased as punch to be the mother of this kid.

* I always wanted a son who was strong. 

Who knew that I would get one in name and deed.

* Respectful

* Truly Kind

* Sincere

*Mindful

* Clean

...not talking about as in order...his room's a science experiment.

* Fair

*Non-judgemental

*Family Focused

*Competitive

*Patient

*Scholarly

*Brotherly

* A Good Example

Happy Birthday son!

Feel free to leave him birthday comments

...he doesn't have email.