Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Happy Birthday To Me!

As you know, I Love all things Broadway! I've seen, I'm sure, over 20 shows in my 40+ years. :) But, my Ultimate Favorite Broadway Show of all time, is by far, Les Miserables. I've seen it twice!


And yes, Today, Christmas Day, is my Birthday! And the day Les Mis, the Movie was to Premier! I was so Excited! All I wanted for my Birthday was for my Family all to go with me to see the Movie!


We've never before gone to the Movies on Christmas Day. A co-worker of mine, who used to work at a Theater told me Christmas Day was one of the Busiest days of the year! (Who Knew?) And the earlier we could go the better. Good to know! 


My son, Kyle got me the Movie Soundtrack for my Birthday as well. My kids have never seen the Play, (yet!) but they knew the Music. (They are after all, my kids!) :)

 

We went to the 11am showing. We got there early and the Theater was pretty full! By the time it started, it was really full! But when we came out, the Place was packed, with long lines waiting to get in to see it! So glad we went early!


A Manager there took a picture of us in front of the Movie Poster and wished me Happy Birthday! :) I am truly Blessed with my Family. And what a great Birthday!

 

The Movie was so good. With a Great cast. I knew the others could sing, but was really impressed with Russel Crow. There's a lot of Oscar Buzz already, and I really Hope Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman, along with the Movie as a whole win big!

Sunday, December 23, 2012

From Our Family To Yours:

May Your Day's Be Merry And Bright . . . 


Merry Christmas!

Monday, December 17, 2012

Give Me Five: My Favorite Christmas Albums.


 Okay, so I've shared my Favorite Christmas Songs, 
but how about my Favorite Christmas Albums? 
There are some Great ones out there: 

1. Aly & AJ
We got their Album when my girls were younger 
& Aly & AJ were on the Disney Channel
But it is seriously one of our Favorites! 
The Original song: Greatest Time Of Year is Great, we sing all the time. 
And their version of The Little Drummer Boy is the Best One Ever!
It Totally Rocks! 

 2. Sheryl Crow
 Love her Voice any time, but her Christmas Album is great. 
I'm not Catholic, but I am in Love with her song The Bells Of St. Marys!

 3. The Beach Boys
 I Love Christmas & I Love the Beach, 
So what better way to combine the two
 than The Beach Boys Christmas Album?! 
It's so Fun! 

 4. Glee
 I Heart Glee! 
They do almost every song they sing Better than the originals!
And the Christmas songs are no exception!

 5. Point Of Grace
 Saw them in concert back in the day! 
Their Harmony's are out of this world Beautiful!
 Runner Up: Relient K 
You know it's hard for me to stop at 5! :)
Relient K's is one of the funnest Christmas albums out there!
You gotta hear their take on A Partridge In A Pear Tree!
  
And I really wanted to include Hanson, 
but I knew you'd laugh at me!
But I Love their Christmas Album! (Don't tell anyone!) 



Thursday, December 13, 2012

Give Me Five: Favorite Christmas Songs

 It is no secret I start listening to nothing but Christmas Music usually starting before Thanksgiving (Sometimes starting right after Halloween!) & not ending until after New Years! It used to drive my Family crazy, but now they've come to expect (and accept) it! :) I LOVE all Christmas Music, but I do have some favorites! And they are . . .



1. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
"From now on our Troubles will be far away!"
My all time favorite! 
My Family knows that it does not matter 
what time of year I might pass away,
but this song will be sung at my Funeral! :) 

2. Silver Bells  
"It's Christmas Time in the City!"
And this City Girl Loves it! 

3. We Three Kings 
I've always said the Chorus was written about me:
"Star of Wonder, Star of Light,
Star with Royal Beauty Bright!" :)

4. Silent Night 
"Sleep in Heavenly Peace
Sleep in Heavenly Peace!" 
I used to sing this to my Babies in the middle of the night, 
when trying to get them to sleep
and now sometimes sing it to myself when I can't sleep! :)
 
5. Where Are You Christmas?
From Faith Hill for the Grinch Soundtrack
"The joy of Christmas
Stays here inside us"

The only Christmas Song I've never really liked is George Michael's Last Christmas. But in recent years it's been remade by Glee & Taylor Swift (among others!) and I don't mind it so much anymore. So, there you have it! My Favorite Christmas Songs! Are there Christmas Songs you just love (or hate?) Do Tell!

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Give Me Five! Favorite Christmas Movies!

As I'm sure you all know I am a Christmas Junkie! I LOVE all things Christmas! My Hubby even made my Give Me Five Logo Christmasy for me! :)


Christmas Movies are the Best Movies! So this was painstakingly hard for me to try to pick my top 5 favorite Christmas Movies! The first 3 I knew right away, but then I have at least 6 others I had to try to narrow down to fill my last 2 spots!


1. Sleepless In Seattle
Is not only my Favorite Christmas Movie, 
but is my Favorite Movie of all time! 



2. It's A Wonderful Life
 Probably The Best Christmas Movie EVER made!



3. The Family Man
Very Sentimental for me
as it's the last Movie I ever saw in the Theater with my Sister
before she went to Heaven. 


 

 4. How The Grinch Stole Christmas
A Childhood favorite brought to life!



5. Jingle All The Way
Reminds me of when my Boys were little
and we ran all over looking for just the right Poser Rangers! :) 


and
Favorite Animated Christmas Movie: 
Santa Claus Is Comin to Town

Honorable mentions, I had a hard time not choosing, because I love them all as well: The Santa Clause, Serendipity, The Family Stone, White Christmas, Elf, A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Holiday, The Polar Express, and the Movie we probably quote more than any other: A Christmas Story! :) And just to prove my love of Christmas Movies, in years past I did The 12 Days Of Christmas Movies here on the Blog. You can see those by clicking here and here. What are your families Favorite Christmas Movies you watch year after year? 

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Christmas Creative

My Daughter Lexi had seen a tiny Christmas Tree on sale for Black Friday, she really wanted to get it & put it in their room. Since money is tight right now, she didn't want to ask us for it so she took what little money she had & literally scrounged around the house, even finding pennies to roll to get enough money for this little tree. We went to Target to get it & she said do you think the cashier will be mad I'm paying with ones, a dollar coin & rolled pennies. Our cashier was a young guy & in all my Motherly wisdom, I told her, Nope, he'll think you're cute! And who was right? (as always!) Me! She said sorry to him & he said "no problem, I do it all the time too, and my register was getting low in pennies." :) Then when I stepped up he said "Are you paying with penny rolls too? :) I wasn't.


She took her tree home & we had set aside some of our small ornaments as we were decorating our Christmas tree for her little tree. And she asked me for some of the pearls we put on our tree every year. She found an Angel she had for the tree topper. It looks so cute in the girls' room. Now they sleep under Christmas lights every night!


And Erica, who is very crafty wanted to make a wreath for our front door. She found pinecones & went with a Music theme. Using some musical notes & instrument ornaments that we had. It is so cute. We love it! Zach came home one night & said "You guys bought a Wreath! I like it!" and was surprised to learn Erica had made it!


Yes, my girls come by their Love of Christmas honestly. They are after all my daughters. But this craftiness does not come from me. (Maybe it skips a generation) But, I'm sure glad they have it. And I love reaping the benefits of it!

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Top 5 of 2012!

One thing you may or may not know about me is that I am a list maker! It's true, I like Lists! It's not just shopping lists, or what I want to get people for Christmas, but I actually have a  list of every Halloween Costume each of my 4 kids has worn over their entire lives! (Don't judge me!) I also have a list of every Birthday Party Theme they have had. Long before any trip I take I make a list of not just what I will pack, but each outfit I'll wear, complete with accessories!

And in the spirit of List making, I've had an idea to do on the Blog, something I'm calling Give Me Five. My Husband even made me a cute little Logo for it too! :) I thought, from time to time I would share a list of 5 of my favorite things in any number of categories, it could be my 5 Favorite books, Movies, Restaurants, Vacation spots, etc.

And as you can tell from my last Blog Post, 2012 has been an extremely hard year for us. But I try very hard (some days more successfully than others) not to dwell on the Negative. So I thought that  my Inaugural Give Me Five would be the top 5 things that have happened in 2012. Thankfully there have been some good & Really Good things amidst all the not good things that seem to keep coming our way. So, here we go . . .


1. Both my Boys have gotten, or will get, their Associates Degrees this year! They also both have good jobs. It's been an adventure watching them grow up.

2. My Girls started High School & are thriving there! They Love it & are taking Dance & Art classes, Lexi loves being a Band Geek :) And Erica is in Choir & Glee Club.

3.  I went to my 30 Year High School Reunion! My, how time flies. It's always fun to relive the good ole days!

4. We got to take a nice little Vacation to San Diego this Summer! It was a much needed get away!

5. My Amazing Husband, John & I Celebrated being Married for 25 years! And we're even still in Love!

And there you have it. Look for many more lists coming your way. Maybe someday I'll even do a Give Me Five of my top 5 favorite Give Me Fives! :)

Monday, November 26, 2012

Maybe the Myans Were Right!

 

At the beginning of this year I did a Blog Post; It's The End Of The World As We Know It! Looking ahead into the year of 2012. Since the Mayan Calender supposedly ends in mid December, people have speculated it means the end of the World. Now as the end of this year is fast approaching, I'm looking back on this year & thinking maybe the Mayans were right! Or should be! 

This has undoubtedly been the toughest year of our lives. It started with me loosing my Mother in March. Now both of my parents are in Heaven, along with my only Sister & her husband. Four very important people in my life. I miss them all the time. 

Financially this has been the toughest year for us as well. I am working more hours than I have EVER worked in my life, at the most stressful job I've ever had. My Husband is working Two Part Time Jobs. The past several years he has been helping out Churches that really need us, but in this economy can't really afford us. (Hence the Part Time) But with working outside jobs, we can't really get plugged in & become part of any of the Churches. That's not what were used to, or how we like it. We want a Church were our entire family can be involved. Where we can have Friends & be a part of each others lives. That just can't happen right now.

For years we have talked about our 25th Wedding Anniversary. We planned to renew our Wedding Vows and have our kids stand up with us. We talked about the kind of dresses the girls would get, etc. My Mom left me her original Wedding Rings & I was planning on having her original diamond & mine set in a new setting. And at the beginning of this year we had the money we could have done it. But life happened, or literally, cars happened to us. My Sons truck blew & was no longer drivable. My Husbands car had a lot of things go wrong with it. My other son bought his first car & then has had some things need fixing in it. We were given a car, which 1st son now drives & has had a lot go wrong with. Even leaving us all stranded in the middle of the desert, where thankfully a stranger stopped & gave us a ride into town. Even my car has broken down. After having it fixed, my husband goes to pick it up & finds it undrivable. Apparently, putting it up on the lift, shot out all 4 shocks, which just added to the cost of having it fixed. It was dropped of at my place of work after being fixed again & on my way home, the check engine light came back on! (are you kidding me!) The shocks had been replaced, but not the casing they were in, so now every time I hit even the smallest bump, it makes a loud noise! At least 3 of the 4 cars Check Engine Lights are on at all times. And no matter how many times they get fixed, or how much money we put in to them, it's never really fixed.  It is so frustrating & has taken all our money. So needless to say, there was no Vow renewal this year. It broke my heart. But We still Celebrated. My Husband made it very special, and maybe we'll do the Vow renewal at 30 years. My girls will be 20 by then. Yikes!

There has been many months this year that bills got paid late or not at all. But we have a Friend who says "If Money Can Solve It, It's Not A Real Problem." :) And though it adds MUCH stress, money is the least of our worries. I've also been battling some Health problems. Changing jobs, meant no Health Insurance for quite a few months. And as soon as I lost mine, I broke & lost a filling in a tooth, dealing with a small, throbbing pain in my mouth. I've had female issues to deal with. And on top of everything in July I started breaking out in Hives. That persist. We are now trying to figure out if they are from an Allergic reaction, (to who knows what) from Stress, or something more serious. I look & feel terrible most of the time. I'd post pictures, but I'm much to vain for that! :)

And this year, a few of our kids have faced some very tough situations, that have sent our Family into Crisis mode. There is nothing worse than watching your kids go through things. This year more than any other, John & I were up, not able to sleep many nights, worrying about & praying for our kids. There have been times we've been unable even to eat. (Which says a lot, since we love to eat!) :) Through it all it has brought us all closer to each other. We really do have the best kids & are so proud of them & love them more than life itself! Our oldest son received his Associates Degree in May & our second son will receive his Associates in December. They now have proof of what I've ALWAYS known, that they are much smarter than I am! :)

So, you see, all & all, after the year we've had, I'd probably be okay with the world ending! :) This being the first Holiday's with out my Mom, I'd like to just skip Christmas all together, (I am thankful that my kids are old enough to understand financial matters & to realize why this isn't going to be a "normal" Christmas for us) And go right to the New Year! Forever the Optimist, as I look forward, I'm dusting off my Highest Hopes that 2013 will be a MUCH better year for Team Forbis!



Thursday, November 22, 2012

Thankful Thursday: Family

Today I am Thankful for our Families!


 Siblings become our first Friends!
Our protectors.


Friends come & go, but,
You can always depend on Family.


They will laugh with you, 
cry with you, 
disagree with you, when you need it!


They might fight with you from time to time, 
But they will Always fight FOR you as well!


Family is the Heart of the Home!


Today is our first Thanksgiving without my Mom. 
It will be tough.
But We will forever be Thankful we have our Families! 
We would not be who we are without them. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your Family!

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Turning 21!

My Baby Boy, Zach
 

Turns 21 today!


 He was such an inquisitive boy.


We've learned as he learned!


So proud of the Man he is becoming!


 Happy 21st Birthday Zach!

He is spending his the weekend up north with his Girlfriend, Kendra, 
who also has her Birthday this weekend. :)
Hope they are having a wonderful time.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Breaking Dawn Part 2


My Daughters & I were so excited, 
the day was fast approaching! 


We bought our Tickets early! 


We watched all 4 Movies leading up to it! 


I arrived about 1 in the afternoon, got a spot in line close to the front!
(With a good book in hand of course!)
Friends & Family Members came through out the day to hang out.


Look close: there are 3 people in line behind me, sleeping under there! :) 


 My Friend & fellow Twilight fan, Angie, 
who was celebrating her Birthday, met us in line.
And brought Team Edward & Team Jacob Cupcakes! Yummy!


You can't see it since it was dark in the Theater, 
but there are 8 of us sitting together!
Then there were 6 others in another row!


Yeah, what can I say, it's a Family thing! :)


There is a shocking Twist in the Movie that is not in the Book! You wont believe it's happening. It's only later that you realize how Brilliant it was! It really is a good Movie . . . The last of the Saga.  And the Moral of the story is: Change Your Decisions, Change Your Future! 


See here, for us, How it all started! Then came the Midnight Premiers! But, it didn't stop there: oh no, We took our adventure on the road! Yes we are Twihards! :) And it continued with Breaking Dawn Part 1! It's kind of sad that its over now! It's been fun & we will always have these great memories of doing this together. Not to mention we still have The Hunger Games (& who knows what the next craze will be!) Stay tuned! :)

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Thankful Thursday: My Family


I am Beyond Thankful for my Family. 
They mean the World to me! 
They are my World!


I am truly Blessed with a Loving and Supportive Husband. 
We've now been married for 25 years!


 I have four Amazing Kids, 
I am so honored and proud to be their Mother. 


For them I am truly Thankful.