New Year's Eve Well Wishes

Messages and wishes for the new year from people around the world will float down on the New Year's Eve revelers in Times Square when the confetti is dropped for the first time ever this year.

People from all around the World were invited to post messages on a website with Times Square with their wishes for the New Year. These wishes will be printed out on small pieces of paper and mixed among the more than one ton of confetti that is dropped on Times Square on New Year's Day.

The messages have ranged from serious to silly, and have included "everything from wanting to be taller or having a smarter boss to healthy children and asking for the safe return of a child from Iraq".

What would your message say?

Why God Made Mothers

Kids.... you raise them the best you can, and then they start talking! Here are some
BRILLIANT answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions!!

I also wondered what my kiddos would have to say, so I included my 7 year old (Tyler) and 5 year old's (Cody) answers as well.

Why did God make mothers?
1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.
4. Because he loves us ( Tyler's answer AWWWW!)
5. So you can have a mom (Cody)

How did God make mothers?
1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers & a lot of stirring.
3. God made my Mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.
4. I say Bones (Tyler)
5. Bones and Blood (Cody)

What ingredients are mothers made of?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds & angel hair & everything nice in the world & one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.
3. Love (Tyler - he must want something)
4. I give up (Cody)


Why did God give you Your mother & not some other mom?
1. We're related
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's moms like me.
3. Because he loves me! (Tyler - major sucking up here!)
4. Because he knew I would like her (Cody - he must want something too)

What kind of little girl was your mom?
1. My mom has always been my mom & none of that other stuff.
2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.
4. Kelly (Tyler)
5. You Mama! (Cody)


What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?
1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?
3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs & YES to chores?
4. That he has to be good (Tyler)
5. What kind of ring he was going to give you ( Cody - I nearly spit my Diet Coke all over the screen at that one!)


Why did your mom marry your dad?
1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world ... and my Mom eats a lot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that Mom didn't have her thinking cap on.
4. Cause he's cute. (Tyler)
5. Because you wanted a baby. (Cody)


Who's the boss at your house?

1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goofball.
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
3. I guess Mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.
4. You and Daddy (Tyler, although when he was 2 he told us he was!)
5. Mom (Cody - scoring extra brownie points)

What's the difference between moms & dads?
1. Moms work at work & work at home & dads just go to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3. Dads are taller & stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friend's.
4. Moms have magic; they make you feel better without medicine.
5. They are different people (Tyler)
6. One's a boy and one's a girl. Daddy's have itchy kisses. (Cody)


What does your mom do in her spare time?
1. Mothers don't do spare time.
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.
3. Make hats (Tyler)
4. Loves her Cody Allen (self explanatory!)


What would it take to make your mom perfect?
1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.
3. To be nice (Tyler - OUCH!)
4. I don't know, you're perfect already ( Cody - who will be driving the car of his choice at 16!)

If you could change one thing about your Mom, what would it be?
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
2. I'd make my Mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it & not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.
4. Make her take me to Burger King all the time (Tyler)
5. I want her to have more nice stuff ( Cody - who has a crying mommy now!)

Dream Kitchen

My Dream Kitchen looks a lot like the one above! I would love to ave a kitchen big enough to fit more than 1 adult comfortably (that way we could actually wash the dishes as wer are cooking!). I would love a center island not only to prepare food, but to leave space for dishing food out. Serving 6 boys takes its toll! Another must on the dream kitchen wish list is cabinet space! We have very little storage space in our current kitchen and I would LOVE to have room to tuck things away out of sight when they are not in use.

So what would your dream kitchen look like?

Wordless Wednesday

3 Wisemen Bearing Gifts!

The Malloy Family Christmas Update - Kelly

Kelly continues to be the busiest of the Malloys - not only caring for the family, but for the community. She continues to kep busy with directing children's theater and dance with the most recent production of The Nutcracker and the upcoming auditions for High School Musical.

She also works for Healthy Communities and the City of Fernley Youth City Council working with youth in our community.

Some highlights of 2007 were Aladdin Jr., The Spring Dance Recital, The Nutcracker, a trip to Dallas for the Mary Kay Seminar. and marching in front of the 4th of July parade (despite the fact that she did EVERYTHING to stay OUT of that parade!)

2008 looks like it will be great with High School Musical, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory - AND Maybe , just maybe a run for political office. Kelly has been approached by many people in the community asking her to run for City council after a speech she recently gave. (I don't know if I am the politician type so we will have to see!)

And.... I have all of these wonderful Malloy boys to keep up with!

The Malloy Family Christmas Update -Luke

Luke, the baby of the family, is barely a baby anymore - he will be 2 in January. Where does the time go? Luke has been busy keeping up with our wild and crazy family and fitting in perfectly. He is our smiley little guy and always up to something.

Highlights of Luke's year have been getting a new baby cousin, and driving his family crazy with hours and hours of Yo Gabba Gabba on tv.

He is looking forward to further torture as he hits the terrible twos!

Christmas Update on the Malloys- Cody

Cody has left babyhood behind turning 5 this year with a big shebang at the birthday party capital of the World - Chuck E. Cheese. Our little sweetheart is now a Kindergartener and is hard at work learning his numbers and his letters. He also figured out how to tell time (on a real clock - no digital watches for this little guy!).

Cody made his acting/dancing debut as a little gingerbread man alongside his best buddy, Andrew, in the Nutcracker.

He has been enjoying our weekly visits to the Kids Museum in Carson City and hanging out with his brothers.

Christmas Update On The Malloys - Tyler

Our little Christmas "Baby" is about to turn 7 on the 27th! This year has been a busy one for the first grader with a trip to Ozzfest (which wore him out as you can see above), losing his first tooth, learning to read chapter books, (you can see him reading to Cody here), and having fun at the kids' museum in Carson City. Just watch him jam there..

Tyler is all boy! One of his friends, Janell told him he had super hero powers because he is amazingly strong!

He wants to play Troy in High School Musical, so we are working on breaking it to him that he is only 7. Wish us luck on that one!

Christmas Update on the Malloys - Palmer

Palmer has officially entered the big kid zone (aka he is now a middle schooler!). In addition to starting 6th grade, Palmer has had many highlights this year including the trip to Ozzfest with Dad, being surrounded by cheerleaders at Discovery Kingdom, and being picked for the magic show during the same trip.

Palmer's flair for the dramatics has not gone unnoticed this year earning him the lead role in Aladdin (he also played the Sultan in an alternate cast), and Fritz in the Nutcracker.

This same flair also saw him learning an important lesson this year when he was forced to cut his hair. Mom said, "You can have disrespectful hair or disrespectul behavior but not both." As you can see from the pics, Palmer made the wrong choice this fall!

Other than suffering from the normal middle child syndrome, Palmer manages to be a pretty likeable kid (Most of the time!). He is looking forward to High School Musical working hard with his best gal pal Morgan gearing up for auditions (He is going to kill me for mentioning that part!)

Christmas Update on the Malloys - Powell

This year marks Powell's first year into the dreaded teenage years! His 13th year has come with lots of improvements. He continues to work on communication issues, but it is becoming much less of a problem. His grades have gone up (especially since they realized that he can barely process information visually and have made adaptations with his IEP to read things out loud for him and getting books on tape.

Our non-verbal boy also got a speaking role in Captain Bree Scourge of the Sea (with 6 lines!). He has put his birthday present of a new Zune to use downloading over 500 songs and is now seen with earphones permanantly in his ears.

He is a great help with Tyler and Cody who fight over who gets to play with Powell "the mostest!"

He is looking forward to singing and dancing in our spring production of High School Musical and to his recital in the Spring (he just took up hip hop dancing!)

Christmas Update on the Malloys - Parker

Parker has had a busy year. He started his Sophmore year and has maintained his 4.0 average. He has finished ALL of the math required to graduate high school and will be starting college Trig at Western Nevada Community College in January (remember - he is only supposed to be a Freshman this year!).

In addition to his scholarly persuits he actively works on film podcasts, video production and he got his first job! He works at the City of Fernley maintaining their website which is located here. You can also check out his video of all the Fernley Fall Fun!

He also continues to be active in drama staring as Jafar in Aladdin Jr. and Herr Drosselmeyer in the Nutcracker!

Did I forget to mention he is still only 14?????

We love this kid!

Christmas Updates On The Malloys - Ryan

So, I think my husband resembles the guy in the picture with the boys - I think that is him, I'm not quite sure since he has worked SO MUCH OVERTIME this year we hardly remember what he looks like! Seriously we are really proud of him and we appreciate all the hard work he does to keep our family afloat!

Highlights of Ryan's year was taking the boys (Tyler and Palmer) to Ozzfest (Not my thing at all - but I guess opposites attract!), eating a Madagascar hissing cockaroach at Discovery Kingdom this fall (only my husband!), and becoming an uncle! Just in case you thought we had a new baby and forget to tell you - the tiny baby in the first pic is our new nephew Ender who was born just a few days before Ryan's birthday this year. He is son to Kelly's brother Brian and his wife Tawni, and quite a cutie!

We are looking forward to seeing Dad more in 2008!

New Way To Get Rich? Sell Your Kids Presents on ebay.

Like many parents, a guy in Montreal had braved the Christmas shoppers to nab the uber popular game Guitar Hero 3 for his 15 year old son. Just like my hubby!

The story takes a twist when the man (who does not want to be named) came home to find his son and his friends smoking pot in the backyard. And just like any other parent, the man proceeded to his computer to list the game on ebay.

The father wrote in his ebay ad: "I finally got the Holy Grail of Christmas presents pretty much just in the nick of time. I couldn't wait to spread the jubilance to my son,"

An Australian man was the winning bidder at (sit down for this part)$9,100!

So would you sell your child's christmas present on ebay as punishment?

Wordless Wednesday

This picture is from last year (and one of the boys missed the shot!) - but we are all hoping for some snow so we can do it again!

Wordless Wednesday

Luke meets his buddies Santa and Frosty at our production of the Nutcracker

Kids In The Kitchen

Russian Tea Cakes (The EASY way)

I love baking Christmas Cookies with my boys- Especially when I can find ways to make them easier and quicker. (Boys are not known for their patience - they want them and they want them NOW!)

Ingredients

1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® Create 'n Bake® refrigerated sugar cookies
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350ºF. In large bowl, break up cookie dough. Stir or knead in flour, pecans and vanilla until well blended.

2.Shape dough into 54 (1-inch) balls. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

3. Bake 10 to 14 minutes or until set but not brown. Remove from cookie sheets. Cool slightly on cooling rack.

4.Roll warm cookies in powdered sugar; cool on cooling rack. Roll in powdered sugar again.

Win $25!!

With Christmas only a few weeks away, who wouldn't love a contest with the chance to win $25 in cash?? Blogscape is offering just that opportunity! The contest ends on December 24, 11:59 PM CST so hurry over for your chance at an extra Christmas present! Details are here.

Oompa Toys Giveaway

With all of the toy scares as of late, it is nice to know that some companies are making child safe toys that are fun to play with! Oompa Toys is on the top of my gift giving list this year, and CPA Mom is giving away this Play Puzzle Farm. Head on over there to enter - you only have until Dec. 12th at Midnight - so hurry!

Guitar Hero 3

My hubby is on his way home from acting out a scene from the movie Jingle All The Way - the one with that actor turned Governor racing about town looking for the toy to surprise his kids on Christmas morning. We have been searching for Guitar Hero 3 on the wii for almost a month!

Tonight after our performance of the Nutcracker DH searched the net and lo and behold they had 1 at the Circuit City about 45 minutes from here. He raced into town at 10:00 at night to go get it and the mission was a sucess.

I would almost give him father of the year award - Except for the fact that I KNOW who this present is really for! LOL! Maybe the kids will be able to pry it away from him on Christmas morning - maybe!

Nutcracker Rehearsal

Today was our first dress rehearsal for the Nutcracker and it went so well! We have 89 kids in this production, so getting them all to do what they are supposed to do and be where they are supposed to be has been.... um... interesting! The first picture is of my 8 to 12 year old class who will be dancing the Arabian, the next is of my 6 to 8 year olds who are the Spanish dancers, the third picture is of my 4 -5 year old class, my little Oriental dumplings. The girls above are in my 3 year old class - aren't they adorable?????? This is how a mom of 6 boys gets to get into all of the girlie stuff!