Christmas vacation!!

It’s day number two of my Christmas vacation. Christmas eve was great since I had a whole day, and evening, with the family. (It is SO nice to be away from work and all of the horribly messy people.)
Today, we got up and checked out the stockings from Santa and opened gifts. We headed to church, ate lunch and took a nap. I then proceeded to cook a Christmas dinner. Ham is great.
We are looking forward to this week as we visit with long lost relatives and the regular ones too.
Merry Christmas!

Magic Words

Target makes a huge deal about the phrase “Can I help you find something?” We are supposed to ask everyone that we see, “Can I help you find something?” We have to say the phrase on the phone, over the walkie-talkies and especially with the customers (whom we must refer to as “guests”).
Anyway, I was doing my job yesterday… asking everyone… “Can I help you find something?” One lady said “yes” and pulled me to the side. She explained that she was a secret shopper. She then continued to give me a certificate which entitled me to a $50 Target gift card… just for saying those magic words “Can I help you find something?”
Pretty Cool. It’s nice to be caught in the act and recognized for actually doing my job.
(I was the only one that she caught yesterday. Good for me.)
That $50 immediately went towards Christmas shopping on my 15 minute break. But it was great while it lasted.
3 more nights of work… "Can I help you find something?"

Countdown to Christmas

Alright, I’ve heard the cries of my fans. (Well, just one.) So here goes…

If I can make it through four more nights of work…
It’s been a retail nightmare for me the past few weeks. We’ve been working till 2am!! (I won’t worry my readers with my “How everything rises and falls on management” speech…but I think you can imagine.)
My 20 hour week has slowly morphed into a 35 hour week and I am reaping all of the benefits. Such as:
-a ritual caffeine break
-getting significantly grumpy by midnight and plotting ways to break out of the building
- singing Christmas songs on the cold ride home
- 4-5 hours of sleep
- trying to pull myself together and get things done before feeding the kids lunch
-taking my routine afternoon nap. (this plan was developed so I wouldn’t fall asleep at other tedious times of day)
-Fixing and eating dinner.
-heading out the door to start the process all over again.


Talk about the “hustle and bustle” of the holidays! Can’t wait until Saturday!! I’ll have nine days off at Christmas to travel and spend time with family. Really looking forward to it!

"The weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful"

There was lots of freezing rain here last night. This morning the guy on the radio announced that the list of closings was officially longer then ever before. Amazing what a little bit of frozen water can do to us all.
Good thing that I went grocery shopping last night… AND bought a snow shovel!
The kids and I are staying home today and completing the Christmas tree. I have saved the glass ornaments for last.

I have never been a huge fan of wood stoves but I am married to a man who, I think, was a lumberjack in a previous life. We always manage to buy houses with those big ugly stoves. Luckily, the one that we have now is in our downstairs family room in a brick area that is designed for a stove (and not smack in the middle of our living room like our last house).
So… I came to town yesterday and walked into a 51 degree house. I fired up the wood stove and the temp rose about 20 degrees in just a few hours. I have to admit that it’s been a nice thing to have on these cold days. It’s cozy in here AND our electric bill will be very reasonable this winter.
Perhaps I was married to lumberjack in a previous life…

scattered Christmas

T and L went to the tree farm this weekend and picked out a lovely Christmas tree which is now half-decorated in our living room.
Christmas decorations are scattered throughout the house in hopes that I’ll pull my act together soon.
I’ve been distracted with all of the up coming holiday activities and events.... thinking through what needs to be done, etc.
So:
Here are my deep thoughts for today.
As you can tell… I must not have too much time for thinking. haha

-Holiday shoppers are reckless and messy and confused
-My boys are super cute. They have recently been living up to their new nicknames, “sugar love” and “sweet tart”
-I’m liking my husband more
-I’m glad that my regular radio station is playing Christmas music 24/7, but I’m concerned that they play the same songs over and over.
-I’m really looking forward to getting my Andrew Peterson DVD in the mail, he’s mailing it today!!
-going to the library today to get some more Janet Evanovich books. Good reads.
-looking forward to Ladies night and Creative memories this weekend. My cousin is having a baby shower too! Fun!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas

What a shame. All the stores are decked out for Christmas. Santa is already at the mall!! (Shouldn’t he still be making toys or something?)
I decided it was time to pack away the Halloween decorations today. Ha!

There is a guy on our road that has the most elaborate light display. People come from all around to check out his yard. It IS really impressive and I’m anxious to see the yard in it’s completion. He’s been working wildly all day, every day, adding to the array. This guy uses a bucket truck to put light displays high in the treetops and all over the place. I’ve seen the additions as I go to work each night. It’s amazing how much work he puts into it every year. It’s basically a drive through yard… except that you can park and walk around. I hear that he has different themed rooms for visitors to walk through and that people are welcome to walk the entire yard and check out the different displays. We drove through last year but I think we’ll stop for a closer look this year.

Each year, I think that Christmas has become more and more commercialized. But, I’m already getting sucked into it all. I am ready to buy a Christmas flag for our mailbox and start getting the decorations out… before Thanksgiving!!! (I can remember when no one decorated until the weekend after Thanksgiving.) Geez.

And- can anyone explain why some businesses already have the inflatable snowmen out front??? It’s not even winter yet!!! And I certainly don’t predict snow in our immediate future. Christmas is already rushed this year… why rush winter as well? Weird.

Happy Holidays :)

Side Note: L is completely potty trained. It’s SO easy to wait until they are ready. I never imagined that it could be accomplished without any hassles!!
And, D is behaving better at school. What a relief. I hope that he keeps the good behavior!

Sunshine!

Good news. It seems that L just needed a little convincing that he was ready to be potty trained. He has been doing super well. A few accidents here and there but he has an overall big boy urge to get to that potty. Yay!
He and D even managed to keep their pants dry while playing outside today. They both peed in our neighbors leaf pile and then proudly showed me their accomplishment. Go figure. I still praised the fact that L had kept his pants dry and didn’t feel too pressured to ask why he was peeing outdoors. Hopefully he’ll feel compelled to come inside next time, eh? I’ll take whatever works….
So, after all my griping and complaining- the clouds are clearing up!Thanks to my buddy who reminded me that “This too shall pass!” Words to live by:-)

Use Condoms

Alright- I put my foot down yesterday and refused to buy more diapers for L. It is high time that this kid was potty trained.
Today he wore underwear while he was awake and pull-ups at naptime. When I tell him it’s time to go sit on the potty, he says “I don’t want to sit on the potty.” He even insisted that he would just pee when he wore his pull-ups at naptime. (The nerve of this kid!) Luckily, he pooped in the potty. (don’t most kids pee.. but refuse to poop?) He seems to be reacting backwards AND he is super stubborn.
What are we gonna do with this kid??
I’m just really waiting for him to grow up.

But when that happens… he’ll be just like D who has recently been a class clown at preschool and has been getting into trouble. D’s teacher has implemented a “three strikes and your out” policy for him. Three times of disrupting the class and he misses out on outdoor playtime. It doesn’t even seem to phase him.
We’re talking about it with D at home and trying to implement our own policies.

Both of my kids are in the process of driving me nuts.
Geez... Lately we could be the poster family for Birth control!
Looking forward to brighter days! Hopefully soon.

Preparing for halloween

We ventured to Target today to decide on a Halloween costume for D. He was pretty set on being a “Bionicle”. (It’s some type of Lego toy designed for older kids but D seems to think that they are cool.)
Anyway, the costume was priced at $24.99!!! You’ve got to be kidding. I will refuse to dish out that kind of money for a flimsy costume that will be worn for a few hours.
So I stood in the aisle and proceeded to draw the costume, every detail, on my scratch piece of paper. I was determined that I could make a similar costume by using cut pieces of foam and a black sweat suit.
Alas, during the scribble time, I kept thinking, “can I pull this off? Can I be a creative mom? What if Daniel is utterly embarrassed when a zillion people ask ‘what are you, little boy?’”
I continually doubted that I could pull off a homemade Bionicle. But I wanted to make it believable for D, so I pressed forward with the drawing plans.

I never recall having a store bought costume when I was a kid. Looking back, my parent’s must have been really creative. We were witches, mummies, lady bugs, hobos, clowns, etc.
So… why has this become such a dilemma for me?

As we were heading back through the store, we ran into a few misplaced costumes. Included in these were the Ninja turtles. Daniel immediately said that he would like to be a ninja turtle and I immediately saw my way out of having to be creative. So after scanning a $17.95 price… I bit my tongue and purchased one of those flimsy store bought costumes. I try to tell myself that this one is better… it has a muscle enhanced suit, a nice thick turtle shell, a mask, knee pads and elbow pads.
The kids are happy and so am I.
Looking forward to Halloween!

Mud! Glorious Mud!

We just got back from a school field trip to a local farm. It was the coolest place!
There was a 4 acre corn maze that was abounding in mud along the narrow pathways. There were clues placed throughout, in hopes of assisting poor souls to the exit. Being the "moms" that we are... it was a bit difficult for us. Especially with the poor ladies that attempted to push strollers through.
All in all, it was great!!
The kids really enjoyed a hay bale maze. They were able to climb along the top and jump from hay to hay as necessary.
We saw a nappy sheep, a HUGE pig, chickens, roosters and goats. We also enjoyed a long hay ride behind a big green tractor.
To finish off the morning, we chose pumpkins to bring home.
A beautiful day. Lots of fun.
Clothes and shoes have made it into the washer.
Now it's time for a nap...

putting out fires

My heart was warmed this morning as I stood upstairs and listened to the kids as they played downstairs.
D was explaining the importance of fire safety to L,
“If you are ever on fire you must remember to stop… drop… and roll. That’s what you do if your clothes are ever on fire.”
How wonderful to see that they actually DO care for each other.
(Some days are so full of whines, cries, and screaming!! ugh.)
But!! Today looks like a good day.
Ahh… the joys of parenting.

small item of interest

I was making cupcakes on Friday. The box of cake mix listed a few fun suggestions. One suggestion was to add a fruity flavor and color to your vanilla icing by adding a packet of unsweeted drink mix (koolaid).
I tried it out with a packet of grape mix and the cupcakes turned out great!! They were a nice shade of purple and they were super yummy.
I assume that any color would be just as nice... especially if you're trying to color the icing for theme birthday cakes, etc.
For instance, S and C could have easily colored Elmo with red koolaid and a few drops of food coloring, instead of using an entire bottle of food coloring!!
Everyone take note of this amazing discovery for future reference.
Little things like this make me really excited:)

Our mini vacation

Here is the update that some of you have been waiting for:-)

Earlier this week we spent three days at a nearby mountain resort. (A friend from church offered us a few days that remained on his timeshare after our elders had used it for a weekend retreat.)
We arrived on Monday afternoon and the kids insisted on swimming right away. There were several pools to choose from. We started with an outdoor pool and then moved indoors.
After swimming and playing on the playground, we ate spaghetti at our “villa” and hit the sack.

Side note: Our villa was surrounded by deer!! We were able to get very close to them before they started to walk away. The deer would just stand and watch us. I have never been that close to live deer… they were neat to see.

Tuesday morning we woke in preparation for our “tour” of the resort.
(A resort employee called on Monday night and strongly suggested that we “tour” the resort. The employee first offered $100 to spend on the mountain. T refused. So then the employee offered a $125 visa gift card. That sounded more enticing.)
So… after our three hour tour and a detailed lecture on the benefits of time-shares…we were handed our Visa Gift card…. We certainly deserved it!
The kids had enjoyed time in a kid’s room where some older ladies made necklaces and bracelets adorning their names. They were also able to drive around the mountain with us as the saleswoman showed us the sights.

Tuesday afternoon, we ate pizza, had a mini hike, played on a playground and took a nap. That evening we swam at another indoor pool.

Wednesday morning T and I slept in and the kids rotted their brains while watching the Cartoon Network. We had a late breakfast of toast, bagels and eggs.
We then headed out and had a ride on the Ski Lift!! We rode two lifts to the top of the mountain. The sights were great! We all really enjoyed the ride and the family time.
After a small snack the kids and I took a nap while T went to ride his bike on the mountain. He rode a few trails and roads and then headed back to the villa, bringing dinner for us all.
T and the kids took a bubble bath in a HUGE jacuzzi tub. What a sight to see.
Then we packed up and headed home.
It was a great mini-vacation. We were more refreshed and $100 richer than when we had first arrived… priceless.

Road Trip

Completely random thought for today:

Many people I know make fun of me for the sticker on my van that says "Andrew Peterson is my friend". But if you really think about it- he really must be my friend:) As I was driving down the road today I realized that Andy goes with me everywhere. I've got all of his CDs nestled in my visor holder, ready for the ride. I've got Andy with me in country, the city, in the rain or shine, in the day or night, in the snow, sleet, high winds. you get the picture...
What better friend can you ask for?
Yes, I know that you are thinking I am crazy. and, yes, I am.
But it's nice to have a friend with you on the road:) So, next time you see my sticker think about how lucky I am to have such great company while I'm out and about!

btw-I sure miss road trips with my best bud, JG!! ;)

Field Trip

Today was the school field trip to the apple orchard. I had the kids all ready for a breezy day on the moutain. Jackets, snacks, extra clothes, etc were all in the van and ready to roll.
All except a jacket for myself. I figured that I would be fine with my long sleeve shirt. Boy, was I wrong. It was chilly up there!
As we arrived at the Orchard and picked out a pumpkin, it started to rain! we ran to put the pumpkin in the car and then waited under roof until it was our turn on the hay ride. The tractor for the hay ride pulled up and we all boarded.
The rain stopped.
We rode around the orchard as the kids bumped along and looked at the sights. As we were unloading from the ride, the rains came again!! yuk. My eldest kid decided to stand under a drip from the leaking gutters, trying to catch rain drops on his tongue, and he was quite a site to see. :) Several families decided to battle the rain and start picking apples- so we tagged along. As we approached the trees...
The rain stopped!!
I am so amazed at how God had his hand in our little field trip today. We were able to enjoy the activities during the perfectly-timed breaks from the rain. What a great reminder that He is looking out for us at ALL times :)

She's having a baby!

(Nope, it's not me... thank goodness) :-)

My sister is pregnant with number two! yay! She is due in May.
This May baby was conceived after careful planning by my sister. Believe it or not- after thinking through the calendar year, my sis decided that the other months were already packed with family birthdays... especially the fall. She had narrowed it down to a few months that looked like they could withstand another birthday and aimed for a spring baby. No kidding!
Upon looking at my calender this morning it seems that the only competition this baby will have, in May, is with Mr. Q whose birthday is observed on May 7th, AND my bro-in-law on the 27th. :)
Nice planning:)

Our family is looking forward to having another 'cousin' to love!
Congrats to S. and C. and the big sis too:)

Trying it out and bathroom woes

So... I've made fun of people in the past for doing this Blog stuff. I couldn't imagine that other people would actually want to post their secret thoughts for all to read. And I certainly figured that no one would be interested in my day to day life. yikes.
But, turns out that I have REALLY enjoyed reading about other people's daily antics. I've decided to give it a try. And I hope to amuse my friends and pacify my family in the process.
All of this computer stuff is really new to me and I hope that I can play with it a bit and actually be able to put on a good show!

My deep thought for today... and for the past few years...
Why would a kid friendly establishment, such as McDonalds, provide Air hand dryers in their restrooms?? Have you ever taken two or more kids into those places and attempt to wash hands?? It turns out to be a fun day at the water park. Everyone washes nicely and then we drip our hands all over the bathroom and rub them a bit under the dryers until I finally say "wipe it on your pants". Wouldn't paper towels be so much easier? Especially when I wash my hands and then pick up the littlest kid to wash his. His shirt simply becomes my towel and everyone is a bit wetter on the way to eat.
I guess that I should be glad that I am teaching my kids the importance of cleanliness.... even in uncertain and unruly situations. My mother must have taught me well. thanks mom:)