skip to main |
skip to sidebar
The boys have convinced themselves that when Santa comes he is going to fill their stockings with candy. Santa really likes this idea because it is easy and cheap. Also, Santa doesn't want to let the kids down (but mostly easy and cheap).
*******************************************
On the way back from the gym this morning Wyatt asked me if we could color eggs when we got home. I think somebody has their holidays a little mixed up!
*******************************************
The boys are into telling secrets lately. Mom, I have a secret for you.... "I like dessert" or "I'm sitting next to you" or something equally non-secret-worthy.
But, the funny part is that now Shane will come over to me and whisper baby talk in my ear too. It's about the sweetest thing that you have ever seen!
How does he know to pull the oreo apart? Nature vs nurture.
******************************************
Have I mentioned our issues with door locks in this house lately?
One morning a few weeks ago I decided to take the kids to the grocery store. After I got everybody dressed and down to the garage I couldn't find the van keys. So, I went upstairs and looked and looked and looked. Nada.
Then I remembered that John had pulled the van up into the driveway the night before so I called him at work to ask him where the keys were. I knew that I had left one set in the diaper bag on the passenger seat and the other was in the center console. So I needed to know where John had stashed the set that he used to move the van.
John didn't answer his phone so I sent him an email. Usually he will respond to emails within 5 minutes. So we waited and waited and waited. In the garage.
So I called again and emailed again. Still nothing.
So we headed back upstairs. Then I listened to "Where are the van keys?" "Why isn't Daddy calling back?" "Did you look in the basket?" "Mom, why can't we go anywhere?" for 40 minutes until John called back!
Then John told me that he used the valet key to move the van, put it back in the glove box, and promptly locked the doors. So all three sets of keys were locked in the van in our driveway. The conversation went downhill from there (Who leaves 2 sets of keys in 1 vehicle? Who uses a fake valet key anyways? What if there were an emergency? etc.) until John told me that we had an extra set of keys in the gun safe. That would have been nice to know 40 minutes ago, but at least we were able to salvage the morning grocery trip.
So the moral of the story is: You need at least 1 set of keys for each child in the household...and even that may not be enough.
Stay tuned tomorrow for "Breaking into Your own House"
My parents came for a few days and celebrated Thanksgiving with us. We deviated a little from our typical traditional Thanksgiving. Thankfully Grandma and Grandpa were game.
We bought a fresh, never-frozen turkey this year. I really liked it, but John thought it tasted a little "gamey". He wants to go back to the frozen butterball next year. The fresh turkey was more than double the price of a frozen turkey, so I wonder if it was more of a price thing or a taste thing? Hmmmmmm.
Wyatt is taking a picture of the tree on his (Mom's old) cell phone.
I, personally, didn't like having to go pick up the fresh turkey. There were designated pick up times and the lines were crazy. People were lined up outside all wrapped around the barn that was next to a 2 lane highway. So I ended up having to get a babysitter to pick up the turkey since the first attempt didn't go so well. (I made the kids wait in the car and they ended up setting off the panic button on the van).
We made pumpkin bread pudding instead of pumpkin pie. We got the recipe from the Food Network Throwdown with Bobby Flay Thanksgiving edition with the Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond. It was her recipe and it was AMAZING!!!! I liked it 10 x better than pie! But, it is not a recipe for the novice cooker....it took John and I a while to make while Grandma and Grandpa worked entertainment duty.
We also opted for a cornbread dressing recipe from the same Food Network show. We baked it in its own pan and didn't stuff the turkey. I loved it!
Notice how all of the ornaments are 2/3 of the way up the tree?
Finally, we skipped the green bean casserole and made brussels sprouts instead. It was a nice change!
Then at dinner we all went around the table and said what we were thankful for....
Wyatt: "I'm thankful for rainbows and flowers."
Jonah: "I'm thankful for everybody here"
Sam "I'm thankful for my family"
Me, I'm thankful for my family, our health, and all of the happiness that we have enjoyed this year!
Is it just me or has the time between Halloween and Thanksgiving decreased? So much has happened in the last few weeks and I never have time to sit down and write about it.
Jonah asked me to take this picture of him. He wrote the J and O and asked me to finish his name. He is a very determined little guy. And his twin brother..... not so much.
John and I took a look at our calendar for November and December to figure out our plans for Christmas. We decided that we are going to squeeze in a trip to Michigan this Christmas! Yipee! That also means that Santa will be coming to our house a little early....December 18th to be exact.
FYI boys...if you are old enough now and reading this blog..... we didn't really celebrate Christmas ON Christmas day every year. We changed Christmas so that it fit better into our schedule. We also changed some of your birthdays so that they fell on a weekend. This was before you could read a calendar or tell time, so you probably won' remember anyways..... but now you know! This kind of information will help your therapist down the line...
So if we count backwards, our Advent calendar needs to start on November 24... the day before Thanksgiving. And we only have 4 more weekends to shop until "fake" Christmas.
So we started working on the Christmas prep laundry list... On Thursday we headed to the outlet mall to get some matching Christmas picture shirts for the boys. Little did I know that Thursday was the official celebration of Veterans Day and there were close to a million people shopping at the outlet mall with us. Luckily we got to the mall before it opened and got a good parking spot because by the time we left people were fighting over my spot. I packed the kids lunches and as we picniced on the grassy spot next to the van I literally had at least 10 people ask me if we were leaving. I simply said "sorry, no we are eating lunch first".
Then I actually had a woman say "Well, don't you think that that is a strange spot to eat lunch?"
I said "Ok, bye bye lady"
Then today we picked up some new Christmas cd's for the van. It doesn't feel like Christmas until the music starts. I should have just bought the single of Jingle Bells because the boys want that one song on continuous repeat and "NOTHING ELSE MOM" (followed by exasperated sigh). We don't want to hear "any of the other 123 songs. This is our favorite!" I can't wait until my ears start to bleed.
Then today I sewed some Christmas pillowcases for the boys. They were a big hit. I am hoping that they will inspire the boys to sleep in and dream of Christmas. (Did I mention how much I HATE the time change? Can you say 4:45 am?)
Our Christmas excitement level is really starting to climb over here. And that's good, because we have to get there a week before everybody else. Santa's coming early this year boys and we have got to be ready!
By the way... if we are moving Christmas up, then Thanksgiving is this Thursday. I can't wait! Gobble Gobble!
Tonight Sam told me that next year he wants to wear a butterfly costume for Halloween so that he can fly all around the yard. That's quite a tall order....John's going to have to start working on that now!
Some day his wife will thank me.....
How does he know to pull the oreo apart? Nature vs nurture.
