I love this time of year. I love it all... the music, the decorations, the anticipation, the magic of the season. The best part is seeing the wonder and excitement in the eyes of your children. I remember the joy of it all when I was little and really want to make sure that my own kids have the same wonderful warm memories.
Today, while Matt was at work, the kids and I started pulling out the Christmas decorations, and started getting the house ready for Christmas. The process of it all was so much fun. We turned up the holiday tunes and sang & danced out little hearts out. The garland is up and the lights are on; now we're just waiting for the tree which we plan to cut this weekend. Matt and I took the kids out to Howell Tree Farm the weekend before Thanksgiving to pick out the tree, and it's been waiting for us to bring it home ever since!
Speaking of Christmas -- I'm getting the kids pictures taken at Flash next Tuesday morning. I usually love getting their Christmas pictures taken, but this year it's STRESSING ME OUT! Evidently, I'm totally NOT on the ball this year.
After Katherine and Caleb woke up from their naps, we ran to the mall to get their outfits. We didn't have a ton of time to shop because Katherine had Kindermusic at 6:30, so I decided to hit Children's Place and Gymboree as they are right across the hall from each other. I walked into CP and looked around for dresses. I couldn't find any, so I asked the sales clerk, and guess what she told me??? They were all sold out. That's right, not ONE Christmas dress, IN ANY SIZE, in the entire store. Are you kidding me? And to think... I have to find coordinating clothes. This should be fun!
So I ran over to Gymboree, only to find their Christmas line stuffed into a clearance rack almost out the front door. Luckily, they still had dresses in Katherine's sizes, but I didn't *love* any of them. Here's my main problem... I live in Iowa. It's cold in the winter. There just may be snow on the ground. The weather guys will be using the word "windchill" on the nightly news, and guess what? I can't find a dress with sleeves. What's up with that?
Since I couldn't decide which dress I liked "better", I bought both. Imagine that! I have every intention of returning one of them, and hopefully I'll return the whole sack of stuff if I can find something else I like better. OK, here they are... I bought this red dress and white sweater but honestly think they look kind of silly together. The dress just seems too fancy for the sweater. So I found a black velvet A line dress with a red waist band (it's no longer on-line) which matches this red shirt I bought for Caleb. So the search is still on for the Christmas outfits, but why is it this tough to find a dress before December 1. I guess I'll just have to chalk it up to "lesson learned" and vow not to let it happen next year!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Infuriating....
There are days.... when nothing in my life is more INFURIATING that my husband. Oh. My. Heavens. I could have just killed him last night. I could feel my blood boiling... Seriously!
So here's the deal....
Katherine has dance until 7, so by the time we change her clothes and head home, we usually get home around 7:15 or so. My car needed gas, so I had planned to have Matt go and fill it up while I put the kids in the tub. However, as soon as we walked in the door, he suggested that we go out for ice cream. The kids hear this, and start cheering and jumping up and down. There was no way I could say no, so we all pile in the car, and head out.
We get to DQ and I ordered both of the kids a dish of ice cream, a hot fudge sundae for me, and a cone for Matt. The guy at the window passes out my sundae first, which I promptly sat on the dash, and then CONES for the kids. Wrong answer! I asked for cups, and there is NO WAY I'm handing Caleb a cone in the dark. So I ask for the dishes and spoons, and the guy working hands those out the window. So there I sit...... holding two cones, two dishes and spoons, and trying to assemble the kids' ice cream treat.
All of a sudden, Matt hits the gas and sends my HOT FUDGE SUNDAE flying. That's right. Flying. All. Over. The Car. It misses my Louis Vuitton purse by centimeters (literally). Momma almost got a new purse! There is a pile of hot fudge on the carpet. My jeans and sweatshirt are COVERED. That's right, covered. From slightly above my ankle -- to all the way up my thigh and all down my arm and chest. So needless to say, I'm a sticky mess..... and annoyed with him for being sooo inconsiderate. Inconsiderate you might wonder? Why was he inconsiderate? No need to wonder anymore. Let me tell ya! While I'm trying to juggle my sundae AND assembling the kids' ice cream AND putting away my debit card, there sits Matt -- doing NOTHING! That's right -- NOTHING! He doesn't offer to help out or hold anything, all he's concerned with is which side he should lick is flippin' cone on next -- oh, and obviously stepping on the gas. UUUUUUGH!
To make matters a million times worse, he finds it necessary to laugh at me. Oh, baby... It's like the guy couldn't stop. He carries on and on and on about how of course it's not his fault, I should have sat my sundae in a different location and how it was only a pair a jeans. He's laughing hysterically at my misery. He actually finds JOY in it. To me, that was the most infuriating thing of all. I could have killed him.
The funniest part was that Katherine was sticking up for me. She called him "Speed" (which is what Caleb calls Lightening McQueen) because in the beginning of the movie all he thinks about was himself. He doesn't care about other people might need. That's right Sista!!
Caleb was laughing with Matt -- he didn't have a clue what happened, all he knew is that he was feasting on ice cream and was happy. Since he didn't know what to say, he started belting out "Shake your Booty". It was priceless. I honestly have no idea where he learned it, but man... it really is funny!
So here's the deal....
Katherine has dance until 7, so by the time we change her clothes and head home, we usually get home around 7:15 or so. My car needed gas, so I had planned to have Matt go and fill it up while I put the kids in the tub. However, as soon as we walked in the door, he suggested that we go out for ice cream. The kids hear this, and start cheering and jumping up and down. There was no way I could say no, so we all pile in the car, and head out.
We get to DQ and I ordered both of the kids a dish of ice cream, a hot fudge sundae for me, and a cone for Matt. The guy at the window passes out my sundae first, which I promptly sat on the dash, and then CONES for the kids. Wrong answer! I asked for cups, and there is NO WAY I'm handing Caleb a cone in the dark. So I ask for the dishes and spoons, and the guy working hands those out the window. So there I sit...... holding two cones, two dishes and spoons, and trying to assemble the kids' ice cream treat.
All of a sudden, Matt hits the gas and sends my HOT FUDGE SUNDAE flying. That's right. Flying. All. Over. The Car. It misses my Louis Vuitton purse by centimeters (literally). Momma almost got a new purse! There is a pile of hot fudge on the carpet. My jeans and sweatshirt are COVERED. That's right, covered. From slightly above my ankle -- to all the way up my thigh and all down my arm and chest. So needless to say, I'm a sticky mess..... and annoyed with him for being sooo inconsiderate. Inconsiderate you might wonder? Why was he inconsiderate? No need to wonder anymore. Let me tell ya! While I'm trying to juggle my sundae AND assembling the kids' ice cream AND putting away my debit card, there sits Matt -- doing NOTHING! That's right -- NOTHING! He doesn't offer to help out or hold anything, all he's concerned with is which side he should lick is flippin' cone on next -- oh, and obviously stepping on the gas. UUUUUUGH!
To make matters a million times worse, he finds it necessary to laugh at me. Oh, baby... It's like the guy couldn't stop. He carries on and on and on about how of course it's not his fault, I should have sat my sundae in a different location and how it was only a pair a jeans. He's laughing hysterically at my misery. He actually finds JOY in it. To me, that was the most infuriating thing of all. I could have killed him.
The funniest part was that Katherine was sticking up for me. She called him "Speed" (which is what Caleb calls Lightening McQueen) because in the beginning of the movie all he thinks about was himself. He doesn't care about other people might need. That's right Sista!!
Caleb was laughing with Matt -- he didn't have a clue what happened, all he knew is that he was feasting on ice cream and was happy. Since he didn't know what to say, he started belting out "Shake your Booty". It was priceless. I honestly have no idea where he learned it, but man... it really is funny!
Monday, November 26, 2007
Animal Kingdom
On Thursday morning, we decided to take off for Animal Kingdom in hopes that the park wouldn't be crazy busy. Since they had their Magic Hours the day before, we thought that most people would have gone on Wednesday. Boy were we wrong! It was insanely crowded. Borderline claustrophobic!
We got there right as the park opened and took off for the safari ride. This has to be one of the coolest rides in all of Disney. The ride is probably around 20 minutes long and you ride in open air passenger jeep type things and see the animals (lions, zebra, elephant, giraffes, buffalo, antelope etc) in their natural habitat. It was amazing! The kids truly loved every moment!
We did have to wait for probably around 45 minutes -- and let me remind you -- we arrived a few minutes BEFORE the park opened. Pretty insane, huh?
While waiting in line, Caleb started to get antsy and decided to boycott the stroller. Thankfully my dad couldn't wait to get his hands on Caleb, and they bonded while eating snacks and admiring the plants. Only my dad could point out some of that stuff and make it interesting to a 2 year old!
I love this photo. This is a sight I saw countless times over the course of the week... The two of them would be hanging out, talking about absolutely nothing and burst into laughter. It wasn't a passing chuckle either.... No, these two would let loose a deep belly laugh. The ever-so-contagious kind of laughter you can't help but to notice, and start laughing yourself.
Not sure what happened to the color of this photo??? Clearly needs some editing!
While Matt, Laurie, Clyde and Morgan went on this, Mom, Dad and I took the three other kids on this dino ride thing. They loved it, but it was nothing more than your standard amusement park ride -- for those familiar with Adventureland, it was a bigger dragon ride. They loved it so much they rode at least 3 times! Who knew???
We got there right as the park opened and took off for the safari ride. This has to be one of the coolest rides in all of Disney. The ride is probably around 20 minutes long and you ride in open air passenger jeep type things and see the animals (lions, zebra, elephant, giraffes, buffalo, antelope etc) in their natural habitat. It was amazing! The kids truly loved every moment!
We did have to wait for probably around 45 minutes -- and let me remind you -- we arrived a few minutes BEFORE the park opened. Pretty insane, huh?
While waiting in line, Caleb started to get antsy and decided to boycott the stroller. Thankfully my dad couldn't wait to get his hands on Caleb, and they bonded while eating snacks and admiring the plants. Only my dad could point out some of that stuff and make it interesting to a 2 year old!
I love this photo. This is a sight I saw countless times over the course of the week... The two of them would be hanging out, talking about absolutely nothing and burst into laughter. It wasn't a passing chuckle either.... No, these two would let loose a deep belly laugh. The ever-so-contagious kind of laughter you can't help but to notice, and start laughing yourself.
Caleb and Matt on the safari ride. By the time we finally boarded the jeep, Caleb had about all the waiting in line he could take, and was gearing up for a meltdown. Thankfully, he sat on Matt's lap and sucked on his plug, rather than going into tantrum mode.
Not sure what happened to the color of this photo??? Clearly needs some editing!
The boys checking out the animals.
After the safari, we made our way through Africa and the girls found drums and other musical instruments to play. It was sooo cute. They ended up making up a song and singing their little hearts out.
While Matt, Laurie, Clyde and Morgan went on this, Mom, Dad and I took the three other kids on this dino ride thing. They loved it, but it was nothing more than your standard amusement park ride -- for those familiar with Adventureland, it was a bigger dragon ride. They loved it so much they rode at least 3 times! Who knew???
We made our way to Dinosaur which unfortunately had the magical 40 inch height requirement. Laurie *assured* me that it was a tame ride and that Katherine would love it. Of course KATHERINE would, it was me that I was concerned about. LOL! I've got to tell ya... of all the rides, this one had me the most freaked out. It was probably because I didn't know what was coming, but man.... I was so close to actually believing I'd be eaten by a robotic dinosaur! The worst of it is.... toward the end of ride, a dinosaur comes right at your car, and then the car dips below and takes off. Right at the moment of potential impact, they take your picture and display it at the end of the ride. Upon viewing, I'm leaning into Katherine, ducking and screaming. She's pointing and laughing. GEEEZZZZZ. How sad am I????
Since the big kids wanted to go onExpedition Everest, we took the little ones to see Nemo, which was another Broadway style show. It worked out perfectly as they each had two fast passes and it gave us enough time to take in the show. Katherine loved it, but Caleb was tired and ended up taking a nap. After the show was over, and we met up with the rest of the gang, we decided to leave the park. There were too many people and the lines were horrendous!
More Disney pics...
Hopefully you're not sick to death of my Disney pics yet! Beware... I've got plenty more to share! LOL.
These are from Wednesday -- and I'm hoping to get pictures from the rest of the week posted by tomorrow. Here's to wishful thinking!!
*****
After we left Epcot on Wednesday we decided to head over to MGM so that Katherine could take Matt on one of her favorite rides -- the Tower of Terror. Needless to say, I was more than content to sit this one out and hang with Caleb. LOL!
While we waited for them to finish the ride, Caleb and I stood in line for the Beauty & the Beast show. It was a Broadway style show -- music, dancing, the works. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but when Katherine returned, she got chatting with one of the ushers and they decided that she'd be the perfect candidate to be pulled up on stage and sung to. Talk about making a little girls day! She was beaming!!
Katherine was able to sit in the reserved seating -- as in --- it was a GREAT spot to watch the show -- basically the front seat. Right before the show was to begin, 4 guys came on stage and started singing. When they were done, they called her up on stage and asked her what her favorite song was. She went absolutely blank and muttered something about Beauty and the Beast. Convenient, huh??? They ended up singing "When You Wish Upon A Star" to a glowing 4 year old little girl. I'm not sure if you can tell in the picture, but she's holding one of their CD's which they gave her for coming on stage with them. It was one of her favorite moments of the week, and that CD remains a prized possession!
This picture was taken when they were asking her what her favorite song was. Looks like a lot of pressure for a little girl, huh??? LOL!
These are from Wednesday -- and I'm hoping to get pictures from the rest of the week posted by tomorrow. Here's to wishful thinking!!
*****
After we left Epcot on Wednesday we decided to head over to MGM so that Katherine could take Matt on one of her favorite rides -- the Tower of Terror. Needless to say, I was more than content to sit this one out and hang with Caleb. LOL!
While we waited for them to finish the ride, Caleb and I stood in line for the Beauty & the Beast show. It was a Broadway style show -- music, dancing, the works. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but when Katherine returned, she got chatting with one of the ushers and they decided that she'd be the perfect candidate to be pulled up on stage and sung to. Talk about making a little girls day! She was beaming!!
Katherine was able to sit in the reserved seating -- as in --- it was a GREAT spot to watch the show -- basically the front seat. Right before the show was to begin, 4 guys came on stage and started singing. When they were done, they called her up on stage and asked her what her favorite song was. She went absolutely blank and muttered something about Beauty and the Beast. Convenient, huh??? They ended up singing "When You Wish Upon A Star" to a glowing 4 year old little girl. I'm not sure if you can tell in the picture, but she's holding one of their CD's which they gave her for coming on stage with them. It was one of her favorite moments of the week, and that CD remains a prized possession!
This picture was taken when they were asking her what her favorite song was. Looks like a lot of pressure for a little girl, huh??? LOL!
Here's a picture of my sister and niece waiting patiently for the guys to get fast passes for the Rockin' Rollercoaster. Again, another ride I'm not *really* interested in, but Katherine.... the only reason she didn't like the ride is because they wouldn't let her on! My little adrenaline junkie has no fear!! 
Matt and Katherine outside of the Tower of Terror.
Every night one park is open late for only the guests staying at the Disney on-site hotels. On Wednesday night it happened to be Epcot, so we made the trek back over there for some nighttime fun. We grabbed a bite to eat, rode on Soarin' and some other faves, and hung out in the International Showcase before heading back to the room.
Here's a picture of the girls in front of Spaceship Earth with the monorail going through in the background. I know I mentioned this before, but next time we'll be staying at a hotel that connects to the monorail!
It was a great, but exhausting day. Katherine fell asleep on the way back to the room, and the rest of us (with the exception of Caleb) couldn't wait to crawl into bed. We didn't get a crib, so Caleb slept in bed with me every night. He never had a problem laying down and going to sleep.... until tonight. All of a sudden, he got out of bed and disappeared. We didn't hear a peep out of him, so I got up to check on him. Guess where I found him??? Sitting in his stroller. He looked at me and said in a very matter of fact voice, "I ready to go home Momma". Alllllrighty then. Let me get right on that! LOL. Since he insisted in staying in his stroller, we pulled it in between the beds and he fell asleep there. Matt finally moved him back into bed when he had fallen asleep. Poor little guy. He was all out of sorts!
Happy Holidays!!
Now that the turkey coma has worn off, I've shopped my little heart out, and returned from LeMars (we were visiting Matt's parents) I finally have a few minutes to sit down and catch up on the blog. So, even though I've missed you by a few days, Happy Thanksgiving, and let the Christmas season begin! WOO-HOO!!
I love everything about this time of year... spending quality time with family and friends, having school and work closed, eating yummy food and SHOPPING! And... if there's something I love more than shopping, it's getting great deals WHILE shopping. Needless to say, I was one happy girl all weekend long!
Our Thanksgiving this year was very different from years past. Typically my Mom pulls out the China (OK, she does this often, but wouldn't dream of NOT dressing up the table this time of year), spends days getting ready, and HOURS cooking. Not this year. This year, my mom cooked what she could ahead of time, and then Thursday morning we had "lunch" up at Hospice with my Grandma. We ate at a banquet table with strangers who were going through the same sad situation facing our family, and reminisced about the holidays of the past. It was good to see my Grandma smile and hear her voice -- if only for a brief moment. When the meal was over and my Grandma was tired from all the commotion and company, we raced home to make our own Thanksgiving spread. My mom made the stuffing (which is my all time favorite food) and creamed onions (if you've never had these, they're to die for. Trust me!) on Wednesday and then Thursday we threw everything else together. It was like Iron Chef in the Clair and Hanson kitchens! It was some fast and furious cooking!
We had a great Thanksgiving... the food was yummy, the kids were angels, and we were surrounded by loved ones. We have a lot to be thankful for, and that's really what the day was about. And, I must confess.... eating off dishes that can go into the dishwasher was WONDERFUL!!
The day before (Wednesday) was a Katherine and Grammy day. Oh, how Katherine (and Grammy) loves these. I dropped her off around 10 when I went out to run my pre-Thanksgiving errands. So while Caleb and I ran to the grocery store and Michael's, Katherine and Grammy started working on the desserts. What started out as a girl's day, quickly turned into "Katherine needs to have a sleepover at Grammy's" kind of night. Fine by me!
OK, I know how random this is turning into but.... Black Friday ROCKS! Seriously, it's the best invention EVER, and I can't believe that I've never taken part -- until this year. It all started earlier in the week, when I was checking out the ads and found some great stuff on sale. So I asked some of the girls if they wanted to join me for some pre-dawn fun, and what fun it was! Carolyn picked me up at 4:30 and our first stop was at Wal-Mart. I was shocked at how many people were as crazy as we were!
They let us in the door before 5, but the entire store was roped off, so you couldn't get to any of the "good stuff" before 5 bells. As soon as they cut the yellow caution tape, I left Carolyn with the cart and went running. Literally. I ran straight to the toy department to get my hands on the much coveted laptop computer that Katherine "had" to have. It was originally in the $65 range, on sale for $25, so there was NO WAY I was leaving without one. I ended up buying 3... I can't pass up a good bargain! Katherine will have her laptop, and then I bought one for my niece Morgan and Katherine's friend, Ben. What a great start to the morning!!
I walked out of the aisle and started to look for Carolyn who was no where to be found. So there I am standing out in the aisle carrying these awkward boxes. All of a sudden, some lady tries to grab one of them out of my arms. Yea, that's not happening! I tell her to keep her paws off my stuff and she studders something about me not needing 3.... Right, sista! I got up at 3:45 so I could hand these out to you. I don't think so!!
Carolyn is still MIA, so I grab a few other must haves that would fit in my arms and notice a riot breaking out in electronics. Two women were fighting over the digital picture frames, and neither one was letting go of the box. I got a good chuckle out of that -- me and all three of my laptops! LOL!
When I finally caught up with Carolyn, I noticed that she abandoned the cart and was walking virtually empty handed. She handed me the ONE thing in her hand. It was the Ratatouille movie I mentioned that I wanted to get at Target later that morning as they had it on sale for $14. Evidently Wal-Mart had it on sale for $12 and that included an additional cooking DVD. BONUS!!
I ended up leaving Wal-Mart with 4 bags of stuff and a smile on my face!
We ended up racing over to Toys R Us, and spending about 10 minutes in the store, before we realized that we wouldn't be making a purchase there. As I later found out, the line to get in the store was over a half mile long, and trying to check out was an absolute nightmare. So, we abandoned ship and raced to Target. Again, the line to get in was super long.... literally as far as the eye could see, but as luck would have it, we got in right away and ended up with bags full of bargains. OH, happy day!
On a side note, I ran into TONS of people I knew -- literally, probably 20+. Everyone from my ex-coworkers... to neighbors... to Matt's current co-workers. It was great to see sooo many people I knew in my unshowered glory! LOL.
This was the start of a tradition! I will be shopping on Black Friday every year from now on. It was fantastic! LOVED it!
I got home before the kids woke up, and raced to hide the evidence of my mornings activities and shower so that we could leave for LeMars. We were all packed the night before, so we were on the road good and early -- like 9 am.
We had such a great weekend with Matt's parents. We had another Thanksgiving meal for lunch on Friday with Matt's brother, Jay, and family and Fran's brother, Roger and his son. Jay brought over his deep fat fryer and cooked the turkey. It was super yummy! Katherine was in heaven! She ate more than most of the adults!
After the kids went to bed, I ventured out to Wal-Mart to buy a pair of shoes for Caleb. I'm not sure what happened, but there was some miscommunication between Matt and I and his shoes got left at home. So... since I was there, I had to take a good look around to see if I missed anything earlier that morning. Remember the digital photo frames that people were fighting over in Des Moines? There was a stack in LeMars. Oh, and the computer that I almost had ripped from my arms??? There were several. Oh, and for all you scrapbookers -- Wal-Mart had the Cricut on sale for $119. They were gone in a matter of two minutes in Des Moines. LeMars had 3 sitting on the shelf at 10 pm. Evidently LeMars does not celebrate Black Friday in the same fashion as Des Moines!
Saturday morning, Fran and I decided to go shopping in Sioux City to see what other good deals we could find. JC Penny had air hockey tables that were still advertised as the "Black Friday" price, so we couldn't pass those up. Andrea got one for her boys last year for Christmas and the kids always fight over it at playgroup. So, I'm sure they'll love it! By the time we were ready to go home, her car was loaded down with bags and boxes from the day! Thankfully she got a lot of people knocked off the list!
Saturday night Fran and I watched The Holiday and then after Matt went to bed (what a party pooper) Wendell joined us for The Breakup. I couldn't handle it anymore.... I fell asleep during the last half hour and was out cold!
What a great weekend!
I love everything about this time of year... spending quality time with family and friends, having school and work closed, eating yummy food and SHOPPING! And... if there's something I love more than shopping, it's getting great deals WHILE shopping. Needless to say, I was one happy girl all weekend long!
Our Thanksgiving this year was very different from years past. Typically my Mom pulls out the China (OK, she does this often, but wouldn't dream of NOT dressing up the table this time of year), spends days getting ready, and HOURS cooking. Not this year. This year, my mom cooked what she could ahead of time, and then Thursday morning we had "lunch" up at Hospice with my Grandma. We ate at a banquet table with strangers who were going through the same sad situation facing our family, and reminisced about the holidays of the past. It was good to see my Grandma smile and hear her voice -- if only for a brief moment. When the meal was over and my Grandma was tired from all the commotion and company, we raced home to make our own Thanksgiving spread. My mom made the stuffing (which is my all time favorite food) and creamed onions (if you've never had these, they're to die for. Trust me!) on Wednesday and then Thursday we threw everything else together. It was like Iron Chef in the Clair and Hanson kitchens! It was some fast and furious cooking!
We had a great Thanksgiving... the food was yummy, the kids were angels, and we were surrounded by loved ones. We have a lot to be thankful for, and that's really what the day was about. And, I must confess.... eating off dishes that can go into the dishwasher was WONDERFUL!!
The day before (Wednesday) was a Katherine and Grammy day. Oh, how Katherine (and Grammy) loves these. I dropped her off around 10 when I went out to run my pre-Thanksgiving errands. So while Caleb and I ran to the grocery store and Michael's, Katherine and Grammy started working on the desserts. What started out as a girl's day, quickly turned into "Katherine needs to have a sleepover at Grammy's" kind of night. Fine by me!
OK, I know how random this is turning into but.... Black Friday ROCKS! Seriously, it's the best invention EVER, and I can't believe that I've never taken part -- until this year. It all started earlier in the week, when I was checking out the ads and found some great stuff on sale. So I asked some of the girls if they wanted to join me for some pre-dawn fun, and what fun it was! Carolyn picked me up at 4:30 and our first stop was at Wal-Mart. I was shocked at how many people were as crazy as we were!
They let us in the door before 5, but the entire store was roped off, so you couldn't get to any of the "good stuff" before 5 bells. As soon as they cut the yellow caution tape, I left Carolyn with the cart and went running. Literally. I ran straight to the toy department to get my hands on the much coveted laptop computer that Katherine "had" to have. It was originally in the $65 range, on sale for $25, so there was NO WAY I was leaving without one. I ended up buying 3... I can't pass up a good bargain! Katherine will have her laptop, and then I bought one for my niece Morgan and Katherine's friend, Ben. What a great start to the morning!!
I walked out of the aisle and started to look for Carolyn who was no where to be found. So there I am standing out in the aisle carrying these awkward boxes. All of a sudden, some lady tries to grab one of them out of my arms. Yea, that's not happening! I tell her to keep her paws off my stuff and she studders something about me not needing 3.... Right, sista! I got up at 3:45 so I could hand these out to you. I don't think so!!
Carolyn is still MIA, so I grab a few other must haves that would fit in my arms and notice a riot breaking out in electronics. Two women were fighting over the digital picture frames, and neither one was letting go of the box. I got a good chuckle out of that -- me and all three of my laptops! LOL!
When I finally caught up with Carolyn, I noticed that she abandoned the cart and was walking virtually empty handed. She handed me the ONE thing in her hand. It was the Ratatouille movie I mentioned that I wanted to get at Target later that morning as they had it on sale for $14. Evidently Wal-Mart had it on sale for $12 and that included an additional cooking DVD. BONUS!!
I ended up leaving Wal-Mart with 4 bags of stuff and a smile on my face!
We ended up racing over to Toys R Us, and spending about 10 minutes in the store, before we realized that we wouldn't be making a purchase there. As I later found out, the line to get in the store was over a half mile long, and trying to check out was an absolute nightmare. So, we abandoned ship and raced to Target. Again, the line to get in was super long.... literally as far as the eye could see, but as luck would have it, we got in right away and ended up with bags full of bargains. OH, happy day!
On a side note, I ran into TONS of people I knew -- literally, probably 20+. Everyone from my ex-coworkers... to neighbors... to Matt's current co-workers. It was great to see sooo many people I knew in my unshowered glory! LOL.
This was the start of a tradition! I will be shopping on Black Friday every year from now on. It was fantastic! LOVED it!
I got home before the kids woke up, and raced to hide the evidence of my mornings activities and shower so that we could leave for LeMars. We were all packed the night before, so we were on the road good and early -- like 9 am.
We had such a great weekend with Matt's parents. We had another Thanksgiving meal for lunch on Friday with Matt's brother, Jay, and family and Fran's brother, Roger and his son. Jay brought over his deep fat fryer and cooked the turkey. It was super yummy! Katherine was in heaven! She ate more than most of the adults!
After the kids went to bed, I ventured out to Wal-Mart to buy a pair of shoes for Caleb. I'm not sure what happened, but there was some miscommunication between Matt and I and his shoes got left at home. So... since I was there, I had to take a good look around to see if I missed anything earlier that morning. Remember the digital photo frames that people were fighting over in Des Moines? There was a stack in LeMars. Oh, and the computer that I almost had ripped from my arms??? There were several. Oh, and for all you scrapbookers -- Wal-Mart had the Cricut on sale for $119. They were gone in a matter of two minutes in Des Moines. LeMars had 3 sitting on the shelf at 10 pm. Evidently LeMars does not celebrate Black Friday in the same fashion as Des Moines!
Saturday morning, Fran and I decided to go shopping in Sioux City to see what other good deals we could find. JC Penny had air hockey tables that were still advertised as the "Black Friday" price, so we couldn't pass those up. Andrea got one for her boys last year for Christmas and the kids always fight over it at playgroup. So, I'm sure they'll love it! By the time we were ready to go home, her car was loaded down with bags and boxes from the day! Thankfully she got a lot of people knocked off the list!
Saturday night Fran and I watched The Holiday and then after Matt went to bed (what a party pooper) Wendell joined us for The Breakup. I couldn't handle it anymore.... I fell asleep during the last half hour and was out cold!
What a great weekend!
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Elfyourself...
Has everyone seen this website already??? It's really cute and just the laugh I needed this afternoon. My neighbor, Julie, sent this around to 4 of us today and I couldn't stop laughing.
It's me, Tiffany, Andrea, and Carolyn. Too cute. Have fun playing and making one of your friends!
Elf yourself
It's me, Tiffany, Andrea, and Carolyn. Too cute. Have fun playing and making one of your friends!
Elf yourself
Monday, November 19, 2007
Indian summer
Is it possible to have an Indian summer toward the end of November? I'm not sure, but if such a thing exists, we certainly had it today. It was absolutely GORGEOUS.... 70 degrees, sunny, not a cloud in the sky...
Since it's supposed to get MUCH colder and snow in a couple of days (literally) we decided to take advantage of the last nice day and head outside. Originally we had planned to go to the zoo, so I invited Michelle, Ben and Tessa to go with us. We made the trek down to the south side (about a 30 minute drive from our house) only to discover that they aren't open on Mondays anymore due to "winter hours". Bummer!
So after talking to Michelle, we decide to take the kids to a park closer to home. Oh my goodness.... They had such a blast. They loved playing outside in the sun and ran around for the first hour or so non-stop. It was heaven!
Here's some pictures from today.
I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this first picture of Caleb. I get this look from him all the time, but had never captured it on film. It is soooo him... sweet and spunky with a little fire in his eyes. It's his mischievous, I'm gonna get ya look! AAAHHH I could just squeeze him!!
Here's my little princess. She was sitting on top of the much coveted ring ladder thing (not sure what the exact name is, but hopefully you know what I mean). Being the determined spunky gal she is, she wasn't about to relinquish it over to Ben. Needless to say, Michelle and I had to step in and resolve it!
Since it was sooo nice, we stayed much longer than I normally would have. We were outside playing until almost 3 which gets pretty late for Caleb's nap. Oh, well.... they can sleep anytime. They can only enjoy this beautiful day for a few hours.
Since it's supposed to get MUCH colder and snow in a couple of days (literally) we decided to take advantage of the last nice day and head outside. Originally we had planned to go to the zoo, so I invited Michelle, Ben and Tessa to go with us. We made the trek down to the south side (about a 30 minute drive from our house) only to discover that they aren't open on Mondays anymore due to "winter hours". Bummer!
So after talking to Michelle, we decide to take the kids to a park closer to home. Oh my goodness.... They had such a blast. They loved playing outside in the sun and ran around for the first hour or so non-stop. It was heaven!
Here's some pictures from today.
I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this first picture of Caleb. I get this look from him all the time, but had never captured it on film. It is soooo him... sweet and spunky with a little fire in his eyes. It's his mischievous, I'm gonna get ya look! AAAHHH I could just squeeze him!!
Here's my little princess. She was sitting on top of the much coveted ring ladder thing (not sure what the exact name is, but hopefully you know what I mean). Being the determined spunky gal she is, she wasn't about to relinquish it over to Ben. Needless to say, Michelle and I had to step in and resolve it!
Katherine and Ben taking a quiet moment out of their play to pose for a quick picture. Yes, this one is posed! There's NO way those two would sit back to back willingly! LOL!!
My little slide climber! I didn't realize it until now, but this slide looks oddly similar to Rocket (the spaceship thing from Little Einsteins)!
Caleb taking his turn on a slide...
Since it was sooo nice, we stayed much longer than I normally would have. We were outside playing until almost 3 which gets pretty late for Caleb's nap. Oh, well.... they can sleep anytime. They can only enjoy this beautiful day for a few hours.
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