Happy Thanksgiving!

It has been a busy few days for us with visiting friends and decorating for Christmas. Ainsley and I are having a quiet morning as the boys of this house are out on a Scout outing. Aidan's school is trying to rebuild their scouting programs after some issues last year so it is a really small group, but Aidan seems to really enjoy the activities. It is a good outlet for him to meet other boys at school. Other than that not much else going on here today. I am hoping to stay in today as I fear I am getting a bit of a cold...too much to do so I don't want that. Not sure if it is a cold or allergy though as we kicked up so much dust yesterday with all the boxes of decorations and moving things around. This is the time of year when I notice what I neglect as far as dusting. Who really dusts the top of an entertainment center on a regular basis. Seriously! Bad bad bad. Could be because I can't reach it even when standing on a chair. Thankfully my hubby is taller than I am. Anyway, I hope everyone had a super holiday with lots of friends family and turkey!

My Present Arrived Early...

I have been very short on dishes for some time. I haven't wanted to spend the money on dishes for a while. Now my birthday is rolling around and B asks what I wanted, so I picked out my dishes and he ordered them for me, way cheaper than in the store! I am still missing 2 place settings and I am praying these last me a long time. My others lasted me a long time so I should not complain. I love these colors too as they are so bright and cheerful...and they will be alternating colors if you ever check out my cabinets. It is a disease I know.


We are also finally getting light fixtures for the dining room. It has been 2 and a half years since we moved in and I am finally getting around to filling those naked spots on my wall. B even had the electricians rewire them and put them on a switch when they were here after we moved in. The fixtures are a Christmas present to each other as we have so much we want to do to this house and that is one thing we want to do that doesn't involve paint or require someone to install. I think our next project will be to add more ceiling insulation...oh how fun. That is just what you get when you move into a much older home. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I am so going to try to get pictures taken of the kiddos for Christmas cards this weekend. Wish me luck!

Christmas Getting to Know Your Friends

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. My sister e-mailed this to me and I thought it would be fun to post.


1.. Wrapping paper or gift bags? both
2. Real tree or Artificial? artificial with the lights already threaded through!
3. When do you put up the tree? after thanksgiving
4. When do you take the tree down? Epiphany
5. Do you like eggnog? nope but my hubby loves it
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Kitchen set
7. Hardest person to buy for? all men in my family , particularly my FIL
8. Easiest person to buy for? Sister
9. Do you have a nativity scene? yes!
10. Mail or email Christmas Cards? mail
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? black poncho type thing made of very thin almost plastic threads, I was pregnant when I got it and it made me feel like a huge spider web.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Its a Wonderful Life
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Start of November
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? no!!!
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? roast pork!
16. Lights on the tree? white, stationary
17. Favorite Christmas song? Josh Groban Noel, Harry Connick Christmas Album
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? depends on the year
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? yes
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? neither... giant ribbon creation
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? morning
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? crazy shoppers
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? loving the berries on ivy
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? oh you know... peas on earth! hahaha! Cute I will copy this one and add decent weather for my parents travel.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Long Day Rough Day

Date night last night was fun. I got to go to a movie and have dinner with my hubby. At dinner we ran into some neighbor friends and went over for a quick drink with them. The kids liked the new babysitter she was pretty diplomatic with them about picking a movie to watch. Sweet girl. She also endeared herself to Aidan by letting him play video games for a little while after she put Ainsley to bed, all with our permission of course.


This morning I had an early morning nursery meeting. Too early for me considering the subject matter. I was able though to come back home and help the family get ready to go and have some more coffee since I wasn't on duty today so for that I was grateful. Needless to say this afternoon I pretty much crashed for about a 3 hour nap and had a very hard time waking up to face the dishes in the sink and prepare dinner. Lots of plans for this week, but mostly fun plans so that will be great. Lots of dessert to prepare this week! So much for eating healthy as I have a terrible time resisting holiday desserts! Later taters!



Oh, a shout out to one of my readers. Miss M. Happy birthday! Miss you my friend.

Scanner works finally!

My hubby was finally able to get the scanner portion of our printer working this week. Yay! As Aidan has artwork I would like to get scanned, and there are other things I would like to keep a record of. Anyway, this is the picture of my kitty how I would like to remember her so this picture would actually go with my post when I lost her back in August. She was only 3 in this picture and she was healthy. I have many other pictures of her, but this is one of my favorites. I have another one somewhere that I like very much with her skulking around the Christmas tree. Wow, sometimes it hits me how much I miss her. I keep looking for her to jump on my feet in the evenings especially now that the weather outside is getting so much colder. My first fur "kid".

On to lighter things, tonight I am missing girls night for my bible study group. For good reason though, I have a babysitter this evening so my hubby and I are going to see the new James Bond I think. I don't mind as I always like a good action movie. Hopefully we will be able to grab a quick dinner after. Ahhh, another evening of grown up time...

Parent Teacher Conference...

went really well. I am proud of Aidan for how well he is doing in school. I got a bit more detail about what is going on between Aidan and the boy across the street and the teacher is working on bettering the situation for Aidan. My little man is just a very social character and likes to play with many children and all different games. His little buddy doesn't think Aidan is still his buddy if Aidan is off playing with other kids. At least it is being addressed so that makes me feel better.


B is off to the Dr. to get an idea of what is causing all his aches and pains. Hopefully he will get some answers for some therapy or excercises that he can do. Pray for my hubby and his aching knees, hand and shoulder. Too much football and raquetball I say.


ETA: B came back from the doctor with a prescription for an anti-inflammatory and received a cortisone shot in the shoulder. He has arthritis in his hand, and tendonitis in the shoulder and knee. He was given some instructions on how to manage the joints before working out. Hopefully, he will listen to the Dr. He has a follow-up appointment after the holiday to see if he is improving. Well, I hope everyone has a good weekend and later taters!

It is sooooo windy today!

I was out running some errands this morning and I felt like the wind would knock me down at times. I got a bunch of Christmas gifts out of the way today. I have purchased something for almost everyone. I still lack my Mom and Uncle and FIL. I actually think I am going to turn FIL over to B to deal with. He usually has something in mind for him anyway. I am actually ahead of the game for once since we moved. Can you believe it! Now if I can only get on the Christmas card situation...Later taters!

I finally finished!

Ainsley's stocking is done ahead of schedule by a week and a half. I wanted to have it done by Thanksgiving time to decorate that weekend. She really doesn't seem to care that it is finished, but I do and a happy with how it turned out and that is what matters!

B's football game and the open house to follow went well. Injuries were minimal bumps, bruises, a black eye for one of the girls, but no ambulances were needed. I was really worried about someone blowing a knee. B's team won and they were all talking about having another game in December. December! I think they are crazy really and truly crazy.


This has been kind of a busy week. Tuesday I helped the ladies from bible study pack boxes for Operation Christmas child, I also took the opportunity to do some on-line shopping and got several gifts for people taken care of. I am headed to Kohls later this week to take care a some more gifts. I am so thankful that store opened in town and I don't have to plan a day trip to shop there anymore. Aidan has a dentist appointment and parent teacher conference later this week as well. Saturday night is going to be date night as I am trying out the other babysitter. Yay! I think we are going to dinner and see the new James Bond movie. Well, that is it for now, later taters!

We didn't stay...

long at B's game. My friend came and we hatched a plan to get the kids together to play during Thanksgiving break. She is such a hoot! Anyway, Ainsley was crying about being cold and wanting to go home. I think she would have wanted to go home regardless of the temperature. Well, I did snap a picture or two so I will get them up here tomorrow I hope. Later frozen taters!

This is what I did yesterday...

Ainsley's preschool class went to Festival Foods yesterday for a tour. The manager was so nice to show them everything and give them treats along the way. Jello in the deli, cookies in the bakery and sent them home with the cake that they watched being decorated. I chaperoned yet again as it is a semi-easy way for me to help out. The kids had a really fun time there and Ainsley had a special treat of seeing Miss T the Mom of one of her little friends from church. I didn't even know she worked there. How fun to have an extra treat like that! Gearing up for the weekend. Aidan has a birthday party, B's football game, and open house here. I am hoping there will be a few kids so mine won't be too bored. This is the main reason I am letting him go to the birthday party. Oh well, off to do laundry.

You know your hubby...

is a good Daddy when he will paint your daughters tiny fingernails.

It has been an interesting week so far...

I don't know how, but I have been fairly efficient this week. I have had many chores done before I take Aidan to school so I have less to do in the afternoon. Good deal, I hope I can keep it up. B is having a flag football game this Saturday with the staff from the plant. It is going to be cold this weekend so I think they are a tad crazy. B has also hurt his knee already so that to me is a bad sign of things to come. Afterwards, we are having an open house for the staff. This is esclating into a huge thing that only my hubby can manage. Every day he adds something new to the plan, or was it originally part of the plan and I was not made aware. B is like his Dad that way, has a vision of how something should be but neglects to tell those involved what that vision is. Needless to say, all I need to do is borrow a couple of crock pots and keep the house in order and my part is done. There is a sign up sheet at the office, I am providing warm beverages and some chili and everyone else should be bringing food to share. I just hope they aren't here too late. I know that sounds terrible but I was out both evenings last weekend, not even terribly late, and by Sunday afternoon I was exhausted.


Well, today I am taking my car somewhere for an oil change and taking Ainsley to the library for story time. Aidan has scouts this afternoon, but B is taking off early to go to the meeting with him. Should be a quiet afternoon for me. Yay!

Our evening went very well...

We had fun having dinner with our friends. The kids loved the babysitter and she said they were really good for her which is a huge blessing. She seems a little shy but very trustworthy. I wouldn't mind using her again as she lives fairly close by. All around a good time was had by all. Aidan was especially impressed that she played video games with him. Sweet girl.

Weird how things work out...

I have been stressing over kiddo and playdates and such. I never stressed about it before and we always had friends over fairly regularly. Now with our new school situation, the kids ask every day if so and so can come over or can I go over there. I have a bit of a problem with that. I think for us everyday is too much. Aidan has a bit of homework and I would like him to get into the habit of getting it done rather early. I learned my lesson with his extra reading assignments in K, let him play first and he never wants to get back to it. Make him do the assignment first, he has incentive to get it done so that he can go have fun. Anyway, chatting with a friend this morning and it sounds like she has had similar issues and has set some boundaries as far as when. Like for us, Friday's work best for afterschool play. It is good to know I am not alone in my struggle.


This weekend I have the babysitter. Aidan is excited and I think Ainsley has forgotten already. Still dealing with a stomach issue, it is better but not 100%. I don't know what got me as I am not usually so sensitive to foods I eat. Makes me sad because I won't feel free to eat whatever I want when we eat out this weekend. Another night of soup for me! Have a good weekend all!

Proud of me!

I have gotten brave in the last few days. A friend of mine had asked B and I to go out to dinner with them for her birthday. She asked if we had a sitter and I had told her that I had some names of some girls that I have needed to call since our sitter had moved away. Anyway, she had called this weekend to see if we were able to get a sitter and honestly I had not called either of the girls yet. I find it completely stressful to call a teenage girl to come watch my kids for some reason. I found it stressful for me with our last sitter as well and I knew her family pretty well. Anyway, sitter #1 was not available this weekend, so I scheduled her for later this month to try her out with the kids. I waited a whole day, but finally called sitter #2 and she is available! Both girls seemed very nice on the phone so I hope they mesh well with my children. Aidan is very excited that there is a new baby sitter coming this weekend and B and I will get to celebrate my friends birthday. We haven't had a date night in a while so it will be nice for us to have an evening out twice in one month.



I also voted this morning! Proud of me! Get out and vote people. Later taters!

My Trick or Treaters...

Ainsley was totally in the swing of it this year. Not afraid of even the scary kids and being open at every house she went to. Aidan is becoming a shy one. I would not have seen this coming. Too much like his mama, he was never this shy before. I really need to stop using that word around him. Both kids had a blast though and if you check down a few blog posts you will see the reward for all their cuteness efforts. One more picture to add here but it has nothing to do with Halloween. My little man is just darn cute.

My Tiger Cub.

Pumpkin carving

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The weekend before Halloween we needed to head up to Green Bay to pick up some necessities that we could not find easily in town. The kiddos were a bit upset which is odd as they typically enjoy our trips to Green Bay. They were sad because they were convinced that we would not be back in time to carve our pumpkin that evening. Needless to say to keep little people happy Daddy did the carving before we left for the day.

Obviously everyone was happy and we ended up having a nice outing. This year they picked the happy bat for B to carve. Daddy was happy to comply.



I think he turned out pretty well. I wanted to get pictures posted in some sort of order so I will post Trick or treating pictures next. I just haven't been able to get into too much a computer groove this week. Not for posting or working on pictures anyway. Feeling much better these days by the way so that is a huge blessing. Well, next time for sure Halloween costumes. I promise. I have to send some out to family as I have been fussed at by my hubby. Not sure why that became my job as he is perfectly capable of using the computer. Who knows!

The Candy Drawer Runneth Over...

Enough Said. Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I will post more Halloween pictures a bit later. Later taters!