Its always magical in my head

Last weekend was the "big" weekend. You know, the one where we hit the tree farm and make lots of memories. I'll set the stage. 4 out of 5 have runny noses. (The ironic thing of it all is the one who has a finger in the mouth then up the nose nervous habit, doesn't have one.) And these are the runny noses where you are wiping them like every 3 minutes. And since 2 out of the 4 can't wipe their own noses - they'd rather lick it - it makes for a busy day. I'm thinking "the high today is 41 degrees, lots of Kleenex on the back of that wagon, getting in trouble for littering the tree farm with said Kleenex blowing out of my pockets, my infant getting pneumonia - yeah, not worth it." "Babe - lets hit Home Depot". Actually, Andy brought up the "f word". That's right - fake tree. I can't bear the thought so I nixed it. As I watched my 2 oldest kids have races up and down the aisles of Home Depot, I knew that they were making memories. Granted we weren't in the tree aisle because Andy needed "a few things". But they were memories nonetheless, and I'll lower the expectation bar just this once. Within minutes we found the perfect tree because well, they're all perfect when they're grown at the home depot tree farm.

I had a new menu this year for our little family decorating party. Little smokies, Chex mix, chips and Rotel cheese dip, and some nutty cinnamon sticks. It went over well with the under 5 crowd. While I enjoyed the stuffed mushrooms last year, I learned my kids pallets aren't quite as sophisticated. So we're enjoying our snacks and putting the lights on the tree and we discover that half of our light strands are burnt out. And you can't decorate the tree without the lights on. By this time we don't want to get out again, so we stood and admired our half lit tree void of our ornaments and called it a night. Guess there's a little tweaking to do before next years tree decorating party.

some m&ms and determination

A funny thing happened over Thanksgiving break. Paige is now potty trained. One day, she began telling me everytime she went to the bathroom in her diaper. I decided that was a sign. So with a bag of M&Ms and a whole lot of trips to the potty, I think we're officially trained. Except for a few accidents, she's done wonderful. And there is no going back now. I think we just got a raise.

Turkey happenings

We had a great Thanksgiving. Great food, great leftovers. Nothing too uneventful. I did venture out on black Friday at o'dark thirty. My mom was gracious enough to not let me go it alone. Last year it was my sis-in-law Lana in Dallas. I may have to recruit someone new every year, but I'm prepared to do that. As for this year, I had a plan. I mapped it out. I had to be back by 7am because Andy had to leave for work but that left me with 2 good hours. I brought the coffee and mom brought the breakfast bars and we were off at 4:30. I hit walmart first, where it was just as crazy as I thought it would be. People grabbing toys, no room to walk. I did score what I went for so it was worth it. Next it was to Sam's where it wasn't near as busy and they had this HUGE continental breakfast set up with fruit, yogurt, pastries, etc. Since I was on a mission, I only grabbed a bottle of water. But next year, that's the first stop. Target was going to be my last stop, and what I really wanted there was a digital camera for $89. But my poor planning had us in line after about person # 506. Needless to say - the cameras were gone by the time I got there, but I did get everything else. The entertainment there were the people getting a little hostile about the line cutters. We heard some not so Christian exchanges. I'm probably 66% done with my Christmas shopping so it was worth it to me. I, of course, love the thrill of getting up early and running with the masses. But I will never attempt the mall.

Let the fun begin

It was 80 degrees yesterday. Now its 41. Good thing we put up those Christmas lights on the house yesterday.

Where Santa and baby Jesus hang out

I am out of control excited. This is the big week that I live for every year. The trimming of the tree, home, etc for Christmas. For me, this is all about how many traditions can we start and how many memories can we make. When my kids look back on Christmas I want them to relive every magical moment from cutting down our tree to camping out under the tree, to the Christmas story being read on Christmas Eve in pajamas with hot chocolate. With my children getting older, its getting more fun. Last year, my evening of Christmas tree decorating and appetizers didn't quite go over like I had planned. No one liked the appetizers I spent all day making. But the trip to the local Christmas tree farm was a hit. We're keeping that tradition. It includes a saw, hot chocolate, a ride in the back of a truck to the field, and the children running up and down rows of Christmas trees just begging us to "pick them". Last year I scored real boughs of greenery at Sams to hang around the door and on the mantle. This year, I'm doubling it - every room is going to have the smell of pine and the look of Christmas. And you all are so lucky, because I'm going to share it all with you from pictures to tips to recipes. I'll probably have to revamp the appearance of the blog in order to give homage to the season. You best check back often because this is going to be a busy place.

7 random things

Cristina tagged me and I'm just learning about this blog tag thing. So here are my 7 random things about me that you may not know.



1. I'm a closet or not so closet soap opera watcher.

2. I could eat pizza every single day and never get sick of it.

3. Once I've raised my kids to adulthood, I'm going to culinary school and then opening a coffee shop.

4. Martha Stewart is my inspiration. Smart, successful, domestic, and rich. (I choose to ignore that she's a diva)

5. I had around 7 miscellaneous pet birds of all species growing up.

6. I get star struck extremely easy. (I know why God didn't allow me to be famous. I'd get all wrapped up in the fame and fortune and probably lose my soul - thank you Lord for knowing my weaknesses)

7. I started playing Christmas music in September

And on the heels of that last post

Its a good thing I had a good mom day the other day. Because yesterday, I picked up Rene' from Mothers Day Out only to notice there was oozing stuff out of her ear. I knew enough to know that wasn't normal and rushed her and my crew to the Dr. Hint: don't take your children to the doctor at 3:30pm. Out of Control. Anyway, I'm such a good mom, I didn't even notice that she had an ear infection and it had proceeded to burst her eardrum. I had chalked it up to a new "clingy"stage. Well, that home assessment cost me over $100 in medicine and a whole lot of guilt. Lesson: when your otherwise non clingy daughter is clingy - she's probably sick.

The trip to walmart of my dreams

I had put it off too long. Going to the store. Ever since Rene' was born, it has thrown off my entire grocery store day schedule. Mainly because its rather daunting taking 3 children under the age of 5 to Wal-Mart. And having to go to Wal-Mart is a whole nother issue. I miss my great grocery stores in Colorado. But I'm stuck with Wal-Mart. Poor Andy, when he was making his lunch this morning and I had the refrigerator door open, looking for some breakfast, he said "Its slim pickins around here". I felt bad. So I decided if we went to the store right after breakfast, at least there wouldn't be a bunch of people there to disrupt. So we were off around 8:20am. I loaded all 3 of them up in the extra large cart. That would be the one with 2 seats for older children and one for baby. You need a license to drive those things. Anyway, I dug out 10 pennies from my purse and gave them both 5. I told them that whatever they had left at the end of the trip they'd get to put in the new donation contraption. You know those things that have creative ways of making your coins fall into the donation bucket. Well, there's a new one. Anyway, I explained that if they disobeyed, poked their baby sister, or fought, they'd have to pay me a penny. Zak ended up with 4 and Paige, well she must have dropped a few along the way because she only had 2 and I had only taken 1 from her. We were in and out of there in 45 minutes. And oh the joy of watching the pennies spiral around the big black funnel. Even Rene' was smiling. Call it lucky, whatever, I know its not due to my parenting skills - just my copying skills. If you don't have the book Creative Correction , run to your nearest Barnes and Noble or library. I actually felt like an "in control" mother this morning.

The Wax

Andy's 10 year college reunion is this weekend. He ever so gently asked me to go get an eyebrow and lip wax. I was happy to oblige. So I hit my local Beauty Brands store. The thing with Beauty Brands is that you tend to get a different person every time, unless you find someone you like - but then if your like me and call the day of for an appointment, you'll rarely get the girl you like. So when I called today and my girl Lacy wasn't there, I said - just give me whoever. I was a little worried, because I've had some bad eyebrow waxes before. But you just can't beat the convenience. They informed me I'd be with "Bellagio". Hmm. Probably a foreign girl. Wrong. Bellagio is a 6'3" buff African American male with long flowing hair down his back and tattoos up his arms. I was FREAKING OUT. I just hoped he knew what he was doing. My worry increased as his method of waxing wasn't one I had ever experienced. For those who have never had an eyebrow/lip wax, they usually apply the wax to one portion of the brow, and then put their little while fabric on it and rip it off. Not Bellagio. He applied wax to both my eyes and my lip all at the same time. I was convinced it was his first time to wax and thought to myself. "If this is bad, Andy is going to his reunion by himself this weekend". I kept my eyes shut the whole time. When he was finished and handed me the mirror, it wasn't bad at all. Just a normal wax. I was relieved. Then he proceeded to tell me I should go for the exotic look and he showed me what he could do with my eyebrows. He began explaining things like lining up with the jaw and cheek bone line, and symmetry, etc. I just couldn't get the word exotic out of my mind and said - lets do it. I want to look exotic. Then he brought in the little razor blade and told me to hold the mirror and watch if I wanted. He proceeded to shape my eyebrows with precision and form with the razor blade. All I can say is "impressive". This would be yet another lesson is judging a book by its cover. I have a new favorite person at Beauty Brands and his name is "Bellagio".

All in the name of "free" fun

I have this serious problem. I'm addicted to our local library. Now you might ask why that is such a problem. Its because everytime I go in to the library - I owe them anywhere from $3 - $12. - IN FINES. My father in law once told me that I needed to run as far away from the library as I could. That was because I had just had a baby and he took my library books back for me and covered my $24 fine. So last week I cleared my fines and decided to turn over a new leaf. I was going to be a good steward of my money and turn in my books/videos on time. Last week we checked out 6 videos because we hit the jackpot of The Wiggles and The Magic Schoolbus. So today I log onto my account to see what all we need to turn in today. My 6 videos are 1 day late and that totaled a $3 fine. I can't win. I just might have to end this relationship with the library. It would be a terrible break up and I'm going to try everything I can to salvage the relationship, but I just can't pay them anymore of my money. And I think my husband will send me to counseling.

My new thing

I made some homemade french bread yesterday. I think its my new thing. I'm going to bake all our bread. Zak said to me "mom, whats that wonderful smell?". I have to tell you, there is nothing like the smell of baking bread in the oven. Its a lost art. And it really wasn't that hard.

They say you can freeze anything

I never wanted to be the people who stored their cereal boxes on the top of the refrigerator, but we are. Mainly because my pantry is pathetic. And also because Andy ended up at a Buy For Less one night and found out their cereal really is less and spend half our weeks grocery budget on cereal. It was a great reason to have cereal for dinner a few nights that week. As far as the cereal on the top of the refrigerator goes, I've learned a few things. First and foremost, if you don't get the box completely centered on top of the refrigerator, when you open the freezer door, many, many Honey Nut Cheerios will come crashing down on your head. (This was reminicent of my 8th grade experience when the large frozen catfish gave me a large bump on my head when it decided to escape). Now for Paige it was 2 year old snack booty flying from the sky. She was right by my side shoving in as many oh's would fit in her mouth. I did not see the humor in the situation because lets face it, when you step on those things they turn to dust and everywhere I tried to avoid stepping, I stepped on 3. It forced me to mop. I hate it when that happens.

This was a few months ago. And if you were to open my freezer any day between now and then, you would see a mound of Honey Nut Cheerios just at eye level (if your 5'2"), frozen solid. I think I looked at those every day. I can't explain to you why I didn't just get them out. I just didn't. But today, we were out of Honey Nut Cheerios and I was desperate for some breakfast for my kids. Just kidding. I threw those things away. I felt it my duty to share. I know you thank me for it.

Halloween photo shoot.