Where does the time go?

So it's been a while since I have posted... I have been such a slacker lately, but mainly it's because my whole family has had the crud. Lovely sinus, coughing, runny nose, sore throat, etc etc.... It's lingering too. I start to feel like I am getting better and then bam, back to square one.

So since I have last blogged I have read two more books, cheered Rachel on as she is now fully potty trained, saw New Moon, picked out and decorated our Christmas tree, celebrated Thanksgiving with both sides of the family, which included gorging myself into utter fatness, and I have not worked out since last Monday. It's safe to say, I pretty much feel like a sloth. Thinking about walking into the ER asking for emergency Lipo.

I did not partake in Black Friday. It's been a long time since I have skipped out on that madness...I usually hit up Target, Michael's, and the mall. I woke up for it, but couldn't drag myself out of my bed. Later I wanted to go to the mall, but Dave had plans to shoot, and I figured by the time he would have gotten back, the good stuff would have been gone.

I did some shopping online though today, and picked up a few things for the kids while out today. I have no idea what to get the husband for Christmas. No freaking idea. We said this year we would just do something light for each other hence the three kids and our large familys, but he's not giving me any ideas other then things that cost a crap load. Go figure. Not that I am any better as I have big wants as well. I know awful right? But let's be honest, the little affordable things I like I pretty much just buy when I want/need them.

So on this weeks agenda: going back to work (AHHHHHHH)Bizare Bazzar with my mom Thursday, gymnastic classes, making red playdough for Rachel's class,(guess who will look like a loon at work now with red hands), work Christmas party, Sister's ornament exchange party, and crossing my fingers for everyone to stay out of the doctors offices this week. Oh and I must hit the gym before I have to get all new pants.

What shall I read next?

I just read two books from my local library this past week. The first one was The Red Tent. This was something totally not me, but it wasn't that bad. It kept my interest. It was kinda weird, and I kept waiting for something major to happen, which never really did. But it was all in all ok, and interesting.

The second book was by my all time favorite author, Wally Lamb. I always say She's Come Undone in my favorite book. It's perfection. I read it during a huge transition in my life, (right before leaving for college), and a lot happend that summer that I could relate to within this book. I have re- read that sucker many times,and will always love it. Anyways, the book I just read by him was called "Wishing and Hoping" It's a Christmas story, and set back in the 60's. It was cute, and a quick uplifting read. Totally not as good as "She's Come Undone" but hey. Speaking of which, I have heard for years that they are making a movie out of that book, and I hope they do, and it better not let me down! I actually have a postcard from Wally Lamb, as I wrote him a fan letter cause I am a big geek like that. Hey, I thought I was pretty hot stuff to get a personal post card from him that he took the time to write and sign for me.

It's mainly PMS driven

The husband, bless his heart, has one weekend off a month, The poor guy probably feels pulled in a million directions, as when he's off he's usually hit with a million things to do, or places to go. I also know he needs some rest and relaxation, and time to do manly guy things with his friends and family such as fish or golf. He went fishing last weekend, and I am not going to lie, I want to spend some time as a family for my own selfish needs, and get some things done around the house. I was excited that Dave is home again this coming Saturday, so I was going to have half a weekend at least. This means with out fail some other plans will suddenly arise.... On cue this morning Dave mentions he was asked to go up to his grandparents place (who are deceased) and rake some leaves. Said area is 3 hours away, so this would take up the entire day. I am going to be brutally honest. Personally, I want my husband home, and I don't want us to make a family day of it, because 1. it's long drive and not exactly an exciting area and add three kids in the mix and we are talking this is torture 2. we have enough to do around here such as get our own leaves up, and 3. I think it's weird they have not sold the house or divided things up yet. They will go over so many months to check up on it, but that's all thats been done. I understand not wanting to let go, but after so long it gets to be weird, and I rather not be aiding in the process. It's not exactly a vacation spot by any means so it seems a bit wasteful, and sad that what will probably happen is the place will be broken in to, etc, or just slowly waste away.

When my granny was no longer able to stay in her home my family did move fast with renting her house out and dividing her things up between family. It made things easier, and her valuable items have been well cared for, cherished, etc. We didn't leave it as a museum so things could get musty and waste away. In all seriousness, my husband mentioned he wanted to get some gun that belonged to his grandad and fix them up, that were just layingn around in a basement, and another family member head started rotating exorcist style. He ended up sneaking the sucker out behind her back. So sad.

So have I shared my thoughts with Dave about not wanting to go? You betcha. He totally understands and shares my exact thoughts on the entire situation and thinks it's weird. But he hasn't said yet if he is going or not. For the love of Jesus, let me have one freaking day at home with my husband on a weekend to take care of our own house that we live in.... WORD.

How I wish weekends were longer...

Saturday morning my mom and I ventured over to Virginia Beach to go to the awesome Tjmaxx/Homegood store. It was night to get out and do some shopping after being stuck inside for a few days thanks to a major Nor'easter in our area... This is hands down the best TJ in the area... They always have the best brands and other goodies. The above dress I scored for Miss Emily to wear on Christmas Day. See? I am sticking to not dressing all three girls alike! I thought this dress was adorable and had a bit of a Santa feel to it too. Now all girls have a pretty Christmas dresses...that coordinate but aren't identical... it's progress.

I did not get to run over to Walmart yet to get the white tree I want for my tropical theme Christmas tree. I am actually wondering if I should wait another year. Emily is into everything right now, and I can just see her now attacking it.... Our normal family tree (when we get it up) is usually elevated so that I can water it easier and can stack presents under it. The elevation is a bonus of her not reaching many ornaments... The pink tree in the playroom I can control by keeping an eye on her.... but the white tree would be somewhere else down stairs, and trust me- she would find a way to attack it, and my ornaments for this tree are not cheap.... Oh well... gives me more time to plot I guess.

I went ahead and drug out most other Christmas decorations...The other things I have not done require my husbands help, and I am sure he wont be rushing to get his part done until after Thanksgiving! Yes, it's crazy early for me to have my stuff up but I figure I get to enjoy the holiday spirit a little longer.

Christmas sneaks into the house...

I know we just freaking celebrated Halloween, and Thanksgiving isn't here yet... but Christmas is slowly sneaking into the house... The pink tree is now up in the girls playroom. They had a blast helping put the decorations on it. I wont lie, I love this tree probably more then the girls. I love the pink color, I love the girly ornaments, it's just really cute.

Last year I decieded I wanted to do a tropical tree in addition to the pink tree and family tree. I have been stalking bargain stores for a white tree.... Big lots had one but it was only 4' tall... Target had one, but it was $200, and that's nuts. I think I am going to go with a 6.5' one from Walmart for $40, and I hope to pick it up tonight...per the website it's in stock just waiting on me to take it home... I can't wait to start working on it!

Easy Taco Soup

1 can Northern Beans undrained

1 can Mild Rotel undrained

1 can corn undrained

1 can veggie baked beans

1 medium onion chopped

1 envelope dry taco seanoning

1 envelope dry hidden valley ranch dressing

1 can chicken broth

1lb ground turkey

brown turkey then combine all in crockpot for 3 hours on high. So yummy with a little sour cream and cheese on top!

Tuesday Topics

Today in my email in-box I got my local libraries newsletter. I was glancing over some of events they were having, checking out when story times are etc, when I saw this : Nov. 10, Wii Celebrate Vets: In celebration of Veteran's Day, Pearl Bailey Library teens will show their appreciation by teaching local veterans how to play games on the Wii system. I couldn’t help but crack up. I love my Wii system, though truth be told I have not played it in a very long time as my batteries have been dead on the remote and I have been too busy to get around to replacing them. What a way to celebrate Veterans day though huh? In all honesty, I do know that Wii does have benefits for older folks who may not be able to get out to a bowling alley, but can bowl in their home, but the idea of a Vet celebration with it cracks me up. In all honesty I would like to just go and watch these men learn this.

P.S I am halfway through with Tori Spelling’s first book- sTori Telling. It’s been like reading a favorite gossip magazine, I like it even better then her second book that I read last week. I have to admit, I do like Tori now after reading her books, but the mama issues are crazy! What a cold person Tori makes her sound like. If anything the books have made me glad to have such a awesome mom.
Next on my list to check out from the library for myself is a book called The Red Tent. This one is going to be something kind of different for me, and it’s a biblical fiction. A lady I met at my girls gymnastic center was telling me about how her reading group had read it and how good it was. We shall see!

Monday Morning Reflections....

Emily was baptized this past Sunday. The pastor came over to meet us as agreed last Thursday, and that was pretty interesting… Rachel, (our 2 year old) kept saying over and over again "I don’t like that man." Then Laura (our oldest) said she wanted to show him her gun. (My dad bought her a pink .22 rifle for Christmas last year. Yes totally inappropriate but that’s my dad in a nut shell) I am quite sure this pastor will never forget our family.

As for the baptism, he would not allow for a private service, so we all headed to church Sunday. Emily just wanted to get down and walk, and being her christening dress was super long it was impossible, so Dave and I took turns trying to wrestle her in our arms, stepping in an out of church service until it was time for baptism. After she was baptized, Dave took her to the car and the poor thing was so wiped out, she took a nap while they waited for church to be over.
Sometime this week I am going to take her to have her portraits done in the gown, and hopefully she will be in a better mood! I am still proud of her.

Obviously we had a busy weekend. I did knock out some Santa shopping for the kids which I am pretty proud of. I got Emily’s main gift which I am was sure was going to impossible to find something for her, but I found the perfect item for her at Costco (gotta love it!). I got some great bargains at Target as two items Laura and Rachel wanted were on sale, and they were running coupons on the items, AND they gave me a gift card for spending over $50 on toys, so all in all I got an amazing deal. I need to get everything out and look and see what I have for them so if I can see if I am almost done Santa shopping…I think I am getting close though!
Tonight I plan on setting up the girls Christmas tree in the playroom. We do a real family Christmas tree so I have to wait until they are for sale. I also have been collecting some beachy ornaments to do a beach theme tree this year, but I don’t have a tree yet for that… I think I want to get a white tree for it. Guess I have to do some bargain hunting for that…

End of week wrap up...

Today I went to a craft show and it wasn't that exciting... I didn't see anything that I had to have. We did however see Santa... The Salavation Army was there and had set up an area where they would take your photo with him and the fee for photo would go to chartity. Rachel didn't have a problem, and promptly told him she wanted lots of toys. Laura was terrfied, and only did a photo if I held her. Santa looks to be about 90 years old BTW. All these years must be catching up with him!

The time change has me tired. It's getting dark so early, that by 6pm I am ready to go to bed. It's everything I can do to stay awake. Momma needs some Red Bull or something cause the diet coke isn't cutting it....

Emily is getting Baptized Sunday at church. I'm peeved the new pastor wont do a private service as we have done with the others... It's a new pastor, and I see his point as this is her joining the church, etc.... but being a man he doesn't understand that my three kids do not feel like sitting still and quiet during the service, and we have some older relatives attending that have a hard time sitting comfortably in pews. Yeah I don't see this going well. Also, he's coming to our house tonight to meet with us about it, so I am rushing around now trying to put away my creepy halloween decorations before he think's we worship Satan. Ugg I wish he just would have done a private cermony. Totally bitter....

We went last week to see about a new car, as they had sent us this letter saying our trade in was at peak, and the number they gave us was high... HA! When we went in they gave us a crappy trade in offer, below what the letter said, and they gave us this speech about how a different organization handles those letters and their numbers are not realistic... Umm no thanks then. Our car is still in excellent condition with very low miles, so we passed on it. Not any easy choice after we freaking drove the new loaded model which I still have dreams about still. Oh well.

My kids have become obsessed with books. We have read everything in the house, so I got a great idea to head to the local library and check out the kids section. Why didn't I do this sooner?? They have so many books, they are free, and I love how I can bring home a "theme". For example, I got a bunch of halloween books last week. Love it! We have several library branches in our city, so I have just been going to one that is on my route home from work. I also have found a few things for myself to read, and even though I love my Kindle, you can't beat free... I also love how I can go online to reserve books, have them sent to the library branch where I want to pick it up back, and I can even recheck out books if I need to keep them longer by going online. Love it! It doesn't take much to excite me lol. I just completed Tori Spelling's book Mommywood... it was cute. Good lord she has some momma drama though... I am about to read her first book she did sTori Telling.

Our weekend is going to be busy, Laura had a birthday party to go to for a school friend, then the pool we belong to is having a fall festival, and then of course Sunday is the big baptism.

In between that, I am trying to knock out my christmas shopping for the wee ones... wish me luck!

Dream House

Sigh... My dream house is for sale. This is a house on the next street over. Whenever I have gone for a bike ride, walk, or a short drive I always gaze at it and think to myself how much I love that house. When I saw the for sale sign I gasped. I can't believe anyone would ever want to move and leave the house, but I am pretty the sure the owners are in bad health and that is why... It's prices at 685,000 but seriously it's a steal at that price because everything inside is custom and perfect! There is a view of the river, two kitchens, it's just perfect in everyway.

I had to share the link because you can take a virtual tour, and the insides of the house are awesome.... I love their furniture, their decorations, etc etc. I would kill to be able to afford this house, and for this lady's taste. Seriously, take some time to check it out!

http://vt.realbiz360.com/MLS-238373.html

Halloween 2009

My girls were all girly bugs this year. Ladybug, Butterfly, and Bumble Bee. They were so cute in their little costumes! Halloween is my favorite! There is just something magical about it.... I love the smell of pumpkins once they have been carved and have a candle going in them. I love seeing kids dressed up in costumes, and I love decorating for halloween!

We carved pumpkins the night before, and the girls loves playing in icky pumpkin guts. They were so excited about lighting the pumpkin that night, they ran and got my parents (they live next door), and made them come out and look. It is my mission to make my girls love halloween as much as I do, and I think I have accomplished that!