Decorating Day 2, and other stuff...

I found just the COOLEST thing ever at Hobby Lobby!!!!!

See the pieces get smaller AND the puzzle gets harder from the left to the right! We're working on it in the early morning hours. Since both boys routinely wake up between 4 and 5 yet no one needs to be up till 6. I'm thinking once Christmas is done I'll pack it back up with the decorations and it'll be our December tradition to work together on it!

If I see any more "Family Puzzles" I will be sure to grab them! This is so much fun!

I love puzzles! and so do the kids, so this is a really great find for us.

Sonshine decided to add some things to our shopping list the other day....

BWAHAHAHAAAA!




I'm deciding what gets put up this year. I figured that since I already have a red tablecloth I didn't need to change it, but instead threw the Santa one over the piano for a new look.

I like it!

Meanwhile the table gets my absolute favorite and fun Christmas placemats!



These are clear circle mats, with red and green circles and SPARKLES!!

These old ladies wanted a turn out and about....



And of course when John Friendston flew back in from the North Pole this morning he found a new spot to sit for the day.....

:-) getting there.....

Field Trippin!

The last day of school before Thanksgiving the 2nd grade went on their field trip!

We went to The Science Place and the Natural History Museum in Downtown Dallas.

He got his birthday sticker early since it was on the friday after Thanksgiving this year.

We were met with this demonstration about SHARKS......

His favorite part of the day: Digging in the gravel for dinosaur bones! See all the dust in the air?? This was indoors in a separate room......

This is Sonshine and his girlfried standing by a giant nose......that SNEEZED!!

His second favorite part was the thermal camera. We found that if I put my hand on his head for a moment, when I took it off I left a red handprint on his head.....this was repeated repeatedly.

A buddy from class.

We were there the day they put the first sharks in the tanks for their new shark exhibit! See the camera crews?? As soon as the first shark went in Sonshine says "That was So AWESOME!!".....

putting in the second shark. They put 1 in each tank, as time goes on they will introduce more sharks, one at a time to the tanks.
That's Mrs Green, Sonshine's teacher showing the kids the new shark.

Sonshine and girlfriend hahahahahahahaaaaa!!!

Next it was over to the Natural History Museum.

looong dinosaur, it was the best I could do to get the whole thing in the shot.

While I thought the mineral exhibit was pretty cool...Sonshine did not.

He wasn't impressed with all the animals on exhibit either. He did, however, make a point of showing me every cactus that was in each vignette...totally oblivious to the jaguar, grizzly bear, or vulture that was also there!

His favorite part of the Natural History Museum was their mock cave.....

just a little spot for our picnic before we headed back to school......
We had a great time. Every channel recorded the shark drop. Many of the kids, including mine, were shown on the news. But I can't find him online anywhere and the network I contacted said that they don't put everything from the broadcast online, nor do they keep copies anymore. So I didn't get to see it.

A fun place to visit if you're around Dallas with kids!

Christmas is Coming!

There are a few things I do every year to prepare for Christmas. I always watch The Muppet Christmas Carol. I always listen to Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. And I get out my decorations. I have kept a non-breakable tree since the kids were small, and I usually rotate out my decorations. It's fun for me to decide what goes out this year and what stays hidden for another year.

This year I've decided to add another element to this process. Partly out of building of excitement and partly out of lack of time off I am going to bring out the decorations slowly over time this year. Instead of one or two big days of decorating I'm going to put just a couple new things out each night. And see how long it takes the kids to spot what's new!!

I started yesterday:






So, come along with me in the building of excitement to Christmas, that most glorious day when God Himself came to us as a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid to sleep in a feeding trough in a barn.

Happy Monday!!!

Watched the Muppets Christmas Carol yesterday with my oldest....at 4am!! Nothing quite gets me in the Christmas spirit like that book or movie. I think the Muppets did a GREAT job with it!



A Christmas Carol as told by my 8 yr old "Well, Scrooge was a bully! Then these ghosts came and showed him that he wasn't supposed to be a bully. And then he became a buddy and spread love and good cheer to all. ".

Works for me........



Makes me happy when my kids sit in front of the TV looking at a pile of books!!!!


Go on a field trip.....get on the news!!!! COOL!
I went to The Science Place in Dallas with Sonshine's second grade class. We got to see them filming putting the sharks in the display tank for the new exhibit.
The result is yes, my boy was on the news. And it's not online nor do they have copies of the broadcast. So unless someone out there actually recorded it then I've missed it.



Oh. My. Goodness.
I am actually thinking about going to a grocery store with all 3 kids in search of cranberry sauce ON THE DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING. Just to please my son.

I must have lost my mind, will someone please come help me find it??

(fortunately, a friend in town came to my rescue and donated one of her extra cans to the cause of a happy boy!)



Hubby needs to have a partial replacement of his right knee. Because of our night/day schedule he's going to wait till March when I have 2 weeks of vacation to have it done. All prayers are appreciated. For his thoughts on the situation, read this.

I'm really looking forward to the Post-Thanksgiving dinner that hubby is gonna cook for us on Wed!!

Make it a great week folks!

Post-Thanksgiving

My sweetie read my facebook status on Thanksgiving Day:


Feeling very sorry for myself this year. Don't usually mind working holidays but for some reason yesterday today tomorrow etc has me down.

I'm looking forward to a week from Sat when I get a night off!!

He then came to me and said, we'll pick a day next week when you're not working extra hours (Wednesday!) and I'll make us our own Thanksgiving Feast!!

I don't whine often (well, not online anyway). But every now and again.....

However, there are many things in this world to be thankful for, and I count them every day.
and it's really nice when those who know me read my whine and respond with love and support!!

For some reason BOTH cats decided to be with me on the love seat!

We were a bit cramped for space:

MOM! He's on my side of the line!!

Move Over!!

Somehow I think my hubby would love to do this one year....

If we get enough snow this winter I am SOOOO doing this!!

As for those OWS crazies....

I keep trying and trying to get Christmas gifts finished, however, my helper seems to have other plans!
As I have simplified the gifts to a more doable idea, and all of the big guy in red's supplies have arrived, and my first of 3 18 hour shifts for this week draw to a close I'm feeling in a much better frame of mind!!

Have a great weekend everyone.