Merry Christmas everyone! Hope Santa treats you all well!

done, kind of

Well today was the 1st day of Matt's 2 and a half weeks of vacation. This could be good or bad. Time will tell. He keeps telling me that i will be ready for him to go back to work and I keep telling him that he will be ready to get back to work. Check back after the 1st of the year.
I finished up my shopping today. I started off really good, got a ton of it done the day after Thanksgiving. I don't think I have been back out since. So today I hit a few stores and called it good. I tried to make a list, stick to it and not go overboard. It's just so much easier to say then do. So I may have a few things to return when i actually sit down and look at it all. Our kids are so lucky that we could probably not get them a thing and they would never notice with all the gifts they receive from the rest of the fam. Well, there's always next year to do better. Now I have to start wrapping. Maybe tomorrow while I bake some cookies and stay home with all this ice we are suppose to get tonight.
It is a bit weird this year already being in IL for the holidays. I am so used to staying at my p's house during this time that it is taking some getting used to. We are always together to bake cookies and wrap presents late at night. Now there are a million other things that we have been able to do since we are living and I am not complaining, just saying it is different.
The ice has arrived here but it is nothing compared to what Libery Lake, WA has been hit with this week. They have over 24 inches of snow with more on the way. Hope all the kids back in the 'hood are loving it. Bundle up!

Oh Christmas tree

We finally got our real Christmas tree. It was a family affair. We went with my p's and sisters. Dad got Big Red out of the shop, we threw the trees in the back and finished in record time. I have never seen my mom pick out a tree so fast. It would have been even faster but some guy walked up and took the tree that we had just looked at. Oh well, you snooze, you lose. The tree smells so good! It was a little frustrating putting the lights on, my mom makes it looks so easy. That coupled with the fact that I had 2 little helpers means I didn't shoot for perfection just basic coverage. We have deems this our gaudy tree. The pretty one is in the front room.

funny girl

Today Mia informed me that,"This page isn't working." I asked why she said that. Her reply, "Because I don't like any of these clothes." We were looking snow pants online! She just made me laugh. Thought I would share it with you too.

Our 2 kiddos

Just a few pics from around the house lately.

Miss Blue Eyes
Counting her money

She had a nice pink fleece on but she had a little mishap with hot chocolate this morning. She told me she was hot and didn't want another shirt on.

Dane decided he wanted to bundle up

Coming soon

The Rockettes & Raccoon balls. 2 separate stories.

a little catch up

Thanksgiving has come and gone. I went shopping Friday morning. I go by myself, on a mission and managed to be done by 9 AM. I got some great deals and didn't have to stand in line anywhere for too long. I also managed to make it from Menards in Washington to Grand Prairie Mall in 15 minutes. Got to love no traffic and hitting all green lights!
We were going to cut our tree down on Sunday but it was snowing and the roads weren't great to drive to Talbots Tree farm so we will try again another day. Mia has been showing me what a big girl she is lately. Yesterday she helped me sort the laundry, match up socks and even folded a few towels for me. Dane's black eye is still there, getting light each day.
Now for the snow. I was ready for a good snow. I shoveled the driveway on Sunday and let Mia play in the snow. She had a blast. Then with the wind and such the driveway turned to a sheet of snow/ice and Tuesday I managed to chip that away so the driveway is nice and clear. My back is a bit sore but I think I will consider that my workout for the week. Mia loved the snow piles the plow made in front of our house and climbed up those over and over. She also loved eating the snow. Yes we talked about clean snow and dirty snow. No pics of the snow playing, I was bundled up and the camera was upstairs.
Matt either really wants a new tv or he's buttering me up for something. The last 2 night in a row he has started the tube for me and insisted that I go and read a book or something. SO I actually read a book, in the tub and just relaxed. It was very nice, I could get used to it. I do get one visit from Mia usually, just to check on me and see how the bubbles are doing.

Updated

OK so I know that bruises get worse before they get better, but that doesn't make me feel any better.

I just took this this morning. He looks so grown up!

We were playing upstairs. Guess he wanted some place quiet to read.

Or maybe he didn't want me to see him reading Nora Roberts!

Mr. Floppy

Dane falls down, a lot. I am not sure if he realizes that he can just stop walking, not bump into something or fall down. Oh well, he'll learn especially if he continues at this rate. Over the weekend he busted his lip on the coffee table at my p's house. He screamed, there was blood, I had a white shirt... you get the idea. Then last night he was playing and we heard a thud (he was right next to Matt playing). He screamed again but no blood this time. I picked him up and was holding him, didn't really help much. Finally after a couple minutes stopped, I looked at him, black eye! At no time with either injury was he unsupervised he just falls a lot. So here are a couple pics of his injuries.

About 5 minutes after it happened

The next morning (Matt said 'Nice eyeshadow')Mia getting ready to play outside

dinner for 10

I like to cook, most of the time. I also like to try new things which can go very well or not so good at dinner time. Since Matt is home now for dinner I have been working my way thru all the recipes I have found over the last few years. Most have been ok but a few have made it straight to the 'regulars' list. This week we went to the Rockettes (I'll post about that later) and I had the fam over for dinner before we went. What do you cook for Ohma (an excellent cook who makes everything from scratch, doesn't like too much spice), Ohpa (he'll eat just about anything), my Mom (happy to have someone else cooking), my Dad (tired of the same old stuff & likes spicy), Kaitlyn (she'll try anything and is always polite, even if it isn't great), Kara (who likes everything plain), and Matt and the kids? Well digging thru my recipes I decided on: Chuck Wagon Brisket, Twice Baked Potato Casserole, Caesar Salad, and homemade bread. There was barely a scrap of brisket left! I think everyone had at least 2 helping of potatoes, bread was pretty much gone. It was a success! I felt like I spent the entire day cooking but it was well worth it. And just so you know, brisket is a bit harder to find then I anticipated. Alwan Brothers had it of course and it is fairly inexpensive as far as meat goes. So until the next experiment, enjoy!

Matt was sweet enough to take care of the dirty dishes too!

random thought

I have had this happen to me and I suppose it happens to others right? I will be driving someplace and see a car, let's say a black Pacifica or a BMW, every time, for a split second, I think, it's Kari or Tiff. As you can imagine, this happen more often then I care to admit. Car makers do make more than 1 car in the same model and color, crazy I know. Anyways, so just wanted to make sure I'm not the only one this happens to.

And for the 1st time in a while, I am actually excited to drive past a gas station to see what gas is today. Instead of hoping it hasn't gone up again. FYI- It's $1.83 here in M-town today

The Day

The Day has finally come that my daughter wants ribbons in her hair. Last night Kara had pigtails in and then she put Mia's hair in them. Now Mia will not ever let me start to gather her hair for a ponytail but apparently Kara has the magic touch. She wore those things to bed last night! Today she wanted me to redo them b/c they were falling out. Now I am not complaining , I am so happy to be able to put her hair up I will probably by every ribbon known to man! A ponytail was my main hairdo, before I got it all cut off. Maybe that's why she will let me put it up now, she didn't want the same hairstyle as Mom. Anyways I am enjoying it so far, I hope it lasts more then 1 day!

Spelling 101

So last night we were out to dinner with my family. Mia was singing away in the restaurant as usual. It reminded my mom of how she taught me to spell my name. She said she would sing Bingo but change a few words and spell Megan instead. So I thought that was a pretty good idea so we gave it a try with Mia and her name. So here's our new song!
There was a farmer who had a girl and Mia was her name-o!
M-I-A, M-I-A, M-I-A, and Mia was her name-o!
She has been singing the song all morning long. My little girl can spell her name! I wonder what else we can teach her to spell with this song. Let the creativity begin!

New do!

Well I finally did it. I got my hair cut. I have been talking about it for a long time, years in fact. Matt has wanted me to do it. I'm pretty sure he was tired of finding it everywhere. So last Friday I got it all cut off. Now I am not one of those people who is really obsessed with my hair or even very particular about it. But even this was a big thing for me. I was back and forth until she started cutting it and once she did. I was fine with it. Guess it was just time for a change. Matt stopped in to have me sign something and was a little surprised to see all my hair on the floor but he recovered nicely. I didn't tell anyone, just did it. Guess that's me. Here's a pic I took on my phone. Not the best but you get the basic look.

A dalmatian & a fire hydrant

Pumpkin Night!

Mia did not want to stick her hands in to help clean out the pumpkin. She gets that from her Mom.

Helping Papa carry the very heavy pumpkin
Watch and learn

The dog that Mia wanted on her pumpkin. Luckily I found a stencil online that wasn't too intricate.

Carving station

Still at it!

Getting closer to being done.

She decided the Toys R Us toy catalog was more interesting after a while.

My favorite Dalmatian. Completely made from scratch.
Wagging her tail!


My fire hydrant.



Taking himself apart.


Off they go!
Back home all smiles
organizing her candy

2 of our 3 pumpkins