Festive Fun

This holiday brought lots of Festive Fun:

One of the highlights was taking Carlee to Disney on Ice.  I was not going to get tickets but after going on a field trip....

 I knew I had to do it.

Carlee wore her mermaid costume with boots and we had a great time.  

Although, I usually take Connor with us on our outings, I convinced him that this was going to be a day just for Carlee.  

After some time, he was super cool about it.

(Besides, we brought him back an Olaf hat with cotton candy.)

I didn't expect Carlee to be very welcoming to Santa, after all she still has hesitations around her own Papa.  I knew sitting on his lap was out of the question.

Darren took this picture and she did manage to whisper that she wanted a 'baby doll'.

***

This may be my last Santa picture with Connor.

I have every picture of him with Santa since he was a baby.

Although he knows that Santa is real, he told me he is much too old to be sitting on some guy's lap who may or may not be the real Santa.

(point taken)

Pilot Mountain Lights

I remember the first time Darren and I went to see  the Pilot Christmas lights.  There was barely anyone there and we could take our time to look at everything.

This year it was so crowded we could barely look at anything.

I think the kids enjoyed what they were able to take in without being mowed over.

Carlee loved Frosty the Snowman.  When she would touch it, he would start singing.

Annual Sugar Cookie Bake Off

Connor and I watched as many Christmas movies as possible.

He loved Elf, The Grinch, and Home Alone.

He did not seem to enjoy Home Alone II,  A Christmas Story, and Rudolph.

This big girl went to her very first BIG movie.

She watched the first 15 min. of it, played on the iPad in the floor, sat on my lap, climbed up the steps, went to the bathroom twice, and then watched the last 15 min. of it.

As we were exiting the theatre, a group of people got in between us and she went into full panic mode.  Although I could see her and she could see me, she could not handle it.  She covered her ears and screamed bloody freaking murder at the top of her lungs.

You may can see in this picture (10 minutes later) that she was not over it.

This girl does not like to be separated from her mommy.

#festivefun

We are ready for 2016!

Santa, Family, and Christmas Moments

I guess I have a couple of good kids, because Santa came to visit them.

Connor was so excited he didn't go to sleep until 11 and then he woke up at 2 and 5.  

I finally gave in at 5:30.

We woke Carlee at 7.  

She seemed to open presents in a sleep induced haze.

See brother?  See my new dress?

Feeding a baby waits for no one.

Next it was breakfast at Nana and Papa's house.

Do these cousins look a little bit excited to you?

The only thing that would make this better is if our four Florida cousins could join us.

Next up lunch at Aunt J and Uncle P's house.

Our family on Darren's side has grown quite large so there was a lot of present exchanging.  

God gifted us with more than we deserved.  

There was so much laughter, fun, and love.

 I love Christmas.  

My tree goes up right after Thanksgiving.

However, it comes down the day after Christmas on the 26th.

I clean up and out immediately.  

The idea of all kinds of stuff laying around without a home gives me hives.

I probably took out three bags to the Salvation Army and double that to the dumpster.  
The kids have organized rooms now and I feel so renewed.

Some of the greatest Christmas hits:

Barbie Pool

Oh yeah, our floor is soaked.

They don't make toys like they once did, and I had to add a Pyrex dish to keep this pool from really leaking all over the floor.  

Carlee loves it.

I LOVED my Barbie bubbling spa Jacuzzi pool tub as a child.

I played with it all the time.

As you can see it was a lot sturdier than what they make today.  I need an adult version of one of these.

I debated a long time about inviting the world of video games into our lives.  

I'm not a huge fan of the effect on some kids. Connor pleaded his case and as you can see Santa caved but with some specific rules about time limits, homework, and of course no rated MATURE games.

  Darren, Meme, and I went into together to add a television so that we might get to use our own television. 

Connor was thrilled.   He says his room looks like a grown up room now.  

The cousins O & O got Carlee one of her favorite gifts:  

Elsa Hair with an Anna Dress

Bank Tin of Spongebob Suckers

Who doesn't need this?

The Frozen franchise has really hit our house this year.  

Carlee was gifted the movie and we are all about LETTING IT GO!

 

Carlee's old bed was the same baby bed that we had to saw her leg out.  

Baby Bed Fail Here

Yep, we just glued it and turned it into a toddler bed.  (don't judge- second baby here)

Santa took mercy and brought Carlee a Little Mermaid bed and Meme added the Frozen Sheets.

Who wouldn't want to go to bed now?

Uncle B. sketched this drawing for Connor.

I know I can't draw a straight line with a ruler, but  Uncle B. has some mad skills, right?

Perhaps I can come up with some comic book content and he can provide the drawings.

I think we could make some bucks.

Would anyone want to read about Crazy Woman who uses donuts as her Super Power?  

Baby Alive is resting in her nursery today.  

Carlee has named her baby Nmonica (yes with an N, I think I have a Kardashian living with me).

Another cousin gift,

Connor loves it but I'm not so crazy about this sticking out in my kitchen.

I told Connor we may relocate this to the basement door.

Now that the kids are older they are playing in their rooms more.

I've reorganized the play corner into a homework spot with our pencils, books, Awana manuals, pencils, etc.

I was cleaning out Carlee's books and I realized she has all of these great books I haven't read to her yet.   

I had the great idea of having Connor read extra to Carlee. He is required to read 30 min. nightly for homework and I could kill two birds with one stone.  

We shall see if this plan works.

I had a few great gifts for myself.

At her daycare, Carlee wrapped a precious gift and

we opened it on Christmas morning.

With her teacher she made the most beautiful calendar.

I love it!

Nana gave me a new George Foreman.

I still use the old one but it was missing the tray and I had to use another pan with it.  

I was very glad to get rid of the old and move in the new.

No judgements here but I was so excited to get Becoming by Cindy Crawford.

Yes, I admit it that I'm a Cindy fan.

She is very bright and even graduated valedictorian of her high school class.

I'm enjoying her stories and experiences of being a model in the 80s.  She was driven and focused without the use of drugs.

However, this is not a book that will stay on my end table.  The pictures are beautiful but there are quite a few racy ones.  Not for the eyes of a 10 year old boy.

I'm pretty confident my son would never voluntarily pick up a book but you can never be too sure.

These are a few gifts I bought myself.

Another bag with compartments and prints of my children.  Don't you love it? (the kids are ok too)

I really have my eye on a few large canvas prints and couch covers but I may have to wait until I survive January.

Speaking of purses, I've been cleaning out mine today.

Red pens (when I always need black), a pink Barbie shoe, dead batteries, 3 sets of ear plugs for my children, safety pens for my pants without buttons, and a football kicker.

Sums up my life nicely.

Merry Christmas to All

Christmas Princess

Carlee and I are off to finish the last of the eggnog!

Tacky CoWorkers

'Tis the Season for tidings, cheer, 

and most importantly Goodwill!

Speaking of Goodwill....

One afternoon Mrs. E. and I were shopping at the Goodwill when we thought of the idea of 

A GOODWILL SECRET SANTA at work.

We started it in our pod but next year we hope to go whole school!

The rules:

1.  Draw a random name.

2.  Keep your name a secret.

3.  For a week gift your person with a secret item that cost less than a $1.00 and must come from Goodwill  or Salvation Army.
4. At the end of the week spend up to $3.00.

5.  Be as nice, tacky, or wacky as you want!

I was more than thrilled when I drew the name of my pal K.

We started our first year teaching together and she has a great sense of humor (and little did I know she had my name too)!

Me, Liz, and K.


The first day,
I was sick but Mrs. E. had my back with an adorable football pencil holder.

Then I was back and the terrible gift giving began....
I found this shake weight with tape cassette for 1.50.
 I threw in a banana for a 'health' theme!
It's never too soon to get in SHAKE.

Shake Weight Here
Darnell Lupenui Workout TUNES

Gift #3:

My favorite gift:

(another pencil holder)

 I found this great box too!

 Goodwill Wrapping

The Goodwill and Good Cheer didn't stop with me, 

there were some pretty terrific gifts:

Desert Socks

Hustla DVD

We figure this hat was for drinking "lemonade" while admiring the pig trophy!

Great Reads for Cultural Understanding

One even had a reading comprehension quiz...

Mom Mug

One of my favorite gifts:

Arkansas Plate with Clinton Photo

Hilarious, but that picture still isn't as funny as the time I met the real President Clinton.

The fun didn't stop there.

For our Christmas social we dressed out in our tacky sweaters.

 Sweaters, Trivia, and Junk in the Trunk Game

 I tried to coach Mrs. C. through the Junk in the Trunk game but we still lost.

I should have did it but obviously I have an unfair advantage.

We also lost the Tacky Sweater Contest.

We were robbed.

Really, no one and I mean NO ONE takes tacky to the places that we take it:

Who has more fun than we do?

In the midst of competition, Mrs. E. ran to the play area to grab a skirt!

I really love this picture.

Photo Bomb

I love people who love life!

Merry Christmas to those who keep it JOLLY