Busy Busy

We've seen a lot.

We've eaten a lot.

I've listened to a lot of whining. 

We spent today skiing.  I'm in love and have every intention of becoming a ski bum. 

Who needs to work anyway.

Hopefully my sister got some great shots! 

I'm exhausted and my kids are talking entirely too much tonight.  I don't think that they have come up for air.

Now to figure out what is going to happen tomorrow!

Christmas Faces of Junior

The house of joy & love

My mom rented an entire B&B for the week after Christmas. A week of togetherness for all 15 of us. Oh the stories. So far we are at least a few miles from the correctional facility, not far past the hour motel, before the trailer park, and next to the tie-dye buses. But.....the house is beautiful. The company is great. The wine is flowing....


-- Post From My iPhone

Merry Christmas!!!

Can you identify all of us?  This was our Christmas card this year, and I think Abs did a great job, even if it does look like the tank is going to run over us!

Merry Christmas, from our house to yours.  We are thankful that Gunner is home with us this year....

I am scheduling this to post at 6 am, and I hope that we will still be fast asleep.  Wishful thinking, right?

Christmas Eve in our house...

As I was writing the title, she ran upstairs and left a screaming Junior downstairs.  We ran to the basement and found that she was upset with him and had left him in the dark.  Not cool.  She is sitting in time out.

Yesterday Abs went outside to take Sammy for a walk.

Gunner went to check on her....

Gunner:  Abs....Abs....
Abs:  Yes?
Gunner:  Sammy is not a sled dog.  He is not going to pull you around the neighborhood.
Abs:  Oh man.

The spirit of the season has possessed her. 


After her bath, the bathroom looked like this:

 Em forgot to put up her shampoo and conditioner. 

Will we ever get a break?  We called 1-877-HI-NORAD and the nicest volunteer answered and let us know where Santa was, when he was expected in our area, and Abs started in with the questions.

Abs:  I have a dog, will Santa be scared?
Man:  Nope, he likes dogs and all dogs like him.
Abs:  Will Santa come even if my dog is awake?
Man:  He'll come as long as all the boys and girls are tucked into bed.
Abs:  How do you know that?
Man:  Santa let us know!
Abs:  My dog likes to to lick people.
Man:  Santa won't mind.
Abs:  Are you sure?
Man:  Yep, he is friends with all the dogs and cats.

She had a bout a dozen more questions, and I finally had to chase her off the phone.  Then I had sent a video complete with her name, hair color, eye color, and that she was working on not throwing tantrums.  My little firecracker was mesmerized.

Surprisingly, this helped calm her down after she pretended to ride her cardboard house and ask for volunteers to help her break horses.  While she was in her room at one point, I was in our room wrapping presents.  I heard Abs through the vent, so I stared talking to her and telling her to hold it down.  She got really upset and started screaming, wanting me out of the heater.  Junior latched on to this and got upset because "Mommy is in the heater!". 

I'm opening the wine.

Junior's Christmas Eve

Gunner and I needed to hit the mall, so we took Junior with us since the girls had no interest in venturing out in the cold and snow.  It really wasn't that bad, and the mall was practically empty.

We tried to find something specific, but it wasn't available there, but we walked around for a bit.  We rarely have Junior by ourselves, and I think he loved being an "only child" for a few hours.

First we had to convince him to get dressed, which was no easy feat.  Next, Gunner tried to talk him out of wearing the "monkey on his back".

Yes, it's a bear.  We compromised and he just had to take it out of his shirt in the carseat, and then got to put it back up his shirt at the mall. 

We rode every "alligator".

At one point in Sears, he let go of my hand, I looked down, and he was turning and fell before I could catch him.  Gunner was three steps back and broke his fall, but he cried and we had half the store surrounding us.  He was crying and everyone was asking if he was okay and he kept saying "Can you see I'm hurt?" while sobbing on one of the beds.  Poor kiddo.  It happened so fast.  After that he still wanted to ride, but clung to our hands and refused to look anywhere but straight ahead.

There was a Christmas play-land.

A coin operated train.

A larger train.

And the boy kept asking for a run to Starbucks the whole time.  He loves the cold hot chocolate with whipped cream. 

We finally managed to use our gift certificates and get a family present that will be a big hit tomorrow.  Gunner just ran out to get more batteries.  More pics to come of our afternoon adventures...

Christmas Eve

Gunner's present has NOT arrived.  I'm not too happy, but at least my neighbors will be home next week in case it decides to come.

Since it was supposed to snow Tuesday night, what else would we do but hit the pool.  Abs took her swim test to get the green band and passed!  She had tried several times and so it was a long time coming.  When we got to the front of the building to turn in her lock and band to get her id, she had this conversation.

Abs:  Maybe you didn't notice, but I am turning in a green band instead of the yellow one.
Guy:  Great!  Congratulations!
Abs:  Yeah, so do you want to make an announcement about it over the loud speaker or something?
Guy:  We don't usually do that, but I will change it in the computer so that you when you swipe in, they'll know right away that you need a green band!

Thank goodness he was nice and made a big deal about it, because she was so proud of herself!

Em and I had a day out and went and got our hairs cut yesterday.  She got a cute razor cut, and I had mine trimmed and straightened.  How much can you really do with a pile of ringlets?

I started sewing gift bags for Christmas, in order to maybe, possibly, save some time next year when Gunner is deployed.  The key is that I got the idea and I started.  I now have piles of fabric on the kitchen table and Gunner looking at me funny every time I come up with something else to do.

Today Gunner and I are going to head out with Junior to spend two of our Heroes at Home gift certificates.   Can't wait! 

Gingerbread houses were marked down to $3 so we picked up two more so that each of the kids can eat their own make their own.  That's on the list of things to do today. 

The list that keeps growing and growing and growing.  My brother and his family will be here tomorrow and my little sister and her kids are arriving tomorrow night.  Then all of us are meeting my mom and my older sister and her kids at the Christmas cabin.  15 people......it will definitely be interesting!  Actually, I am really looking forward to it, and I am not just being nice because they read my blog saying that!

Merry Christmas Eve!  (And another Abs story to come later today when I have more time!)

P.S.  Not all my Christmas cards have gone out, but I want all of Ab's hard work to stand out, so if you get it after Christmas, that's why.  :)

Preparing for Christmas

Gunner and I spent the day getting the final things for the kids.

Tomorrow we take the kids shopping for each other....and Sammy.  Abs has requested that nothing be bought for for her, and instead use all funds to buy presents for the dog.

We got home and finally decided to put up the tree.  Junior saw the stockings and wanted to put them on so that he could be Santa.  The next thing we uncovered was a santa suit--size 12 months.  That didn't stop the boy from wanting to wear it.

 Way too small.  We used the flip and shot video of Abs and Junior dancing.  My mom asked who Junior was watching dance, because he can really shake his booty.

Then Junior went downstairs and stumbled on a mask.

Which reminded me of what I shot a picture of the night before when he was supposed to be sleeping.

The bow tie makes the outfit, or maybe it is the trash can on his head?

We finally got the tree up....

But, we were missing the chimney again, so Abs took care of that for us so we will have a place to hang the stockings. 

I did take some pictures with my camera instead of my phone, but you know how LONG it takes to download them, and I'm lazy exhausted. 

Tomorrow we have a few more errands, presents to wrap, and we have gingerbread houses to decorate.  I love Gunner being home this year!

Sammy

Do you notice anything new on Sammy? Designed by Abs, and the poor dog just takes it. Maybe he really needed a tail warmer?

Poor Junior

What you get when you cross one Abs with a compliant little brother.

Video of Junior and Abs.

Ignore the mess, we were out and about all day and don't have time for stuff like that!  I did get laundry folded, but haven't hit all the socks.  Please tell me someone else out there has a sock bucket??????

VACATION!!

The kids are out of school.

Gunner is on leave.

We have plenty to do to keep us busy. I voted for the fiber optic tree, and Gunner wants the whole nine yards. Considering he missed last Christmas, I should be going all out this year. But now we have waited so long, the thought of packing it all up again in less than a week.....and we know who will get stuck packing it up! Maybe we can do the fiber optic tree next year when he is gone again.

Someone who stumbled on my blog saw the pictures of Gunner and thought he looked exactly like his buddy that he served in Desert Storm with way back when. He was talking about my BIL. Small world!

We have a few last minute gifts to get, and then we are done. I am all done buying for my niece and nephew whose names I drew this year. I keep adding to their piles. My brother mentioned that his son likes hand-me-downs (he's 1--my nephew, not my brother). I can help them out there, because Andrew is going to mysteriously outgrow all his noisy toys before we see them!

Our list of things to take on vacation is growing faster than I want it too.

Gunner got a flip phone for our anniversary. I'm such a good wife. :)

Abs got behind the chair where our wireless modem is and "might have accidentally pushed it out of the way, really carefully, with her big toe, which is always gentle." It's broken now.

Abs has tied up the fan in her room with yarn, and it stretches from her bed to the fan to the door. I don't even want to know what she was trying to create. The other day Sammy came out of her room with all her socks tucked into his collar so that he looked like a lion. She was shocked that I made her "un-decorate" him.

Em finally got her door back, and we haven't had any slamming yet. Let's hope it continues.

At school, Junior made a snowman out of a sock. It's really cute, but he wanted to put buttons on the back. I let him, and the teacher noticed and told him that he did a great job with the buttons on the back. He told her "My snowman has buttons on his back like I do after my accidents". They make him dress himself, and he always puts his clothes on backwards, so he thinks the buttons should go in the back.

Never a dull moment!

Happy Anniversary Gunner!

15 years of marriage
14 hundred pounds of TA50
13 pressed uniforms
12 years living stateside
11 years of actually being in the same country
10 pairs of boots
9 months since you got home
8 military houses
7 months till your Afghanistan deployment (sorry, it fit!)
6 cross country trips
5 P-C-S-es
4 year long deployments
3 cute kids
2 strange inlaws
and 1 puppy named Sammy.

Thanks for the first 15 years Gunner, here's to the next 15....

D-O-N-E!!!!

I *think* I have finished school for the semester.  I finished my gigantic project and submitted it.  Unless I find some glaring errors that I didn't catch the first 500 times I reviewed it, when I review it again tonight, I won't resubmit it.  Hopefully she won't send it back and ask for clarification on anything.  I don't want to see it again.

I did a quick paper for my other class to tie up the loose ends, and submitted that too.

I have such a weight off my shoulders.

Nine days till Christmas, and now I can get busy and get everything done that I need to! 

Is it bad that I want to buy a 3 foot fiber optic tree and call it good?  I was so wrapped up in school, I couldn't even think about the holidays.  Maybe my motivation will come out tomorrow morning when I wake up and don't have this black cloud of school doom hanging over my head. 

I'm too happy to even nap right now.  Wish I had had this energy when I was working on my stuff!

Wordless Wednesday

I was looking through old drafts on my blog, and I found this one that I was going to do for a wordless Wednesday over 2 1/2 years ago.  

Gunner in Iraq during 2nd tour.

500 pictures

What does Abs do at 3 am?  She takes pictures.  Hundreds of them.  No kidding.  Over 500 pictures of the lights. 

Then Junior was up, so he became her focus for a bit, and we have about 100 pictures.  Looks like she was trying every setting.

I kind of like this one.

I guess she won him over in the end, because he was participating a little bit more and we have about 50 of these, but only a handful where you can see Junior's face, usually it's just a mouth.

At least it looks like she got better in time.

North Pole--Home of Santa's Workshop

Since it was supposed to be a nice day, we decided to head to the North Pole Home of Santa's Workshop.  (They give a military discount, and you know how I like discounts!)  I went when I was 6, but all I remembered was a bumpy slide on a burlap bag.  On the bright side, I remembered that we went!

I wanted to get there early, but as usual, life gets in the way.  (We won't even get started on how my project that is due in a few days is in the way too, since I obviously through that to the side to venture out)  Anyway, the whole park is kind of old and cheesy, but the kids loved it.  Junior could go on every ride which was nice.  We could always tell when he was enjoying a ride as he yells out at the top of his lungs "WEEEEE-HAAAAWWWW". 

About 2 it started to snow, and it really came down for the rest of the time we were there.  The nice part was that most people left during the first few minutes of the snow, so we never had to wait, and could stay on the rides. 

Even Em and Abs got along well enough to ride on almost every ride together.















I took a ton of pictures, of course, and I think Gunner even took one of me once.  Junior was asleep before we pulled out of the parking lot and slept the whole way home.  A quick dinner, and we had all the kids in bed by 7:30.  Let's hope they sleep!

Second Thoughts

I think I am done with school for a while. 

I'm burnt out, and just can't find the motivation to finish this last week and a half.  I still have the website to finish, and then I have another project that I am not even sure about what I need to do.  The directions are unclear and all my questions have gone unanswered.  How's that for customer service?  Frustrating. 

Sure another degree or certification is nice to add, but what good does it really do when you don't even use what you have?  Maybe I'll change my mind after Christmas break?  I doubt it, but the possibility is always there.

So now I have to decide what to do next.  I'm definitely not Holly Homemaker.  I'm not a good cook, I hate to clean (hence the need for a high paying job so I can hire someone), and I'm a packrat.  My children aren't crowded around the homefires singing kum-by-yah and holding hands, and there is often more screaming than not.

I'm still in this funk and don't know what the deal is.  Maybe it's my lack of working out and the fact that I tried on my favorite pants from Banana and they were snug?  Maybe it's the freezing temperatures and being cooped up in the house all day?  Maybe it is the stress of school, Ab's appointments, and trying to keep everything flowing smoothly?  Maybe it's too much time on my hands, that somehow turns into not enough because I am severely lacking motivation?

On the bright side, Abs is really doing well.  Emily lives in the bathroom these days, the joys of a pre-teen.  Junior is starting to go potty on his own more, but forget pooping, he only goes at school, and only when he feels like it.  Maybe Santa will bring me a potty trained boy for Christmas?

Good morning?

It's the anniversary of Pearl Harbor.  I will never forget the feeling of standing on the USS Arizona Memorial, or visiting the other memorials throughout Hawaii. 

Some nights I really think that I should just write off sleep and stay up all night and hang out with Abs.  It has to be easier than hearing her run through the house, trying to be discreet.  She's anything but.

The remote was hidden.  Cable box off.  Wii remotes hidden.  Computers have passwords.  Her entertainment?  My canon rebel.  I have hundreds of pictures taken in the dark....of nothing.  Her company?  A dog named Sammy. 

School is not closed today, which means visual therapy is still on, and I can make my doctor's appointment.

Gunner's phone rang at a quarter till 5 this morning.  I love how they always pick up right away, give a roger, an out, and are on to the next call.  Two hour delay at Carson.

So what does Gunner do?  He wakes up and starts getting dressed.  I asked him what he was doing and his response was "It's a two hour delay, not two hours to sleep in., it means I have two hours extra to get to work".  I love that about him.

We went sledding yesterday, and Junior was having the time of his life.  He dragged his own sled up the hill, then he needed help getting on and a push off, and he would screech all the way down and do it over and over again. It was perfect.  Abs closed her eyes and veered way off course and ran into a tree, so sledding was over for her after that.

Two more weeks of school.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I will feel like I am getting run over till I get there.

Trying to pull a fast one...

It is snowing.....again.  The joys of living in the mountains.  Actually I find it absolutely beautiful, and the more, the better.  I am about to start the last two weeks of school, and have enough work to keep an army busy. 

We of course weren't organized enough to do it yesterday, so we had to clean out the carport.  We had boxes out there from round 200 of unpacking, and had gotten a notice that we would be fined if we didn't clean it up.

We borrowed a snow shovel, and then fought over who got to use it.  I'm sure that the newness is over for Gunner, and he won't be begging to do it again any time soon.

We have several inches of snow already, and we need to go to Sam's to get a few vital things--papertowels (because this house cannot exist without them), trash bags (we accumulate more trash than anyone else I know), string cheese (so Junior can continue to exist), dishwasher detergent (we use too many dishes, mainly glasses), and a rotisserie chicken (because a trip to Sam's is not complete without one).  I also have to mail two fed ex boxes.

Gunner & I had a conversation that went like this:

G:  I should go to Sam's by myself because of the weather.
Me:  Are you sure?
G:  Yes. 
Me:  But you just came back from the recycling center and told me that the roads were all clear.
G:  Didn't I tell you about the car that crashed?
Me:  No.  I need to mail the fed ex boxes, and I have to do that.
G:  Oh.  I guess we should all go.
Me:  Oh no, I would hate for you to go out in such horrible weather conditions.
G:  No, they aren't so bad, we'd hate for you to have to go all alone.

We went sledding instead.

Happenings & Pictures

If you are my friend on facebook, then you've seen a lot of these pictures. 

We are in the throws of swim lessons, while there is snow on the ground.  Thankfully the pool is warm, and next week I am going to spend my 45 minutes of waiting in the hot tub this time instead of the bench.  Only Junior would pose for me.

Abs is really doing well in swimming and even falls asleep early.  That also means she is getting up at 3 am, but we're working on that too.  Em jumped up two groups, and is really picking it up fast.  Maybe by this summer they'll swim well enough to warrant a trip to Hawaii?

I went to a PEO Christmas event, and didn't buy a thing at the silent or live auction.  One of the women in the group, purchased this wreath, and gave it to me as a gift, after seeing me admire it.  It's absolutely beautiful--this picture was taken with my camera phone, so it doesn't do it justice! She's so sweet, and has a son that has similar issues to Abs, so she understands too,

Next on the list....Em got new glasses.  She loves them, thank goodness, and we avoided the Hannah Montana problems from last time.

It's been super cold here.  Down to the single digits, and negative temperatures with the wind chill.  This is our gigantic icicle.  This picture was taken yesterday, and it is now 33", but too dark to take a picture.  I thought it might melt off, but guess it didn't get that warm.  Since we will be having a few more days of freezing temps, I wonder how long it will get.

Yesterday at the AFA chapel they were having the cadet chorale perform Handel's Messiah. 

The chapel is amazing, but they were keeping it so cold in there, that I left after the Hallelujah chorus before I froze to death.  Of course with that much glass, it would be hard to keep at an acceptable temperature for everyone I suppose.

Check out that organ!

Today we went to the craft bazaar here, and I was almost disappointed until I stumbled on the last booth way in the back.  I saw this...

And I pictured this...

How could I say no?  The lady was an Air Force spouse and she had so many amazing things!  I also got this (another hat turned on its side):

Too cute!  She had ornaments (which I can't share, so Sara will be surprised, I hope she likes it!), cards, puppets, bags, tshirts, jewelry, and more.  I did get a pair of earrings, but they didn't photograph very well:

Fused glass.  I think I need more!

Abs went to build-a-bear with her Girl Scout troop, and made a little Brownie bear.  Girl Scout cookies go on sale Jan 8th, if you want to buy any from your two favorite Girl Scouts Em and Abs!

While Abs was at that, Gunner took Junior and Em to walk around the mall while I studied.  Em is obsessed with Justin Beiber, and by the time they returned Junior was walking around swooning "Juuuusssstttttiiiiinnn Biiiiieeeebbbbbeeeerrr" in a girly voice.  The joys of having a big sister.

I was typing, and I looked over and saw a GIGANTIC shadow of Abs.  I didn't run over there, because I knew she was up to no good, but didn't want to scare her since I could only imagine what she was doing. 

Me:  What are you doing Abs?
Abs:  Seeing how tall I am.
Me:  You look mighty big, what are you standing on?
Abs:  Junior's black box.  (We have a brown ottoman that Junior thinks is black and he sits there to watch tv)
Me:  You seem awfully tall for just the black box, what else are you standing on?
Abs:  Oh just a stool or two.

The girl had piled two stools on top of the ottoman and was balanced precariously.  We got her down, but not before Junior saw her, and attempted to copy her.  The stools are gone now.

On Friday when I picked up Junior from school, I noticed one of his drawings on the wall.

I told you, the boy is obsessed with his Grandpa.  His teacher said that he was so proud of his artwork, and she let me take it down, after I told her that he talks about my dad all the time, but that he had never met him.  He saw the picture in my hands, and told me it was "My Grandpa's City".  I asked him to tell me about it and he said "It's heaven, it's what heaven looks like".  Way to break my heart kiddo.

Cookies just came out of the oven, the kids are almost all in bed, and we have nothing but kids movies from Netflix right now.  Guess I don't have any other excuse other to work on my papers for school.

Cold weather

When we were stationed at Fort Lewis, it snowed a handful of times.

I think it snowed twice when we were stationed at Hood.

Today it is snowing, 14 degrees outside, with a wind chill of -3.

Em tried to leave the house in a sweatshirt.  I tried to talk her into a heavy coat and gloves, but she didn't want to be a dork.  She put on a light coat, and I chose my battle and let her go. 

Junior wore what I put him in, thank goodness.

Abs dressed herself. 

Two pairs of underwear.
Orange shorts.
Pink tights.
Green shorts.
Socks.
Three green shirts.
Green coat.
Pink coat.
Green gloves.
Green snowboots. 

Abs:  Don't you like how I coordinated the green?
Me:  I LOVE it.  Very stylish.
Abs:  I know. 

Notice the super cute puppy that is growing his hair back.

Electricity went off for a while, hopefully it stays on till I at least eat breakfast. 

Field Problem: Crooks & Henderson

I read their blog.  I laugh.  Sometimes they have an emotional one that gets me.  I signed up to attend their event in Texas, but something happened and I couldn't make it.

When we went on the turkey trot last weekend, I saw that they were having one at Fort Carson, so I signed up as soon as we got home.

So today was the event, and I was actually really excited about it.  I got there, signed in, and then there was an ice breaker for us to complete.  I hate asking people any information, so this was painfully hard for me, but I survived.  Hey, a door prize was on the line!

When we signed in, we got a tote bag full of goodies--deployment notebook from USAA, tshirt, books, coupons, and tons more--really good stuff too.  Then they also had prepared a gift bag for our husbands.  How can I not be happy with that?  After the ice breaker, they had companies that setup booths for us to visit and collect "stuff".  (Think stocking stuffers!) 

We entered to win $100 gift cards (Bed, Bath & Beyond), $50 gift cards (PX, Home Depot, Starbucks, some other places), all kinds of other stuff.  We had lunch provided for us--baked potatoes, salad, soup, and cake.  (Did I mention it was all free?)

They talked, told funny stories, shared, and handed out door prizes by the gazillions.  They had gigantic gift baskets, tons of military resources, donations, etc.  I think it was the largest and best group of door prizes I had ever seen!

I did win a door prize, more on that later.  I walked away with a ton of resources to share with everyone.  I'm really excited about everything that I learned.  I sat next to a girl who had yet to face a deployment.  I remember those days....15 years ago. 

A shot of my "stuff".

More to come on what I learned, but if you get a chance, make sure you attend one of these events! Not for the stuff, but just the resources.  I'm off to make a new list!

More Random Thoughts

My mom is gone, and all the turkey has been eaten.  Well it was eaten the first 48 hours because I get sick just thinking about bacteria growing after that magical witching hour, but I digress.

We watched the K9 demonstration at Ab's brownie meeting last night.  It was one of the best that I have seen!  Abs had plenty of questions for the handlers:

   --Where can I get one of those attack suits?  I need one with mittens.  I have an attack baby brother.

   --Can I pet that dog?  (The dog was all but frothing at the mouth ready to attack)

   -- What a cute little puppy, I bet my Sammy would love him to come live with us.  (Ummm....her dog is
        scared of the tiny little weenie dog down the street)

   --Can you train my dog Sammy to act like this?  (At first I thought this was a bad idea, but if they could
       make him keep the kids in bed at night, I might be all for it.  Maybe the dog could potty train Junior?)

  --Do you make the janitors clean up after the dogs, because my mom makes me, and I would rather have
     a janitor.

The Airmen didn't know what to think, but she balanced it out by asking "normal" questions. 

I was leaving to go get Em from Girl Scouts tonight and the main gate was closed.  I was stuck in those curvy things, for lack of a better turn--the ones that make you want to run a slalom course.

We sat and sat and sat.  I am never late.

I called Gunner and had him sort through my thousands of emails that I keep "just in case" till he found the number for the leader.  Called the leader, she said she would wait.

The gate remained locked.  I called Gunner back and asked him to try to head out the north gate.  It was locked.

Nothing is worse than not being able to pick up your kiddo.

Finally after about another half an hour we were able to get out.  At least I had facebook in the car, although I was almost out of gas and my phone was dying.  On the bright side, it hadn't started snowing yet.

I went to an event today, but that will be another blog as I found some great resources for deployments!


   

We have a problem...

I need to find some fake Uggs, for Em for Christmas.  She even requested the fake ones, telling me that no one should be crazy enough to pay full price for those shoes.  I'm on the search.

I asked tonight at walmart about zhu zhu's, and they laughed when I said that I was looking for them.  How's that for customer service?

My mom and I spent the day shopping.  First we went to a fabric store that she visited with my dad many years ago.  She was ready to move to Colorado so she could visit more regularly.  I was overwhelmed by the choices, and so many ideas started racing through my ideas....until reality set in and I realized that I wasn't going to be sewing anything until I managed to unpack my sewing machine in the basement, and I stopped going to school and being a slave to papers and projects. 

 

 We just had Abs with us on this fabric adventure.  

They had fabrics divided by types, most of which I had never seen, and trust me, my mom has taken me to a lot of fabric stores. 

My mom.  Yep, only 7 bolts of fabrics to get cuts from......we got lucky today.

We hit two thrift stores, and I stocked up on some items that I "needed".  My mom brought a carload of stuff to me that I had left behind.  She was looking forward to going home with an empty car....I don't see that happening.

We hit the Current Outlet, learned where to print the coupons, and feasted on Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch and dinner. 

While my mom was making enchiladas tonight, we left Em in charge as our babysitter, even though my mom was there.  My mom suggested that even though she had passed her babysitting class, that we don't leave the kids for very long. 

My big pet peeve--eating in the living room.  Em decided that she needed to be with Abs and Junior since she was "babysitting", so she needed to be eating in the living room.  Never mind that she left them alone for 15 minutes while she made something to eat.  Then I kept getting phone calls about whether or not she had earned her cell phone back.  Needless to say, we returned to Em listening to her Ipod and Abs and Junior going on a safari.  Thank goodness my mom was there!

Junior is hacking up a lung and sounds horrible.  No telling what tomorrow holds!