Christmas Is Coming

I may not enjoy pulling out the boxes of decorations until a couple of weeks after Thanksgiving but I sure do enjoy CHRISTMAS BAKING!!! This week at Moms Together we'll have our annual Christmas Cookie Exchange. Each mom who wants to participate will bring 4 dozen of Christmas cookies. We'll set them all out on a table and with empty containers in hand we'll circle the table grabbing equal amounts of Christmas cookie goodness until everything is divvied out.

I got to spend some good time in the kitchen today and got a double batch of ginger cookies with icing and embellishments and a double batch of chocolate dipped crunchy peanut butter balls finished.

The Prairie Daddy is hosting his men's Bible study at our house tonight so we kept some of the goodies out of the freezer for their treats.


We just booked a trip to Hawaii for January. This time of year isn't going to be easy on swimsuit prep. Good thing my tankinis are loose around the waist! ; )

Demolition Central

At the beginning of the month The Prairie Daddy went on a "thinking spree" of what things could be done on the house. We have two bathrooms that were not installed well by whomever installed them long before we bought the ranch. Also, there are some windows that could use some replacing. We've been talking about this and that, picking out shower surrounds, figuring out how to save here and there, ordering items, and working with our builder friend who will do the work.

The Prairie Daddy decided today was the day to begin demolition...I'm not sure I am really all that ready for pieces of the house to be torn up but it's too late now! At least he was in the upstairs bathroom that we don't use. Hopefully by the time we have guests again it will be all spruced up!


It was a good thing that he decided to do this however, because as you can see the wall behind the surround was missing tiles and in pretty bad shape. Now we can prepare for the full extent of what needs to be done.

Thankful For Thanksgiving

The Thanksgiving break was oh so good for our family. We had been so busy beforehand that we noticed The Prairie Kid having some separation anxiety that we thought might be a by-product. I thought that a quiet weekend together would be just the right medicine. I think it was. Although, we might have had a little TOO much down time...we were a little on the silly side. We played games, watched movies, played toys, tickled, told stories, watching The Prairie Kid's baby video, read, took a drive, cuddled, and tried each others' clothes on...

It was a great five days together. I do think it was time to get The Prairie Kid back to school. He has a new excess of energy and volume now that he is a Kindergartner. I think the structure of his school day does him wonders. I also needed to get back to some form of responsibility and routine. Too much laying around is not a good thing. : ) And, I think I'll keep my pajamas for myself.

Carrying On Tradition

When I was growing up my parent's had a special tradition for good report cards. Instead of money or toys we would get dressed up and go to a fancy restaurant to celebrate. I have fond memories of creme brulee and multiple pieces of flatware.

The Prairie Kid got his first report card. I shared our family tradition with The Prairie Daddy and we decided to give it a try. So today we sat The Prairie Kid down at the kitchen table with his report card. We explained to him that he did a great job and we wanted to honor his hard work and celebrate. We told him there was a special restaurant he hadn't been to and we could get dressed up and go tonight.

I wasn't sure if this would be something he would get excited about but was pleased to find out that he was. He joyfully got dressed up, as did The Prairie Daddy and myself. We ventured to town and had a lovely dinner at one of the nicer restaurants.

We started out with a Shirley Temple. He thought that was pretty special. We had a fish taco appetizer and split a Caesar salad and some French onion soup. For our entrees we shared a buffalo meatloaf with goat cheese mashed potatoes and a mixed veggie side (this was The Prairie Kid's choice) and a seafood bouillabaisse. And at the end, we topped it all off with a flourless chocolate torte with raspberry sauce and...creme brulee.

Way to go Prairie Kid, keep up the good work!

Fat Chance

There is a massive surge of testosterone and aggression that is automatically released in my child's body every time he sees his older cousins. He goes full force ahead with fists and wrestles, grunts and growls. For some reason this not-quite-four-feet, 45 pounder thinks he can take a college football player and a 2nd degree black belt Tae Kwon Do champion. Seriously?

Here he is attempting to overtake the Tae Kwon Do champion on Thanksgiving...


No amount of turkey or pumpkin pie was going to help that little squirt have a chance.

Sayonara

The Hero Cousin thought it was fun to win this GIANORMOUS monkey at the fair for The Prairie Kid last summer. What he didn't realize is the space Gianormo took up and the little awful styrofoam-ish beads that would come pouring out of his poorly sewn neck seam.

We managed to tape the seam shut and get away with telling The Prairie Kid that the monkey was hurt and unusable. He sat in the corner of The Prairie Kid's room until...the sweet day before Thanksgiving when he was found a new home (along with a whole bag of other toys that we picked out to give away). Hallelujah!

I did get one picture for The Prairie Kid with "leaky neck Gianormo."


So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, adieu. I'd say we'll miss you but that wouldn't be the truth. Adios.

First Real Sleepover

We had our first "real" sleep over last weekend. It was fun and the boys had a blast. They had a little bit of a hard time getting to bed but that's to be expected. We hope to do it again soon. Here us a pic of the cuties at the top of the stairs all "pajama clad."

Just Not Quite Sure

I am unloading pics from the camera tonight and just can't quite figure out what to think...




For sure we have constant, built-in entertainment. There's no doubt about that.

Half My Life

Sixteen years ago tonight it was my turn to sleep next to the hospital bed that my dying father lay in the middle of our family room. I remember that night vividly. In the wee hours of the morning my mom woke me and told me to finish sleeping before school in my own room. She was awake and could take watch.

Little did I know that just a couple short hours later she would be waking me to tell me that my dad was gone.

It is hard for me to believe that it has been sixteen years. I was just a vulnerable sixteen years old at the time. What a brutal thing for a sixteen year old girl to have to go through.

I miss my dad. I am thankful for the time I had with him.

Tricky Treat

The Pirate Kid got to go trick-or-treating at his auntie's houses yesterday before our Harvest Party at church. We had 2 auntie's houses and an "adopted" auntie's house to go to. Here he is at the first auntie's house.

He thinks he's so clever... : )

But she didn't answer the door...she hollered for us to just come in.

He got a whole bag of treats from her. Gotta love aunties!