The Ha Ha Ha Season

I've asked Siobain to ditch the "gloom and doom" books for the Christmas season.  Just check out some books that are funny.  Something that will make you laugh.

No vampires.
No zombies.
No death.
No cartoons.

Sooo.... if you have any fun, age-appropriate books to recommend to this adorable 12 year old, let me know.

My beautiful girlie!

Help me make this ho-ho-ho season a ha-ha-ha season!

Smash Burger

Had a great lunch out with the big girlies: Karen, Stacy, and Amy.  We met up at Smash Burger for burgers and the BEST sweet potato fries EVER! Stacy had a story to share with us but said it would have to wait until after we were done eating… That should have been my first clue.

After I finished my jalapeno burger and sweet potato fries Stacy told her story…

First let me mention that Stacy and Sean are newlyweds… And so adorable together.  PLUS Sean looks just like a better-looking-thinner-red-headed Zack Galifianakis… I mention this because I have a huge crush on both of them.  Anyway, back to Stacy's story.

She and Sean (Zack) had chinese for dinner last night.  Stacy was awakened from her beauty sleep by the sounds of Sean vomiting.  Did he have food poisoning?  NO! Apparently their dog got sick at some point that evening and diareahed all over a blanket… The same blanket that Sean pulled onto himself to keep his cute-zack-look-a-like-ness warm.  But when Sean realized he had dog doo all over himself he could not keep the content of his stomach down.

And neither could I… I tried to keep control of myself as Stacy was sharing this very funny story, but I lost.  I made it, just in time, to the ladies room before emptying my $8 worth of food into their toilet.

Fortunately I did not repeat the incident of August 1, In Commando of the Situation, and urinate all over myself while vomiting.  I also did not get anything on my dress.

So, after 12 altoids and some Sprite I am back at work.  My secret safe… Except for everyone I repeat this story to :)

Me & Stacy, a reenactment

My God Box

I love my new God Box.

"Record worries that steal our peace & serenity.

Putting them in the box says we are willing to surrender them to

the Creator and trust Him to handle them on our behalf!"

"Once they are in the box, they are His!"

www.entheosbooks.com

Active Listener, NOT

"Siobain?" I call from my bedroom.
Siobain pops her head in.
"There is a round, gold, zipper bag about this big" (I use my hands to demonstrate) "on the kitchen counter. Can you bring it to me?" I ask lazily... 'cause I could have gotten it myself...
Siobain pops back in with this...

"Siobain? Can you describe the object I asked you to get for me?" I inquire.

"The bag on the counter..." She replies.

"I said a 'round, gold, zipper bag'... is this a round, gold, zipper bag?" I ask with exasperation.

"I'll be right back..." she says as she leaves the room...

This is a smart girl.  High marks in 4 pre-AP classes.

... sigh, listening skills? We'll work on those ...

She did not want me to write about this because she felt like an idiot.  I try to keep her private moments private... but this is just too hilarious to keep to myself.  Plus, how lucky are we that these moments are the frustrating ones? She is such a good girlie.

She's just read the post and has given me permission to share her "idiotic" moment.

Photo Booth... March 2010

So it's 3:00 am in the morning and I'm looking at the fridge photos while eating a green apple... I notice the website, blababooth.com, at the bottom of these photo booth strips and decide to check it out.

And there is a VIDEO of the booth session!

(The video/audio is not in sync because I "taped" it off the internet.)

The girlies did one too and it is adorables!

Love them so much!

BEST middle of the night apple break EVER!

Growing Up

cover my eyes so that I can not see

the changes that are happening right before me

"I don't want Siobain to grow up. She's even crossing her legs now!"

- Caitlin, 11/25/11

Gorgeous' Crystal

It's that sparkly time of year when Gorgeous puts up her crystal tree... here's a sneak peak...

angel heart

bell

Fleur-de-lis

seahorse

snowflake

snowman

Giving Thanks

I have so much to be thankful for...

And today I was able to spend the day with 14 of the best.

Eleanor and Mia brought fitting attire for the day.

Hubby carved our very first smoked turkey, courtesy of his bestie Rick.

(LOL that I just referred to Rick as a "bestie")

Mia saved a seat for her daddy... and made SURE no one else sat there.

Kate shared her vocal range with us at dinner...

... first time I wasn't the loudest and I LOVED it!

Tehehehehe... I was taking pictures while my sisters did the dishes...

... and the boys watched the game.

Siobain found a quiet place to "do her thing."

Eleanor and Caitlin wrote out a list of things they are thankful for.

Caitlin's Prince

Eleanor's Prince

S'MORES! A candle, flame and lighter!

Mia knows how to make a s'more and eat it too!

Bonus! Just for you!  Uncle Eddie pointed out these trees...

"tree hugger"

s'more gifts

The office celebrated Thanksgiving today with a pot luck lunch.  Michael (not hubby) made a fantastic fried turkey... so moist! There was stuffing, macaroni salad, macaroni & cheese, mushroom salad (wow good), deviled eggs, potato casserole, sweet potatoes, bread... and then a whole table dedicated to desserts!

A good time with good people.

I made S'more gift bags for peeps to take home, copied from The Busy Budgeting Mama.

Wish there

were s'more people

like you!

Thank you for all you do!

My tower of chocolate and assembly line...

4 marshmallows

1/2 chocolate bar

4 graham cracker squares

I found these ginger bread bags on sale(!) and thought they looked cute with the tags.

During my assembly I had very few casualties... 

1 marshmallow (fell to the floor)

2 chocolate bars (broken)

3 graham crackers (broken)

I also had some leftovers for my girlies to enjoy!

Snow Ball

Spartacus was very excited to show me something tonight...

The girlies gave him a new squeaky ball for the "winter"...

He'll be sleeping with it for days!

Fan Club

After 4 years Kitty is finally willing to accept Spartacus as part of the family.  She has recently moved out of the master bath to join the family.  She's been accepting Spartacus in her bed (my bed) for about a year,  at night, with the understanding that the spot next to hubby's head is hers.

But know she'll share the space with him during daylight hours also.  I've even spotted her in the living room several times.  You can't acknowledge said spottings or she'll dash back to the bedroom.

I attribute this new found dog tolerance to Caitlin. She and Kitty have bonded strongly, Kitty no longer fearing an inadvertent poke in the eye.

Here Kitty is checking out Spartacus' recent blog post.  I think she finds him very pedestrian... but she finds everyone except Caitlin pedestrian.

I think I see a small smile as she reads MyNameSpartacus.blogspot.com.

Meanwhile the Medina abode is full of tween laughter.  I really like Sophia and Siobain l-o-v-e-s her... but I am still struggling with opening my home to others.  Hubby is being very understanding and letting me hang with the cat in my bedroom. Although I did take my anxiety meds to handle the space invasion I have noticed an improvement in my willingness to go to places where there are... people.  This past weekend I went to the tree lighting event (although with a few "moments" of extreme anxiety) and I was able to go to a craft show on Sunday. Fortunately I picked a great time to go to the craft show and there wasn't much of a crowd, plus I found a great new item. A God Box! You write down your prayers or anxieties and release them to God to take care of.

Uncle Eddie

Yay! Uncle Eddie arrived today.  I met up at Sarah's to say hello and go out to lunch.  My girlies Eleanor and Mia are so adorable and are drawn to Uncle Eddie.  He burped Mia's baby american doll and rocked her to sleep.

Jason's Deli was perfect for lunch.  There was a big "mystery" that Eleanor was sure to solve.  Someone left their office tags at the salad bar, hmmmmmm, why would anyone do that? Only the young can think that being forgetful is mysterious instead of the way to middle age...

Eddie staying through Thanksgiving and hopefully a little longer...

...if he can stand all us Texas women!

It's a double handled ice cream!

Deck the Mall

Missed posting yesterday because of a killer migraine.  Actually, missed everything yesterday because of it... home sick with my meds and a heating pad on my head.  Slept for over 24 hours...

I was feeling much better this afternoon and decided to join hubby and the girlies at the Southlake tree lighting celebration.  And I am so glad I did (although I was still a major crabby pants...)

The town square shopping area was turned into an 80 degree winter wonderland with orchestras, choirs, bells, crafts, cookies, lights, and Santa!  Everything free!

This is how hubby and the girlies usually look...

all tangled up... a moving ball of crazy.

They laugh at me because just watching them makes me claustrophobic.

This was hubby's idea of a great photo op... all antlers.

Why yes, we would love to put our own icing on our cookies!

 A holiday g-o-o-f-b-a-l-l.

Funnel Cakes! Free Funnel Cakes!

These guys must have been SO HOT!

This was my favorite part!

The Children's Medical Center booth was making holiday flip books...

We saved the Santa sitting for last.

This is our very first FAMILY Santa photo ever.

Awwwwkward, Santa ain't happy with our po-dunk group.

I did try to get everyone dressed up a bit... but no one was listening and I gave up.

So this is us... and we love it!

Our Village

it takes a village to raise a child - proverb

As we were getting ready for bed last night Caitlin asked if I was going to able to come and watch her classroom Thanksgiving reading. What about Daddy?  She looked so disappointed when I said we both had to work.  Gut shot of guilt... Hubby and I juggle the events so that one us can always be there but we didn't know the pilgrim story was going to be an EVENT.

She asked if anyone else was going to come... Aunt Sarah? Gorgeous? Aunt Siobain?

I called Sarah to see if she was available.  She was! And she even suggested that we get Honey out of school to come and see the play too.

How wonderful is my sister? She made my littlest girlie's day and somehow got big smiles out of my big girlie...

This is the face of a little girl who feels loved and special!

This is the face... of a girlie who apparently CAN smile... hmmmmmm.

Thanks to Aunt Sarah of the Medina Village I am able to watch

 my littlest girlie say her pilgrim lines...

Thank you Sarah!