Shopping Craziness

Husband and I thought it would be a good idea to get some shopping done the day after Thanksgiving. We were going to take advantage of eager-to-babysit grandparents, and enjoy the benefits of Minnesota's no tax on clothing, not to mention all the great day after Thanksgiving deals!!! Well, the outlet mall not to far from Husband's parents' house opened at 12:01 AM. Thinking it would be much easier to stay up and go shop than to get up at 3:30 AM, we ventured out at 11:15 PM and headed to the outlets. Little did we know we would literally shop till we dropped, and not return back home until 3:30 PM the next day. Yes, you're right, we shopped ALL NIGHT LONG AND A GOOD PORTION OF THE NEXT DAY!!!!!!!! Yes, you're right, we ARE certified CRAZY!!! We did get some good deals, but no, we didn't get all of our shopping done. We didn't end up going to bed until after 9:00 PM that night. We were up a record-setting 40 hours. I forgot to mention in the previous post that due to hazardous weather we weren't able to drive to MN Wednesday night. We had gotten up at 4:45 AM Thanksgiving day, and gotten on the road by 6:20 AM to arrive in time for Thanksgiving dinner! Believe it or not, we didn't even nap before our shopping extravaganza. I can't say that we'd do it again, but it was definitely a memory-making experience! Here we are past comatose. Lookin' good, huh?

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving we headed up to MN to spend some time with Husband's family. It was SO MUCH fun! His entire family was able to get together, and there were 22 people at his parent's house. I have to admit, I did feel a bit overwhelmed, but it was a good kind of overwhelmed. :) A typical Thanksgiving on my side of the family consists of about half as many people. We had good food, great fellowship, and fun, fun, fun! Our nephew just turned one, and is such a little cutie! The Girl absolutely loves babies, and was in baby heaven since Husband's cousins were also there with their little guy who was one in Oct. We took advantage of having everyone in one place, and got some pictures of the three generations represented.

"The Originals"

"The Kids"

You can see by this picture that there were several "photographers." I don't think we were successful in getting everyone looking at the same camera at the same time! Ha Ha Ha!!!

"The Grandkids"

Playing Catch-Up

Since I have been absolutely HORRIBLE at updating lately, I thought I would go through month by month and give some highlights. I am a bit anal, and can't seem to move on to what's happening now without 'tying up loose ends' so to speak. Even though there are a few entries from September I think that's where I'll start with the updating. I don't typically make New Year's Resolutions because they are so hard to keep, then I just feel depressed that I didn't stick to them, but this year I think I'll make an exception and resolve to do a better job on my blog. :) OK, it's in writing now, so I'm a little more accountable, right?!


SEPTEMBER

Husband and I attended a Joyce Meyer conference in St. Paul, MN. It was WONDERFUL!! Husband made fun of me, calling me a Joyce Meyer groupie since I insisted on getting to each meeting at least an hour before the doors opened. It was well worth it, since we were able to get floor seats for each of the four sessions, and the farthest back we sat was 10 rows from the front!! The closest we sat was 5 rows from the front, and the first three rows are reserved. You see, the conference was free and there was no saving seats between sessions. If you ever get the chance to her, I HIGHLY recommend it. She is so practical and down to earth. She speaks in everyday language that's easy to understand. She's been through a lot of junk in her life, so she preaches about things that she's experienced herself. I just love her.

While we were in MN, we were able to squeeze in a little bit of time with family. On the way to St. Paul we stopped in to see Husband's aunt at her elementary school. It was fun for me to see her classroom, as we both teach first grade. We stayed with my cousin, who I haven't been able to spend much time with in recent years. We had a good time catching up, and enjoyed some of his "famous" french toast. We also went to Matt's on 35th and Cedar for a Juicy Lucy.....YUM!! If you ever get to the Minneapolis area, you've got to go have a Juicy Lucy! We were also able to have a short visit with husband's mom and dad. A little too short, but nice all the same. Mostly, husband and I were mostly able to have some much needed us time. In between sessions on Friday we walked around downtown St. Paul. It's a beautiful city and the weather was picture perfect.

OCTOBER
October was a busier month than it should have been! I teach in a school on a balanced calendar, which means that I start earlier and end later than traditional calendar schools, but I get a couple two-week breaks during the year. One of those breaks comes in October. Instead of taking both weeks off that were offered, I opted to teach an intersession class the first week. The pay was too good to pass up, but it sure did make break fly by! The weekend of the first week off, Husband and I went to visit some old friends at a church retreat a couple of hours from where we live. We saw some friends from when we were young and going to church camp! It was a lot of fun.
The second week of break I was off, but it seemed like every day was filled with things to do. Some were fun like going to Galena with my mom and celebrating my birthday with my family at my favorite restaurant. Others were not so fun like chiropractor appointments. Still others were things that we mom's just do like going to middle school basketball games to watch your daughter cheer. Before I knew it, October was gone and November had come.

Happy Birthday, Dad!!

It's my dad's birthday today. He doesn't like big To-Do's made over him, so we just went to visit after church today. It was nice. He's such a good guy and does so much for me, I wish we could do more for him. Happy Birthday, Dad!! Have a wonderful year!!

Politically Incorrect

We had a snow day earlier this week. When we returned to school the next day, I asked the kids what they did on their day off. One little girl told me that she played at her friend's house all day. When I asked if she had lots of fun, she said, "Yeah, but he always calls me 'Donkey'." Seeing the confused look on my face, she explained, "It means I'm white."
I couldn't help myself, I laughed out loud! To this she said, "That's a funny story, isn't it, Teacher?"
"Yes, it is!" (and to myself....More than you know!)

Almost Famous

A friend of ours, Coz, (rhymes with doze) is seriously pursuing his music career. He has put together a CD and is starting to film some videos. A few Saturdays ago, he invited us to take part in his very first one. The song is called, "Maple Lake." Here's the video. It's hard to spot me and Husband, and The Girl was at her dad's, but The Boy is in it about 4 times! Enjoy!

New Babies

Meet Leah and Sarah!! They are the newest members of The Cat Crew!! Sarah is the white kitty that has an orange tail, ears, and blue eyes. Leah is the little calico. They are so incredibly sweet! Sarah purrs quite loud whenever she is picked up. Leah also purrs a lot, but she is a little more quiet than Sarah. We met these little cuties out at The Girl's horseback riding lessons. After three or four weeks of debating, we decided they should, indeed, come home to live with us. We're all really happy that they're here. They have already provided us with endless entertainment! There's just nothing like kittens!!