haircut

It was time, way past time. Molly's hair has been in her eyes so much and those rubber bands and bows for some reason just don't seem to stay in. So, we took the plunge, we got bangs and a trim. I did not let her take very much off the back, though I am not sure why, she has staright as a board hair so it is not like I was worried about cutting off those beautiful curls ha!

Molly was as good as can be, she was a little confused, but so long as she could see and hear me (and of course had her special green friend in mouth) she was good.

punishment

Molly has been getting into a lot of trouble lately. (I know, how can that cute little girl get into trouble right?!) Well, the "jail" has made it's appearance yet again in the family room. This time it really a "jail" and well, Molly has been planning her plan of escape. I guess when we brought it out, we didn't really think about the fact that Molly is a climber and climbs on EVERYTHING (Entertainment center, stairs, chairs, dining room table etc etc)

The pictures only show half the story, what you can not see is the blood curdling screaming that she doing and how purple her little face is from this little fit of rage.

What?! it is almost CHRISTmas?

And the stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

Um, ok, so like it just occurred to me that CHRISTMAS is this Friday. Friday, like less than a week away!!! Wow, how did it sneak up on me so fast?
I thought I was WAYYY ahead of the ballgame as we celebrated Christmas with my family when my brother and his family came in for Thanksgiving.

But I guess it just went to my head because it has gone downhill from there.
I was delayed in getting the tree and decorations done (I think that since I usually get them up earlier I thought I had more time)
Our Sunday school class Christmas party was late (last night)
Yeah, other than that, I don't really know why, but I am now SOOO far behind...
kirk's birthday is TOMORROW and because I thought I had more time for Christmas, I thought I had more time for his birthday.

ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!
What are you so behind you might ask? well, it is Dec 20th and where do you think my Christmas cards are?

yup, you guessed it, they are sitting right here next to me, all unlabeled and NOT ready to go. I have no stamps and I think I still have a few gifts to buy and I definitely have gifts to wrap...UGH! I am counting on my friend AMAZON, i ordered something for Kirk last week and supposedly it should be here on 12/24!!! (whew, that is what I call cutting it close!)
What is done you might ask?! well, my closet has been purged and cleaned out (and looks sooomuch better I might add)

my pantry is more organized, the humongous clothes pile is now ironed and put away. The goodwill pile is now at goodwill. The kids are clean and well fed (well, at least they eat cheese) and of course... the BLOG is UPDATED (priorities my friends/priorities ha)


MERRY CHRISTMAS -- gotta go and finish up! I have less than a week :)

snow

WOW, is this Texas or Michigan? The unimaginable happened on the 2nd day of December... We got SNOW!!!! I think we actually got a snowfall before my friends up north did this year!!! It was a very, very wet snow that we woke up to and it was melting as we walked/played in it, but it was fun for like the hour or so that it lasted.
It was 9 am when I decided we could go and play, it was 9:00 and 30 seconds that I realized we live in Texas and are ill-prepared for this kind of fun!!! Molly has a coat, though she had not had the chance to wear it yet, and I did not want to ruin it for a minute of fun. She also has no sweat shirts or sweaters or anything really heavy to wear. So... out comes some of Sam's "hand-me-downs" She was so layered that she started resembling the Michelin man.
Sam was just thrilled to be able to wear his rain coat and boots and play in the snow
Molly could care less about playing in it, she enjoyed EATING it (surprise anyone ha)I love this one, with the roses blooming in the background and snow on the ground

geese, ducks and a pwicwick (picnic)

It was beautiful out before Thanksgiving week so we took the opportunity to go to the park with our friends and feed the ducks (yet again!!)
Sam was a little more taken back by the (giant) geese, so he preferred to just sit and let the smaller ducks come to him.Molly on the other hand, well, she enjoyed chasing them, feeding them, and teasing them (holding the bread out for them only to eat it quickly before they could get it ---- yum, stale bread... my favorite!!)And yes, like the good friend/photographer that I am, This really the only picture that I have to prove that our friends were with us (oops)

move over Elvis, here comes Samuel

Sam 's 3-4 year old mission friends sang in "big" church this morning. Sam did great singing up front! He has been practicing his songs for a few weeks and the past couple of days didn't really want to sing along, so I wasn't quite sure what we were going to see this morning. He really did not seemed phased by the fact that he was up front, I don't think he even realized people were watching them sing! Of the 4 songs he learned, this was by far his favorite. Poor guy has a hard time getting all the words out fast enough so he is usually about 2-3 words behind. That doesn't bother him though, he belts it out anyway! If you turn up the volume you an actually hear him singing. We are so proud of him!!! I am so excited that he is actually starting to learn about God and His son Jesus. Sam has a very tender heart and we just pray that he will come to understand and know Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior at a young age.




notice my view suddenly becomes obstructed at the end of the song--- BUMMER! It was hard to see him for the rest of the songs.
This is when it is good to have 2 services at your church... that way you have a second chance of seeing your child sing.

more deals...

I know, I had several complaints about the "deals" that I post. I was SOOOO good over Halloween and the whole black Friday deals, but I think it is in my blood and I just have to post some things I find out there. (sorry) I promise I will add more "our life" things in between!!

FREE REDBOX MOVIE
Good through 12/2, use code SPNSV9.


I don't know if you do the "picture with santa" thing, so if you do you might be interested in this:

The Digital Photo Center at Walmart is having free photos with Santa (courtesy of Fuji Film) on Saturday, December 5 and Sunday, December 6 from 10AM to 2PM. I would probably call your local Walmart to see if they are doing this deal (and you might want to get there early, I imagine any FREE event at wally world will be CRAZY busy!!!)

happenin' deals

12 Days of Free Food at Whataburger

Sign up and you will receive a coupon for free food valid every other day from December 2nd to the 24th, 2009. It could be anything from a shake, to French fries, to a Whataburger. Click HERE to sign up!



Order online by 11:59 p.m. CT, December 3, 2009, to get free standard shipping on ANY purchase, within the contiguous U.S.

Oriental Trading

Enter key code WCX8726 during checkout. Only one offer allowed per order.

Halloween overload

Wow! it is amazing how you can drag one simple day out over 1 1/2 weeks. Sam was so excited about Halloween this year. I am not sure where or how he knew about this wonderful day, but he talked about it for weeks. For some reason he was CONVINCED that he was going to get cotton candy when trick or treating as well. (yet again, I am not sure where he heard or learned about cotton candy or why it is a staple at halloween) There were trips to two different pumpkin patches, trick or treating at the fire safety town (so cool) --- the highlight of that night was the school bus shuttle! trick or treating and or course our church's fall fun festival. I have always LOVED Halloween, I mean really, what other day is it ok to knock on your neighbors (those you know and those you don't) and ask them to give you candy?! To top it all off you get to dress up in cool outfits like princess dresses and spiderman! I tried to not overload this post with pictures, so here are just a few of the highlights of the 2 weeks of Halloween!!!

The most handsome cowboy in all the west (and east and north and south)

Who can resist the sting of this cute little bumble bee?

Trick or TreatAt the Festival there were games
Animals
bounce houses, slides and obstacle coursesand of course a photo session

Run, Lauren, Run!!

A couple of weeks ago, Kirk's 23 year old cousin, Lauren, passed away unexpectedly. Lauren suffered from Cerebral Palsy had been confined to a wheelchair all of her life. On Tuesday October 20th, Lauren was able to talk, walk, run, dance, jump, sing, and fly for the first time. I can only imagine the sight as she leapt into the arms of Jesus and hugged Him without feeling pain. Lauren's life was cut very short, but as you read the obituary written by her sister, you can see she was able to see and do a lot.

Lauren

Lauren Nicole (23) was never able to speak words the way most people do, but she spoke with more love and depth than many people can comprehend. Her presence in the world brought a love so sincere and pure, that the hardest of hearts could not help but soften when she smiled. When Lauren was born on June 1, 1986, she unexpectedly came upon cerebral palsy. This condition kept her from the ability to walk, to talk and to move the way most people do. The American society might consider this a disadvantage because of system structures and physical barriers, but in God's world she is so blessed and so lucky. Now Lauren is walking, running, singing, dancing and talking with God in heaven experiencing a love we can never imagine. Lauren was at the least a blessing and was the central force and strength to her family and friends. Her physical end on October 20, caught her family and friends off guard but the strength she bestowed is still present.Everyday she woke up she had a new adventure ahead of her. Lauren got to spend months at Disney World with her mom Mary Janel, her dad Jimmy, her sisters Meagan and Kimber and her brother Alex. There she was able play, just like the other kids. One of her favorite things there was riding in the giant honey pot experiencing the many adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Last summer she got to ride her honey pot 5 times in a row without getting out.Lauren made her way across the world, sailing through the Bahamas on Disney Cruises, heading down to Key Largo for Dolphin Human therapy, and sipping smoothies on the beaches in Malibu. There was nothing that she could not do and nothing her family and friends would not support.Lauren was active in her community, her family and her extended family Southwest Church of Christ. She was always out attending movies, musicals, festivals and parades. She loved going to church every week and greeting everyone. Thursday mornings she loved to spend time in the church kitchen with her mom and friend, Becky making lunches for the meals on wheels program. Her family was behind her and had a tight bond.

**Jimmy and Mary Jane, I am so very sorry for your loss, though Lauren's new body is perfect and she is in a much, much happier place in heaven, I can not imagine losing a child.

home depot Christmas light deal

Take your old Christmas lights to Home Depot from November 5th-15th and get a $3 coupon for each set (up to 5 sets) good on any energy efficient LED Christmas lights. Home Depot LED lights will be $5.97 during that promotion- or only $2.97 each after the trade-in coupon!

Rain drops keep falling on my head

WoW!! to say that it has been raining here is an understatement. It is amazing how one year we can have drought and then a couple years later have so much rain in a season! I love the rain, don't get me wrong. I love the way it smells, I like that I don't have to water the grass and flowers, I like that it has brought in some cooler weather (can you sense what is coming next?) BUT why so much all at one time?! It has been raining or drizzling for like 4 weeks here. Seriously almost EVERY single day. If you don't believe me, just look at my header, it is almost the end of October and there is still no pumpkin/fall pictures of the kids yet! Why? because of the rain. It has prevented us from going to the pumpkin patch. The state fair came and went and were we there? No sir-ee bob. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to change this, we are suppose to go to the patch (barring no more rain or sickness)--- oh yeah, did I mention that it was a BEAUTIFUL day last Fri- sunny and perfect, we were suppose to meet our friends at the patch... did it happen? Nope, Sam came down with a fever of 102.5. Although he acted his same energetic self, there is this little bug running around out here called the swine flu (not sure if any of you have heard about it or not) so, to make sure that 1) he wasn't sicker than he acted and 2) he did not infect other children with whatever he had, we stayed home HUGE BUMMER.
Whew, wow, I must not of gotten all my 10,000 words out today, that was quite a lead in to say: "look what we did while it rained outside"

Molly was finished sooner than Sam, apparently they taste as good as they look
and of course the high chair needed a little color as wellJust one of many of Sam's masterpieces

wrestle

The kids truly do like each other. Sam of course, has always been Molly's favorite person in the whole world. It is funny how while Sam is in class she can me moaning and fussing all morning, but as soon as the door opens and he climbs into view she just lights up and smiles and giggles.
Sam seems to be pretty protective of Molly and always keeps tabs on her. He knows where she is at all times and tends to really be concerned when he asks "where Ma-wee?"
These two have learned to play hide and seek with each other. Their version is a little different in that Sam ALWAYS hides and Molly ALWAYS finds him. (it does help that he usually hides in the same 2 places)
They also enjoy wrestling one another. Sam does tend to forget that Molly is just 1 and not quite as strong as he is, but then again that might be part of the fun right?! He can push her around, knock her down etc and does she cry about it?! NO!! she just giggles and giggles. Molly has recently leaned that she too can "attack". If Sam is laying on the floor in any way (back/side/belly) she will just PLOP right on top of him. (and of course the 2 of them just giggle and giggle and giggle :)
The attack:
The "let me touch your face to show you I got you"The Yes, I do love you, Let's hug:The "OK, get off me, it's my turn to attack":

Deals around town:

If you don’t mind purchasing a large drink, you can get a free Jack In The Box grilled sandwich on Tuesday, October 20. You'll get to choose between the Grilled Turkey Bacon Cheddar with roasted turkey, cheddar cheese and bacon, or the Grilled Deli Trio, with salami, sliced ham, roasted turkey, provolone cheese and pickles.

7-Eleven is offering up a great freebie! Snag a FREE 12-oz Hot Beverage with this coupon You'll get to choose between coffee, cappuccino, hot chocolate and tea. This coupon is valid thru 10/31/09. This is perfect for this beautiful cool, fall-like weather.

Build-A-Bear: $5 off a $10 Animal!

Build-A-Bear: $5 off a $10 Animal!

Build-A-Bear has a new coupon available: save $5 off an animal priced at $10 or more! This coupon is valid through October 31st. This is something fun do do now especially since it has been cold and rainy outside!

Have any of you heard of Hippopost.com before?
If not, it's a site that will send FREE personalized printed postcards with your own photos! They even pay for postage! Go here to check out all the details and start creating your postcard. The best part--you can send up to 2 FREE postcard per day, everyday! What a great way to send the grandparents pictures of the kiddos or just send a thank you note to a friend! This is an excellent--FREE--service to take advantage of!

Why are they offering this FREE service?
This service is made possible through sponsors advertising on the back of each card. By using Hippopost to send FREE postcards you are agreeing to allow sponsor messages to be placed on the back of your postcard.

~~~~ I have "heard" that it takes quite a while to get these postcards, so I wouldn't send them for a really special occasion, or else gamble and send it way in advance ~~~~~

Cool stuff to do and make at Michaels. apparently they have been having fun events all month long and I am just now finding out about it... oh well, looks like fun anyway. go here to see more details