Building Traditions...

So far I have found the beginning of the holiday season to be quite fun.  Mikaylah, being five years old now, is without a doubt 'in the know' about the Christmas season.  I'm quite loving all the fun that's gone into "holiday prep" thus far. 

When the toy ads started to come out before Thanksgiving, she would grab them, grab a marker, sit her butt down and start circling what she wanted.  She would gasp with every turn of a page and yelp out "I want that!!".  Funny.  I think everything was circled....

And...truth be told...how fun is it to play the "Santa Card"?!?!?  You know which one I'm talking about...the "oh my goodness I hope you'll put on your jammy's and brush your teeth like a good girl - it would make Santa so happy...".  I have to giggle when she disappears for awhile, comes back and lets me know that she cleaned her room or brushed her teeth without being told and then asks shyly "will you call and tell Santa that I was a good girl?".  How can I resist?  I grab the phone, dial the number (which COINCIDENTALLY happens to all be my work number AND Santa's number) and "talk" with Santa.  The first time I did this, Mik giggled, rolled around on the floor and snorted with excitement.  When I hung up I said "Santa had to go help and Elf with a toy issue he was having..." to which she said "was it my toy" with giant wide eyes!!!

So yesterday, we decorated the tree...I unpacked the ornaments, Daddy handed them to her and she hung them on the tree.  Although some branches are heavy with ornaments and giant sections of tree have no ornaments at all, its still quite pretty and she did a good job.  After she went to bed last night, Jason hung candy canes all over the tree.  This morning we told her that Santa stopped by last night and hung up some candy canes all because he loved the tree she made so much!  Haha....oh the stories we tell....and the smiles they bring.

Despite the fact that its pooring rain today, the holiday season is off to a great start.  I have very little shopping left to do, our house has been decorated compliments of Mik and holiday party plans are in the works. 

What traditions are you building with your family??

Needing a Maid!

Its been a great long weekend.  I had Thursday off for Veteran's Day, Friday is my usual day off and then of course there was the weekend of Saturday and Sunday. 

I spent Thursday with my husband...we had lunch at DaVinci's in St. Paul.  We love that place and haven't been there in years.  Its a pasta bar...choose your sauce, choose your veggies, choose your meat, choose your pasta...watch them cook it up for you!  Delish!  And get a load of this...we really party hard in this house...after lunch, we came home and took a long, snuggly nap together.  It was awesome.

Friday, I took my kiddo to school and then spent the morning and early afternoon doing some Christmas shopping.  I got lots done and as it turns out, there were a lot of deals to be had on Friday.  Can't complain about that.  Friday afternoon, I played with Mik and had a lovely time.

Saturday I woke up to a freakin' blizzard!  We were supposed to get 2 to 4 inches, but it turned out more like 8 to 10.  Anyway...Mik and I had our very first Daisy Scout meeting and she is officially a Daisy now! 

It was a nice group of little girls and some nice mothers too!  We played games, made bracelets and painted fingernails!  Then, we learned some new songs and the Girl Scout Promise.  It should be a fun year!  We played in the snow on Saturday afternoon...

Mik spent nearly an hour moving snow around on the driveway with her brand new shovel.  She loved it!  Saturday night concluded with me and Mik watching Charlie Brown episodes with a big bowl of buttery popcorn.  It doesn't get better than that does it??

Sunday...spent the day playing games, dollhouse, Lego's baking cookies and brownes and watching the football game (what a waste that part was). 

I love the weekends...whoever invented Monday through Thursday was just plain evil! 

This brings me to my blog title...who has time to clean house when they're busy enjoying their family all weekend?  I need a maid...my sister says that I should just enjoy my kid and that I can clean when she grows up.  It'll be awfully dusty here by then....

Sunday Evening Blues

I've said it before...I'm sayin' it again.  I hate Sunday evenings.  The weekend was fun...I spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday all day with my family and now its Sunday evening.  A sure sign that work is just around the corner and my time with my kiddo and hubby are diminshed to a few evening hours...ugh. 

Friday I took Mikaylah and her friend Ellie to the Minnesota Children's Museum for a day of fun!  We had a great time...they didn't have a really exciting traveling exhibit like they sometimes do, but the girls really had a ton of fun in the Our World exhibit.  Basically this is a kid sized town with a grocery store, restaurant, doctor office, post office, art gallery, bus, etc.  The kids walk around and play and be wild and messy.  Its fun....I took about a hundred million photos...see Facebook. 

Saturday was my day to sleep in so I stayed up late watching Ghost Hunters, Paranormal State, Pyschic Kids, L.A. Ink and various other shows.  I slept in Saturday and then spent the afternoon shopping with my kiddo...we tried on all her winter gear  and then picked up some new stuff.  We watched tv together and had a great time.

Today, Mik and I played dollhouse and games...did laundry, made a lasagne and just had a good time.  Then Jason and I watched the Vikings play horribly, ate dinner and am now relaxing...you see where this is going now....

Tomorrow....work.  Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful to have a job and even more grateful that its one I enjoy.  I just want more days and more time with my family.

Have a great week all. 

November is here!

'Tis Turkey Season folks!  Thus, I've gone with a food background.  And...I've already gotten a jumpstart on shopping and planning for the Thanksgiving holiday - which Jason, Mik and I are hosting again this year (I made a pretty awesome Turkey last year...). 

Where are we at now you ask?  Halloween is over now and our little Snow White and her parents had a great time trick or treating at the zoo this year.  We also attended her daycare Halloween party and I volunteered in the Halloween Parade and Harvest Party at kindergarten.  It was fun, fun!

Jason and I also attended school conferences for Mikaylah and as we suspected, she's a total rock star in school.  :-)  Her teacher had wonderful things to say about her and she truly enjoys school so much.  I'm so proud of her.

Casey was smelling a little gamey this week...so he headed off to Dog Day Getaway for some playtime, a bath and nail trim.  He was so handsome that I had to take and post a picture of him too!

When I picked him up, he was standing next to another yellow lab much younger than he and it struck me how old he looks.  My good boy is aging a bit which makes me sad.  He's such a great dog. 

Christmas is coming...holy crap.  I'm happy to report that I have already started Christmas shopping which gives me a sense of accomplishment.  I will likely finish on Black Friday this year as I have the list quite well planned out.  I'm really not ready for snow...I mean, hardly anyone really is, but I just don't want it to arrive.  Today Mikaylah and I picked through all the winter wear only to find that her snowpants and a few hats and mittens still fit, but she needed a new coat and winter boots so we went out and bought those today...would hate to wake up to snow one day and not be prepared for it!!!  I also remembered today that I broke the snow shovel last year...I better buy one before the snow flies!

The only other thing going on really is the mystery of Jason's car and the stupid check engine light...its going on and off these days.  Not like flashing on and off, but on for one ride, off the next, on the next, off the next or on only part of a trip.  I took it in for a diagnostics and the danged thing turned off so no codes came up.  Grrr...must get it in there on a day its on to see what the friggin' deal is. 

Hubby keeps bugging me to blog...says others enjoy it and he wants to read them too (does he need the blog in order to keep up with us??  Just kidding Jason...).  So...I'll try to blog more.

Over and Out!