Wrapping Ideas from My Husband

Daniel wrapped my presents in black trash bags. He & my brother always try to be clever with what they wrap with. I think he did a pretty good job this year! Too bad we didn't have any purple trash bags :)

A Texas Snowman

They built these close to our home & I thought it was a cute idea. We have been able to build a baby snowman here before, but this is about as close as you can get. A snowman, made out of hay. And here is a Christmas tree, made out of hay...

seriously?!?

i'm sure you've heard about burger king coming out with the "flame broiled" smelling cologne. well, on the news tonight they were doing the "viewer's voice" segment & this dude called in and left a message saying this...(oh, you know we are in texas, so add that country po-dunk voice with it)

"thank god burger king finally came out with that cologne that smells like a hamburger. my wife weighs 437 pounds & it's about time she paid some attention to me!"

haha!!! i was rollin'! it was too funny (and unbelievable at the same time). i'm hoping it was a joke. he did sound pretty serious though.

Christmas lights...long overdue post.

Daniel (and Brenden) did the lights on the house the week of Thanksgiving, but I am just now getting around to posting about it?!? Last year when Daniel was doing the lights, Brenden couldn't stay off the ladder. He just wanted to be up on the roof, and this year was no different.

I'm not too crazy (to put it lightly) about heights, so I was half way up the ladder just making sure Brenden was safe & secured.

I think Daniel did a good job securing him, don't ya think? haha! Looking at it now, makes me think of something off the Christmas Vacation movie.
Here he is helping hand over some lights...

Well, here is a picture of the house, finished. All though, our camera is awful, so the picture is as well. You couldn't see the lights with the flash on & when you turn it off, you can't move at all, or it looks like this...but, if you look closely, they each look like little swans (they are normal lights, i promise)! :) It looks beautiful in person!

He knows where his present is!

he will not leave this tree since i wrapped his present! i put it way up under the tree, thinking he may smell the massive candy cane bone. he just puts his big nose (and half his body) right up under that tree to try & pull out the tissue paper from his bag, to sneak a peak. i'll hear him from the other room, growling at us, because he just can't stand it. he's almost as bad as daniel & i! :)

we usually know what we are getting before Christmas even gets here. we just can't keep our presents for each other a surprise. the year we got married, we had to go out & buy more gifts for each other, because the week before we opened all our presents! haha we just couldn't wait. since then, i have not wanted to know what i am getting!

dang starbucks hot chocolate

the three of us were up all night last night. little man was so sick. he threw up at least 7 times. starting at 12:45 & finally ended at about 6:00 this morning. he never complained about feeling bad before bed. we went to starbucks & he got his usual "coffee" (kids hot chocolate). so, we think the steamed milk or something may have made him sick. thank goodness we have a lot of blankets left from when he was younger, because we had to change his bedding like 3 times. i just laid on the floor & snuggled with him as daniel was finishing his bed.

i don't like it when he feels bad, but i sure do love the snuggle time!!
he has a few animals that he keeps in his bed. well, let's just say they got dirty. daniel told him they all played in the mud & had to get a bath! :) here is bunny, oscar the pig, spot & einstein...he stayed home with daddy today & soaked it all in! also fell asleep on the couch, which never happens! he is doing better tonight, so i pray he is able to sleep better too.

Christmas traditions...a new one!

I love the traditions that we have & making new ones! Well, we have a new one. We usually just go to a nursery or a Christmas tree lot to get our tree, but I thought we should cut one down this year. My mom, dad & brother wanted to go along with us. We had so much fun! We went to the same place where we got our pumpkins from. They also do Christmas trees. Here we are on the wagon, waiting to be taken out to the fields...I am so sad I'm not in this picture! It would have been a great family picture! Well, I guess it still is, just missing me! :)
Here are some of the trees they have. They grow three different varieties, & they are all so beautiful!


This picture is just priceless. He was playing peek-a-boo behind the trees. I love this little man to pieces!
Here is the tree we got. We let little man decide which one he liked.

Bubba got a needle stuck in his glasses while he was helping with the tree. It's one of those...you gotta be there kind of things. It was quite funny! :)
And... look who I got to see again!!!!! Kong!!! I still want a donkey, in case anyone was wondering. (you know, Christmas is coming!) wink, wink
Chocolate man decided he wanted to help trim some of the limbs once we got home...

We can't wait to go back next year. This place is wonderful! Thanks, Mainstay Farms for a beautiful tree!

on comet, on cupid, on donder, & easton?

our thanksgiving

on wednesday, we went to a thanksgiving feast at brenden's school, which was nice. he enjoyed being able to come back home with us after lunch! then thursday, we went to my parent's house for most of the day. we didn't hop from house to house this year, which was very nice! we did go see daniel's dad & step mom before our dinner, but other than that, we stayed put. we play football every year during thanksgiving & christmas, it's just something that has to be done in texas :) here is bubba, daniel & brenden playing...

while they were playing, my mom, grandmother & i were inside getting things ready for dinner. every time i am cooking-no matter what it is-something comes flying out of the bowl or saucepan. well, this time, it landed on my foot. i was making my deviled eggs & some of the yolk part decided to make it's home there...

little man loves deviled eggs! there's bubba. he's beginning to remind me of my dad-always ends up in the picture somewhere...

here's the set table. i know it's boring; seeing the table is not the point. ok, see the ceramic turkey in the middle of the table? see the ear of roasted corn behind his butt? well, on the other side of the turkey are little candles that are lit. while we were all at the table eating dinner, flames engulfed that ear of corn! not kidding! we couldn't believe what was happening. well, thank goodness a fireman was there, because they might not have a house right now! haha joking. the corn was a little too close to the candle!

daniel picked up the corn & threw it out back. here it is, still smoldering...

we had a nice thanksgiving & have so many things & people to be thankful for! hope you all had a nice one too!

Have you ever seen a...

Brenden has recently started telling his own little jokes. They all start with "have you ever seen a..." They just crack him up! Here are a few...

Have you ever seen a horse riding a cow?

Have you ever seen a pig riding a butt? haha

Have you ever seen a bike riding a horse?

And the one he said tonight...
Have you ever seen a mouse riding a cookie in the water?

I just imagine him sitting at the table, at school, eating lunch with all his little friends going around the table telling jokes!

Hoe Ho

As I was finishing up a few more Christmas cards last night, Brenden asked to fill one out. He circled all the little snowflakes, did a few letters, and doodled on the inside.

Then he wanted to write on the envelope. I asked him what he wanted to write & he said ho ho! I know they are on letter G this week at school, so I asked him if he knew how to write the letter H. He said yes, and started drawing an E (which he did perfect on, but it wasn't a H), so I drew a tiny H on the top of the envelope, so he could see. He then went to the left of the E & did the H, then an O-which he knows how to write. He wrote the correct letter H above the E, then another O. After he was finished, I noticed it was addressed to Hoe Ho! lol

oh, i meant to tell you...

my husband just told me i remind him of the chick on "american pie" that always said "this one time, at band camp..." but instead, i say "oh, i meant to tell you..."

Entry room finished...check

Well, almost. Still waiting on the curtains & for one more hook thing to be hung, which Daniel is working on. Then we will be done! Here are some before & after pictures of our front/entry room. I like to call it our antique churchy room! :)

We love to paint & do projects like this together. Probably because we actually agree on what we want to accomplish & the color we want it to be. So, it's a lot of fun. And I like the smell of paint. Which, is probably a little odd. That reminds me...we were at the store the other night & I had bought one of those fine tip sharpies to do the Christmas cards with. Well, you can't buy that without someone coming to the register (we were doing self checkout) to make sure you won't be sniffing it or anything. Little did she know! Sharpies are one of my favorite smells. haha! Along with white-out. But anyway...this is totally not what I was planning on talking about in this post! While we are on the subject though, I had a teacher that liked the smell of skunks! now, that's wacko. OK, enough of this. Enjoy the pics.

weekend what-not's

Anyone ready for Summer already? I know I am.

It blows my mind that Turkey Day is next week! Where did this year go? The older I get, the faster the years seem to go by. Not sure if I like that too much. Just don't want to miss anything. That's the main reason for this blog, so we can look back on things we did or went through.

Anyway...

Daniel was so sweet this weekend (not that he usually isn't)! Brenden decided he wanted to be a rooster on Saturday morning & wake up at 6:30! Any other day, I have to go in and wake him up at 7:50 to get ready. So, I tried to trick him & say it's night-night time hun, go back to sleep, I will see you in the morning. haha Well, that didn't work! For the first time, Daniel got up with him & they let me sleep! I got to sleep till 8:35! They even left to go to the grocery store & I didn't know it! When I woke up, he was making breakfast for me & had a nice, big fire going (in the fireplace-not the stove). It was awesome! Thanks punkin :)

Got our Christmas cards done, & my Christmas lists filled out, for what to get the family. It was actually pretty easy this year. We didn't stress out about what to get for who.

Daniel & I painted! We did the front room in our house. It's a deep cranberry-burgundy color(called city bistro, if that helps any)! :) We love to paint & we may be doing another room-or two-this weekend. I will post some before & after pictures later. It really changes the room, now we just stand in there & stare. ha! Which is quite boring, because the only thing in there is an antique church pew (is that how you spell it?) & an antique piano.

My Mom wanted Brenden to come over on Saturday night, & Daniel was on shift on Sunday, so I slept till 9:35 on Sunday! I sure love sleep. Saturday night Daniel & I had our date night of dinner & grocery shopping! haha Hope everyone had a nice weekend.

A new toy? I'm not thinkin' so!

A couple weeks back, as I was getting ready, Brenden was messing around in the cabinet under his sink. Which is fine, because we don't have anything unsafe in there. So, I just let him keep playing. Well, I walked into the living room & this is what I saw...

He had apparently found the box of remaining nursing pads I had, from 3 years ago! He thought he found something pretty neat! Whatever keeps him occupied for a bit, right?!?

he's home!

look how happy he is! :) we sure missed him. the house just wasn't the same with him gone! he had gone to lay on his pillow to rest & brenden followed him in there, covered him up & tried to share some mini gummy bears with him.

you can tell he is in some pain. they give them the injections in the back (kinda like where a dog's waist would be), so he's a little swollen there. he didn't eat last night or this morning, but he did eat the treats i gave him; go figure. he did great through it all! now comes the hard part of keeping him calm & unexcited for 4 weeks. i will need some prayers for that too! :)

I was supposed to serve on Jury Duty yesterday...

But I forgot. Totally. Forgot. Jury duty. How does that happen?? I have never known of anyone forgetting they needed to be at Jury duty. But I did!

Yesterday morning I was at work, talking to my friend Vipha & she was saying how she was late to work because her husband had to go to jury duty. I swear my heart fell on the floor. I said "what is today???" The 10th. I ran out & said, um I've got to call Daniel. I was so scared that I was going to be arrested or something. I started crying. I was terrified. I don't want to go to jail!

Well, I called Daniel & his response was, "don't call me, call them!" Oh, uh, yea. Ok, good idea. I called the number they had on the papers, left a message saying I totally forgot. When the lady called me back, I asked her if I was going to be arrested & she paused. Then said probably not. She sure sounded reassuring!

Everything was fine. I have been rescheduled for a date in February. I pray I remember that day! Something tells me I will be arrested if I don't!

A little prayer for my chocolate man

We found out a couple months back that Easton was heart worm positive. We are taking him to the vet in the morning to have the treatment done, to get rid of them. He will stay overnight & we will pick him up Wednesday evening. He started actually showing the symptoms about a month ago-coughing a little bit, & sometimes taking deep breaths. Other than that he is still his active, spazo, sweet, funny self :) If you just have a spare second tomorrow, please send up a prayer for him to be strong & pull through the treatment without any complications. It's apparently a risky procedure & can be hard on some dogs. They did say he was a prime candidate for it, so we think he will do great! Once we bring him home on Wednesday, he has to be calm for 4 weeks. 4 weeks!!! That's going to be the hard part. :) Love you 'Cleason'-be strong. We will have Dino at home waiting for you.

His sense of direction

My mom came over Friday night so I could highlight her hair. We had planned on getting dinner first, & started deciding where we wanted to go. We asked Brenden what he wanted, & he said he wanted to go to the store where his friend is. Ok? My mom & I decided we would just go to a Chinese place up the street. He said, no I want to go to the store where my friend is! I told him we were going to eat, not going to go to a store.

He continued...said he wanted to go to the store where his friend was & where there was a ball, & a horse, and a bucket. I thought he might of had a dream about this, because I had no idea what he was talking about! I asked what his friend's name was & he didn't know. He said he was not in his old class or his new one. I was like, where did your dad take you, and what in the world are you talking about!?! We asked him if he knew where this place was. He said we turn, turn, go over bumps, turn, go straight. :) okie dokie.

So we were getting in the truck, and we decided to get Chinese. His eyes started tearing up! He was determined to go to this place he was talking about. I backed out of the garage, & said what way do I go buddy? He told me every turn to take & what direction to go to get us out of the neighborhood. I said are we going to get on the highway? He said yes. I was wondering if I needed to fill up my tank before we left the area, cause I had no idea where he was taking us!

Some light bulb went off in my mom's head (thankfully) & she said, are we going to the place where you get pancakes?? I wish y'all could have seen the look on his face! He was so excited, we figured it out, finally! He said yes with this huge smile on his face! Cracker Barrel Restaurant (and country store) is the place. And my mom has always called this little ferret thing that has a magnet in his nose, his "friend"! The magnet is connected to a ball (which he mentioned earlier in the night was orange)! He rides a little horse at this place. Oh and his "friend" is in a bucket.

I said, you know how to get there? And he did. I told him he was going to tell me how to get there. He showed me where to go for the highway, what exit to take, & what turns to take to get to the restaurant. We were blown away. Here are a couple pics I took with my phone...

I remember last year he started telling my mom how to get from their house to ours! Guess he's pretty good with direction! Which is good, considering I just figured out how to know what direction I am facing about 3 years ago!

Halloween parade & party

Friday was Brenden's school Halloween parade & party! They all got to wear their costumes most of the day. Here are all the little kiddos in his class, getting ready for the parade...

Here they are during the parade (cowboy's waving at the camera)...

They went back in through the front door & we came in the side door. He thought we left & was just so upset! So was I!

Cowboy & Dad
Cowboy & Mom (or cowgirl, as he kept calling me)

We had a wonderful time & are so glad we are able to be there with him during these times!

Bamaw's company halloween shindig

The law firm my mom works for does this amazing Halloween party every year. Their whole floor is turned into different themes of a haunted house, but not all of it is haunted. Some playful. Here's my cowboy!!!

My mom dressed up as an old lady this year. She did awesome on her make-up! Promise, this is nothing like what she looks like :)

Here she is on the right. That is one of her co-workers in that Mona Lisa frame, mantle piece thing. This area is where the elevators are, so when you step off, it is pitch black. Pretty fun!

Cowboy & Daniel, in one of the scary places...

Little man walking across the stage, during the costume contest...

And here we are, the boring mom & dad, dressed up as parents :)