alls I'm sayin'

Out of a desparation to get out of the house and have some girl time Maddie, Grandma Beverley and I went to see a movie.  We saw New Moon. 

It was kind of sunny.  Good to get some of those rays on my face a little.  (who in their right mind would chose edward over jacob?)

It's good to get out and see the town.

don't judge me.



*

mailbox surprise

I went to the mail box to see if we got any mail today and to my surprise...guess what was in there?
Christmas cards.  Lots of them.  I was excited for a brief moment until I realized they were the ones I put in there!  The mail lady has been bringing the mail to the door the last few days because of packages and I guess never checked to see if I had outgoing mail.  Soooo...Some of my cards have gone out even later than they were supposed to.  Better late than never?  ugh.  sorry.

So here you go.

A Merry Christmas to you!

before Christmas.

I took those cards to our little Choccolocco post office that I realized is a lot closer than the one I've been going to for almost 3 years now.  This one isn't even a mile away!  Crazy.  Next to the post office is the Choccolocco History Museum/gift shop.

It's cute and made me laugh.

Lookit.

Look closer.

Look closer.

AWESOME!

Now I know just where to go if I'm looking a little pasty white this winter.

I love this town.

Happy Christmas and Merry New Year!

Muah.

ramblin' on

It rained like crazy this morning.  Our septic alarm went off meaning the water got in and shorted out the plug for the pump that pumps the poo out of the tank up to the field so the tank wont fill up and come back into the house.  So.  No shower and we have to ration the flushes.  Brian can fix it as soon as he gets home I think, so thats good, but ugh and ick.

ALSO I went to the post office to send back a Christmas present!  YES!  I sent one back.  Bad, bad kids.  Just kidding.  They're not really bad and I think I've intervened with all the attempted peaking.
What happened was this:  I'd realized when I was up putting Nash to bed one night that he already had what we had gotten and upon further covert investigation found out we had given it to him LAST Christmas.  duh.  duh, duh, duh, duh.  But it's cool.  check it.  They love legos. 
While at the PO I stepped over a huge puddle right into a deep puddle.  And my sock was soaked right through.  So I took it off, took care of the post stuff and went to drop off the recycling at the mall.  Maddie is with me today cause she got such good grades she didn't have to take her exams and got Thurs. and Fri. off. 

We were there (at the mall where the recycling bins are located) so I had to go in.  Our mall may be itty bitty, but I had a cupon.  So in we went to my fave store since I was 12. 
The Gap.  I would love to move on, but they have what I need.  It all started with my huge maroon chunky sweater with the hunting dogs on the front.  So cool.  Well actually, so warm and cozy.  It was the perfect security blanket for my awkward early teen years and many insecurities.  So I stay loyal. 
And...nothing too interesting happened but I hit a great sale and with my cupon I got a 50$ cardigan for 18 buckaroos.  Awesome. 
Then we picked up the preschool princess, who will be the only girl in her class in the new year, and went to the video store to pick out some old movies.  But to my disappointment, NO oldies or musicals.  No Polyanna, no Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, no Three Stooges, nothing.  The best I could do was Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.  I'm sad. 

All with one sock on. 

Also, I ran out of christmas stamps for the cards I finally got to.  So some of them have The Simpsons. 

Do you get sugar headaches?  I do.  I've had a headache for 4 days - ish.  Oreo truffles.  Yum and ache. 

Off to piano lessons.  Head ache, dry socks, unwashed hair and all.

Merry Merry

it's a first!

It's a Wonderful Life!
I'd never seen it before.  Neither had Brian. 
We watched it last night.
I thought it would be kind of boring, but holy cow it was so funny! 
And then not funny, but you know, it had to teach a lesson and the lesson was indeed taught.  Loved it. 
I think we may even join the throngs of folks who watch this every year at Christmas time.  Never to late to bring on traditions, right?
So great.

out with the new, in with the old

I decided to be a little more picky about what the kiddos watch on TV.  I'm cutting down even more, I hope, on their 'screen time' and trying to choose better what they do watch when they can. 

I found a couple DVDs I got from the dollar bin at Target maybe five years ago and took them in the van because they are stuck sitting there and really have no excuse not to watch. 

I knew if they gave them a chance, they would like it. 

The first one was Abbott and Costello.  Carter, no surprise, thought it was hilarious.  Maddie was so taken back that there was no color.  "I was fifteen before I ate my first animal cracker" was repeated with peals of laughter all night long.

Next, I watched The Little Princess with Erin.  I thought maybe she'd like Shirley Temple.  She does and we both cried when she had to say goodbye to her daddy.  We've watched it 3 times now and Nash even joined us for one of them. 

And much to my surprise at the end of the Shirley Temple DVD is a cartoon I watched a ton as a kid myself!

Faithful.  Forever.  I love it.  And guess what?!  So do my kids. 

They laugh and they sing the songs and we love it.

Erin is watching Abbott and Costello right now.  Of her own free will and choice.  

So, hopefully a little less attitude learned from those Nick Teens on tv. 

I don't know if it will make much of a difference, but so far...this week anyway...so good.

it made me smile

I've been looking through pictures today and thought I'd post some pictures I love.  Of course they are all of my family...but they are funny.  I love them.
That first one I love because of the dinosaur.  He totally jumped in at the last second and cheesed it for the camera!  We didn't even know it until we looked through the pictures later that day.  What a silly Rex.  Brian's green dri-fit (he loves a good dri-fit!) and Carter's grin.  Made you smile?  yup.  I know.

This next picture I love because of Carter's funny expression.  He just fed a giraffe and was having a hard time getting passed the tongue.  He was a little disturbed at being that close to an animal.

I love the next picture because it was such a pretty day, Erin dressed herself and was in such a good mood.  She was dancing around and being hilarious.  Love it.

It's all Maddie in this next picture.  She is almost 13 now and I love it when she relaxes and is cute and funny.  AND she's like, almost touching Nash!  Dang.  That's the closest she's let herself get to her brother in a long time.

Nash's new glasses.  He picked them out himself and though I was a little hesitant at first, he looks pretty great in them.  They stay up on his nose.  He also wants me to gel his hair and spike it up in the front now. 

And he's a smarty pants guy. 

Just thought I'd let you in on some things that made me smile today.

paris - day four

First, we bundled up and headed out to the ever popular, ever beautiful - Notre Dame Cathedral.  We got there at the tail end of Mass, I think.  The organ was playing and it was amazing.  There was tons of fabulous stained glass.  It is such an impressive building.    As we were walking around the outside I saw this little red door.  I wonder who uses that door? 

Tartletts and Pain du Chocolate at our favorite Brioch Doree! 

That was the largest pain du chocolate I'd seen!  Love it!

Then we went here.  The Garnier Opera House.

And sat in these plush red velvet chairs...

second row close

to watch THIS!!!

You got that right!  That is indeed a sneaky (frowned upon - but we couldn't help ourselves!) picture of the bows and curtsies of a real live French Ballet!  We got last minute, apparently quite hard to get, tickets to see it.  It was so marvelous.  So beautiful. 

THEN we floated out, caught the metro, and trotted about to find this:

My favorite monument.  The Arc de Triomphe.

I love it.  It is just huge and solid.  Like a paperweight holding down the city.  It rocks.  Really.

We climbed these stairs up, up, up, happily all the way...

And saw this sight...

Then off to dinner where I ordered this:

Boeuf Bourguignon
Like in the movie "Julie and Julia"
Yeah.  It was good.  I'm drooling just looking at it.

After dinner we went down these stairs...

Saw this movie poster...

Took the metro (again!  Our preferred mode of transportation.)

Followed these signs...

Took this escelator...

And fell fast asleep in our upgraded hotel room,

closing our eyes on our fabulous trip to an amazing city.

Thanks for inviting me Natalie!  Where too next?!!

paris - day three, part two

This place was cool.  Natalie had looked up this fabric shop online before we left.  She wanted to get some Franch fabric to make a dress for her little girl.  It was a treasure hunt!  A little tricky and some twists and turns down little streets, but we found the shop through an alleyway into a courtyard and next to an art studio.  So fun to trek through the streets of Paris.  I started taking pictures for Cally - I knew she'd love the place!  There wasn't too much fabric, but tons of ribbon, buttons, and yarn!  Natalie found the perfect fabric and pattern and we left there contented and in search of a tartlett or two. 

paris - day three, part one

You guessed it!  The Louvre! 

We could have easily spent three days there alone,

but we only spend 4 hours. 

And yes, I forgot to put one of my gloves back on after taking Natalie's pictures. 

It was a little bit cloudy and sprinkled for a few seconds in the  morning.

 Which was okay because that resulted in this little beauty:

Do you see it?  Not the funny silver monster statue...

the rainbow!!!

mmmm...so pretty.

This is another statue. 

There were a ton of them all in a big circle.  Kind of funny.

This is one end of the humongous museum. 

I know this is what you've all been waiting for. 

This was one of her better shots. 

I'll post a short video I took upon entering the room this popular gal was hanging out in.

She's a gem.  A little well protected gem.

And of course, Venus de Milo.  Just right out there in the open.   

(We saw a lot of  'openness' in the Louvre.) 

She's bigger than the Mona Lisa.

And just to prove I was really there...a speedily taken self portrait.

My next post is for Cally.  But I think there are a few of you out there who will drool as she will.

Wait?! K- how do I post video in this new format?  I...can't...hmmm...

paris - day two

This sandwich is called Jambon et fromage.  And sometimes Mix'te.  They are marvelous.  A french ham and cheese - with butter, of course.  The perfect lunch on the go.  We ate quite a few and I tried to bring one home for Brian cause he loves them too, but they sent me to the Agricultural person who took my information and threw my Mix'te in the TRASH!  ugh.  I'd forgotten that meat (among other foods) are not to be transported to our fair country.  I wish I'd remembered cause then I'd have chomped it down on the plane and filled Brian in on all the yummy details.  Wah.

They day began super nice and sunny!  Yipee!  So I hurried Natalie out the door to the

~EIFFEL TOWER~

We climbed many steps.  Many many steps.  But it was worth it - we definately worked off the butter from our morning mix'te. 

Then what do you think?  But of course we had to stop for a Crepe!

Nutella and Banana.  My favorite!!!

I could have had 300.  I should have.

We ate our crepes and took a walk down the River Seine.  There was a neat outdoor art exhibit that we mosied through. 

We walked and walked through streets and saw some sights.

Then it was time for DINNER!  Woo Hoo!

French Onoin Soup - FOR REAL!

Sooooo good.

AND -

A lardoon pizza with and egg in the middle.

I had a kind of mix up when I ordered and they brought me something else with lardoons.  (which are little pieces of ham.)  But after apologizing and explaining what I had meant to order they brought me this.  I didn't know I'd get the egg and was too embarrased to ask "Who's egg?"  So I just ate it and it was delicious!

THEN -

Yes.  It is.  Chocolate Mousse.

The best thing I ate while there in Paris.  Even over the Creme Brulee.  But only just.

It was divine.

After dinner we were stuffed and pooped so we made our way back to the hotel for the night. 

Good, good day.