{a work-in-progress}

Our night designated for decorating was a flop. Evan fell asleep and when he awoke....C.R.A.N.K.Y. Scott had a migraine and was sleeping.........C.R.A.N.K.Y. So the Christmas music got zapped. Noah was VeRy enthusiastic. A little too enthusiastic. But, then, he finally pooped out on me. Since, I have been adding a few ornaments here and there when I walk by. Our living room still has boxes/tubs, a ladder at the moment. I am determined that by Friday night our tree will be finished....so we can enjoy our camp-out.

Still working on it & pardon the mess!

Lights, camera (in hand)......

NO action!! :) But, oh how sweet!

"the wall" - also a work in progress as it will always be, I guess :)

I buy the boys new ornaments every year, they are the first to go on the tree. Over look Evan's dire need for a haircut. Of note, an appointment with Ms. Krystal was made today!

Two monkeys for two monkeys.

Still not finished, but, inching forward...

& not a pretty tree with ribbons and bows...I gave up on that. I'll just go to my friends homes to ohhh and ahhhh. I'm just about getting it up at this point. But, notice that large out of place ornament with the blue on it...Evan's tiny little 4 month old foot. Ahh... We still have to make our homemade for this year.

The mantel is totally different this year, I used stuff I had, with the exception of the polka-dot SANTA sign. Very fun and whimsical. Okay, and a bit gaudy. I should rename this the gaudy blog. That's me! I love color a bit too much. But, isn't it fun?? And I can somewhat get away with it at Christmas. {wink, wink}

I have an addiction for plates I've determined. And, rugs, but that's another story.

The last two years I have actually not really purchased any new decorations, so I have to "shop" in my attic. But, that's even fun!

I'll post more as I add it. Or who knows, this may be it? I'm certain after the Home Tour this Sunday, I'll be ready to go again!

{reluctant receipt}

Do you ever get those gifts that your just not sure of. Well, my poor mother is notorious in the gift giving department. She will buy something and take it back, buy something different then exchange it multiple times before whatever birthday or holiday it is; she is known for her fretting.

Well, I was a little surprised at my b/d gift last year. It was a little gaudy. I don't really like what it cooks, but, it was thoughtful. And, she had only purchased 7 things prior to it. Well, it has turned out to be one of my very favorite gifts ever. It can't help but bring out the kid in you a tad. And, it tucks away nicely when not in use, but, the brightess of it makes it even more fun for the boys. Which of course makes it more fun for me.

I have been decorating the tree since Monday. Well, I started Monday, did not finish it Monday and it still sits there. Pitiful. But, in order to fully enjoy "the plans" I think I am holding off for finishing it this weekend so we can stay up late and enjoy our "camp-out" complete with hotdogs and marshmallows (fireplace), sleeping bags and the twinkling lights (thanks again, Coston Family!) But, Noah was still wanting hotdogs, so I pulled out my trusty roaster and yum! I don't even like them - but they taste like ball park dogs!!!

So, I guess the point of this post was.....simply - it turned out to be a GREAT gift for our family - just something to keep in mind during this gift-giving season.

Do I promote products or what?

{guy stuff}

I hate car trouble. I don't think guys like it, but, I really, really detest it. I would pretty much do anything else besides deal with car difficulties. And, thankfully they haven't even been that bad - my schedule is just not allowing much room for repair. Nor does the idea of a tire shop/ brake shop for hours with two boys sound like a ball of fun. A month or so ago, tires had to be replaced. One week later, a flat - back to the tire shop, a nail. A leak of some sort last week, to the shop, nothing significant; thankfully, but got the oil changed while I was there. And, tires aired up as two were low. Hmmm....but, they held. Friday night, had to air them up. Saturday morning - flat as a pancake. No one to easily help get me back and forth, so it remained flat until Sunday night. Leaking valve, tightened. This morning, loss of 10 pounds of pressure. This evening, tire shop that yielded a diagnosis of not only a nail but, a screw also. AND.....brake pads that needed to be replaced ASAP. Remember the tire replacement one month ago? They were fine? So, brake job added to the tire repair. Oh, let's throw in a rotation as well.We should be good for 72 hours. And, truly, I shouldn't even be complaining. All it boils down to is that I HATE dealing with car stuff. I'm very much a girl in that department.

Added: let me make note of the nice shop I took it to. The brake pads were so thin it really needed to be done. Again, I had no idea there was even a problem. It was late and they were about to close, so instead of me having to bring it back tomorrow - they stayed there late and fixed it for me. It could have been much worse, I could have been typing Part II tomorrow.

{wrong again}

ugh! back to the original thought.....our boy bunny that became a girl bunny.....is actually a boy bunny. and our sweet girl bunny that became a boy bunny is back to being a girl bunny. So....our boy that has been residing in his bunny bungalow in the heated gargage.....just in case.....wrong. Our poor girl bunny that was rooming with Jack/Jackie in an insulated pen outside had...one baby on the coldest night so far. not a good combination. they are appropriately separated now. So, we are officially back to Scarlet and Rhett. But, they are no longer living together.

{ahhh}

I just overhead Evan telling Daddy "I think Noah loves dat [Nintendo DS] more than me". How sad is that?

also, the boys are having a BALL with Elmer the Elf. The moment they open their eyes, the search is on. They talk to him (aka "tell on each other" just in case he missed it), report the good things they've done in case he missed that too. So fun!

{idealism versus realism}

on trimming the tree. details to follow.

{festive}

I have been working in increments alllllll.day.long to get the tree up. Just up, not decorated. I have rearranged the living room for the first time in eleven years and think I'm loving it!! So, tonight, I will pull away from editing-like-a-crazy-little-elf long enough to ENJOY some Christmas music, hot chocolate, a fire and some Christmas scents while the boys and I decorate it.

The rearrangement will probably throw Noah out of his orbit, he's still not liking to two different colors of paint in the kitchen. But, at least his tree will be up and it's only December 1st! And, I can pretty much promise you I think I'm keeping it up well into January. This is hard work!