The Grinch, Shrek, & Nemo

Tonight was an exciting night in so many ways!

First, The Grench Who Stole Christmas came on TV. Even though we have it here on DVD there is just something about watching it when we know everyone else is that makes it feel more festive.

Next, Shrek the Halls came on right after the Grench! We haven't seen it before so it was great!

Last exciting thing of the evening was our beta, Nemo, bit me. That's right. He jumped out of his water when I was feeding him and bit my fingernail. I'm not so sure how I feel about him anymore, not so sure if I like having a fish in the house that's OK with biting me. We'll see how I feel about it tomorrow... or maybe I'll just leave his cover off and let the cats fight over him.

Christmas cards are here!!!

I know I sound like a commercial but what can I say? I love Shutterfly!!!

Blowing insulation ~ DIY style

Well, here we are. This is us (me in the top picture and Dada in the bottom picture up in the attic) and this is what we do.

Today we rented an insulation blower and blew 4 blocks of insulation through a hopper and a 50 foot hose. My job on the ground was to bust the blocks apart and get the insulation material into the hopper while Dada was in the attic manning the hose.

It was so dusty and messy and it was cold outside but we're done. Thank goodness. Another DIY project done and a little more money saved.

Where did Ballard go???

Last night was a lot of fun, so much that we didn't get home until 1 in the morning and that's late nowadays.

We had really good food at a place called Thaiku and the Clumsy Lovers drew a great crowd! The only problem was that everywhere we turned on Ballard Ave. it was all upscale boutiques, restaurants, and salons. When did this happen? It used to be that you would leave the Tractor and keep a watchful eye on the alleys and dark corners but now it's just hordes of yuppies.

Ah well, guess that's what comes with getting old. At least we fit in with the yuppies, more so than the people we would have met down there in the 90's.

Double Date Night!!!

Tonight Nana & Papa are coming to hang with the kid while Dada & I get to go out with some friends. On the agenda is supper in my old stomping grounds followed by a show at the good old Tractor Tavern. We're going to see The Clumsy Lovers and to really date myself, I first saw them in the same place some time around 1998 or 1999. Time sure flies!

An afternoon with Peter Pan

It's been so much fun introducing baby Bubba to all of the classic Disney films I grew up with. For several months now he's talked of Tinker Bell after reading a story about her in one of his books. We finally got the DVD from Netflix yesterday and we sat down to watch it today.

He was so cute about it all. When Tinker Bell made her first appearance he got all excited, when Captain Hook showed up he couldn't stop talking about him, and to put the cherry on top, the dogs name was Nana. He asked me, 'what's the dogs name?' and when I confirmed what he thought he had heard he giggled and said 'that's silly' with a big old Bubba grin.

Black Friday and Date Night!

Huh, since the Christmas shopping is almost done and has been for over a week now, and Ken had to work for the first time in years and years, and because Oma slept over last night, I only did 1 tiny Amazon order today.

I actually sent Baby Bubba home with Oma for the afternoon and we're planning a date night to see Burlesque before we pick him up.

Sounds good to me, in fact it's one of the best Black Friday's I've had in years :) Now it's time for a nap.

A Day to Give Thanks

We had the calmest Thanksgiving we've had in years. I think the fact that we were snowed in for the last several days had a lot to do with it, we had plenty of prep time which was great!

We watched most of the parade and then the dog show which is such a great way to do it in my opinion. Bubba was totally into the parade this year, and the Hello Kitty balloon was the one he talked about all afternoon and into the evening.

We had great food, played great games, and just had a really nice holiday. So nice in fact, we didn't take hardly any pictures at all. That part was sad, but we did get a few... all 4 up above in fact. No one would even know that Auntie and Uncle came or that Dada and I were there either. I guess we'll just have to trust our memories that we were in attendance.

Looking back... snow

1st snow - December 2007

Snow Day continued...

Time to hit the slopes!

Of our neighborhood that is.

We ran into some neighbors on the big hill which quickly turned into a toddler twosome on the slopes. They were fast friends and asked to ride together instead of with their own Dads!

Fun times all around, with one exception.

That would be Woody. He stayed by our side the entire time. He's a real little trooper that cat. Everyone coming and going asked if he liked the snow, which he did not, but he wasn't about to get left behind.

Snow Day!!! Daddy gets to stay home!!!

They've all but closed down Seattle and the surrounding areas which means we get a snow day! It snowed for hours last night while we watched Christmas movies. It was just too tempting with all of the white outside even though Thanksgiving hasn't made it here yet!

So this morning we pulled out the snow gear and the boys headed outside to clean off the cars and test out the temps. It was cold.

I was not. I was inside. We were all happy.

First Snow of the Season!!!!

Today we're getting the 1st snow and they're calling for a lot! It's so exciting as we've had Baby Bubba in the snow every year since he was born. If we didn't get it at home we searched it out.

To celebrate, we made his first homemade hot chocolate. The real kind, you know with the Hershey's cocoa powder, just like Mom used to make.

Ahhhh, the memories!

The raking team!

What conversations sound like in our house...

Today's conversations have been particularly interesting. I wish I could record them because kids really do say the darndest things. So to set the first stage, we were in the office and Baby Bubba brought in several of his musical instruments. I played the harmonica while he played the horn, until he was done with my concert and took away the harmonica. I continued to whistle until he told me 'stop whistling, that gets on my nerves'. Now when he says things that I say on a regular basis I usually take a deep breath and make a mental note not to say that again. This time I was genuinely curious as I don't say that. I say irritate, it's shorter and more to the point in my opinion. You'll often hear me say things like 'you're irritating me', 'quit trying to irritate me', 'are you trying to irritate me?' and the like. So when I asked him where he learned to say that his response was in classic 3 year old style. 'Not Dada, I just made it up myself'. This is priceless because in his mind he isn't telling on Dada, in fact he just informed me that it wasn't Dada who had taught him to say this.

Later in the afternoon he came up to me and in a mischievous and testing way he said, 'Mama, you a little chit' and grinned like the cat who just ate the canary. I took a deep breath and made a mental note.

Just now, as I was trying to get through a few office tasks he ran in and told me 'I have to go, my watch is almost at 3' as he pointed and showed me his imaginary watch he was wearing. When I answered 'ok, you better go then' he turned back at the door and said 'you better go too, your time is running out, and what's that meatball show called? Bye!!!' He shut the door and yelled through it again 'MAMA! What's that MEATBALL show called?!?!?!'

And this is just another ordinary day in our house.

Image originally found here

It's Holiday Card time again! Shutterfly here I come!

This will be my second year ordering my holiday cards through Shutterfly and I'm so excited! Not only do I order the cards that I send out wishing people Happy Holidays but I also order my Holiday Thank You Cards and matching return address labels from them.

I started doing the matching Thank You Cards last year and I got great feedback from friends and family, so I did it for Baby Bubba's birthday this year as well. It's so much fun to take group photos at the holiday's and parties, upload them to Shutterfly, and send them in the cards to people that were there as a little keepsake of the day or to people that were far away that you wish were there.
This year I was so excited that as soon as I saw they had the Holiday Collection out I made my card for the year. I know, I know, a little premature but I found the perfect card and I just couldn't help myself. Since we had spent time in Scotland, Germany, and France this year I chose.... With Love Chartreuse Christmas 5x7 Folded Card and the matching With Love Chartreuse address labels. Right on the front it says 'And I think to myself, what a Wonderful world' and right there I was sold. Didn't hurt that I love the design on the card as well! On the front we're using family photos from our travels and on the inside we're using a photo collage of the main events of the past year. I don't mind saying that it turned out so incredibly cute! I can't wait to get them here and in the mail!

Just so you don't think I'm trying to sell you on just the card I like... check out the rest of the Holiday Cards they offer at http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards
as well as the matching address labels at http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/address-labels. But don't stop there, they have so many great products.

Unfortunately I can't 'share' the cards I've made here but I can share the photo albums. These are a few that I have completed and I also have two more in the works and several more in queue. I'm still working on an album from our three weeks in Europe earlier this year, as well as a photo album of my 95 year old Mamaw's handwritten cookbook (we took pictures of each page so it shows her little notes, spills on the pages, all of the little things that make it so special).  Keep an eye out for our Christmas card and don't forget to ooh and ahh over it! :)

Today's deal - Sunday Seattle Times

Today I scored a great deal of 26 Sunday Seattle Times for $20 from Groupon. Can't hardly beat that since it'll be delivered!

Nana always leaves a mark

Nana came over tonight to work on a project and this was her original.

It's a picture of Baby Bubba, on Baby Bubba. Isn't she talented?

My pirate ear-ins!

Tonight the Bubs was sent into the kitchen to wash his hands, which isn't an uncommon thing. After several minutes had passed and the water was still running and he hadn't said anything or made any other sound, I went in to check on him. This is what I found. His ears were beet red and I could see that even from the living room.

So I walked in there, took off one of the clips asking him 'Doesn't that hurt?

Why'd you put these on your ears?' And this was his response... while crying

'I can't be a pirate now without my pirate ear-in!!!!!!!!!!!!!'

After much consoling, we made a pirate eye patch to make up for the insult of taking off that pirate ear-in without permission. I think I was forgiven.

Date night! Irish Coffee, Corn Hole, and Social Network

Last night was date night and it was so much fun! After dropping Baby Bubba off at Oma's house we headed over to meet friends at an Irish Pub for supper before seeing The Social Network. Somewhere in the supper conversation we came across the topic of Irish Corn Hole. All I could think of was Beavis and Butthead and the Great Cornholio, I don't know if I will ever grow up.

Image originally found here

Eye Appointment

Woo hoo! We had the Bubs's eye appointment today. I was so proud of him and how well he listened and followed instructions as he had his eyes dilated and his sight tested. The final word is he will still have surgery on both eyes but we'll discuss that at his 4 year appointment and his sight is improving, which he tells us is normal for his age. What a relief. I was prepared to discuss surgery dates and prescriptions for glasses.

Looking back... Halloween

Living (& loving) the blog life ~ Sloppy Joe style!

I just wanted to come back and pay proper respect to one of our new(er) favorite recipes. We made these for supper last night in honor of Halloween and getting to celebrate with Papa. I made these the first time several months back and we called them Sloppy Poppy Joes. Get it? Sloppy Joe - Papa Joe? It works with a 3 year old. We froze half of the batch and had the other half that night. Come the next night, we had already thawed out the frozen half and decided that the only way to freeze it and still get to have leftovers the next night was to double the recipe. They really are that good!

This is Pioneer Woman's Sloppy Joes. I have none of my own pictures, we usually have something else on our minds when this is made and have no time for them.

The image was originally found here