Wordless Wednesday

I <3 Goodwill

Another stop at Goodwill, another SCORE for this bargain shopper!! A couple of weeks ago (I've been keeping your eyes hopping with Xmas posts--saving this one) I found myself perusing the housewares aisle (yes singular--small Goodwill store!) and my eyes landed on 15 cut glass tumblers that I think were second cousin offspring of my last stemware purchase. I LURVE them! You can bet I scooped up all 15 of them--and I didn't even need an emergency consult from my Mommy =) The price? These were $.69 each. I "heart" Goodwill!!!

And finally...

After picking up the living room SOMEWHAT on Xmas morning, was always head over to my parents house for Christmas with my side. We have yummy New York coffee cake and other sweet rolls with Mimosas and attack the pile under the tree. My Mom always gets the kids savings bonds and a new ornament, when the kids were smaller she always bought their Xmas outfit too. Arielle got a nice big flashdrive as well, Parker got a fleece tied blanket which was put to instant use! The little boys each got a game for their new game systems and Kurt got more things from his list including a battery charger/tire inflater thing (it probably has a better sounding label on the box) and I got some fun Rachel Ray bakeware that I can't wait to use. My SIL also did these really cool pictures for all of us that I'll do a post about later on.

Then its on to our FABULOUS dinner! We've settled into a menu of London Broil done on the grill, twice baked potatoes, veggies and rolls--DELISH! It's a whirlwind of activity for a couple of days with a TON of preparation required, but OH so worth it =)

Christmas Morning--Santa Came!!!

Parker came in at 7am to tell us that Santa had come =) He went in to tell the little boys--Paxton practically flew down the steps, but Beckett was harder to convince. They were able to get Arielle up and moving as well, so then it was time to check out the spread! Beckett was excited about every little thing he pulled out of his stocking and ran to show us all each hot wheel, his starbursts, etc. Kurt and I just get each other a few things "from the kids" and do a stocking, but otherwise we focus on the kids. Arielle got the 2 coats that she asked for, slippers, snowpants, a new lamp and more. Parker was thrilled with his new laptop! The goofnut thought for a while that his new driver cover was a puppet though!! Paxton found his asked-for glodoodle under the tree along with a Nintendo DS, games and carrying case, a new playset for his Thomas collection, playdoh, hot wheels track and more. Beckett unwrapped a Leapster 2 with games and a bag, the Fisher-Price Imaginenext firehouse, playdoh, a brio blocks set and more. Kurt got his GPS that was on his wish list along with the digital voice-recorder he'd hoped for. I wasn't forgotten either--my always appreciated gift card for Christopher & Banks was there, along with a new Willow Tree piece and more =)

Lots of smiling and happy faces this Xmas morning, so mission successful!!

Christmas 2009, part 1...

Well, now that Christmas 2009 is officially in the books, I can sit down and happily sigh about what a wonderful season it was for our family. We were very fortunate to be able to spend it with the ones we care so much about and everyone seemed to enjoy what we gave as gifts and we LOVED everything that appeared under trees with our names on them.

Our "first" Christmas is always on Xmas Eve with Kurt's family. The weather was just horrible--RAIN and lots of wind, very miserable. Several family members have to travel to get here, and all were able to make it, so YAY!! The boys always get some great clothes, fun toys and games and Paxton almost fell over with excitement when he unwrapped The Polar Express train set! Kurt received several things from his list and I got lots of fun kitchen items that I can't wait to use, along with some giftcards--you might be catching a whiff of smoldering plastic as you read this, HA!! The big kids opened their gifts from Kurt's side the next day and Parker got a rainsuit for golfing--if the ground was clear for golf he could have worn it because it was still raining! Arielle was happy in the giftcard area as well =)

Making Cookies for Santa!

The ol' boy's gotta eat, right? Arielle made the dough, Parker was fab about rolling it out for the little boys to cut shapes out of, I was on oven patrol and Kurt? Nope, he wasn't even in charge of sampling. HE got to go outside and work on the 3 inches of ice that had been deposited on the driveway last night!

I think we are now officially ready for Santa's visit tonight!!

Wordless Wednesday...

Oh that Charlie!

Cute couple, out on the town!

OK, none of the above is true. Friday night was my office Xmas party and as a good blogger always does, my trusty camera was in my purse. This was taken by a coworker =) We had a nice time!!

I won an award!!!!!

Wow!! I'm so tickled! I won a blogging award =) It's BETTER than a silly ol' Oscar or Grammy--no need to go dress shopping and worry about making TMZ for all the wrong reasons for starters!!! One of the SWEET Momma's from Beckett's on-line playgroup board deemed my little ol' blog worthy of the honor you see above, so for that I say: THANK YOU, MONIQUE!! You NEED to check out her blog--she's one of my favorites in my sidebar, Surferwife, that's her!

And what's more, this is the award that keeps on giving because now I get to pick 10 other blogs that I think are worthy of this award as well. Which is gonna be HARD! I follow lots of blogs, some have THOUSANDS of followers (yes, you read that right) and others don't. I love them all for very different reasons, but all of them are worth a read! AND, before I do that, I get to share with you all 10 things that make me happy, so here goes:

* My FAMILY--all of them =)

* BLOGGING! I enjoy sharing (the parts that I share) of our lives with you all

* My camera--LURVE it. AND, it makes blogging fun

* Watching Clean House--makes me look like one HELL of a housekeeper!

* Trying new recipes. I'm happier when the experiment is a hit, of course.

* FOUNTAIN PEPSI--nothing better

* Decluttering. Getting happier all the time about this one =)

* Finding a great deal ie: my recent Goodwill scores

* Seeing my "follower" numbers climb!!

And now, 10 blogs I deem peek-worthy:

http://http//chaoticarkfamily.blogspot.com/

http://http//myrepurposedlife.blogspot.com/

http://http//www.snedfam.com/

http://http//iammommyplussome.blogspot.com/

/http://http://www.brimfulcuriosities.com/

http://http//pitterpattersfromsonya.blogspot.com/

http://http//tinygreekgoddess.blogspot.com/

http://http//www.ashleyquitefrankly.com/

http://http//makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/

http://http//makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/

Halfway There!!!

In April I finished my LPN portion of nursing school (which would take 1 year if I went full time, for me it was 2 years--actually 3 because I got some credits out of the way during the application/waiting list process!). On Vetran's day I did my NCLEX exam and passed with the computer shutting off after the absolute minimum number of questions--which can be a really BAD thing, or a really GOOD thing, turns out it was for good! And based on that (and paying lots of registration fees) the fine State deemed me fit to receive a license allowing me to work as a nurse. But I'm not--HA!

Dollar Tree Project

So with my FIL being a professional photographer, we are fortunate enough to have lots of REAL pictures of the kids--not just snapshots that I take! Rather than tuck them into drawers, I saw this idea on another blog (sorry, I don't remember where--I get to blog hopping and end up pretty far from "home" sometimes!) I made a quick trip to our local Dollar Tree store (where everything really is $1) and picked up several wallet-sized photo frames. They were awful--a flecked faux goldtone yuck, I didn't even waste a before pic on them!! A stop at Walmart for a can of Rustoleum Antique White spraypaint and I was all set. It was just a matter of popping off the easel stand, spraying the frames and then reassembling. I used some jute to make the hangers out of and voila! The hardest part was finding room on the tree for them--I may need another one next year....

The rest of the story...

And now, part two of the story that was started a couple of days ago!

When my parents were married, in NJ, my Mom registered for china and received a beautiful service for 12--a classic white with silver trim and a pretty design around the edges. Fast forward to just a few years ago and my MIL had invited us to dinner and as a treat, was using some of her nice china that evening (MIL has 3 or 4 sets of china, all super pretty!). As she was pulling it out, I was looking at it--apparently with an odd look on my face because she asked me if something was wrong. I tapped a plate with my finger and said "this is my Mother's china". MIL said "what?" and I said "this is the same pattern as my Mom has!" The set we were speaking of had been FIL's mother's china, purchased at a local jewelry store here in WI and when Kurt's grandmother down-sized, the set came home with his parents.

Right then and there MIL announced that "Niki (my sister) can have your Mom's china and these will be yours!" Which may seem like a bold statement, but in actuality was incredibly astute because Niki has said for years that she gets Mom's china someday! A few months later, it was hand-delivered and found a home in my china cabinet. And I use it too!! I've decided it's a shame to park it behind glass and just look at it day after day =)

And NOW you know why I had my Mom come out to peek at the glassware before I snapped up the bargain of the season last week at Goodwill--she was for sure going to know if it complemented the china!!

Flashback Friday!

Does it look like my baby was eating a trash can? Well, yes, he was. Albeit a rubber one that came with Parker's little finger skateboards. It was a favorite of his for quite some time!!!

My Goodwill SCORE!!!

On Saturday, while out running some errands, I was pulled into Goodwill--can't explain why, HA! Anyhow, I was cruising the housewares area and my eye spotted a group of pretty cut-glass stemmed glasses. A quick count came up with 12--exactly how many place settings I have of my good china (which is a GREAT story, I'll tell that one soon!) I looked over a bit and down a shelf, and there are MORE of these same glasses, only a smidge smaller in size. More counting and there are 14 of these! I bee-lined it back up front, grabbed a shopping basket and ran back to those beauties and started loading up! Then I called my Mom real quick and asked her to bee-bop out to where I was so I could get her opinion on them (this will make sense even more when I tell the aforementioned story). She thought they were gorgeous as well and told me to buy them all. She, myself and my MIL believe they COULD be crystal (we're no experts), but even if they aren't, I LURVE them! The price you ask? $1.69 per piece! They needed some up close and personal time with some soapy water, but they are now at home in my china cabinet and have even been used once so far!!!

Wordless Wednesday...

10 years of service!

Saturday night was the annual Fire Department's holiday party. There is a nice meal, entertainment, tons of door prizes (no, we did not win the Wii or 32" flat screen) and awards given out. This year marked Kurt's 10'th year as a member of PFD. I didn't realize he was at that mark yet, or we would've/could've sat closer to the front so I'd have a better picture! (My Canon A630 is always at the ready, I don't haul my nice DSLR everywhere I go =) Congrats, honey!!!!

Seeing Santa!

Each year Santa visits the fire department and we take the boys down to sit on his lap and tell Xmas wishes to. (He's a retired FF--no potential creepo!). Santa arrives via firetruck and little faces are plastered to the window watching for him to round the corner.

This year was the first year Paxton was really into it. He kept rehearsing what he was going to say while we waited very patiently in line. Beckett mostly just remembered that there is a nice bag of peanuts, candy and fruit waiting in Santa's elf's hands when you hop off of Santa's lap!!

The annual train display

Every year at Christmas, the local museum has a display of trains all set out and running to be enjoyed. Paxton was supposed to go with his class on Friday, but it was too stinkin' cold to walk down there to see it! Never fear, because Grandma and Grandpa take them down one Saturday while its up to see it (they do a larger display in a couple of months and they go see that one too!) Each time they go they are able to stay a little longer and take in a little more as the boys get older and their attention span lengthens!!