I am thankful.................

I am thankful that I have a house that is still standing and that is more than enough room for me and my family.
I am thankful that I can afford to give my time and donations to CCA rather than being on the receiving end.
I am thankful that my children are healthy. They are not hospitalized.......don't have cancer.........or that weird disease where they can't be out in the sunlight.
I am thankful that none of us have any food allergies where mere exposure can cause death.
I am thankful that I can be home with my kids and provide some sort of stability for my family.
I am thankful that Mark's business is flourishing so that I don't have to worry about returning to the corporate world and I can focus on a fun scrapbooking business...err...hobby.
I am thankful that we were able to travel to Florida to see Mark's parents and family for Thanksgiving and that we are spending Christmas with my family.
I am thankful that we all like each other.
I am thankful that all the craziness and business of this month is FINALLY starting to wind down and I can truly enjoy this weekend.
I am thankful that my whole family is healthy. (My aunt does have thyroid surgery scheduled in January, so we are praying that it is 'routine'.)
I am thankful that I have such good friends.
I am thankful that we don't have any family members in the military.
I am thankful that when my cell phone stopped working, I could pull straight into the Cingular store and get a new one.
I am thankful that Santa will be generous (but not TOO generous) this year.

I sometimes seem to be a little cynical and can play up any situation to make it sound like it was the WORST (see previous post!) . Mainly I do it just to be funny and because I've never been good at being the Pollyanna. But, life is good. My main stresses yesterday were a tumped over bowl of glitter in the car seat and lite brite pegs being thrown all around my house. I thought for a moment that our disposal went out, but now it's working again. I'd like to work out more, have a better haircut, more energy and time and the money to completely update my house. But, those wishes are small in comparison to what others are wishing for this Christmas. We are truly blessed and sometimes it's nice to step back from your life for a minute and remind yourself of that.

As an aside: Word of the day: Pulchritude (saw it in the paper today and had to go look it up)

Oh......... Father!!!!!
That's what one of my co-workers used to say whenever things just got to be too much. That is exactly what I feel like. We have had a crazy week. I can feel it starting to wind down just around the bend and it can't get here soon enough. We watched Polar Express tonight for the first time. What a GREAT movie. We were unsure whether to take Aubrey to see it last year in the theater as it is pretty loud and can be a little scary on the big screen. So.....it worked out perfect to watch it this year at home. We all got in our jammies and popped popcorn to watch it. Even Brody sat through it with us. I'm hoping to grab a copy of 'Miracle on 34th Street' before Christmastime is over so we can watch that. Aubrey has never seen it. May be a good late afternoon movie to flip on this week. I complain a lot about how much tv my kids watch and it has been ALOT lately as I have had more than enough to do. But, I really enjoy watching movies with them.

These pics are of Aubrey's very first Christmas program at school. This is what I have been waiting for! Performances and programs at school! I love it! She was actually a little more shy and reserved than I thought she'd be. But, she is standing next to Grant. Grant - the one that told her that ponytails were stupid. We went to his birthday party last week and learned that he has 2 older brothers. Explains a lot. The little kid just down from Aubrey and to the left - the one that looks like Conan O'Brien - his face NEVER changed. I'm not even sure he ever moved. And.....for those of you who have been wondering.......John is the one on the far left on the bottom row. He is a really cute kid. This performance was the highlight of the last week.

So.....back to why this week has been crazy. B-R-O-D-Y............no..........I can't blame it all on him..... A-U-B-R-E-Y has been having complete meltdown crying episodes over nothing. It started last weekend with the whole Eddie Coker fiasco and just continued on through the week. Crying.........over nothing...........she wants skittles.......she doesn't want to watch Heffalump.........she wants to have a lemonade stand.........ridiculous. To the point that I was wondering if she was getting sick or was over tired..........something has to explain this.........but I've come up with nothing. We thought maybe it was the excitement over Brody having his big boy bed, but we are not sure. And, since the newness has worn off of that already, I'm not really thinking that's what it is. Thank goodness I'm starting a new parenting book and class in January. It's the 5 love languages of kids. Helps you understand how they prefer to be shown love. There is also a book for couples. We'll be doing that one next.

Brody is just a toot.........a 2 year old turkey. 1 second he is so stinkin' cute and the next second you are seriously considering selling him on ebay. We met a friend for coffee on Friday and when he decided he was done with Starbucks because it was not enough to bring pens and paper, snacks, toy cars and a whole bag of other stuff he started to get a little unruly. This basically means that he will start throwing all that he comes in contact with. He hurls a toy car in the air and it totally hits this woman on the shoulder (she had her back to us so it scared the bejeezus out of her) and bounces off her and hits some other man. I could not grab my stuff fast enough to hightail it out of there. Mortifying.........10 minutes later we leave 7-11 with some milk for him and some OJ for Aubrey so that I can go shopping at Toys R Us. (I know.........what was I thinking?) A spills the OJ in the back seat before we can drive the 2 blocks to the store. So.........the next stop was the car wash and a good detailing of inside the car. Exhausting.........

Yesterday morning we went to get our family pictures made at Picture People. Don't even get me started on that. I was completely shocked that even one picture turned out good enough to purchase.

Last night I told Brody he had to keep his cup (a regular cup, not a sippy......again clearly NOT thinking) in the kitchen...........He kept trying to bring it into the playroom. I stopped him mid-stride in the playroom and calmly told him to turn around and go back to the kitchen. He calmly proceeded to dump the cup of water onto the carpet in the living room. Honestly, some days I think I might not make it through!

On top of that........I keep having dreams about being pregnant. Another one last night. I would honestly not get out of bed if news like that came true. And really.........it really won't come true. It's not really possible to be pg. I mean it could be possible but HIGHLY unlikely. I tell Mark that today after he just finished reading the story about the family that has 16 children. He's like.......really.....would you be sad? And he seems to have this really sad look like he just asked me for a dog and I said no. Are you kidding me? I say........... I would have to marry another wife before I had another baby in this house. We are just barely coming out of the toddler years. I can understand about 90% of what Brody is saying. I just sold my crib. I just paid off the hospital bill from having Brody. I think I'm about to hyperventilate.

BIG BIG NEWS in our house! We are officially 'crib' free! Brody moved to his Big Boy bed tonight!

Very Very excited to be there! Tonight he went straight to bed and we haven't heard from him since. I'm on edge waiting for the midnight wanderings or the refusal to stay in the bed. He is so excited (as you can tell) so it may be a few weeks before he gets bored with it.Cracks me up because he is such the 2nd child. We don't have his comforter in yet and we haven't painted the rooms and got it all ready for the 'switch'. Aubrey's room was painted and put together months before she was even ready. But, we did have kind of quick change. We sold our crib to some friends and they wanted to come pick it up this weekend. Plus Brody has seemed SO ready for the move since we came home from Florida. He prefers hanging out in Aubrey's room and I think would sleep there if we would let him. But, he's got 2 twin beds in his room that will eventually be moved to bunk beds. We picked it up at Ikea today and my dad and Mark got it all put together. We'll work on 'decorating' it after the first of the year. It's going to be in full out Dallas Cowboys theme. So after we paint, I can pull out some of my old memorabilia back when I was a big Cowboy fan. Can't wait to put up my signed Irvin jersey and say 'oh yeah..... he's the drug dealer'....................

It was a nice end to a rather stressful day. I bought tickets for the family to see Eddie Coker at the Meyerson today. I splurged on purchasing tickets (since we usually see him for free) since it would be with a full orchestra at the Meyerson. What an opportunity to see musical instruments and all that. Plus work in a little of Eddie Coker's 'woo woo'. I actually even remember thinking in my head that it would be so fun and this is why we have kids so we can go do stuff like this and I'm smilin' and happy to be here and all that. And, I really don't think that I had to high of expectations. It's Eddie Coker so it will be relaxed and not stuffy and it won't last all that long.

It was awful. We hung out in the lobby for awhile watching a guy on a unicycle tell 'The Night before Christmas'. We did a craft. All was going well. Then, we made it to our seats and some people were sitting there. After a bit of confusion, they realized they were down one level so they moved. Aubrey started crying because she wanted to move. She didn't want to sit in these crappy $20 seats. These were great box seats right above the stage! So, she is crying and Mark is literally having a panic attack in the box because he is afraid one or both kids are going to hurl themselves over the balcony and die. So, he is sweating and Aubrey is crying. I put my camera away knowing that I will not get a great pic of us having a fabulous time. When they introduce Eddie, Aubrey says that she is hungry. I didn't bring anything because my purse is only yea big and we planned to eat afterwards. So, the tears start again. She would recover only to hold onto the railing and stand on her tiptoes and Dad would grab her and tell her to move back. Tears and pouting and more sweating. Eddie only sang 5 songs and then the orchestra played. Both kids were a mess and Mark and I were just done, so we left. Happy Holidays! I was on the verge of tears myself by the time we got to the car because what was so freakin' bad about these plans and why did it all go so wrong!? That my friends is the life of having kids. Sometimes things you don't plan turn out to be the best and the best laid plans turn out to be a freakin' whip. Only things for free man. That is my new motto.

Merry Christmas!
I gave the kids our silver beaded garland to put on their tree today and this is how it turned out. I also like how only half the lights work and how the train is so nicely situated around the tree. It's Winter Blast 2005 here so we've stayed home so I can get caught up on some stuff. One of those days where you don't get dressed and the tv stays on all day. We almost ate lunch in front of it but I talked them into eating in the kitchen. Grilled cheeses and chicken noodle soup. Well....at least for me. I think they had 2 bites of a sandwich and a handful of cheetos. Will actually get to work on scrapbook for awhile too. Have accomplished a lot today so I'm feeling much better. Nothing like getting 2 Christmas presents on-line. Shopping without even having to put on a bra. Perfect.

We nixed the tree lighting last night as it was already lit as we pulled up to the park. Rolled down our window to hear some carols while sitting in the traffic. Ended up just taking Chick Fil A home in time to watch Charlie Brown Christmas. So I have not turned into Scrooge just yet. Was even trying to find a Christmas craft to do today while stuck inside. But, I just don't have a lot of felt and lacy doilies lying around. Ended up pulling out the coloring books instead.

Off to go watch the ever continuing coverage of our SEVERE weather. We are into hour 4 of it right now. Afraid they might pre-empt Ellen and that would be irritating.

Looked outside window just now to see mailman passing by. Can't believe he is here before 3:00. Must want to get home early. Was trying to decide if it was worth complaining that sometimes he doesn't get here until 5:45. Doesn't that seem a little late? But, does it really matter in the scheme of things. Am I the only one just waiting for the mailman and noticing when he comes by?

Oh yeah.........I have a blog. Have to say it's just another thing to add to my to do list lately. I am about to hyperventilate. There is not enough time to get everything done. And, I will not be a 'Bah Humbug' about it all. I will not! I'm trying to be all relaxed about it, but did you know that I have my Christmas shopping list written out 3 different times? 2 are organized by who to buy for. The other one is organized by which shops I need to go to for each of the gifts. Surprisingly, I can't get it all at Target this year! I know what I need to get; I just need the time to get there! So.......I thought I'd share my 'to do' list with you so that you can hyperventilate with me, unless you are already hyperventilating at your own 'to do' list:

1. Christmas pictures - Today I just purchased the kids shoes for their Christmas outfits. I just purchased Brody's outfit on Saturday. We plan to go to Picture People for a full family photo - don't know when. We might even visit Santa at the same time so since he's iffy and right next to the photography studio, he will be added to item #1.
2. Christmas cards - would like to send you guys all a picture of our family so you can see how well we clean up. I have a Christmas card list,but have not updated it. I'm sure some of the people on the list have moved since last year. Will probably spend xtra money at photography studio for their Christmas cards as I have no idea when else we could possibly snap a shot of our family and get it to Walgreens for card making. Oh yeah........must find some stamps.
3. Christmas shopping - I have been on constant shopping frenzy since returning from Florida. (How was that trip, by the way? Will add to my list to tell you about that someday. For now, you will have to be satisfied with a couple of pictures) I still have so many stores to hit before I am done.
4. Christmas decorations - our tree is up! We decorated it last night. All other decorations are still in boxes in den. Would like to get them out and put around the house so we will not trip over boxes and stop getting the duct tape from the boxes stuck to our feet.
5. Birthday party - Friday evening - Aubrey has a b-day party to go to for a boy in her class. Had to find gift today. Thankful I ran into friend at the mall today (on my way to the toy store) that has a 6 year old boy. He gave me great inexpensive ideas. This is a party for Grant. Grant - the one that makes fun of Aubrey's hair in a ponytail. Purchased $7 gift. Now had it been John who we hear about all the time - he would have gotten much more. Will add more stories about John at end of 'to do' list.
6. Craft fair - will have a table at Brody's school tomorrow showcasing my photo albums and stuff. I have a table cloth. I have a pile of crap on the floor in the dining room that I will somehow throw together on the table in a beautiful display by 8 am tomorrow morning.
7. Photo Album - I'm only working on one photo album right now but I have to have it done before the 20th.
8. Aubrey's Christmas performance - Thursday morning - must remember to pick out nice clothes the night before so that she doesn't show up in some crazy outfit.
9. Christmas tree lighting tomorrow night - have to mix in some fun for the kids - but first have to go to an open house for household accessories and wrought iron stuff. Chick Fil A night.
10. 'Deck the Halls' orchestra performance on Sat. morning. Again another need for those shoes I bought today.
11. CCA special project - volunteered myself for this so it's my own fault. But, it is at my own pace so I can do it when I need to.

And that is just off the top of my head. Didn't even add that I have a whole load of underwear laundry in a pile in my den. Trash has to go out tonight and I have to figure out what we are having for dinner.

So, I'm TRYING to keep the spirit. It's 24 hour Christmas music around here. We've watched Rudolph and Charlie Brown.

As for Aubrey, on our trip to Florida, she mentioned that she missed John (from her class) more than 100 times. More than I hear, 'what are we doing next? and after that? and after that?' She told me on Thursday after going back to school that she was nervous to tell John that she wanted to marry him so she told her friend Saxton. She said she was going to marry Reese.

We totally enjoyed our Thanksgiving holidays with Mark's family. I would add the pics, but they are taking too long to upload so sometime before New Year's I will add some pics from the beach and let you know how the vacation was. I can't believe it's already over. For now......must go figure out which item to tackle on 'to do' list.

Taking a break from my 'to do' list for a quick update. I am supposed to be balancing my checkbook during this time frame, but the bank's system is down, so I'm kind of stuck. Kids are at a friends house for the afternoon so I could get a haircut, so I was trying to do computer stuff before I go pick them up. It's very frustrating when your bank does not cooperate with you and your own tight time schedule. Oh well...........

We had the family over for a 'quasi-Thanksgiving' last night. Mark's brother Alan and his girlfriend Heather (who Aubrey referred to as 'Alan's friend' the entire night), my cousin Sarah and her son Jonathan, my cousin Mike, and my Mom and Dad. All of us will be spread out for Thanksgiving, so we took the opportunity to get together last night. Aubrey thought everyone was there for her so she was trying to be the master of ceremonies all evening and planning all kinds of events. The first was a pre-dinner dance show for everyone. Here they are all dressed up for the show. We especially love the outfit that Brody chose.














After eating, it was time for some games. Alan's friend (Heather) was nice enough to play My Little Pony game with Aubrey. She wanted to call your name and then you had to play with her. I told her she could either play four more games with whoever she chose or she could have ice cream. I think the family was happy that she chose ice cream. By the time they were tucked in bed, it was time for everyone to head home. I think we were all a little pooped out with all the festivities.

Saturday, we took the kids up to the mall for the 'Holly Jolly Santa Party'. It was a party for the arrival of Santa at the mall. I'm usually anti-anything Christmas related until after Thanksgiving. Could Santa at least wait until next weekend? But, we didn't have a thing to do, so we were up at Vista Ridge Mall by 10 am. It was actually a fun little party. The kids got to decorate cookies, color some plates, and play some games before Santa arrived. It started 'snowing' around 11:30 so we made our way around to the display by the stairwell to see the 'snow'. I didn't figure the kids would be too excited to see Santa in person so we moved out of the way. Little did I know that Santa was coming down the stairs right by us. So, when he was about halfway down, my kids were a little freaked out. I was laughing at their reaction compared to other kids that could not let go of poor Santa. Luckily he had a little elf help rip the kids away from his legs. It was a little too much for us, so we left. We'll be back after Thanksgiving to see the snow again (every day at 10, noon and 2!) and wave at Santa - I promised I wouldn't force the Santa visit this year.

My dad and I drove to Shreveport on Thursday to exchange beds with my aunt. She is moving and wanted a twin bed for her extra bedroom so we traded Aubrey's bed for a full size iron bed. What a deal! I spent yesterday trying to find new bedding that would work with her current room so I wouldn't have to redo her entire room Especially since we have Christmas around the corner and the update of Brody's room soon as he moves to his big bed. So, I found the perfect comforter yesterday. I may have to repaint her room as the pinks are now a little off, but it still works. A little hard to tell as the pic is a little dark. She, of course, had to be in the pic with her baby. Then, it turned into quite the photo shoot of her babies on the bed. I won't bore you with that slideshow. I will include just one more of her and Brody posing for the camera. Thank goodness for the digital camera in that capacity. You can take as many as you want and not waste any film!


The last project we had was the faux finishing in our dining room. It's not perfect, by any means, but it's all right. In fact, this picture makes it look better than it actually does in person!





We leave Thursday for Florida! Woo Hoo! Spending Thanksgiving at the beach with Mark's family. Will be spending the rest of the week getting ready for that, so I probably won't blog until we get back. Hopefully I'll have lots of pics of the family to post next time. Until then, I'm off to finish my 'computer time' and all other chores before Oprah's Favorite Things is on. I can hardly watch it without thinking of the SNL parody of the audience losing their minds, but I still can't wait to see what has been picked out and what will for sure be on everyone's Christmas list this year.

Here we are all fancied up for our night out with Gwen Stefani. We had a REALLY great time. Found a hotel right down the street from Reunion. We walked there after dinner and were just able to walk right back after the concert. We sat next to a cool couple that had a 2 year old and a 4 month old, so the crowd was really our age! We had GREAT seats and even enjoyed the Black Eyed Peas a bit before Gwen took the stage. Fun show. Was hoping to lollygag around on Sat. morning but weren't we up by 9:00. I figured as much. Joined the kids at Kendall's 5th birthday party and then hung out with the Japaks in the afternoon. Have to say that I'm glad Mom took a pic of us before we went out. I don't know the last time Mark and I had a picture made together. Plus, the fact that I'm even dressed up is an occasion for a picture!

We painted our dining room today. Months ago I agonized over painting it big red crayon color. We never painted the lower half of the chair rail and have agonized over what the heck to do with it since. I knew I wanted to do a faux finish, but having never done it, I kept putting it off. So, we got the base coat of red crayon up there today and are supposed to do the finish tomorrow. I thought we'd try tonight, but I think the base coat has to dry overnight. Mark is thrilled that it will be our project tomorrow night while the Cowboy game is on! I'll post pics if it turns out ok.

For now, I have pics from Halloween - finally! The little one in the middle is Savana Bickelhaupt - Scott and Shanda's oldest. Now that Halloween is over, we are full court press ready for the holidays. Aubrey wants EVERYTHING that is on tv - even if she can't even really tell you what it is.

Here are a few things that I have been thinking about today:

1. Thanksgiving is in exactly 2 weeks. Mark and I just realized that this morning.
2. I'm considering sending in a videotape to Oprah since she is searching for 'Is your house stuck in a time warp?' I'm thinking the vertical blinds throughout the ENTIRE house would qualify me. Maybe Nate will make a visit to my house!
3. I love Johnny Depp. Just watched 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' last night. I loved it. I loved it from the very first preview I ever saw so I'm very biased. I thought it was great.....great........great. Can't wait to watch it again. If you have not seen it yet, rent it! It just came out on video Tues. I can't believe I never got to the theater to see it.
4. There is never ANY time for lollygagging around when you have a babysitter. I would like to just take my time getting ready..........or pop into a shop on my way to meet my friends for dinner.........or have that extra glass of wine at dinner before heading off somewhere else.............pretty much you have time to get exactly where you are getting (and you are lucky if you are not late) and then it's time to get straight back.......... Mark and I got a hotel room downtown after the Gwen Stefani concert. I'm hoping we have an hour of lollygagging in the hotel room in the morning before getting back to life. We'll see!

Let's see............I don't feel all that compelled to update my blog.........but it has been awhile. I tried updating a few hours ago and lost cable connection so I lost my post. I know this one won't be as good as the first! But, I'm kind of foggy today anyway. Must be because I saw DEPECHE MODE last night at AAC. My ears are still ringing! We were able to score some tickets (thanks, Shanda! and thanks, Mark for the idea!).............we had some really really good seats........Love concerts that take you back to the day. They threw in some of their new songs but spent most of the time on the really really good oldies from back in the day. 'Just can't get enough'! I almost pee'd my pants. Then, they played 'Somebody' which is one of my all time favorites. One of those you don't hear often but when you do, you are right back in 1984..........who you were hanging out with (for me, it was Marty!).........what you were doing (riding around in Lisa Tobin's pinto). Marty said that in all the years he has seen Depeche Mode (which is a lot!), he has never seen them play that song live. I love good karma!

So, now I'm trying to rest to get geared up for Friday night with Gwen Stefani! We have done nothing today. In fact, I'll just admit it. Aubrey has watched about 3 1/2 hours of tv (way over the legal limit!) Brody and I played in his room for a bit and now he's napping. What else is going on with us?

I apparently wasn't dressed appropriately for last night's concert. I was a little too JLo for Marty's taste. I have this clip on pony tail complete with braids that Mark cannot stand. Since I knew I couldn't wear it Friday night, I wore it last night. Aubrey loved it. In fact, she wore it all afternoon until it was time for me to get ready. Here is a pic of that sassy girl. She may not be into purses and shoes but she loves the hairpieces and wigs!

She gets to invite a friend to gymnastics next week. I thought she would want to invite her friend Abbey from school. But, she said she wanted to invite her friend John. Hm... Ok......Daddy, of course, wasn't all that thrilled about that news. She asked him at school yesterday and he said yes. So, is that a date? Though I think at 4 years old, I probably would have asked a boy too. She also told me last week that she will not wear ponytails anymore. Grant told her that they were silly. Grant. This is the same Grant that says bad words and steps on the doll babies. Grant. She also said that her friend Saxton (yeah.........that's her name) told her during arts and crafts that Aubrey scribble scrabbles. She didn't really appreciate that comment. I did see the scribble scrabble first hand today though when I was coloring with her in the kitchen. I told her that she could watch tv after 10 more minutes of coloring. Didn't she just whip out the one color and scribble scrabble the whole thing so she could go watch MORE tv? So, I had to tell her that no I really didn't like that picture she colored. It wasn't really good since she didn't spend any time on it. So she said she'd put that picture in the 'no' pile. She's also driving me crazy with asking me what the plan is for the day........or what are we doing after Brody's nap. My friend said her daughter asks her that all the time too and she's like, 'who do you think I am? Julie from the Love Boat?'

And, Brody - - not a morning person buddy. Mark and I have reluctantly admitted that after the past few weeks of meltdown mornings. We cry because we can't have candy corn for breakfast. We cry because we spill our cereal. We cry because Mommy cut up the pancakes when you know you are supposed to eat them whole. We cry because Mommy can't hold us while she's making us our eggs. We cry.........and we cry...........and we cry...........a lot! And, then by 9:00.........all is good. Since I admit to not being a morning person, I'm trying to be calm in the mornings.........but it's not such a great way to start off your day! Maybe I could put some of my coffee in his sippy cup.

In other, more serious news........Prop 2 passed. Not surprising for this conservative state. Though I did get an email from my friend Jeanne this morning that really hit something home for me. If people would put as much passion in putting down the gay man into assisting the poor in our own country.......even our own state, then what good shape we would be in. We wouldn't be last in the freakin' nation in healthcare coverage for children. In Jeanne's current 6 week study, they are reading 'God's Politics' and it shows that we all have it wrong, whether we consider ourselves 'right' or 'left'. Poverty is the second most prominent theme in the old testament (the first was idolatry) and one of every 16 verses in the New Testament is about the poor and the subject of money/greed. Tell me how does that play into your vision of politics in America? Tell me how tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans and billions spent on an elective war to preserve oil interests while cutting funding for programs that would help the impoverished (1 in 6) children in our country exhibits Christian values? We have bigger problems than same sex nuptials in this country! The House leadership seems to be saying they literally want to take food from the mouths of children to make rich people richer. If this ideology and politics of rich over poor prevails and our leaders fail to govern from a set of moral values, then the religious community must conclude that compassionate conservatism is dead.

Just something else to consider!!!!!

Had to post something much nicer since that last blog was such a vent. We are coming off of our candy high from tonight and about to settle in for bed. This was our first year of full out trick or treating door to door and it was pretty fun! The weather was a bit nippy with wind and all so it was a pretty quick trip. Brody still won't walk all by himself so there was a lot of carrying. Thank God for the wagon. The Bickelhaupts joined us and Aubrey loved running up to each door with Savana. Brody dragged up the rear so we had to re-ring the doorbell at a couple of places. He got a lollipop at one house and you would have thought it was Christmas. He was happy for the rest of the night. Don't have pics to post right now since I used 35 mm tonight. I have learned that while I might have tons of pics of kids documenting holidays and all sorts of events, I'm not much into videotaping. I turned it on for about 3 minutes tonight and that was it. Hope the kids love their albums!

Speaking of........I'm relaunching my website and hosting an open house this Sunday so this will be a busy week in preparation for that. Check it out at www.custombykristen.com or click the link on the right side of my blog. If it's pink and blue and gray, it's been updated. Major props to Zemler and his brother for helping me get it updated in 4 days time. Woo hoo! I've updated the album info and some of the pics on the gallery page. Will start working on a baby album for friend's sister as soon as pictures arrive so I'm looking forward to that. Glad to know there is more to me than cleaning the house and picking up after everyone..........I would put 'and cooking' but then you would all laugh.

Anyway.............I am completely exhausted and will drag my now 36 year old self to bed. 36.....on the downside of the 30s...........hard to believe. Happy Birthday to me!

I am blogging right now just to vent - -- - today has been a Crappy day with a capital S-H-I-T-T-Y. Started off trying to dress Brody for school. Since he wasn't interested, it was a crying hysterically, flopping all around episode. Should go to quiet place inside myself to come up with a very creative 'FUN' way to get our clothes on, but all I ocould muster was, 'BRODY - do you need to keep crying because this is really not working for me'. Got Aubrey off to school and came back out to car with a dead battery. Still need to get Brody to school. Vaguely remember car dealership service guy saying last week that the battery was about to go. I was there for some emissions stuff and already looking at a $200 bill cynically thought that dealership guy was just trying to find something else to add to the bill. So........yeah.......guess I should have believed him. Another reason I wish we had public transportation around here and I wouldn't even have to worry about stupid gas guzzler SUV.
So, called Mark who I thought was getting ready for work and ended up, unfortunately, in bed because he wasn't feeling well. He came up and got us so we could get Brody to school as fast as possible. My dad came up and met us at the car and the battery wouldn't even take a charge. Mark left so he could pull himself together because he had to do some work today. Dad and I drove to dealership to get battery and get it installed. Started like a dream after that.
Mark called a 1/2 hour later on his way to work letting me know that we had left Brody's car seat in his car. Didn't want him to have to leave work that early to bring it back and I had no desire to drive to Addison to get it. So.........'F' it and I bought another one at Target. I don't even think I'll take it back. I like it. It's lighter than the one he has which will be a big help when we head to Florida at Thanksgiving. Wish I would have had a little more time for some shopping therapy at Target to make up for crappy day. But, battery and car seat was enough for one day.
We are home and I'm hoping to get Brody to bed in one minute (which I have been telling him for a 1/2 hour) so that I can maybe get some other therapy - maybe some Oprah show watching or just sitting outside and reading the paper. Since Aubrey has a friend over it will be much easier to just sit by myself for a bit.

Here is the family at a Marcus game a few weeks ago. Coke had a cool promotion with Friday night football where they snapped your pic and then you could go online and download it or email it.

Just had to document that for the first time since the kids have been in preschool this fall, I stopped by Starbucks and came home with my grande chai latte and sat and read the entire paper and watched Regis and Kelly. It was a total selfish one hour of time. Skipped the shower this morning for some time to do nothing. Now I'm off to do laundry, wash dishes and all other yucky chores that are waiting for me..................

This week has flown by! Let's see:

• Pic is of Brody in his Wiggles Big Red Car slippers. If he sees them, he will leave them on all day. We've already worn them in public. I have more good pics of him wearing them yesterday at Noni and Papa D's house so will have to add those soon.
• Took Aubrey to the State Fair - must get to Walgreens to develop pictures - I took her out of school on Thursday and we went for the day. She didn't care what we did as long as we rode the ferris wheel - the BIG one. We did - it cost like $20 - but whatever. We had to cram on with 3 other people but we had a good time. She rode some other kiddie rides that she will probably be too big for by next year. It was a REALLY great time. I had to check myself before we left thinking that I was dreaming how much fun it would be, but it really turned out to be a good time. We are 2 girls who love the State Fair. We might bring Brody next year, but we're not sure yet.
• We went to the Marcus homecoming parade on Wed night. Mark took off work early and went with us. It was a nice family outing. We grabbed enough candy from the float throwers to fill our basket for Halloween! :)
• We went to the Marcus homecoming game on Friday night. They apparently crown the queen (and king now) before the game so we missed all that. It was still fun even though Jonathan didn't get much play time. I think Aubrey just likes to go for the popcorn.
• I got a 4 hour free day yesterday to work on my photo albums. I'm finishing up one for my mom of her friends for the past 30 years. It was funny to put a picture in her album of her at my age now. I've updated the kids portrait albums and am ready to relaunch my website. Working on hosting an Open House to showcase my albums on Sunday Nov. 6th so will be getting the word out about that soon. Can't do it on that Sat. as I will be in Canton all day with my mom. YAY!
• Today we went to church - mainly because I had to work in the toddler room. Mark was going to go in the office but decided to come to church with us anyway. Something was calling him to come. After coming out of a great service, he decided it was best for him to stay home. Wonderful! At lunch I was talking about all the things I had to do, but that I'd really like a nap. He's like, 'I have a lot to do too. Just forget about it for today.' I forgot about MOST of it and it has been an enjoyable afternoon.
• Cooler temps. here mean cincinnati chili for dinner tonight...........yum...........Mark's already getting that started. So, I'm off to wake up Brody and throw 1 load of laundry in the dryer.

Brody and Aubrey laying in her bed with her new princess canopy. Wish you could see the feathers on top. Will work on adding another picture as I get used to this blog. 

Trying this out again. I'm hoping that I can post a pic or 2 here and I'll go back to this. blog.