Sunday Snapshot~ Santa

So we found out that as hyped as the Lil' Lady has been about Santa in the last month she definitely has her doubts. We went for our annual ornament trip to a local nursery and when we pulled into the parking lot the jolly ol' man himself was standing at the entrance greeting everyone. well, she couldn't get out of the car fast enough! she was hollerin' Santa! Santa! as we were trying to unbuckle her. she tried to hurry across the gravel lot stumbling the entire way, but as soon as she got to him and he held his hand out it you would've thought he was the boogey man! she started to shake and turned to reach for me to pick her up. "i'm scared of Santa" she said over and over.

say what?

so much like chuck e. cheese, Santa's going to have to keep his distance if this Lil' Lady's around and just be admired from afar.

 

the First Lady decided later that night that she was going to help. all i know is that sometime during dinner prep she disappeared into the bathroom with some paper, scissors and tape and came out as Santa.

 bless her heart she played the part pretty good and the Lil' Lady quite enjoyed it....

 even told "Santa" what she wanted for Christmas!

 according to the First Lady she has now been rehabilitated and is ready for another shot at the mall.

something tells me though it's going to be another year before we attempt that!

10 days of thankfulness~ day 10

i am thankful for my husband....

 who's a champ at pitchin' in and doing things i don't ever have to ask him to do. like hangin' out with the Lil' Lady during the party with 20 middle schoolers,

 and jumpin' in the pool at night with the kiddos when it's just a bit too cold for me!

last night he offered to go stand in line in the cold for a particular stores midnight opening to catch a great deal for something on the kids Christmas list. we had already been out at a few hours before standing in line at Walmart for something else. that went extremely well. we were about 10th in line, got our stuff and checked out about 15 minutes after they even opened. he knew i'm a morning person and by midnight i would be the equivalent of a cranky badger so he offered to go back out at midnight even though he's not the shopper.

 oh, and spendin' some quality time on the Xbox with the boys. not sure, but this one may not be too much of a chore!

 then there was that one time when i was somewhere else and he was home with the kids and did the Lil' Lady's hair. I was so impressed i took a picture of it. maybe he should start doing the First Lady's hair too!

 but i can't forget to mention the cooking. this guy can cook up a storm. he definitely found his calling about 5 years ago when he started puttering around in the kitchen. everything he makes is awesome, i'm so blessed to have a husband who loves to cook!

so yes, i am thankful for my husband in so many ways:)

10 days of thankfulness~ day 9

i am thankful for my oldest girl...

 who can be so very sweet,

 but can also be so very, very ,very sassy. she may only be in third grade, but some days i feel like i'm dealing with a teenager. makes me wonder what's yet to come!!

 see that hair? it's a mess. she wants to keep it long, but doesn't want mama to do anything with it. 

 i try, but don't do a very good job. when i'm able to get her to let me play with it this is what happens. 

  i need someone to come and do a hair artist in residence with me and stay a week!

 on our day out together we went shopping. we started with a butter and cinnamon crepe.

 it was her first and she wasn't quite sure she was going to like it, but let me tell ya, she finished it off all by herself.

 we ended up in the American Girl trap store.

 about 3 hours later, she was pooped but i was still goin'. say what?

 she's supposed to be my shopper girl, the one that can go all day. i suppose it may kick in when she's older.

 she did con me into getting some sticker nails. i warned her they wouldn't stay on and they didn't. she was able to find another use for them though.

 i have to post this moment. after her big brother had completed his "go-cart" he offered to let her be the first rider.

 she wasn't quite thrilled at first, i don't think she thought it was very well built.

 but she was brave and went for it.

 i wish i took a video so you could hear her screaming all the way up the road. turned out she loved it!

10 days of thankfulness~ day 8

i am thankful for the view outside my back window. when we left Maryland we left behind a backyard with woods. i loved that and was sad to leave that view. the wide open space behind us is beautiful and even more so throughout the year as it changes.  

 this scene reminded me of a Christmas tree in July! i was so glad they hung around long enough for me to get the camera.

 and this little fellow wasn't quite ready to fly and perched on the bottom deck rail for quite some time. i love the birds here, so many different kind to appreciate.

 believe it or not, this was about six in the evening last June with a storm front coming in.

we see lots of storms coming over that field in the backyard and with some we usually end up in the lower level!

if i recall this one wasn't as bad as it looked, pretty dark for that time of day in the summer though!

 lots of creatures we're always finding. we found an 8 inch salamander a few weeks ago in the front yard. didn't get a picture of him though.

according to this guy we should have a mild winter. i hope not, i've been wishin' for snow lately!

 we've had several bald eagle sightings since we've moved here. i'll never forget this one perched on top of the neighbors roof!

we also have plenty of ducks and Canadian geese and hawks out there too for a good part of the year. there's a gray heron named Reggie and white crane named Andy that fly by so often we've obviously named them.

and then there was this little thing that nobody could figure out. he was the strangest caterpillar we'd ever seen. when the kids matched it up on line they found out it was an eastern swallowtail butterfly!

this was the result of some pretty heavy rainfall we had over the span of a few days last spring.

and don't get me started on the sky views and sun sets! i never seem to get a picture of those, but they sure can be spectacular in that back space. back home we weren't able to see the stars like we can here too, the sky's so big it reminds me of our honeymoon in Jackson Hole.

we've even had a few visitors including this guy under our deck, plenty of squirrels and even some coyotes that come and holler at the back fence. pretty neat for this nature lover. and aside from the birds, the hubs would be relieved to know i haven't fed any of them. although, if that raccoon is brave enough to show up at the sliding door on the deck again he's gettin' a treat.

i just can't resist:)

10 days of thankfulness~day 7

i am thankful for this guy.....

 

 who is still my boy even though he's a middle schooler.

 i've said it before, he's always in tune with what i need at the moment and he's right there to do it before i can even ask. there have been some busy mornings when i find the Lil' Lady already buckled in her seat at the table with her milk and breakfast in hand and this guy is sitting beside her texting away as if it's no big deal that he took care of that for me. one morning he even changed her pull-up. he asked me to never speak of that, ever. so i don't think it will happen again but that's alright.

 in January he starts basketball. he's been wanting to play for so long so he's really pumped about it. he's done a bit of everything; soccer, hockey, football and of course baseball but apparently basketball is what he's wanted to do forever. i'm excited for him, but nervous all at once. after all, it's taken me 7 years of baseball to finally get all of the rules straight. i know nothing about basketball. zero. it's gonna be crazy, but i'm looking forward to it!

 he's definitely a nutball. this mask was his little sisters, but he prefers to dress up in this outfit and stand in a dark corner and wait until his Grandma gets home from work late at night to scare the pant off her. it does work.

 when we had his day out the main objective was basketball shoes. he was officially labeled by a Footlocker employee as a "shoehead" and it fits him perfectly. this boy does love his shoes and would love to have a closet full if we could afford it.  

 but for now it was all about getting the perfect pair for the court. when i saw the price tag i about fell on the floor. i don't think anybody in the family has ever bought a pair of shoes with three numbers in front of the decimal but thankfully the guy pulled out his price gun and said he thought they were on sale. they were. and this mama was happy....

but not as happy as the shoehead!