Christmas already?

Yesterday we carved pumpkins
Today we heard Christmas music

What happened to Thanksgiving?

Wal-mart has already turned their garden center into a Christmas display

Trees, cards, gift wrap, ornaments and lights

Hobby Lobby has also been filled to the brim with Christmas decor

Honestly, I can't help but get a little excited

My friend and I just planned our annual Christmas shopping trip

I can't wait! I only get to see her about once a year and we spend ALL DAY together

I had a $10 gift certificate to Hallmark burning a hole in my pocket
so I bought 4 rolls of Christmas gift wrap

Some people have a shoe fetish, I have a gift wrap fetish (no joke)

I am already thinking about making holiday throw pillows

What do you think?

The boys and I have been to Toy Land countless times to make wish lists

Speaking of wish lists-

Can't my children be 2 again so I can shop in the Little Tike and Fisher Price aisle?

Spencer wants a BB gun
(You're going to shoot your eye out)

I'm not sure how I feel about this yet

With daddy in the military and a Grandpa that has a full gun safe,

what else would a 9 year old boy want?

Parker wants EVERYTHING
Good thing he has a birthday 8 days before Christmas
He circled everything he wants in the Toy Land ad
This made me laugh

I told ya he wants EVERYTHING
He's wants everything from a doll house to WWE action figures

I am thankful that I have already started my lists and my shopping
but the lists keep getting longer

As I was walking through Wal-mart today,
I saw a big box filled with Christmas Cd's
I LOVE Christmas music
I of course sifted through it
but didn't buy any

It won't be long and the hubby will be working like a maniac
hanging Christmas lights outside
I like things simple
A candle in each window is beautiful
But he enjoys having the brightest house on the block
so I let him do his thing
Chip's ultimate dream would be to have lights flashing to the beat of Christmas music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hjtd__eEmA&feature=related

I'm getting excited but promised myself that the tree wouldn't go up until Black Friday

Busy Saturday

I knew we had a a lot to accomplish today

Did I really think it would ALL get done?

NOPE

I'm glad my expectations weren't to high

I started this morning at 5:00AM

Clothes in the washer

Dishes in the dishwasher

And  went back to bed until 7:00AM

Now the day could officially start

The boys carved pumpkins in their underwear

I actually carved Parker's and vowed to NEVER carve pumpkins again

I have NEVER enjoyed carving pumpkins

I hate the slimy stuff

I can't stand the smell

or

The HUGE mess

Look who decided to help

After the pumpkins were done

We took them in the bathroom, turned off the lights and let them glow

Spencer's is a cat

and

Parker's is Frankenstein

(Sorry about the blurry picture)

I cleaned up the pumpkin mess

and made a new mess in the kitchen

This mess was SO worth it

I have a friend raising money for a breast cancer walk

Her mom is a breast cancer survivor and they are having a bake sale

I had been wanting to try a recipe I found

on none other than Pinterest

Baked Pumpkin Spice Donut Holes

Made em and Tried em 

and OH MY!

Spencer ate one and I think I heard something like

I think I just died and went to heaven :)

Don't worry, I will be creating a post with the recipe

I needed to cuten (Is that a word) these up

and thought these were adorable

I put the donut holes in a wrapper,

put 6 donuts on a small white plate, put them in a ziploc bag and stamped spiders on it

I also made giant dipped marshmallows and peanut butter pizza

After I had my kitchen looking like a tornado hit it

I decide it was time to put the costumes on and go visit my Great Aunt Ruby

She wasn't feeling well today but wanted us to come

She's a sweet sweet lady and we love her dearly

Thanks for the yummy snacks Aunt Ruby!

The last thing on my to do list today

was to get some pictures taken

Every Christmas, I make a calendar for my mom

The weather was great so today was the day

Wouldn't you know it, my camera and my children had issues

Parker isn't sure how to smile with all those missing teeth

What use to come so natural, now looks ridiculous

My camera was also acting up

90% of my pictures were blurry

I would have been more upset about the camera if the kids had cooperated

These are just a few shots I captured

Really guys?

I guess it's time to call it a day

Proud to be TIGERS

When we started looking for a home 11 years ago

We knew we wanted children

but we weren't thinking about what school we wanted them to attend

We knew what we could afford and what we were looking for

After months of looking

We FINALLY found a house

I HATED the location

Well let me just tell ya

10.5 years later I still HATE the location

But LOVE the school district we are in

We are proud to be Colorado Tigers

The boys LOVE Colorado school

They have awesome teachers, counselor and principal

We couldn't ask for a better school

We also like that Colorado only has ONE fundraiser a year

but it's a BIG one

Colorado Elementary had their annual fall festival a couple of weeks ago

Every year I am amazed -

The hard work from parents and teachers

The donations given

The students selling raffle tickets

The baked goods

It's all just AMAZING!

This year the students sold over 15,000 raffle tickets (AMAZING isn't it?)

The top 25 sellers of raffle tickets got to go get ice cream with the principal (Mr. Spies)

Not only did they get to have ice cream, they got to ride in a white, excursion limo

It was sitting outside the school this morning

and COOL doesn't even describe it

The bake sale made over $700.00

These were a few of my donations for the bake sale

A little sugar anyone ?

I also heard that the book fair brought in $900.00 more than last year

WAY TO GO TIGERS!!!

Can you say SPOILED?

As most of you know

we have one very spoiled kitten

She is now 12 weeks old

and growing like crazy

Miss Amelia had her first photo shoot last week

Here's a sneak peek

She loves this bowl

There is only one small problem; she likes to sleep in it

It's a good thing Mama has been working on her new bed

because she won't be fitting in that bowl for much longer

Before we even knew we were getting a kitten,

I saw a pet bed on Pinterest that I had to make

It was an end table turned upside down to make a 4 post bed

I searched for a table and couldn't find exactly what I wanted

but found something on craigslist I thought would work

Here's the table before I got started

I used white primer spray paint and then painted it to match my trim

I had a horrible time trying to find padding to fit inside

I ended up using a pillow, some fiberfill and a blanket

It works for now but I may experiment a little more later

Here is the finished project

I even made Amelia a pillow to match the throw pillows on our couch

Can you see her sleeping in her bowl next to the bed?

She sleeps here SOMETIMES

Now seriously, would you rather sleep scrunched up in a glass bowl

or in a nice 4 post bed made just for you?

Can I have a do over?

Where did my weekend go?

I want a do over

We spent the weekend going to Cub Scout events

Friday night- Muskie Homecoming Game

Saturday- Scout O Rama @ the Discovery Center
Sunday- Open house @ the fire station

The boys had a GREAT time and I had fun watching them

but all I could think about was my torn up living room

My mom and I spent Friday painting my living and dinning room

They discontinued my favorite kind of paint (Dutch Boy Dimensions)

The sales man sold me Dutch Boy Platinum - Don't EVER buy this kind

I'm sure he has NEVER painted

I have roller marks that will be on my walls for years because I am NOT repainting

I will say I LOVE LOVE LOVE the colors I picked out

The picture is dark, I apologize

If you want to see it, stop by

but give me a call on the way so I can tidy up

The living room is Sherwin Williams - Outerbanks

The small hallway is Sherwin Williams- Well Bred Brown

By Sunday we were tired of all of the furniture shoved in the center of the room

We were ready to have our living room back

I wasn't sure the hubby would be up to moving furniture

after doing his physical training test for the Guard

but he was and the room finally looks livable again

The walls are still bare but eventually pictures, a mirror and a clock will be hung

Today I spent 4 hours at the boys school counting raffle tickets

My mornings for the next 2 week will be spent there

I love my kids but I'll be glad when the Fall Festival is over

I sped home

Threw the breakfast dishes in some hot soapy water

Threw the clothes in the dryer

Pet the cat who nearly got stepped on as I was running

Washed the dishes

Changed the cat box

And was washing my hands as the first client showed up

How did I ever find time to work full time?

In between clients

I called my place of employment (they STILL haven't called me back)

Paid our car insurance online (OUCH)

Paid the house payment (DOUBLE OUCH)

Called the bank in hopes of finding our title

Went to the other bank

Then I came home
Folded laundry
Went through back packs
Checked facebook
Started supper
Ate
Rushed out the door for Cub Scouts
And then worked for 3 hours

No honey, I don't sit home and eat Bon Bons