Adventures in shopping: Black Friday edition

So here was the plan: I'd meet my mother and sister, sister-in-law Tricia, and Jana at 9:30 pm, we'd drive the half hour to town, and start at Walmart, shopping the 10 pm doorbusters until the electronics came on sale at midnight. Sounds pretty simple right? At least we thought so, none of us ever having attempted a Walmart Black Friday opening before.

Turns out we were a bunch of loony tunes to be so naive because, OH THE INSANITY. We got our first hint that things might not go so smoothly when traffic was stopped a couple blocks away from Walmart's vast parking lot and people were parking on the main road and all the side streets and walking. The cars were so jammed we couldn't even turn around and it took us a full 20 minutes to get through the parking lot close enough for me to drop everyone off, which we finally decided to do after a good 5 minutes of debating whether to completely bail or not. We'd come this far we decided, why not risk life and limb and have a little adventure.

After I miraculously found a spot and waded in, I quickly discovered the masses had already grabbed most of the sale stuff and got in line to checkout, but all was not lost. As it turns out, the way to shop the Walmart sale is to wander aimlessly around the store and find abandoned items you were looking for that other people grabbed and then changed their mind on three aisles later. Seriously, I got all but two items on my list, including the $248 laptop that I was hoping for! I didn't even wait in line for it - I just decided (at 11:57 pm, 3 minutes before the electronics sale started) to go wait by the line of people who already had tickets saving their spot for the computer because they'd been there since probably 7 pm, just in case someone bailed. I was completely shocked to discover that several people must have because I watched them hand out all the laptop boxes to the people waiting and when the line was gone there were still ten left. And I was the only one standing there waiting to see if there were extras!

SCORE, ME! 

What does this mean? I am now the proud owner of my first ever laptop! An HP 15.6 inch screened beauty. Technically it's a Christmas present from Russ (because I sorta twisted his arm to let me get it by saying I wouldn't need anything else under the tree. Which we all know is a lie - of course I need a surprise under the tree!) but I don't think I'm going to be able to wait till the end of December to start playing with it.

We spent the next hour and a half manning our cart in the long and winding checkout line, taking turns going out in pairs to scavenge for more abandoned items left by other shoppers (I'm telling you, it's the way to go.) This led to making new best friends with the ladies in front of us, who brought us iced waters from the Subway up front and refilled them for us a few times too. (Loved those girls!)

After Walmart we took a little side trip to Krispy Kreme at 1:30 am because the hot light was on and we were a little caffeine deficient. 

Peppermint white mochas to revive our sleep-deprived selves.

a dozen fresh doughnuts helped too. 

And then we rocked Target (always way more organized and stocked than Walmart), Old Navy (no lines at all and very well stocked, bought myself two pairs of jeans because they were only $15.00), and Kohl's (also no lines... turns out 2-5 am is the prime time to shop!) before heading back home at 6 am. With a trunk full of presents bought at some pretty amazing prices. I rolled into bed at 7 am and didn't wake up until almost one o'clock in the afternoon. And the rest of the weekend was kind of a blur after that, but it was a fun and relaxing blur.

And now that the shock of the long night has worn off, I'm left with 95% of my Christmas shopping completed, and it's not even December yet. Do you know how often that has happened before?

NEVER. Not even close.

I'm feeling pretty jazzed about that :)

We ate and shopped and ate some more

It's been a full past few days.

2 kid's open house Thanksgiving parties at school. Check.

3 Thanksgivings. Check.

1 all-nighter shopping trip. Check. 

2 books read. Check.

2 evenings of friends over. Check.

4 movies watched. Check.

1 new board game learned. Check.

General lack of sleep and laundry washing. Check and check.

So. We had a great Thanksgiving. (All three times.) First with Russ's family, then with my family, and finally yesterday with our friends, the Cox family. And I can tell you that regardless of the small portions and no seconds that I stuck to, I'm pretty sure I ate my weight in holiday food this weekend.


Darn you sweet potatoes for your power over me!

Pictures from all three Thanksgiving meals. 

It was all so, so good. And so was the company!

The shopping was good too, if you don't mind a side of COMPLETE INSANITY. I'll be back to tell the tale tomorrow, when I'm not so hungover from turkey and three different kinds of dessert :)

All's well that ends well

Yesterday didn't start out so well. After a fun weekend full of birthday parties and going out with friends, Russ and I both came down with a stomach bug in the middle of the night and were 99% useless for the better part of the morning.

Don't stomach bugs just suck? There is almost nothing I dread more than throwing up.

(Gross side story: Once, when we still lived in New Zealand, my mother's whole family planned a surprise birthday weekend for my Grandma and rented a house to all stay in together for three days. It started out well but on the second day one of my cousins came down with the stomach flu and within 24 hours almost every.single.one of us had it. There were eighteen of us. I'm pretty sure not a single one of us has forgotten that painfully memorable time.) 

Thankfully yesterday was nothing like that. The bug was short-lived and there was even an upside: Russ and I vegged in front of the fire and enjoyed a guilt-free afternoon of NOTHINGNESS with a side of naps. Then we both felt well enough to do the laundry and cook dinner, Russ left for basketball practice, and I played on Pinterest (did I mention I'm a recent addict?), and further planned the great shopping expedition that is to take place this coming Thursday at midnight. (It will be epic.)

To end my evening of productivity I spent two full hours on the phone with my sister-in-law talking about anything and everything, which was entirely relaxing and enjoyable. So while the day didn't start well it certainly ended much better. Perfectly actually.

Monday Confessional

First, some imformation: Jana and I signed up to be vendors at a Christmas bazaar in two weeks. Or, more accurately, Jana signed up because she's the crafty mama, I offered to be her assistant because it sounded fun and I wouldn't have to do the work, but then decided I could probably whip up some delicious treats to try to sell since I was going to be there anyway.

I do love to bake, remember.

And that's how I ended up going to a local holiday bazaar on Saturday to "scout" out the booths and get ideas and take notes. 

How many people can see where this is going? 

Remember when I talked about my little problem with the Costco sample tables and saying no to the food vendors? Apparently that problem is multiplied tenfold when talking to friendly folk selling their homemade wares. 

Because within the first 10 minutes I had already bought four things.

And then I called Jana and told her she was on her own because I had to ESCAPE QUICK BEFORE I BOUGHT THREE SOCK MONKEYS AND A WOODEN TOY BANK AND A PAIR OF FEATHER EARRINGS AND A GORGEOUS TURQUOISE NECKLACE. 

Or something like that.

The sad thing is I'm a selfish shopper. Did I buy Christmas presents or stocking stuffers or something that would actually be helpful towards sticking to our holiday budget? Oh no! I bought these goods instead:

 A knit hat. That I love. 

A bag of peppermint fudge. That may have come with a few more pieces than you see in the bag. Which I took a picture of  as soon as I got home. Mmmm.

Homemade soy candle melts for my Scentsy warmer! Sugar Cookie scented. I was pretty excited about these.

And a Pampered Chef small spatula. Not homemade but I lost my old one and it was discounted so I snapped it up happily.

And then ran away before all the vendors I'd rashly promised that I'd come back to spied me.

Hello, Insta-Friday

This week has flown by. Instead of blogging the past two days, I've been busy painting, grocery and Christmas shopping, attending my daughter's basketball game, hosting a visit from a friend, and catching up on some much needed sleep.

(Difficult to do when you're also reading two books and not wanting to miss this week's episodes of Survivor and The Office!)

Now I'm back with this week's phone pics, which I'm linking up to Jeannett for Insta-Friday. 

Target & Starbucks, a winning combination. Our Target happens to have a Starbucks inside, making it virtually impossible to resist. Well played, Target, well played. 

 Miley and buddy Max (the Doodle dogs) all ready to watch the Ducks/Vanderbilt game at our friends, the Nofs. Oh ho ho ho he ha .

Our favorite place in town to get Mexican food. Not joking. It's so good and the couple that run it are so sweet. 

 Blake down and out with a fever last weekend. Didn't matter what was going on around him, he was OUT COLD.

Kid also got a bloody nose out of the blue. What the heck? He thought he was COOL BEANS walking around with a tissue up his nose though, didn't phase him a bit. 

And look, more Blake! He accompanied me to the MAC counter at Nordstrom this week and thought the makeover chairs were just perfect for him. Fine by me... better to keep him out of touching every.single.thing.in.sight.

Ummm... delicious! Good in coffee or hot chocolate I've found. It's sad to admit, but I am the person that will have a cup of coffee just for the creamer, not the caffeine.

And on that sweet but pathetic note...

They're back and I'm in trouble!!!

Have a great weekend everyone :)  

Blake gets his groove on

You guys. I uploaded a video clip. Small fries for most. Big fat baked potato for this non-techie mama!

(Also, I may be hungry.)

I give you Blake, the dancing dude.

Blake gets his groove on. from Jodi Halverson on Vimeo.

My favorite part, besides his awesome dance moves of course, is when he tries to copy Russ's finger snapping, can't figure it out, and then claps instead without stopping his performance. Smooth!

(In case you're wondering what THE HECK we're listening to, it's a preset DJ track on Kendall's keyboard. Blake loves to get one started and then go get his groove on :)

(Oh, and please ignore the giant pile of stuff to the left... evidence of my massive clean sweep of the kids' room!)

The weekend report

Well there's not much to report, sadly. All plans came to a halt when Blake came down with a fever Friday night that didn't go away for the rest of the weekend.

Do you know how many TV shows you can get caught up on when you're stuck home all weekend with a slug-on-a-log three year old? (Five is the answer. I know, I was impressed too.)

I got my domestic on too, cooking and baking and keeping the house relatively clean... always a tricky thing on the weekend. Here's a few pics of what else went on...

Kendall stacked three cords of firewood all on her own. Earning herself $25 buck towards Kanani (yes, the American Girl dream lives on).

Russell and his buddy David built a 24 foot lean-to off our shop. In 3 days.

We got new rock for our driveway and it made for a fun game for these two.

(Until Daddy smoothed it out.)

Blake pretty much looked like this all weekend, poor guy.

 Kendall and cousin Maddy (we shipped in friends since we weren't going out) let me experiment on their hair... I give you the sock bun! 

And then Blake stole my camera and took the following 4 pictures...

Someone's finally feeling better!

CAUGHT! I sometimes wear leopard jammy pants all day long! (And I have a messy, unfinished laundry room.)

"Hey, you little camera stealer!" 

And that's the weekend report. Here's to a fever-free week :)

My favorite veteran

In honor of Veterans Day, I wanted to talk about my Papa, a World War II vet.

Harold Dale Wilson

This man was and will always be one of the most important men in my life. He passed away less than two months after I got married, and my Nanna says my upcoming wedding was the only reason he held on as long as he did.

I will always remember...
- His favorite snack: molasses flavored graham crackers in milk.
- His blue chair that he would never let Nanna get rid of.
- His amazing painting and beautiful finish work that he was known for, even with fused wrists from years of arthritis pain.
- The hope chest he built me for my 18th birthday.

- His vegetable garden.
- Playing pictionary with him and his frustration when no one could guess a particular drawing, "oh, fiddle!"
- His laugh.
- His famous meatballs.
- His most well-known exclamation, "well, shoot, Jeannie!" (that would be my Nanna ;)
- And my favorite... "What in tarnation?!"
- His love for the Lord and his family.

Yesterday I visited his grave site with Nanna.

It is an honor to be buried here, and it is breathtakingly BEAUTIFUL. 

Overlooking Portland.

 

My beautiful Nanna. 

It was such a special day, one I won't forget for a long, long time. 

I am thankful for all of those who have served our country. And I am thankful for the one I knew and loved so well. 

 I will see you again in heaven, Papa. 

So what happened with the broken doorknob?

Did Russ ever come home? Did Blake ever get out? I know you're all wondering ;)

So to recap the end of this post from Monday night: Russ was gone playing basketball, Kendall and Cooper were sleeping in my room, and Blake was in his bed, unaware that we'd broke the doorknob trying to open the door and he was essentially locked in.

At least he's sleeping, I thought.

But then he woke up. And needed to go potty. And couldn't get out. And I couldn't get in. And he cried. A LOT. And I almost did too, trying to calm him down after he wet his pants. And I still couldn't get the darn door open. So I talked poor Blake back into bed. And tried to call Russ or anyone else down at the gym. (Why don't men wear their cell phones while out on the court anyway?!) Finally I sent a last ditch text to my brother-in-law asking him if he was at open gym to send my husband home.

Turns out he was and he did.

Which is why 5 minutes later Russ came roaring down the driveway, strode through the front door, bee-lined it to the back bedroom, and before I could even explain that Blake had fallen back asleep, he had THROWN HIS WHOLE BODY AGAINST THE DOOR AND BROKE IT OPEN. Just like in a TV show.

A man of action. That's who I married. 

While quite impressed, I can't say that I was actually pleased. We now need a new door as well as a new doorknob!

But at least Blake could get in a pair of dry pajamas. And Luckily he didn't remember a darned thing in the morning. And if nothing else it turned into quite the joke between Russ and I as he sheepishly admitted he may have overreacted JUST A TAD.

I plan on getting a lot of mileage out of that one ;)

(I would also just like to point out that as you can see above, there were no screws or anything in the knob to help me break in, and no door hinges on the hallway side of the door either, so I wasn't being a door-breaking wuss... really, I wasn't!)

Another day in the life of DRAMA MOM!

Blog brain has hit.

That means I'm tired and I don't have much to blog about tonight. Unless you want to hear about my not very exciting but excessively loooong day today which was mostly spent driving. To TWELVE locations to be exact; running multiple errands, attending a meeting, going to parent/teacher conferences, picking up and dropping off and picking up again various children, running even more errands, etc. etc. By the time I arrived home for the last and final time, at 4:30 pm, I had actually made myself carsick. Carsick! (I never get motion sickness.)

To top it off, at one point during the day Miley jumped off my lap and out of my car window WHILE I WAS DRIVING. Fortunately I was turning into a subdivision in town and was only going about 10 miles an hour, but still. I about had a heart attack. She doesn't seem to be hurt at all, thankfully, unless you count her feelings because, oooh, did she get in trouble for that one. (And then I was forced to break my vow against coffee stops to get a a peppermint white mocha to calm my nerves.)


(You haven't heard about that vow because I only made it over the weekend.)


The evening ended on a happier note however. Kendall and I took on the boys in a rowdy game of Pictionary after dinner and totally DOMINATED. It was pretty awesome. Even though at one point Kendall drew a lovely bale of hay, with a horned cow head and a farmer holding a pitchfork as clues, and all I could guess was, "The devil! A fiery pit! Satan's minions! IT'S HELL!!"

Seems the effects of my day hadn't quite worn off yet.

After the board game Blake went to bed and Russ left to play open gym basketball, leaving me with a calm house and sole use of the computer while Kendall and Cooper quietly watched a short cartoon. After it was over they did their bedtime chores without dawdling and kissed me goodnight and I was all set for the bliss of a silent evening all to myself.

Until their bedroom doorknob stuck and they couldn't get in. So I rolled my eyes and came to help, and broke the doorknob completely, while the door was still closed. With a sleeping Blake behind it. Which led to me wasting a solid 10 minutes trying to break in using nothing but a bobby pin and a pair of tweezers - quite unsuccessfully.

Kendall and Cooper are currently asleep on my bed and I'm waiting for Russ to get home. I need another mocha. 

Monday confessional

Things are going downhill pretty quickly with the whole "our puppy is a pet, not a toy or a baby" idea.

(And by downhill I mean we've jumped off the cliff with both feet screaming, "wheeee!")

She goes everywhere with us.
Sleeps on our bed.
Lays on the couch.

And now it's come to this:

Oh dear.

Now, I'm not saying I bought this for Miley myself.

Or this:

But I"m not saying I didn't squeal a little in excitement when I saw them. And try them both on her immediately.

(Gosh darn it, they're cute as all get out! Thanks, Mum :)

Go ahead and shake your head in shame, we understand.

On the bus

This girl is a social butterfly.
She finds friends anywhere.
Has fun doing anything.
Wants to babysit soooo badly.
Is a natural born cheerleader.
Still likes to kiss her Mom and Dad goodnight on the lips.
Was relieved and excited when she found out her basketball team wouldn't be the team that had to travel with the boys. I will remember this moment!
Hates any movie that has a hint of suspense or scariness.
Is learning to be patient.

This boy is thoughtful.
So thoughtful.
He picks out toys at the dentist office for his siblings instead of himself.
Spends his money on others more often than not.
Loves to surprise people with gifts.
Loves to surprise people period.
Worries.
Doesn't like change.
At all.

(Recent conversation after Cooper had his molars sealed to protect against cavities and commented for the fifth time on the way home that they felt different):
Cooper: Mom, I just feel like everything in my life is changing. We got a new dog (in August), a new car (in September), I'm in a new class at school (for over 2 months now), I'm getting a new bedroom, and now my teeth feel funny!
Me (knowing what his response will be): do you like change or not like it, bud?
Cooper: I don't really care for it, Mom.

Understatement of the year.

This boy got a haircut!
He wants to be in charge.
Likes to do EVERYTHING himself.
Cuddles in bed with his mama every morning.
Is continuously happy.
Except when he's hungry.
Warms hearts like nobodies business.
Is learning how to sit at the table for more than two minutes at a time without climbing off his chair. Squirrel!

This mama is content.
She loves her life.
A tidy house.
And a trip to Starbucks.
Is sometimes slightly concerned by her own shopping habits.
Can't get herself anywhere on time.
Is learning not to care so much about what others might think.

This mama loves those kids.

A minor master-suite tragedy

We encountered a slight delay in the master suite addition this weekend:

That was our double sink bathroom countertop. It was all ready and beautiful for the undermount sinks to be installed and then placed on the waiting vanity.

How does a thick, solid slab of granite break like that, you ask? We have no idea. Our tile guy was gluing one of the sinks underneath and it just crumbled. He has never seen anything like that happen in all his many years of business.

Daaaang.