Snow Days

I haven't left the house since Monday night, and it is now Friday morning. A little thing called "winter weather" has prevented me from venturing out, and it is still technically fall. It all started when Emma had an early release on Tuesday because bad weather was coming. By that night I was worried hubby may not be able to make it home from work safely. Wednesday was a full-out blizzard and the central part of the state was pretty much shut down. Everyone was home--fun times. Thursday there was still no school, the temps were below zero. But there was mounds of fresh snow on the ground which the girls could not resist. I bundled them up so they looked like extras in "The Christmas Story". Leah had fun, but she knows when she is ready to come inside and take advantage of hot chocolate and heat. Emma could've stayed out all day, but I think letting your child play outside so long they develop frostbite could be considered child endangerment. Finally today the girls are back at school and I have exactly 1.25 hours to run a million errands. There are gifts to be bought (to be exchanged on Sunday), treats to be made, wine to be purchased, house to be cleaned, etc etc. Emma has been the Star Student this week (poor girl was jipped out of 2 days) so today I'm going in to read to her class. And then I have to hustle out to pick up Leah and continue errands. All in the bitter cold. At least it is a change in scenery from being in the house!

Heart Warming

We got our first measurable snow Sunday night and the girls were so excited. After Emma got home from school yesterday, they wanted to play outside. I bundled everyone up and they were happy to play outside for over an hour. Too cold for me!

Once they came back in, they wanted to turn the fireplace on and have hot chocolate. The living room was lit by the Christmas tree, and there they sat in front of the fireplace. Emma had gone and got a Christmas song book she has and read "The Night Before Christmas" to Leah and then they sang Christmas songs. It was truly a heart warming sight! Ah, to be a child again and find the wonder of the season in the little things.

Miss Indecisive

Subtitle: Would you wear this?

So I've been shopping for myself this past week. We have one Christmas "party" to go to, a cookie exchange, and then Christmas itself. Since I stay at home I tend to wear things like jeans and thermal shirts or even fleece pants and slippers. I don't think I can show up to hubby's supervisor's house wearing slippers.

The search for decent clothes began, and I quickly became discouraged. After trying on 6,492 pair of black/dark grey pants at Kohls I was ready to throw in the towel. I managed to find a pair that were okay at Old Navy, just to have a pair.

Then I went shopping at Younkers. I'm not sure how far-reaching the Bon Ton department stores are, but here where I am we have Younkers. They usually have decent sales and then coupons on top of sales. When I went to try on a skirt and one more pair of black pants, the person in the dressing room before me just happened to leave a few behind in my size. I tried one on and . . . . they fit! Of course since I am short, I will have to hem them. Comes with the territory.

As I was checking the price on the pants, I spotted a cute sweater on the clearance rack. This picture doesn't do it justice, it is cuter in person and falls open more. It is actually a cardigan and snaps together up at the top.


I thought about wearing it with either a white or red fitted long sleeved t-shirt underneath. I got a couple of chunky, longer necklaces with red/black/grey in them to wear with it.

So then it comes to the shoes. I had bought a pair of zebra flats from Target, but they aren't doing it for me right now. I saw these on the clearance rack and thought they would work with the sweater. Can you wear sling backs in the winter?

I also have this shirt that gives me another option. I had it on with a pair of dark wash jeans and the shoes and thought it looked dressy enough to wear to the Christmas party. What do you think?

While I was going a little crazy at Younkers, they had these EMU boots on sale. They are Ugg-like, but a step down from the real Ugg. Instead of being sheepskin on the inside, they are wool and the outside is suede. I wore them around the house a little bit and they just aren't doing it for me. I think they are going back.

So there you go. I'm second guessing the grey shoes right now, mainly because I don't own any dressy shoes and don't know how to wear dressy shoes to look right with an outfit. I thought they looked okay with both jeans and dress pants, but I could be totally way off base. I never said I was a fashion guru. The only person I had available for opinions while shopping was three-foot-two and had cookie crumbs on her face. How come it is so easy to dress her (you should have seen her today, a-dor-a-ble) but me not so much?

ETA: After playing dress-up tonight, the black pants will probably be going back, too. Yes, I tortured myself by trying on bazillions of pants only to buy a pair and bring them home and see they are very similar to the other one pair of black pants I own. They vary at the style of the hem/leg opening just slightly, but not enough for me to buy them to wear once a year. And yes, that is how many times I wore the pants last year. And the year before.

The Grinch has left . . . for now

Okay, I think I got all the Grinch-i-ness out for now. The upstairs got (mostly) clean, clothes are (mostly) put away, the dishes are (mostly) done, and the decorations are done. While cleaning I put another wall quote up--one I had bought a few months ago and couldn't decide where to put it. I decided, and I like it. I also changed a few other things around and added a few more decorations. I'm happy with how things look and can hopefully keep the house clean through the weekend.

Now I just need to move some presents around and should actually start wrapping them. There are some things in the way back of the van that I need to get out. Tonight I noticed Emma was looking back there (hopefully she couldn't see anything) and then she started talking about Santa. Hmmm. She is a believer, although there are a few kids in class who may not have the same thoughts. Tonight she told me, "That's okay, some people just have other traditions". I think she was thinking more along the lines of the Jewish holiday rather than the belief that Santa doesn't exist.

Next up this week is baking. I have a friend who wants me to make her some cookies that look like the Nutcracker since she and her daughter are dancing in a local production and wanted to give some out as gifts to the cast. That is my weekend project. My sister has completed our photo card for this year (Thank You!) and I have an idea rattling around my head for a fun Christmas letter, so that is well underway.

Meanwhile, Leah is reminding us all that Jesus' birthday is Christmas--something we need to step back and remember when all the craziness is getting to us. It isn't about the lights, the garland, or lame decorations. It doesn't matter if your kids are getting battery powered rodents or the latest, greatest video games. We can learn a lot from the four year old.

Bah Humbug

I am feeling very Scrooge-y today. The tree is up (thanks mostly to hubby and the girls!), the outside lights are on (thanks again to hubby) and all that is left is inside. That is where the problem lies--I have little-to-no Christmas decorations. Ones that I like, anyway. I've "outgrown" some of the things I have like Boyd's Bears and I have no money to buy anything new. I have ideas, but I can't seem to even find something in store like I want.

I fought for over an hour with stupid lights and garland. I have a small tree that is very pathetic that I should put up downstairs, but I have no desire. I have a beautiful nativity set and no where to put it--we have no mantle or any where else I can display it.

There are too many other "wants" on the list to even worry about putting money into decorations. I would love to get at least one of the girls' rooms decorated. But that means first painting (which I don't do) and then putting up the bunk beds. In order to put up the bunk beds, we need a new bed so our bed can go to the guest room and the guest bed can be the bottom bunk. I want the bunk beds up because I have wall decals to go up (have had them for 6+ months now) and want to know where the bed will be. And when I say we need a new bed, I want all new bedroom furniture. Buying cheap 12.5 years ago was fine, but I'm over it. And then of course there is always new living room furniture. And oh, how about a media console for the living room so we don't have our nice tv sitting on the coffee table that is also 12.5 years old. I did ask for that for Christmas, so we'll see. Everything can't happen at once so I'm stuck with what I've got.

The rest of Christmas is fine. I'm almost done buying gifts, I just need to get to wrapping them. I'll bake a few things and we're looking forward to our trip over Christmas to see hubby's family. The girls are excited and we'll go see Santa in the mall soon. Give me some good Christmas songs and I'll sing along.

Hopefully some of my Scroogeness will pass by morning. It doesn't help that I'm coming down with whatever germs are floating around the house these days. And if I wish hard enough, maybe the elves will come over night and decorate my house. Just maybe.

Shop 'til you drop

Yes, folks, hubby and I are two of those crazy shoppers you will see out before sunrise on Black Friday. We have been doing BF shopping for over 5 years now, so we are no rookies. This year there weren't too many "have to have" items, but we are suckers for bargains so out we went. Hubby actually stayed up most of the night, checking WalMart online to get one of the items on his list. Silly boy, what he ordered online and had to pay shipping for at 2:30am was right in front of me at 11am. Or should I say dozens of them, there for the taking. Oh well, those are the chances you take and if you want the item bad enough you will pay the extra $9 in shipping and lose a little sleep.

Usually my first stop is Kohls. They have the best deals on toys and a few other random items. I did not get there bright and early at 4am when the doors opened; 5:45am was early enough to get what I wanted. Now I do know that Kohls inflates their regular prices just a tad to make you feel like you are getting great bargains. "Look, this bath wrap was supposed to be $29.99 but you got it for $6.80! What a steal!" I will say that I had a coupon for 15% off your entire purchase, plus the Kohls cash you get when you spend $50 or more so it was worth the trip for me. Now I have to go back sometime next week to spend that $20 of "free money" and so they can say "Ha, ha, gotcha to come back!" By the time I found what I wanted, the lines were short and the trip was painless.

My longest wait was at Old Navy. Now I really didn't even need anything at ON, but again--the power of a bargain. While I at the mall I hit Target, Justice, Younkers and (another) Kohls all in one shot.

I got quite a few things knocked off the list. I struck out on a couple things, but nothing earth shattering. I am thanking my kids today that they haven't asked for Zhu Zhu pets or for wanting anything from that insane asylum they call Toys R Us. While I was buying a few things at Target, the cashier mentioned someone came through his line and bought 9 GPS systems. Either he gets lost very easily or he is going to try and re-sell them on e-bay. Your guess. Hubby was also behind someone who bought 3 itouch for just under $300 a pop. You got a $30 gift card with purchase, then $10 for every $100 you spent so that guy came away with around $150 in gift cards.

Before he went out shopping, hubby asked me if I even had a list. I said, "Didn't you read my blog?" Obviously not. ;)

My grown up Christmas list

Even though Christmas isn't about the getting, I still have some things on my own wish list. Right after the things I won't get (such as peace on earth, a gym membership and a maid) there are a few things that I'm wishing for:

Maybe a cute scarf like this
or this
An itunes gift card. We need some new tunes on the ipod, preferably before our 4 hr car ride to South Dakota for Christmas. ;)
I checked this book out from the library and I think it is a keeper. I already have some recipes bookmared with sticky notes, but don't think I'll get to try them before the holidays.

Another cookbook I have my eye on is the one from The Pioneer Woman. She is a "famous" blogger who has wonderful recipes. Yes, I could look them up online but I am a visual learner and prefer to have a copy in front of me.

This has been on my wishlist since this summer, and of course everyone is going to have one now because The Pioneer Woman (mentioned above) recently posted a site called The Vintage Pearl
which has hand stamped jewelry. It may have to be moved to my birthday list. Of course I would order one with my own children's names on it. ;)

Yes, I almost hate to admit that I have Ugg boots on my wishlist.

Again, I've been contemplating them for over a year but just can't seem to part with that much money in one shot for a pair of boots. Yet everyone I've talked to just loves them. I know there are cheaper knock offs, but I haven't found a pair of those I liked. They may just be a "wish" for a long time, until I decide to finally get some and then they will be long out of style.

I also may have gotten a few things last week that can be considered early Christmas gifts. I've been looking for a new purse forever and haven't found one I loved. Although I wouldn't say I'm absolutely in love with this one, it seemed to be close enough and I was ready for a change. Hubby should be glad I can retire my corduroy "hobo" bag. Not hobo as in hobo style, hobo as in it looks like a vagrant should be carrying it from train to train. Isn't he nice.

What I liked most about the bag was the cute lining inside:I found a red wallet to go with and now I'm set for a few months.

My other early Christmas gift was this:

I had heard a lot of good things about these coffee makers, and I think it lives up to the hype. I just got the simplest model which I think fits my needs just fine. I can't even count the number of cups of coffee I've already made, and that doesn't include other hot drinks like apple cider and hot chocolate. So now I can add to my Christmas list a sample pack of coffees/chai tea/hot chocolate from a site like Big Cat Coffees.

What are you hoping Santa brings you?