The 2010 Christmas Tree

We kept far away from the mall on Black Friday. We hopped in the car and headed up to Evergreen for our annual Christmas Tree shopping at Lucky Lure. This is our third time getting our tree from them and the experience is awesome. Our kids are still a little too little to trek out into the forrest to cut our own tree (hopefully next year). For the little ones, this is the best place ever. There are tons of trees



a fire for roasting marshmallows



an old fashioned sleigh



and a visit from Santa himself! First we watched Santa from a safe distance



Then I tried to trick the kids into sitting with him (and saving me a trip to the mall)



Everett would not let go of me and Holden hid behind Ian the entire time.



Holden had fun decorating the tree. The star ornaments "make me SO happy!" However, Everett was not into the tree or Ian taunting him with ornaments.



Here is the link to all of the Christmas Tree pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/KimHanou/20101126#

Best Dog Ever

AAAHHHH Scout! She is so cooperative when Holden dresses her up. Ev hugs her so tightly he turns red and shakes and she just stands there, and takes it. She is quiet as a mouse, doesn't shed, and doesn't complain if/when I forget to feed her (it's only happened a few times... promise). She goes to bed early and sleeps late. We can take her anywhere off leash and she usually listens great and comes when we call. Scout is enriching my kids lives in numerous ways and showing us all unconditional love every day.

Just one more thing for us to be thankful for!

Quote of the Day

"The dog was created specially for children. He is the God of frolic."
-Henry Ward Beecher

Quitter

I know, I know, I know....

I am weak! I just couldn't do the thrity day challenge. It started with a few cold days and a snowstorm (I did not have appropriate clothes for the weather). Then I went to the gym and, embarrassingly, never changed for the rest of the day. Then I went hiking the next day and never dressed in "real" clothes. The next day I went to the gym in the morning again, and well, you get the idea.

However, I did learn a a few things in the past two weeks...

#1 I have way more clothing than I need and plan to donate about 30% of it.
#2 I will only buy things when I really LOVE them. Not just because they are on sale or kinda cute, etc..
#3 It isn't that hard to NOT spend money on junk I don't need (Well, except when I go on a shopping trip with my sisters and mother-in-law, which never usually happens). When I had an urge to buy something, and I said no, I usually forgot about it fairly quickly and by the next day had no desire for it (Well, except for that beautiful candelabra at the thrift store which will look amazing after my makeover- and I went back for two days after the first spotting).

So, while I did not succeed in my mission, I feel I have come away with a new outlook. SO all is well.

Give Thanks

I have seen a few of these thankful boards, blessing boards, gratitude trees, etc.

But this one was my favorite, and the one I tried to duplicate.

I found a $2 frame at the thrift store and painted it. made some flowers out of burlap and twine, hot glued the twine across the inside of the frame, and found some free printable cards for us to write our blessings.

I tried to explain to Holden what it means to be thankful. She got it...a little bit. We decided she is thankful for her purple baby.

And of course we are thankful for Opa and Grandma who are visiting this weekend

and taking an old fashioned beating from the kids!

The Strangers....and Holden

I feel like I am living this movie with Holden.

Ok, have you seen this movie? It is scary and ridiculous and frightening beyond belief. Ian watched from under the blanket while I cowered at the end of the couch. Anyway, these three psychopaths break into a secluded house while a young couple is home. They sneak beyond their backs, just watching and doing spooky things like opening doors and moving cell phones around the house. Like this...

I think Holden secretly watched it from the stairs and took pointers about how to be sneaky. Last Wednesday, while the kids were napping I was playing around on the computer, which is in the middle of the kitchen/family room and next to the stairs. I heard Everett crying and jumped up to run upstairs and noticed a flash of something out of the corner of my eye. I thought it was nothing and when I got upstairs I noticed H's door was open and she was not in her bed. I grabbed Ev, came downstairs, and found her camping out behind the couch, very awake and with a family of stuffed animals keeping her company.

I can't figure out how she got down the stairs past me once, let alone the two or three times it must have taken her to haul all of her "friends" down here to join her slumber party. She has been wandering into our room at night and breathing into my sleeping face. I wake up screaming at least twice a week. We will put her to bed and find her peering downstairs at us through the spindles of the railing.

She is FREAKING ME OUT! I feel like I need to be watching behind my back every minute. I have trouble sleeping because I am waiting for her three a.m. wake up call. I guess it could be worse, while she is always sneaking around and watching me, at least she isn't wearing a scary mask and carrying an ax.

Oh right....Halloween!

A year later...here are some of our Halloween pictures. The kids had fun and of course have been candy hounds ever since. I have been doing my part to eat through their candy and I believe today during nap time I will accomplish my goal!

First, on Saturday, we hit Boo at the Zoo. It was crazy with millions of kids on major candy quests. Holden just kept screaming, "I want treats! More treats!" If we hadn't parked 3 miles away I would have taken her back to the car for a time out, but I didn't have the energy. So we pressed on and ended up having fun with the elephants, giraffes, and zebras despite the sugar insanity.

For trick or treat Everett was "Thunderbolt Kid" and he looked like he was hit by lightning. He had a lightning bolt on the back of his shirt.

Holden was a butterfly. As long as her costume included a tutu she would have been anything.

And this is pretty much sums up what we are working with lately where H is concerned.

They ended up running around the neighborhood with their friends and Ian. I stayed here to hand out candy to the mobs and the kids would check in every so often. I would evaluate the contents of their buckets and then send them out to find more snickers bars. Mostly Ev wanted to run around with his bucket on his head, hmmmm, I wonder sometimes.

Then all the excitement calmed down and they cuddled up with lollipops and a movie. Love it!

Holden's Fashion Show

You may think these are funny pictures that I captured over the past few months, but no! These are just some of the clothing highlights from last week. She is unique, independent, and opinionated. She doesn't care what the world thinks, just how her clothing makes her feel. Mostly, I love her free spirit, sometimes, I want to strangle that spirit, hold it down, and force it to wear some jeans and a t-shirt.

30 For 30

Ok, this was challenging! Choosing thirty items seems like a whole bunch, but when I started thinking about all of the different activities we have going on over the next thirty days, I struggled. AND, I realized there are A LOT of items in my closet I never wear and a few things I wear ALL the time. A visit to goodwill is in the near future. Here it is....

4 pairs of shoes (this one was actually easy)



2 vests and 1 jacket (and if it snows I'm throwing in my ski coat as a bonus!)



2 dresses 1 skirt and 1 pair of leggings




4 pairs of pants




2 button downs and 5 sweaters





8 shirts

Looking at these pictures, I realized how plain this all looks. It's funny, I have colorful clothing in my closet. I guess I just never wear it. So, tomorrow this whole adventure begins! Thirty days of reinventing these pieces. I am imagining I will come up with a few "interesting" choices.

Quote of the Day

"The finest clothing made is a person's skin, but of course, society demands something more than this."
- Mark Twain

30/30 Challenge

I stumbled upon this blog last summer and the author was in the midst of a 30/30 challenge. 30 items from your wardrobe for 30 days (not counting coats or accessories). No additions or substitutions....and no shopping. Well, except for essentials like toilet paper and kidneys, etc. The idea is to force you to be creative, content, and grateful for what you have. To show you in no uncertain terms that you DO NOT need one more pair of skinny jeans or boots (or whatever your weakness is).

Well, she has thrown down the challenge again, and I think I am in. With all this Thanksgiving joy around me and all of these reminders to count my blessings, I realized I could use a hard core reminder of how good I have it and where money not spent on (another) pair of boots would better be allocated. Like to the rescue mission, where we usually donate a small amount every fall. Maybe this year we can donate a bit more if I keep the cash (and credit card) in my wallet.

So, I decided to put this pledge in writing so everyone I know can hold me to this challenge I have made to myself...and maybe join me??? Any takers???

Now, I need to think about what's going on in the next 30 days; Thanksgiving, a Hanou early Christmas, and the usual preschool, play dates, and stay at home mom activities. Off to the closet to start thinking and choosing. Wow, this would be really really hard if I had to go to work every day, well, other than the work here in my house!

I'm supposed to post my outfit every day to prove I am following the rules, I'll try, but jeeze that's a tall order. However, it will help me try harder if I do.