doorbusters

I know you've all been dying to know how we fared on our early morning shopping outing, so here's the scoop, minus our toy finds (the monkeys see this blog--no peeking!).

Our morning began at 4:30am. It was dark. It was cold. It. Was. Early. We arrived at Walmart about ten to five and joined the line almost halfway around the building. The conversations of the people around us made the long lines worth it. We scored two 2GB memory cards for only $12.88 each. We got two of the last three in the store from one of the employees. Definitely worth it. We also got a few movies for $2.86. A successful WalMart run for sure.


Next we were on to Target. Again we joined a very long line and shivered in the cold with the rest of the crazy public, including some friends from our ward. Our strategy was simple. No carts. Just head straight to your previously assigned area and get the hot item(s) before moving on to the less popular things on our list. Christian went for the cordless phone with three handsets for just $49.99 (we've been watching 3-set phones for months and haven't seen anything worthy under $79!).
He barely got his hands on one. I was off to get my $10 Shark mini vac, and felt lucky to get one of the last two. That is until I walked past a display with about 100 of them. Okay, I admit it--I'm a nerd. But I have been wanting something to clean up the crumbs the kids leave under the table daily without getting out my huge vacuum. I guess I'm the only one. But $10! Seriously, it was a good find. I don't care what you say, Cree.
We also got two of our all-time favorite movies and Christmas traditions for $5 each: A Christmas Story and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and some toys and movies for the boys. Booyah.


At this point it was only 6:30, and I wanted to go home and get back in my warm bed for a few hours before the kids woke up. But since Christian was nice enough to get up and accompany me, I had to let him check out the Home Depot. There he found his Christmas gift: the Husky portable air compressor for only $59. What in the world is he going to do with an air compressor with a nail gun? Even he doesn't know. I predict it's not used for more than putting air in the tires once in a while, but whatever makes my baby happy. . .

After a fruitless trip to Staples, Christian bought me a Peppermint Hot Chocolate from Starbucks (divine)
and a Sausage and Egg McGriddle.
So fatty. So good. And then he was so sweet and let me sleep for a few hours before I headed out with my mom and the boys for another round at the mall. Now that was nuts. I'd much rather hit the stores early with a few crazy people than face the unruly crowd at the mall at a decent hour. (Next year I'm going to the midnight mall opening instead.) We spent half an hour getting from the freeway exit to the mall (which is about a half a mile's distance), were accosted in the parking lot for stealing someone's parking spot ("You are so RUDE!"), made three trips to the restroom for James, and waited in three separate lines in the food court to get everyone what they wanted. But we did get a few things checked off our lists, so again, worth it. My Christmas shopping is nearly done!

But the best part of the day--even better than the deals--was getting to spend some time alone with Christian, something we rarely get to do. That good man gave up his one morning to sleep in to go shopping. Now that's love.

P.S. Who am I, sir? A Utah man am I.
A Utah man, sir, and will be till I die; Ki! Yi!
We're up to snuff; we never bluff,
We're game for any fuss,
No other gang of college men
dare meet us in the muss.
So fill your lungs and sing it out and
shout it to the sky,
We'll fight for dear old Crimson,
for a Utah man am I.
GO UTES!

turkey lurkey

Today is Thanksgiving, the yummiest day of the year! We are so thankful that my parents came up to Seattle for the whole week. We're having a blast! Christian and I were able to go for a run today (it was such a beautiful autumn day!) while Grandpa played with the boys at the park and Grandma got a well-earned rest. We spent some time poring over the ads so that we can maximize our 5am shopping tomorrow. The rest of the day was spent cooking, but boy was it worth it! The dinner was, as usual, spectacular. We learned something interesting about our kids, too: they love cranberries. Not mixed in with their turkey and stuffing, but straight out of the bowl. Addy wouldn't touch the potatoes, turkey, or yummy yams--just rolls and cranberries. And of course pumpkin pie.

Yesterday James said he didn't want to be a doctor anymore because the hospital was "too stinky." Instead, he said, "I want to work at Chick-fil-A." But today, after "helping" Christian disembowel the turkey, he said, "I don't want to work at Chick-fil-A anymore." Well, that's a relief. Not that being a surgeon and gutting chickens are that different. I learned that firsthand after watching Christian pull apart the turkey carcass. Yuck. Just count your blessings that I didn't post the pictures of the spinal cord. Happy Thanksgiving!

happy bird-day!

Just wanted to say Happy Birthday to two of my favorite girls who happen to share the same birthday!

Rita, you are one of the most amazing people I know. You are strong, smart, and sweet (other family members may disagree on that last point, but you've always been sweet to me!). I miss hanging out with you and watching TV, eating treats, and SHOPPING! You're one of the best shopping partners ever--I love your incredible style. I hope you get to do lots of birthday shopping and don't forget: eat cake! Love you!

Abbers, you're the most hilarious little princess I've ever met. I love watching you do Bella Dancerella, clean the refrigerator in your play kitchen, and walk around in high heels like a real princess. You are so sweet to always include Addy when you play, and I love that you think you're one of the big girls! Have a fun princess party! Love you!

wellies weather

It's finally here--wellies weather! I bought these adorable rain boots a few weeks ago at Costco. They were a steal--under $17! They were the only ones left in this cute print and they just happened to be my size. I know--it was fate. Christian about died. He thinks they're ridiculous. I tried to tell them how big they are this season, and how most of the cute ones are $100 or more. He just doesn't get it. He forbade me to wear them when he's around. I've tried to wear them almost every day since they came into my life (they've been hibernating in the box under my bed)--I've been just itching to wear them, but hello, where's all the rain? It's been cloudy and misty, but there hasn't been anything welly-worthy. Crazy. November is usually the wettest month here! Well this week I finally got my chance, and I LOVE THEM. My feet stayed toasty and dry, and the hem on my jeans didn't get soaking wet! Genius! I can even walk straight through a parking lot without jumping over puddles.Now I understand why the boys are always asking to wear theirs. And now I won't be so stingy about letting them, even when it isn't raining.


First puddle jumping last winter. . .

monkeys and gorillas

"It's like letting the gorillas into their new enclosure!" -christian, after introducing the kids to their new bunk beds














I mentioned a while back that Layne got suckered into helping Christian assemble the bunk beds (and buying us twin mattresses) when he was here last month. We were going to wait until Christmas, worrying that Addy wasn't quite ready to go from crib to twin bed right after his second birthday, but I got over it. The boys have been in their new beds about a month now and have adjusted remarkably, much to my relief. Here are some brief highlights:

*The first night Addy didn't make it three hours before he fell out of his bed.

*In the beginning, James went to the bathroom no less than five times a night, just so he could go up and down the ladder.

*They are actually excited to go to bed now.

*Our Dad is "NOT ALLOWED" to sleep on the top bunk (according to James in his very best I'm-the-boss-of-you-voice).

*Addy proved me right that he would be out of bed constantly, but only for about two nights. He's now really good at staying put (those of you with perpetual escape artists, don't ask me why--I cannot take credit).

*Every day I try not to notice the the foot of the top bunk is on backwards. I love my ever-exhausted husband too much to make him do it over. (But maybe my dad will help me when he's here next week. It really is driving me crazy.)



One thing that made this change possible was the sale of the toddler bed, crib, and changing table/dresser on Craigslist (I heart craigslist!). They all sold in less than 24 hours for our full asking price. But it was kind of weird to see them go. (P.S. The ONLY reason I consented to sell the crib was that Cree said I could buy a new one when we had another baby. Yes, it will be a long time until we can afford to buy another crib, and yes that does mean it will be a long time before we have another baby. I know--makes me sad, too.)


I LOVE these bunk beds, and I got them brand new for a song back in early summer--$300 for the whole set. I couldn't pass up that bargain. They even separate into two twin beds if you want. We found a cute red dresser at Ikea to go with them. Now I just need to get the courage to choose a shade of tan for their walls. Just don't tell James--he's grown incredibly fond of the fluorescent green walls and stenciled rocket ships and has threatened to hate me if I change it. Too bad I know that's an idle threat (see the last quote of this post).

I have to admit the "mama" in me was a little sad to see Addy make this move so easily. My baby is growing up, and I can't pretend I'm not grieving that. He still wants me to rock him occasionally before bed, and he requests the "Sweet Dreams" song every night before I leave the room. But he's more independent, which makes my job easier in lots of ways. He's catching up with James so quickly, which means they actually play together, and he can hold his own when being tortured. They played Legos today for about an hour--building towers and castles then knocking them down together. He's starting to talk back (like when I told him he had to pick up the peas he knocked off his tray tonight and he looked right at me and said, "No," then laughed an evil laugh and ran away). He doesn't even care when we leave him in nursery at church anymore. Nope--he's a big boy now. Wait, make that a gorilla.

work in progress

I was in the process of changing the elements of our blog, but my photo-hosting site started doing some maintenance while I was playing around with different backgrounds and titles and I got stuck with this. So don't worry, Cree, it will be changed soon. :) Just figuring stuff out.

***Update***

Wow, that was harder than I hoped it would be, but I sure learned a lot in the process! Check out SJH Blog Design if you're HTML and design illiterate like me!

cutest niece ever

ellie

Well, that's not fair because I have three ADORABLE nieces who are all the cutest ever. So maybe I should say cutest picture of a niece ever. Can you believe this shot? It should be on the cover of a magazine! Way to go, Haylee! And the outfit--does that come in my size?

the hippos and jesus

At James' first day of preschool, he came home trying to sing the words of a song that included something about "the hippos and Jesus." It is a Christian preschool, but I couldn't quite figure out what this song was all about. Luckily, his class sang the very song for us at his preschool open house the other night and, even luckier, I got it on video.

smell my feet

I'm a little late on the Halloween pictures, but here they are. The kids had a blast this year. James wanted to be the same dinosaur he was last year (hooray!), even though the costume was a little short. Addy is still too little to fit into James' Buzz Lightyear costume, so we lent it to Jared and Addy was Scooby Doo. Tuesday was the ward carnival and trunk-or-treat and a spooky dinner with our friends, the Pierces.

Ethan, Jared, Addy, & James

Rooby Roo!

Addy with some of the rest of the gang--Shaggy and Daphne (their parents were Fred and Velma). They had a stuffed Scooby Doo, but they should have just adopted Addy for the night!

Then Halloween night we went trick-or-treating with the Kamikawas, and because I was worried my kids weren't getting quite enough sugar, we went back to their house after for donuts and apple cider. YUM!

It was a cool, clear night, and the Kamikawas neighborhood was perfect for trick-or-treating. Lots of houses close together with short driveways. And many of the homes have families with small kids, so a lot of them were home giving out candy (a few were giving out loose Ritz crackers and Pirouette cookies--hmm). At each house Addy would say, "I Dooby-Doo! My fwah fwight (flashlight)!" He was pretty proud of that costume and the flashlight. James handed me his bag about half-way through because it was "too heavy." I should have taken that as a sign that it was enough candy and time to go home, but they were having such a great time. Plus they're still at the age that I get my pick of their candy, so I was all for more trick-or-treating. Fill up that bag, son! Who cares about cavities? Mama needs an Almond Joy!

Haley, James, Katy, & Ads