Christmas shots

 Let it be recorded that I got all our Christmas cards mailed by 9:30 PM on Christmas Eve, my parents made it to and from our home safely, and Thing Three is ginormous!

Snippets of preK holiday mania

 

Goofball

 Thing Three has been swiping my phone and taking fun selfies, so here are a minuscule fraction of the ones on my phone. You’d think I would learn to not leave it unattended, but here we are.

No, that isn’t a little egg on my face…

 This is the only benefit of this dog. Epic egg disaster? Cleanup on Aisle 9!

Yes, please.

 Some people are pumpkin-spice obsessed. Not it. But am I over here, seizing absolutely every opportunity to use peppermint mocha creamer? Yes, I am!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night

 Wishing all of you all the best! Merry Christmas!

Deck the halls or hang it all?

 I know. You guys, I’m so behind that last night we watched Frankenstein. I am two holidays behind, and tomorrow is Christmas! 

I do have stories to tell, but right now I must finish our Christmas cards. I’ll leave you with a photo of how I’m “being bad” and having a decadent chocolate muffin with my morning meds. Happy Christmas Eve Day!

Baby, it’s cold outside

Check out the crazy icicle outside our laundry room. Look out below when that baby goes!

 

Thank you and merry early Christmas

This poor guy I married has had a YEAR. A month ago today he had hernia surgery on both his right and left side. He's healed really well, but during what was supposed to be his recovery time I decided to have a medical misadventure. That's a couple posts after this one. He managed to take it in stride and is an excellent caretaker, far better than I am, and is doing very well. Yesterday he experienced his first sneeze in almost a month that didn't hurt, so hooray for progress!

Since he likes surprises, and I don't, I figured it would be fun to plan a secret with a friend who quilts. No, I will not give out her number. She's mine. You can't have her. 😉 She graciously accepted all my bins and boxes of old jeans and Tshirts and a certain pink ("LIGHT RED!") Ohio State sweatshirt and turned them into magic. 

While he may have known a quilt was coming, none of us knew the timeline, nor how incredible it would turn out. Look at his delight:

She asked what our favorite colors are and I told her green for me and purple for him. She said it turned into truly a reversible quilt and was almost as excited by the back, above, as she was about the real thing, below:

For those of you late to knowing us, I am a Nittany Lion from Penn State whilst he is an Ohio State Buckeye. We met at a church camp in Pennsylvania- hence all the camp staff shirts bearing CAPNWP- the Camping Association of the Presbyteries of Northwestern Pennsylvania. Talk about getting a new lease on life. Some of those shirts are from high school, many from camp and college when we were dating and engaged, and a few from our married life together. 

Thank you, sweet friend, for a most outstanding legacy gift that we are loving snuggling under at night. Thanks for using your gifts and talents on our behalf, and for you and your hubby's friendship to the two of us. We really appreciate you! 

And for my sweet, most elite of husbands, thanks for being you, for covering everything and then some with your vows, and for loving me beyond my ability to imagine. What a wild ride! Love you!

 

Of course the photos loaded backwards *facepalm*

 Morning of Nov 10. Neither Thing Three nor I were quite pleased to be hanging out at the bus stop in the first snow of the season. I had JUST gotten the snow sticks inserted down the driveway because it was still warm enough to do it comfortably and the ground wasn't frozen and uncooperative yet. Whether it would have snowed had I not stuck them in is a mystery we shall never unravel.

Morning of Nov 9

November 8. I love that red bush of our neighbors'. It just blazes away cheerfully amidst everything else.

Both of these were Nov 7. I thought about how pretty the colors were and how many oak leaves we still have.

Again with the "why can't clothes just fit?"

I've been procrastinating on buying new pants, but I thought I'd try some on a few weeks ago and figured I might as well check out the high waisted kind that everyone seems to be raving about. 

Well...

Nothing wanted to go home with ME. Some of them looked like maternity pants on me and I don't know if that's because of middle age and hormones or because I have no boobs to break up my front so you don't just see belly or what, but I felt like they all made me look like Boss Hogg. 

Some sister somewhere is just gonna have to show me how to do it right! Let's see some photos of all y'all rocking new pants!

 

Two decades of Thing Two

You'd never know it now, but this guy used to be chubby. He was a round little pumpkin briefly, this Halloween kid of ours. Now he lays low, pretending he's nothing more than a skellie, stays out of sight, our introvert. His birthday card said something about "wishing you a birthday where people leave you the hello alone" or some such. He loved it.

Since he will move out SOMEDAY and everyone needs magnets for their fridge, he got cute Halloween ones from our local artsy festival. Dada found him a new-to-him pocket watch which winds to replace the one he accidentally washed. In the washer. 

Two decades old or not, Thing Two has already been overtaken by Thing Three, who is passing us up left and right in the height department. When we saw HIS feet on an ultrasound in utero, we knew he'd be big. Thing Two just laughed and flipped his hair, doesn't care. 

He also wanted a weighted blanket, which he got thanks to Dada and his estate sale fetish. He's a happy boy!

 

Tell me you're an idiot without saying a word

 

Could it be possible that we tie you out so that you DON'T get into prickly seeds like a big dummy?! I swear this dog can't be trusted any further than we could yeet him...