365 Day 335

Today we braved to storm to run some errands in town. 

A deal on a hot-list toy brought us into the mall (ugh). Bug really wanted to go see Santa Claus but settled for checking out the over-sized ornaments on the over-sized tree instead.

365 Day 334

With the crust recipe from Cliff's cousin and the pot pie filling our incredible friends gave us, tonight is looking to be delicious. Top it off with the cookies Cliff and I made and you're bound to find me with a giant smile on my face.

365 Day 333

I have the most amazing friends in the world. 

Not only do they feed us a fantastic dinner tonight but they sent us home with the fillings for a pot pie.

YUM!

365 Day 332

She knows better than to play on the stairs. Seems it's a daily reminder that I tell her to get off the stairs.

Yesterday when she saw me she decided to jump off the stairs. Maybe I wouldn't see her and remind her if she got off quickly. Unfortunately for her she got off too quickly and face-planted into another step. She was not happy to see her blood but we were on our way out the door so she begrudgingly sucked it up as long as I let her hold the wash cloth to it (for hours!).
Today it looks worse, but she's forgotten about it so all is well again.

365 Day 331

We came home from a wonderful vacation, put our feet up and relaxed on our last day off. No where we had to be, nothing we had to do, so we stayed home and just chilled. 

Then this morning I got in the truck and noticed it sounded like punks muscle car and the check engine light was on. Considering we didn't drive anywhere yesterday and it was just fine for all of our vacation I knew something was up and drove to the mechanic.

Turns out some jerk tried to steal my catalytic converter in that time after I got home and this morning. They cut through the pipe on both sides and cut the cable to it. We just replaced it a couple months ago so I was pretty pissed off about it. I'm glad they didn't take it (I assume a neighbor came outside and scared them off or something to that effect) but having to get it welded back together (shown below) and replace the cable is not cool.

Welcome to the holiday season when the biggest A-Holes come out with their desperation to impress their friends and family with material items. Sigh. Can it just be February already? 

365 Day 330

One of my pictures from yesterday's stop on I-5. Shasta at Sunset.

I'm so grateful to have a camera that captures the colors I see.

365 Day 329

I'm a sucker for vista points and even though this one isn't the best (and not new to us) I couldn't resist asking Cliff to pull over for some sunset pictures. It's hard to see Shasta in the background, but I'm really glad I made him take a 'facebook' picture of us. The kids all had a blast running around, too! 

365 Day 328

 I was supposed to camp out for Black Friday at Target like I do every year. 

This year Target opened at 9pm on Thanksgiving. I like Black Friday, not Black Holiday. I was planning on getting our shopping done and then stopping at the donut place I was told about earlier this week. Change of plans. I didn't go out, but I still had plans to try the donuts. 

Cliff and I were wanting to cook ribs for our family so we went out this afternoon for the mean. Perfect time to stop for Heavenly Donuts!

Oh and they were! I'm more than happy to skip my novelty Voodoo Donut for these things.

365 Day 327

Every year I wake up at 5am to pick up my Thanksgiving paper. Even though I already knew what was in most the ads and we aren't really looking for anything specific this year it's tradition so I still did it. 

This year the weather was perfect for me. It wasn't too cold, it wasn't raining, and the attendants at the gas station were so friendly. I came home and was more energized than I should have been after only 4 hours of sleep.

365 Day 326

Home from a pedicure and finished Husband Pie before us adults head off to see Breaking Dawn in the Theaters.

365 Day 325

We had an amazing evening planned for us tonight: pizza and drinks for the adults, pizza and movies at home for the kids. We walked into town (lucky day in Washington with no rain) for the pizza and drinks. It was an adult get away while on vacation that felt awesome, even if I couldn't have 'real' drinks.

All of our drinks lined up. Yummy

365 Day 324

I noticed on Friday that since it's finally time to replace our wiper blades. I asked Cliff if he wanted me to do it or if he wanted to handle it (sometimes he likes to take care of 'car stuff' because I do it wrong). Anyway, he didn't have time to get any before we left and for the life of us we couldn't find an auto parts store in Oregon.
Today we ran down to Woodland to get groceries and stopped at Napa. It was funny that he parked in front of the sign that tells you they will install wiper blades for you (I always have a hell of a time doing it). It must be man code to not ask for help because he came out solo. Perfectly fine by me.

He started on the first side. Cleaned the window and then tried to get the old blade off. It wouldn't come off so he fidgets with it some more and then finally pulled out his pocket knife. It still wouldn't come off and that's when I realized I had already listened to two songs on the radio and I had my camera in my purse. As soon as I pulled it out he realized what my goal was and tried (jokingly) to block the sign. He's actually laughing here because he knows what I plan to do with the picture I get. 

He did get the wiper off soon after I pulled out the camera and he completed the other side in under a minute.

Hats off to anyone who wants to stand in the cold and rain to replace the wipers when it could be done for you in less than half the time, but at least I got a great chuckle out of this one as well.
Thanks for the picture, honey. 

I love you and how you always make me smile, even when you weren't trying to.

365 Day 323

Now that hostess has gone under, people are going crazy buying every box off the shelves in stores. I personally don't care that much but when I saw a gas station in Redding still had Hoho's in stock I couldn't resist picking up a package for nostalgia's sake. Now the question is, should I share?

365 Day 322

It may be a long drive across 2 states but at least the view is interesting. Even in inclement weather.

365 Day 321

My souvenir from my 3 hour blood test: 3 holes in my arm and this oh so yummy bottle of Limeondex. It tastes like the syrup for 7up and has almost the same consistency  You get 5 minutes to drink it all up. Too much to just shoot all at once but the faster you drink it the better! There is no water (or food or other drinks) for 2 hours after this, you just get to sit and wait.

To be fair it was only a 2 hour test, and an hour of the office trying to figure out what they were doing. 3 hours of my time.

365 Day 320

Addressed, stamped, and stuffed ready to be mailed out.

365 Day 319

After 2 and a half days of running errands and being excellent she deserved a treat. She chose a pumpkin muffin. She's so excited for me to cut it up for her! 

365 Day 318

Something looks different.... Say hello to our new bench seat!

365 Day 317

I got to spend a few hours filing for the company today. I loved it because it felt great to do some work outside the home, it was great to help the company, and lastly it was awesome to see physical proof of how much my husbands hard work has accomplished. I love that man!

365 Day 316

To save money and time we did our own family pictures with a jimmy rigged backdrop and light, 2 grumpy kids, me with a headache, and a remote for the camera.
It was challenging, my pictures aren't incredible, but I'm happy enough with the results.

We were just killing time until the last kid could find a smile when we got this one snapped. I love this picture and how sweet it looks.

365 Day 315

She loves to dress up and play Merida. Today she wanted her picture taken like the "Bear 'Inja'" pose.

365 Day 314

I was working with Daddy again so we stole a moment for a quick lunch date at Black Bear.  

365 Day 313

It's finally getting cold which means it was the perfect time Trust me that you wish computers came with scratch 'n sniff!

365 Day 312

Happiness is: Watching 'waterfalls'.

Today we are appreciating the simple joys in life!

365 Day 311

No boys tonight and Cliff had to work late. We tried to get a last minute dinner date with our friends but they were busy. My husband is the best, he decided to turn the night into a date night out at Black Bear Diner. 

Bug was precious. She wanted pizza and a salad. Yes, my daughter loves salad, and not drowning in dressing. The waitress let us substitute salad for her fries and the fact that Bug actually ate her whole salad seemed to charm the staff. 

Trying to get a eating shot is more difficult than I expected. 

Dinner was fantastic and of course, I couldn't ask for better company. 

365 Day 310

All finished with the Parent Teacher Conference. 

Bug's getting a chance to drive us home. Or rather, that's what she thinks. 

365 Day 309

Bug thinks I should rock the Merida hair today. 

As much as I wish I was a red head with curly hair, this might be a bit much for me. 

365 Day 308

Cliff is trying out a new beard (is that what it's still called?) and I'm trying out a new backdrop.

I told him he should shave his beard like this for Halloween  wear his cowboy hat and a dress shirt but he wouldn't go for it. Instead he's going to wear it to work. Good thing he pulls off facial hair well.

365 Day 307

I have terrible luck with voting. In high school I learned about how it actually works and personally I think it's a bunch of crap. It should be majority vote, not majority of each state, but that's just my opinion.
I think voting is a waste of my time but while still in high school a very political and dear friend would nearly preach how every vote counts. Driving to my first polling office I got in a roll over accident and was taken to the hospital by ambulance (I ended up just fine but I didn't know I could refuse the ambulance at that time). No voting for me.

A few years later I thought my local office was open until 8pm. I arrived at 6:30 and they closed at 6pm.

The next major election I was registered in the wrong county (and not about to drive the long distance to the correct one). Voting and I have not gotten along, not that it ever bothered me very much.

This year I felt very strongly about who I did NOT want running my country. I registered and asked for an absentee ballot (just in case). It is pointless to vote in California if you're not a democrat who loves hand outs from our government parents. I voted anyway. Technically for my first time ever. My vote did not count.

365 Day 306

For bedtime Bug likes to be taken to bed in creative ways: hang glider, upside down hang glider, fly, drag, etc. Today she wanted to be dragged to bed by her feet. Normally this works out well for everyone but today she wanted to drag Sister Jag as well. About 5 minutes after getting into bed she started crying that something was wrong.

I finally got it out of her that it was her face and that's when I noticed the most faint signs of rugburn. She only wanted Daddy though and she cried until he came to kiss her head. All that crying made her sweaty which made her head sting.

Holding Baby Jag on it worked for a little while, but in the end she wanted to be held by Daddy and given a bandaid for it. We don't normally give out band aids without blood but since we really wanted her to sleep we made an exception. Sure enough, a band aid was all she needed to finally settle down, smile, and curl back up in bed.

Happy Halloween!

This year was so much fun!

Again, we drove out to the Delta to hang out with our friends while we trick or treated. It was a school night so it wasn't as practical as staying home, but it's always worth the drive to see them. They fed us dinner (which the kids wolfed down in hopes to start getting candy sooner) and my boys were out of sight before I even got their pictures. I managed to get Bug to stand still for a nanosecond and Liv convinced her to stop once more so I could get them both. That was it. They were gone getting candy.

 Last year Bug went to a few doors but mostly only if she was holding Mommy or Daddy's hand. Not the same story this year! She went running up the driveways after he brothers and friend yelling "Waaaaiiiittt! Wait for meeeee!" and then when she made it to the door she'd scamper to the front of the group (or at least in front of tall Gator) and say 'trick or treat'. She even remembered her 'thank you's!

I refused to bring the stroller for her this year, she's getting too old for it. She's not good about walking which is frustrating to me (my fault, I know), yet she managed to do the entire loop (a little over an hour) walking on her own the whole time-no complaints!

When the night started off she didn't want anything to do with her hair, but after we bribed her to wear it for just a few houses with a package of smarties she decided she didn't want it taken off. As the night neared a close one of the kids accidently caught her hair while she was on a porch. She was so upset I had to go get her and put her hair back on. The lady handing out candy came down and waited patiently while we got her back in costume and then gave her two pieces of candy for her efforts. I didn't realize she hadn't gotten her candy yet but I thought it was awfully sweet of the lady to be so patient.

Last year our biggest giggle came from a very large black cat that goes over the walk way (you walk up between it's legs) and it tilts its head from side to side. I don't know why I keep forgetting to take a picture but it looks like this one only standing up and obviously bigger. Last year Bug wouldn't even let us go near the house. This year she charged on towards the door. Until she caught sight of the kitty and then she stopped dead in her tracks. She decided she didn't like it's face and didn't want to walk under it even if she held Daddy's hand and even after her brothers did it just fine.

 I noticed there was another smaller path away from the cat coming off the garage and asked her if she still wanted to get candy from that house. I walked with her up to the door (she liked not going under the kitty) and she got her candy but her groove was obviously thrown off  She noticed the kitty's butt on our way back towards the driveway and she just kept repeating "Scary face. Mean  Kitty. Bad Kitty. I don't like the scary face". Mommy guilt crept in. If she wakes up with nightmares over this I'm going to feel terrible. It took her almost a full year to get over the trains, what was this going to do? Daddy assured her it just made of plastic and not real. We spent another block listening to her carry on that she doesn't like plastic cats and that they are real and scary. Ooops.

Our mini cowboy of the group was not so interested in getting candy. He enjoyed eating it, but didn't care about getting it. He liked the trees, and the lights, and of course the rocks best. Often times he'd hang back with his Daddy while Daddy did some adult trick or treating. That is a good way to make the night enjoyable for all! It's good to know your neighbors so well!

The kids all ended up with full buckets. Gator kept me on my own sugar high of almond joys while Hyde spent the entire night practicing eating and walking at the same time. I'm genuinely surprised he didn't have the worst stomach ache this morning.

Of course I can't post my blurry pictures if I'm not going to post a picture of the handsome cowboy in his chaps! I'm hoping to catch the boys in their costumes later so I have evidence of Gator the Pirate and Hyde the *Inja* (what Bug calls it!).