Tomorrow it's the 1st of December; in case your head is buried in the sand, that means you have 25 shopping days until Christmas. Just a polite reminder b/c I'm a giver like that.

For those of you waiting until December to put up your decorations, you have my permission to begin. The outside of our house is done (thanks to Clark) but the inside isn't even started; not b/c I wait until December, it's b/c I'm a horrible procrastinator.

Being December 1st, I also declare it time for COOKIE fest to begin. My friend Sandee sent me this link http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/12_days_of_cookies/0,1904,FOOD_18276,00.html and I think you should join me in starting TODAY. I'm not doing the 12 day countdown; it's COOKIES not a partridge-in-a-pear tree. We could even go through the list twice forpetesake.

Now, I CANNOT eat all of these cookies. I could. But I'm thinking the WW people would laugh at me. Sooooo, if you really want cookies and you want to be my taste tester, email me :)

Maggie is officially a valley girl -- as I was looking at her religion class papers the other night, I came across an activity where she was supposed to fill in what happened after Jesus was there (in assorted situations). One of the questions was something like "What happened to the lame?"..............

wait for it......................




wait for it...........................



her response: "they would be cool" [complete with a drawing of sunglasses]


Methinks she missed the point. Methinks she needs a dictionary. However, I'm still like totally laughing.

In a mad dash to finish the kitchen before Thanksgiving we had the backsplash installed last Monday & Tuesday. The ceiling was drywalled in on Wednesday.
Nothing like last minute.
I'm really pleased with the look we chose.
Now we just have to install the pendant lights on the peninsula and paint. And install the drawer knobs. And get the window trimmed. And put the canned light covers on. And get the floor grout steam cleaned & resealed. Anything else?

I wonder how long these things will take since 1)they don't affect me using the appliances, etc. and 2)none of these items are urgent. (dare I mention the outdoor Christmas decorations are already complete)

This post is either going to be insanely funny or you will be extremely bothered by it. I'm still laughing as I type.

By complete accident, dh and I discovered that Amanda is sporting a TATTOO on her behind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Of course, it's a temporary tattoo; but what on earth? possessed her to do it. {snicker, snicker, snort} Seriously, she is 6! I just about died laughing and the thought of her holding a tattoo on her butt with a wet towel makes me howl.

FTR, dh has one tattoo from his college days on the inside of his ankle. I don't have any. It's not something we ever realy talk about. A tattoo on her butt, huh???

Talk about a great Thanksgiving dinner table conversation in the future!

There. It's up within a month. Darth Vadar, Sleeping Beauty, Cptn. Jack Sparrow, She Devil
Life is simply insane right now. I keep telling myself that 'things' will slow down but it just isn't. The taxi service is in full swing. Football is finished, but baseball will start soon. The girls are in a play right now but that will come and go. Religion classes. Dance. Ian doesn't even have an activities yet. Ugh!

In the midst of the craziness/volunteering/Creative Memories, I'm learning to appreciate the little things. All of the kids still love to be tucked in at night and basically demand it (from both Collin and I). If I'm tucking Ian in and Amanda is being impatient she'll holler 'come on Mom'. It's actually pretty amusing and probably funny to watch Collin and I playing dualing banjos with the bedtime routine. There have been many, many days where I think "why is the bedtime routine getting longer?" "why can't they just have one of us read to them?" "do I really have to sing this song again?" BUT (isn't there always a but) they stay in their beds and sleep well. As I lay in Amanda's bed listening to her read, impatient Ian came in and sprawled over me. We all dozed off with me scratching their heads; Ian would chirp "scratch" if I dozed before he was ready. As corny as it sounds, I just thought 'this is the good stuff'. Those are the moments that help me get through the insanity of life.

Especially since my coffee pot decanter got broken.

So let's talk TURKEY...........I know I owe you some pics. of Halloween but I've been busy.

I love Fall. And it's finally cooling off around here for the most part. Low 70s during the day; 50s at night. Need a jacket/sweatshirt, check. It's all good.

Next week is the 2nd grade 'feast' for Sean so I have volunteered to bring two pumpkin pies (thank you, Costco). Is there anything cuter than little ones doing the Indian/Pilgrim thing? I know it's hokey and in many circles not politically correct, but I don't really care. I've got bigger things to worry about than whether or not someone is offended b/c my kid is sticking some feathers on a paper headband and pretending. But I digress.

I really wanted to talk about FOOD. Fall just brings out the best in food. Lots of soups, stews, and chili. Talk about comfort food. Thanksgiving with ALL the fixins; pumpkin or pecan, I'll have both thanks. I have made banana bread; cinnamon streusel muffins; and pb cookies in the last week.........I don't need the calories, but I do need the scents in my home (a candle just doesn't cut it). Tomorrow I'm making a HUGE batch of crockpot applesauce. WW is not my friend but I'm trying to behave and still attend my weigh-ins to stay away from gaining the dreaded 'holiday 10'. Cookie fest 2007 will start soon; but it's sorta like Christmas music and Christmas decorations, you HAVE to wait until after Thanksgiving.

So, are there any Fall MUST HAVES that you and/or your family enjoy??? I'm looking to expand my horizons so comment away. Just don't ask me how to make an 'un-dry' turkey b/c that's dh's job.

Fall back.........sigh............hate it!
I stayed up late b/c I had an extra hour to work on getting the Storybook digital scrapbook ready for Collin (as a surprise). Much to my dismay, my children were up at 6:30am; this MUST not go on.

This day has gone on FOREVER and it's only 5:15PM! It's almost dark outside and dinner is cooking already.

Blech!

Seriously. Some things in life just make me shake my head and say 'what are you thinking? Dumb ass.' It's not really a nice thing to think or say, but GAH!!!!!!

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/fugitive-teacher-arrested-in-mexico/20071101175909990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

And a huge EEEEEWWWWW!