SNOW DAYS!!!!

Monday the news started all the ominous reports about the up coming blizzard. I wasn't to concerned until the blizzard watch became a blizzard warning a good 15 hours before the storm was going to hit. So, Monday afternoon we conquered all of our errands and our home was well stocked. Tuesday started out innocently enough, but by 3 o'clock or so, the wind was really starting to get strong. By 9 p.m. the storm was raging and school was cancelled for all 5 of us. What do you do then? Why plan a great day full of all of our favorite activities. We had a huge breakfast, played in the snow (when the wind was taking a break. After the picture by the ornaments, the winds picked back up and the little gold one is buried), watched a movie and had pizza.

The fun continued this morning when the school district had a 2 hour delay. This meant that C and E didn't have to be at school until 10 and that Lily and I had the day off. Shawn of course didn't get today off which was just fine with us as we were all able to bring him doughnuts and balloons at work to celebrate his birthday. So, we'll finish up his birthday with a concert at both C's and E's schools, a nice dinner and a tasty surprise dessert.

It's been a lot of fun the last couple of days. I hope you are having fun as well!

Geography Bee

Thursday was an exciting day for Emily as she partook in her school geography bee. This year over 150 students tried out for the Bee, and 27 qualified for it. Emily made it all the way to the championship round- where she qualified by knowing that Australia is the continent associated with eculyptus. she was the only student to answer this question correctly and we were very proud of her. In the end, she came in 6th. We're all so very proud of her- Go Em!!!!!

Building a Home

We build a very special Home each year- one that wouldn't withstand even the smallest of storms, but is always a lot of fun. We've done it as a family for as long as i can remember, but the last few years, we've done it with our daughters' youth group. It's been very nice to have Em go into youth group as Charlie has come out so that we can continue this Tradition. hopefully her youth group will keep doing it for the next few years... then we'll be on our own again.

Christmas in the NW

As our town continues to celebrate for the holidays, we continue to attend great celebrations. On Tuesday night, we attended Christmas in the NW. This celebration is probably the largest one that our town holds for as part of Christmas in the City, and we simply were not able to attend all of it. We were able to go fishing for prizes, see Mr. and Mrs. Claus, and meet a lot of great animals, from Reindeer in training to furry sheep and adorable baby goats. Lily was incredibly happy to meet Scoopy, the ice cream cone mascot of her favorite burger place. We had a ton of fun, and I am so glad to have such great daughters- who put up with their mom begging for the pics with Santa. :)

Christmas in the City

One of the things I love most about living in a small town in the midwest is that December is still Christmastime and it's an all out celebration. Our little town holds a numerous Holiday Events. Some of them ( such as the touring of lovely homes all decked out for the holidays) predate our nation, and some are not quite so old but still have been going on longer than we've been around. The first major Christmas event is Christmas in the City which is held each year on the Friday after Thanksgiving. The town's Christmas lights get lit, there are carolers, wagon/sleigh rides, and some many free events and activities that it doesn't seem possible that such a little town could put it all on- until you meet the people here, and then of course it does. So this post includes pictures from the night after Thanksgiving. Our girls all danced in the Nutcracker which is also part of the celebration. alot of time and work goes into the performance both from the dancers and the teachers, and it's another one of the great free events going on during December.

The last picture is of course of our very own home, all decked out and ready for Christmas. We're still snow free, but thanks to my awesome husband, at least we've got great lights. And yes, those are the old fashioned big bulbed lights that we love so much.

Halloween and other old news

As we get ready for Christmas, I really wanted to get these pics posted. We had a great Halloween. We got to spend it with great friends. I LOVED Shawn's Halloween costume. He got a lot of great comments on it. He did NOT get near as many comments as our friend Eric did. His costume really says all that needs to be said on it. We also had a great time at preschool carving pumpkins. Lily was especially happy to be able to do a "potato head" style pumpkin this year. It really worked out nicely.

Now,

the WORST gifts EVER

I know this post needs some really great pics, but I'm really far behind on baking pies, so the pics will come later.
Anyway, this time of year my favorite stories are always the ones about the worst presents people ever got. I can't wait to read them b/c I laugh so hard that I almost wet myself. So, please share here the worst gifts you've ever gotten. Here are my 2 favorite.

1. the year one of Shawn's boss's gave us a Thanksgiving turkey. He did that every year ans normally that's a very kind gift. That particular year, he was out of town and din't get the turkeys to his employees until 2 weeks after Thanksgiving. This again, would not be so bad except that the turkeys had sat in his garage for the 2 weeks during an unexpected warm spell. When he got around to handing out the turkeys, they were already rancid- and he still handed them out! (One guy left his in the bed of his truck and would shoot it full of nails from his nail gun until a cat dragged it off.

and 2. someone once gave us a joint gift of a set of glasses. As we opened them, she announced that she had recieved the same set the year before and had chosen to keep 1/2 the set. When we got them home we found a little "extra" gift in our half- mouse droppings. Needless to say, we never used those glasses.

Now it's your turn- what crazy, wierd gifts have you received that made you think "what were they Thinking?" BTW please don't use the names of the gift givers or post one here from a giver that reads this blog. :)