The Christmas tree....

On Saturday, we got our tree up and decorated. Does it make me a bad mom that I waited until Lucas was in bed to do the decorating?? He was so excited just to have the tree up. He laid underneath it and talked about it all day. Once he was in bed, I shaped it and Logan and I decorated it. My husband helped some (like putting the angel on top), but it was mostly Logan and me. We were up pretty late getting it done, but it was so nice to sit on the love seat and cuddle with Logan admiring our hard work!When Lucas woke the next morning, he was very excited to see that the tree was decorated! We do Hallmark ornaments....we typically buy some each year, but my MIL sends each of us one yearly. She always asks for my help in deciding which ones to get for the boys. Funny thing is, I think we discuss in Oct. and then I totally forget which ones they are getting by Christmas time! Anyway, last year Lucas got a Pat Pat rocket ornament that plays the theme song. He loves it! I put it down low so that he can press the button all by himself. Logan and I had do some thinking before placing ornaments on the tree. The cute little snowmen with tiny twig arms went up high--those twigs can't withstand a curious 3 year old. I figured some ornaments would get broken, but I think we are already down 3 and the tree has only been up a full day!! They can mostly be put back together. Lucas broke the cover off of one of my Winnie the Pooh books (my MIL has been buying me this series ever since it first started in 1998!), so once I glue it on, the book will permanently be open. He is still touching the ornaments, but he is being more careful with them. He was pretty sad that he broke one. Logan broke one, too. He was a cranking the handle on one a little too hard and a bear's head popped off (it moved back and forth with the music)!! He was sad, too. I think they both learned their lesson that maybe the ornaments aren't toys after all. And momma learned a lesson that ornaments don't hold up well when they are dropped.

Does this look like a lot?

Yesterday, the boys and I went to the thrift store. Logan gets pretty bored while I look through the clothes, so his entertainment is to collect empty hangers. Yesterday he had a handful of them and he held them towards me. "Does this look like a lot of hangers to you?" I told him that it looked like a few, but not a lot. "Well, it is 5 hangers. If you think that 5 hangers isn't a lot, then why do you think that 5 dollars IS a lot?" I'm wracking my brain. Why is he comparing hangers to dollars? Oh yes, I've got it!!

When Logan lost his second tooth, the Tooth Fairy brought him $5. This was while we were working on our kitchen and our ladder was in the dining room (and no, Dad, we've still not done anything else on it....maybe once the holidays are over). Well, for some odd reason, Logan decided that he should slide his $5 into a slot on the ladder. Not too bad, except that it went inside the foot of the ladder and there is no way to take the foot off. So, that $5 was basically wasted. I told him that $5 was a lot of money to lose. Of course, I don't think that $5 is a lot of money, but when you are 7 (well, he was 6 at the time) and got it from the Tooth Fairy, I think that IS a lot!

Logan's logic was that if 5 hangers isn't very much, then $5 isn't either! I thought it was pretty clever of him.

How old are you?

I just had my birthday somewhat recently (Nov. 3). Logan asked me how old I am. Thirty. The big 3-0. He thought for a minute. Then said, "30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100. So, that means you are close to 100, right?". Goodness, I know that 30 is getting older (not old, older...as in no longer in my 20s), but please, oh please don't speed the clock up that fast!! Time is going by way too quickly as it is.

It seems like this was just yesterday:But it can't be because one week ago I was out taking pictures and that little (or not so little, since that was the day I went into labor!!) bump in my belly now looks like this:

New shoes...

Yesterday, we went to the mall to get Logan some new shoes. I pretty much have a limit of $20 on new shoes for him. I can hardly bring myself to spend more than that. It takes a bit of searching, but I can usually find some. We walked all over the mall, and most places the shoes were $30-$50. I finally found a pair of Fila shoes on clearance for $20. Well, last year I bought Logan Sketchers on clearance and he was convinced that would be what we got this year. I couldn't find any for less than $27 and I didn't like most of them anyway. When I found the Filas, Logan had already convinced himself he didn't like them. Well, he is 7 and I am the mom, so we bought the Filas.

When we got home, he asked to wear them even though bedtime wasn't that far away. He got his pajamas on, then put his new shoes on to wear around. Each night, we gather in Lucas' room for family hugs then Logan goes to his room and we tuck Lucas in. Then we go to Logan's room and tuck him in. I am typically still in Lucas' room when my husband goes into Logan's room. Last night I could hear them talking about wearing shoes in bed and how shoes are dirty so you shouldn't do that. Turns out, Logan left his shoes on when he got in bed. He wanted to sleep with them on! My husband took the shoes off of him and told him not to put them in his bed.

Well, last night before I went to bed, I went into his room and he had the shoes back in bed with him. I guess he decided they were pretty cool shoes afterall!!

Precious Boy!

Halloween fun!

I'm a bit late in getting these up, but I still wanted to share. We had a really nice Halloween. We took the boys bowling and they always love that so much. We got home and had just enough time to get them into their costumes. I took the boys out trick or treating and my husband stayed home to hand out candy. Lucas got the hang of trick or treating really fast. He was excited to go out for a walk. When he went to the first door and I told him to say "trick or treat", he did. Boy was he excited when they put candy in his bag. That was it for him. He was saying it before they even opened the door at the next house! We made a loop and then stopped by our house before heading up the street. He screamed and cried and refused to come towards our house because he thought I was taking him home. He kept saying, "No. Go get more candy!". It took me a while to convince him he was just going to say "trick or treat" to daddy! He walked around the whole neighborhood with Logan and me, but near the end he wanted me to carry him. Poor little thing was tired! I think the highlight of the night was when he caught a glimpse of his reflection in someone's door and he kept saying "Baby. Baby. Hi, baby". He didn't recognize himself in the costume....LOL! Here are a few shots we got before leaving the house.....

Here is the pumpkin I carved. Sorry the pic is a little blurry. I was trying to hurry because the boys were ready to go!

Our king and our golfer!! Please excuse the beat up baseboards. Lucas is a bit rough with his toys.


Lucas really liked the costume. He thought I picked a good one.....LOL!

Christmas Carol Train Tour Character Morph.....(WW)

On the Christmas Carol Train tour, there was a program that allowed you to morph yourself into characters from the movie.

PLUS

EQUALS

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Menu Plan Monday....

We tried two new recipes last week, pan seared red snapper and rice pilaf with pine nuts. They went very well together. The sauce on the fish was very strong (it was still very good, I just needed a bite of rice with it and it was perfect). If we have it again, I would probably cut down on the vinegar a bit. The rice was really, really good. Logan isn't a big rice fan, but loved it as long as I took the pine nuts out (he doesn't like nuts or seeds).

I went to watch a friend's daughter play softball one night last week and didn't cook the meal planned. We all just ate various things that we had at home, so one meal is carried over to this week.

I typically bake banana nut bread each week. Last week I bought a bag of ripe bananas and made 4 loaves. I need to wrap some and get them in the freezer. I still have bananas to use so I will likely make more banana nut bread and put it in the freezer.


On to this week (which happens to include lots of green beans.....our favorite veggie!).....

*=new recipe

Monday-- My husband's birthday, so I am making a favorite (got the recipe from my MIL)!! -- Italian cheese balls, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, berry pie (he doesn't like cake all that much)

Tuesday-- My birthday and I'm not cooking!!-- leftovers

Wednesday-- baked chicken, baked sweet potatoes, green beans, frozen banana salad*

Thursday-- steak* burritos (just using the recipe for the meat)

Friday--chicken strips, mashed potatoes, Syrian green beans (We love these!! I omit the cilantro.)

Saturday-- jambalaya*

Sunday-- Asian tuna patties*, sesame noodles, steamed broccoli

I'm going to attempt homemade granola bars this week, too.

Breakfast, lunch, and snack choices pretty much stay the same each week.

Breakfast choices :
--eggs, sausage, toast with jam
--cold cereal
--cereal bar, yogurt, cup of fruit
--oatmeal
--banana nut bread with or without peanut butter

Lunch choices this week:

--hot dogs, chips and fruit
--sandwiches, fruit
--macaroni and cheese, fruit
--grilled cheese and tomato soup
--leftover bean soup

Snacks:
--hummus and pita chips
--fresh fruit or dried fruit
--nuts
--goldfish crackers
--banana nut bread with or without peanut butter
--graham crackers and applesauce
--graham crackers, almond butter, choc. covered raisins

Treats:
--Halloween candy
--leftover pie and ice cream


Head on over to Laura's for more menus!