Santa

Well we made it to the mall to see Santa Claus. Everything was going pretty smoothly, I got the girls in the car, stroller, and in the mall without a lot of difficulty. The one thing I didn't like was the amount of dirty snow in the parking lot that I had to push my stroller through....uggh but what can you do. So we did a little shopping and we were off to see Santa.

Santa was not too busy but we had to wait in a little line, which we did get cut off but since it was Christmas I didn't say anything. I know, I know the big double stroller with two kids is easy to miss and it would be very easy to not see us and just cut right in line. Anyways no big deal Teagan was very patient and liked to watch Santa..........however we go to sit with Santa and Harper first spits up on him (Thank goodness for that burp cloth I packed!!), and then Teagan starts screaming even though I'm sitting right next to her. Anyways here is a picture to enjoy :)

We made the most of our Saturday and went shopping for a Christmas tree. We have a Christmas Tree farm about 1/2 mile down the road from us right on the highway but unfortunately it's closed this season. (how can a Christmas Tree farm be closed for Christmas??!) Anyways we went down to Grundy Center where they had a nice little and I mean LITTLE Christmas Tree Farm. The people there were really nice and since it wasn't very big we had about 5 trees to choose from. Since Brandon's truck didn't want to start in this cold weather we were styling carrying it home on the trunk of our car. Thanks to Brandon's inventive way of using twine we are pretty classy folks!

When we got home we had an amazing visitor!! Chad a guy that works with Brandon dropped off an extra snow blower that he has to let us borrow it for a little while. Brandon greatly appreciates it since he had to hand shovel our driveway after the blizzard this week.

Now were settled in our warm house with the ornaments and lights on the tree, chili in the crock pot, and Polar Express is on tonight. Ah I love being home with my family on the Weekends :)

Going to see Santa tomorrow!!

I am getting all prepared to go see Santa tomorrow!! I am really excited to see how the girls react, the only problem is I'm taking them by myself. I keep debating back in fourth how crazy can I be!!!??!! Seriously tomorrow is probably going to be a busy day for Santa (not that it wasn't last year when I took Teagan on Christmas Eve day nothing like waiting till the last minute) So tomorrow the mall I am sure will be packed and I'm going to brave it with both girls alone. Hmmm maybe I should re-think this, nah I'll try it out and let you know how it goes.

So heres the plan.....Double Stroller?? or sling and Teagan walks?? Well to be on the safe side I think I'm going to go with both. Why not pack a suit case while heading to the mall. I am going to need a bottle, formula (Grrr I can't wait till Harper turns a year!! so much easier just to buy milk), Diapers, extra out fit for Harper, two extra outfits for Teagan, burp cloth (even though I usually use my sleeve), Wipes, snacks, hand sanitizer, and some toys for harper. Ok think I've got the bag packed!!

Now on to set stuff out to get the girls ready to brave the freezing cold Iowa weather. Snow suit for Harper, hat, and shoes. Teagan: Coat, hat, mittens, scarf, and boots. Now that I'm thinking about how cold its going to be I should probably bring the stroller inside to let it warm up and then put it in my car in the morning.

Now to get everything to the car.......talk Brandon into putting the diaper bag, and stroller in in the morning, turn my car around in the driveway (with the snow piles we are getting pretty good at 3-point turns) and warm car up. Bundle up both girls (note to self have Teagan go potty prior to bundling), Have Teagan Stand by the door in the entry way, carry Harper to the car, buckle Harper in the warm car, and back to the entry way to carry Teagan out, and buckle her in. Wow that sounds like a lot of work and thats just if things go as planned........no doubt that before I get them buckled in one of them will have taken off their hat, maybe even shoes, and socks, and for sure none of that will be on by the time we make the 25 minute trip to the mall!!!

So why am I doing this again????!!! For the good deals at the mall, and a picture of my girls with Santa (which they will probably be screaming and crying). :)

Wish me Luck!!!

And remember Santa is fun and so are the good shopping deals, but that's not really what Christmas is about.

Jesus is the Reason for the Season!!!!

Going to see Santa tomorrow!!

Dec. 4th

So this morning started pretty much like every other morning except for I got woke up at 3 am. Now normally that would be no big deal because its not completely unusual for Harper or Teagan to wake up in the middle of the night, but this morning it wasn't because my kids were awake. No this morning I woke up at 3 am because my bedroom light turned on all by itself. Now the first time this happened I was a little freaked out but it's happened a couple times so I just woke up turned the light off and back to my normal sleep. Harper woke up at 5:30ish like usual, took a bottle and laid back down. Teagan woke up at 6:15 and Brandon got her milk, breakfast, and started watching Dora. 6:30 Brandon wakes me up, he's leaving so its out to the couch I go to watch Dora with Teagan. 7 am Teagan is watching out the window, talking about the horse and the calves......7:01 am I look out the window to realize that there is a calf on the shoulder of the highway. CRAP!!!!!!!!!!! Now its not a typical morning anymore at all. First I throw on my shoes, no socks, no coat, no mittens, nothing just my pj pants, sweatshirt and shoes. Out the door, into the barn to grab some feed, phone call to Brandon GET HOME NOW!!!!!!!!!!!

So luckily I was able to get the calf off the highway and on our side of the road, several cars driving by probably laughing at the little girl trying to chase a calf in pjs carrying a bucket. Let me tell you today is probably the coldest day its been since last January and with Pajama pants on I might as well have been naked, plus no socks under my shoes that have nice "air holes" in them so your feet don't get sweaty (No problem there, my feet did not get sweaty!!)

Finally Brandon arrives, I run inside check on the girls, throw up because I'm sick and colder than crap, and on with the socks, boots, hat, mittens, coat, and scarf, and back outside to help Brandon and our sweet neighbor lady that stopped to try and get the calf back in.

9 am I'm walking inside per Brandon's request to get the shot gun. 10 am Brandon calls and he's leaving to go meet a friend that has a rifle. (Now I know nothing about guns but evidently you can shot further with a rifle?? or get a better shot?? I don't know! but Anywho). Brandon Calls he has the rifle and he's on his way back. In the mean time Dallas shows up at our door (previous home owner) and he heard we were going to shoot the calf and was coming by to help try to get it back in. (His wife had seen my status on facebook).

Next thing I know its Brandon, Dallas, and Chad (a friend of Brandon's from work) outside hooking their trucks up to trailers to make a "wall" to block the calf in. Now of course Brandon's truck wouldn't start (Diesel + Cold weather+ old truck). So it was just Chad and Dallas's trucks hooked up to trailers that were in the machine shed. So out they went to the field to block the calf and round it up.

11:25 am its about lunch time so I throw some mini corn dogs in the oven for Teagan.

11:35 am Calf is in and Brandon is taking everyone to lunch at the golf course in Parkersburg.

Brandon was so nice to start my car so it would be nice and warm while I got the girls ready. Got the girls in and out the drive on to the highway and my car stopped working. (CRAP again, and I'm on the shoulder of the highway with Chad and Dallas behind us in their trucks!!) How embrassing :( Luckily I turned off my car, turned it back on, gave it some gas and we got to Parkersburg (but I better get that looked at).

Now were back to normal right??! Getting ready to order lunch, look down at the kids menu and see hot dogs (CRAP!!!) I left the oven on with the corn dogs in it, so I leave the girls and Brandon and the guys at the golf course drive the 3 miles south to turn off our oven.

SHORT SUMMARY FOR THE DAY: Calf out, Freezing my butt off, Shot Gun, Rifle, Truck didn't start, Car stopped working on the highway, left oven on at home. Wow thats plenty!! Hope for a better day tomorrow!!