Crumb...

Don't you hate it when you run to Smith's to buy a hair color kit, and you buy two different kinds because you aren't sure which one you should use, but you plan to go back later and return the one you DON'T use...

But then when you go in, instead of refunding you for the hair color you no longer want, they CHARGE you for it a second time? And now you've paid twice for a hair color you don't even have?

Oops. Hee-hee!

So now I get to go back again! :D

Enough...!

So at the risk of sounding redundant, I had to color my hair last week. (Although just saying I did it isn't the redundant part...The part that comes next is.)

Last Wednesday was a Grandparent's Day Open House at the school. Grandpa McAlister met us there, and we spent some time going from class to class. They had a little photo sitting set up, so you could get a picture with your grandparent. We made that our first stop. I was standing off to the side, holding 37 coats (or maybe just 5...whatever...) while the kids posed with Grandpa. Behind us, another lady had come in and was waiting with her granddaughter.

She tells me "Go on and get in the picture with your husband!"

What?!

I just ignore her. She was viewing me at a profile, and from the "gray" side...

But she said something again about how lucky I am to have all the grand kids at the same school.

sigh

I went and got my hair cut, and when Lee came home he looked at me and said, "Why didn't you color it?" Um...'Cause it's kinda expensive! So he sent me to Smiths to buy a color kit so he could do it himself. It turned out great...I love it!

Thanks again, honey!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day started out peacefully in our home! We slept in and relaxed for the first half of the day, then got ready to head over to Grandma Crabb's house. Lee and I have yet to actually cook a Thanksgiving Dinner...well, at least ON Thanksgiving! (We usually buy and whip up a turkey dinner during the week after...I think we both miss leftovers!) We've been married 13 years, and love being close enough to our families to take turns seeing them every other year. Despite the differences (Lee can't believe my mom puts the giblets into the gravy!...And Thanksgiving without his mom's pie?!) it's a great day no matter where we are!

We started out at Grandma's with some sledding! Cody had spent part of the day before building a fort with his friend. The kids were so excited to check it out! Also, Jen convinced Grandma to buy something they kept calling "Butt Shovels"...They used them as sleds, but they looked like giant shoe horns to me!

Please enjoy the following photos of children careening down Grandma's very steep, icy driveway:

So while Cody and the kids (he was such a trouper, hanging in there in the freezing cold so he could keep playing with the kids!) were outside, there was cooking going on. I'm not really sure how it started, but it is Lee's job every year to "scuplt" the mashed potatoes. This year he did one better:

He added food coloring. :D I sure love this funny guy!

He tried leaving off the Jack-O-Lantern face (what is this, Halloween?) but mom was pretty persistant, and he finally cracked. Nevermind the laughing about how mom bought a Sam's Club sized bag of potatoes and Jen and Cody peeled them ALL...and the jokes about how we'll probably be eating THESE potatoes until NEXT Thanksgiving! Hee-Hee...Good times!

All in all, it was a fantastic day well spent. I love hanging with our family and refilling my laugh-gauge. I am so thankful for LOVE, for LAUGHTER, for MESSY KID FINGER-PRINTS on shirts, for the MOMENTS, and the MEMORIES!

Hope you enjoyed yours as much as I did mine! :D

So at the end of the day, I leave you with this photo. It's just a little something Cody calls "Dinosaur Tongue", and the picture doesn't do it justice. He is somehow able to cause his tongue to SWELL until it fills his entire mouth. It is both disgusting and inspiring all at the same time. I'm reduced to a puddle of giggle-goo when he does it...It's just so crazy!

Enjoy!

Michael's 5th Birthday!

Michael turned 5! He was super excited about all his presents. I think he woke us up at 6:30...Yawn! :D I think he got everything he could possibly want...that's a seriously spoiled kiddo!

He's into anything that rolls, really! He wanted a Thomas train set, and he asked for Chuch the talking Dump Truck. Well, he asked for everything he saw on TV, but these are the two we decided to oblige on! He would sit there, and with every commercial that came on TV I would hear "I want that!". So I finally started saying, in response, "You want everything!"

"No." He would say "Not girl stuff."

Funny!

We opened presents, and then we all got ready for the day. We told Michael he could choose: We could take the family to see "Megamind", or he could pick to go to the Build-a-Bear store and make a new friend. We thought he'd pick the movie...he's been so excited about it! But nope...He wanted to go make a new friend. So dad, the big softy, said we'd do both! (I loved Megamind, by the way...That Will Farrell is at his best in cartoon form!) Anyway, after the movie we headed to the mall and Michael "made" himself a monkey named Oso. (I also got me a Apple Pie Carameled Apple from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory! Yay! Everybody wins!)


Then off to birthday dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They asked what he wanted for dinner, and he picked:

Macaroni and Cheese, Chicken Nuggets, and Bananas.

Yep. He's Five!

Thanks to all the generous gift givers in the family! He is definitely well loved!l

Oh, The Shame!!

I am so ashamed!

This morning before school I was helping Spencer pack his lunch. Then as he was finishing putting his food in the lunch box and zipping it up, he turns to me with a bit of a stomp.

Spencer: "How come you don't ever put a note in my lunch?"
Me: "What kind of a note?"
Spencer: "You know, like a love note."
Me: "Oh. Who is getting notes?"
Spencer: "Everyone...except that don't bring a home lunch!"

I guess every day all his little friends are getting love notes from their moms. But not him. Sad!

Oh, the shame...

Why...Oh, Why?

Why is it that on the weeks where I forgot to take the recycle can to the curb, I end up with the very most recyclables to dispose of? When the can is already full? And the city only picks up the recyclables every OTHER week...

Blast.

Then I war with myself...Do I just throw it in the regular trash so as not to store the garbage for a whole week? Can I live with myself if I don't recycle?

What to do, what to do...

Adoption Day!

Four years ago today, our little family met downtown at the court house to be made a little bit bigger! Michael was almost 1...3 days before his first birthday. Megan was about 5 1/2 years old.

Megan's smile and enthusiasm for things is adorable. When we change the calendar over to November, she starts to get excited for adoption day...We're so glad she's excited about it! She makes friends so easily, and who doesn't love Megan?

Michael is a sweet heart. Every time he has a treat he shares with me, just comes up and sticks his little sticky "extra" right into my hand. When we sit together to watch TV or anything, he likes to sit his little body right up against mine to be cozy. He's crazy, and wild, but that's normal...He's 4!

I have watched my other kids accept these two without question. Sydney has a sister to play with! Spencer calls Michael his "Bud". Somehow, it just stopped feeling like these two came to our family any differently. We love them all the same, and truly feel like they belong in our family...We're glad they found their way home!

Happy Adoption Day, McAlister Family! :D