A few pictures...

Well...it's a SNOW DAY here today. In addition to the snow that was still hanging around from the other day (about 4 inches) we got about an inch of ice last night with a few more inches of snow, so school was cancelled and the hubby was even on a two hour delay for work. Which means that my usual crazy Friday mornings, are now pretty low key. I've been cleaning and doing laundry and just getting things done! Very nice.

Anyway, I had a few seconds so I thought I would post a few pictures from our trip!! Hope you enjoy, and hope everyone had a very nice weekend!

Hot Shot and Minnie

View of Bahamas from our balcony

Munchkin enjoying a day in the Bahamas (poor hubs and hot shot missed this day due to the flu)

Sunrise

Hubs and boys on Castaway Cay (key) - Disney's little part of the Bahamas

This kid love the water!

"I'm on vacation"

HELLLLOOOOOO out there!!

Hello everyone - or no one. I'm not sure if you folks are even checking for new posts seeing as how it's been so long (yet again). As usual, life is busy...GOOD but busy!

Lets see...a week ago I was sailing around the Caribbean and enjoying time in the Bahamas with my family. My parents took the 4 of us, and my sister, on a Disney Cruise! It was a great time (minus the fact we all swapped around the stomach flu - starting with me) but other than that it was fabulous! The weather was beautiful, the kids had a good time, and I got to spend time with my parents and my sister!

We got home from our cruise on Thursday night, and then had the weekend to recover from our travels, do LOTS of laundry, clean house, all those fun things. Saturday was a beautiful day here, the high was up near 50, and it was nice and sunny! I even went and ran 3 miles which is sadly the most I've done in awhile. I've been slacking big time in the running department...well really working out in general. But I AM going to get back to it...

Anyway, so Sunday we went to church and enjoyed the day hanging around the house. Unlike Saturday, Sunday's high was around 10 degrees, and that night it got well below zero with the windchill putting the temps in the NEGATIVE 20-25 range...yea that's cold. That was the night that the ignitor to our heater also decided to stop working. So, there we were, coldest night of the year so far, and no heat. It was around 5 when we made our discovery, so we called our landlord and he sent out someone to take a look. Unfortunately he didn't have the kind of ignitor that we needed, so we were on our own until Monday when they could get the part and get back out to fix it. We have a fireplace, so that helped in the den, but as far as the upstairs went we didn't have any sort of heat. So, hubs went out to get a space heater and an electric blanket, and around 10 we moved the boys into bed with us, and we all snuggled up for the night. It was actually pretty cozy in there with the heater and the blanket...but getting out of bed the next morning was another story. It was 45 degrees in the house in the morning. So, we stayed in bed as long as we could before having to get up and get big kid ready for school. After I dropped him off, the little one an I spent the morning at Target until they called to say they were on their way, and by lunch we were warming back up!

It was quite the experience, and not one that I want to repeat any time soon, but thankfully we were able to figure out a plan for the one night!

Today it's been snowing all day long. It started around 7am and has just kept going, I think we're supposed to get around 5 inches or so. The boys and I went out early to mail off a few packages to my in-laws who we won't get to see for Christmas, and then got big kid a haircut, but other than that we've been hanging at home and while they were napping I got a few things done!

I can't believe that Christmas is right around the corner...it really seems to have snuck up on me this year. Although even though I don't "feel" ready for it, I do have almost all my shopping done. I still need to get something for my dad, and maybe another little something for my mom, but other than that, we're all set!

Okay, well that's it for me today. I'll be back tomorrow (I hope) and will post a few pictures from our trip! Hope you all are staying warm wherever you may be!!

Black and White

Black Friday and White Sunday that is!

This year I did something I have never done before, I went to the mall at O'Dark-Thirty and participated in the "black Friday" craze. If you know me, you know that shopping really isn't something I am huge on doing in the first place. Sure, walking around the mall in the middle of the week is fine, especially if you have someone to grab a coffee with and chat to. But I don't really consider that "shopping". The actual act of going out, looking for things, spending lots of money...it's really not my bag. Add the holiday crowds to that, waking up before my kids, and standing in long lines and really I'd rather just stay home. BUT I am a big fan of saving money on items that I would be buying anyway.

A friend and I went to the mall on the Wednesday before Turkey Day to let our little ones play and do some pre-season shopping. But every store we went into we could tell that the items we were looking at were going to be marked down come Friday, and some of the stores we went in were even nice enough to share with us exactly what their deals would be even though they weren't marked yet. SO we made a plan that we would go bright (or not so much) and early (VERY much so) Friday morning and knock out some of our holiday list. Our Hubbies were quick to agree because that meant they got out of it, and part of the time we were gone the kids would still be snoozing. So, Ang showed up at my house at 5 and we were off.

I was fearing the WORST, but actually, the mall we went to was not bad AT ALL. There was only one store with a long line and even that wasn't too terrible. People were nice, and there wasn't any of that craziness that you hear about in some stores. I got all the stuff on my list that I was going to pick up earlier in the week, and with the exception of a few small items, I am DONE with the Christmas shopping!!! And the deals really were nice. I saved us a good deal by sucking it up and going. And really, it was kind of nice going with a friend without the kiddos. So, that is my story...

Saturday we went and picked out our tree. Usually we do a fake one because, well we have it, and living down in the south I never felt like it really got cold enough to chance bringing in a real one because they could have bugs and stuff... But this year we decided to go for a real one and we had a good time. But it was VERY cold. Here is a picture of us with our tree before we took it home. It's the one to the left of me in the picture (not ON my left - on the left side of the photo).

And last but not least...WHITE Sunday. When we woke up Sunday morning there was a small dusting of snow on the ground! This is the first time either of my little guys have ever seen snow, and the big kid was VERY excited to get out and see what it was all about. He even helped his daddy shovel the driveway (not that it really needed it). Here are a few pictures from the morning.

First Snow Angel

Not sure what to think...

Me and the big kid

After a few snow angels and shoveling off the drive it was time to get back in and get ready for church, but it was fun. It's all melted now which to me is the perfect snow. Enough for a few snowballs, but a distant memory by lunchtime!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know I am very blessed to have so much to be thankful for!