You're Glowing

Looking down the hallway this am there was a little glow coming from around the corner.

Lula brought the girls little trees for their rooms- how sweet.

Flexible

Whoa!  Lula sure is flexible.  Took the girls longer than normal to spot her this morning.

This morning Hannah wanted me to move her so that she could use the bathroom.  She was uncomfortable that Lula was just sitting up there watching people go to the bathroom.

Bicentennial

On Thanksgiving my grandma brought me the Bicentennial dishes.  

These dishes have served years of holiday meals.  I have always wanted them.  Grandma packed them up a few years ago but I just wasn't in a place with space to take them.  After we moved I kept meaning to grab them and finally they found their way here. Our family is getting so large that there is no way that they could be used as the holiday dishes any longer however there are some beautiful serving pieces that we will definitely be using.

I also finally made the decision on the layout for the mudroom wall.

Part of the Plan

It's time to start designing the mudroom 'command center' wall so I have been experimenting with shapes and layouts.  Looks like Lula wanted to be sure that she is part of the plan.

Wine Anyone?

 The girls spotted Lula right away this morning!

They were really concerned about where that bottle of wine went and how she carried it to wherever it currently is.  Hmmm, now that I think about it.  That is a good question.....

Today we also started decorating the house.  The Christmas lights and ornaments are outside and slowly we are getting into the Christmas spirit.  The girls and I ran a few errands and it was so nice we didn't even need to wear jackets!  We spent the evening at home, just us, hanging out, watching TV, working on projects.  It's been so nice to have these days off to just enjoy being home with the people I love the most.

Nothing says Black Friday like......

Waking up to see that Lula is back!

Hailey and I were downstairs making breakfast when Hannah came down and pointed her out to us!

How on earth did we miss her?!

The girls are so happy she is back and are looking forward to the Christmas season.

Brian is working on a sliding barn door project for Sara and Jeremy.  Today they were having a Black Friday deal on barn wood so we went with her there to pick out the wood.  Such a cool place with so much potential!  It's surprising to see just how expensive all of this wood is.  While we were there a lady approached us to ask if we knew where the wood that we picked out was from.  When we said no and asked why she mentioned that she had a friend that told her that some of this old barn wood could be haunted.  Ummm, please no.

 

Thankful

Usually Thanksgiving is a two trip event for us.  Grandma Bauer's in the early afternoon and Jennifer and Tom's in the evening.  Denny and Judy are in Germany this year so Jennifer wasn't planning to host.  Brian and I offered to have everyone to our house today to give Grandma a break from hosting.

It's always a lot of work to host the family at holidays.  The day is spent cooking and cleaning and then more cooking and more cleaning.  When it's at your house, it's hard to sit down and enjoy the time with family.  Although looking around, we are pretty blessed.  I am thankful I have this family to cook and clean for.  A full house of a bunch of wonderful people.

As mom and Tom were leaving, Tom went to step out of the house and must have forgotten that there was a step and ended up falling out of the house.  Bobby and Joe were able to help him out to the car but we got a call from mom an hour or so later that he was in so much pain that they made a trip to the ER.  Turns out he broke his leg/knee and would now need to stay off his leg until it can heal.

I know it's not our fault but I can't help but feel horrible about what happened.  We changed the plans, we changed the location, it was our house.  Sending well wishes for a speedy recovery!  

This is not anything that those two need right now :-(

Party Bus Volume 3

1st OCW Party Bus- week before Christmas
2nd OCW Party Bus- week before Halloween
3rd OCW Party Bus- week before Thanksgiving

This year we hit up Tony Jaro's, Betty Dangers, O'Gara's and then made our way to Half Time Rec.
I wish we would have skipped O'Gara's and went straight to Half Time, it was definitely the best stop of the night.

Photo Bomb by random lady in the front

Ewwwww

This morning I was pointing something out to Hailey on her homework and Hannah was very disturbed by the way my finger was bending.  I never really think about it until someone points it out.  My fingers are pretty double jointed, They can easily bend and flex in different positions.  It's always been just normal for me.  I do not have much hand/finger strength and simple things, like cutting a pizza, are actually pretty awkward for me,  

Homework Chronicles

 

More from the Hailey Homework Chronicles.
She has been learning how to write in cursive, self taught.  I get the sense that her teacher is not impressed- lol.
Once again, Hailey is doing something correct but not according to the rules.  It's clear that she gets this from me- reading enough of the directions to try and figure out what was expected based on what makes sense.  So close.

Today I volunteered my time as a photographer at the Girls on the Run 5K.
This is a group that works with girls 3rd grade through middle school to set and achieve their goals.
They are paired up with Sparkle Girls (sponsors) and coaches that meet with them after school and help them to train for a 5K.
The event was very cool!
It was amazing to see all of the adults coming together to support these girls.  The amount of girls that were there to run was surprising.
Right before the finish line there was a group of young adults that had made signs and were cheering on the girls as they ran past. They stayed until the very end and each and every girl was made to feel special as she made her way to accomplishing her goal.

#future

Sometime this past March, right around my 40th birthday, I saw this man crossing the street off Summit near Macalester College.  That day it made my eyes fill with tears.  I was already having a hard time entering the 40's and then to see him, it was like a huge mirror being held up reminding me the direction that my life was heading.  Soon this will be us. 

I haven't done everything I want to do.  I haven't become who I was meant to be.  The whole rest of that day I felt down and depressed.  Even scared.  I am not ready to be old.  I am not ready for my hair to be completely gray.  I am not ready to be feeble and weak.  I don't want to lose my mind or my hearing.  I'm not ready.

I know it sounds ridiculous.  I have a long way to go before becoming geriatric.

But it's a reminder of just how fast time flies.

I have a meeting off Grand Ave every week and at least once per month I see this man cross the street in front of me.  Each time my eyes fill with tears and each time I spend the next day telling myself how much I need to do and what I need to change to slow things down.

What Just Happened?!

This just happened.

Donald Trump will be our next president.

I am not sure yet how I feel about this. 

He was running against Hilary Clinton and honestly, for me, this was the better option.

Deep down I can't imagine that my life will be impacted very much and although it sounds super selfish- that is what I think about.  How will this affect me and my family.

The country is in disbelief but it's also strange to me that everyone is in such shock although he clearly had enough supporters that he won so there has to be some people that knew this could happen.  I am not into politics.  I live my life letting those that are passionate about it do the heavy lifting.  I will vote but never have felt as though it is my duty to do so.  Even being a woman.  Knowing that for a long time woman couldn't even vote, it is sad that that's how things were but obviously times have changed and although it's probably important to acknowledge that- it's just not something I think would ever change again so I guess I take these things for granted.

It's a little surreal knowing that he is a 'celebrity' however he is worth a lot of money and clearly knows how to run a business so I have to trust that track record.

He is not the most well spoken (ummmm, at all) and coming after Obama who was a very good public speaker, he will be advertised as a baboon during his whole term.  No doubt about that.

He is extremely arrogant and comes off as being self centered and bossy.

I obviously don't know him personally and won't allow the media or opinions of others to get in my head.  I have to believe that something good will come of this.  I am not sure what but I have to give him a chance.  He will make some mistakes, he will say some real inappropriate things but he could also maybe do something good.  Only time will tell.

DavisTime

  

Davis is growing up learning what Facetime is.  He actually seems to understand what is going on and gets real excited when he sees someone on that screen.  We LOVE our Facetime chats with him!

Nose Bleeds

Our seats for Christina Perry and Keith Urban were in the nosebleeds.  Upper Deck waaaaaaay at the top.  Row R or S?  We were only a few sections from the stage so that made it easier to see but it is hard to be that high.  I must have a fear of heights that I am not too in touch with because walking down the row of seats to find our seat was real freaky.  You can't help but feel that you are going to topple over the row in front of you and land on the arena floor.