Boxes Shipped!

Yea!! The few boxes I had to ship before the holidays are safely in the post office's hands! I even remembered to ship a baby gift for dear friends whose baby will be born tomorrow!

Even though I had only 5 boxes total to ship, 2 of them were very large and meant that I had to take 2 trips into the post office. Thankfully, the line was short so the wait wasn't too bad.

I did decide, however, that the awesome deals I got on the actual gifts didn't make up for the cost of shipping! I purchased most of our gifts online this year, and had them shipped directly. If I can manage it, I will do ALL my shopping that way next year. I ended up with free shipping deals from all the online retailers I used, so the $60 I just spent at the post office to ship 5 boxes seems a little crazy.

Tree and ultrasound

We didn't get the tree up on Saturday as I thought, because I ended up taking a 3.5 hour nap before we headed out to B's office party.

We did get the tree up on Sunday, and I'm pleased that it's done. I love walking into the house and seeing it lit up. The boys love putting on the ornaments that belong to them, and love hearing the story behind all the ornaments. We're at the point now where each ornament has a story. In our first years together, the tree had a bunch of generic ornaments -- it was still pretty (I started out with a gold/white theme and it was beautiful) -- but our tree now is much more meaningful.

Today I had my 2nd trimester ultrasound. The baby looks great, although my placenta is low. I understand that it often moves up as the baby grows, so I'm not going to worry about that. I was happy to see that the baby was moving a lot and appeared to be healthy.

DH & the boys came with me and as soon as the technician started, Nate asked "So, can you see a penis? Because we want a sister. And if you don't see a penis, then we're having a sister!" She thought he was cute and funny and humored him by checking the gender first.

And their wish came true. From all appearances, I'm carrying a girl this time. I'm a little in shock -- I kept thinking how easy it would be to have a 3rd boy -- but of course I'm thrilled that the babe is healthy and doing well.

I told my mom this evening and she immediately responded that she would send a list of acceptable names. I dread this and wish she would cut it out. When I was pregnant with N we had such an argument about names that we didn't speak for 3 days (a long time for me & my mom.) For some reason she feels that she has a say in our choice -- and hasn't figured out yet that she doesn't! I laughed it off this evening, but don't plan to tell her our choice until the babe is born -- just as we did with N.

I did NOT get anything shipped today, and still haven't boxed the things that need shipping. I need to get off the computer and do that now so I can ship the boxes tomorrow morning!

Tree!

Today we plan to put up our tree! B doesn't have any calls today, so we decided to move up a day our tree plans. Last year, we purchased an artificial tree for the first year ever since we've met - but it was a great deal - and my sister is allergic to pine - so I'm still getting used to the idea.

B's office party is this evening, so I'm not sure if we'll finish decorating today or tomorrow. I will update with a picture as soon as we're done.

Other plans for this weekend include adding return labels to our Christmas cards and getting them in the mail, getting out of town gifts wrapped and ready to ship on Monday, and finishing up a few bits of Christmas shopping for the boys and B. OH, I also need to go through my closet and look at the gifts stashed there so I know what I have already! Tomorrow night we'll attend the Luminaria event at the Gardens and I plan to find time to rest as well as I've been feeling a bit peaked the last few days.

Arizona Snowman

C made this cute sock snowman at his enrichment program today. His lips look a bit blue because of a popsicle snack, but those circles around his eyes are just from being worn out by a full day at class.

I took this picture this evening after he came home. He enjoys the program, and has fun with the kids and making crafts. When I look at his exhausted face, though, I am glad we made the decision to homeschool! Our governor pushed full-day kindergarten pretty hard and it was implemented in many schools this past fall. I can't imagine sending him off for 7+ hours for 5 days a week. One day a week is plenty!

The snowman looked pretty easy to make: one long men's sock, filled with rice, tied off to make 3 sections and the top was folded down to make a hat. Googly eyes and a chenille stem nose were glued on, and the smile was drawn on with red marker. The scarf is a ribbon, and there are also 2 buttons glued on the middle section. They made a cute gift bag decorated like a snowman, and placed the sock snowman inside.

Today the program had a winter concert that was adorable. The Kindergarten class acted out the song "5 Little Snowmen." Each class (grades K - 8) performed one routine/song and you could tell the kids had a great time doing it. C was very surprised to find us sitting there when he walked in and was thrilled that we were there. B had some free time in the middle of his day, so he was able to attend as well.

Dec 12 Feast Day

Today is the feast day for Our Lady of Guadalupe. Before moving to Arizona, I really didn't know much about this incarnation of Our Blessed Mother, but I've come to love it.

I love the faith of Juan Diego, and Our Mother's sweet patience. I love how she came dressed as an Incan goddess, but Juan knew immediately who she was. My middle name is Rose, and I love how she had him gather roses to give to the bishop.

I wish I wasn't fearful about traveling in Mexico these days, because I'd like to visit the chapel that displays his tunic that holds her image.

Tomie dePaolo wrote a lovely book about her that my boys & I enjoy. In fact, it's in the pile for bedtime stories tonight! Perhaps next year I'll be more prepared and we'll do more to honor this feast day, but right now -- I'm off to read my boys to sleep :)

traditions

I finally got the Advent calendar put together Friday night. Um, yes, I was 9 days late. We got the Playmobil one again this year, which the boys LOVE, but which takes a good 45 minutes to an hour to put together. It comes with 24 boxes that have to be assembled, then each of the pieces have to be found for each box, and some of those need assembly as well. When the boys woke up Saturday morning, though, and saw that it was ready to go - they were thrilled and it was all worth it! I just wish I had done it on time. I purchased it back in October, but just never had (or took) the time to put it together.

I also just got out the box of Christmas/Advent/winter books that we have. I put them away in mid-January, so it's a nice surprise when I pull them out at the beginning (or a week into) Advent. In years past, I've wrapped them and kept them in a basket - this year I just put them out in the basket. I try to pick up a couple new ones at the after-Christmas sales so there's always at least one new one to enjoy each year.

We have an Advent wreath that I leave on the table throughout Advent. I think I'm on my 3rd right now -- I still haven't found one that I *love*, but this one does the job. The boys like to blow out the candles, so I usually light them multiple times.

Another tradition I like to say we have are Christmas cookies. However, I haven't baked any in 2 (or is it 3?) years. Ouch. I am a good cook and a great baker . . . but I have lost my desire the last few years. I intend to make cookies this year -- I have a wonderful collection of cookie cutters, and everyone loves the Kris Kringle butter cookies my mom and grandmother have made for years. Another favorite cookie are the peanut butter kisses. Perhaps if I plan on just those 2, I can make it happen. The first year B and I were together, I baked 7 different kinds of cookies!

One tradition that won't be lost this year is the luminaria event at the Desert Botanical Gardens. We have attended every year since we moved here, and it is one of my favorite things to do around the holidays. The garden is filled with luminarias and we just wander through in the dark, listening to live music and munching snacks.

Another tradition of ours is decorating our front yard with lights and Christmas decorations. I feel lucky that our section of the street goes ALL out and every house surrounding us fills their yard as well. I love outdoor lights and last night on our way home from dinner we just drove through a bunch of neighborhoods looking at lights. Another of my favorite traditions.

We'll also go to Zoo Lights at the zoo this year, but we usually do that the last possible weekend, which is usually after New Year's. I need to check the schedule to find out the exact date so we don't miss it. We did miss it last year because C and my sister were both very sick last year after Christmas.

Another tradition is that we buy a personalized ornament each year for our tree, as well as ornaments for each boy. And, the boys get new pjs on Christmas Eve.

We go to mass on Christmas Eve. Growing up in the northeast, we always went to midnight mass, which happened at midnight. In the midwest, midnight mass usually happened at 10PM. The last few years we've attended the family mass, which is usually 6PM. We then come home, have a light dinner, open one present from extended family -- then it's bath, pjs, some final pictures, books, prayers and bed.

I am almost done with our long distance gift giving. I shipped so many things direct from the stores that I'm regretting the few things I purchased locally that I need to wrap, box and ship. But, once I get that done, I can focus on the boys and B. If all goes well, I can check that off the list by Wednesday.

What traditions do you have in your family? Post in the comments, or let me know if you make a similar post on your blog!

online shopping

I love online shopping : )

Even better is when I can find free shipping! The recent LLBean catalog arrived with a code for free shipping, no matter the size of the order! That sealed the deal that we would be sending their pine tabletop decorations as gifts to a few family members!

I just ordered mini silk parachutes for the boys from Magic Cabin. I almost paid $7 for shipping, until I did a quick google search for "magic cabin coupon codes". The first site that popped up included a free shipping code!

Amazon gave me a free 3 month membership to their "prime" service (which offers free 2 day shipping on Amazon products for an annual fee.) In the past, I always tried to meet their $25 minimum for free shipping - and lived with the often long wait for books and other things. After using it for 3 months, I split the annual cost with my sister and have loved having items shipped quickly and across the country when necessary. So, even though it's not free -- it has still saved me from having to order things 2-3 weeks early (when more likely I would end up paying for shipping because I wasn't ordering 2-3 weeks early!)

Steve Spangler is also offering free shipping this weekend only, no minimum purchase. Email me if you want that code!

I ordered our Christmas cards online again this year -- Shutterfly now offers collage cards, and I squeezed 9 pictures onto our card. They are another company that offers lots of coupons, and they, too, are currently offering free shipping for orders over $50. They also ship fast. I ordered the cards Thursday evening, and they should be here Monday or Tuesday.

In past years, I've been done with Christmas shopping by now (some years by late October!) but this year I've only just begun. I adore the convenience of online shopping - especially when I have procrastinated.

Are you done with your shopping? Have you begun? Do you shop online for most or not at all? Just curious : )

Friday's Feast 121

I haven't done a Friday's Feast in forever . . . so here goes!

Appetizer
Which language would you like to learn and why?
I'd like to learn Spanish because there are so many Spanish-speaking people in this area that I know it would be useful. I would like to be able to communicate better and not depend on hand signals and simple English.

Soup
What's the funniest thing you've heard or read so far this week?
Last Friday, at the beach, we were all resting on the beach blanket. N, my youngest, suddenly turned to DH and said "DAD! I hear some great jumping waves that we're missing! Get UP!" (He loves to jump the ocean waves.) It cracked me up, and still does when I think about it.

Salad
Which movie was so bad you couldn't watch the whole thing?
The first movie I remember walking out on was "Terms of Endearment" I was in high school, and my girlfriend and I walked out in the middle of it.

Main Course
If there were a holiday in your honor that didn't use your actual name, what would the day be called?
I have no idea!

Dessert
Name one movie which is coming out soon that you would like to see.
The Nativity Story

our trip

We have been planning a trip to D*sneyl*nd for a little over 8 months now -- well before we found out we were expecting another babe. We decided to take an entire week, and I'm so glad that we did!

We drove to CA the Sunday after Thanksgiving (not thinking about the potential traffic -- a 6 hour trip turned into 10!) We purchased 4 day tickets, and chose to stay at a motel near the park. The motel was nice - typical economy hotel - clean, non-smelly, small rooms. It definitely wasn't the H*lton, but it served our needs just fine! It was close enough to the entrance to walk, but there was also a shuttle service which was nice in the evenings when we were tuckered out.

I had read so many things about long lines that I was worried our days would be spent standing in line. B & I were extremely pleased to find out that the week after Thanksgiving is a pretty quiet week and we rarely waited very long in any line. We waited 10 minutes for most things -- some attractions we were able to walk right onto; a couple we had waits of 25 minutes.

On the days we didn't visit the park, we visited the beach, a free aquarium, and a science center (free admission bc we have a membership at our local science center.) We had leisurely days and enjoyed everything.

We took a cooler with us, and kept it stocked with ice in the room. This was great for drinks and snacks. We took a backpack to the park with us, and filled it with bottled water and snacks for our time there. We usually also purchased one treat from the park as well -- but having our own things definitely kept the cost down!

Before leaving, I did a little investigating and found that there were lots of penny-press machines at the park. I went through our change jars and filled up 2 small boxes with $25.00 of quarters and 50 pennies. While that may seem like a lot (well, it WAS heavy!) it spread out getting souvenirs over all 4 days and the boys loved searching for the machines and choosing their pennies. We did purchase books to hold the pressed pennies for $6.50 each as well.

I also purchased small moleskin books for each boy to use as an autograph book for characters they met. These books cost me $1.99 each -- vs. the $8 (and up) the official autograph books at the park cost. The boys did enjoy getting autographs, so I'm glad I brought those along.

We all had a wonderful time. My only complaints would be that the food was terrible in the park. For all the things they do right -- you would think they could provide decent snack foods! The baked goods were stale, the hot dogs were awful, and the drinks were ridiculously expensive. My other complaint was that we didn't see as many characters as I was expecting - and when they WERE out, you were lucky if they were still there after you finished a ride (with a short line!). Over 4 days, we did get quite a few pictures of the boys with different characters, but I still thought we should have seen more.

Overall, though, it was a wonderful trip. I was very tired most days -- but managed pretty well. I do think our next vacation will be another cruise though! But, I look forward to visiting D*sney again when this new babe is around 4!

rant

Hmmm, I've been planning this long post about our trip to D*sneyl*nd -- but it will take me too long to type out right now. (quickly: trip was fantastic, had a great time)

I do, however, have time to type a quick rant.

WHY do people take their young (under 3) children to Wally World at 11PM at night? What really amazes me are the male/female couples that are there with these small children. Couldn't one of them STAY HOME with the small child? Is the dude so worried that his woman will pick up someone at Wally World in the middle of the night that he can't let her venture out without him??

Argh. I avoid this store as much as possible - but when it's St. Nick's eve and realize I have no chocolate gold coins for shoes, I had no choice but to head out after B got home from work (which was after 10PM.) I counted no fewer than FOUR couples with young children. And the children were all obviously tired and cranky. I could sympathize if it was a person, on their own, with a small child, doing an emergency run for diapers or something . . . but choosing to do your full grocery run at 11PM with your kids? Crazy!!