Oh Christmas Tree.....

Today was the big beginning of the Christmas season, going to cut our tree. We make a morning out of it and gather as many family members that can come. We headed up to Apple Hill and stopped at Rainbow for apple donuts, because you can't go to Apple Hill without stopping! Then headed over to Robert's Tree Farm. We've gone here a couple of years now, they have great prices, and are always friendly.

Getting our measuring pole and saw.

That's November in Nor Cali!

Searching through..

Busy with Aunt Virginia...

They were having a great time running up and down the rows.

After going here and there, we finally found it!

Timber!

Waiting for everyone else to find their tree.

And down the hill we went...

Cody helping Uncle Eli with their tree.

Yep, he's in shorts and a t-shirt, it's almost December!

We got the monster inside and went to set it upright, too tall! So we lobbed about a foot off the top. We over estimated our ceilings just a hair.

There she is, all set up and lighted. Decorations come tomorrow.

Our Black Friday....

As much as I wanted to get up at the crack of dawn and hit the sales, it just wasn't in the cards this year. I LOVE Black Friday shopping, crazy yes, but the deals are fantastic and it's a rush. Now, don't fret, I was able to go out this evening and pick up a few things, like getting my $20 fabric for $10 and a few other good deals.

Instead of the shopping madness, the boys and I headed out to the Zoo and to Fairytale Town. They always do a free day after Thanksgiving and we decided to brave it and take advantage. The weather was cool and cloudy, but I think that may have been in our favor, holding people back from going out. We arrived right at 10a when the Zoo opened and there weren't many waiting to go in. This is what we saw....

Checking out a monkey of some kind, Tyler crouched down every time we went to a new cage.

Giraffes: It was neat to see one up close, they are usually in the back of the pens.

He is my favorite at the zoo, old and grumpy.

The Tiger out in the front. We also saw the lions, but they were clear at the back, hiding in their caves.

Snow Leopard prowling around. They also have a giant anteater next to him, and they were feeding him so you could see how his tongue worked, cool and creepy!

Taking a break on the Crocodile.

The Koi tank, they were huge!

Can't miss out on the flamingos

After some lunch, more bird watching and another potty break we headed over to Fairytale Town.

Aarrr! I drive me ship.

Cody's crinkle nose smile. Tried to get Ty on in front of him but he wasn't having anything to do with that.

Yep, it's a block of cheese.

The Barn slide...

Perma-grin...

Tree slide...

And the old Woman's shoe

We had a good day, spending almost 3 1/2 hours there. As we were leaving the lines started to get long, especially into the zoo. Glad we went early as always and can't wait to go back again!

Funny....

A young man named Jack received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity. Jack tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else he could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary.

Finally, Jack was fed up and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. Jack shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even ruder. Jack, in desperation, threw up his hand, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer. For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute.

Fearing that he'd hurt the parrot, Jack quickly open the door to the freezer, the parrot calmly stepped out onto Jack's outstretched arm and said, "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."

Jack was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. As he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued, "May I ask what the turkey did?"

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Preparing the house for Christmas....

Anyone else doing this, or have the need to? I LOVE decorating for the season, it would be scary what I would do if he had actual money to waste on such things.
But, nonetheless, we are going to go to Apple Hill on Sat to get our Christmas tree, so I've spent the first half of nap time today moving the furniture around the living room, trying to get it just right for the upcoming arrival of the grand Christmas tree. (YAY!!!)
It's so bad that I've been plotting out our outdoor lights in my head for about 3 weeks now. I haven't come close to nailing it down yet, but it's been on my mind. New house, new spaces, lots more area to cover!

Yep, I'ma dork. But that's why you love me.

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

Twilight...

Hmmm, glad that's over! Still pondering the movie a bit. I loved the books to pieces, the movie is not doing it for me though.

Over all the cast was great, some were a bit off, but good. I was disappointed with the jerky, weird, spastic nature of the Cullen family as a whole. They are supposed to be graceful and god like! The "special affects" drove me insane! Yes they are fast as light, but that was lame.

Being aimed toward the teen group it was fine, but I wanted it to grow up a little. (I felt like that through the books as well!) Thinking that Bella and Edward should just do it all ready and get the damn sexual tension out! But no, it's not gonna happen, not until they are married in the 4th weird book.

Anyway, I can't wait to see the next movies, just to see the printed words in action. But I'll wait and have a movie night at Jen's, then my butt won't fall asleep in the stupid theater chairs!

Read the books, they tell the story much better!

They did show the preview for the next Harry Potter movie (squeeeel), but JULY! WTF is that all about! JULY! Argh!

Hit the Mother Load.....

Go here and scroll to the bottom for a down-loadable book spelling out all the best websites for shopping, one day deals (like Woot), and other hard to find places. I copied a ton to a work doc so I can flip back and forth to see what they are. That will keep me distracted for a couple of days!

Seriously, it's awesome!


SQUEEEEL! Twilight is tomorrow!

A Family Feast

Much of what we do in school this year is the same as the last, and what we'll be doing the next 2-3 years! So yes, we've been here before, and look there's a familiar tree! Anyway....

Today was the Thanksgiving family feast. Being the delinquent mom I am, I opted out and sent G-ma in my place. (Mainly so I didn't have to drag Ty back and forth and he could have a normal school day.) But Cody had a good time showing off his school to Gma and Great Gma. It was reported back from them that he didn't eat much of the feast, only the friendship bread and maybe a cookie. But there was lots of goodies to choose from, Turkey (that Jen baked early this morning!), mashed potatoes, rolls, cornbread, pumpkin dessert, cranberries and more.

I was pleased to learn that Teacher had nailed him down to do a place mat, threatening him that he had to do it if he wanted to play outside on that day. If you don't know Cody, he HATES the art table, especially if it has anything messy like paint or glue involved, so dipping his hands in paint is a huge accomplishmen! He also decorated his pilgrim hat, complete with stamps and a race car he drew.



So that was our day. Now we are looking forward to a busy week off from school. Crafty projects to complete, shopping for school and Xmas, and family.

***SQUEEEEEELLLL! I get to see Twilight on Sun!***

A run to the Ranch

The boys planned over the week and organized a small run out to the Ride to Walk Ranch. So we skipped out on a family field trip for Cody's group and headed to the country instead.
The property is so beautiful and it was a gorgeous day to take advantage of.

We attempted some Christmas photos, see the cool shirts I finished this week. (No this isn't the winner!)


Then we walked around and visited all the horses. Horses are way bigger than us, so we crouch down to get a better look!

Climbed the big rocks and played ball with our friends.

Then rounded the corner to meet back at VW alley.

After eating some lunch we headed for a walk around the backside of the property to check out the expansion for the Ranch Run show. Along the walk you pass this guys property:


Umm, wow!

From the ranch we trailed over to Auburn to the Tasty Freeze for and ice cream treat and a nice drive.

IT was fun and made us happy to live in N. Cali in Nov.

Who's kid is this?

We had a field trip to the fish hatchery today, one of our most favorite places! MIL just flew back into town last night and so knowing she would be tired, both boys came along. Ty loves the place, listens well enough, and loves being one of the "big kids", so it all went well. They had the fish ladders open, bring in the salmon to spawn, so that was exciting. It's the first time we've seen the full grown ones, huge I might add, they jumped out of the water, scaring the crap out of us, but it was fun! (4 year old salmon are the same length as most our 4 year olds!)

After that we went to the IL's house to say hello to Grandma Mintie, Keith's G-ma, and see how their trip was. For the past couple of years MIL goes back east and brings here west for a few weeks over the holidays. She's a hoot and we love seeing her.
After a snack from G-pa and a nice melt down from Cody, we were off to get lunch and take some naps. I had planned on this being a McD's day, because it adds to the specialness that is a field trip, so we went ahead.

I was asking Ty what he wanted, and Cody was helping him with his options, mentioning cheeseburger, chicken nuggets or salad. I've never bought a salad from McD's, so not real sure where that came from. But that's what he wanted.
Ty's my more adventuresome eater. If I'm having a salad, and have enough ranch on it, he'll eat it along with me. So I said, what the heck, we'll try a salad. Plus their side salad is cheaper than a happy meal!
I was pleased that he ate most of it, but stopped once he decided to dump his milk out, and into it. So my little Buddha belly boy is at least a healthy eater, even over looking the constant want for M&M's!

A morning out to Folsom Lake....

In an effort to not just sit and watch the tube today, we headed over the Folsom Lake for a morning adventure. It's a really nice day out, a little damp from the nights rain, but sunny and perfect otherwise. The lake, or what's left of it, is surrounded by places to walk and hike around, get out some energy and waste away a morning.

We parked at one of the beach areas, you can maybe see the glimmer of the water from where we are.

We decided to head out to find the water's edge. Oh look, we're about half way there! The boys loved climbing all over the rocks, digging in the sand and following the dry stream beds.

Ta Da! There really is some water left!

So we made our way to the edge, getting muddier as we got closer. Not realizing how soft an area it was becoming we walked a little further to cross a bit of a streamy pathway. That resulted in me finding the sink holes. Of course I had Ty and he's freaking out that I'm sinking! So we moved away from there, with a ton of struggle and Keith and I both are a muddy mess.

See, to my knees!

So we hike back out and decided to head back to the car. Ty was d-o-n-e!

This was him the whole way back to the car, crying, couldn't decided if he wanted to walk or be carried, and the sad whine/cry.

Cody on the other hand thought it was quite funny that we sank, and could care less about it! He ran around, finding more holes and sand to dig in, and rocks to climb on.

Finally a break in a the tears. A guy in a red truck, exploring the area, stopped to do a cookie or two and distract the boys.

Once we were back to the van all was well. We had snack and juice, stripped down to our undies and covered in blankets for the short trip home. It was fun, and they are now peacefully napping away their afternoon.

Once we got home we asked Ty and he said it scared him that we were stuck. He still wasn't so sure about the whole situation but said he had fun. Lets hope he'll let us take him back again!