Billy finds the stocking stuffers

Today I left for Tucson and am coming home right before Christmas Eve, so yesterday Mom and I finished getting our stocking stuffers at Dollar Tree.  I know when I left for the airport at 4am, I closed the door between the kitchen and my room. However, someone (Mom!) opened it at some point and didn't close it when they left, so Dad came home tonight to find the bag of stuff by the dog door and wrappers in the yard.

I totally thought Billy might try to get into the stocking stuffers, but thought they would be safe in my room.  I never like to spend money on dog treats, so Dad always buys them with his money. I thought it would be funny to put a bag of dog treats in Dad's stocking because it is something he likes to try for Billy.  Now that Billy found the stocking stuffers early, I am even less inclined to ever give him a stocking stuffer.  Dad said it seems he mostly are the sweets, although Mik's beef jerky might have also attracted him.

Mom's Interpretation of Being there with Bells On

Yesterday somehow we got to talking about what either Mik or she should wear to Kirsten's wedding next weekend.  I asked if she RSVP'd as coming with bells on or not. She said she hadn't even seen the RSVP note. Dad must have just mailed it without showing her.

Mom said she is most definitely going with bells on.  How that ends up will be G rated and festive, as she also plans to have lights on.  However, she had some inappropriate ideas first.  Mainly, she said I should photoshop her wearing three very carefully placed ornaments (think bikini) and send it to Kirsten as a warning as to how my mom planned to take the attire recommendations very literally and attend the wedding with bells on.  I said I wouldn't even go that far with her crazy idea, but I'd put it on the blog in words.  I don't think anyone wants to see anymore of a visual of her idea than this.

Mik's North Pole Village 2013 Version

Today I managed to put out all of Mik's North Pole Village on the counter in the dining room.  I originally thought we would have to put some on the upper cupboard or over on the piano, but I managed to get them all to barely smoosh in on the counter. Of course, that doesn't take into account that Mik hasn't picked out his building this year.

This morning he found a Coke one he wanted on Amazon with a warning it wouldn't arrive before Christmas. Now that it won't fit with this year's set up, it seems worth getting and just incorporating it next year.  We did add a little Cars accessory that Dad and I bought him when we were at Disney World earlier this year, so at least there is something new this year.

Mik has now added having an area that can be used to display his village to the requirements for our dream house on the lake that we are saving up for.  This is especially important as his village keeps growing and he also said next year he is going to save money to buy himself a building and thus get two next year with one being the one from Mom & Dad (I always get him an accessory).

Stockings are Hung Part 2 (and Mom's Phone is Found)

This evening Mom and I went up to the lake house to take a load of stuff and hang the rest of the stockings.  As we were leaving Mom couldn't find her phone. Cell service is iffy out there and I called it several times with no luck.  We have up on searching after a little bit and got in the car to drive towards the city for a better signal because I wanted to get an Amazon lightning deal and we thought we could then use the find my iPhone app on my phone to find Mom's. I ended up being too slow on the deal and then we couldn't use the app because we had put Mom's phone on airplane mode to listen to Christmas music while decorating and avoid the static with the speaker.

Backtracking to the lake house and a quick search led to me finding Mom's phone on the floor right up against the toilet in the downstairs bathroom.  Two things learned. One Mom relies too much on the Find my iPhone app. Two never put her phone in airplane mode unless actually on an airplane.

Losing Mom's iPhone also led to me finding her work badge in her car.  Too bad we hadn't found it earlier because then we could have picked up the legs for the dining table top we already have at the lake house.

Stockings Are Hung

This morning while Mom and I were at Target for something we decided to get a stocking and two stocking holders, since we didn't find all the stockings in the Christmas boxes and had no idea where they could be from the move.  About an hour after we got home, Mom was doing some sorting of her office and found a box conveniently labelled Christmas stockings that had the missing stockings as well as two stocking holders, which we weren't even sure we had in the first place.  She put them up with her two stockings at home, so the mantel is more festive.  Above the fireplace is also decorated for the holidays with tractors lights in our antique alcove, although now that they have been up there we are thinking they will stay year round.

Thanksgiving 2013: Ice and Christmas Decorating

Dad and I stayed in Alabama for Thanksgiving while Mik and Mom enjoyed it in Chicago.  Dad and my main plan for Thanksgiving for weeks had been to go fishing, which originally meant taking the boat out.  However, last week we found out about an affordable lake house with boathouse for rent and instead all we did with the boat was move it to the garage at the house we rented through the end of 2014.  First Dad had to bail the ice and water out of it, though.



Good thing we moved it to the heated garage on Wednesday, though, as Thanksgiving morning we woke up to it being 17 (it was not even forecasted to get below 25!), which is when I found the rain gauge frozen since I had not emptied it from the rain we got earlier this week.

On Thanksgiving we did fish some for crappie from the boathouse and we had the right stuff to do it.  However, we did not last long because it was cold and we were not getting any bites.  Gave up after about an hour when I got my jig stuck on the bottom and we had to break the line.  Decided to go back up to the house and start decorating for Christmas rather than hook up another jig.

Until last week we weren't going to do a Christmas tree this year even though we always planned to do Christmas in Alabama.  We just did not have room in our house with two rooms still full of boxes and the living room crowded as is.  However, now that we rented the lake house we have plenty of room and we have decided we will do Christmas there.

On Wednesday, Dad and I went up in the attic and brought down what we thought was all the Christmas decorations.  When we got to decorating, though, we found we were missing the most important box, which was the one with the Disney decorations and that includes everything for the tree.  Thus, we had to make a trip back to town to search through storage and the attic and finally located them in the final possible box in the back of the attic.  Still have not located any of the inflatable penguins for putting out in the yard here, although they could be in one of the cardboard boxes in Dad's office.



As Dad cooked up the salmon, green beans, and sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner, I decorated the Christmas tree and decorated part of the bar between living room and kitchen.  Dad also put the Southwest Nativity set on the bar and as the only one tall enough to put the topper on he got to put the topper on the tree, too.



I also put some of our stockings up, but somehow I only found three and two stocking holders.  No idea if we even have more stocking holders, but we ought to have more stockings because two of the three were mine and I also remember having two for Mom.

Penguin Army

Sunday Mom and Dad went to Lowe's to get holiday lights.  They saw a display with bricks painted as snowmen and bought a brick to bring home to show me.  Dad wanted to buy a bunch right away for me to paint for the yard, but Mom said to just get one because sometimes I shoot down her project ideas as silly.  I did not shoot it down this time, but I did immediately decide the brick should be painted as a penguin and not a snowman.

After going back to Lowe's for paint and 11 more bricks, I got home and told Mik I was making a penguin army.  I finished one that day and placed it outside by the sidewalk.

Yesterday, I painted more of the bricks and also came up with the idea of painting one of them to have his belly look like the number 1.  Then when placed next to two with their regular bellies looking like zeros we have our house number.  In putting the three for that with Dad, I dropped one and Mik was sad he did not get it on video because I "killed" a penguin.

Today I finished painting the rest of the bricks and fixed the injured penguin, so we now have a dozen penguins in our yard as part of our holiday decor.  Now to get the inflatable ones out of the attic, which are involved in my scheme to earn us another warning letter from the HOA.