Coffee Winner and Mystery Pile Solved

The weekend has officially ended.
Booooo!!!!
You know the weekend is over when all the family time stops and you find yourself in front of the  glowing screen of your computer putting those final touches on your plans for the following week.

No matter how far ahead you think you are, do you always find yourself in the same place on Sunday night?

The good news on my end is, I am getting myself all planned ahead so that when I am enjoying all the Thanksgiving leftovers, I will already be prepared for the week that follows.
Squirrel-genius.

Before I got started, I realized that while I had posted in a few other places, I had not posted my Coffee = Smiles Giveaway winner here on the blog.

I do thank you all for entering! The Yummy Coffee Card is headed to Wendy from 1st Grade Fireworks. Congratulations- maybe you will get lucky and there will be another BOGO on holiday drinks!!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

At the bottom of the giveaway post last week, there was a pic of pile o' puppy hair.
It all used to belong to Truman. Poor Truman.
He was starting to look like he needed to be the mascot pooch for the Duck Commanders! Him and The Mr were having a beard growing contest. And while they are both just as adorable as they can be, The Mr can brush his own beard, and Truman doesn't like it that much- so his had to go.

Anyone else notice the tongue- he has quite the attitude for the a pup.

I have heard a few of you are off for the entire week and some of us only have a few days until we get to give thanks with the ones we love- whichever category you fall into- I hope your week is a wonderful one!

Coffee = Smiles Giveaway

I have decided that if I am ever given the opportunity to change what I am doing, I am going to go back to school to become a meteorologist. 

I am completely convinced that is the only way that I will ever be able to understand the weather.

One day we can't go outside for recess because it is below 40 and then within the next couple of days, they are stacking their coats a mile high because it is too hot to play with them on!!!!

Day before yesterday, I was power walking with no jacket at all! Today I wasn't able to go because I was wrapped up in a tiny ball at the foot of my bed - just trying to contain my body heat and stay warm!! AND we are under a tornado warning tonight!!!!

This weather is crazy! I just wish that a season would come and stay for the three or so months it is supposed to be here. 

Take a look off of my deck.

   

Do you see the "naked trees"? They aren't supposed to be naked yet! We have a whole other month until winter. We are supposed to see all those pretty colors for just a few more weeks :( 

(yum! See that big bowl of sweet potatoes we just dug up? Delicious!)

It's just starting to look so desolate and drab. Pretty soon it will all be bare.

There are only a few things that can bring me out of a cold, gloomy day fog. 

Movies. Chocolate. Foot rubs. Naps. 

And the reminder that it is 

RED CUP SEASON!!!!

The Mr. and I are actually leaving the house here in just a few to take advantage of a BOGO for holiday drinks. Just the thought of it makes my day a little warmer and a little brighter.

Are you feeling it too?

Well, you are in luck!

Since I know it makes me feel better- I'm sharing the love!

Follow the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win a $15 Starbucks Gift Card - and you can help prove the fact that Coffee=Smiles!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

When you come back to see if you won, I will also reveal who the "Naked Pup" is! It's definitely sweater time for this guy!!!

Have a Warm and Wonderful Week!!!

The Christmas List (a masterpiece by Littlest Little)

Hello Squirrel-friends! Are you sitting down? You need to be sitting down. I have some news for you!

Are you aware that there are only 39 days until Christmas???? THIRTY-NINE!!!

WTH?!?! We were just at the beach! And now here we are trying to decipher this madness that is a Christmas list!

There are three papers shown below- THEY ALL BELONG TO ONE LITTLE!!!!

He is V.E.R.Y. thorough!

The list has been growing for awhile. I guess I should be happy that he makes it a little easier for us because there is no question as to what he wants. He knows exactly what he wants to open!

He even puts like things together. I mean, how considerate is that?? 

And over all the mommy years, one of the hardest things can be telling other family members what your child wants for Christmas! With a list like this, I can send only portions of it to family out of state. I can take pictures of part of it to send to family that we will be with over the holiday.  And I can ensure there aren't any duplicate purchases!! It just makes it so much easier when they have a list.

(Unless they have the handwriting of Littlest Little- good gravy)!

As you are reading through this, pay close attention to #7.

#7 reads:

"7. New Books (jk lol Who Reads?)"

Are you getting the enormity of this list??? It is like he has kept it by his bedside and added to it everytime he has seen a commercial for something that he might like.

Hold on, let me ask him....

Ok, it appears that he does, in fact, keep this list by his bedside and adds to it when he sees a commercial for things he might like.

Either way, it is efficient and he is a front runner for getting the things he wants!

Not because we have deemed him our favorite- that would be wrong! You don't have favorites (well you're not supposed to). We love all of our children equally.

But no one else has produced so much as an item on a post-it note, let alone this 

Christmas Catalog of Wishes!!

He even references that Skylanders Swapforce appears on the list more than once "to show how much he wants it"

Look at his use of punctuation and how he visually gets his point across by writing in all caps.

This child has a plan.

If I have taught my Littles anything (other than apparent greed), I have taught them that how other people feel is very important. And that you should always take that into consideration when you are communicating with others.
So he may have seen that this was a tad overwhelming. He knows I "get it", but what about Dad, the Grandmas, the Aunt Tillys (we don't have an Aunt Tilly, but it ended that sentence nicely).
He predicted their frustrations- so to make it EVEN EASIER- he referenced the BIG list on this much smaller, abridged TOP TEN MOST WANTED list.

Thank goodness! Because now we can strategically (as parents) purchase items from the TOP TEN MOST WANTED list and earn major points as the BEST GIFT GIVERS EVER!!!! 

So many benefits to the list. I have pictures of it on my phone  (along with a notepad list on the app) and when The Mr. and I are out we make notes of prices and packaging/bundle deals. The actual "list" itself is "not allowed to leave the house" per the author. Who could blame him? This is his "Treasure Island"! There are awards to be won for such a list!!

It will all come together (before our 39 days are up). It always does.

Even if the older two only mumble possible gifts as they mope past us in the hall. Every once in awhile we hear a "oh, that's cool" during a commercial and we have to make a mental note to add it to the notepad later.

I believe that next year, we are going to farm out listing responsibilities to lil Mr Steinbeck. He will be in charge of grilling the other two, making observations, and recording them. We will of course compensate him for his duties by ensuring that items from the TOP TEN MOST WANTED list are covered first:) This could be a very lucrative endeavor, indeed.

Putting so much effort into Littlest Little's list has sent me down memory lane...

What was on your list when you were nine?  I had to think back- way back. And I had to google search some pictures because I don't have quick access to pics from my childhood Christmases.

I searched for the Barbie Dream Boat that I loved so much that has been in a landfill now for the last 30 years and lo and behold I found these! 

Isn't it grand? 

I have to be honest and say that I don't actually remember if it was my gift or my sisters? But I do remember hours and hours and hours of playing with it. And how I would have Barbie stand at the sink and wash those tiny little yellow dishes and put them away in the cabinet below!!!! Either Barbie or I had a lil touch of OCD. And I remember being so upset because the dishes were never straight like they were when I took the boat out again!!! 

(I think it was Ken).

It was $11.99 in this catalog?!?!?!?  Whew, inflation!!  Barbie can't rent a shoe box under the bed for that anymore!!!

What was the one thing that you remember as your favorite gift from a Christmas list when you were young? Tell us and leave a link to a picture if you can!
And then get on the ball people because you only have THIRTY-NINE days left!!!

My Truth Monday- a 12 Part Series

Ole Denise as Sunny Days in Second has called us out to see what we thought about healthy- our own getting healthy on.

I decided a while back that I was going to make some changes to the everyday life style that I have right now.

I'm trying to eat a little better, I've taken somethings out completely! My main change so far has been movement! Getting up everyday and going walking. I have started to feel it already! My next goal is better portions when I eat.




Looking forward to some positive words!!!

The Move

Over the last two years (yes- it has been two years as of tomorrow), you have listened to me talk about the exciting things going on in my class, you have listened to me scream "What the Heck!" about anything and everything- and you have heard me talk about my Littles.

AH, the Littles.

There are three of them. Chickadee- who turned 17 this weekend. J who is 12, and Littlest Little who is 9. The younger two are boys. (That was just a recap in case you are a newer follower).

Over the years, they have formed a bond. Not because they are all lovey dovey, but because they have realized that there is strength in numbers. Sometimes it works to their advantage- sometimes it doesn't. But The Mr. insists that it is good for them to "have something".
(I tend to disagree when that "something" is my last nerve that they have clenched in their little hands).


This weekend, I teared up as I really "felt" the bond between the boys.
Before I go any further, I have to give you a little back story.

This is J. This is J at the hospital the day that Littlest Little was born. This is J at the hospital the day that Littlest Little was born walking away very angrily. Why? Well he was very upset because Mommy stayed the night at the hospital and when he found out that baby brother was finally here and he was going to be go to the hospital to see him, he thought he was going to get to stay the night, too!!!
He was just a couple months away from three at the time. And Aunt Squirrel (my sister), thought it was cute- and she couldn't tell him any different. So he came to the hospital that afternoon, thinking that him and little brother were going to have their very first sleepover.

 J did recover. He was so happy to have him home! It was going to be great, not being the only little brother! Chickadee was now going to have spread out her evil big sister ways and he was going to have back up!!!
Well, if nothing else, she was going to play dress up and dolls with the new baby and that would eat up some of her time.....

It may be hard to tell by the "newbie" pic, but Littlest Little was "not-so Little" from the start. J was/is average for his size, but by the time the new baby was two and a half, he was as big as his big brother who was going on six!!!

They became a force to be reckoned with! It was soon after this pic was taken that Littlest Little got his prescription for glasses- and they were very similar to what J wore. With them being so close in size, they were constantly asked if they were twins! (We still get that question sometimes).

When Littlest Little was old enough to walk up and down the stairs in our house without me having a heart attack- we decided that it would be a good idea for them to become roommates. I mean, they were constantly together and played with the same toys. They watched the same shows and liked the same games.
It was official. They both received their eviction notices for the Ground Floor Residence and we moved them up to the bonus room and made the whole space their room.
I had a blast painting and matching. We did an Americana theme- rusty reds, shades of blue and lots of stars.

 

     It seems like it was much longer than it actually was but for the last six years, I turned the light out and walked away from two little boys in matching beds. I watched them both come down for dinner each night and I filmed from down the hall as they would come barreling down on Christmas morning together.

      It has been over the last month or so, but The Mr and I noticed that the three year difference between the two was starting to become a larger gap. Of course the age difference itself did not change, but  we noticed that their interests were growing farther apart. J is a pre-teen now. And Littlest Little is 9. 

    The shows they watch are different. The other kids that have come into their lives are different. The way they choose to dress is different. All of these differences were leading to the inevitable.

We worked all day Saturday. Moving furniture. Cleaning carpets. Sorting clothes and electronics.

And last night was the first night in a very long time that I turned the light out on only one little boy in a very big room all by himself. He was so little when he made the move up there that he doesn't remember when he didn't have J right there next to him.

During the day, Littlest Little acted so happy. He couldn't believe that he got the prime real estate, aka THE BIG ROOM all to himself. But when bedtime came, it was a  different story. He never said it, but he showed it. I asked him a few times if he was okay. I knew J would be okay- he has been wanting this for a while.

I sat here in comfy chair last night and cried like a baby- thinking about him upstairs. And J down the hall. I'm not ready for the "buds" to take different routes. 

I find some reassurance in the fact that later on in high school and college, the age difference isn't going to matter anymore- their interests will begin to intertwine again. And while I wish for time to slow down so I can enjoy them, I also want that time to come quickly- so that they have each other close again.

Out of all this sadness did come  with  quite a few laughs. Chickadee is NOT happy with the new neighbor! J has aggravated her all day. He knocks on her door like Sheldon- but repeats her name. He has invited her to a neighborhood cookout. He has knocked on her door several times asking to borrow things like a cup of sugar and a stick of butter. And every time he sees her out of her room he says, "Hi Neighbor!!"

She says she is going to TP his room after he gets settled (and I will let her because that is hilarious!)

 I have no idea where they get this stuff from! :)

Here's to the craziness that is my life!!! Thanks for being a part of it!

I hope that everyone has a terrific week! I will be here cheering you all on!