Santa 2008

In one of my "lets get organized" fits sometime last month, (about the time I was making a zillion dr./dentist appointments), I had the foresight to make our appointment to see Santa Claus. No kidding, at the Mall of America, you can now schedule your time in advance! Of course, I couldn't forsee that we'd get our first dusting of snow on that night, which meant that the usual 45 minute trip to the mall turned into an hour and a half... sigh. Oh, well!

I was dismayed to find out that the "appointment" Santa wasn't quite as santa-ish as their regular "stand in line for hours" Santa. I guess if you have to wait you get the real deal. This Santa was great with the kids, but a little small. Way to skinny, and I think William was taller than him.

One thing I like about the Santa(s) at the MOA is that they actually take time to visit with the kids. They all sit on the floor and have about a 5 minute dialog before they do the pictures. During this dialog, Santa reminds all the kiddos to be good and mind their parents, and eat their vegetables. Santa asked each kid what their favorite vegetable was:

William: "Peppers." (This kid definitely got the hot and spicy Mexican genes that seemed to skip me over)

Madison: "Broccoli" (also known as trees, it's been her favorite since she was 2)

Caden: "French Fries." (insert head smack)

Yes, I suppose that technically real french fries are a vegetable. I have a feeling that he was talking about the McDonald's variety, though, and I'm not so sure about the vegetable content in those. It got quite the belly laugh out of Santa and a giggle out of Santa's elves, and anyone else that heard him. Yes, Caden is so far my only picky child. Doesn't touch much for veggies, and doesn't eat his dinner (or lunch) half the time. Thankfully, he's a big fan of milk and breakfast cereal, so he won't starve anytime soon.

Here's this years Santa pic, I think it turned out nice! Merry Christmas!

Utter Exhaustion...

Yikes, so I didn't do so great on the blog front last month... this is such a busy time of year! When I re-entered the work force, I knew that there would be a trade off with my job - the seasonality of our product would allow me to spend lots of time playing with the family in the spring/summer, but time is at a major premium this time of year. I'm ok with this, but after weekends like the one I just had, I really question my sanity. The store that I work for opened at 10 PM on Thanksgiving night and stayed open for 24 hours. I headed over around 8:30 pm and was surprised how crowded the area already was. I planned to stay until around midnight to make sure that things got off to a smooth start, but that was not to be. I didn't get out of there until after 3 AM, and I'd been planning come back at 8 AM - that got pushed back a bit. I had a bit of a run in with mall security, who (being the bullies that they are) were trying to tell customers that they couldn't turn down the road that accesses our parking lot because it was full. (Our store is situated directly behind the outlet mall). Freakin' idiots. They were actually sending people away that were saying they were trying to get to us. It was utter madness, I cannot fathom the number of people willing to go shopping at that ungodly hour, but we made it through. Only a few more weeks, and then we get to make the trip to UT to see Grandma and Grandpa Bradford, The Hensons, and lots of friends - we're ALL very excited for that!

In other news, the television that is up in our room died. It had a nice long life, I bought it with my ex when William was just a baby - it was time to replace it. Brent got a steal of a deal on a 46" Sony LCD (thank you Slickdeals). I have to say that Caden is in heaven not that he gets to watch his Wonderpets in the evenings on HD. Actually, I'm probably lying, I don't think Noggin broadcasts in HD - but you get the picture.

Kids are all doing well. Madison has a swim meet this Saturday and her first piano recital this Sunday. William is done with club swimming and started with the Middle School swim team today. Caden is excited about Christmas. We have an appointment to see Santa and get pics at the Mall of America this Friday - he told me that he want Lightning McQueen and a Butterfly toy (???) for Christmas.

Here's some pics of the kids from Thanksgiving - I wish everyone a safe and Happy Holiday Season!

9 Appointments in 7 Days...

Yes, I know you always knew I was crazy. I haven't been around much, and this is why:

Since "my" store traditionally is a big crazy blur between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and because I've been putting off several appointments for way too long, last week I decided to just make them all. So I did. 9 appts in 7 days - Caden's 3 year check (2 months late), 4 dentist appts, 2 eye dr. appts (plus another follow up for a contact lens fitting for Madison, an ADD checkup for Madison. All this in addition to our regular hectic schedule of swim team practice, swimming lessons, and piano lessons.

I'm about halfway through it all, wish me luck!

Halloween!

Sorry for the lack of bloggy news, life has been crazy as heck lately. I promise I'll do some news soon, but for now, here's Halloween pictures. Caden was adorable this year, he was so excited and a week later wakes up each morning asking if he can go trick or treating again :)

He loved pumpkin carving once he got over Daddy scaring him!

Please pray for my Dad...

I got a call yesterday and learned that my dad is in the ICU.... he has more than one significant health issue going on and could use all the PPT's that you can spare.

My Dad is a selfless and wonderful person, hard working, intelligent, the ultimate problem solver. I'm so much like him in so many ways (both good and bad, I'd say... I definitely got my packrat tendencies from him!)... The compassion and selflessness that he models towards those that he loves is the foundation of the type of person that I try to be. He's one of the good ones, the really good ones, and I'm so lucky to have him. I may not be able to solve all the worlds problems, but he did show me that I can strive to leave the world a better place for my having been in it. Dad, please know that you have done that for me and for countless others a million times over, and you continue to do so every day. I love you.

Update on us and Apple Orchard...

Sorry for going so long without an update, but it's been a busy several weeks. Business at the store is picking up, swimming is in full force, so we spend several nights per week traveling back and forth to the store. We've managed to squeak in plenty of Fall Fun, and even a trip to the ER on Friday night. I'll give you ONE guess who it was for.... sigh.

Caden had one of his toes very nearly cut off on Friday night, after an unfortunate run in with the recliner that Brent was sitting in. When Brent leaned forward to pull Cade up on his lap, the mechanism under the chair clamped shut, and Caden's poor toe was in the way (he'd been climbing up to get on Daddy's lap). It was absolutely horrible to see his poor mangled toe (I'll leave out some of the words I can say to spare you the visual that still haunts me)... We were at the ER for several hours, but fortunately he was spared any bone damage. But 8 stitches on a little toddler toe is A LOT of stitches to sew a tiny toe back together :(. Caden is fine, of course, resilient as ever. His toe will never be the same, and his toenail bed was damaged to the extent that it'll probably never come back... but he'll be ok.

Now that we have that unfortunate business out of the way, I'll leave you with some pictures from our recent trip to the apple orchard. Mmmmmmm.... Apple Cider and Honeycrisp Apples, I LOVE this time of year!

George...

Like much of the nation, I've been watching the news and activity warily over the threatened impending economic doom. Economics is not my strong point and I don't know what the answer is, but I truly hope that those that are responsible for fixing it figure it out, otherwise life a year from now could be pretty gruesome. I think George says it best:

Too cute for that suit...

Caught Caden trying on my swimsuit, I think he wears it better than I do. I think the Cars underwear really "make" the outfit, don't you?









These days in September are always a little hard for me. My dad's birthday was earlier this week, and I enjoyed a nice talk with him. Happy Birthday, Dad! Tonight/Tomorrow marks the 22nd anniversary of my mother's death, and it's hard to imagine that it's been that long. That night is by far my most vivid memory, and one that has and will continue to impact me for the rest of my life. I clearly and vividly remember holding her hand as she passed, and the heartbreak I felt knowing that the world as I knew it was gone. Part of me will always be that 10 year old girl who misses her mom, but another part of me is a different, stronger person for having that experience. I think that it's affected many of the decisions in my life. My sister Liz wrote a beautiful post. Love you, Mom, still miss you.

Thankfully, I have a fun weekend planned to keep my mind occupied. I'm going up North with several girlfriends for a "Girls Weekend"! We'll be staying at a beachfront cabin on Gull Lake at Craguns. Facials, shopping, and probably a few drinks (rare for me). It'll be fun. Brent will be holding down the fort at home, but that's ok - he owes me as he'll be in Vegas on business next week, and I'm still bitter that he's going to one of my favorite places without me!

Birthday Leftovers...

Here's a few pics from Caden's "real" birthday party. It was tons of fun, we had grilled chicken and beef kabobs (Jo - if you see this THANKS for the idea :), grilled corn on the cob, spinach dip, clam dip, fruit and blueberry dip, and of course, a CARS cake. Actually, it was a pull apart cupcake cake, which ROCKED! No mess, no knife. Plus I bought the premade ice cream cups, so we didn't even need plates! These things were made for slackers like me.

Cade got his plasmacar, and LOVES it. Other big hits were sidewalk chalk, more CARS merchandise, and a huge semi that holds all his matchbox cars.

Fogo De Chao

Oh, my.

Last night we had a rare treat. Brent's aunt generously offered to have all 3 kids come and spend the night. Woo hoo! We decided to take advantage of the situation and planned a nice evening out, with dinner and a movie... well, actually since we had to make our reservations last minute, it was movie and a dinner as our reservations were not until 9 PM.

Brent had been wanting to see Death Race. It had the dude from The Transporter in it, which I'd enjoyed, so I thought "what the heck". I'm pretty eclectic in my movie tastes, but I tend to squirm a bit during those with loads of gratuitous violence and mayhem. This one, I actually really enjoyed. Wow, that sounded bad. It's apparently a remake of an older movie from the 70's that I never saw. Without going into details, it's kind of a "The Fast and the Furious meets Gladiator"... though not as good as either of those, it still kept my attention for an hour and a half, and I left saying, "that was pretty good".

We'd made reservations for a place that opened up last year in downtown Minneapolis. We've been hearing RAVE reviews about it, and thought it was time to check it out. Fogo de Chao DID NOT let us down, wow, I think I have a new favorite. Fogo De Chao is a churrascaria, which is a Brazilian Steakhouse.

When you are seated, you first had the option to head to the salad bar, which I will tell you is AMAZING. Be careful not to fill yourself up, although I could easily do so with all the wonderful things they have. My personal favorites were the wedges of baby swiss cheese, fresh crispy asparagus, marinated palm and artichoke hearts, and OF COURSE the makings for fresh caprice salad (fresh mozzarella balls, sliced tomatoes, and basil). Heavenly.



After we each had a modest plate from the salad bar, the real fun began. I know of a few of my readers are vegetarians, so I hope this doesn't gross you out too much, but I loved it :)

At your table you each had a special "coaster" that was red on one side and green on the other. If you turn it to green, you pretty much immediately have a string of gauchos presenting their hot sizzling spits of various cuts of meat directly to your table. You can say yes, or pass and go on to the next. They carve it table side and you use a little set of tongs to grab it from them as they slice. It's all you can eat, and as soon as you have enough on your plate, you flip your coaster over to red. When you're ready for more, flip it back to green. flip. repeat. flip repeat, and so on until you're DONE.

All the meats were absolutely wonderful, although I was full well before I'd had to chance to try everything that I'd wanted. I got a lot of my taste preferences from my Dad, and this meat was hot, rare, and well seasoned, just how I like it. There was no steaksauce (A1 sauce is an atrocity in my mind), and after the meal I asked Brent if he'd considered asking for it (he has ruined many cuts of meat by pouring that stuff on, much to my chagrin). He said that he didn't cause he didn't want to get kicked out :).

My personal favorites were the filet mignon (of course), Frango (wonderfully seasoned chicken drumsticks), and Beef Ancho (the prime part of a ribeye).



They also brought a few additional sides to the tables. There was a fun chewy bread that had cheese baked inside, which was enjoyable. Buttery toast with paremsan, which was nice. The mashed potatoes were just "eh" and I chose not to waste any of my carbs on them. I thought they were fake, but Brent was tacky enough to ask while were leaving and they assured him they were not, so they must have just been overly whipped. He just wanted to settle a score with me, but I was mad at him for asking :). They also had fried bananas, which I was skeptical of since I kind of have a "thing" against cooked fruit (except applesauce) - I did try a tiny bit. The flavor was strong, and they were hot, and not really my thing.

All in all it was wonderful food and a very nice evening. We'll definitely be back, but at $47 a person, it'll be a special occasion type of place for us.

We're off to pick up the kids in a little bit, and then I'm going to try to talk Brent into going furniture "looking" - we desperately need a new kitchen table set and bedroom set. Have a happy Sunday!

Who should you vote for?

Ok, this is not the best of these tests I've seen, but it's only 25 questions, so I took it anyways. Brent and I "fight" frequently over politics, but in all honesty I take the opposite side mostly to antagonize him. :) I am SO split on the major issues, that there's no candidate that I'm completely happy with. I suppose most people are in that predicament.

Your Issue Profile: 60% Obama, 40% McCain

Truth be told, you're not really satisfied with either of the candidates. You could vote for either of them. You are the typical coveted swing voter. You may want to narrow yourself down to a particular set of issues in order to pick your president. Or start looking at third party candidates. One of them might suit you better.

Should You Vote for Obama or McCain?

The second one I took was even fewer questions regarding fewer issues and clearly left me in favor of Obama. Oh, bother.

You Should Vote for Barack Obama

Where you and Barack Obama agree: Cuba - Education - Global Warming - Health Care - Immigration - The War in Iraq - Taxes Where you and Barack Obama disagree: Abortion

Who Should You Vote For?

The wheels on the bus...

It's that time of year again. Freshly sharpened pencils, a backpack full of notebooks, binders, and glue sticks. $120 calculators that will be lost by Christmas, but they have. to. have. A closet full of new clothes. Anticipation and excitement from the girl and a resigned acceptance from the boy. Madison spent an obscene amount of time organizing and re-organizing all of her school supplies. William took his all to the open house and left the whole shebang in his locker, backpack and all.

The kids started back to school on Tuesday. Madison loves it and William's tolerating it. I haven't decided if he *really* dislikes school, or if he just thinks that as a cool 7th grader he's just supposed to say that he does.

Caden had a fun time going to the open houses. He took his little "Cars" backpack, filled with the necessary supplies. Toy cars, a crayon, and some animal crackers. He was just disappointed that he didn't get to ride on the bus. 3 more years!

Here's a few pics... I'm lucky to have gotten one of William at all, he told me in no uncertain terms that there was no way he was posing for one outside where his friends could see...

Happy Birthday, Dear Caden...

My boy is 3. I look at him and can't believe that my "baby" is now a little boy. He's potty trained, as of a few weeks ago, he's smart, he's funny, he's a handful, and he's mine. He had a good birthday, and is having a small family party on Sunday. We did take him out to Chuck E. Cheese's (aka Chucky Cheezits) tonight, which was followed by a small cupcake party and opening a few small gifts. He was thrilled :)

Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy!