"Are we going to church today?"

 

That's the question Ryder asks me EVERY SINGLE MORNING. Only two times am I able to tell him yes, on Sundays and Mondays.

I know the only reason he loves going is because of this...

The Skate Park. George runs the skateboarding ministry at our church, so that means every Monday Ryder gets to go watch the big boys skate. 

But apparently, Ryder is becoming the next Rob Dyrdek. George said last Monday Ryder jumped on the board while it was rolling, balanced, and attempted to jump and spin around on the board! Ha!

Im so thankful that we go to Innerchange.

I know most kids could care less about going to church, or hate going.....especially if they have to dress up. Jon Jons, gowns, smocked dresses... Gag me. Sorry southern girls, I cant handle that stuff.

So yea, he loves the skateboarding. But the fact that he knows church as fun place where he is free to play and get dirty...

I mean REALLY dirty, then maybe he will want to stay when he is older. And maybe he will always think church is thebomb.com

I know people dont say that anymore, but I am bringing it back. Also, I sure did use an entire bottle of Oxy Clean on those jeans and his shirt.

Just wanted to share a little something that makes me smile. I love that he loves going :)

Oh, and here are the dirty skaters George chats and skates with on Mondays.

And...one of George

 HA!

A little of this- A little of that

*As you all know, I have trouble with organization. But one thing I dont have trouble with is making lists! I found this one on Pinterest the other day to help with Christmas shopping. Im so excited to use it. There are so many people other than my family that I want to send a little something to, but I get so wrapped up in things that need to get done that I never get around to actually sending them anything. 

 

 From Atypical Type A blog. Go here to download and get your organization on!

*Also, while we are on the subject of free printables, here are some cute CD and money sleeves to spruce up your gift giving.

 

 

 

All of these printables can be found here, on the Canon website.

*And if you need a fun kids CD to put in that baby CD holder, look no further.

I think I found this awesome lady on Oh Dee Doh.

Laura Veirs' album Tumble Bee.

I have also been searching around online for my favorite printable gift tags. Maybe I will do a post closer to Christmas and share them with you. There is no reason to buy ugly gift tags at walmart or Target when there are so many free cute ones out there!

BYE!

New Toys

This past weekend the same question was brought up several times with my friends....

"What are you getting your kids for Christmas?!"

We talked about how last year some of us (me) got their kids tons of little things just so they could have lots of presents to open. 

I have learned my lesson.

Let me tell you a something. Getting a ton of cheap crap is so much worse than getting fewer,  quality(more expensive) toys.

You would think this is common sense, but for some reason when it comes down to a week or so before Christmas, i find myself grabbing at every little $10 item in Target. Just so they will have "one more thing".

This year I am prepared. I am shopping early, ONLINE. That's key I think. $7 for you to ship it to me vs. picking up 3 more craptastic $10 toys in Target? Oh, I think I'll go for $7 shipping.

So, here are some of the things I have picked out to give to the kiddies this year. Good, quality toys that make them think. Im sorry, but as cute and as many fisher price toys that we have, they only keep interest for like 2 weeks....if that.

Here we go!

Dantoy Crocodile Rocker. $43.13 from Amazon

I like this because both the kids can use it at the same time or alone. Its small enough to go in our house, and i know they will love it.

 

 Kid-O Bilibo. $22.84 from Amazon.

Im getting one for each of the kids. These things are awesome, there are so many different things they can do with them. Use them as a helmet, bowl, sit in them, stand on them, use them as a shovel, its endless. 

 

Wood Stacking Robots. $13.95 from Amazon.

These guys can stack upside down and balance on each other. So simple, but I think Ryder will love them. 

 

Plan Toys Dancing Alligator Pull Toy. $15.08 from Amazon.

So cute. I know Lucy will love it. I also know that I will catch Ryder pulling it around too....Im sure it will be a favorite.

 

Hide and Squeak Eggs. $9.99 from Amazon.

There are so many reasons why this toy is awesome. Taking the eggs out, putting them back in, taking their tops on and off, hearing them squeak, learning colors. I already love it!

 

Star Crayon in the Tub. $5.49 from Amazon.

Getting one of these for each of the kids. Yay for all the colors being together! I cant tell you how many times I have decided to take nice hot bath only to discover a blue crayon hanging out in there with me. Stocking Stuffer!

 

Melissa & Doug Bug Jug Fill and Spill. $19.28 from Amazon.

This is one of my favorites. Lucy LOVES LOVES LOVES  "filling and spilling" things. She doesnt have any toys like this yet, so she resorts to filling and spilling the laundry hamper. But I must say, there is more spilling going on than filling...

Well, that's it! That's everything in my Amazon cart. PS: if you have never used Amazon before YOU SHOULD! Everything will be shipped free, except the wooden Robots. They dont qualify for some reason.

Oh, and one last thing! I found this awesome toy site yesterday!

Moolka Toys.

I found that Crocodile Rocker on their site but knew I could get it on Amazon for way cheaper, and I did, about $15 cheaper! But its still a great place to find unique toys. Sometimes Amazon beats them, sometimes they dont!

I am going to have to get a few more things that Ryder has been asking for....like a Pillow Pet. Which means Lucy will have to have one too! Maybe one or two more things for him and I will be done. That's so exciting to say! And its not even Thanksgiving yet!

Have you thought about what you are getting your kids for Christmas? Are you awesome about Christmas and shop year round? 

Let me know if there are any other unique toys I should know about! 

 

Weekend run-down

Friday:

Eating out and shopping was done. 

I scored this pair of black jeggings at Old Navy. Jeans with an elastic waistband. Really, why dont all jeans have elastic at the top? Probably because we would all balloon up to 500 lbs.

 

Saturday:

Football watching day. 

Everyone started out happy.

High Fives were awesome.

......until everything went wrong.....

:( We lost.

I still had fun in my corner of the room catching up with Devin and Jenny!

Sunday:

We did small group, ate yummy gumbo, and went home sooo tired at 7:30. Is this time change killing anyone else? 

I am glad that I am waking up and going to bed earlier. Ive been trying to change my routine, so thanks DST for doing it for me!

I am ready for this new week. I am determined to go through and clean out all of the kids toys to get ready for Christmas. I am a firm believer that kids dont need 10,000 toys to play with. Only a few......although you wouldnt believe me if you saw their room, or my entire house for that matter....

What are you doing this week? Anything to prepare for Christmas or Thanksgiving? 

Date Night--with a tag-along :)

Last night for our weekly Thursday night date night we went to see Puss in Boots. 

 

You cant go see that movie without your three year old, its a rule.

Ryder was super excited to go on a date with us, and I was super excited to have him. Its been a while since its just been the Original Family. Thats what George calls us whenever its just us three.

 

 

His little heart sank here because he heard the girl ask us did we want to bump our small popcorn up to a medium and we said no. We wanted to keep an extra $10 in our wallets. He thought we were saying no to popcorn, period. Never bud.

 

We saw the 6:00 movie, and since George is getting home so late we were RUSHED to eat supper. We usually go out to eat on Thursdays so I hadn't made anything to eat...my bad :/ 

I wound up eating this guy in the theater.

PB&J. Always a great choice. My friends always make fun of me because I ALWAYS have food in my purse. Im not talking about a little pack of crackers either. I have been known to pull apples, bananas, even corn on the cob out of my purse when I get hungry. 

 

Also, after I finished my sandwich I felt something in my jacket pocket that made my heart skip a beat.

WHOOP! A leftover Halloween cookie from the fall festival at my church last Saturday. Hello surprise dessert.

 

 

After the movie Ryder pretended he was Puss in Boots.

 

George and I laughed out loud several hundred times. It was fun to have our little tag along on date night, can wait for Lucy to come when she gets older!

Have you seen this movie yet? Its awesome.

I heart Thanksgiving

*pic from here

Remember that episode of friends where they all got together and ate Thanksgiving dinner and Joey put on Phoebe's maternity pants? Love it.

Ive always wanted to have a Thanksgiving dinner with my friends. Now my wish is coming true. We are going to do a Thanksgiving meal with our small group in a couple of weeks and I am super excited.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because the focus is just on spending time together. For that whole weekend, thats all its about. No stressing about presents and cleaning up tons of wrapping paper. Its just about the food and people.

Now, some Friends fun to make you laugh. Its been forever since I have watched Friends. I might need to add that series to my Que.

This isnt from the same Thanksgiving episode, and Im not sure why there are subtitles, but........... its still HI HO HILARIO!

watch this and tell me you dont want to go home and have a Friends marathon right now. It cant be done.

Halloween Treats

Every year instead of candy my mom gets the kids a little toy for their treat. 

After we did the fall festivals, and ate drive thru Chick-fil-a we headed out to the hospital to visit my mom. My grandfather had a heart attack a few weeks ago. He's good, but they did a bypass and put a pace maker in so he is in P.T. right now. They were both excited to see the kids in their costumes.

Lucy got a baby doll and stroller. She LOVES feeding everyone. If this girl has food, she WILL try to shove it in your mouth. So now that she has a baby doll that she can feed, she is so excited. Although in this pic she's not into sharing.....

Ryder got 3 Power Rangers. He is obsessed with them right now. I didnt even know Power Rangers were still around. I remember my brother loving them when we were little. But oh man, there are like 20 different kinds of series of them. Dino Rangers, Samurai Rangers, Power Rangers SPD, the list goes on. And they are all on Netflix.

Oh, you were wondering about the amazing picture quality my camera is churning out in this post?

Well, thats because I got myself a Halloween treat as well :)

Boom. Nikon D3100. Im falling less and less in love with the red color, but I am excited that pictures of my kids wont look crappy anymore. YAY! I know NOTHING about cameras, or if this is even a good one. But I do know that it takes good pics of Ryder and Lucy, and thats all that I care about! I would like to learn enough about it that I dont have it on Auto all the time. 

I did have to give up my rights to a Christmas and birthday present to get this sucker. The savings account is looking a little skinnier now. Im pretty sure that wont hold out when Christmas rolls around though.....at least I hope not! ha!

 

Did you have a good Halloween? We didnt get nearly as much candy as I thought we would. I guess that's a good thing.