Happy Birthday, C!

Today my little boy turned 7! It's so hard to believe that I have a 7 year old!

Just like last year, we let him pick what he wanted for all his meals. Boy is he a home-body! He wanted doughnuts (like last year) for breakfast. We all went in our jammies to get them. For lunch, we stayed here and ate together. For dinner we ordered out pizza because he didn't want to go anywhere. Easy enough.

A few years ago, C had a light saber that was taken away from him because he had hit something one too many times. At that time he was told that he would be allowed to have one when he was 7. I thought that the one he got at Disney would be sufficient. I was mistaken. He also wanted a spring activated one that he could play with (since the other is so big). Last night we did a little shopping and he was allowed to spend some birthday money to buy one. Well the one last night need returned today cuz it didn't work. So he and Daddy did that and got C's glassed re-adjusted (and a few other errands).

One of the errands was to get a cake or cookie for C for today (his party is next week). He wanted a cookie but they couldn't find a birthday one. So we ate Santa instead. Isn't he cute?

C got many well wishes on facebook, by phone call, and on blogs. He also opened a few presents today. K got him more Star Wars guys, Grandma and Papa got him 2 world maps (he loves looking at maps), my sister got him a few things to use tomorrow night. The present we got him --you'll have to check back to see where he and Daddy are going tomorrow night.

He had a good day and so did we all. Both kids were good. We played Wii, watched Monsters vs Aliens (not a fan), and a Muppet's Christmas.

Christmas lights at the zoo

Each year our zoo decorates with thousands of Christmas lights. We took the kids last night to walk around and see all the lights. They were expecting to see some animals too. I think we saw 3 animals and some fish. There were a lot of lights but I'm not sure if there was $32 worth of lights. It was pretty, but would I go again? Probably not.

But for your "en-view-ment" here are some pictures (with our new camera-which I love).
Each time we go to the zoo, we "measure" the kids against the hands. From September (the last time we went) both of the kids have grown 1/2 hand taller.
The kids (especially C) were fascinated to see the pictures that I took of my breath. Not that I meant to......................These were real reindeer. And yes, that is as close as we could get. Disappointing.

I thought this tree was beautiful! Wouldn't it be so nice to get a family Christmas picture in front of?

Here are the kids on the way home. I think these pictures actually turned out cute.

Christmas decorations

It's tradition to put our Christmas tree up the Saturday after Thanksgiving. But we have to make sure that everything is done before the FSU vs FL football game. The kids were very excited to help. I don't think K remembers much from last year and I don't think she gets the whole "Christmas season." She's still asking if today is the day to open presents.

Before breakfast I had to run out and get lights (and I got a few presents and a peppermint mocha from Starbucks--YUM!) After breakfast, K and I started working on the tree inside and the boys went out to put up the lights. It was cold out but not freezing. Actually kinda nice to put lights up. C got to help Daddy. He was a really big help. After they were all done, C asked if he could get up on the roof with Daddy. Once he was up there, K wanted to go up too. Surprisingly, she was more scared than C. But they were so cute sitting up there with Daddy.

We also put some lights out back this year. And on Black Friday I got 2 pre-lit trees in pots. One is on our front porch and the other is in my living room. I've wanted trees like this for years. (same ones mentioned in the last post).

After we decorated we watched the game. So sad. For dinner, we had a "snacky type" meal. I tried these Pillsbury savory sensations. We tried the cheese and spinach and the pizza ones. They are YUMMO. It was a fun family day! All in all we had a great long weekend. The kids were good, we got a lot done, we found some good deals, and made some memories. I love weekends like this.

Black Friday

Did everyone get some good deals on Black Friday? I know we did. And we had fun too. And got to eat breakfast at Cracker Barrel--even better.

One quick funny story since I don't have any pictures. Daddy and C planned on going out early Friday morning, just the two of them. Daddy told C the night before that they would get up around 5 am and leave quickly. After the kids went to bed, Daddy and I looked over the ads and what we wanted and decided that we could all leave a little later (6:30ish) and probably still get what we wanted.

Next morning around 5:15 I was rudely awoken to C loudly yelling "Mommy! Mommy!" I rushed to his room and found him crying crocodile tears. "Daddy said he was getting me up at 4 or 5 and he forgot me!" Oh dear. "No he didn't. We actually planned on all of us going later." "I want it to be just him and me like we talked about." Again-oh dear. Since Daddy was now awake, he decided to go back to the original plan. So the boys left before 6 and K and I left around 7:30 and met them at Wal Mart.

We got toys, blankets, laptop table, socks, jeans (which I have to return; the snap broke), pre-lit Christmas trees, presents, a 4 slice toaster, sweat shirt, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I can't think of what else. But you get the picture. It was a great day.

Oh I forgot that I do have a picture of one of my pre-lit trees. So I will leave you with that. Disclaimer: Please tilt your head to the right before viewing. (I'm being very lazy today and don't want to rotate it).

An Italian Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving and Christmas it will be just our little family of 4. We will be having no company and we won't be going anywhere for the Holidays. In a little way it will be nice to not have to travel (I am the world's worst traveler; 'worser' than the kids), but I will miss seeing family.

One evening Daddy and I were discussing what we were going to have for Thanksgiving.

Me: I don't know if I want to make 2 big turkey dinners within a few weeks of each other. Our kids won't eat much of what I make anyway.

Daddy: Oh look. Buca de Beppo is open on Thanksgiving.

Me: Oh I like that idea. I don't have to cook or clean up! SOLD!!!

I called within the next few days to make reservations and our Thanksgiving dinner plans were made.

So Thanksgiving morning, after we watched a little bit of the parade we drove downtown to the restaurant. Buca is a family style Italian restaurant that was actually serving a turkey dinner. We all opted for Italian food and actually were able to get individual portions.

We started with yummy garlic cheese bread. Daddy had stuffed shells (stuffed with sausage and spinach), I had 4 cheese stuffed manicotti, K had "pa-sketti" and C had pizza. We ended with THE BEST chocolate chip canolis. They were worth going back for.

Our waitress was very nice but did ask why were eating there instead of home. There was almost no one there at the time. When we got dessert, they did seat another table. Downtown was very empty too.

It was a fun family time and the food was very good but I miss leftovers. I guess I will just have to wait until Christmas.

At this restaurant, you can request to eat with the pope. We didn't get to eat with him but did get the kids picture taken with him.