We are back home, looking forward to sleeping in our own beds. However, we had a wonderful week. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get pictures of my dad's surprise 60th birthday and roast posted. But tonight I am too tired. My sister, mom, and I did manage to get up at - gulp - 3 a.m. and were out the door at 3:30. We got back to the house just after 7:30 after hitting Kohl's, JC Penny, Target, Sears, Staples, Shoe Carnival, Game Stop, Kirkland's, and of course McDonalds for some shopping nourishment. My sister hit a few more places after she dropped me off at home so I could feed a baby and help get our suburban loaded up.
My verdict is: if you go with others it is fun, and if you have things you definitely need to get, it is worth it, especially in a smaller town where the crowd isn't too bad. I had a few things on my Christmas list still to buy, and I was able to cross several of them off for much less $ than I had originally planned for them.
However, it means that I dozed on and off all the way home today and can't wait until Ashlynn goes to bed tonight so I can crawl in too. But I do feel a sense of accomplishment.
Lessons learned this week:
1. Chocolate meringue pie is a
must for any major holiday. (Actually, I've known this for years.)
2. Everyone needs a father who has a friend with a wood-working workshop that would rival the one on
New Yankee Workshop. We have some cabinets that needed new doors, and Kelly was able to go with my dad to make new ones. All we need to do is paint and attach!
3. Sometimes, a week away from home is just needed.
4. If you speak at a roast, you better be prepared with something funny or embarrassing to share about the roastee, or the MC - even if he is a pastor - will give
you a hard time.
5. Never think your vehicle will somehow be less packed to the gills on the return trip, even if you are leaving behind a huge box of gifts.
6. If you need a self-esteem boost, go to the Curves in my mom's hometown. I went with her to workout three days while we were there, and the ladies there just couldn't believe that I had 6 children, that I was old enough to have six children, that I was not still in my twenties, they thought that homeschooling my kids was wonderful, etc.
7. A six year old can do a whole lotta damage at grandma's house in the course of a week. Just a few of the highlights: picture frames (knocked over, thankfully not broken), curtain rod (broken), glass lamp shade (broken), large, decorative plate from Greece (broken by a nephew who was being chased by said 6 yo), and countless bumps and bruises, usually resulting from her habit of walking in one direction while looking in another one.
8. If you are getting up at the crack of dawn, um, rather, the middle of the night to go black Friday shopping, make sure there is a Dr. Pepper in the fridge the night before, and don't just assume.
9. If you are getting up to go black Friday shopping, have a game plan. Know what you are looking at where, when everything opens, and take someone along who will stand in the checkout line while you look. Also wear comfy shoes and a sweatshirt (which I forgot to pack, and it gets cold where we were!). [
By the way, I learned this because my sister is a pro at it. She knew exactly what to do and when!]10. Make sure you actually leave for home with the baby in tow, because all the grandparents, aunts and uncles as well as cousins who have no sister will threaten to sneak off with her, especially when she spends a week smiling and flirting with everyone in the house.
Kora at 1 year.
Kora at a year and a half.
Kora at 2.
Kora at 4.
Kora at 8.
Happy birthday, Kora!
This is what I got for Christmas! My husband is so spoiled by Amazon: a couple of clicks and my gift is ordered, wrapped, and delivered two days later.
***
***
Isn't she just the cutest thing ever?
Tomorrow: the first edition of Conversations with a Four Year Old!
My mom had found them in a closet a few weeks ago and set them aside for my sister to use as a visual aid at the roast.
While the sons-in-law took my dad off for lunch and a movie, my sisters and mom decorated the church. My youngest sister, Sarah, decorated the cake.
My mom had spent several hours on a picture board filled with pictures of my dad, from baby pictures to pictures of him holding each of his 10 grandkids.
Can you guess who he's holding in this one? My mom had made us matching outfits.
My mom had led my dad to believe that the girls (meaning my sisters and me) were preparing a special dinner at the house as he had been given strict instructions not to come to the house until my mom called him. So when everyone had assembled, she called my dad to help her with something at the church before going to the house.
After eating, their preacher started in on the official ceremony: the mourning ceremony for my dad's youth. :-) Their preacher was hilarious and utterly ruthless.
In between speakers, my dad opened a few of his gifts. These are tassels for his bicycle (my dad is a serious bicycle rider, logging in hundreds of miles a year).
Here are Kelly and I saying something extremely witty and funny.
My mom told about the night they met on a blind date and how my dad drove off from the drive-in movie theater spot with the speaker still hooked to the window of the car.
I'll post more later, as this post is already very long. But it was a great evening. My sides hurt from laughing by the time it was over. Love you, Daddy!
Aubrey is 10 years old today!
So to celebrate, she cut her first tooth yesterday.
Yeah, she's happy now.
A table full of German food! And a kitchen full of German desserts (somehow I didn't get a picture of that!)
You know her, right?
This is Kora and Addie. Addie is an adorable toddler in our church. Kora wants to grow up to be her mother. Seriously though, Addie has been adopted be several of the teenagers and almost teenagers at church. I'm surprised she ever learned to walk, as they are always carrying her around. Kora loves that little girl, and the feeling is mutual.
Finally everyone started gathering in the living room and quieted down. It was time for some hymns.
Here's hubby, our song leader.
Brynna has fallen in love with two of the older couples in our church. Here she is with one of them. She sits with them at meals, talks with them before and after services (she waits for them near the front door if we are at church first), and here she sits with them while singing.
After the hymn-sing (which included "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" by Martin Luther, of course) the younger kids went to another room to color pictures of Martin Luther.
Our pastor gave a brief history of Luther's life and some of his contributions to the church. He also talked about why it is still important today.
We look forward to Reformation Day every year!
