A Quick 30 days

Wow! Is it me or did November seem to fly by!  I can't believe it is already December 1st!  I know it is December 1st because when I got up this morning I saw our "Elf on a Shelf" Kringle staring at me from above the TV.  I can't be certain but it felt like he had judgemental eyes.  I am a bit behind this year on everything.  I did put a wreath on the door and change the garden flag.  Maybe today I can string lights on the holly tree by the front door.  I am using the excuse of Jim being out of town this week to justify there being no tree in the house.  It is a flimsy excuse, but I am grasping at straws here.

But I am here to report on November not to shed more light on how woefully unprepared I am for December.

I believe I left off right before Lilly's 6th Birthday!!  Back before we were blessed with Lilly I was super excited that her birthday would fall around Veteran's Day.  I think in my most private of thoughts that it would get me out of a Marine Corps Ball or two.  Now don't get me wrong, the Balls are fun, but missing one every couple of years isn't a bad thing.  I am not ashamed to admit that hasn't worked out to well for me.  I missed the one the year she was born thanks to being in labor!

This year Lilly decided she wanted a "My Little Pony" cake.  Hmmm, a cake in the shape of a pony is out of the question.  Instead we came up with the idea of  a sheet cake with a picture of her favorite pony, Rarity on it.  Rarity is a hybrid unicorn/flying pony.  Great!  I must admit, I was less then pleased with how the pony translated onto the cake.  If I had been on the ball I could have done a better job of tracing it onto the cake, but hindsight is 20/20 right?  Personally I think it looks more like a sheep or a dog with a bunch of purple hair.  Lilly and Lucy both loved it and thought it was beautiful!  I think they were both being kind.  The cake itself tasted great!  I mixed two different brands of white cake due to my inability to remember which one I had bought.  On a scale of 1-10, I would say that is a 2.  However, it wasn't enough to fill the pan I was using.  Throw in I didn't have time to run to the store to buy another mix and the score ratchets up to a 7.  So I made a third batter by scratch.  Threw it in the mix and said a prayer.  As if my anxiety level wasn't high enough I had to leave the house before the cake was finished baking.  So I turned the oven off about 10 minutes before the allotted time was up.  Two hours later when I got home I checked it and it still needed a few more minutes to bake.  Crossing my fingers I turned the oven back on for an additional 15 minutes.  I was thinking this was going to be the driest cake ever created.  It would be like eating dust!  SHOCKER - totally moist!!  In fact the cake was very very tasty!  So at least it had that going for it.  Without further ado, the cake!

The party went off without a hitch.  It was your typical backyard party complete with obligatory pinata.  I splurged on a "My Little Pony" one.  I stuffed it with all our leftover Halloween candy - hee hee.  It was one of the pull string ones that Jim despises, so I cut the strings off.  BAD MOVE.  It apparently was reinforced with steel because each kid had several whacks at it apiece and it was still holding strong.  I had left one leg empty thinking that would give way first, but it didn't really work out that well for us.  Oh well, chalk that up to another lesson learned.  Everyone seemed to have a blast.  The most important thing is I got 90% of the Halloween candy OUT OF THE HOUSE!!  Yeah me!

Jim's parents joined us for the Veteran's Day weekend to keep the kids so we could go to the Ball.  We had a great time at the Ball.  Actually got to stay in the hotel overnight!  I don't think that has ever happened.  Even on the times it probably should have back when Jim was in flight school!  I don't know why I have my hand over my tummy like that.  Reminds me of being pregnant WHICH I AM NOT!  We got home the next day to Lilly with the stomach flu.  Fun fun fun!  Then I got it about 6 hours later.  Even funner!! Luckily no one else fell victim to it.  Two people throwing up in the house is two too many in my book.

A few weeks ago one of our neighbors put a John Deere Gaiter out by the curbside.  I tried calling her to see if her intention was to throw it out, but after 2 emails, a phone call and a note later with no response I decided to just take it.  Now we already have a Jeep and a Lamborghini for the kids to drive around, so we did not exactly need this as my darling husband pointed out several times.  But I just could not let it be thrown away without finding out if it could be fixed.  One battery, charger and gearshift later - Viola!  Another piece of plastic for our garage.  Now they all have one, of course no one wants to drive the Ghini anymore - it is the slowest.  Ironic? Maybe.  Actually the Ghini was in the "shop" for a couple of months with a bad switch.  Thank goodness for Poppa Dub.  He got it working while he and Nanny were here over Thanksgiving.   He also repaired several boo boo's in the house.  What would we do without Poppa Dub?

Speaking of Nanny and Poppa, they allowed us to entertain them for a few days over Thanksgiving.  Jim rented a condo over at the beach and we ate dinner at a nearby resort hotel.  It was delicious.  Jim would tell you "we are never doing that again".  And he means it.  Until we do it again.  Ha ha ha.  Seriously where else can you get the selection of a buffet for adults and mac & cheese with hot dogs for the kids for Thanksgiving dinner?!  Certainly not at my house.  Below is a few pictures of the days festivities.  I will spare you the pictures by the pool.  The kids wanted to go swimming in one of the heated pools.  So of course an adult had to go in with them.  Three guess who it was.  Jim - no fishing.  Poppa Dub- no he was with Jim.  Nanny - HA don't make me laugh.  That is right, me.  Heated pool my foot!  It was cold!

You would think that would be all we could cram into thirty days, but we had one weekend left so we were able to get in a few visits with Santa and some fireworks to cap off the month.  Poor Santa, he didn't know what hit him!