The perfect Christmas Tree

Despite the rain and cold, we loaded up the family and headed out west (I think) to cut down our first Christmas tree as a family.

Growing up, we always spent Christmas at my Grandma's house so we never had a real tree. We'd be gone for 2 weeks so our 4ft mini fake tree did it's job--spread holiday cheer without turning brown while we were gone. My husband has always grown up with real trees. So far, I've convinced him that fake was the way to go but now that the kids are a little older, I gave in and we went to get the real tree.

I must admit, it was a lot more fun than I would have imagined. The weather was crappy but the kids were so excited. We were all bundled up and walked through the rows of Frasier furs until I saw it....the perfect tree.

It stood about 9 1/2 fee tall and was full and green and beautiful. My husband asked if I was sure and that we could look around some more but I just knew!

We cut that sucker down and hopped on the tractor to drag it in.



We had it bailed, enjoyed some free popcorn and cider and were on our way home within and hour. It was just the right amount of time to enjoy the experience but not get too cold. We'll bring it in tonight and decorate it tomorrow.

I know it will be a pain to keep it watered and vacuum it's needles but the look on the kids face during the whole experience is definitely worth it. This will be our new tradition. And I SO look forward to dragging them along when they are 16 and 17 and forcing them to smile for pictures!

I love being a mom.

Why I hate Gwyneth Paltrow less

She has always been very annoying to me. I don't think she's a very good acress. I never really liked any of the movies she's been in--they are always very serious, english and happen in olden times. Then she moved to England to pretend she's English with her English husband. And I really don't like the name Apple-it's weird to me.

BUT.....she was on Glee this week and he was HILARIOUS! I've never seen her in a role like this before (maybe I missed it) but I loved seeing her shake off that "I'm better than you" attitude I always thought she had and just let loose. She's not a bad singer either. I heard that she's trying to drum up a career in country music too.

Blogger Giveaways!

Check out this set of giveaways by some other blogging mamas!
http://leatherberryfamily.blogspot.com/2010/11/all-i-want-for-christmas.html

Giveaways Giveaways Giveaways

Oh my goodness! I've been so busy over these last few days getting all the giveaways and reviews together for my 5 Days of Holiday Giveaways happening the week after Thanksgiving!! It's exciting to get the response email from a bunch of awesome vendors and I'm so excited to offer this week to you guys!! As a smaller blog, you'll have a wonderful chance of winning!

The first review and giveaway will be posted on Monday November 29th! Make sure to bookmark my blog as there will be a new one posted each day. Let me just say that the first one is totally "rockin".

Otherwise, we had a pretty busy weekend. Hubby decided to head to Mad-town for the Badgers game so my mother-in-law offered to take Olivia for the day on Saturday. When they came to pick her up, Kellen got so upset that he wasn't going, that they took him too!! So it was a day with just me and Owen. My BFF decided to stop over for a visit--it was very nice to have time to talk without any interruptions.

Sunday was chore and errands day as normal. Lots of laundry, dishes and vacuuming. It was very exciting. Not really. The worst part of the weekend? Snow flurries! Yikes! I'm not ready for the cold weather and slick roads just yet. I hope it holds off at least until Christmas. I wish we could just have snow on Christmas and then it would be spring again.

Okay- gotta get going again! Lots more to do today!

Christmas Tree oh Christmas Tree

In a state where the weather can go from 70 degrees to 20 degrees overnight, the hubster and I decided we'd put up our Christmas lights tonight. The temperature is currently 59 degrees---which is pretty equivalent to summertime for us. And it's NOVEMBER which is just crazy. We've had snow on the ground at Halloween so to have this kind of weather this late in the year is amazing.

I love Christmas. It's probably my favorite holiday. I love Thanksgiving and Halloween too but Christmas has always been close to my heart. My fondest memories come from driving from Rhode Island to Illinois to spend 2 weeks with my grandparents over Christmas break. My mom and dad would let us open one present early so we'd have something new to play with during the 21 hour drive. My dad would pull out the middle seats in our 1988 Chrysler minivan (with the wood on the side) and we'd hunker down in our sleeping bags on the floor (oh....how life has changed).

We didn't have iPods, DVD players or PSPs. You know what we did? We talked to each other. We used to play license plate bingo. We would read books and play board games. AND. IT. WAS. AWESOME.

I'm lucky enough to have most of my family and hubby's family within a 5 hour drive so we can see them relativily easy but I hope to be able to share those kinds of memories with my kids now that they are getting older. I hope they can look back on Christmas and remember listening to their parents since a horrible rendition of Bette Midler's Wind Beneath My Wings vs. what the coolest present was that year.

But this year....it will be ME singing : )

Getting ready for something good.....

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. And with Christmas, comes gifts. And I would like to give you all a gift.....or maybe a giveaway? Or maybe 3 giveaways? How about 5 giveaways????


Stay tuned........ : )

About me........

For all you loyal readers out there (I think I'm up to 4 or 5 now!) I'd like to share a little bit more about me. It's weird building friendships over the Internet. I feel like I *know* some of you yet we've never met in real life---never shared a cup of coffee or gone shopping together. We should organize a blogger mixer sometime. Maybe in Vegas?? All of us who follow and comment could get together for a night of craziness. That would awesome.

Anyway, in an effort to build some of these relationships, I'd like to share some more info about ME!

HI!

Name: Sarah

Age: the big 3-0 this year. I'm a child of the 80's

Where were you born?: Peoria, IL. I lived there for a few years (the majority of my family is still there) and then we moved to Rhode Island. I lived there for about 10 years before moving to the grand old state of Wisconsin. We've been here for almost 20 years. Go Packers!

Favorite Food: I love Mexican food. Anything that has guacamole is good for me. My second favorite is probably Italian.

Favorite Music: I'm a Pop Queen. Anything Top 40. I love New Kids on the Block (old and new), N*Sync, Britney, Jason Derulo etc but I also love Led Zeppelin, REO Speedwagon and Foreigner. Pretty much anything except country (sorry).

How tall are you?: I'm 5'10" and no, I never played basketball. I don't know why everyone always asks me that. I played soccer and danced all through kindergarten up until high school. Now I just sit around and watch TV.

Are you married?: Yep. My husband and I met in college. I dated a guy in high school that I was convinced I was going to marry. The first night of college I met by hubby, called my boyfriend and broke up with him. I just KNEW I was going to marry this man! Drama ensued, lots of craziness followed and we were married in 2003. Love you honey! (although I don't believe he knows this blogs exists!)

Tell us about your kids: First of all, I never wanted kids. I know, right? I am WAY selfish--I like to buy whatever I want, sleep whenever I want, run errands whenever I want. I still do. I knew that I would make a horrible mother.
But I guess the "big guy upstairs" had bigger plans for me. A bunch of Bud Light and a few missed BC pills and my dear Olivia was born in April 2006. She was an awesome baby so I figured "This is easy!"
I was pregnant with twins in fall of 2007 but unfortunately suffered two blighted ovums. That didn't stop us and Mr. Kellen was born August 2008 (5 1/2 weeks early).
We decided we were done with kids but would hold off on the big "V" until 2010. Low and behold, Mr Owen was born July 2010--my surprise baby (I still think a certain pharmaceutical company owes me some money).
We have a very busy household but love the craziness and joy they bring to our lives. Is a #4 in our future?99% sure that's a no, but I guess we'll see.

• Miss Olivia- She's 4 1/2 years old. She's my drama queen (the apple doesn't fall far from the tree). She loves baseball, drawing, crafts, baby dolls and swimming. She's got a touch of OCD since all the babies need to be lined up perfectly before she can sleep. I also think she may be a bit of a hoarder since she's always collecting and hiding stashes of rocks, tiny pieces of paper or playing cards. Not sure where the blond hair, blue eyes comes from. I assure you, my mail person is a woman!
• Mr. Kellen- He's my little man. We were home together for about one year after he was born so he's a mama's boy. He makes the most hilarious facial expressions and is a real brute. He's 34lbs and in size 4 clothing and he's only 2! He LOVES sports-baseball, soccer, football- it doesn't matter. He can watch a whole football game start to finish. He cheers for the touchdowns and yells at the TV just like daddy!
• Mr. Owen- He's only 4 months old so we're just getting to know him. So far, he's my stoic one. He's very much a "watcher". He's very laid back and only fusses when he needs something. He always thinks twice before throwing out a precious smile or coo. I think he'll be my cautious one. While the other two are jumping off the side of Grandma's boat, he'll be calculating the water temperature and the best angle to jump at so-as not too splash too much. He's such a snuggler too!

My Dream Job- I would love to be one of those cleaning/organizing specialists on Hoarders. Or a wedding planner. Or maybe plan the wedding of the engaged hoarders that I helped organize. Perfect!

Why I started blogging- Honestly, I was so frustrated with all the politics going in the world (the horrible, horrible health care plan, the insanely high gas prices, the collapse of the housing market) that I needed a place to vent. Don't get me wrong... I have a lot of friends and family to talk to, but I just wanted a place where it wouldn't immediately argue back. I also like to enter giveaways--and most giveaways give you extra entries for having a blog. Win-win!

My blogging goal- I would love to be able to host giveaway and share the stuff that I love. I love sharing pictures of my family, talking about my parenting achievements and challenges (and knowing I'm not the only one facing these challenges) and giving away products that I love to use. I don't have a lot of money, but when some extra paypal is available, I like to buy some of these products to share with you.

There! That's about it for now. Feel free to comment if there's anything you'd like to know specifically about me. I'll answer pretty much anything : )