Tiny Tots with Their Eyes All Aglow....

Wednesday night Carson went to my mom and Callie's activity. The young women were combined and did a service project to babysit the little kids in the ward for a few hours. My mom and Callie asked if Carson could go and I had no objection to a night to myself to do some finishing up on Christmas shopping. They frosted sugar cookies, popped popcorn and watched a Mickey Mouse Christmas movie (Carson loves Mickey Mouse), sang songs and story times, and made an adorable little Christmas ornament with their hand print on it. That was pretty cool since Carson broke the one he made me for Mother's Day his first year :( . He had lots of fun with Callie and the other kids. On the way home he licked all of the frosting off his cookie. That definitely is the best part! I think all of the kids had a great time.

The Case of the Run-over Purse!

OK, this is so hard for me to tell because I am so completely embarrassed. This beats falling off the dock (haha my family is probably the only ones who know that one). Anyways, so Tuesday I worked and as I was leaving, Eva asked me to go on an emergency pizza run for a party that was going on as we were speaking. So I went to Papa John's down the road and when I got there the pizzas weren't ready yet. So I went back in the car to get Carson and we waited in Papa Johns. About 5 minutes later they were ready. So, I grabbed the 3 pizza boxes, put my purse on my shoulder, and grabbed Carson's hand. We got out to the car and I set my purse on the hood of my car so I could load Carson and the pizzas. Yes, I completely forgot about my purse :( You all know where this is going. I drove away, turned out onto Five Mile, and felt something run over. I looked back and saw a small black thing but thought at the time it must just be someone's jacket or maybe a piece of tire or something. So I continued on to deliver the pizzas. I dropped them off and was heading to the bank when I wanted my chapstick. I couldn't find my purse. All of a sudden I felt so sick cuz I knew exactly where it was. I had run over it even!!!! I went about 50 mph back to where it happened and searched for probably 45 minutes asking all of the stores around and looking high and low on the sidewalks. It was gone!!!!! But the worst part was my envelope of months worth of saved Christmas money was in it...cash! I was crying probably the rest of the day. My mom and Harris searched for over an hour after I did and they didn't find it. I was scared because of all the info in my purse, plus it was my Dooney & Burke from Harris' mom and dad and my cash :( Later that night of one of the worst days ever a girl left me a message that she found my purse. I called her right away and told her I love her. I picked it up the next day. I'm so glad that some creepy person didn't find it and get all my info and credit cards. That is a scary feeling. She told me cars were just running it over so she stopped and grabbed it from the road! The amazing thing is (way to go Dooney & Burke) is that you would think my purse would be thrashed! There's not a single tear or hole anywhere!!!!! Crazy huh!

Our Christmas Tree!!!

We went Christmas tree shopping and it was so much fun. This year Carson really enjoyed it! I just can't believe how much these things cost!!!! We decided not to allow ourselves to spend a ton of money on our tree this year, which was really hard because we love the tall, fat ones! Also, we both come from homes who only allow Nobles which are most expensive so we got stuck with this sort of puny one. It looks much nicer decorated, I would have to admit. Then I go over to my mom's house and she found this ginormous tree for only $20 more than we spent and it's a million times more amazing. If only I knew how to bargain! Anyways, it was good that we didn't go overboard because of my next day experience that I will have to tell about tomorrow even though most of you know since it was so dramatic!

Black Friday - Boise Town Square 1AM

On Friday I made the biggest mistake ever. If you watched that video, unfortunately I was there! I was a little smarter though and found out I could go in a different door which most people didn't realize, so I didn't get trampled thankfully. I thought once I got in the door the crowd would spread, but it was like a can of sardines. Each store wreaked like B.O. and you couldn't move. The lines were so unorganized that nobody even knew where they were and it made no sense to even stand in one. I was with Callie and my mom and we finally decided to leave and were pretty bummed we had stayed up all night. By the end of the day on Friday anytime I was a complete zombie! At least I learned my lesson and I will never make that mistake again!

New Fudge Recipe

This is the fudge recipe I am going to try for Thanksgiving. Doesn't it sound amazing!?!?!?!?!?!



Fudge

Stir and bring to boil: 4 C. sugar & 1 can evaporated milk

Stir constantly. Boil for 10 full minutes and remove from heat.

Add the following:

3 (8 oz.) milk chocolate bars (broken into pieces)

1/2 lb. butter or margarine

2 tsp. vanilla

******The chocolate bars are the key...you can use 2 SYMPHONY bars and 1 HERSHEYS MILK CHOCOLATE bar or use the SYMPHONY BARS WITH TOFFEE PIECES and a HERSHEYS MILK CHOCOLATE WITH ALMONDS bar.

Beat well and pour into a 9 x 13 pan. Cool and cut into squares.

1 Week Away!!!!!

Today is exactly 1 week from Thanksgiving! Am I the only one who feels like it's not time for Thanksgiving yet? Not that I don't want it to be, in fact I am so excited, but it just doesn't seem like it! I've been wondering why and here's what I came up with: 1. I got my tonsils sliced out 2 weeks ago and that 1st week kinda froze...I was pretty much worthless. I'm still a week behind in my brain's calendar. 2. I have had no fudge yet. Why has nobody made fudge? It's the holidays! I better get on that. 3. Everybody has been having babies like crazy. It's so great (except that it makes me want one...good thing "Private Practice" last night made it looks really painful). But it has kind of kept my mind from thinking about Thanksgiving. 4. It's still 50 degrees outside. It needs to snow. Not the day of shopping, though. 5. I am only making rolls for Thanksgiving. Last year I made the turkey. Not complaining but I haven't had to think about buying a Turkey. Anyways, I guess that's why it doesn't seem time yet. I am going to make fudge. I think that will help! Yes....I NEED to make fudge for the good of Thanksgiving.


Tuesday was a crazy day for me. I worked at Pump It Up (it makes me sound so buff) in the morning until 11:15. Afterwards I went by my mom's house to see her and Sam since he's off school right now. They were on their way to IHOP, so Carson and I decided to go with them. Carson is in this stage of life right now that he is sooo independent and "grown up". He HAD to sit in a chair as opposed to a high chair. I told him he could as long as he stayed in it. So...the first little while was fine. He got his pancake and ate quite a bit. Then we hit the end of the attention span. He kept getting out of his chair, climbing up on the empty booths. I told him if he got out of the chair one more time he had to sit in the high chair. Of course, he got out, ran to the booth and tried to hide. I grabbed him and stuck him in the high chair. Tantrum. Everybody kept looking at me, and if anybody knows me you know that's one of the most stressful things to me. I told him to stop crying or we will leave. He kept crying and I told him the same thing about 2 more times. He wouldn't stop, so I got up, took him out of his seat, and told my mom and Sam bye. He cried the whole way home. When we got home I took him straight to his room and laid him down for a nap. He kept crying and since I was so overwhelmed, I started to cry too ( a little embarrassed about this). Carson became silent. He moved over to me and wrapped his arms around me. His sweetness made me cry more. Shortly I stopped and looked at him. I told him from now on I need him to sit still in a seat or he will have to sit in a high chair or we cannot go out to eat anymore, OK? In the quietest and sweetest little voice he said, "K." I gave him a hug, laid him back down and didn't hear a peep. I'm the kind of mom who felt sooooo bad about the whole experience even still. It helped me to hear that when I left IHOP, the elderly lady who had been sitting next to us told my mom, "Good for her. She stuck to her guns. That's how they learn." It makes me feel good because now I feel a little better and that maybe I really did the right thing. Being a mom is sooo hard sometimes, but I know without a doubt I wouldn't trade it for anything! Sorry this is so long. Sometimes you just have to share your thoughts :)

Weekend with my niece

This weekend my sister Misty came to visit with her adorable little baby girl, McKenzie. I can't believe she is already 4 weeks old! Isn't she so cute!
Mom and I went to Graples on Thursday. They gave us invitations to their Christmas Open House on Saturday. We thought that sounded fun. So I met the whole fam at Graples because I had to book it afterwards to Sheena's shower. I got there first. When I pulled up there was a huge long line OUTSIDE the door! I got out (with Carson keep in mind) and stood in line. A few minutes later the family showed up. At this point I had made it up half the line. Dad was soooooooooo mad! He couldn't believe we still wanted to stay. It started raining on us too! We finally got inside and it was major claustrophobia! They had some pretty cute stuff but let's face it, I'm poor! I grabbed the cutest thing there and stood in the line wrapped all the way around the store. After a while I thought...is this one item worth it? I decided it wasn't and convinced my mom the same. We left! After all that we just left! Oh well...tis' the season!
We had fun just hanging out with Misty and McKenzie the rest of the day. Dad never really got over the Graples thing but it's fun to look back at. We went to Red Robin that night and got milkshakes. I worry about Carson making a mess and guess what...I dumped milkshake all over myself! Pretty embarrassing :) We had fun and I'll miss my sister and niece but we'll be going to their blessing the first week of December.