Pinterest

I am so addicted to this website! I LOVE the ideas that it has inspired me to do. I have become very creative/thrifty with some of my decorations. I have made a few wreaths now to hang on my door based on the seasons. It is fun to make it my own instead of trying to find one I like at the store. Usually the ones I like are so outrageously expensive so I don't purchase them anyway. I haven't spent more than $10 on a wreath that I have made. Here is my latest:



I have finished decorating for Christmas I pinterest has inspired some of my decorations. My sister suggested putting my village in our fireplace since we don't use them. I have one upstairs and one in the basement so I divided my village up. It looks amazing! Thanks Patsy! Here are some pictures:

Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We were so lucky to be able to celebrate with my family on Thanksgiving and then celebrated with Nick's family on Friday. It was great to see everyone. We sure missed Ali. The kids woke up Wednesday morning and said..."I can't wait to see Auntie Ali tomorrow." It was really sad to break the news to them that they wouldn't see her until Christmas :(

Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving. Can you guess which ones Charlie took?

Wordless Wednesday

Surgery

Charlie and I headed to the hospital at 7:00 this morning. Nick stayed home to get the other two off to school. Then he came up to be with Charlie and I. Friday I was told surgery would be at 8:00 am. Well 8:00 came and went and my dad said he saw that he was scheduled for 8:40 am. Charlie got some nice relaxing drugs at 7:45 so he wasn't to concerned with what was going on. When 8:40 came and went we were all getting restless. He was wanting to go home and didn't really want to sit or lay in the bed. Finally at 9:15 he was on his way back to surgery. He did great and it only took 20 minutes. The doctor said that his adenoids were huge so it was good they came out. His tonsils looked great so she didn't need to remove them...phew. She did say his left ear was completely filled with fluid so she removed all of it, put in a new tube and saw no signs of chlosteatoma. The right ear tube was removed and a new one was put in. We stayed at the hospital until 11:00. We are now home resting. Nick went to work so it is a quiet house for Charlie to just rest in. I am saying lots of prayers that our ear issues are over and we can avoid the hospital all together!!

Gearing Up...

Tomorrow morning Charlie has surgery on his ears again. We are hoping this will be the last one. We have spent the weekend trying to quarantine him to the house as much as possible. I didn't want him to get sick and not be able to have surgery. Tonight we are working on putting up the Christmas tree. This week I will work on my village. I am excited to decorate our house this year. It has been a long time since we have decorated this house. It always looked so amazing. Charlie is over joyed with helping me get everything out of the boxes. It is getting interesting ;)

I will update after his surgery tomorrow.

Tree Lighting

Today is the Tallest Tree Lighting event in Mankato. A few of the radio stations in town put together a big event and light their radio tower. There is a parade, music and food. This year I will be a vendor there. Nick and Annie have been amazing help AGAIN. They have helped me get everything ready this week. I don't know how I would've gotten it all done without them. I will have cupcakes and pops there for purchase. Nick is going to be there with me tonight. It is going to be cold but it will be so much fun!! If you are in Mankato or coming to Mankato tonight come up and check it out. The parade starts at 4:30 and the events go until 7:30 tonight. The parade is starts on Commerce Drive and ends on Lee Blvd next to the radio station head quarters. Come say hi if you come up.

Conferences

I am such a proud mom! We had the kids conferences tonight and it was the best conference we have had for Braeden. I just can't even tell you how proud I am of him. His teacher told us that she has gotten a few phone calls from the Media teacher saying how proud she is of Braeden. A boy moved to Mankato a few months ago and doesn't even speak English. He has some really bad medical problems and has been sheltered by his parents for a long time. Braeden has helped him in media. He helps him find books, the bathroom, where he needs to go and helps him learn the computer. WOW...all I can say is WOW...we did something right. No one had to tell him to take him in, Braeden just did it. His teacher said this little boy has been sad because he doesn't know English or how to adjust into the school. Braeden has really helped. It brought a tear to my eye. I am a very proud mom tonight. He is doing excellent at school and is in the beyond math club and the beyond reading club. He is getting challenged which is all we have ever asked. His teacher loves his stories and said she loves when he raises his hand to participate.

Emma is doing fabulous too but I didn't expect anything less from her. She is a great student and a wonderful helper for her teacher. Again she is in the beyond reading club and beyond math club. Her teacher had nothing but great things to say about her!

The kids definitely got their math skills from their dad! We are so blessed to have such a great school with fabulous teachers!