It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

Two more weeks till Christmas break! Three more weeks till Christmas! Warriors are 22-0! Even the Niners (miraculously) won today! December is looking pretty sweet.

This house is Christmas ready

 Stockings are hung

Cards were sent out today 

This year, I didn't go as crazy as last year. I intentionally did not put up any Christmas decorations till Thanksgiving was over. But once Black Friday hit, I completely started unpacking my Christmas stash. I'm a bit obsessed with looking at home decor on IG. All these nice white houses I'm looking at have homes completely decked out with all things Christmas. It puts our house to shame. 

 Kids in front of Christmas decor at school

I have officially become a school age parent. Both the kids had a Christmas performance this Friday and I snagged front row seats. It helps that I've been on campus all day and put down a "Mrs. Shinn's jacket" on two chairs to ensure that no one took my beloved front row seats. It was a long Friday evening - watching both kids perform, grabbing a quick bite to eat at McDonalds (I felt like throwing up two hours later), and coming back to direct my own Christmas performance. 

 Taking a selfie while waiting for Char

 Char and Ms. Izzy

 Taking a selfie while waiting for Lucas

 This boy was totally into his performance

I've been told that the K4 performance was a complete disaster. Except... for Lucas. At first I was wondering if his teachers were telling me this because he was a staff kid. Lo and behold, they were not lying. Out of the 42 kids on stage that night, you can hear my boy loud and clear! He knew the lyrics to everything, had all the motions down, and was totally into it. I was embarrassingly proud of him. It's only day two, but I've been watching his entire performance on my phone at night. He put on quite a show without knowing it. 

 Lucas and Mrs. Naumann

Weekends are family movie nights and sleepovers. Sleepovers basically mean I am forced to sleep in a very uncomfortable position, thanks to a pint sized almost three year old girl. Last night, she decided to sleep on top of me with her legs spread out on my head. 

 Pillows are put there for Lucas's protection (girlfriend can kick... HARD!)

On Saturday, we went up to San Rafael to celebrate a cousin's birthday. There were ponies there!

 Lucas loved it (Char refused to go on it)

 Silly, but happy kids

... and that was week 1 of December. Last year, I was too overly ambitious and forgot that I was no longer a SAHM. After a LONG day at work, I thought I could pull off a special Advent activity with the kids (it lasted two days). This year, I was more practical and just did the Jesse tree activity while reading a story a day from The Jesus Storybook Bible. Lucas loves it, especially putting the magnet on the tree each day. Char comes and goes and only comes back when she hears "baby Jesus".

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

It's my favorite time of year... December! Okay, but before I start getting obsessed with Christmas, I just want to say that Thanksgiving was pretty good too. I studied Alton Brown's recipe and came out with a really good turkey! The only unfortunate part was I can't take full credit for my perfectly moist turkey. Right when I was about to put the turkey in the oven, our oven died! Luckily, we were still able to pull it off. Prepping Thanksgiving was a bit more hectic than normal so I totally forgot to take a picture of my turkey before carving. 

 After picture

Baked (boxed) brownies (kids loved it!)

Black Friday with kids is not the same as Black Friday without kids. For Black Friday, we went to the mall to get a free 16x20 picture collage (I'm proud of how cheesy the kids got), Target, and Toys R Us. We came home with some clothes and a bunch of board games. No biggie...

Posing for a picture without me telling them to pose

These two think Santa's going to get them this for Christmas (dream on)

Char's early Christmas gift: Baby Margaret

A long weekend = more iPad time in the morning

Two very quiet kiddos

FB told me that Bass Pro Shops had a great deal with donating for a free Santa package (donate toys for Toys for Tots and you get a free photo Santa package). This weekend, I came prepared with a more festive outfit for the kids. I was so excited that I rushed the family to show up right when they opened to find out that Santa doesn't show up till 12. I was determined to be first in line, so I started the line at 11:30. I've never been first in line for anything so I was pretty proud of myself. I was also able to befriend the second person in line, so standing in line for half an hour wasn't that bad after all.

 So proud of myself! Look at that long line behind me!

Hello Santa!

Telling Santa what he wants for Christmas

 A snippet of how we killed time at Bass

They LOVE the huge aquarium

We went to Bass Pro Shops on back-to-back Sundays. I think it's time to take a little break. The kids still love going there. Since I already have my perfect Santa picture with the kids, Bass is no longer appealing to me... for now. 

 Reward for smiling for Santa (McD's for kids and Pokibowl for parents)

Trimming the tree

 Another Warriors W and a Christmas tree to stare at

... and it's almost December! Time to send off our holiday cards and deck the house more with all things Christmas!

Bass Pro Shop

Since we live so close to Bass Pro Shop, we *had* to go inside and give it a try (especially when everybody keeps saying it's a totally different world in there). First of all, the place is HUGE! And secondly, it's totally kid friendly. The only thing I didn't like was the horrible internet connection. The kids had a blast and requested to go back again. I was more than happy to comply with their request because there were FREE Santa photos there. If I had known, I would've dressed them in something a lot more festive! 

"ATVing"

 "ATVing"

Amazed by the huge aquarium in the middle of the store

A $200 tent will fit us perfectly on a camping trip

Sibling love

The store was so Christmas-y

First photo with Santa... ever! And look, no tears!

Don't mess with me!

This should be a nice week. Yay to 2.5 work days! I've been researching Elton Brown recipes and can't wait to cook my turkey this year!

Veteran's Day and the Weekend

Wowzers! How is Thanksgiving just around the corner?! The holidays are my favorite time of year. Yes, I'm that sucker who likes to go all out and Christmas out the house for a month. Another reason is because of the TURKEY! I am on a mission to perfect my turkey. Each year, the goal is to get better and better so my turkeys will be known as "Ede's turkey". 

It was really nice to have hump day off this past week. Yes, it messed up the rest of my week (mentally), but a break is a break and I'm not complaining. We spent most of our day off at home... watching TV. 

 Buying groceries at  Nob Hill

 Lining up his cars

 Me resting while the kids are doing something... somewhere...

 My little kitchen scavenger

 This little ham loves taking pictures

 Enjoying some ice cream on this cold Fall day

 Two cheeseballs

Lucas was all smiles in this picture. However, he refused to cooperate during our photo shoot at the park a few minutes earlier. Once the camera disappeared, he decided it was time to smile again. We'll see if grumpy has a few decent pictures for our Christmas card this year.

 First time (and not last) eating at The Table

Little ham loves to cheese though

Mr. Cool

Kids say the darnest things, and the Shinn kids are no exception!

"Let's go play some Alton Brown. Five... four... three... two... one! Hands up! Chef, tell your story."

(The kids have been exposed to a lot of Cutthroat Kitchen and Alton Brown has become a common household name. I have also started watching YouTube Alton Brown vids in preparation for Turkey Day.)

"I want to have a baby sister like Baby Margaret."

(Right when I'm starting to get my life back in order, the kids have baby fever. This is all Daniel Tiger's fault. They have been watching the episode with the new baby non-stop every single weekend.)

"Why is it taking so long? ... for my birthday to come."

(For Char's birthday, we told her we're celebrating my taking a Disney cruise. The kids have seen videos of the cruise and everything; they're excited. I set them straight though - Mommy's birthday comes before Char's, so we should focus on that first!)

Weekend Homebodies

We are barely really home relaxing. On most weekends, it's always been go-go-go, one event after the other. This weekend was one of those weekends with no real agenda. The kids had a choice to either go to a Pumpkin Palooza or stay home and they chose to stay home. Since it's not summer, I guess being home with no agenda is a luxury nowadays.

 Lounging with Nu Nu Tun Tun

 Christmas jammie jams!!!

The "smile" she gave me for our selfie

 Another "smile"

 Carefree girl shopping with Mama

 Loving the kiddie carts @ OSH

 "Char, don't touch the pokey plants. Just look."

 We left with two orchids

 One day I'll have a nice outdoor lounger

 Blankets are coming out

Lazy, snuggly boy