counting down

The stars are back

The first thing Justin wanted to do when we got back home yesterday was put the Christmas lights up. So after unloading the car, I dug the lights out and put them up. It was a pretty easy task since the hooks are all in place from last year. The neighborhood is really starting to twinkle. Loving it!

scones

The Pioneer Woman's Maple Pecan Scones. Amanda busted out "The Pioneer Woman Cooks" and made these awesome, tasty and delish scones this morning. And I think a new tradition was just born. These are SO good. She used walnuts instead of peacans because that is what she had on hand, and they were amazing! Gotta love the psuedo-fork {aka spork} I used to devour it too :)

Black Friday

We did do some shopping today, but not until after 10 am. I never have been one to hit up the sales before the crack of dawn, I would much rather sleep in. After hitting up the busiest Starbucks on earth we did a little shopping. But Justin doesn't like to shop at the places Amanda and I like to shop at, so the experience was miserable all around. We did go to the Verizon store to browse and ended up upgrading our phones as planned. And after lunch at Chipotle we got pedicures. Sparkly red toes for Amanda and me, Justin picked blue. For dinner we made turkey pot pie with the left overs and it was soooo good. And then Amanda straightened my hair - because she is the queen with the flat iron! When we were out shopping I spotted a cupcake bakery and had to go in. The only cupcake that caught my eye was a chocolate one topped with candy cane. An idea I had been thinking about so I got one for later. I had one bite, Amanda had one bite, Justin ate the rest. He absolutely devoured it! The bite I had was quite good. But the fact that Justin ate the whole thing, frosting and all must have meant it was either great or he was just really hungry.

Mr. Justin is really loving board games and always wants to win. Here is is celebrating kicking my booty at the game of Sorry.

Happy Thankgiving

Just and hit up Starbucks and were on the freeway by 10 am. It was rainy but I figured the drive up to Seattle would be smooth. Boy I was wrong. I-5 was loaded. The traffic was stop and go.. It was nothing compared to the trip up and back 3 years ago, but still frustrated and surprised me.We got to Seattle arond 2:00 pm and went to Amanda's apartment. We unloaded the car and hung out for a bit before heading to Alex's place to cook dinner. I didn't get too many pictures of our feast, which was great! We had turkey that Amanda had brined, it was very good. Mashed potatoes, gravy, cornbread stuffing, rolls, peas, olives and cranberry sauce made up the rest of the menu. Later we had pumpkin and apple pie. Just who is not a big fan of much of anything we ate had some apple juice, a roll and some Lucky Charms.

Geting ready...

Pumpkins pies for tomorrow

and

getting started on deckin' the halls!

Confession #4

I am a pile maker.

one of two things

I can't decide. This is either really great or really pitiful. Or maybe it is the perfect combination of the two.

On a side note, I really need to just throw Spongebob in the trash. I really don't need to eat anymore cake. But it tastes so good! And I worked so hard on it.

Justin-isms

A few of the phrases I hear from my Justin on a very regular basis:
I want to snuggle
I'm not sure
Pick something out me
I want nummies
Stop talkin' me
My legs broken
Let's do it on Wednesday
You gonna pick me up?

heros

Field trip to the fire station today with the daycare crew.

~ Giya, Apollo, Ella, Kaitlyn and Justin~

and

Is Jordan not just precious with her fire hat on?

Happy 4th Birthday to Justin

Time sure flys!

This is Justin doing a happy dance when he unwrapped the new train set I got him. He was jumping up and down excited!

Act II and the Grand Finale

Justin helping me give SpongeBob his sponge texture.

And here is Mr. Square Pants himself! The cake exceeded my expectations. And many thanks to Rachel for helping me.

sneak peek

Act I

The cake is baked! I also decided that I had to make cupcakes for Justin to take to daycare tomorrow to celebrate with his friends at school. Mmmm, yum - yellow cupcakes with fudge frosting. I put 4 chocolate chips inside each cupcake {cause Justin is gonna be 4}.

Justin's kitchen

On the menu tonight:

m-n-m's and cheetos.

laugh out loud funny

Got this picture texted to me from Jason with the line: "Justin has a chip on his shoulder." First I see his face and immediatley wonder... "what is my boy got the 'tood about?" And then I see it... the chip... on his shoulder. And then I "get" it - and I laugh out loud {was grocery shopping at Freddies at the time I got the pic}. The expression on his face absolutley makes this picture!

the {partial} cast of characters

Made two batches of marshmallow fondant today. Died yellow, black, blue and brown. Still need to do the red. Since fondant can be made ahead of time I got it and the mess out of the way. I am doing a cake mix for the cake but will be making scratch fudge frosting. I am still trying to get the exact plan of the cake squared away in my head. I hope I can execute the vision in my head - if I can, it will be epic!

more construction

More log cabins going up around here. These caught on fire and the fire truck needed to come in and save the day.
And... I have power tools {amassing quite a nice collection if I do say so myself} and I am not afraid to use them.

Crossed a major thing off my to do list today when I installed two cats doors today. One in the door leading from the house to the garage and the other on the garage door. I had to purchase the jigsaw and blades to cut through metal because both doors were metal - but the project wasn't too hard and I am so happy to no longer be a doorman {slave} to the kitties.

log cabin

in jail

Justin came home Tuesday with some handcuffs and now he loves to put me in jail. Here are some of the hilarious things he said while setting my cell up...
"Stop taking pic-kures of me!"
"I am the police, I live here."
"I'm the police, I watch TV."
"I'm the police, I have kitty cats."

After Justin cuffed me he took me to the cell he set up for me in the bathroom. He was kind enough to provide a bed, shoes, crackers for a snack {he even brought me a plate}, and he connected my laptop in there for me too. What else could I possibly need?

stretch

Early AM stretch before trekking into school {daycare}. Wednesdays are hard on Justin and today he really really didn't want to get out of bed.

Reason 952 why I have the best kid on the planet

After Justin took his bath he insisted that I needed my toes done. He set up his shop with nail clippers, a nail file, the ped-egg, dental floss and a small towel {yes, he flossed my toes}. He was was very gentle, letting me know along the way that what he was doing would not hurt. Then he polished me up. He did a pretty good job! Looks like all those time I drug him into the nail salon have paid off ;)

something else to add to the "to do" list

I am SO tired of being a door man to these kitties. First thing in the morning they want out - which means they have to stay out all day while I am at work. It is time to get the cat door installed - which I will make happen as soon as I have a few hours and a saw to cut the hole.

coffee break

I took Justin in for his 4 year portraits today. He did such a great job with the photographer. While we waited for them to get our viewing ready we hit up 'bucks for coffee and a snack.

recipe by Justin

2 slices of whole wheat bread
honey mustard
slice of american cheese
handful of goldfish crackers

He asks for this. And eats it too.

TGIF

It was raining today, Justin wore his rain boots. We are still adjusting to our new schedule. Leaving the house by 8 AM isn't easy, but we are getting the hang of it.

After work we met up with Jamie, Scott, Nicole, Kyle and Rachel at Gustav's. Jamie and Scott are moving to San Diego and we wanted to have one last little get-together. Gustav's has amazing fondue and even better mojitos!

We will miss you guys!

contridiction

My order from Amazon.com.

help me PW

Got my copy of The Pioneer Woman Cooks yesterday!
The Pioneer Woman blog is fantastic www.thepioneerwoman.com - {I got Amanda hooked on it too}. I've seen all these recipes and stories on her blog already, but having them in a book is even better. But even the book couldn't save me tonight. On the menu: Campbell's Chicken Noodle for me. Noodles and cheese for Justin.

It's beginning to TASTE a lot like Christmas

My first Eggnog Latte of the season!

a few of my favorite things...

Fall flair