The best babysitter in the world!

Does your babysitter MAKE crafts like this?

 Or hand painted ornaments like these? 

Or pork tamales (still warm) like these?

And then give them all to you one morning because that's just the kind of sweet, generous person she is? I didn't think so. All that is just a bonus anyway because she loves and takes care of my kids as though they were her own. Peace. Of. Mind. 

We love you, Eva! 

Thankful

This amazing photo of five generations together occurred when my Grandma, Uncle Clete, cousin Candi, Candi's son, Mike, and Mike's son, Gavin, were together at Thanksgiving. 

I had to go here to figure out that Gavin is my first cousin, twice removed. And that Mike is a second cousin of my kids. 

We spent Thanksgiving at the home of our good friends, Robyn and Jon Chappell. With their family, some friends and two airmen from the local base, we enjoyed another lively holiday with our adoptive family! Came home in the nick of time to Skype with some of Mark's family in New Jersey.

Do you Skype? Add us as a contact: shannon.nault

Spent the weekend purging toys and things from the playroom and putting up the Christmas decor. Got the mantle tree done and in a Black Friday luck-bonanza, went to Home Depot hoping to get one of their 7.5' pre-lit trees for $49 for the upstairs playroom. I didn't get there until about 2 pm and was told that the trees had sold out within 30 minutes of them opening the doors in the early morning, BUT... some guy just returned two of them and they are right here on this flatbed!

Then I went to Ross (which is like a discount department store) and snapped a photo of a Steelers lawn gnome and sent it to a friend. Friend doesn't reply until two stores/one hour later but wants me to go back and get the gnome. So I go back and it's GONE! I go up and down the aisles and don't see it anywhere. I text friend who tells me to steal it out of someone's cart or break out the pepper spray! Whatever I have to do! I finally give up looking and ask if the store clerk can check a computer somewhere to see if they have another one. A nearby customer overhears my request and says "Excuse me. What are you looking for?" and when I tell her it's the Steelers lawn gnome, she says "I just put that back on a shelf over here" and goes and gets it for me! We then proceed to have a nice conversation about the Steelers beer mugs and Steelers shower curtain hooks that are still in her cart!

That night, I was able to get two tickets for Laurie and I to the 7:30 showing of Breaking Dawn and got rock star parking at the theater. In hindsight, I should have bought a lottery ticket!

We Party Rock!

Should it bother me that my kids know half of the song "I'm Sexy & I Know It" by LMFAO?

Cub Scout Camping Trip

Jacob and Mark went camping again. This Cub Scout camping trip was just for Webelos Scouts who are about to bridge to Boy Scouts. The local Boy Scout Troops invite prospective members to come along and see how Scouts changes as they get older. For this trip, they camped at Pedernales State Park. I'm not sure if Jacob will want to continue in scouting, but I know he has had a lot of fun camping this year. 

Fall Festival and Other Festivities

Last Friday was the Fall Festival at the kids school. Many months of planning came to fruition with the best festival yet! There were a couple issues though...like the car that was STOLEN from the parking lot during set-up! From an elementary school? Really? Not sure of the details like whether the car was open or not but I did hear it was a brand new Lincoln Continental. And possibly an unethical vendor who turned in three times the amount of tickets any vendor has EVER turned in...after she made a comment like "you guys should really get tickets printed with your school name on them." Why? Because it would stop people like you from robbing a PTA blind by turning in tickets from the festival you did last week?

But for the majority of folks, it was a great event. And drama-free as far as PTA goes which is incredibly comforting for this potential president-elect.

On Sunday, we went to Comanche Park for the NAPA Company picnic. It had just rained and the playground, bounce house and fields were damp, but a fun time was had by all. Mark and I even won the horseshoe competition. Had everyone believing I was an Iowa State Champion (temporarily) and took home gift cards to Texas Roadhouse. Mark and the management also won the softball game. The kids kept busy with sports, face painting and a fishing carnival game with cute prizes.

lifehouse church KDO Holiday Marketplace

In what is likely the end of another one of my jobs*, Lucas' school hosted our 4th Annual Holiday Marketplace on Wednesday. Since Lucas will graduate from preschool in the spring, there was lots of harassment from KDO staff about how I need to adopt a 2-year-old quick so I won't have to leave the school (and leave them to find someone else to plan this event!)

We had about 30 vendors again. Here are the websites of some of my favorites!

Jennifer Massey Designs - of course! (Hi Boss!) Handmade jewelry

My Sassy Pants - embellished clothing, fun tees and jewelry

Vault Denim - cute jeans for all sizes

Dizzy Dazzle Designs - home decor

Dandie Cakes - cookie bouquets

Your Queen Bead - beaded serving pieces

Blessings Unlimited - Christian home decor and kitchenwares

* I hit my five-year anniversary with Bath & Body Works in October, then quit. The late night Floor Sets were getting too late, too often and too painful on my hip.