Yay it's finally snowing!

So I typed this yesterday, and was going to post it last night...but I got my first deer of the season so it was delayed until this morning!


I am snack mom for Z's girl scout meeting tonight, and check out the super cute Turkey cookies I found at the Crafty Crow blog-

Aren't they cute! (this is not a picture of my cookies. My cookies are still just a blob of dough in my freezer, this picture is from the Crafty Crow website) They have some really cute corn on the cob cupcakes there too.



I have still done nothing to prepare for Christmas! Yikes! I have this horrible vision of my family showing up after spending about a bajillion dollars to get here, and I am just standing there with a blank look on my face saying "Oh Yeah....Christmas..."
I am actually very excited about Christmas. There is so much to do here, it's hard to choose what! I know we are going to the Sight and Sound theater, and on a polar express steam train (each of the cars are warmed with potbelly stoves, how cute is that?), and back to Dutch Wonderland!

We were very lucky to get free tickets to the premier of the Polar Express 4-D at the National Aquarium. I had no idea how amazing the aquarium is! J was beside himself with excitement. He loved the giant seat turtle and the sharks! The event was after hours, so we got to roam all around the exhibits with out all the crowds. They had a professional photographer take a family picture, it was catered with gourmet cookies and hot chocolate, and the movie was amazing! The theater fills with the aroma of hot chocolate, and Christmas trees, cold wind blows in your face, Ice sprays in your face when the train skids on the lake, and it actually snows in the theater! How cool is that! They gave us all silver bells on ribbon just like in the movie too. I commented to the guy that got us tickets that I felt just like we were VIP's, he laughed and said "Well, you kinda' are!"

We can't wait to go back and see it again!

So what is on every ones Thanksgiving Menu???

I know Amy is getting Duck (and squirrel???), but what is everyone else having?

Here is our menu-
Stuffed mushrooms (an appetizer)
Brined Roasted Turkey (Alton Browns recipe...the best Turkey we have ever had!)
Roasted Sweet Potatoes with garlic, sea salt, and caramelized onions
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Stuffing
Creamed Spinach (Martha's recipe...it has those yummy little onions in it)
Sauteed Brussel Sprouts in a garlic lemon butter sauce
Home made rolls
Seven layer Jello (for the kids)
Home made Cranberry sauce (super super easy, and sooo much better than the canned stuff!)
Lemony Acorn Squash
Spinach salad with candied pecans, dried cranberries, red onion, feta cheese and raspberry vinaigrette
I haven't figured out dessert yet!

No school next week! Yay!!!! I really hate waking up so stinkin' early!!!

Where in the heck are all these people running to???

Whew! So I finished Twilight (great book) and actually got some unpacking done! My house is finally starting to look habitable (but Amy your night stand is still likely to be a stack of unpacked boxes!)
We are LOVING it here! Everyone is super friendly, and the grounds are amazing. I keep telling Bill I feel like I live at Hogwarts (I know...I'm a nerd!) We are shocked though that housings house warming gift was not a pair of running shoes though, because literally EVERYONE here is running ALL of the time! It's like a million Forrest Gumps, young and old, male and female, just running all the dang gone time! I have no idea where they run to, but I am pretty sure that if we don't start they will come hunt us down and tie us up in our creepy basement!
My friend and I walked from my house to downtown today. It has awesome shops and trendy little restaurants and bakery's (two Starbucks!) They call it ego ally and it's easy to see why. Lot's of yachts and super expensive clothes, but still a really nice place to go hang out for a while.
We found out that we are literally the lowest ranking family living on the entire Yard, which we both find hysterical! I joke with Bill that in the mornings when he is in uniform and everyone is heading to work, he will have tennis elbow in his saluting arm before he even gets to the car! But hey, it is pretty cool that we are paying the cheapest rent!
Z started at her new school today! She was really excited to go after meeting some of the neighborhood kids, so we decided to put her in right away. It is a great school, and we feel really lucky that she gets to go. The principal met her at the door and introduced her to her new teacher, who than took her on a little tour before meeting up with the rest of the class. The teacher had assigned a "buddy" for her the previous day (who has the same name as Z) so right away she would have a friend and somebody to help her get into the routine. She was beaming ear to ear when we left so I am sure she will love it! J also seems to be loving having the TV and toys all to himself (and I am pretty sure he stole some candy out of Z's trick or treat bucket)
I will post some pics. of the area when I get a chance. In fact maybe that should be our next little 5 things thing. Maybe we can take pics. of our favorite spots around town! I would love to see everyones towns, and what their favorite places in them are!
What's every ones plans for Thanksgiving? I feel very behind this Holiday season, I have not planned or purchased anything!!!
Time to walk down and pick up Z!
Have a great Thursday!

My last Thursday Post on Monday!

I didn't have time to post anything last week, we were just crazy busy with packing, lugging, and cleaning! We moved everything by ourselves, which means that we hefted all of our furniture to our second story apartment (no elevator) and I am still sore! I don't know what was worse the bulky heavy furniture, or the up and down the stairs carrying box after box, I must have burned 1200 calories a day on all those steps (don't worry I also consumed 1200 calories a day in my kids Halloween candy).
We are done with the actual moving now though, and it's just the unpacking, which should be no big deal except that when I went to the new Target the other night I made a huge, huge, ginormous mistake....and now no unpacking in my near future! What was that mistake? Oh yeah... I bought the book Twilight, and I can NOT put it down... It is soooo dang good! Stupid book! My children are running through a maze of boxes and misplaced furniture and I know I am supposed to be putting everything away and roaming the grounds trying to figure out where the heck all those people are running too...but no, I am stuck on my couch with a book in my lap! I swear I have a mental disability...the same thing happened with every single Harry potter. I am actually quite proud of myself for putting the dang thing down long enough to type this! So anyways, don't buy the book Twilight unless you are prepared to ignore all of your responsibility's and relationships for at least the next 24 hours! See you Thursday!