Weekend highlights and pictures

That title is so boring, blah. But at least you know what this entry is about.

OK, so a quick recap of the long, long weekend. Thanksgiving Day was good... plenty of food, good company, etc. I didn't take any pictures, but my mom did, so I'm stealing these from her Facebook page...

Me and Tony...

Our spread. Toward the bottom of the pic, you can see the "placecards" my SIL Jess made... they're supposed to be little Mayflowers, with a pretzel-stick mast and candy corn inside the cup. She's so crafty.

I think Mom caught Ari by surprise. Or, maybe, caught her being up to no good.

Friday, we spent most of the day shopping. We didn't go out ridiculously early, but we still managed to find some good deals, and made a dent in our Christmas shopping list. Highlight of the day for Tony was finding the Polamalu jersey he wanted. He's been wanting a Steelers jersey, and he found a great deal at a store in the mall a few weeks ago, but all they had was Roethlisberger. He went ahead and got it anyway, and asked them to call him if they got a Polamalu in. This past Friday, since we were at the mall anyway, he decided to check the store again, and lo and behold, there was his Polamalu jersey. He got a great deal on both jerseys. And I guess this means I'm done Christmas shopping for him, so I'm happy too.

Later on, we were in another store, a gift and collectibles type of store. The owner came over to us and was telling us about their sales. When he was done, Ari said to me, "I wish I could buy something." She had 3 pennies in her hand--change from another store that we'd given to her.

I gently told her, "Well, sweetie, I don't think there's anything in this store you can buy for 3 pennies."

The shop owner looked down at Ari and said, "Wanna prove Mommy wrong?" Then he picked a rooster Beanie Baby off the shelf and handed it to her. "How about I sell this to you for 3 pennies?"

She nodded slowly, while I just blurted, "Are you serious?" And he was. So my little rascal got herself a $5.99 Beanie Baby for 3 cents. I'm pretty sure that was the highlight of her day... she hasn't let that rooster out of her sight since then.

And the highlight of my day? Discovering these in Wal-Mart...

Yes, they taste just like the Girl Scout cookies. So, so good.

Saturday, we decorated for Christmas--mainly, putting up the tree. We're going to do outdoor lights this year, but we need to take some measurements and then buy some before we can make that happen. Ari was even more excited about the tree than she was last year.

Ari putting the very first ornament on the tree--her new Barbie ornament. (Every year, we buy her a new ornament, and now that she's a little older, she helps pick it out.)

It lights up... I think that's the reason she likes it so much.

Wearing one of our Santa hats...

Since she didn't smile in the first shot, I tried to coax her into smiling for the next one, and this was the response I got...

Well, Merry Christmas to you, too, Miss Sulky.

Sunday was a fairly normal day... church, then lunch. And then the satellite receiver on the TV in the living room died on us. The receivers on the other TVs work fine, so it seems like some wiring went bad or something? Tony got on the phone with tech support and they had him try a bunch of stuff, none of which worked. So they're sending a technician out--but the soonest he can get here is Wednesday. Tony was bummed that he didn't get to watch his Steelers win.

And now, 'tis Monday... should be a fairly quiet, normal week. Probably the last one for a while, because it's going to be December by the end of the week, and then the holiday madness really starts. Bring it on!

Spice rack shelf type thing

Saturday morning, I took Ari to Home Depot for one of their Kids' Workshops. I'd heard of these workshops before, and finally decided to look into them. Their website says they are for ages 5-12, but I figured she was close enough. And there were definitely a couple kids that were younger than her, so I didn't feel bad.

The project was a spice rack (though if you ask Ari what it is, she'll tell you it's a shelf). Here she is, hard at work.

And the final product. We'll leave out the part where I tell you that I put it together the wrong way the first time around.

I caught her right between smiles here.

The best thing about this was that it was entirely free. Not only did she get to do the project, but she got an apron and a pin, and will get a pin each time she completes a project. They also gave her a sticker sheet and 2 coloring pages. She was in heaven.

I went on a little baking binge last night. (Did I mention we went apple picking on Saturday? Because, you know, we needed more apples.) I made brownies, another apple pie, and something called "apple crunch dessert." It reminds me of a cobbler, except the topping is a bit crunchy instead of being soft. It tasted good, so that's all that matters.

You want thingamabobs? I've got 20.

Or, at least, I have Halloween pictures.

Saturday evening, we finally got around to carving our pumpkins. Ari chose Minnie Mouse for her pumpkin, and I got tasked with carving it. It occurred to me... I think this might be the first pumpkin I've ever carved. It was certainly the most intricate. I had to "freehand" a few spots because I wasn't able to trace the pattern correctly, but all in all, I think it came out well. Ari liked it, so that's all that matters.

Tony carved the bigger pumpkin, using 2 different patterns--a spiderweb with some added ghosts.

And here are both the pumpkins, lit up on our doorstep on Halloween night.

And another shot of the pumpkins, using the flash. We set out a basket of candy since we wouldn't be home.

In the evening, we headed to a friend's house for trick-or-treating... it's become a tradition to go trick-or-treating in their neighborhood with a group of friends, and it seems our group grows a little every year. It's a lot of fun because it gives us grown-ups plenty of company as we wander around.

I got a couple shots of Ari, as Ariel, before we got going. Excuse the bizarre "smile."

Oops, forgot her magic wand.

A closer shot of her hair. I think it came out really good. It was definitely the perfect Ariel color. The only problem was that even after it dried, it rubbed off on her clothes and on the seat of the car. But it washed right out of her hair with no problem later on, so I'm sure it will come out of everything else just as easily.

And the whole gang. We've got a vampire, a knight, a mummy, and a hippie in the back row... Super Girl, Ariel, and Barbie in the next row down... and then little Joey, who wanted to be "an egg" (his mom made the costume).

And then off we went. All the kids seemed to have a great time, and in true princess style, Ari got tired out pretty quickly and insisted on riding in the wagon the rest of the time. She even skipped several houses because she didn't feel like getting out from under the blanket we brought. Can't say that I blame her, though--I was pretty chilly myself about an hour or so into it.

And now it's Monday, and it's November... where has this year gone?