Lost in 8:15

This is both hilarious with the deadpan delivery and a great way to catch up on the first three seasons of Lost if you are a fan.

More Nights of Lights

Heather and I took the kiddos, plus her nephew, to see Zoo Lights last week. As you can tell from the overbearing number of pictures, everywhere we looked was a fantastic creation. I definitely recommend it! It wasn't too cold if we kept moving or paused at the heating spots. We tried deep fried s'mores--it wasn't even on a dare-- and decided they aren't our fave. They cool off too fast and don't have enough graham cracker-y-ness. It was almost like paying $2.00 for a greasy candy bar. Mason wasn't a fan and stuck to the usual mess--a churro. I'm not sure what it is about this boy and cinnamon-sugar, but there is a definite love affair there.

The kids each got a little light up spin toy that may very well be the best $6 I have ever spent. The only problem was when they would let the lights flash in the backseat on the way home, because I totally thought I was being pulled over.

Mason kept wanting to go back and see the monkeys (I maintain it takes one to know one). He was so sweet being upset they were sleeping in the trees. He wanted them to "go down and sleep in their beds."

Overall, Mason swore he had so much fun that he wants to do it again, and that is what counts! Although, I think next year he will be way too big for the stroller and we'll have to find another way to bundle up.

The only place Thanksgiving should meet Christmas

In my opinion, that is. I think Christmas is a post-December 1st sort of thing. Except for some reason this year, we were all over it the day after Thanksgiving. I can totally see that; I'm not the girl who starts Christmas around Halloween time, though, and I never will be.

Anyway, we took Mason to see the holiday lights at Thanksgiving Point on Friday night. He said his favorites were the "red trees". As seems to be the case with children, he liked the parking lot decorations the best out of the whole display! Alan's favorite was a solider lighting a cannon; the cannonball shot in an arch over the roadway and was synced to lights of a small explosion on the other side. I really liked that one, but I think my favorite was the gingerbread man flipping through the archway over the trail. I couldn't capture a very good picture of either of our favorites. And the camera didn't do the red trees much justice, but I tried! (Also, please excuse our car antenna in the picture. If it wasn't there, it would mean I was the driver instead of the passenger, so that's probably a good thing.)

Mason's whole focus of the evening was feeding the "Bambis" so they could "have a popsicle after dinner." He determined that reindeer (we have tried to explain the difference between Bambi and reindeer, but the red nose is the only thing that seems to register, and we have since given up) like brown or yellow popsicles the best. I tried not to think about that too much and I was much relieved when he changed his mind and decided they like blue popsicles instead.

Naturally, Mason was the most interested in trying to climb inside the reindeer's pen. I have a picture of him being stopped by his daddy as he tried to climb over the top, but I was on stroller guard on the other side, so it's really dark. And the picture posted does not accurately show the amount of climbing that was going on...need I say again that he's a monkey?

We had hamburgers and fries (all the better to feed my new, relatively bottomless craving for red meat-- I'm sensing a prescription for iron supplements in my future!) for dinner at a place across the way and then shared a peach cobbler milkshake. I found a chunk of peppermint candy cane in my milkshake. I'm choosing to look at that as a bonus!

Decking the Halls

Mason is starting to recognize some of the elements of Christmas this year, and it has been so much fun. We asked him if he was excited for Christmastime, and the answer was a resounding yes. We asked him what Christmas means, and his first answer was "Lights!" We're working on the actual meaning of Christmas now! However, his excitement prompted us to take first things first-- and put up our lights. As you can see, we aren't too elaborate with it; we put up something simple and then drive around to see the more elaborate displays.

We also invested in a 7 1/2 foot tall pre-lit Christmas tree. This was only a disadvantage after we started decking the tree out and I realized I only had enough decor for a 4 1/2 foot tree. We're making it work! I have scaled back on my Christmas decorations a bit. I used to do the whole living room, but Mason loves to play in there, so we seem to have reached a truce whereby I get my space to decorate if he gets his space to play. As a result, I have the tree and the one table ready to go. My mom purchased a train that is meant to circle the bottom of the tree for Mason; we might put it up if he'll stop playing with it long enough. But his other newfound love is The Polar Express, which is also the name he's bestowed on the new train; I'm thinking this love will carry him through the new year.

Little Chicken Pot Pies

This is what we had for dinner. For this and some of my other brave attempts, check out my recipe blog, The Unpampered Chef. Because we had most of the items on hand, this cost me less than $5 to make, and I was so very excited about that.

Wordless Wednesday: This Time Last Year

Mason was so excited to help dad shovel snow. We'll beat the chore-related excitement out of him yet (okay, not really because chores are necessary and we will benefit when he does them). 2Dec07 For more Wordless Wednesdays, see Nicol's blog when she has a chance to start posting again or 5 Minutes for Mom.