Holiday Fanfare

Three more days until my family hits the road to visit family 1200+ miles away. It's quite the adventure with a 22 month old! He's a trooper until about mile 100, and then it's 17 hours of trying this or that tactic to keep him occupied and unaware of how his little body must ache from a 5-point car seat! Ugh! I can imagine, since I hate sitting for more than an hour at a time. Your butt really starts to get annoyed with the lack of movement, and then the bladder starts yelling at you, "Pull over and let me do my duty!" But, have you seen gas prices lately?! Why would I put myself through double cost flying and entertaining the little one 1200 miles up? On the road we can pull over and stretch, play at rest stops and spend a fraction of the cost on travel expenses. We drive a compact car with a standard transmission (GO CLUTCH!) that gets roughly 37-40 mpg highway, so we enjoy the savings at the cost of a somewhat restless child. In the end, we drive through the snow covered Wasatch mountains to find ourselves pulling up to my parent's house, covered in snow and lit with Christmas lights. I'm sure by the end of the visit I'll curse under my frozen breath as I'm scraping snow off my car (but it beats scraping Oklahoma ice). Inside the home is filled with yummy smells, Christmas music, 3 noisy bro's, and lots of decor. It's cozy, it's warm, it's home for Christmas! I can't wait.
(A last year pic of the snow storm that hit the morning after we arrived to my parent's home)

New

Two words, SUSHI NEKO! Yummm. It's the newest restaurant that my husband and I have been to. Now, I don't want to hear "Oh, gross, sushi!?" Because until you've tried some real, Japanese, (even cooked if you prefer) sushi rolls then you can't hurl at the thought of eating it. Trust me, just go to Sushi Neko and order the Soy Bean appetizer (the most unexpected, tasty, interesting little appetizer) Miso Salmon, and a California, or Philadelphia roll. Or, if you prefer some raw and some cooked fishes mixed in the same roll order the Baja California roll because it sounded delicious. We didn't get anything raw because I'm pregnant, but cooked crab in a sushi roll is oh.so.tasty! Not only was it a delicious evening out, it was an evening with JUST the husband and myself. If any of you haven't been on a date with JUST the husband then now is the time! Try something NEW together, because you'll totally laugh and feel ridiculous together, and you'll have a new memory that won't include messy diapers or outbursts in public. Don't get me wrong, kids are great. But, marriages are important too. Your relationship one-on-one with your spouse is the eternal relationship that should be nurtured! We've decided that next time we go we are going to pass up the main entree and order a bunch of sushi rolls to share. Honestly, they are melt-in-your-mouth great! If there are any couples out there that want to try this amazing restaurant we'll go with you!

It's that "most wonderful time of the year" time

From the New York Daily News: A Walmart employee was trampled to death at a Long Island, New York Walmart as he was attempting to open the doors of the store this morning to allow Black Friday shoppers to enter.

Witnesses said the surging throngs of shoppers knocked the man down. He fell and was stepped on. As he gasped for air, shoppers ran over and around him.

“He was bum-rushed by 200 people,” said Jimmy Overby, 43, a co-worker. “They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me. They took me down too…I literally had to fight people off my back.”

Nassau County Police are still investigating and would not confirm the witness accounts. Police did say there were several injuries but weren’t more specific.

The article also mentions that a pregnant woman at the same store was trampled and as a result, lost her baby.

Oh, and here is the clincher! When the customers were told they would have to leave the store so investigators and ER personnel could assess the scene they had riots in the store because the customers wanted their "free items" and "early bird" specials. I mean, duh! They freakin' trampled the man to death to get in and be the first to have the free door prizes! They "should" be allowed to get them! I mean, it's all in the name of the game, right?!

NOT! Crazy shopping IDIOTS! What are people thinking!?!? I've said it before and I'll say it again, I never go shopping on black Friday. It's not an elitist thing. It's that I don't have to find great deals on mainly crap that I don't need, and I don't have to spend money to celebrate Christmas. Good grief!

Consumerism is SO not worth losing your life over...literally and figuratively. Sheesh! Whatever happened to "Here are some homemade goodies. Merry Christmas and I love you!" ????? It's turned into a season of the bbd(bigger, better deal) even if it costs your life or someone else's. There is my beef for the week.

Toddler boy

Sometimes I look at my 21 month old and ask, "Coleman, what is it like being a little boy, huh? What are you thinking about?" I just wonder sometimes what it's like being a toddler. How do they feel about the world around them? What's going on in those little heads of theirs? Well, I guess my answers about what it's like being a boy toddler came the other day when I realized a few things about their world. This is what I imagine my little boy thinks (and would tell me if he could) most of the time.

*Why walk when you can stomp, run, roll, jump, dance, and go backward?

*Why keep white walls white when they can be crayola colored?

*Why sit still on a chair when it can be pushed over, rocked, jumped on, pushed through the house, and crawled under?

*Why watch cartoons when there are beds to jump on, electrical outlets to ruin, computer buttons to mash, toilets to drink water out of, cell phones to break, hair combs, brushes, rubber bands, toothbrushes, and makeup to lose in the abyss that must exist in my home?

*Why drink milk from a cup when you can watch it pour out and make cool wet spots on the carpet and tile?

*Why eat food when it can become a ball, a car, or a pliable mound of shapes?

*Why leave the laundry folded nicely when it can be pulled down and strewn around the house and played on like play-time mats?

I think my sons life must be pretty fun. I have to admit, jumping on beds IS fun! I don't think he worries about anything as long as he's able to use something for the purpose it was not intended for.

Halloween

So, I am finally posting a slide show of Halloween. First, Chris and I did a Family Home Evening of pumpkin carving with his mom and sister-in-law. We had a blast. They had never carved using those paper pattern things, and were worried that they were screwing up the design. I kept telling them to wait until they saw the finished project with candle light and all, because they always look amazing. They were totally surprised at how artistic they looked. So fun! Second, we headed down to Dallas TX for a long weekend of partying with Chris' sister and her fam. We went "trunk" or treating at their church AND regular ol' trick-or-treating in a decked out neighborhood, complete with human statues that would jump out and scare you, or follow you. It was fun. Coleman was so squeezably cute in his monkey costume.