...to make my Christmas cards

So I am beginning to panic just a bit.  One might think there is quite a bit of time until the holidays are here; but when I began to think about them in terms on weekends I began to panic.  Especially since one of the weekends will be consumed by Army/Navy festivities.

Well the list writing has begun...a few things I need to accomplish include:

• Make Christmas cards
• Make Christmas calendars
• Make teacher gifts (Isabella wants to make snowball soap again and I want to make them truffles)
• Buy community appreciation gifts (a clever, politically correct phrase I am coining) for those whose services I appreciate (e.g., the postman, garbage man, cleaning crew, office staff etc...)

More on the latter two items later.

I wanted to begin today with the first two items on my list.  Luckily I have heard about this awesome give-away on Shutterfly.  They are giving 50 free cards to those who blog just to promote their site.   Crazy!  This site seems to sell their products on their merit alone. 

But since I love their products AND I was going to order from them anyhow....

There are several styles of cards that I LOVE.  Here are a few that I can't seem to choose from:

I love the simplicity of just one photo...but how can I capture our life, with four children, in a whole year, with only one photo?  Thus, I tend to favor the photo cards with several places for my cherubs beaming grins.

You'll have to endure the suspense until you receive the photo of my choosing....

They also have really great gifts that seemingly would not need such promotion.  Like this mug...I know Fred and Ellen will love to enjoy their morning cup-o-joe with these sweet mugs.  And I REALLY LOVE that you can put more than one photo on this cup!

Anyhow, I digress.  Again. 

I have picked out my holiday card

AND I have also began the arduous process of putting together,  been working on, completed my annual Crow family calendars (with ONLY a few different key photos) that the grandparents love to receive every year.  At least they certainly pretend to!

...to sing HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

What a great day for our little #3.  She was able to share her special day with her Aunt Titi and Uncle Kyle, her cousin Eva, her friend's Paddy, Ms. Meghan, and Mr. Sean and of course her family. 

What a treat to have so many loved ones here at West Point to celebrate with us.  Thank you to each of you for making her day so special!

Happy Birthday Princess Abigail!

...to begin decorating for the holidays

So I have a ways to go but thanks to the help of my adoring husband and my awesome sister-in-law and my little brother we got a magnificent start!

Inspired by my best friend, Taylor and I went out this evening on a stealth mission...to pilfer an abundance of holiday foliage to add to my holiday decor.  So armed with a mag light, a pair of pruning shears, and of course, the dogs, we set on our mission.

Poor Roxy...she was a bit of a casualty this evening!

"Seriously people...get this bough out of my a...!"

But the mission was definitely successful!

MORE TO COME!

...to enjoy the day

Mark suggested we simplify this year.  Not create a gigantic mess.  Enjoy the day.  Relax.

This is what our table looked like at the club for dinner....


I have mentioned before I cook in a similar manner to the Swedish Chef from the Muppets.  Well even still today...my kitchen looked liked this after clean up (Round 1) and all I made were a few appetizers and dessert....

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Abbey, Mark, Krissy, Audrey, Eva, Taylor, Kyle, Will, and Isabella

...to have more patience

I really need some work here.

I have several areas of my life I need to focus on but I am just going to list a few...

1) I need to have more patience with my dog.  I love our mutt...but I can't handle it when I walk her in the cold November evenings and she needs to find her inner 'Detective Dawg'.  A friend recently told me that a dog sniffing while they walk is much like a human reading the newspaper daily.  Many times the information is similar, but we read it nonetheless.

2) I need to have more patience with my children.  I have to remember that my oldest is only 7.  Not seventeen.  It is reasonable to have to tell her more than once, even several times, that she needs to put her clothes in the hamper.

3)   I need to have more patience while driving.  Not everyone tries to cram every minute of their day with appointments and commitments.  I need to respect this and then enjoy the views in the process.  After all, I am usually moving around one of the most beautiful campuses in the country.

4) I need to have more patience with the Army.  If I hear yet another new scenario for what my life is going to be like (in terms of when/where Mark is going to deploy) in the next three-six months I think I am going to look for the nearest bridge!  However, this is what the Army is like.  IT is not nearly as efficient as I think it should be.  But, as Mark has been known to say, "It is what it is."

Finally...

5) I need to have more patience with myself.  I have to remember NOT to judge how successful my day was by the items I have checked  off my list.  Some days there are many other things people that are more important.

...to cheer on Army in the City

GO ARMY BEAT NOTRE DAME!

 

...to see just how many events I can cram into a few hours

In case you are wondering..the answer is too many.

I think after Mark came home this evening and we were between events his words went something like, "I am no longer going to be a part of this 'ridiculousness'. If you want to carry on with this mayhem next week, you will have to do it without me!"

To back up a bit, my darling first born decided on a whim last week that she wanted to play hockey with her brother.  How can one deny her this?  Hockey is at 6:15 on Thursday evenings.

The problem was/is she has dance (tap/jazz) on Thursday afternoons at 4:00 and these classes last until 5:30.  Or so I thought.  Apparently they technically don't finish until 5:45.

Mark says, "She needs to quit dance."

The thing is, I love that she is in dance.  Simply because I am a horrible dancer and I don't want her to be.

To continue my story...Hockey gear takes at least twenty minutes to put on and the events aren't immediately next door and oh by the way it is the dinner hour....

Things were a little crazy at our house this evening.

Maybe I'll see if she can do dance on Tuesdays!

First practice!