Thanksgiving Weekend

We had the pleasure of hosting some friends for Thanksgiving. My great friend Lizzy came from Virginia with her three girls (6, 4, 3) and Rolland's childhood friend Martin and his wife Katherine came from Conneticut.   We had a really good time, despite the 2 feet of snow that came down Wednesday night!!  The girls all loved playing with each other and I had help getting the house ready for Christmas!!  On Friday Lizzy and I left the house at 4:30 to conquer Black Friday.  Success!!  Lizzy and I both finished our Christmas shopping and now can enjoy December.  Later that day we braved a complete white out to drive to Old Forge NY in the Adirondacks for the Christmas celebration.  We saw Santa and Mrs. Claus and took a scenic train ride to check out all the snow.  There was so much more to do there, but with the amount of snow coming down we decided to head home rather than get stuck in it.  Lizzy stayed until Monday so the rest of the weekend we relaxed, played in the snow, and took LOTS of pictures.  I am so thankful everyone had a good time and a safe trip home.  Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Festive Fall Home

I have lived in 4 different houses in the past 6 six years, and every single one I tried to decorate to make feel like home. Even though the last one in Virginia was my favorite (apple blossom tree in the backyard, a lake with a playground across the street, seeing deer from my living room) this one is coming in close second. And even though we will be living here for a total of 4 months I am still trying to go all out for Fall and Christmas. With Rolland leaving soon (and the fact that we are having out of town guest for Thanksgiving) I wanted to make our house look special and festive. Also just because I love to do it! So here are some pictures of some fall decor, enjoy! (here you go Mom, since you can't see Facebook :) )

We've Been Busy!!

I joined a MOMs group here and have met a great set of Mommies.  They work so hard to create fun things for us to do and there is something almost every week day to do!  Just yesterday we took a tour of Hannaford grocery store.  We even got to go "behind the scenes!"  The kids had a lot of fun learning, trying out new foods, and just being together. This has been a pretty busy week.  Fun but busy.

FREE! Snapfish Photo Book

Right in time for Christmas! i just ordered mine so I know this works... here is the info



New and current members can get a free 8x11 Photo Book from Snapfish thanks to Oprah. Yes, you do need to pay the shipping (you can not use coupon codes on this offer) - but this is a great offer that I think many of you will want to take advantage of. This book would normally cost you $29.99. Standard shipping is $6.99. And of course you've got to pay tax as it applies to your state. You've got to hurry and request your coupon by Friday, November 14. You've got to redeem your coupon by Sunday, November 16.
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 Tips:
1. Be sure you are not currently logged into your Snapfish account

2. Go to Oprah.com and click on "Get your free book!" to get this offer (expires Friday, Nov. 14 at 11:59 PM PST)

3. Then click on the yellow "Get Started" button

4. Either create a new account or log in to your current account

5. You should now see "1 FREE PHOTO BOOK" when you click on "My Account". As Jenny pointed out in the comments, remember that his is only good for a Custom Cover 8.5 x 11 book. Don't try to change the cover to cloth or leather or get a different size!

6. You can add extra pages to your book beyond the standard 20, you'll just be charged for those extra pages ($29.99 will be deducted from the total price).

7. Don't bother trying to use any other codes to cover the $6.99 standard shipping, you're not supposed to combine this offer with any other codes.

8. Order early because this coupon expires on Sunday, November 16. Their website might crash on Sunday at some point if they get inundated with traffic from everyone trying to order their photo books before the deadline

9. Still having problems? Read this Snapfish FAQ: The Oprah offer did not apply to my order. You can also check out the Snapfish Help page. Also, read the comments below for more tips from my readers. Be aware that if you call Snapfish you should be prepared for a long wait since it sounds like they are getting flooded with phone calls. That's just what happens when Oprah shares a deal like this.

2008 Family Portraits

We had our family photos done last week and for the first time went to an actual photographer instead of someone in the mall. April McClintock in Watertown, NY. She did an AMAZING job. And I highly recommend her if you are in the area. Her website is aprilmacphoto.com . We were scheduled for a 3 hour shoot but Bekah only made it through 2 hours and was melting down during that time. (Even though we strategically planned it for after nap time; that day neither girl took a nap!) But despite a grouchy toddler she was still able to get some good shots. Here are a few proofs (from over 40-50 to choose from) that I wanted to share.

Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone had a Spooky Halloween!  Enjoy the pictures!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Sesame Street Live and First Snow Fall!

Last night the USO brought Sesame Street Live to Fort Drum.  The girls and I were able to go (for free) to see all their favorites; Zoe, Rosita, Cookie Monster, Grover, and most of all ELMO!!  It started snowing really hard right before we left and by the time we got there, there was already over an inch on the ground.  Here are some pictures from the night.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I was surprised how hard it actually did snow last night. When we woke up there was about 6-8 inches on the ground, and its still coming down strong!! Good news is that its supposed to stop for Halloween, but I think I need to figure out how to winterize the girls costumes without just sticking a big jacket over them.