HGP Overview

So, I'm glad I participated in the Holiday Grand Plan this year. I didn't get all out of it that I should have, but did get a lot of good from it. I think in large part, the reason I didn't get the most from it is that I didn't have the info printed out at the beginning. I've been having problems with my printer and decided to save whatever prints were left, so I didn't print them. They have lots of tips about things to be sure to clean and lists to keep etc. Because I didn't have them printed I didn't get the tips and didn't really feel like I was participating either. However, I already have a reminder on my calender to participate next year. While I'm thinking about it, I'm going to add a reminder a couple of weeks earlier to be sure that I have all the forms printed. I bought a new printer already, so I'm thinking about printing them now and putting them in a binder. But where would I sore it so that I could find it? If only I were more organized!

Santa!

Here's the little guy with Santa last year...


Here he is this year...

What a difference.
This year I almost gave up in line a couple of times. He was not into it at first! We walked up to where you could see Santa, but you weren't in line and talked about him. He waved to Miles, but Miles wouldn't wave back. Then in line he started to throw a temper tantrum royal! I couldn't distract him and all he wanted to do was run off. Finally we were next (there weren't many people in line but they were taking FOREVER). Miles was playing with a little car and I told him that I bet Santa liked cars too. After the little girl in front of us was done, we walked up and said hi. After more prompting Miles held out the car for Santa to see. He oh-ed and ah-ed appropriatly and took the car to drive on his gloves. Once it was clear that the friendship hadn't geled, I pulled out our copy of "Twas the Night Before Christmas." I told Miles that it was Santa's story, and I bet if he asked nicely that Santa would read him a page or two. As soon as Santa took the book Miles was fine going to him. He loves books so much. He never really did smile, but he did great!

Every night we read a Christmas story. We have 4 main ones that we cycle through "A Christmas Carol," "Twas the Night Before Christmas," "The Nutcracker," and "The First Christmas." Miles really seems to like all of them. We talk a little about the difference between the real Christmas story and the others, but mostly just let him enjoy.

Here he is "helping" to decorate.
So far everyone is enjoying the holidays, and looking forward to next week!

Ice!

When my sister came in town, we took her to Ice!. It was super fun. They have hand carved ice sculptures which they keep frozen (and environmentally friendly) by cooling 14,000 square feet to a tepid 9degrees!

Here is Miles playing on a little train while we purchase tickets.


Here we are ready to go in to the exhibit. They loan you these huge coats to keep "warm."
Miles refused to put one on, but I took it anyway. I was hoping that once we were in he would acquiesce. He did but he wasn't too happy about it at first.


Here we are sitting on frozen Santa's lap. Miles was loving it!

These are cool ice trees with lights frozen inside them. Very neat!

There were a ton of cool sculptures but I won't bore you with pics of ice...

Here are a few from after.


We had a blast (ticket price was still steep though)! Grapevine has a ton of stuff both during the season and all year long!

It's kitchen week! HGP

http://milestogrow.blogspot.com/2008/09/still-rganizing.html

I've already done my kitchen, but over the last few weeks my house has fallen apart! I pretty much expected this, but not quite to this degree (or maybe I expected that I would have it back by now). We went to Mexico, we were here for a week and a half, my sister came with her two children, we went camping, we visited the grandparents, we went to the fair, my sister left, Jared had an all day shooting competition, then we got sick. Blech! It hasn't been too long yet, but I'm still not 100%. At any rate, I knew my house would be a mess after the last 3 weeks, but come on! I'm staring at a sink full of dishes, loads of laundry, tons of Jared's stuff on the sideboard, and my freshly mopped floor! You have to start somewhere!

Anyway, I've done the main organizing of the kitchen, but I need to get everything back under control. All the rooms, but mostly the kitchen and dividers in the dining room.

Oh, one last thing, and this is very important! Early voting starts today in Texas. Vote!

What our camping trip looked like...

First, we left home (duh), sorry no pics.

Then the visit to Grandmother's retirement home.


Te campsite was fantastic!


The Elvis impersonations.


The showers.

The kids.


The meals.



The tire changes (2 of them!).

The tractors.


The feed trough rides.


The cows.


The cow petting.

The cow riding.


The cow feeding.


The in the car silliness.

HGP - Kid's Room Week

I'm so excited that this week is Kid's room week in the Holiday Grand Plan. Miles is little and we don't keep much in his room. We can't tell him to go play in his room. We do keep a few books and toys in there and he does play there some, but mostly it is out in the family areas of the house. As it is beginning to get cooler here I will need to go through his clothes; he is also getting a little bigger and I have a few I need to cull through. I cleaned the walls in his room really well before setting up his crib and repainted where needed. On Sunday we (finally) bought a new sofa. We took the futon that was in the den and moved it into Miles' room. We also did a little rearranging to make things fit. It is a little more snug than I'd like, but it's ok for now.

At any rate, I'm excited about it beeing kid's room week because I don't have much to do. This is great because my sister is coming into town this week with her two kids and she wants to go camping. With two toddlers! Yikes!

We're Back

Here are some pictures from this weekend.

Chomping at the bit to go!

Miles and Mommy watching the ocean.

A view of the resort.

Hi Miles and Daddy!

The beautiful bride.

The vows.

Miles playing after the wedding.

More play time!

A view of the sunset from the villa.

The lovely bride and groom enjoying a dance.

Miles after breakfast watching the waves.

Orchids at the resort.

Miles in front of a fan at the hotel.

Miles and Jared being silly.

Finally on the way home!

We had a fabulous time. My recommendations? Sure, don't pick a flight with a 4.5 hour layover in Mexico City, then have the second leg of your flight get delayed when you travel with your 1.5year old. Other than the traveling we did have a great trip. Even the traveling part wasn't too bad though. There was a fair amount of grin and bear it though. We are basically back on schedule and have the house back together, but I think Miles is getting sick. I hope it won't be too bad. It is affecting his sleep and his attitude a bit, but he is still playing and eating ok. My sister and her two kids are going to be here on Wednesday. They'll stay with either my parents or us that night, the next morning she wants to go camping. We'll camp Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Sunday night we'll spend with my grandmother, and Monday night we'll be back here. They leave some time on Tuesday. Whewh! That will be a whirlwind. I really hope that everyone is well by then!