Thanksgiving/Christmas tree... To Do List Countdown

I can't get my blogging mo-jo running and I think I figured out why. I think I've been thinking that I would go back and catch up on a year's worth of missing blog posts. I think it felt too intimidating so I didn't get going. I've decided that that's not going to happen and I should just pick up in the now.. so here it goes. Let's see if this gets me on here more!!

Thanksgiving kicked off the 9 week countdown to our life ending again, my due date!! That kicked in some major anxiety with everything that needs to be done. Because I'm.... uptight? (is that the best word to describe me?)... I had to get a list going to make sure everyone (Jason) was on the same page of what the priorities are. Generally a list this size is doable, but these days it is becoming more and more intimidating as I get larger and larger... and larger.

Does this freak you out? It freaks me out.. major!

I think putting it on paper got Jason rolling, which got us started!

Thanksgiving week started on Tuesday with potty training boot camp for Coletyn. Our sitter was so helpful and since Cole was the only one she had, she started him off. He continued like a champ and by Wednesday night (I was off on Wednesday) we could run to Panera for dinner and hit target and he was great. He hasn't had one accident (other than the first day he was learning) and is cruising right along. Today was the highlight as we went to the tree farm. On the way there Coletyn declared that he would wait until we got home to go potty (he had tried in public a few times in the last 5 days but never was successful). We ended up being there longer than anticipated which resulted in him having to go. He was a champ.. in a port-a-john nonetheless!! I'm calling this one a win!!

Wednesday consisted of baking WITHOUT AN OPERABLE KITCHEN SINK. Yeah, it sucked a$$! Long story short, the plumber who came last month, the last time our sink didn't drain, snaked it further than Jason could go but must have just made a small path as the sink reclogged just weeks later. On Friday, another plumber cam and fixed the sink, again. We had also had a leaky garbage disposal as well so after a run to Home Depot, Jason swapped that out and now life... drains!
Links of the baked goods I made if you were curious:
Cherry Torte, Pumpkin Roll, and Pumpkin Bars!!! With homemade whipped cream, of course!

Thursday we went to mom's for Thanksgiving but since all the baking was done, we cuddled on the couch and watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Coletyn was so confused as to why they weren't throwing candy as he immediately connects parades with getting candy. Once he saw the big balloons he was okay that we weren't sitting on a curb with our buckets catching candy!

Parade eskimo kisses!!

Friday the plumbing and garbage disposal got fixed but we also cooked a big Thanksgiving dinner because we wanted left overs. We did two turkey breasts on the rotisserie, poller sausage, stuffing, green bean casserole, cranberry relish and a vat of sauerkraut. I make Lenore's recipe and we had about 10 heads of cabbage from the garden that we shredded, blanched, vacuum sealed and froze this harvest that went into the vat. I'll then freeze it in meal size portions for us to eat with poller sausage for the year... yum!! We DON'T do Black Friday... ever. I always try to be done shopping by Halloween and that's just nuts to me! I'm all about a deal but not that much! We did break our no Black Friday shopping rule this year when we ran to get the garbage disposal but we paid full price so that doesn't really count!!

Saturday... oh Saturday, you sucked! Mom took the kids on Saturday so Jason and I could start kicking the To Do List's butt! She had them for about 8 hours and we didn't stop working. The first item on the agenda, after eating leftovers, was Cecelia's room. In prep for baby #3, kid #1 and kid #2 will shack up together. Our house is so small and all the living space is on top of each other, I'll need a nursery to take the baby to in the middle of the night so he/she doesn't wake everyone up! So over Christmas break, Cole will move into Cecelia's room. So, Jason and I started the archeological dig. Jason described it best... it was truly like tossing a prison cell. Every nook, cranny and crevice needed to be searched. She had crap shoved in every drawer, bag, etc that could be possible. The cherry on top was the graffiti. She had tagged her furniture with... snowmen. Little punk! After sorting all the toys and finding the carpet, we rearranged furniture to fit two kids. I refuse to buy more furniture. Cecelia is in a day bed now with a trundle underneath. DONE! If we never get out of this house, one day down the road we'll probably have all the kids sleeping in one room and make the other a play room... who knows. The room is actually bigger now than it was. We got rid of her dresser. We took the closet doors off and will make that both kids "dresser" and pulled the trundle out 90 degrees from the daybed in a corner. Each kid has a floor to ceiling shelving unit for toys, etc and that is it. The rest of the floor space can be for their shit, I mean toys! After the great four hour dig of 2014, I was beat and needed a break. Jason decided to continue to dig into the livingroom and do a toy round up... you know, where you find all the toy pieces that go together and put them together so the kids can actually play with the toys. That took about another three hours but he rocked it out. After the kids came home and went to bed the most daunting task of the day began... the massive gift wrapping. We have Christmas and both kid's birthdays (Dec. 10th and Jan. 7th) to prep for. Also all the gifts for everyone else. I do the shopping over a few months then make Jason take a night and help wrap. In the end it took only about 3 hours (it felt longer) but we finished it all up and put them all away! So after the thirteen hour day, THREE massive things crossed off of the list!

Sunday, funday! Christmas decorating day. We decided to try something new for a Christmas tree this year. A cut your own tree farm. Friends recommended Buffalo Bill's in Franklin. It was fun, for the kids! We decided to take the 5 minute walk to the discount trees because we generally try to get a 12ish foot tree. They had sleds so we got one for the kids and one for the tree!!

A little snow on the ground may have made the ride a bit easier! The trees in the discount area weren't the best but we found one that would do and Jason cut it down. Then began the (now much longer than 5 minute) hike back with two heavy sleds. I contemplated making the kids walk but it was so muddy they would have definitely taken a digger and we would have then had muddy kids to deal with!

We did make the kids hike up the last, biggest hill as I could tow the tree on the flat but it was up to Jason to two both sleds up the hills. Like I said, snow would have been amazing! Overall, it was really fun... for the kids. We usually go to a tree lot on 27th street, pick one off the rack and are home 15 minutes later. This was an experience. After there was a fire, hot chocolate and cookies. There were crafts but we were done. Overall, our tree which is probably about 13 or 14 feet was $42. We would have spent double at the tree lot and it wouldn't have been as "fun!" 

We spent the rest of Sunday decorating the tree. It was cute to see the kids into it this year. They actually enjoyed hanging ornaments, that was a first! Our tree isn't exactly symmetrical, but we love it nonetheless! After the tree was done, Jason and the kids tackled the Christmas village while watching the Packer game while I make turkey and wild rice soup with the left over turkey. More items crossed off of the list... GRAND!!

Daddy's helper!