This is what I did today...now I better get to more important things!

Christmas cards...check.

Christmas cookies...check.

Presents wrapped...check.

List of presents still needed...check.

One last trip to the store to get the Santa present for Emerson who changed her mind...check.

Hubby just bought a new bow and said that was his xmas present, decided to still give him the coat I already bought him...check.

Birthday cake for Madison tomorrow...check.

Ready for the blizzard...check.

So why does it still seem like I have a million things to do?!

Did you know Santa can fly a plane??

He can. Now you know. His reindeer were sick so the plane brought him to town. If you look closely, you can see him in the plane as he landed at Yankton's airport. We were lucky enough to see him land safe and sound. Brody came along to help me with keeping track of his sisters (although he did admit this whole event was kind of cool for the little kids)): So the girls got to tell him what they wanted which is totally different than the first list so we'll see if Santa pulls through. Whether Santa comes by plane, car or sleigh, the kids were just oohed and aaahed over the deal. That really was pretty cool.

Madison and her friend as blue angels in the Nutcracker...

Ringlets, ringlets, ringlets...

Here is the Yankton Lewis & Clarks Runners Club after we ran the Nike Cross Country race in Sioux Falls. We placed 3rd!!

Dress rehearsal night...oh she looks like an angel!

NO, I HAVE NOT FALLEN OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH...although there are days when I think I may have. Or should have at the rate I was going. So I have been following your posts, keeping up with your stories and adventures, smiling, laughing and learning from them. I always knew this time of year was busy for our household, but the last month seems to have been one of those months when something was always going on. Unfortunately, my blog has suffered in the busy-ness of the season. But here I am, watching Y&R from the DVR (which I have learned is an amazing feature to the television techonology..do you know it really only takes 30 minutes to watch a 60 minute program?), eating doritos and just enjoying my time. No monkeys but hey, you can't have it all. Where do I begin to catch up? Maybe just a short summary will do the trick...

-joined facebook

-managed to ringlet daughter's hair for Nutcracker production and endless rehearsals (pictures to follow)

-photography business boomed for last minute family xmas photos

-enjoyed a fabulous Thanksgiving with family

-ran a Nike cross country road race with the runners club from Yankton, placed 3rd with the team and 5th individually

-celebrated youngest daughters 7th birthday!

-planning other daughters 9th birthday party on the 20th

-son started basketball practice with his school

-learned after a panic attack that pictures that corrupt on a memory card are really not gone forever. $40 later, clients pictures were retrieved.

-hunting with hubby one more time before season ends

-xmas shopping for friends and family

-thinking about my wonderful, amazing friends all the time

I am sorry for not being in blog-land for awhile. I mean it when i say, even amonst the chaos of everyday life, you are always on mind and in my prayers.

See you in the next post...

My little elves...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I bought starch today. I've never ever bought starch before in my life. But today I did. And it's not for clothes or anything related to laundry. It's for madison's hair. yes, her hair.

Because madison is a little blue angel in the Nutcracker production, her hair needs to be in ringlets. I think I posted that before. So I have these foam rollers and began practicing. It worked! her hair was ringlet-y to me. I thought we were set. But come to find out, we're not. Apparantly, roller ringlets are not the ringlets they want. They want the "Nellie Olson" ringlets. You know, from Little House on the Prairie. Tight, glued together curls. Being a newbie to the production, I asked some other moms how they got the infamous "nellie" ringlets. This is what I found out:

Take an old curling iron, spray a section of hair with starch, roll it up in the iron, spray some more starch, slide iron out leaving a solid lump of hair hoping to resemble a ringlet. After dress rehearsals and shows, curling iron will need to be thrown away. Seriously? Starch? Since my blue angel is in the front, I figured I better get my starch. Saturday is a full dress rehearsal, so I'll be sure and post a photo of the starch-girl.

I wonder, did Nellie Olson use starch in her hair? Hmmmm, I guess we'll never know...

I pulled out one of my favorite Christmas figurines this weekend...I have a few from Fitz and Floyd but this one tops them all. I wish you could see the details from the photo but it doesn't do it justice. I don't know, I may just keep him out all year long but for now, this Santa really gets me in the spirit of the upcoming holidays.

Packers 37
Bears 3

Life is good for the Pack-Man.

The new Discovery Bridge in Yankton...connecting our town with the state of Nebraska. Pretty impressive. Especially at night with all the lights luminating on the river. It's one of those bridges we drive across just to drive across. If you ever come this way, you must drive into Nebraska, even for just a minute. It will give you goosebumps, I promise.

Packers 27
Vikings 28


Need I say more?

You may have noticed our son's hair is a little different lately. It's called, "I give up on arguing about getting a haircut.: He's a great kid but if there has been one thing we disagree on, it's his hair. He has wanted to grow it long forever. He likes that shaggy look. And it didn't help when his Chicago cousin came to visit and had the shaggy hair he loves. So I decided a couple of months ago to stop fighting him about it and just let it be. I thought he would see how "bad" it looks long. I thought a cute girl would tell him she likes short, clean cut hair. I thought he would come home begging for a haircut. But instead, the curls are showing and after getting used to it, I honestly think it looks pretty good on him. The down side is, he has to shower every morning or it resembles a bird's nest. So long hair it is for awhile I guess. Could be worse...like wanting it green.

It doesn't happen very often with varying schedules but everyone was home tonight. So I bribed my family, set the self-timer, had 10 seconds to get into position and this was the picture we got. Not bad for scrambling. Funny how I take hundreds of other people's families but to get one of my own is, well, not so easy! But again, it's not bad. Maybe Christmas card material?

I am working late tonight, catching up on weekend appointments. I was completely booked. I had everything...a wedding, families, kids and a senior boy thrown in the mix. And since it was so nice outside, everyone wanted in. So I did my best to accomodate. And thanks to supportive friends and family, I got my appointments in, my daughter's made it to dance and Nutcracker rehearsal and the boys went pheasant hunting. I even managed to run some miles, in the dark but nonetheless, they were miles. Scheww. I was wiped last night. Thought you might like to see a sample. I can't complain about business but honestly, it tired me out. I treated myself to a Mike's Lemonade, put my feet up and didn't get on my computer all night long. Now that was relaxing...

I'm halloween-ed out but Hannah and her buddy, the princess witch, could go all night. They had a blast and I even scored a few pieces of the goods from the candy bucket. Yes, there is one child missing from the photo...he decided he was just too old to trick or treat. He came along anyway and got some candy from a good friend who always makes up a special bag just for the kids. He loved that bag. No matter how big a kid gets, he always looks forward to that special treat bag. Happy Halloween 2008.

I've had this paint for over two months now, waiting for me to redo my daughter's bedroom. It took me so long to go through with it because I was scared about colors. I am not good at this picking out paint color from a 2x2 paper swatch. It seems like it never looks like the same color once it's on the wall. Anyway, I really wanted to make my girls' room look a little more grown up. They were ready to give up the pastel yellow walls and go for more of a big girl look. I am hooked on brown. I love the color on walls. And for girls, I am in love with the brown/pink combo. So that's what I decided to do to their walls. Now usually I have hired a professional lady who comes over and tells me the color and I do what she says and I usually love it. But for this one, I wanted to pick on my own. So last Sunday when the wind was blowing 100 miles an hour and all of my photo appts. had to reschedule because of it, I decided it was the right time. I dove in. I painted one wall pink and 3 walls chocolate brown. I painted their lamp stand pink and left the shelves and dresser off-white.

Their room was transformed to a girls' room that we all love. The room turned out fabulously. I totally love the colors. I just sat in it and soaked it in after it was done. Wow. And to think I was scared I was going to make the wrong color choice. My decorator lady would be so proud. I must take a photo when I get a chance and see what you all think.

Now i'm so pumped, I'm ready to find another wall to paint. Which one will be next?!

So this morning I'm driving my son to drop him off for school. I picked up my cell phone to check for a call and he says,

"Who are you calling...your peeps?"

He just grinned like this was normal everyday language. Oh yeah, I forgot. This is middle school language, completely different than ours.

Did you know that "peeps" means friends? Now you do. Welcome to the world of 11-12 year olds.

They're changing by the day. Sometimes it takes looking at a picture to realize how fast they are growing. Thank god for pictures.

My first hunting weekend with the boys and all I can say is...it was awesome. I never, ever thought I would enjoy the outdoors as much as I did. We chased turkeys through some really rough terrain which doubled as a great workout for my butt muscles. The land we were on was so cool. So my hubby trekked us through trees, hills and draws before coming up on 15 toms (and I thought they were all just called turkeys!) My son got a shot and ended up with his first turkey. He was so excited he could hardly speak. Way to go!

So then it was my turn to sit in a treestand and see if I could get a deer. On our way to the stand we spotted 13 huge doe wandering around. We watched them until it was safe to get in the tree. This is where I became one with the tree. I tell you what, climbing a cedar tree 14 feet up is a little scary. And I didn't realize there isn't anything really holding you in. I just decided to not look down. My hubby left me reminding me not to fall out of the tree. Easy for him to say, he wasn't sitting on a wooden treestand no bigger than my butt. So after the vertigo went away, I started seeing deer. They were coming my way, then they would turn off. Everytime they came towards my stand, my heart started pounding. Literally. It was truly the most exciting thing I have ever experienced. I sat and just watched. I found myself talking to them..."come this way...don't go that way..." After awhile of just watching them, one doe started coming closer and closer to me. I didn't move and my hubby's instructions roamed through my head. "find the spot, draw back, anchor, shoot.." The deer kept coming closer. After a half hour of waiting, she came in right under my stand. She was a mere 10 yards away. I could see her eyelashes. It was amazing. I held my breath and slowly, slowly drew back. Hubby said no sudden movements. I anchored the arrow, lined up my sight and was ready. But the deer kept walking. She was going to be out of my sight pretty soon. So i made a quick decision...I had to get her to stop. I grunted. Just like the grunts they make on all those hunting shows. It worked. She stopped and looked up. But she was stopped right behind a branch of a tree. I could make the shot...she was so close. But the dumb branch was right in front of where I needed to shoot. I couldn't do it. I couldn't let go and risk wounding her. So we stared at each other for a minute and she kept going on her trail. I relaxed my bow. I was so close to getting it but it just wasn't meant to be. I started breathing again.

My hubby came in after dark to get me which by the way, sitting in a treestand in the dark is an eery feeling. I was glad to see him coming down the hill for me. Even though I didn't get a shot this time, it was truly awesome. The whole experience was so much more than I ever imagined. So i'm going back again in a few weeks to try again and I can't wait. I loved being with my hubby and son and learning how hunting is so much fun. I now understand why all these years, he wished he could quit work and just hunt all the time. It's a sport and my sore legs are proof of it. It's not easy let me tell ya, but seeing how beautiful nature is humbled me. It made me appreciate it in a different way. And it was all because of a wonderful hubby who introduced me to it.

So thanks, honey, for the weekend and for not forgetting to come back and get me from that treestand in the dark. (Yes, I was a litte worried about that!)

Last flag football game of the year for my son. Season went fast and I'll miss going to the practices and games. I'll mostly miss the "flag" part of the game. Next year it's tackle. Normally it wouldn't bother me but sure enough last weekend at church, a 7th grader walks in with a cast on his arm. My sons whispers he broke it in the football game. Sheesh. Just what a mother needs to see right when the "safe" game of flag football comes to an end. He did an awesome job at quarterbacking. Now we have a small break before basketball begins.

So it's been a busy month at the studio. With Nutcracker practices in full swing, my clientele building and sporting events, fall is definitely the busy season. But it's also my favorite time of year.

This weekend, I planned to have "off" and with all the busy-ness we've had, I'm anxious for some down time. So I had a choice...half-marathon in Sioux City or hunting with the hubby. Run...hunt....run...hunt...I decided I've already made the long 13 miler twice this year. Maybe I'll give this hunting gig a try. My hubby is already stratigizing our outing. I'm actually quite excited about the whole thing. My shooting is good, my patience is good, don't know about climbing a tree stand but how hard can it be?! So that's the plan. I'm putting away my Asics for a day and donning camouflage. Hunting with my husband. I hope I don't scare him off. My husband that is, not the deer. I sure hope I at least see something. He tells me my odds are good. So grandma is coming to spend some time with the kiddos and I'm going to spend some time in the trees.

Wish me luck. I don't think the wilderness knows what's it's in for. Or my husband.