Merry Christmas!

Have a safe and happy holiday!

I've Had to Improvise

So it's not going to stop snowing anytime soon at our house so I've had to improvise when it comes to shoveling. My son has decided to stop taking naps. It is torture for both of us. So it's a serious problem when I need to shovel. It's too cold to take him out with me but I have to do it before I back out of the garage to pick up Hayden. So I put him in his snow suit with his hat, crank up the heater that has a vent right next to the front door, and leave the door open so he can watch me shovel.

(Jake and Bandit in the house)
(Jake's view)

Now the recliner is my last ditch effort to keep the baby off the stairs. The wall and the railing don't end at the same point on those stairs. There is no normal way of using a gate to fence them off. The gates that would work are over a hundred dollars. We aren't interested in spending that so in the meantime we have just put furniture in front of them. Oh yes, and the laundry basket full of clothes blocks what the chair doesn't. I can't remember how old Hayden was before I had to worry about him and stairs. I do know that I don't have too long before I have to come up with another solution though. I'm considering buying a baby prison (a.k.a playpen).

Brothers

I'm sure it's only a matter of time before they start fighting over toys and the computer, but for now they like each other.

The Best Gingerbread House Ever!

Don't you just love the projects that kids do in school? I think the ice cream cone tree is my favorite part. It has a place of honor on the dining room table. I'm afraid of what I'll be asked to do with it at the end of the season. I still have his sugar cube igloo from last year. It can't be safe storing sugar in your basement.

How to Get the Best Response From a Retail Emloyee at Christmastime

For all of you who have never worked retail at Christmas, here are a few tips to help prevent that horrible experience with a mean employee.

• If we are wearing a uniform, with a name badge, stocking the shelves with merchandise, an inappropriate question would be "Do you work here?" A better solution would be to ask "Do you work in this department?" or "Can you help me?" Asking a uniformed employee if they work in the store is asking for a snide remark, bad joke, or what I do-look down at my apron and respond with "I believe so".
• Whistling at an employee, particularly a female one, to get their attention annoys them. We are not dogs, despite what you may believe. A better choice would be......anything. Heck, even a "Hey!" works better than a whistle.
• You should believe us when we tell you we are out of something. Especially if it is the hot ticket item of the season like an electric turkey roaster the day before Thanksgiving. Trust us, we are VERY aware of the status of that item.
• Please do not bring a Shopko ad into any store other than Shopko and try to convince us it is our ad. Just because you are mistaken about which ad you are holding and what store you are currently in, does not mean it's our fault.
• Please do not hide the shards of the cereal bowl you just broke under the shelf or behind the stuffed animals in the seasonal department. We really won't make you pay for it. Stuffed animals and broken ceramics just don't blend well.
• Unless you are opening a package of batteries as well, please don't open the digital scales to weigh yourselves.
• And last, but not least, we know that toy poodle is not a service animal.

Visiting Santa at the Mall

Auntie Shilo is so very brave. She fights her way through the mall every year and takes Hayden to see Santa. This year she took both of the boys. Jake apparently wasn't a fan. From what I hear, Hayden told Santa he wants a DVD player and "Wall-E". We will have to see what Santa does with that info. (Doesn't Jake look a little like Jimmy Neutron in that first shot?)

Jacob is Such a Tease

Jake likes to laugh at the dog outside. The dog doesn't live out there, he's just out there for Jake's amusement.