Announcement:

This is going to be a some what frugal crafty Christmas at Steiger Place this year. I am sure there are others who are in a similar situation. I have come across many adorable and cheaply priced ideas for gifts this year and would love to share them with my friends! I love to create things, sew, knit, paint ect. I finally have the "time" to do it now! I hope some of these ideas can help you out! Posts will begin December 1, 2011.

Thanksgiving Vacation Recap

As you may know every year my family travels to the outer bank of North Carolina. this year was no different. Even though I am still unemployed we had paid for the house before hand so just had to bring some food which I would have to have if we stayed home. This was Molly's first visit to the beach. I think she really liked the sand. She would roll over to the edge of the blanket and let it run through her fingers. A rather funny story I want to share with you. The older girls had scooters to play with at the beach house. Well this momma decided she was just as cool as her 3 year old. I take her scooter for a spin one morning. Oh my goodness, that was not as easy as I thought it would be. I was all wobbles and shakes on that thing. I am sure the handle bar being about knee height had nothing to do with it. Later that day I went out with the girls and gave it another try. I was getting pretty good. Well, I wanted to show off my new found talent to my sister. My sister had made a comment that she should be video taping my "talent". About that time the wheel of the scooter hit the crack in the driveway and stopped completely. I on the other hand did not. I went flying over the handle bars that were only up to my knees landing flat on my face. Well I did miss my face. I was sprawled out, hands, arms and legs straight out. All I could do was laugh at myself. I was slightly scared to see what the damage would be since I skid on my hands and knees a few feet, though I am sure it was only an inch or two. Surprisingly, only a small scratch on my stomach, nothing on my hands or arms. The next day though, I was SORE! I learned my lesson about trying to be a cool, scooter riding mama! We had a lovely Thanksgiving with all the fixin's and I am sure I ate entirely too much! I do have so much to be thankful for!

A very sad day

Today was a day I have been hoping to avoid for more than a week. Today we had to make the difficult decision to put our family dog down. Chase Allen Weston Steiger was his name. Yes our dog had a FULL name! Poor guy started to have seizures and we just new it was time. This was one of the most difficult decisions we have ever made. We know he is no longer in pain and in a much better place but still hurts. So to our sweet puppy dog you will be missed very much!

Preparing to get prepared to start getting ready for vacation.

I am sure the title is going to drive some insane. Well frankly it really does not make much sense but is how I feel when I need to get things ready to go out of town. I feel like I have to make a list of the list of things I need then make each list. I have a list for meals and food for the meals and snacks, a list of clothes, a list of baby/toddler items and a list of just other stuff. Of course most of these lists are in my head then get widdled down to what I really need and that goes on a master list. A master packing list if you will. We are going to spend Thanksgiving on the Outer Banks with my family. We have done this every year since Clyde and I have been married except for one. We were all miserable that year so we all promised not to do that again. My sister and I typically work together to prepare a menu for the week and are getting very good at perfecting not having too much food. We then split of the shopping list between us, our mother and grandmother. With FIVE little ones this year we do not want to be cooking all the day. We have thrift stores to visit you now! I am making as much food as possible before we leave for the beach. I recommend doing as much cooking as possible before you leave for vacation. I typically carry dry foods in a box and cold foods in the cooler. I will pick up items on sale that we always need when we are on vacation, like stuffing, chips, dip, crackers, ect. So I have my "box" in the laundry room collecting items until we leave. Frozen food go into a bag in the freezer so they all stay together and nothing gets left behind. The rest of this week I will collect the food items that I still need to collect and probably make one more dish before we leave!

Catch up!

Man, I sure have been busy lately. Though I am not sure doing what? Certainly NOT cleaning my house. Monday, the girls went trick or treat and to the Fall Festival at our church. Lillian had a BLAST! Molly enjoyed the ride! Over the weekend we scored a nice double stroller for $25 so that made walking to church with both girls much easier. Without further ado...Fancy Nancy and a Kitty Cat!