Christmas is coming!!

Shhhh, don't tell Halloween this but... I am so excited and soooo over the moon for the upcoming holiday. CHRISTMAS!!!

Oh, sorry ahem, hello Thanksgiving. I... kinda passed right by you, didn't I?

It's not that I hate you, I swear, Thanksgiving. It's just... the week has just been so. so. so. awful.

No. It was shitty. We got into a car accident (jerk pulled out right in front of us, Josh slammed on the brakes but... yeah, super super crappy). Most horrifying and horrible experience ever. At the high speed we slammed into them... I just couldn't stop thinking about the kids. What they were feeling, how they were, how they would BE when it was over. How I couldn't stop what was about to happen no matter how hard I wished. All of that and more. And when we hit... the car was just awful. Ruined, wrecked, everything. Our side of the car was smoky and it was hard to breathe, and I sat there stunned. Josh nudged me to get out and the second I snapped out of it I started sobbing and raced to get the kids out. Cam was on my side of the car so I unbuckled her, grabbed her, and ran to the safety of the side of the road with Josh who carried Alice. Usually I am one to never leave my phone far from my hand... that phone couldn't have been further from my mind. I didn't grab it, nor my purse. Just left them. The kids were all I could think about.

They were fine. Scared beyond anything, but fine. So, that is something I am utterly, enormously thankful for.

Luckily, no one was hurt. We just had some sores and scratches. God, I could cry just thinking about it. It was horrible, sitting there with the girls clinging to me, crying my eyes out. Looking at my wonderful Mazda in shambles. I am grateful that car protected us as it did, and EVEN MORE thankful for car seats. What an invention. The girls were... they were untouched. I wasn't as lucky, having a small airbag burn on my hand and some seatbelts marks. Only cosmetic though! Boy was I sore though.... and Josh also had some soreness on his neck. He's a big tough man, though. So... he was pretty good.

Oh, and what happened the next day you ask? The NEXT day I get a call from a guy claiming to be IRS and he freaked me out. He had me going for a long time, and I was sobbing and crying, and he made me believe I was going to go to jail for "tax evasion" and that the IRS was throwing a hefty lawsuit at me. I can't believe I believed him. I mean OBVIOUSLY I am not evading anybody (lol) but he had me believing this crap! I was inconsolable until I called Josh after I hung up on him. Normally I am not THAT naive but... God, it was scary. I thought we were going to lose everything! "Tax Evasion" is bullshit and I shouldn't have believed it... I guess my guard was down and my defenses were weak from what happened the day before. It was horrible. I felt like shit all day. This guy was wanting me to send $3,000+ to settle this "lawsuit". I mean, wow. It sounded so official. Like the number that called me was an automated teller and it just... it SOUNDED real, and that's why it was so scary.

Don't worry. I didn't hand over anything. The second he said "Moneygram" I hung up, and immediately called Josh.

Never again will I let a complete stranger make me feel like that!

By the way, I'm so thankful I have Josh. He's another huge thing I am thankful for. He knew just what to say to calm me down over the phone (he was at work and luckily was going to be home soon) and.... he just knows how to handle things. The way he stands up for me and protects me, makes me proud because I know that that is how our girls are going to feel the day they need him in their corner. I know that Cam and Alice can always depend on their dad to shine for them in their moments of darkness.

That number did call back by the way, and Josh answered.

He really let them have it.

So yeah, if anyone gets a call from a weird number claiming to be IRS... hang that shit up ASAP lol.

That was our week. It was crazy, and scary, and... of course it was full of food! We made a turkey, pumpkin pie, potatoes and gravy, and all the fixins. It was pretty funny, the morning of Thanksgiving Josh goes... "We never did the turkey brining thing!" and I go, "Oh my God, I couldn't sleep because I forgot to brine the turkey!!!" I was afraid we were going to have a dull, dry turkey. But since it was only an 8lb turkey breast, I decided to brine it for a few hours anyway. A 3 hour brine won't help much for a full turkey... so I was hoping this would still ensure a fabulous bird lol.

It worked! Josh raved about the turkey and I raved about the candied yams (my first time making them, ha!) and the kids? Well.... they really would have preferred macaroni and cheese, but we made them eat what they could LOL.

Alice REALLY loved the candied yams, though. She was scarfing that down!

Oh.... and we also did something fabulous. We continued our "get a Christmas tree after Thanksgiving" tradition! Josh valiantly went and got a Christmas tree for our little family, and we had that beautiful tree up in no time flat.

And then decorated....

I swear, every half an hour Josh would say, "Uh, are you done putting ornaments on the tree yet?"

Me: "No!"
Josh: Uh... you're going to run out of room!
Me: *gives him a look* Trust me, this is what I DO!

I'm still not done with ornaments. At least... I don't think I am. I'm prettttyyyyy sure there's another box full of them somewhere. Heeehee.

And next? Presents? Maaaaaaaaaaaaaybe!

Now for what you've all been waiting for....

                                                       Gotta love morning giggles!

Sister, what are you doing?

Lol daddy's in my tent, mom!

                 Cam drawing her Jack, and Alice putting that hat on first thing in the morning lol.

Making a village for the Tsum Tsums!

                                                 The kids had fun at Bailey's Princess Party!
                                                   Cam loooved Bailey's new toys LOL.

Tsum Tsums are taking over!!

Look at my GIANT MINNIE EARS! HAHA!!

Cam put some of her goldfish on the high chair for Stitch! Lol.

         Josh and I went out on a date night the other night! The first date night in YEARS.
                 It was so nice to chill out and be adults for awhile! Can't wait to do it again!
       We went to Razoo's... he ate chicken, I ate catfish and shrimp, and... WE ATE FRIED GATOR.
                                    EWWWWWW! Tastes like chicken, though. I'd eat it again! Lol.
Then we did one of our favorite things... go to Barnes and Noble and walk around perusing books and odds and ends and contemplate getting coffee Lol. It was like, 10 pm so no coffee for us.
           Then I found a big Fluttershy!!!!! Oh Fluttershy, you're my favorite pony!

                                     This girl's brave-ness gives me anxiety!

Oh she's being a daredevil here Lol.

              Come on Alice.. you can do it! She did NOT want to walk across this bridge lol.

MOOOOOOOOOOOOM HELP!!!!

                              And this one.... gaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!! No fear lol.
              She's so careful and so surefooted, guess if I were like that I would be too!
                   Here you can see Josh wearing his super impressive Donald Duck Fleece. Lol.

                She's at the highest point on the playground, next to the biggest slide. Eek!

                                      Alice attempts! But she always changes her mind Lol.

         Her favorite thing is to run around and be craaaaazy! And push boundaries. Lol.

And make friends with older kids. Lol. I love taking Alice out and about because she waves at everybody. It's so funny. She really likes babies too. She even calls kids that are obviously older than her "babies" Lol.

                                             Mom... Dad... can I get a pet fish? Lol.

                                       We're not doing anything bad, honest!!
          And if you're wondering about that pillow Alice is sitting on.. LOL my friend sent me that
                as a belated birthday present gag gift. It goes with my Nicolas Cage blanket!
 

                                It's such a hallelujah moment when they are SHARING lol.

Play Doh adventures! We made Mickey a little would-be house and mailbox Lol.

We of course, also made "snaaaakes". You have to say it in a whisper.

                             Fairy Cam! Getting jazzed up for Alice's Tinkerbell party!

THEYRE HEEEERE!!! Our Magic Bands. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

 Be Elsa, Cam!!! We got her a new Frozen Fever Elsa dress for Disney World. Lemme tell ya, she LOVED this dress. Twirling, and the long cape, oh she was a cutie!

Lol Alice on Thanksgiving! That's not a hat, sweetie!

Mom. No. I don't do flowers.

LOL.

LOL. This is how she reacted when Josh offered her cranberries!

LOL.
Dad, are you serious. Don't feed me that creepy stuff!

Surprisingly... she tried some!

                                                         And Cam was all sillies!

 And then..... ORNAMENTS!!!!!!

                                     Ah the magic of looking at all the ornaments......

 Josh was on lights duty and Cam was on bell ringing duty.. she kept trying to get Josh to ring the bells with her Lol.

Come on dad!

Oh my God we found the special Disney ornaments!!

                                               This one was ready for bed. Lol.

Mommmmmmmmm.

                     Cam had her own ideas for decorating lol...

                                          Alice, too. No sister, you are doing that wrong!

                               Mom, can I get a hand over here or what?!

 We are in love with our Disney ornaments, including our new ones! Josh got the "Beast" ornament and I got Oswald!! LOL his ornament is hilarious!!! Every time I see it, it makes me laugh so much. Every time I look at our special Disney Hallmark ornaments hanging on the tree... I either giggle, smile, or just feel warm and fuzzy inside. We love them! (so do the girls, sheesh! Cam didn't want to give up Lilo and Stitch!)

LOL!!!! Isn't he great?!!?
Welcome to the Blake house, Beast!

                                           This ornament. Still my all time favorite one.

                                                They're having so much fun in the tree!

                                          This was Cam's ornament last year! Pascal! Lol.

                                               This was Alice's ornament last year. :)

   Omg he's so cute! I love him!! He's velvety! And did I mention cute?! Josh really loves him too lol.

I wonder what special ornaments Santa will bring the girls this year? Thank you for giving us our ornaments early this year, big guy, we just couldn't wait!!!

   Getting a good start on the tree! Yes, we caved and got the Tinkerbell tree topper even though we already have a cool angel one! We have a Disney problem over here.... lol. Plus, we really liked how she was sitting on the star, as if she were contemplating. Lol. I'm thinking the angel one can be a centerpiece on the fireplace mantle or somewhere else just as magical!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand last but not least... look at these cutie faces! Good night everyone. :)