It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Black Friday!!!!!

So it's here...Black Friday. I don't know what it is about this, but the obsession with getting a good deal on anything this week is almost more than I can stand. Except I am more confused than ever because Amazon is doing black friday today, and I already made a mad dash to Target for their "Pre Black Friday event" on Sunday. And all of a sudden, I don't know if it's really worth going out with all the crazies at all when everything is already on sale. But what if there is something that I just have to have....



We live in a society where we give thanks on Thursday and spend time with family and appreciate all the good things we have...until 11:59 pm. Then, at midnight, it's GOBBLE PALOOZA AT OLD NAVY! Have you seen the ads for this? MIDNIGHT. Seriously. I love a good sale. I LOVE Black Friday. But midnight? Gobble Palooza? For $5 pajama pants?

OR you can shop at Walmart starting at midnight. Until the electronics go on sale at five am. So are they wanting me to actually shop from midnight until five? Browse for five hours just to get ahold of $89 Nintendo DSI's? Because you know you're going to have to be there at midnight just to even get close to the damn things. But in the meantime, how much extra stuff are you going to justify? And how many over tired, over fed people are they going to pack into that store? Part of me knows better than to go....but there is that bad shopping fairy sitting on my shoulder saying, "Becky...you know there's going to be bath towels for $2......"

This year I have Brody. Therefore, I will not be standing in line outside of Target for two hours like I did last year. All for a $40 Disney Freaking Princess Piano that was supposed to be $100 and only on sale for that morning. Sunday I went to Target and it was still there for $40. But, it was all about the experience. I had never been so jacked up for something on sale before. My little sister and I totally tag teamed the store and got some killer deals. And it. was. awesome.

So, when Brody decides to get up, I will head over then. Beat the crowds and only hear stories about what a Gobble Palooza might look like. But there's always next year when Brody is old enough to stay home with Dad!

My Grand Finale

Just had to share a few updated photos of my Grand Finale. Gonna be hard to tell this little guy no, for sure! So loving having Brody here!

Halloween Mishaps

Our Halloween actually began on October 1st. Desperate for some peace and quiet right after Brody was born, I sent the kids out front to play with the neighbor kids. I was able to leave the front door open so I could hear the squabbles and comings and goings, and they were playing right around the garage. I decided this was going pretty well, and Brody was sleeping, so I got out the fall decor. I found the bag of packed away costumes and decided to let the kids dig through them and play. I handed the bag out the door and they were happily digging and trying on costumes. The next thing I know, Cameron comes in and wants to know if I have any candy so they can "go trick-or-treating". I handed them a handful of smarties and out the door they went. I assumed they were trick-or-treating with each other. Suddenly, in the middle of my decorating, I realized it was awfully quiet outside. I went to the door and found them across the street trick-or-treating at the nieghbors house a few doors up. And they were actually scoring the goods! I immediately called them home and explained to them that trick-or-treating actually wasn't for an entire month, and they couldn't just go knocking whenever they needed some candy. But, they looked completely confused because they had hit up four different neighbors and all four had given them candy. I'm pretty sure the neighbors have been wondering if I have actually lost my mind, but this one absolutely confirms what I have been trying to hide. It's official. I am a mom of three, and therefore, one of the crazies.

A few weeks later, I realized that making costumes was out this year, due to the fact that Brody doesn't let me do anything except nurse, so we got out the Costume magazine, that of course came in August and was completely dog earred and torn apart and we looked for options.

Cameron couldn't decide between an I Dream of Jeannie costume or a Princess Fairy thing of some sort. Both pink, both equally cute. But girly girly girly. We pushed for the Genie. Not because she has any idea what I Dream of Jeannie is all about, but because it was a lot cheaper.

Tucker changed his mind about 300 times. He was really shooting for this scary clown.
But, eventually I talked him out of it and into SpiderMan.

Anyways, here they are after their costumes arrived in the mail.




And finally, after a month of festivities, Halloween arrived. I talked my 15 year old sister into coming down and taking the kids out trick-or-treating. We hit five different Grandma's houses, a couple of trick-or-trunks, and then we headed home where Marianne, her boyfriend Casey, my brother Gary, and a girl who is his "friend" showed up all eager to have an excuse to trick or treat. They were all excited and it was chaotic and finally they all headed out the door. An hour and a half later, here they came, loaded down with Candy and told me that Tucker was a trooper, but was walking funny and tip-toeing. Finally somebody asked him where his shoes were, and they were at home. The kid walked for an hour and a half in the cold, on the rocky streets, and through wet grass, and never said a word! He did get carried most of the way home after they realized it.

So Halloween has come and gone. The Candy has been sorted, rationed, hid, and eaten mostly by Mom and Dad. We are down to the dum dum suckers and the yucky taffy. And Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Looking forward to my first parent teacher conference that week for Cameron and then enjoying the family on both sides as we celebrate by eating too much and just being thankful for all that we have.

Are You Kidding Me?

So in preparation for the hours spent nursing and staying up all night, I have been TiVo-ing things that I normally would not waste time or mental energy on. I just finished watching the entire show from episode 1 to the end of Friday Night Lights and then it was on to Sister Wives. A TLC show that was advertised heavily and had been promoted on shows such as The Today Show. I was not prepared for what I was about to experience.

This is the show about the Brown Family. Except the family consists of one father, and 12 kids, one on the way to make 13, and wait for it....THREE wives. Obviously, I knew from the advertisements that this was a reality series about a Fundamentalist Mormon Family living their polygamist life style in Utah. What I was not prepared for was the utter disgust I would feel when watching this guy interact with his wives. In all my 29 years, I have never felt the urge to label somebody as a "Douche Bag", but there is not a better label for this guy.

Seriously. The guy skips around his house like the happiest man ever. And I guess you would be if you were getting laid every night without fail, because, well, if one isn't going to put out, you can bet just down the hall he can find one that will. Although,they explain about the "Every third night" rotation that they are on. And each is very protective of her long awaited for time with this jackass. I just can't believe the three of them don't just gang up on him and say enough already, what does this look like, the breeding pen at the County Fair? And it basically is, because there are 12 kids, 13 is on the way, as we all get to experience in the second episode. Gag.

These women are brainwashed to the max. Two grew up in this lifestyle, the other I guess just woke up one day and decided she had to have this stud. And he's not very attractive, kind of metrosexual, and kind of bald when he flips back his sexy mane in an attempt to "court" his harem of women.

And it is all about the "courting" as we soon find out. He is skipping out on his love time with the wives to "court" a new one that lives five hours away. And this gal is seriously his soon to be Trophy Wife. Because no good polygamist would be happy with three who have beared his children and might have gained some weight, look tired and haggard from the incessant amouts of children that run through the house, and are still trying to be the perfect wife for Mr. Jackhole. But only every third night.

This gal may be hot, but she comes with some baggage, and that would be three more kids, which I guess will just get thrown into the pot of "Brothers from another Mother" and "Sisters from the same Mister". But the women happily welcome her to the nightly sex cycle, they all go to taste wedding cake together, and even buy her a special ring to welcome her to the "Sisterhood". Once again, I am trying not to vomit while I watch this whole train wreck continue through seven episodes. And of course I'm hooked, but not in a mentally healthy way. I have to keep watching because if I ever see this guy in public, I would seriously have a difficult time not just walking up to him and punching him right in his very fertile nuts. And of course I'm wondering why I just dedicated not only seven hours of viewing time, but an entire blog post to this Douche Bag and his poor wives. And I conclude that if you're looking for something new and entertaining to waste your time on, then this show is for you. Or, if you ever wondered what people mean when they call somebody a "Douche Bag", then this show is absolutely the perfect answer to the question.

And that's my rant for the day.