Alissa got a surprise...

This was SOOO cute!! For the first time since Alissa is able to read her own name she got a package in the mail. She was so excited she could barely wait to get in the house and open it!! I of course grabbed the camera to capture the moment!! :)

As you can see she was VERY happy! The package was from GG in Arizona and had a couple Smokey Bear coloring/activity books (very fitting) and an advent calendar. She was especially thrilled with the calendar and can't wait to start opening the doors!! Hehe.. She said, "Mommy, I'm a BIG GIRL now and get my own mail!" LOL.. too cute. Only problem is she then started on a rant about how she wants to go to GG's house and play. Yikes.. for the 1452nd time this week (ok, small exaggeration maybe the 5th?) I had to explain to her that GG was far away in Arizona. EVERY time I tell her this she replies with, "Why?" and I try my best to explain.. although since she continues to ask I guess my explanation isn't that good. Oh well. She really misses her GG. We had a wonderful time this summer spending time with GG and the kids think she is made of gold (and so do I of course).

**I have to insert an AAARRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH here** Why?? I just wrote an incredibly long blog and it all just disappeared.. Sigh.. Ok.. I will try this one more time.. at least all was not lost I suppose.

Ok.. where was I? Ah.. My day.. It was uneventful for the most part. This morning we hung out with Matt, then this afternoon did some Christmas shopping. I found an incredibly perfect gift for my parents, but can't tell you what it is because I think they read this once in a blue moon. :) I swear I would have bought it regardless because it was so perfect -- but it helped that it was 75% OFF!! Ahh the blessings are endless. See, there are good things that come from losing everything you write.. I did not include that little tidbit of information in my last post that you will never see.

This evening we went to the indoor park (which was a first because we usually only go there in the morning) and that kids had a great time. Mostly hung out in the giant sand box and made castles and Jonathan ate a little sand. Fun times. After play we went with Papa to Almost Home for dinner. Alissa scarfed down some spaghetti and Jon and I shared a chicken strips kids meal (which is haunting me as I write this.. and I can't find my tums.. grrr.. I found some antacid tablets in my first aid kit that expired a year ago, but I'm desperate so we will see if they work). After dinner we went to my favorite store ever Dazy Maze (consignment store).. now when I wrote about this before I went off about how much I love this store because I can actually afford brand name stuff blahblahblah.. I'm just not motivated to go on about that again :) Lets just say I am hooked on consignment, in fact I'm sure my kids will grow up and not even know that it is possible to buy clothes from anywhere but. I bought the most fabulous robe today -- it is the most comfy and soft robe ever, but best of all no ties! It has a zipper in front.. I hate fiddling with ties.. aaaanyhow.

Once home it was off to bed. Matt had already left for work (long ago) because it is an o/t day. An o/t day looks something like this: Matt waked up at 5pm.. leaves at 6pm for work and comes home at 8:30am. Yuck. I don't know how he does it. Really.

I'm still a bit miffed that my writing disappeared, but oh well. On the good news side the expired antacids are kicking in. Woohoo.
Here are some other pictures from tonight (notice Alissa in the background of one still fiddling with her mail..hehe)


This last picture is Alissa playing in her "boat" -- the lid to her toy box.