Always, Alli

This afternoon I had two sleeping boys and I read for about thirty minutes straight. It was so nice and a very rare treat for me. And I have the library website to thank for it.

Thursday is usually library day for us. We go so Fuller can participate in Story Time. While he listens to the stories, I wander around the kid’s section to pick out books for Fuller and I to enjoy together. Rarely do our visits mean I come home with books for myself.

I’ve recently changed that by doing something I do well- I went digital. If I see a book I think I would like to read, I head over to my library’s website and look up the book. If the book is in our library system, at any of the branches, I am able to place a hold on it and request it be sent to the library branch we visit every Thursday. I get an email when it is ready for me to pick up and I have a week (or two?) to get it. Since we are there most Thursdays, I am pretty timely in my pick ups.

By going digital for my library visits, I am able to avoid browsing the shelves with a four year old in tow (not an easy task). Also, the branch we use is really, really small and using the website actually expands my browsing experience faster. Most books I have wanted to read have not been at our branch, so I would have had to wait anyway.

I’m excited because I’m now creating my own “to be read” pile, starting with Julie and Julia. It is the book my sisters, mom, and I are reading together. I suggested it because I really liked the trailer of the movie (based on the book) coming out in August.

I know some of you might think, “well duh!” but I’m just so giddy to be figuring this out now. I miss reading and now, I have plenty to keep me going when we are on vacation in a few weeks.

As is it now March and it is our family tradition, we are looking forward to next week. We will pack up our family of four and head down to Tampa for the Men’s SEC Basketball Tournament.

We are excited because it looks like Auburn has a chance this year to play in more than one game. We are excited because the tournament is in Florida, where it is warm and sunny. We are excited because my little sister and her family will come and visit us one day, mainly so we can meet each other’s baby.

There are plans to be made, things to pack, and fun to be had. It’s March, and there might be a little madness in it for us.

Our church hosted a game night today. Fuller and Damon had a lot of fun playing different games and I just enjoyed being out of the house. Tebow was tucked away in his carseat, sleeping the entire time.

I’m posting my photo a day now since I have no idea when I’ll get home or if I’ll feel like touching a computer.

We spent a good portion of the day sorting toys. Part of the process was emptying bins and getting out the stuff that didn’t belong there. The vehicle bin (mostly cars, but some trains and planes) held mostly vehicles, but we spread them out on Fuller’s carpet to get out the non-vehicles (finding Megatron’s leg in the process). Of course it begged for me to take a picture.

Tonight I am off to a girls night out. No kids, no husbands, just me and two girlfriends. I thought it would be a fun way to spend an evening before becoming the mom of two. Plus, these girlfriends aren’t friends I get to see often, but we still stay very close. We have passed around kid clothes since Luke (Esther’s first kid) was born.

Just cross your fingers I don’t go into labor while I’m out.

A few weekends ago, Damon and I started using the Redbox DVD rental kiosk at the local Walgreens. While it hasn’t been an every night activity for us, it has allowed us to cheaply get back into watching some movies. Yesterday we watched Indiana Jones (not even worth the $1 rental fee) and then after Fuller’s quiet time we all watched Wall-e.

I give it a two thumbs up for ease of use and availability. And I like that we are getting caught up on movies we have missed out on. I just have to convince Damon that seeing Mama Mia is too worth his time.

Yesterday I was craving sugar. I wanted fudge, frosting, and anything else I could get my sweet tooth wrapped around. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any of those things in the house. So, when I went to the grocery store to gather the goods for the Christmas breakfast, I picked up a tub of sugar cookie dough (found in the refrigerator section).

Last night, before heading to bed, Fuller helped me make a few trays of cookies, which did the trick for the craving.

We still have some dough left, so Fuller and I might do this again soon, since he has such a fun time cutting the cookies. And I enjoy eating them!

Who needs to stand in line at a mall to see a bearded white guy in a red suit? Who needs to head to expensive amusement parks to see holiday lights and hear holiday sounds? We just take our camera with us everywhere and I tell my guys to stand in front of things like fake trees at Wal-Mart. Merry Christmas is everywhere!

Today the postman brought back another piece of my childhood- The Best Christmas Pageant Ever on DVD. Last year I had a hankering for A Christmas Memory. This year, when Carrie wrote about The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, I added it to my Amazon cart before I had my second cup of coffee.

I watched it today while I wrapped Christmas presents, and it was just as sweet as I remembered it. I even cried a little bit at the end.

We went to an open house at Mr. Bob’s house and he and his wife have such a lovely decorated home. Bob made this shelf unit for their nutcracker collection, and it is really fun to look at and explore the different nutcrackers.

Someday, when I am grown up, I will have a nice house that’s clean and organized. And then I can have something as lovely as this wall of nutcrackers at Christmas time.

We are still visiting Lake Martin, readying ourselves to head back to Chattanooga tomorrow.

It started raining yesterday afternoon and was still pouring this morning. We were grateful for the pre-planned activity of heading to the Bass Pro Shop to check out how they deck the halls for Christmas.

Damon had read online about the holiday activities there- Santa pictures, target practice, trains, and general holiday merriment. It was an excellent way to spend the morning, and since we braved the line to have the kiddos sit on Santa’s lap, we were rewarded with coupons for three kids meals (with corresponding adult meal purchase), so we had lunch at their in-store restaurant.

It was great to get the kids out the house and toward a loosely-structured activity. And as a bonus, I got to take some pictures.