Cyber Monday Anyone?

Some of you may have ventured out for Black Friday, and some of you more sane people stayed home, or maybe took advantage of some of the Black Friday deals available online. We waited until mid-morning when the crowds had died down before venturing to Best Buy to get an item I need for my trip tomorrow. (and if you don't know what that is yet, you are in the dark and should go read HERE! LOL)

Next up? Cyber Monday of course! This is the day you can hang out on your couch in your jammies or hunkered down at your desk at work if you must, and log into your favorite online shopping sites to find some of the best deals of the year!

A long time ago, when Angela was still a baby, I did all my Christmas shopping online! I loved it, and was able to get everything from big ticket items to stocking stuffers, all delivered to my door and never paying a penny in shipping costs. If you have the guts to do it, you can even wait until the last possible shipping day, and get some FANTASTIC deals, particularly on sites like Toys R Us, and some other big names. It's just possible I've done that a time or two. LOL

So, are there any online deals you're particularly interested in this year?

Squinkies???

Have you heard of Squinkies? Apparently Angela has! She came home from school on Tuesday talking about the, except that I had NO CLUE what she was saying! Surely I was misunderstanding her. It wasn't until a friend of mine called, and could hear Angela in the background and clarified it for me that I was brought up to speed.

All you parents of kids in the elementary age demographic, I hope you're paying attention! Squinkies are the hottest, must-have toy on the market right now, and if your kid is left out, it's all your fault.

Like most hot toys, these little guys come in various series, adding to the collecting frenzy among kids who must have every one. Of course, no collector toy would be complete without accessories!

There is the Gumball Surprise Playhouse

And the Cupcake Surprise Bakeshop

and of course, no Squinkie collection would be complete without the Squinkies Palace Surprise where you can proudly display ALL your Squinkies!

How Did You Get Here?

Once in awhile I like to look at the keyword searches people used to find my blog. Sometimes they're self-explanatory and sometimes they're quite funny! Occasionally they're downright CREEPY! So here are the keyword searches from this week:

Garden of Eagan: Pretty self explanatory, I think. Ok, so that brought 102 of you here this week. If you bookmark it, you won't have to google search it. ;-)

Narclopetic Insomniac: Really, this does exist, and yes, I've posted about it! LOL This has been the number one keyword search for my blog for three years, so clearly I am not the only person who has this! If that's you, welcome to my world!

Palate Expander: Yes, we have been there/done that. It was a no-go for Angela. Usually people are coming to find out what the thing looks like.

What does the esophagus look like?: Really it's quite odd. If you ask Angela what it is, she will go into a big long description of the tube in her throat that brings the food to her tummy, and how hers doesn't work right.

Zipper Merging: Most Minnesotans have NO CLUE what this is, and it shows! Seriously, if you're from Minnesota and you've never heard this term before, I've probably hollered not-so-nice comments to you under my breath while driving through construction zones!

Hom Furniture Complaints: This ranks number 14 in the most-searched terms on my list. Seriously, if that many people are looking for this, that might tell Hom Furniture they need to change some things! And my opinion? Don't shop there!

Does the Quick Grow with the Nail? I think you're looking for this post, and Umm yes it does.

Kids EEG: Oh, yes, fun huh? Here's a video of Angela explaining it. (and you can see the returned entertainment center from Hom furniture in the background! LOL)

Here are some fun ones!

"choose your words carefully, anything you say may be thrown back at you". Ummm yeah! Especially if you said something offensive!

"How did they make the antler for Grinch's dog Max?": Well I don't know how they did it for the movie, but we made ours with fabric, wire and fiberfill! Sorry, I don't have a picture of it. :-(

"What have I brought on myself?": That is a very good question! Do tell!

"Tiny hole in tooth": Time to head to the dentist!

"I was in bed, suddenly I heard a thump.": Ummm.....RUN! Run for your life!

"Holy buckets": Yes, I do say this alot, in place of words that aren't ok on a pg-13 blog, but in reality holy buckets don't work very well.

And are you ready for the SCARY stuff????

Well, I can't post them because they would draw the same creepy traffic! Just know there are a lot of people out there who's computers should be searched, and it's too bad Google Analytics doesn't give you IP addresses!

Angela's Favorite Day!

Thanksgiving is one of Angela's favorite days. Yes, she loves to see all of her family in one place. Yes, she loves all the wonderful food. Yes, she loves getting to stay up later than usual.

But what she loves most of all is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! Thanksgiving morning (tomorrow) will find her sitting squarely in front of the big-screen TV, watching the festivities, and cheering as she sees each of the giant balloon characters she recognizes. (who am I kidding? She knows ALL of them! LOL) She will stand to dance when a float comes by and is being ridden by any celebrity entertainer, but if they are any of the Disney variety she will be beside herself and blow kisses to him or her! Nobody, and I mean nobody, is allowed to interfere with the parade watching.

The funny thing is, in real life Angela is NOT a fan of parades. She doesn't like all the people or the sirens from emergency vehicles. She's o.k. at small town parades, but big city parades are NOT her cup of tea! However, this year I'm going to try taking her to the Hollidazzle Parade. I've wanted to take her for years but the weather is never quite good enough for me her. This year it ends just two days after I get home with Axel. I hope we can squeeze it in!

And do you know what happens after Thanksgiving? The Walt Disney Christmas Parade, of course!

Love love love this!

We really are still alive!

Totally boring blog post alert.

It has been insanely busy around here. In just eight days (only 8 more days!!!) I will board a plane for Eastern Europe to go get our new son, Axel! Just typing that cause 5 more hairs to fall of my head. Needless to say, there has been much preparation involved, and as my travel date gets closer, plus throwing Thanksgiving into the mix, I'm having a hard time not freaking out. Dean and Angela are thankful that my state of panic has been mostly internal!

The other night I was frantically trying to do SOMETHING about our laundry room. Its a big word...called "O.R.G.A.N.I.Z.A.T.I.O.N". (really...not so much organizing, as just getting the laundry caught up.) This needs to happen before I leave the country so Dean doesn't have to think about anything. Also, because the last time I came home, I discovered in the three weeks I was gone not one stitch of laundry had been done. Ummm Angela has A LOT of shirts, but she does not have that many pairs of pants! I shudder when I think how many times she wore various pairs, and what was on them! Blech. Well, that can't happen this time, because part of my organizing was making sure all of Angela's laundry was washed and put away, (I don't have to go far! LOL) AND I got rid of 2 bags of clothes! She still has lots of shirts (though she pointed out to me there is a noticeable lack of stripes.) but only 4 or 5 pairs of pants, and some of those don't fit right or she doesn't like them. (she has just lost a lot of weight, and I'm still trying to find the right size/fit for her new shape.)

Anyway, while I was working on that, Dean and Angela were upstairs doing Dean and Angela things. Angela likes to close herself into the guest bedroom where the closet doors are mirrored. iPod in hand she will stand in front of the mirror to give "concerts". On her way down the hall to that room, she stopped in front of Axel's room. She froze in the door way. "Dean! DEAN! C'mere! You gotta see this!"

Dean went to see what the fuss was about. "Look Dean! Axel's room! There is a bed, and a dresser, and blankets, and pillows, and clothes!" She went to the clothes, which are folded on the bed waiting to be packed for the trip, and picked up a hooded sweatshirt. She held it up in front of her. "Look at Axel's shirt Dean!"

Umm...Axel's room has been done for over a week, and Angela has walked past it every day, but clearly she was just now *really* seeing it for the first time. She looked at Axel's new shoes, and his pj's that she helped pick out several weeks ago. Ignoring Dean, she walked out the door past him and returned with her iPad, and gently closed the door in Dean's face.

Ummm...Angela has a new favorite room.

Awhile later, after Dean told me the story, I poked my head in. She hadn't heard me open the door. There she sat on the floor with the iPad in her lap, watching a Signing Time app. "Whatcya do'in?" I asked.

"Practicing signs for Axel. When Axel comes home I'm the big sister. My job is help him learn signs. Go away please. I'm busy here."

Oh, life is gonna get interesting around here.