Just a Little Something.....

After spending the day watching Noah play basketball in Faribo and Connor play Park and Rec, we dropped my parents off at home. My parents still live in the house I grew up in, which is in town.

 

We hit the road and not a half mile into our journey home we ran across a little something hanging out in a tree......

I can see my parents house through the backyard of where we saw this eagle. I about died. I get pretty amped up when I see a hawk while driving, so I was basically freaking out at seeing this.

 

I had the camera due to take pictures of Noah and Connor playing ball so I took one look at Mike and he knew to turn around.

 

I knew Eagles weren't like other birds, and so I knew he wouldn't get scared off so I have about 25 picture of this same shot.

At one point he/she looked at me as if to say,

"You lookin' at me?"

 

 

He clearly was annoyed with me at one point and decided to take flight......which I kind-of wasn't ready for. Settings need to be changed on a camera when things are moving.....

And then landed in another tree to check things out.

 

 

 

 

 

Highlight of my weekend, for sure. So incredibly cool.

 

Happy Sunday!

LB

Gotta Tell Ya

I am on a Target high. You know when you decide to make a Target run and happen to get there the day they have a huge 50% mark down on clothes? And it's not picked over? Yeah. I only got three things but they were CHEAP! I also browsed my favorite new section and decided I needed to post about it.

 

 

Usually I wait until I have a few "favorite things" before posting, but this one is too good to not let my friends in on. If you are a guy reading this (Tim) tell your wife about this.

 

 

I can't take credit for this one. My sister Carrie let me in on this lovely beauty supply. And who doesn't love a great new way to make yourself beautiful, huh?

 

 

Have you seen this brand e.l.f. at Target?  I love it. It's make-up and make-up supplies that are super, super cheap and yet work!

 

 

I bought these little numbers...

 

 

 

 

They are eyeshadows and guess how much they cost? Just guess.....

 

 

ONE DOLLAR!

 

 

Now, I gave up professional cosmetics about 10 years ago. However, I recently went insane (I have longer hair now and was struggling) and bought THREE professional products (hairspray, dry shampoo, and volumizer)  and got burned on every.single.one. It's not to say the products didn't work, they just didn't work any better than the drugstore brand I was using so why pay the extra?  Plus, I would rather put money into a cleaning lady than products, ha!

 

 

But seriously, what do you have to lose, right.....$1? I have them in four shades; Moondust, Wheat, Mocha, and Golden Glow. They go on very smoothly and the color lasts just as long as the other brands from Target I have used (Covergirl, Rimmel, etc).

 

 

I also bought this compact to put them in.....

 

 

 

You guessed it, that was a dollar too.

 

 

Today I decided to try the mascara. It was $1.49. I splurged. I will keep you posted on what happens on that. I am never happy with any mascara I buy. So, what the heck. I will try it.

 

 

So, there ya go. My helpful tip of the day. Hope they make you as happy as they make me.

Last One

On a side note, I have had this post ready to post for weeks now. I was unable to get pictures to add to the post. I searched and searched for the answer and tried several different things to fix the problem and nothing ever worked. I actually just figured I was done blogging!  Tonight I decided to try one more time to Google the problem and see if I could find an answer. I ran across a reply to the same problem and they said that it was Blogger's issue and they were working on fixing it. They also mentioned if you switched over the Google Chrome everything would work fine. So, that is exactly what I did and wouldn't you know it......everything worked fine! I couldn't believe it, what an easy fix. Not only is the issue fixed, but the pictures download so much faster. A win-win all the way around.


We had one last family Christmas to attend to!

We headed over to Mike's mom and Dave's for one last hurrah.  We got our fill of snacks and drinks and then we let the kids open their presents first, one-by-one.

It's scary how old they are all getting. They literally open presents then they are off with their electronics to the basement. Makes for a peaceful afternoon! Once in awhile they come up for some food or conversation, but not much. They are always sad when it's time to leave, at least they love each other!

Adults open next! This year I scored a lovely new purse and wallet. I also got a $50 Amazon gift card and I ordered four new fun cosmetic items the other day with it! Mike received a new fishing net and some tools, among other things.

The Vikings played that day so we all enjoyed watching the Vikes win! Hours and hours go by and it's so relaxing you don't even realize it's evening and time for another meal! Good thing the table is still covered with food.


Always great to get together with family and then be able to drive 2.5 minutes and be home! I am so glad we all live in the same town. Not only does it make life easier but it also means my kids have some pretty amazing grandparents in their daily lives, not just once a year like I did.

The lovely Christmas break is over! We got so much done (carpets cleaned, walk-in closet organized and cleaned out) and were able to enjoy lots of friends (Donna & Jeff and Pam & Jeff for dinner, Jeff & Jeri for New Year's Eve, a lovely overnight in Minneapolis with my high school friend, Leslie, happy hour with co-workers/friends Amy and Justin. I also snuck in time to see Les Miserables with my mom. We had seen the play together, I liked the movie better..... mostly because I could hear the words. During the play, I had hard time with only one ear that functions. So, it was nice to understand every single word loud and clear!


We enjoyed NO basketball for almost two weeks. It was heavenly. We almost didn't know what to do with ourselves for that long! We are of course back at it again with lots of tournaments and practices. Noah is now having two a day between his two teams. At least we only have two kids so one of us can go one direction and one of us can go the other. It's worked so far.


We are in for the LONG run until Spring Break when we will once again find ourselves lounging in Ft Myers. We rented a house this time instead of a hotel/resort. I can't wait. Wish it was March now.

Happy Winter!
LB

Christmas Eve/Christmas

Santa was very good to me this year. A new camera! Makes me a little nervous as it puts the pressure on to create decent pictures now! No excuses. I really need to take a class. Although, I will say that I already like my indoor pictures way better with this camera than with my old. Mike has someone set up to buy my old camera and lenses so at least that will help me feel a bit less guilty! Santa also bought me a new, larger lens. I am excited to try it at basketball games next weekend.

 

We had the family over to our house this year for Christmas Eve.

 

 

We enjoyed lots of great food, Grumpy Old Men, and Christmas Vacation.

 

 



It was nice to get together with both sides at once and enjoy some time together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Santa arrived fairly early Christmas morning.

 

Connor got a new basketball bag with his name engraved on it.

 

 

Bear paws for Noah

 

 

Alabama sweatpants

 

 

 

Glove for Con Man

 

 

And their most favorite gifts this year...........

 

Beats headphones for Noah.

We have to exchange them as one side is popped out. I am sure the lines won't be too long at Wal-mart. Right?

 

 

 

Call of Duty game for Connor.

He never thought he was getting it. It took much convincing from many people. He needs to turn off a couple of the options on the game, but I think I am okay with it now. I think.

 

We spent some time in the afternoon watching old video tapes of the kids. It was so sweet to see them so little! Eventually they all got sick of it and I watched at least an hour by myself. So hard to remember them so little. Made me a little sad. How quick it goes, and how crazy life gets, and then you forget.

 

 

Christmas night was low key. I didn't feel that great and was sure I was getting the flu Noah had last week (I still can't believe only one of us got it). I finally got up and made supper. Afterwards Mike and I rented The Lucky One and the kids played their new games and listened to their music. Lazy, quiet night. (Good movie, by the way).

 

The rest of my Christmas break is packed with friends and get- togethers. Should be fun!

 

Hope your holidays were merry and bright.

LB