You’ll need to click on the image to make it large enough to read. It’s worth the click.

Well really, she wanted to post a YouTube video.

Not happening but I told her I would blog about it.

I know I would feel guilty about my boot obsession and passing it on to my youngest, if it weren’t for my bargain shopping obsession.

So glad she’s excited enough to want to share the bargains on the blog.

Somehow she ended up with 4 pairs of boots and 2 pairs of flats when I only got 3 pairs of boots.

Okay, maybe that’s because my boots were a little pricier than her $8.00 and $10.00 pairs. And her feet are still growing so she really did need new shoes. I might have told her she is not allowed to ask for a pair of new shoes for at least one year and her feet better stop growing.

Nonetheless, it was our best boot haul ever!

Yes, bargain shopping does take extra time and we did hunt down the best buys at 3 different stores. Keep in mind that while I’m admitting to boot obsession, I really do not enjoy shopping and strategically plan my shopping around several best times of the year for when incredible markdowns are happening. This time in February after President’s day weekend is one of those times.

PhilBillPaul accompanied us on Friday night but begged off for our Saturday expedition. He still likes to ask what I do with all the money I “save”.

Did I mention he got 2 new Geoffrey Beene sweaters that were $65.00 each for $8.59 when I did a little online shopping last weekend?

See, I bargain shop for everybody!

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the extraordinary service I received from the shoe sales associate, Susan at Belk in Gainesville, Georgia. She literally brought out every pair of leather boots in my size that she could find while I tried them all on right up until closing time.

Receipt #1 on right: Susan was also quick to point out that I saved $668.86 while spending just $199.17 for 5 pairs. That translates to less than the retail price of one pair of my boots. Yee haw! You gotta love a fellow shoe enthusiast who backs me up to PhilBillPaul on our massive savings. Receipt #2 on left was from another store on Saturday.

Do you shop the clearance racks or do you shop full retail because bargain shopping takes too much time?

Maybe a once-a-month blogging schedule will be the ticket to less blogging guilt.

Or not.

Right now, true confessions continue as I tell you that I laughed until I cried. Scary Baby said she hadn’t seen me laugh so hard in all her life about something I saw on TV and shared with her and PhilBillPaul.

After a week of serious health bad news about friends and family, I really, really needed to laugh.

The true confession part is that I’m sure this should not make me laugh so hard and then want to share it on my blog. I should not be so immature as a mother of 4. This should not be what brings me back to blogging.

Perhaps it was PhilBillPaul’s encouraging words “You should blog this” that compelled me to begin again. Immaturity attracts immaturity. At our house anyway.

I must type these disclaimers before you scroll down to find the source of my immaturity.

Disclaimer #1
In my diligent research as I did a quick search to find the video online, I found some people were appalled by this viral video and there was concern that the family was irresponsible for not stopping the video camera.
I think they were focused on the baby and not the dog. Nor did they want to ruin baby’s first steps by screaming at the dog and scaring baby Lydia which I clearly would have done. Scream at the dog and ruin baby’s first steps would have been me. Baby crying, mom crying and blaming dad for having a dog in the house with a baby.
Disclaimer #2
Some people believe dog poo can make a baby go blind.
I don’t know anything about this. But mom did take swift action.
Disclaimer #3
You do not have to click “play”. Just like the TV and radio and other electronic devices, you are still the operator in control.
I hope we can still be friends even if you don’t watch it. Or don’t think it’s funny. Or watch it twice.

All said, this one minute video makes me laugh out loud each time I watch it.

Click here for video if you are reading via RSS or email and don’t see it below.

You have to admit, you could never stage this scene and get the timing of all this captured on film. Kudos to the family for remaining calm. I would use this priceless memory at Lydia’s wedding.

But I did get around to making a Happy New Year card which is really just a very belated Christmas card.

I’m fine with that and I kind of like it that way.

If you have really great eyesight and can actually read the tiny print, please know that the actual card I mailed to friends and family did not say “SB” and “Scary Baby”. Just trying to respect the 13 year old’s privacy regarding internet strangers.

It has been 5 years since I started this blog and 5 years since I sent a holiday card. Probably not a coincidence as I felt everyone could get the Humpfreeze updates on the blog.

And perhaps because we had not taken a decent family photo since Scary Baby was one.

I’m still working on 2012 highlights and getting them on the blog for the sake of our family history. The timeline pressure is all mine and I can go at my own pace knowing that all that I have recorded in the past 20+ years is more than many take the time to do and release some of my guilt over my giant blogging gaps this year.

I’m not ready to stop but I still can’t figure out how to start again.

Thanks for hanging around here and reading when I do post. I love every comment and email I receive.

Happy New Year – may 2013 be the best year yet for you and your loved ones!!

xoxo

For years I let Roger Leroy be in charge of holiday decor. She loved to go into the attic and bring all the boxes down. She was a master at assembling the artificial tree we had for at least a decade. The Grunter and Wizzy might hang an ornament or two but they quickly lost interest. Roger Leroy went above and beyond what I would have done.

She conned her dad into multiple trips to the store for more lights and would string lights on the front porch and in her room and anywhere she could think of. I was grateful for all her help and truly appreciated all her hard work.

Then she got older and left for college.

Our decorating elf had abandoned us.

PhilBillPaul and I do not work well together in tasks like decorating.

Thankfully, we got 2 out of 4 kids who find joy in decorating.

Scary Baby has become our new decorating elf!

Dad and Granny picked up a gorgeous tree at Costco on Thanksgiving weekend and Scary Baby couldn’t wait to get all the boxes down and start trimming the tree.

She really did a beautiful job.

Every day I came downstairs and said things like “This year’s tree just makes me happy!” and “I think this is the best live tree yet!”

PhilBillPaul asked her to water it every day. And every night he checked the tree and watered it because she forgot. It was the least we could do since she did all the hard work.

Now cut to two weekends later and it’s our annual baking frenzy. To be documented next week.

It is Sunday afternoon. I’m baking in the kitchen. PhilBillPaul is watching football and folding clothes in the family room. We both hear a very loud noise.

Me: “What was that?”

PBP: “Well I’ll be ________! Come in here”

A fallen tree with ornaments and lights creates an enormous mess.

Tree and stand had toppled over. Water everywhere. Ornaments. Strands of lights. Tree needles.

Roger Leroy was home that Sunday. She had taken Scary Baby to the mall when said tree fell over.

Roger Leroy had also arrived with a tiny dog she was “dog sitting” for her darling twin sister. To be documented next week.

Since she left the dog with us, PhilBillPaul thought it would be funny if I sent her a text with photo showing our mess…

Me: “Need help here”

RL: “Um how did that happen”

Me: “Damn dog. Please hurry up”

RL:”That 3 lb dog knocked over an entire tree?”

ME: “She’s very naughty and no longer welcomed here”

RL: “Whatever I don’t believe you”

Luckily for us, The Grunter was home and helped PhilBillPaul get the tree upright and swept up the needles and wiped up the water all with a joyful Christmas spirit. Not.

I was thankful that Scary Baby had decided not to put all the kids’ special ornaments on the tree this year. So many would have broken.

On Monday morning, I could only laugh when I turned on my computer to read my good friend Leigh Anne’s blog as she shared her Christmas tree decorating tutorial.

Photo used with permission

That is her actual tree in her house. Not a store display.

Are you kidding me? One person is not suppose to be good at everything.

Another example of polar opposites being friends. One tree puts me over the edge and she decorates up to FIVE. And has themed vignettes throughout her house on every open surface.

I shared her blog post with Scary Baby. She was less than impressed with any tips.

The joy of decorating the Christmas tree comes but once a year…

Not twice as evidenced by my cranky decorating elf who was less than thrilled with my request that she re-trim the tree.

Alas, the tree is now re-trimmed.

Not because our precious decorating elves worked together. They were elves with bad attitudes. Roger Leroy did the lights and left. It took Scary Baby a week but she finally put all the ornaments back on. There may have been a few threats.

Keepsake Decorations

We also found some extra special decorations while doing some attic cleaning.

I believe I made this lovely candle holder in the 2nd grade. When my mom downsized and moved to a condo, she kindly gave us some of our beautiful keepsakes. It’s hard to believe that she didn’t want to hang on to this and proudly display it in her living room. Thanks mom.

Perhaps the attic was not the best place to store this gem. Or at least the green candle? that is now melted and stuck in the hair spray lid.

Fond memories of that candle holder that sits in a gold foil wrapped peanut butter lid. I clearly remember the excitement of making it in elementary school. I think you can see I was bitten by the crafting bug very early.

What’s your favorite Christmas decoration? How many trees do you have?

Please say one…

I had a list of reasons to share about why I had stopped blogging.

I planned it all in my head last week how I would get back in the groove on Monday.

Then Friday’s tragedy happened. I was frozen when Roger Leroy sent me a text asking me if I knew what happened in Connecticut. She shared what she knew.

Without turning on the TV, I walked downstairs and hugged Scary Baby and told her I was so grateful she was home with me.

Then I went back upstairs and called PhilBillPaul and turned on the TV and cried.

My reasons for not blogging are small and irrelevant.

As we’ve prayed and had moments of silence for all the families in Connecticut, it occurred to me today that I need to write and capture the rest of our 2012 stories.

Because the little things are the things that keep us grounded when we can’t fathom what others must endure.

Even if you never watch The Voice, this 2 minute tribute is worth watching.

Click here to see the video if you don’t see it in the blog above.

And maybe tomorrow, I’ll be back to blog about the little things.

Imagine the thrill when I received this photo on Sunday via cell phone while they were at drill together.

PhilBillPaul gets total credit for it appearing here on the blog.

I was compelled to do a tiny bit of photo editing because it is what I thought the moment I saw the photo.

Since they did post the unedited version on facebook, I’m sure they won’t mind that I’m posting my version here.

Love my babies soldiers.

This time we’re in Florida and we’re shopping for a new mailbox.

Which one do you think we should pick?

Scary Baby liked the “walrus” one so we had a teachable moment about manatees.

Think we’ll start a trend in our Georgia neighborhood when we get back. It’s a long way to drive to shop for the perfect mailbox.

Okay, really we’re on vacation and the mailboxes made me laugh. Of course, I had to have PhilBillPaul stop so I could snap pictures of these winners.

We’re visiting a new place and enjoying perfect weather! More trip details and photos to come. I’m making it a personal goal to write about this vacation before January.

I should have said

“In six weeks…“

Because that’s how long it has taken me to gather myself and beg Scary Baby to create the photo collages of our Midwest trip. I told you last week I’ve been a little crazy busy.

Seems reasonable to me since she was adding to my blog pressure by asking repeatedly when I was going to blog about the rest of our trip.

Without further ado, here is a baker’s dozen of photo collages created by Scary Baby to prove we did more than just eat our way through the Midwest.

Chicago’s Museum of Science & Industry

We’ll always remember how Scary Baby got a turn at the periscope in the submarine exhibit. Our middle school teacher friend handled that for us. Thank you Mrs. Bowman. We were so glad she drove from the Quad Cities to spend the day and one night with us in Chicago.

All the exhibits we saw were interesting but the whispering gallery was Scary Baby’s highlight.

Scary Baby’s bird’s eye view of downtown Chicago from our hotel room on Michigan Avenue.

Navy Pier

At night it looks very cool…

Lake Koshkonong

We spent one night in Wisconsin at my high school friend Terry’s lake cottage. She owns an antique shop and added all her special decorating touches throughout the cottage.

Scary Baby was excited to learn how to kayak on the calm lake.

Windmills of Indiana

Driving home, I was glad Scary Baby got to see the windmills in the day light. We saw them at night on the way down and we agreed that their red lights blinking in the pitch black dark night is scary! Either way, they still feel like a science fiction movie as you drive towards them. She took these awesome pictures in the moving car.

Lynn’s Paradise Cafe

Finally, on our last morning before heading home, our experience in this Louisville, Kentucky restaurant was a highlight. Even though she did not want to participate in all the funky photo ops, she enjoyed the eclectic restaurant and gift shop as much as I did.

The ugly lamp contest is ingenious marketing. Our personal fav – the toilet lamp on wheels.

Did you go anywhere fun for a summer vacation? I know today is October 1st. Don’t judge.