Project 857- November 21

Wow, it's been a while since I've been on this blog!!! I've been really concentrating on my public blog and this little family journal of mine got put on the back burner.

Forgive me!!!

I have some Saturdays to catch up on!

November 20th was Nealo's birthday so I planned a surprise for him for the weekend. It had been a long time since we've done anything for his birthday so I thought this would be the perfect time.

Austin spent the night over at Papa and Pete's and got his little backpack stuffed to the brim with clothes, movies and his nightly bedmates... Who-Zoo, Who-Boo, (the mice) Otty, (the otter) Bronty, (the T-Rex... umm... the name isn't so accurate...) and was ready to go!

He was saying "sleepover at Papa's!!!" in that last photo.

Owen went to my parent's for the night and had fun bonding with Gramma and Grampa all by himself! It was his first time there without Austin or Mommy and Daddy. He had fun!

I kept our destination a secret until it was time for Neal to pack and for us to leave... we were on our way to McMenamin's Edgefield!!!

All the things Neal loves... beer, hanging out, golf... I thought it would be perfect!

It was WINDY as all hell and SO COLD that it made being outside a little bit impossible. We had lunch inside and watched the Ducks game and then braved the cold to play the round of golf I booked for us.

I love the little clubhouse building you check in at for the golf.. it's old and super warm thanks to the stove.. they serve drinks and you can basically just live there.

We made it through 8 of the 12 holes on the golf course, but it was just too freezing with the windy whipping 100mph (ok, that's an exaggeration.. but you know what I mean). 

We warmed up in the little shed bar they have there...I forget what it's called.. the Little Shed or the Red Shed or something. It used to house the hotel's generator, back when it was a working Poor Farm.. so this building is TINY. Literally a bar, a fireplace, and 4 tables.

We sat in the lean-to area that used to house the wood and watched a couple outside the window freeze and act like they weren't freezing while they got engagement pictures taken.

Then since we really needed to warm up we headed to the soaking pool!

It was AMAZING... it's salt water, just slightly cooler than a hottub... like a warm bath temperature, and about 3ft deep so you just float and sit on the seats and drink your beer/wine.

Not to mention it's super fun to tromp around the grounds, and walk into different bars in your bathrobe! Seriously, we actually did that.. Neal wanted a certain flavor of beer they only had at the main restaurant bar so we walked in wearing our robes. I told the bartender "please tell me other people do this all the time" and he just kind of chuckled.

After a few hours of soaking we had dinner (big old awesome McMenamin's burgers!) went back to the soaking pool (because, why not??) played pool at one of the bars for awhile and then decided to call it a night around 9:30pm

This is when we discovered we are officially old.

Around 9:45pm... a huge party erupted in the two rooms on either sides of our room. See, those rooms were the Hostel rooms... just huge rooms of bunk beds they book out for cheap.

Apparently one big group of people booked one room and they were slamming back and forth between the rooms, blasting music, screaming, singing "Happy Birthday" really loud, and making mind-shattering exclamations... "OMG! Are we wearing the same SWEATER??? hahahahahaha!!!"

So when you are in your 30's like Neal and I, and don't get alone time often... you aren't as willing to put up with that kind of shit.

Especially since I paid almost $200 for this "luxury King room."

Which is terribly located between the Hostel rooms.

So we packed, went down to the lobby and tried to move rooms.

They were booked.

Well, I wasn't willing to listen to that all night, and we were away from our kids!!! That is supposed to mean rest and relaxation!!!

So we drove home.

Whomp Whomp.

Happy Amazing Birthday Weekend Away Nealo!!!

The Big Guy In Red!

Wow. This week zipped by... and we are HOW many days away from Christmas??

Egads!!!!

I still need to wrap presents, put together the daycare teacher's gifts, figure out stocking stuffers for the husband and the kidlets and bake some cookies.

#MommyNeedsSomeElves

#AndSomeWine

#Help

Well we managed to find time to go visit Santa, at least...

Meeting the Big Guy is a pretty big deal each year... I remember as a kid always being in such awe at meeting Santa and telling him what I wanted for Christmas...

Except I never did get that damn Barbie Dream House. Sigh..

#HeMustHaveLostTheMemo

Anyways, we went to our local mall this year to see Santa, and we figured out through trial and error that going on a weeknight is the way to avoid the line that wraps all the way into last year.

Neal and I commute from different directions so we just met at the mall after work.

Naturally, since it's Oregon.... it was DUMPING rain that night and we had to try and change the boys into their nice Santa clothes in the back of the car in the downpour.

No outfit is complete without Ninja Turtle socks, naturally!

We hopped into a passing raft and floated into the mall and had a quick dinner first.

Someone was distracted much and couldn't eat his pizza... the food court has rides (Merry-Go-Round and a Ferris Wheel) so all he could do is some wishin' and hopin' and prayin' he'd get to go on the rides too.

We only had to wait 15 minutes! Which is still forever with wriggly kids.

Austin commented on how Santa must have decorated that huge Christmas tree and I was like "oh honey, no... that was definitely the work of Mrs. Claus!" 

Let's give the woman some credit!

*fun fact: on some old 1970's Santa Claus animated show we saw over the weekend, the girl Kris Kringle married was named Jessica! So Mrs. Claus is Jessica. How cool!*

Santa went as I expected... Austin was all "Hi Santa! Hi! I want a MOTORcycle! Ok?" and Owen was all "holy reindeer WHO ARE YOU????" and wailed.

So Neal, being the awesome guy he is, jumped in.

Maybe by the time Owen is 42 the parents can stop being in the picture too.

Last year, we were ALL in the picture because Owen didn't want to be away from me (notice him clutching my finger!), and Austin was unsure and had to be anchored to Daddy.

We seem to like plaid for the boys when they meet Santa

#WeAreSoTrendy

Ho Ho Ho!

Flashback- Our Family Christmas Cards

I am one of those anal early people that sends out cards as soon as Thanksgiving is over.. usually because I think our card is so cute and I'm anxious to share it!

Merry Christmas from The Glynn's!!

I keep a card every year so I can look back at how our family has grown.

It's obvious we had kids just to make our Christmas cards cuter... oh, and to do chores like unload the dishwasher and pick up after the dog.

#Naturally

Here is a peek into our past years' cards!

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

I think this year is by far my favorite... our family is complete. You can see each boy's personalities in the pictures too, so I know I'll cherish this year's card forever. 

Our Holiday Home

It was a doozy of a week for me... it's been monsoon-raining in Oregon for days and there is flooding, streets closed due to downed trees... accidents on the roads... 

It's been SO fun to commute this week with two crazies in the backseat. All I want for Christmas is the weather to dry up so I don't have to prolong listening to Owen screaming in his carseat.

#KidHatesTheCarseat

I just wish I had more decorations....during all my single years I always went home for Christmas, and didn't really decorate the apartments and townhouses I lived in.

Once Neal and I were married I started to gather a few things, but again.. we were in a small townhouse until just recently and I didn't want to grow my collection before I knew what kind of forever home we'd end up in. I wanted to be able to get the right decorations for the space.

So here we are, 3 months in our forever home (finally!!!) so in the coming years I'll really start growing my Christmas decoration collection.

#InsertNealPanicking

#GonnaNeedABiggerGarage

For now.. my decorations are a bit sparse, but I still love them.

Our front door has a what I call a cranberry wreath that I've had for years. Owen proudly brought me a cranberry that had fallen off one night. Ack!! Choking hazard!! So the wreath went outside on the door.

This is my "happy little Christmas corner" by the stairs. Lighted garland, our stockings.. this cute banner I got at the dollar spot at Target and some of my reindeer and angels.

(extra points for whoever can spot the monster truck and vacuum that photobombed... #ThisIsRealLife)

The boy's Santa mailboxes are also there (this is what we do instead of the Elf, more on that in a future post!) and my cute Christmas wall art.

Trying hard to be good so Santa will visit!!!

One thing I am sad about is our new house doesn't have a fireplace or a mantle.

Where do you put Christmas decorations if you don't have a fireplace????

I had to settle for our bookcases, and put everything up on the shelves that Grabby McStickyFingers (aka Owen) couldn't really reach.

I have small collections started of trees, reindeer and angels and I love how they all come together for a bit of a woodland theme.

The Nutcracker I've had for years and the boys love to play with him.. he's a true soldier and handles all the mauling with dignity.

We finally got to get a big tree this year!!! We have vaulted ceilings so we wanted to fill in the space. After years of tiny trees to fit in our tiny apartments and townhouses I was so ready to get a big beautiful tree!

I do a mixture of traditional Christmas colors and sentimental ornaments. Austin loves to point out his little cinnamon snowman ornament he made at school last year.

My two favorite ornaments of course are my babies!!

Eventually I'll get more decorations in the kitchen but for now our little buffet is in the spirit! 

I got lazy with Austin's advent this year (Owen is still a bit too young) so I just bought a glass tree jar from Amazon and put Hersheys Kisses in it... one a day until Christmas!

Over our doorway to our kitchen, we have a big display shelf up at the top of the wall. What are these technically called? Anyone know?

A vignette shelf?

A high on the wall shelf??

Either way, I have no idea what to put up there for every day... that is a work in process. For Christmas, I got a little 2' tree with lights and wrapped up some empty boxes.

I had one of those "wow that looks really cute actually... go me!!!" moments when I put it all together.

#InteriorDesignerIAmNot

Decorating does not come that easy for me. All week long I've read other blogs and looked at all these beautifully decorated houses and I'm just awestruck. So many talented women out there with mad decorating skills.

Teach me!!!

Well, there you have it... the Glynn home for the holidays!

Project 857- November 14

Another Saturday in the books!

The day started off pretty laid back at home... Austin wanted to watch some Christmas movies so we had a morning full of Frosty and... well, more Frosty.

He's a bit of a Frosty freak, to be honest.

I made a smoothie and had to laugh at how Owen came running into the kitchen as soon as he heard the blender.

"Hi Mommy. I heard da blender... can I has food???"

If you prepare it... he will come.

He ended up drinking most of my smoothie because he just wouldn't leave me alone while I tried to drink it!

It was a pretty quiet morning and Owen went down for his nap. When he got up, we all headed out to Bullwinkles for little Madi's 4th birthday party!

Ok, when you first walk in... this place seems like your worst nightmare.

Clanging arcade games.
Whooping arcade games.
Flashing lights.
Kids running amok.

But it really was a pretty awesome place to have a birthday party. The kids loved the eating area with the stage (I don't think they noticed Rocky and Bullwinkle were a little run-down looking) and the pizza and sundaes.

Not to mention all the games, all the stimulation, and the huge outside area with go karts, climbing walls, ropes course, mini golf, zip lines, bumper boats...

Ok, so I changed my mind halfway through the day and decided not only will we be back in warmer weather to do all the outside fun things, but we'll probably have Austin's birthday party there too.

Project 857- November 7

No, I have not abandoned this blog... just in case you were thinking that!

I am going to keep this blog as my "family journal" and post my Saturday posts on here, and updates about the kids.. things like that.

Over on my new blog (and I hope you read and follow along!!!) I'm a little more "mainstream" blogger... because I want to be a legit blogger.

I've read blogs for years, and studied what these big bloggers do.

And I realized I can do the same.

These women get paid to blog. They get free trips, free products, free services... they are featured in magazines and TV shows... I mean. What a FUN life. All by doing what I love to do anyways.. write and blog.

So those are the differences between my blogs, and I hope you love them both!

On to Saturday!

Neal headed to the coast this weekend for his annual trip (aptly called The Annual) with a group of friends. It's all serious competition (there are teams and games and trophies and team captains barking at you  to get out on the beach for the relay race at 9am in the freezing rain... so I opt out of going every single year. No thanks)

Austin went down to my Mom's to get in some Gramma time so it was just me and BoBo!

I took advantage of not having the opinionated child at home and cleaned out the playroom and got rid of toys they have outgrown or lost interest in.

#MakeWayForChristmas

Owen could care less about me getting rid of toys, as long as he got to wander around and say cheese for the camera.

THAT. FACE.

Seriously.

We had a very "cheesey" day that continued through lunch and after nap too.

Later that night Auntie Sarah Bird came over for dinner and wine! Owen had fun showing off for her and trying to climb up her leg.

It was a laid back Saturday and we were happy to see brother and Daddy when they got home the next day!