It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

We just finished up our fantastic tour of 3 Thanksgivings, but, here, it looks a whole lot more like Christmas. Yesterday, we finally got around to raking our leaves, and, 4 hours later, our yard looked great! Today, mother nature has already dumped a couple of inches of snow on us, and there is more to come.

Yesterday, Moose spent the morning outside with us. We raked while he scoured the "woods" for whatever he could eat. I won't go into the details on what he ate, but I will tell you that he slept the rest of the day (totally not like him). I'm sure he had quite a tummy ache.

I headed to Hobby Lobby to get some cheap stuff to decorate our house. When I got home, I figured Moose would have been ready to get into all of my decorations and stuff, but instead, here was my view from my "ready to decorate" tree.

Poor Moose was feeling too bad to cause trouble! So I did this...

We haven't picked out our "big" tree from the tree farm yet, but I had a couple small fake trees to decorate. This one is in our foyer. I LOVED searching hobby lobby for decorations for this little tree. I may have gone a little overboard. :)

I already had the decorations for this tree. This one is in my kitchen so I used all of my cookie cutters along with some leftover wedding ribbon. :) I figured Steve wouldn't be a fan of the pink, but he didn't mind because it was FREE! :)

I have a place to hang my stockings...just in time!

Last, but not least....a Moose update. He's 60 lbs now, and we have found 2 baby teeth that he has lost. I don't have a picture to show you how much he has grown because as Steve was watching him in Steve's "hunting room" Moose got in trouble. This is where I found him...Puppy Jail!

If you give a Moose a doughnut...

...he'll want to eat the bag.
Here he is! He's almost 4 months old! :)

"Where are we going to hang our stockings?!?!"

When we were buying our house, I woke Steve up in the middle of the night with this question. I fell in love with our fireplace and never really realized that it didn't have a mantle until we were in the process of buying our house. Luckily, I have a VERY handy husband. His answer was, "I'll make some." Yes, he made me mantleS...plural. :)

Here is what it looked like before we moved in.
Here it is now! :) I'm not completely satisfied with the "stuff" on the mantles, but that will be changed for Christmas anyway.

My wife is making me do this.........a big thanks to whoever started this foolishness

7 things about me that you prolly don't know, or you might, but that just means you're special, hahaha:

1. I am walking proof that just because you can still use it, doesn't mean it's not broke. At some point in my childhood I broke one of the bones in my left wrist, but figured, hey I can still use it, so it's fine. Also at some point in my childhood, I broke one of the bones in my right knee, but figured, hey I can still walk, it's all good. Neither time was it all good. Freshman year of high school I had to have surgery on my wrist to straighten it. They took bone out of my hip, cut the bone in my forearm, put the hip bone in, and covered it with a titanium plate(The doctor's name was Ragu Elleru, hahaha). My first year of grad school I had the same surgery done to my leg.

2. I have a mind like a steel trap. I have honestly never studied for a test, other than the 10 minutes before it, in my life, and with a 3.97 in high school, a 3.3 in undergrad, and a 3.8 in grad school, i'd say it all worked out alright. I can still name enough people from my first grade baseball team to fill every position, among other ridiculously abstract facts, just ask megan, it annoys her, hahaha.

3. If I were to ever just snap one day and end up in the looney bin, it would be because of the sounds people make when they eat. If I am also eating, I can handle it, but if I'm not, my whole body tenses up and I just want to flip out from having to listen to people slurp and crunch on food. And if you chew with your mouth open, I want to punch you right in the throat.

4. As you prolly do know, I love to hunt/ just shoot stuff, but I have never killed a deer with my bow, and I have never shot a coyote.

5. I have the balance of a drunken 6 month old baby with one leg. Me and megan have contests to see who can stand on one leg the longest, but they don't last much longer than 5 seconds, seems like she'd let me win one of these days.

6. If I had to do the whole school thing over again, I would be a lawyer. Since I can remember so many obscure facts, I'm pretty skilled at finding loopholes in anything, and it would pay a lot more than this architecture/structural engineering foolishness.

7. Even though I grew up working construction for my dad since I was under 10, heights are not my greatest friend (see #5). I can deal with it, and have never not done anything because I was scared or anything, they just make me a bit uneasy.

.........and that is my contribution to this blog tomfoolery

-WOODZ

Moose's New Crib

Yesterday, Moose's Christmas present from my parents arrived in the mail. We were so excited about it because now we can put him in the basement which is much warmer than the garage.

Somehow, as I was putting the blanket in, my loving husband locked us both in the crate. Although, it is definitely big enough for both of us to sleep in, I prefer our comfy sleepnumber bed.

Thanks again, Mom and Dad! We love it!

Moose

Moose is getting so big (and tired of these silly pictures...I think).

Meanwhile...we're getting beat up! When I took him to the vet, he told me that Boxers (the breed) aren't the only "boxers." Apparently, Great Danes are also natural boxers. Moose is the next Ali! Whenever he wants attention, he boxes. Whenever he is mad at us, he boxes. Whenever he is playing, he boxes. Last weekend, he was playing with Steve and hit him in the nose, AND he was trying to jump in my arm and hit me in the eye. Here are our wounds to prove it!

Snowed In!

Here's what our front yard looked like on Saturday!

So we weren't really snowed in last weekend, but it did snow, and I just didn't feel like going out in it much. Soooooo, I beaded! :) Here is my latest and greatest. You never know. This just might be your Christmas present.

I I started making bookmarks, and I LOVE to make them. I can make them pretty fast, and I get to use all kinds of different pretty beads and charms. These pictures are pretty crummy, sorry.

I am so mad these pictures didn't turn out well! This is for Sydney. I love the glass beads that look like penguins. :) She's a girly girl and a big fan of the dangly bracelets.

Let's just say I have been a little busy. The blue and white one in the middle is MINE! :) I am excited to wear it. I've made umteen million Colts bracelets like the one below for my mom to give as Christmas presents.

You know how I hate to sell, but I am heading to New Castle for Thanksgiving so if you want any bracelets or bookmarks, let me know! I'm going to keep making them as long as it keeps snowing. :)

1 Month to Live

Betsy tagged me to answer this question:
What would you do if you only had one month to live?

Well, I wasn't thinking very clearly at 7 AM because the first thing I thought was Have a baby! Duh! Uh...no...can't do that. Pregnancy lasts more than 1 month...that wouldn't work! So, that decides my #1 answer....

1. Regret not having children. In case there is any question, Steve and I are planning to have children ONE DAY but we just don't think now is the right time. Why not?!?! Who knows. It just doesn't seem like we are "ready." However, I think if I knew I was going to die in a month, I would REALLY regret not being able to experience being a mom.

2. On a lighter note...Steve and I would go on a vacation to Alaska. Now, if you read my last post about hating being cold, you may be thinking I am crazy. As much as I hate cold, I love 1. Buying new boots, jackets, hats, scarves, etc. 2. traveling 3. Seeing Steve completely happy. Steve has been to Alaska and wants to go back sooooo bad. I would love to travel there with him. He really is a great guy...when he's happy....just kidding. :)

3. I would have everyone join us at Clifty Falls State Park to have ANOTHER reception. Sure, the ceremony was great, but we both agree that the reception was the best time we have ever had. I would LOVE to dance the night away in a big white dress again.

So, there you go! Karla, Laurel, and Heather....your turn!

Marmaduke

Last night, we were clicking through the TV channels and we found a show on great danes. Did you know Scooby and Marmaduke are both great danes? Marmaduke is actually by a man that owns only great danes and illustrates all the funny stuff they do. It's funny to look at the Marmaduke comics now and think Moose does that!

Yesterday, I watched Steve's 4 year old cousin, Sydney. Syd and Moose are about the same size now. Moose is just a bit bigger. Sydney ate a couple cookies....and this is what happened! I keep telling her it's only going to get worse. :)

I have to share what my wonderful and talented hubby did for me. I wanted to start a money system in my classroom to give them rewards and consequences. So, Steve made me some Moose money.

All about Megan

I've been tagged by Karla to tell you 7 things about me you probably don't know. Seeing this post on other blogs got me thinking, and I was trying to be ready because I getting tagged was inevitable, but it may take all day to think of 7 things.

1.I am scared of big dogs. I remember being a little scared when I was little, and then it just grew. I will NEVER walk up to a big dog unless it is sitting by it's owner. Now that I have a big dog, I wonder if I will ever be scared of him. I don't think so. I hope not.

2. I love making beaded jewelry, but I hate to sell it. I would love to have people buy my stuff, but the idea of selling it for more than I paid to buy the supplies makes me feel horrible. That's why I mostly give it as gifts.

3. When I am cold, my nose gets cold first, and my hands almost never get cold.

4. I HATE to be cold. Today, as it is snowing outside....I am wondering why I thought it would be a good idea to move to Michigan. To me, being cold is almost painful.

5. I watch "stupid" tv (well, that's what Steve says). I love to watch cooking shows, craft shows, and anything on TLC.

6. I love burnt cheese. I always took the corner piece of my grandma's lasagna for the burnt cheese. :)

7. I say "rabbits, rabbits" the first day of every month. It's a thing in my family that goes back to who knows when. It's supposed to bring good luck. I don't know if it truly does or not, but it couldn't hurt.

There you go! :) Now, I have to tag three more people to do the same thing. I would like Kate, Laurel, and Betsy to tell a little about them. :)

Moose

Well friends, it's almost gun season, which means we don't need the fancy deer target in our backyard anymore. Don't worry, we have a new plan for tracking Moose's growth. (Yeah, I know it isn't that exciting for most of you, but we do have a few die-hard Monday morning followers, and this is a good way for us to keep track of it.)

Moose learned this week that his back legs are strong enough now to keep him up. He LOVES putting his paws on our shoulders. Soooo, here is our new growth chart. We're in trouble when he can put his paws on Steve's shoulders while he's standing.
This one is for my mom and dad! We're cheerin' on the Colts today!

What do you do when life hands you a long commute??

Buy a PURPLE car! Yup, that's what my husband did. In my last post, I mentioned that we had traded cars for the week to cut down on the $$ we shell out for gas. Well, you see, the Woods family is BIG and you can find someone in the family to help you out with nearly every problem you can have (insurance, nurse, doctor, judge...etc). Luckily, a soon-to-be addition to the Woods family is a car salesman.

Steve had talked to his soon-to-be cousin-in-law about finding him a "decent" car that gets "great" gas mileage for a "good" price. Well, he called this week and said he had a car that is in great condition, in our price range...only drawback....it's PURPLE (my least favorite color)! Well, we talked it over, and, since I am not going to be driving it, I didn't say much.

To make a long story a bit shorter...we have a PURPLE car! Steve will be driving it to and from work 5 days a week, and since gas is at $1.99 now, we hope to be saving some serious money. According to Steve, it will pay for itself in a year and a half. :)

Weekly Update

This week we tried something new. In order to save $$, we tried switching vehicles. Steve commutes 1hr to Kzoo every week while I drive 5 minutes down the road. It only made sense that I would drive the gas guzzling truck, and he would take my SUV. Well, folks.....that's not fun. It's what we're doing because it saves money, but we aren't a fan of it. So, that got me thinking....What do you do to save money? Is there anything that you are/aren't doing to save money during these "troubled economic times"?

Yesterday we went to watch 4 of Steve's cousins play football. Not all of them really played because it was H.S. playoffs, but it was a fun game, and they won!

The rest of the weekend has been spent shopping, doing laundry, working on the yard, mopping tile (we have lots of it), working on report cards, and, of course, playing with Moose. I weighed him yesterday and he now weighs 45 lbs. He's becoming quite the moose!

Kar worked so hard on these pillows, the least I could do is take a picture and post them! The pillows at the top are 2 of 4 solid brown pillows Kar made to put on my not-so-hot pink couch. Our room is trimmed in brown, and I thought the brown pillows might help break up the pink couch(ew). I think it has helped a little, and they are very nice for napping. The pictures below are from the couch upstairs. The oh-so-talented Kar ripped the ugly red fabric off the front and replaced it with the dark brown polka dot. I LOVE them, and they match the chairs I recovered.

THANKS KAR!