Accept and Agree

Our crazy offer was ACCEPTED!! (We didn't think that they were crazy enough to take it...but they were!)  We signed our purchase agreement today!!  Now we just wait to close.

(Yes, the parking lot is gone and has been replaced with a yard and a driveway.)

Umm...no.

Not loving how this room is decorated....but that is cosmetic, right?

Offer placed

We placed an offer today on this kitchen....and the rest of the house.

A Thirty-One Christmas

The Terpstra's Tree- A Thirty-One Christmas!

(Thanks, Katie, for sharing the picture with me!)

Went back...

Went back to look at this dining area.

Kitchen Play

Who doesn't drag their toys and pillow pets into Gramma's kitchen and play right where everyone is trying to work?

Christmas Eve Cousins

Frosting cookies

YUM....frosting!!  (And no, not much of the frosting got on the cookies.)

A Spoonful of Sugar

My sister and I joined my friend, Amy and her daughter, Rylie, at the Broadway production of "Mary Poppins."  It is one of my favorites!!  We had a fantastic time!  (And look how cute Rylie is in her coat walking with her Momma.)

Christmas Jammies

I bought jammies for my niece and nephew and Aunt Annie got some for Gus.  I love that they have matching jammies!

Family

Our silly little family.

CHEESE

Okay...I cheated and used a picture from a week ago because we didn't get around to taking a picture today.  But really...how cute is he?!?

Big Shoes to Fill

Gus enjoys walking around in other people's shoes...this time they were his cousin, Brendan's slippers!

Jingle Moose

This would have been part of our Christmas card...if I ever got around to doing cards this year.  Oh well....MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Gus and Mr. Nate

Gus kept asking Mr. Nate (Aunt Annie's boyfriend) to read him a book.  Mr. Nate was a good sport.

What up G?

Second

Love seeing his name on our tree.

First on the tree

After the lights, this is the first thing placed on the tree.  I bought this years ago when we were trying to get pregnant.  Our one true wish....was yet to come.  And now he is here!!  So blessed to have him.  (In case you are wondering, yes, I still cry when I put this on the tree and when I see it.  But now it is now longer sad tears, only happy ones.)

And then there was...TREE

Step one: Set up the Christmas tree.

Step two: LIGHTS

Step three: try for the life of me to rotate this picture...oh well, just turn your head. 

Getting our tree!!

I LOVE our tradition of hunting and cutting our Christmas tree!!

The last straw

Gus was only entertained in the resturant by the straws...you can imagine the fit that occured when he threw the last straw on the ground and we wouldn't pick it up.

Peek!

Peek-a-boo Baby

MOO

My little moo eatting off his moo plate.  And yes, those are all pickles.  Somebody is a freak about pickles these days.  (And yes, mom, we are feeding him more than pickles.)

Cozy Tiger

I love that the Detroit Tigers keep their Tiger warm in the winter with his own Carhart jacket.

Goldfish Cracker Crusher

Remnants of one day with a "goldfish cracker crusher".  One more reason we should have a dog.

Little Bear

All of my little bear's presents are wrapped and ready.

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Goose

9 times out of 10, Gus finds books at Gramma's house and brings them to anyone that will read them.  One of the books is about ducks and a goose.  Gus learned how to say the word "goose" after reading the book a bazillion times.

Mess

Who made this mess??  One guess....a speedy 1 1/2 year old.

ALARM!!

Joel and I were loading groceries into the house so we plunked Gus into his pack n play.  Next thing we know, the car alarm is going off.  Wonder who had the keys....

A new invention? NO...it's a plate!

Well, we finally let Gus join the world of normal eaters and gave him his own plate.  He wasn't sure really what to do with this plate that had characters to look at under his food.  Poor kid wasn't sure what to do first.

Tis the season....

Got some major Christmas shopping done!!  Now just to wrap it all.

Fine Dining....someday

Someday these Target dishes will be the perfect little holiday addition to my fine china.  I have seen these dishes for a couple of year.  Someday perhaps I will splurge and get them.

Just like Da-Doh

Stole Da-Doh's hat.

Oink Oink

Who knew that these little piggies were so popular?!?  Well, I scored one for my friends daughter, Rylie.  I hope she likes it!!

Two Munchkins Up

Two of the three kids at Grandma Jo's are up BRIGHT and EARLY today.
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Tradition

Kid Rock at the Thanksgiving Day Lions Game.  This was my 7th Thanksgiving Day game with the Stapleton clan!  #22 (I think) for Joel!!

Pancake hat

On our drive north to the Stapletons, we tried to feed Gus pancakes while in the car. As you can see, he promptly flipped the pancakes over on his head. Thank goodness for no syrup!!
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Cracks me up!!

These little slippers that I bought for Gus are so stinkin' cute!!

Thirty-One

Turns out that Thirty-One's Columbus distribution center was right across the street from our hotel!!

Girls Weekend

Sally, Alicia and I had a wonderful time in Columbus.  We went to a Thirty-One meeting, did some shopping and had some good old fashioned girl talk!

Ohio

Got to meet up with two of my favorite girls for a shopping trip in Columbus....unfortunately, it was in Ohio...one of my least favorite states.  :)

Poke-A-Dot

Gus already has one of these Poke-a-Dot books and loves it!  He was so excited to get this new one!!

"Gym sucks!"

Both the principal and the assistant principal were out of the building for the day which left the other counselor and myself in charge.  While she was dealing with some girl drama, I got to deal with the new graffitti in the girls locker room.  Someone wrote in pink hair dye, "Gym sucks".  They must really hate gym class!

Baby Jesus

One of Gus' new things right now is our nativity scene.  First of all, I must admit, we have had it up all year round.  Hey- why not celebrate the birth of Jesus all the time!  Lately, Gus makes me pick him up to see them.  Then I have to pick up each one individually and let him kiss each one.  I have to chuckle since we always look at baby Jesus last and Gus always pets and kisses Jesus.  I talked on http://www.stapeshouse.com/ about Gus' first religious education lesson.  Consider this #2.

Order up!

Busy couple of days with Thirty-One parties.  Finally have it all input into the system....now just to wait for it's arrival!!

Organization???

I decided to organize my closet.  The old saying, "it's gotta get bad before it gets better" rings try for today.  What a disaster!  And this isn't even a small part of it!  YIKES!!

Cookie!!!

Another one of the pictures off my cell phone, so all of the kids look a little crazy.  They were all so excited to get a cookie.  The big kids scarfed theirs down...their mouths are still full.  The little one just held his tight and licked it.  Crazy kids!

Reading...

Reading at Steak n Shake.  He reminds me of my dad reading the newspaper!

Free Speech...No resale value.

I'm all for free speech and not be denying the rights of others.  But this man had his truck covered in "information" about politics.  I was parked next to it and the man was actualy in his truck so I didn't want to take a picture of the whole thing.  But it is crazy to think about how many sharpie markers this man used on his truck....talk about zero resale value!

Stop Spinning...get working!

Mrs. Stapleton:  Why are you spinning around in your chair?  Is your research done?

Student 1: I think I'm done

Student 2: I'm doing mine at home

Mrs. Stapleton:  Well, you aren't going to spin around in your chair because you are making me dizzy just looking at you.  I have a project that needs to be done...stuff these envelopes.

Yes....it may look like I run a little sweat shop in my class.  :)