Birthdays, Christmas shopping, etc

Let's see, since I last blogged I turned 37. I can't believe I am 37. I guess it's not so bad, does it seem like time is just going so fast? When I was a kid I remember it seemed like forever before Christmas got here but now it's like "What?! It's Christmas again?" I love this time of the year. I love to decorate and shop. I usually do alot of baking but so far I haven't really gotten any of that done. I'm running out of time. Anyway, back to the birthday. It was really wonderful. We went to Rusty's brother's house and celebrated 4 at 1 time. Rusty is the 3rd, I'm the 11th, his Mom is the 17th and his oldest brother is the 19th. So because of this month being so busy we celebrate all together. The food was great and we had a really good time. Then the next day we went to my parents and celebrated with them and my brother. Again we had wonderful food and a great time. Everything seems to revolve around food with us.
My Mom and I met this morning and shopped all day. We had a great time. I'm really pretty much done with presents but of course there's the last minute things to get, stocking stuffers things like that. I brought home bagels and cream cheese from Panera Bread. If you've never had bread from there you absolutely have to go. They have these bagels that are to die for. They are called Cinnamon Crunch and they have this crust of cinnamon on the top of them. There's nothing like them.
Of course this past Sunday we were at the only place you will find my husband during a home Redskins game, at the game. How about them skins?!!! 35-7 over the Cowboys, it couldn't of been a better day. We were both hoarse from screaming and cheering. They set a record for attendance and there were so many people there that when everyone was screaming and jumping up and down you could feel the stadium moving. It was kind of unsettling but there is nothing like it. The last home game is this Saturday and Blake is going with Rusty. I'm not sure who is more excited, Rusty or Blake. Blake is counting down to Christmas and the game.
We now have a kitten and oh my gosh if the Christmas tree makes it through Christmas it will be a miracle. At first all she wanted to do was lay under it but now she has discovered that she can climb it. We have had to pull her out of it more times than I care to count. Ashleigh puts her in time out. Everyone thinks that is so funny. She puts her in the bathroom and leaves her in there for a few minutes. We laugh about it but she does seem to stay away from the tree for a little while after, so maybe it is starting to work. I guess we will have to wait and see.
Well, I am headed to bed, have a great evening.
Bridget

Wednesday

Well, Ashleigh and Rusty had a great time at the basketball game. The Vols won and Ashleigh got to see her idol, Pat Summit, the Lady Vols coach. After they got to Smith Arena they were standing in the hall and Pat Summit walked right past them with 2 of the players. Ashleigh thought she had died and gone to heaven. After the game was over they went to where the players go off the court and Ashleigh got a bunch of autographs of the players along with a lot of pictures. She was so excited. They are on their way home now, Rusty let Ashleigh drive so lets everyone pray for a safe trip home. Ashleigh is a really good driver, she's had a great teacher, my Dad, but driving in the city is a completely different experience after driving around our small town. My Dad let her drive to Dulles airport, in the dark, in the rain, so I think they will be fine. They took the metro from Vienna to the arena.
Steven came over tonight and I made chicken Alfredo. After dinner we sat down and played video games with the kids. As I have said before I am an addict. Before Steven came over Wayne made brownies and oh were they good. All 3 of my kids like to cook.
Well, I guess I am going to head to bed, have a great evening.
Bridget

Now let's see....

Let's see what has happened since the last time I blogged.
Friday we went to Woodstock for the Christmas parade. My mom is the manager for Bank of America, they were handing out free hot chocolate during the parade so she asked me if I would come down and help her. Ashleigh walked with their float handing out candy, Blake rode in it, my Dad drove and Rusty and I helped with the hot chocolate. It was a real family affair. It was COLD!!!! I wanted to dip my hands down into the hot water. I've talked before about small town parades, you know fire trucks, 2 Santas, Miss Shenandoah, the whole works. They have it at night, which I still haven't figured out except for the fact that they light the town Christmas tree after the parade. It was fun though and the kids enjoyed it.
Saturday was Rusty's birthday, the big 37. We went to dinner at Outback and then did some Christmas shopping. We had a really good time. They sang Happy Birthday to Rusty at Outback which completely embarrassed him. It was great.
Sunday we went to visit Rusty's mom, she has pneumonia. We also watched the Redskins kick some long over due butt. It was a good game, great weekend, Redskins won and the Cowboys lost, you couldn't ask for more.
Last night we got about 4 1/2 inches of beautiful snow. I love to watch it fall, hate to drive in it. The kids were very excited, school was closed today.
Tomorrow, Rusty and Ashleigh are going to see the Lady Vols (University of Tennessee lady basketball) play George Washington University. They are both really excited about the game. Basketball is Ashleigh's sport, but like her father she will watch just about anything. They are both obsessed with UT.
I don't know what Christmas is like at your house but at ours you have to be really good at hiding presents. Rusty is the biggest kid I have. He loves Christmas and can't wait to open his presents. He gets really excited about the presents he buys for other people also. This year the present he is the most excited about is the one he insisted Blake has to have . We bought (more like he bought) a Cricket rifle. It is Blake's first gun, now Blake is only 7 and I really didn't think he needed one yet but I think Rusty is more excited than Blake will be on Christmas morning. I have the admit the box it comes in is really cute. There's a picture of a cricket in camo holding a gun on the box and it says "My first rifle." Oh, well, that's what I get for marrying a man who has 2 gun safes and more guns than they will hold.
Well, I better get moving and start getting ready for tomorrow. Have a great evening.
Bridget