Random Acts of Kindness Recap-Week #2

Here we are to week number two of our RAOK Christmas countdown! And we are loving it more and more each day! Charlot loves opening an envelope every night! 

Monday- Day 7, Charlot was supposed to choose one of her books to give to a friend. She decided to pick two and she also chose her friend Molly to be the recipient of the books!

Tuesday- Day 8, we left a dollar and a note on the soda machines outside our local grocery store! This was so fun because we had several people tell us they saw this and it sure made them smile for the day!

Wednesday-Day 9, Ding Dong Ditch! Charlot loved running up Telpha's (she got to choose the ditcher), door and leaving the box by the door. Oh and I have no words for the face!

Thursday-Day 10, leaving treats for the trash men, we also left them a note thanking them for helping keep our tiny town clean

Friday- Day 11, Charlot got to pick out her favorite house in town for Christmas decorations, she picked the same one last year. But we really do love this house, it's so festive! I loved watching her walk up to their door so big to leave a box of cookies for them! 

Now the next two days I don't have pictures to go with but we did our RAOK!

Saturday- Day 12, we went to dinner in Glasgow and we had to get a little help from our waitress to pull this off. Charlot was ready with card in had and she was so big when she ask the waitress to help her. She asked her to choose a family to give the card to and tell the we wanted to buy dessert for them. The waitress was so sweet and told us she would love to. The family she chose thanked us from across the room then they came over and gave Charlot a little money for her piggy bank. This was so sweet!

Sunday- Day 13, Charlot was supposed to go give hot cocoa to some of the bell ringers in town, well it was a bit of a monsoon yesterday. So to say the least there were no bell ringers to be found. She was so worried that she wasn't doing anything I told her not to worry we could do it another day. But my kiddo didn't take that for an answer. After nap I see her with all kinds of art supplies, paper, colors, scissors, tape, they whole gang was there. I finally had to ask her what she was doing... She says " my act of kindness, I'm making a birthday card for Jesus, so we can mail it to heaven." Oh my heart be still.

Hope all of you are getting prepared for Christmas. How are your countdowns going?

Merry Christmas Wishes...and the Best Gift Ever

I know that this is a pretty rare weekend blog but I wanted to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas. Each year I become more and more thankful for the life I live and the blessings I have and this blog and my readers are such a blessing. So thank you for sticking with me through the crazy stories, the thick thigh food, the breaks of no blogs, and the support you all showed me during the loss of my papa. This year has been full of laughter, cheers and some tears...but we wouldn't trade our life for anything! Yesterday we were putting the finishing touches on our tree, Charlot put the below ornament on the tree and told me it was her favorite ornament ever. When I asked her why she said, "because the baby gave it to me." I said, "how sweet." She then told me that "God was giving her the best gift ever, because he was giving us a baby." I with tears in my eyes said, "I couldn't agree more."

That's right all after many tears of thinking we would never be here again...we are so happy to say that we will be adding another blessed bundle to our family in June! 

Merry Christmas to all and a blessed new year!!!!

Going Bonkers....and Giveaway Winner Announced!!!

This time of year my job becomes much more flexible, the lack of corn growing in the area assists with this. Since this is the case I find myself taking more of my vacation days this time of year. On Monday I was off so I decided to take Charlot to Going Bonkers in Columbia. No I didn't pull her out of the school for this her entire school Pre-K-8 is on a four day week. I am learning that these four day weeks are great! Anyway back to the whole Bonkers thing. Charlot has been asking me for quite sometime to take her there. And basically I have been avoiding it. Yup again mom of the year. Basically I knew I didn't want to go on a weekend for fear of going bonkers myself and there just hadn't been a good day so, Monday was the day. Man alive she was happy. And so was I when we got there and I realized there was no one else there.

That is until I realized that she would not be going by herself through the whole thing. So me being me, I saddled up and jumped in for a fun filled morning of climbing and swinging and holy hips squeezing through small areas. It was a ball though, and the following morning I sure felt it. I was so glad that by the end she wanting to go down the slides by herself and being slightly more independent.

This slide was her favorite, she mush have went down it twenty-five times then told me as we were leaving that she needed to come back even if just for that slide.

I share this picture because I want all of you to grasp the magnitude of the play thingy I was trapped in. Oh my word help me! 

Now on the best part the GIVEAWAY!!! I had over 100 entries woohoo! I'd really like to get that up a but I'll take what I can get! And the Winner of their choice of a personalized pan or a food processor is...

C. Kincade 

If the winner would contact me at their earliest convenience to clam your prize!!! Thank you to all the entries and thank you for continuing to read my blog!!!

Wacky Brain Wednesday...plus a Giveaway!!!

1. I am currently obsessed with this picture of my kiddo...I know she is mine I should be but there is something about this one. I think it is the sheer joy you can see in her face and eyes. I love when a someones eyes say so much about them!

2. I can't really seem to get into the whole Christmas shopping spirit this year...like at all. If you are one of my family members and end up with the most random present in history please accept my apology. 

3. My sisters-in-law or is it sister-in-laws? Anyway both of the Hubs sister and I plus my MIL and Charlot are going to do one of the paint a canvas things on Saturday. I am a bit nervous, number one because I will have Charlot with me, will I actually get to paint? Number two my creative skills sometimes shut off and will not function! Have any of you guys done this? What should I be warned of?

4. My lips are crazy chapped this time of year...well pretty much from October through March, then add July because of so much sun. Anyway I have found that Chap Stick has a cake batter flavored stick and man alive do I love it! It is quickly becoming a need. 

5. I am overwhelmed by the fact that people actually read my blog, ha! Frankly because I a lot nutty. But seriously though it is such a crazy feeling that people really want to see what we have going on in our lives! This leads me into my big giveaway announcement!!! I have hit 50,000 pageviews!!! Say WHAT!!! It doesn't seem real or possible,to me but blogger is telling me so! To say thank you to all you faithful readers I am giving away the choice of a personalized 9x13 pan or a lovely food processor to one lucky reader! 

You have until Friday December 11 to enter. Up to Four entries per person! Comment on the blog post, comment on the Facebook post, Share the Facebook post and if you have liked the Married with Pigs Facebook page you already have one entry and if you haven't you can get one by going and liking it! Please tell me what you love, hate, want to see more of, need to see less of on this lovely little blog! 

Happy Wednesday thanks for sticking with me through that randomness!

Colorado 2015

Well here it is I am finally getting around to recapping our beautiful big old fashioned family vacation!!! We headed out the Sunday before Thanksgiving with my parents, to head to Georgetown Colorado, my brother and sister-in-law joined us later in the week. The weather was absolutely beautiful for our drive out, and we made it in decent time, plus Charlot decided that Grandma and Pap's car was much more appealing than ours so it was a pretty quite ride for us.
The above picture is of Blaine's new wildlife spotter...ha...she thought it was awesome to look through the binoculars I'm pretty sure she couldn't see a thing but hey it made her happy!

This was on our first full day outside the house that we stayed at in Georgetown. Charlot was so happy there was snow.

The first day we took a bit of a scenic drive over to Golden, Colorado to tour Coors Brewery.

Yes I took my kid, and yes she likes to tell people that she learned how to make beer. HA! Mother of the year again!

After the tour we ate at this really neat place called Bob's Atomic Burgers, which was delish. Plus it was a beautiful day so sitting outside was a must.

On the drive back from Golden we were able to see several Mountain Sheep, we even had the chance to see a few full curl Rams, they were not so photo friendly. But these girls didn't seem to mind at all that I wanted to take their picture.

The next several pictures below are in Georgetown near their beautiful lake. The lake bordered most of the town and was just breath taking. There were several people who were out ice fishing just a day or two after these pictures were taken.

 

Morning Run Selfie!!!!

We took Charlot to ride the Georgetown Loop railroad, Santa Train. Totally against my theory of No Christmas before Thanksgiving but hey it was vacation. And the verdict was that she loved it! I will say the adults were pretty impressed as well. Especially with the lights outside being synced with the music inside the train. Plus Santa was so gracious he took time with each and every kid to hear exactly what was on their list.

Yes the train went over that bridge!

Apparently no one could look at the same camera. 

I love this picture of Charlot on Thanksgiving morning because she is being so cute watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Just like I did (ok still do) when I was a kid.

We decided to head out to Red Rocks on Thanksgiving day. It was a bit snowy and colder than we expected but really really pretty. Here are a few shots from that visit.

On Friday our last full day in Colorado we ventured up to Estes Park and to the Rocky Mountain National Park. This is by far and away one of my most favorite places on the planet! I love the town of Estes but more than that I adore the National Park. It truly is God's work of art, if you go there and tell me you didn't enjoy it I honestly would think you were crazy! I have visited the park, Summer, Fall and Winter and I can't say any of the visits didn't top the previous one. Seriously TAKE THE TIME TO GO VISIT!!! These beautiful next few shots were all taken in the park. Where not only did we see natures beauty but some beautiful wildlife, including several Bull Elk and Mule Deer.

I was ready to kill Blaine while he took this picture as I was driving!

Vacation is so very good for the soul!!!

The last day as we drove home the weather got a little dicey so Charlot thought chocolate ice cream sandwiches and staying awake nearly the entire way were completely necessary.

My final thoughts on this trip...number one thank you mom and dad for putting this whole thing together it was so so much fun. Two big family vacations may seem like a terrible idea to some but they are completely worth it, the memories made will last a lifetime. And lastly Colorado you are such an amazing place each time I visit my soul feels renewed, I have so many memories and moments in your state that I know a little piece of my heart stays there each time I leave. So until next time...because there will be a Next Time!!!

Random Acts of Kindness Recap- Week 1

As we begin a new week and begin getting closer and closer to Christmas, I want to share with you our activities from the last week of counting down to Christmas in our house. The above picture is how I have her daily envelopes displayed at her level and easily accessible for her to go grab one each evening. We are loving this activity even more this year and I really hope it can become a loved tradition in our family.  

Day 1-we taped candy canes to the ATM's at our local bank, with a care wishing people a very Merry Christmas.

Day 2- Charlot colored pictures to send to someone she loves. She chose to color two one for Grandma Linda and one for Grandma Jones

 

Day 3- She had to pick out some of her toys to donate to her schools toy drive, this was a little hard for her but she managed to find a few that she didn't need.

 

Day 4- We left some yummy Christmas cookies for our sweet mail lady. The top picture was quite successful (HA) it was a little early and she thought the that flash was a bit bright.

 

Day 5- We paid for the person behind us in the drive-thru line, we asked the lady at the window to give the person this card. Charlot was so excited to do this she loved it when the guy shouted THANK YOU out of his window.

Day 6- I didn't get any pictures but we passed out Candy Canes and Hugs at Church yesterday. I know she spread lots of love around the church.

I hope each of you are having an enjoyable time preparing for the Christmas Season. And we would love to hear about any of your Christmas Countdowns!