Tis The Season

Hello all! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and are fully into the holiday spirit. The last 2 weeks have been full of fun and firsts for the Ribclan family, which I'm excited to finally share with you.

Whew! We've made it through another year of deer hunting. On the last weekend of hunting, the "gun opener", ribB enjoyed 5 days up north with his family and friends Early into the hunt he got another doe...and the flu. I felt so sorry for him! He didn't hunt at all on Monday, and managed out for a bit on his last day up north on Tuesday. Overall, the hunt was pretty low-key...with few deer seen.

On the scene at home, I was keeping myself and the kids sufficiently entertained. On Saturday, Kdee had a new friend, Natalie, over for a play date for most of the day. They had a blast and enjoyed some arts/crafts and lots of dress up. I enjoyed some one-on-one time with little B, which is always a special treat. When our playdate was over, Grandma Honey arrived for a very exciting overnight stay. We haven't had her overnight in some time and we had a great time. The highlights of her stay were our trip to the Mall of America for a fun "preview" party at the World's Largest Gingerbread House, lots of conversation time and even some beauty treatments.

The MOA event was awesome. My agency had worked on some items for the house and we were treated to a wonderful party, free rides & entertainment (Underwater Adventures) and an early walk through at the gingerbread house. At 60 feet high, it was pretty impressive. Kdee did her first rollercoaster ride...and...didn't really like it. We can have a great laugh about it now, but at the time she was pretty freaked out. For any of you who know ribB's disdain of rollercoasters, you know that Kdee had a 50-50 chance of enjoying it! Both kids LOVED Underwater Adventures--especially as the sharks and sting rays swam overhead. I got the chance to touch a baby shark and sting ray, but Kdee opted not to (in part because she knows what happened to Steve Irwin--I did you not!). I'll always remember our drive home and my mom asking me, "So...do we ignore them right now?" when the kids were acting obnoxious in the backseat. Very funny.

Once ribB returned home Tuesday night, we were all so glad to have him back. Kdee had school off on Wednesday, so ribB stayed home with her and they had a blast. Some of their fun included breakfast at Perkins, shooting their bows (Kdee's idea!) and going to the movie "Happy Feet". Then, ribB,Kdee and little B (who got picked up from daycare)surprised me at work and took me out to dinner. I loved it!

Our family enjoyed Thanksgiving at Grandma/Grandpa Ribclan's house, as well as a long weekend with them and the rest of our family. We got lots of quality play time in with our nieces and nephews, as well as a movie out with Chan & Matt. (We say the new Bond move, and ribB & I really liked it). The Ribclan ladies also did our traditional "black Friday" shopping extravaganza, which I so look forward to after all of these hunting weekends. We also did a large family picture and a picture with Santa as well. Little B was scared of Santa, so we attempted a family photo with Santa sneaking into the background. All in all, it was a good time!

Our week has started out with a momentous event--little B's transition to a "big boy" bed. It happened rather spontaneously on Monday night, thanks in part to little B's excitement(he was skipping around the house yelling "bed! bed!" when caught site of the assembled bed). He went to bed like a pro and so far we haven't experienced any getting out of bed, etc. And, yes, I'm knocking on wood as I type this!

With the Christmas and holiday season upon us, it's only befitting that our Kdee is getting...a front tooth! Like the song, all she wanted was her two front teeth. On par for Christmas, her front right tooth is coming in. What a hoot!

Snapshots of Ribclan life: little B mixing hunting and girly attire, the gorgeous dozen roses ribB sent me before his last hunting weekend, the Ribclan family enjoying the LaX Holiday parade after photos, and little B/Kdee having a great time on their Great Grandparents organ...