Finally Got Our New 3D Deco Light!

We have been receiving lots of boxes at our house lately, but none as highly anticipated as the one arriving from Target that contained a certain Pinkie Pie 3D Deco Light from 3DLIGHTFX. Baby Doll was right there when we opened it and she lovingly cradled the box and asked me to put it up right away.

This felt like the perfect excuse to get the girls to clean up their room, so it took them several days before it actually made it to the wall. My sweetie agreed to help me put it up since I have this thing about anchors. Once I made the hole too big and the anchor fell right into the wall...

Anyway, the girls had scrubbed their wall and we decided to place the light right above the dollhouse. I was impressed with the sticker that had everything marked so we couldn't get the screws (and anchors) in the wrong places. Unfortunately, our sticker was rather wrinkled in the box and I couldn't get it smoothed all the way out no matter how hard I tried, although it looks pretty good.

It took my sweetie about 5 minutes to drill the holes, place the anchors, and then set the screws. I put up Pinkie Pie and we turned off the lights. She glowed pink right in the middle of their bright yellow wall and they loved it!

I was surprised by the size of the light. I mean, I read the dimensions, I guess they just didn't register because I was expecting something a little bigger. Other than that, this cute light operates just as expected with one additional feature I didn't discover until I read the instructions. It has a 60-minute shutoff mode so I don't even have to go in and turn it off every night.

Now that's progress!

***We received one free 3D Deco light for our honest review.***

Whirlwind Weekend

Oh where to begin!

It's been quite a weekend for us. On Friday night I was just so tired. I took the kids for haircuts in the afternoon and then we came home and got ourselves ready to go see A Christmas Carol at the Hale. There were 13 of us including all the girl scouts. I didn't think to take pictures except for the selfie Bossy snapped of the girls just before my cute niece threw up all over the van. At least we were on the way home.

Then it was basketball practice for Scout and remember I still had to make that vest for Curly? I finished it up just after 3:00 AM. Saturday morning came way too soon. Scout's basketball game started at 10:00 and thankfully the adrenaline pumped and I was able to coach. The we chased up to Curly's game, then back to Baby Doll's. It's a good thing all I had to do was watch at Sport's game because the hooks I put on the vest for Curly were too small and I had to replace them all... before the recital at 5:00.

We made it, but barely. Drama Queen got all the girls ready with hair and makeup. She also did Curly's hair. We left for the recital at 4:30 and it was about 9:00 when we got home. Then it was a late dinner and get the kids showered and settled for bed. After cleaning up and helping Grandpa and my sweetie with the lessons they were preparing for church, I was exhausted. My sweetie offered to write the post for me so I could sleep, but it was still after 2:00.

Today meant choir practice at 9:00 and Crafty had an early meeting at 8:00. Then church with Sport speaking in Sacrament Meeting and the choir singing. Dare I admit I fell asleep in Sacrament Meeting?  My little nursery had 6 in it this morning and some of them seemed as tired as me. Still it went well considering my sweetie was in the Deacon's Quorum teaching a lesson there.

After church my sweetie sent me to nap for a couple of hours. I needed it so badly. I was starting to say the wrong words... At 5:30 we were back at the church, participating in the Stake Choir Concert. I just love the music of Christmas and singing it is always my favorite, especially with hundreds of other people who also love to sing. Teach and Twiz joined us and then had dinner with us afterward.

Finally it was homework and cleanup; nearly time for sleep. I wish I could say that I managed to get to bed before midnight, but 2:00 AM is fast approaching and tomorrow doesn't look much easier.

Guest Blog: All I Want for Christmas by Sweetie

All I want for Christmas is a good night's sleep... for my wife...

 

It’s been this way for years. In December I go to bed thinking my wife will be up shortly. Sometimes I think I’ll stay awake until she comes to bed, so I watch a sappy Christmas movie (usually a romantic comedy.. that she will give me crap for watching... She claims they make me all mushy and sentimental...) But often I fail and fall asleep. Sometimes I make it all the way through and give up and go to sleep. It’s common to wake up at 2, 3, 4 and find the other side of the bed empty... she’s still helping, wrapping, making...

Last night she was up late and then up early this morning, so I thought she would come to bed since she has choir practice in the morning and a performance in the evening. But it’s 2 AM and she’s still up. I guess I should have expected it. My MIL was a late-nighter and I’ve heard stories of her sewing for Christmas way into the morning hours. I also remember one year about 29 years ago. We were living in Logan, but planned to visit home for the holidays (Ephraim and Mt Pleasant, a 3-hour drive). I can’t remember why we changed our minds about when we were going, perhaps a snowstorm was coming or maybe we were just a couple of young kids with our own kids that wanted to be home for the holidays and that meant our mommy and daddy's.. 

Anyway, we sent Santa an email asking him to come early. Bossy and The Beast opened presents and then we headed for home about midnight. We figured we would just crash in my folks' front room. In Mt Pleasant in those days no one locked their house. Anyway, about 3 am we roll in, walk through the door and scare my poor mother to death. She was still up... Seems moms don’t sleep much in December.

I think I'll write Santa a letter asking if the elves can help Sandy a bit. She's so tired.... One of the hardest parts of having young kids later in life is finding the energy to do the young parent stuff. Most of our friends our age our empty-nesters; they probably go to bed. People in their 50s need sleep. It’s just weird that way. But moms and dads with elementary and jr high aged kids; they don’t sleep... at least not in December.

 

Santa, how about it? Can you spare a few elves for my cause?

Almost Recital Time

I can't believe it is Thursday (now Friday) already!

My kids have their dance recital on Saturday and we just barely got the last of the costumes today. So after dinner, I had them all try on each different costume to make sure it fit, check for straps that need to be stitched, stuff like that.

After they finished with that, we had to make sure we had all the shoes, tights (no holes!!) and accessories. Yeah, it's quite an ordeal. Have you ever heard of being "double tighted"? That means your dances are so close together you won't have time to change your tights so you just put one pair on over the other, then you can peel off the top layer and be ready to go. Sometimes those cute dancers have 3 or even more on at the same time!

I'm only going to give you a sneak peak of the posed pics we did for Crafty so you can see the kids in full dance attire and makeup on Saturday.

We have everything ready now except that I still have to make Curly a maroon vest tomorrow. It's going to be tricky between helping Dog Walker prepare for finals, getting a haircut, taking my Girl Scouts to the Hale Centre Theatre to see A Christmas Carol, and basketball practice.

It shouldn't be too hard.

I hope. :)