Sliding Into Home

Just a quick stop home to do laundry and for Mike to sneak a day in at work before we take off again.
We managed to leave the kids with the in-laws, and Mike and I are off on our annual couple's getaway.

YEAH!!!!

Last night, we met up with Shelly and her hubby for a fun dinner out. Mike managed to paint our entryway and down the stairs. I had to leave to go shopping. I couldn't watch him put the ladder on the stairs and paint up the wall. A ladder on the stairs???? At first, he put a wooden step stool thingy on another stair (it wasn't even) and tried to jimmy a laddeer onto the uneven surface. I blanched and about passed out when I turned the corner to see him teetering on the ladder, wobbling all over. He said he was going to go to the store to buy a ladder meant to go on stairs.
Good idea. That looked like a good time to exit before I threw up from anxiety.
So, instead, I bought this:

Not the bed...the comforter set. The sun is shining in my bedroom window, so it's hard to see all of the cool pillows that came in the set, but it's really neat! I've wanted blue and brown in my bedroom for a while now. I bought robin egg blue sheets to match, too! I want Mike to paint the bedroom the same blue color...when we get to that room. (We're in the process of remodeling the upstairs, now. I need to be patient. "Remodeling" is a loose term. It mostly means just painting...except maybe I might get livingroom carpeting and kitchen flooring if we can save enough. I hope, hope, hope...I'm skimping on all I can!!! I want to replace my dingy livingroom carpeting! It's UGLY and worn! About 15 years old!)
****
Anyhow, our Christmas was really neat. We had our Christmas nachos, as planned, and then told the kids to pick a present. They picked shirts or something, and then when they went to get another gift, Mike and I called their phones that were wrapped under the tree. They thought they were video games or something and that they went off on accident and they didn't want to embarrass us, so they politely laughed and continued to open their shirts! Then, after a while, Bridgette couldn't take it anymore and she said, "I'm going to see what that is!" And she ran to the tree and said, "Aaron - this one's yours!" and handed him his. Once they saw what they were (we had them wrapped in different sized boxes, so they really didn't know what they were!), they went NUTS!!!! They were really SURPRISED!

The biggest bonus? I got the same phone two weeks prior. (With my plan, you get a free upgrade every 2 years.) Aaron had his for 2 minutes and was showing me new tricks that I hadn't figured out in the two weeks I had mine! Kids these days - I tell ya! He's been showing me stuff ever since! I do notice that we keep in touch so much more. Especially now that they're 275 miles away, at Grandma and Grandpa's...they never used to call every day when they went there! Now, they call and/or text. Wow!

The biggest present over Christmas? On Christmas Eve we went to my brother's house first to have the Brockman Christmas (my family). I got to meet my 7 month old niece Josie for the first time.

That is about the most unflattering picture of me. That's probably why Josie is looking at me like, "What's with all those lines on your face, Auntie Pennie? You sure have big teeth! YIKES!"

Now, I get to spend the rest of the week with my hubby. I am looking forward to a really fun time for just the two of us. Ahhhh...restaurants, quaint little shops, hiking, talking, reconnecting, and just being a couple. It's our one time of year we concentrate on just each other without any other obligations or responsbilitites. A vacation without the kids. Doesn't that sound wonderful?

We're going to the North Shore of Lake Superior. We're due for yet another snow storm, they say...of course! I hope we can get some snow shoeing in...and, YES my pneumonia is almost totally gone! ;) My kids were reading over my shoulder when I was reading my concerned bloggy buddies' comments about the pneumonia...and they were saying SEE, MOM???? ;) But, really - it's almost gone... ;) But, if it's really cold, there's always the fireplace and hot-tub in my room...that looks pretty good, too!

Well, I better throw another load of laundry in and get crackin' at the day...and repack! Oh - and catch up on all of your blogs! Have a safe and happy New Year's celebration...we'll see you all in 2011!