A Nest

Bridget took the dog out and came back with a little nest that had blown out of a tree. Hopefully, it's inhabitants have already migrated.

Hammond's Candy Factory

Hanging out where they hand wrap each piece of candy.

This guys is so fast at pulling the candy I couldn't get a clear picture.

A big blob of candy cane before it was stretched out.


See how big that sucker is?

Bridget actually touching one of Santa's reindeers.

Bridget thinks that this guy must be Comet.

They had a gingerbread house contest. Bridget liked this one.

Rudolph.

A creepy Frosty.

Oh my gosh, it's that pesky old gingerbread man!

Gingerbread Haunting

At Bridget's school the kindergarteners had a gingerbread man run away while they were baking him. He caused so many problems in school that day. The whole school was in an uproar! He even pulled the fire alarm (no kidding the fire alarm was pulled). The sixth graders said that they caught him but Bridget is convinced that he's camping out on the roof of the school. When we walk to the building early in the morning Bridget is convinced that she sees his tracks in the snow.

Bridget was so excited about this gingerbread man business; she thought we should make a gingerbread man to see if he'll run away when we make him. The only problem was that Bridget doesn't like gingerbread so we made sugar cookies cut out as gingerbread men and put chocolate icing on them so that they would be brown.

The gingerbread men didn't have a running chance. The chocolate made them too yummy that we ate them before they could run away. Oh well, I guess that means we'll just have to try again.

Junie B. Jones

Bridget's favorite afterschool activity is reading which ever Junie B. Jones book she has recently checked out at her school library. She is obsessed! Every Saturday we go to Barnes and Noble for the storytime and one storytime she found a Junie B. Jones Journal. In it Junie B. writes about herself and leaves room for you to write about yourself too. Bridget was so excited she had to have it. As we were driving home from storytime she kept talking about how she hopes she gets it for Christmas. She asked me very seriously if Junie B. was really six years old and I said yes, not understanding her question. Her mouth dropped open and very seriously she said, "I can't believe she got published at the age of six!"

Studying for finals.

Just so you know for the next couple of days I'll be chained to my books because it is the dreaded finals week. This time next week I will be a free woman! Yay! I can't wait! Until then I will be drilling myself with Spanish verbs, writting papers and taking various exams. If you notice in the picture above I like to give myself quizes and then I actually grade them... and if I do well I may occasionally give myself a smiley face or write in the margin "Good Job". I sound crazy right? But let me tell you a little secret. It actually works! Nothing like patting yourself on the back and using colorful highlighters to make good grades. I might actually go buy myself some stickers. But for now I need to quit messing with my blog and get back to work.

Snow bound.

We left Texas on Sunday and were ready to get out of the car and get home. Unfortunately, the weather took a turn for the worst in the worst place possible. We'll call it "Death Valley, New Mexico". The snow started dumping and there wasn't anywhere to stop we had to trudge through white out conditions going 15 mph white knuckling all the way. Poor Bridget had to listen to "Camp Rock" five times while I whimpered in the front seat trying not to pee in my pants. I was too scared to take my hands off of the wheel to change her CD. Fortunately, we made it to Raton, NM. We debated on whether to keep going or to stay in a hotel. The weather was suddenly sunny in Raton so we decided to trudge on...that is until is started dumping snow again. So we decided to stop in Trinidad and relax for a bit until the bad weather passed. We decided that another car wreck would not suit us very well.

Camels, Tigers and Pumpkin Pie our Texas Thanksgiving!

Brent had to work this Thanksgiving so we went down to Texas to spend some time with my Daddy.

Bridget helping her Papa make some pumpkin pie, notice Papa's t-shirt.

Riding a camel in an old grocery store parking lot is not an everyday occurrence.

There was a sign saying the tiger sprayed so we tried not to get too close.

Bridget feeding the softest cow on Earth.

Taking a nap with good old Spikers.

Our time there went by way too fast.

Our attempts at a family photo in front of the tree.

We all look a little crazy in this one and you can't see the tree. Yes, those are ornaments in my ears that was Brent's festive idea.

I'm not sure what happened here.

So cute but a tad bit fuzzy. Don't you think Scout looks like a scary robot dog?


We're a little sick of it by now.
JUST FORGET IT!

Ham.

One morning I had to give Bridget five dollars to bring to school for a lost book. When she looked at the bill she said, "Hey who is that guy?" I told her it was Abraham Lincoln and she smiled real big and said, "Ohhh yeah! I love that guy, cause his middle name is Ham."

Walking to school with a maglight.

I'm a little behind on my posts but this was a picture of Bridget as we walked to school at the crack of dawn while my car was getting fixed. Bridget wanted to pretend like we were adventurers. I eventually had to take the flashlight away because she was too busy flashing stuff with her flashlight to walk and it was getting really cold. But it was an adventure nevertheless.

(By the way my car got fixed in time for Thanksgiving...yay!)

Getting a Head Start.

We're hoping my car gets better in time to make it to my dad's house for Thanksgiving. So, we decided to start putting up our Christmas stuff early so that we wouldn't have to do it when we got back on Sunday. Plus we needed the little pick me up because I was bummed out about the possibility of having to cancel our Thanksgiving plans. So, after cleaning the apartment we cranked up some Christmas tunes and started stringing up lights. We havn't trimmed the tree yet so keep posted to see how our Charlie Brown tree is doing.

Car Crash

Grrrrr!

This is my car at the auto shop. Poor little thing it has already suffered so much. But don't worry my friends this little Civic is a survivor. It's managed to survive being smashed to smithereens by a snow plow, door dings, flat tires, and other minor injuries. I think it can handle a bent wheel and a blown out tire. I'm calling the car doctor tomorrow to see what the exact prognosis is and how much it's going to cost. Poor little guy, keep an eye out for the blog about my poor little wallet.

A Day at the Park.

As soon as Bridget got out of school today we headed over to the park to see if our friends, the geese, were still around. Bridget likes to go to the park and feed them bread so that they'll be ready for their trip in the winter. Every time we go to the park she's always afraid that they'll be gone. But luckily today they were still there.

Bridget was so excited because Scout finally got a "Gentle Leader". It works like a horse harness and keeps dogs from pulling at the leash. It actually works really well even though Scout hates it. Bridget was just glad that she was able to hold the leash.

And of course when you go to the park you have to PLAY!

Chef Bridget and the Sloppy Taco

Today Bridget was inspired by food network. She spent her morning pretending to be the host of a cooking show. Apparently most of her shows involved sticking stuff in the fridge. After a while I took a peek to see what was going on in there and found a cabbage patch shoe full of chuck-e-cheese coins sitting next to my milk among other random things. So, it was no surprise when she announced that she had a great idea for her lunch. Her recipe was called...

"The Sloppy Taco"

It is composed of Nutella, grape jelly, peanut butter and chunks of banana crammed into a taco shell.

And for the taste test....IT'S GOOD!
(We're just going to take her word for it.)

I just love this guy!

Santa's back in town!

I always get so excited when Christmas stuff starts popping up in the stores but for some reason I REALLY look forward to buying the cokes with Santa Claus on them...and we hardly ever drink coke. But when Santa looks at me from a can I just can't resist. So, in honor of this little guy I have some trivia for you to enjoy. (Courtesy of Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.)

In 1863 Harper's Weekly hired a 21 year old man named Thomas Nast to draw a picture of Santa Claus bringing gifts to Union troops fighting in the Civil War. The Santa Claus that he drew came from a combination of the description of Santa in "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and Uncle Sam. (Originally Santa was a thin man with dark hair) This picture was so popular that for 40 years Nast drew a new picture ever year. In fact, Nast almost singlehandedly established the Santa "image" as it is today...except in one major area: The color of his suit. That was a product of Coca Cola.

Why...is that a lee press on nail!?

Nope it's not...

WARNING: Let me just start this blog off by saying that anyone who knows me knows that I am not known for having dainty cute feet. With that being said I will carry on will my story...

The Tale of the Missing Golden Toenail.

One morning not so long ago a girl named Nina was walking around barefoot when she stopped to admire her beautiful golden toenails in the florescent light of her kitchen as her giant foot rested on the luxurious linoleum floor. But to her surprise one of her toes was not shiny like the others! What had happend through out the night to make such a thing happen? It was a mystery. But it was not a mystery for long because her prince, Brent, walked out of the bedroom holding a shiny gold toenail in his hand. He said, "Dear Princess, I think this fell off of your big fat foot. That's really gross...let's keep it!"
The golden toenail in all of its glowing glory.

Ah Ha! It's a perfect match, I'm just like Cinderella...sort of.

P.S. We didn't really keep it.

The End

Emily's Halloween Visit

We all decided a couple of months ago that it would be a good idea for Emily to come and see the Chapman's over Halloween. So with the plans made, we counted down the days until she would arrive. She got here on Wednesday Oct. 29 and first thing was first. Bridget had to show her how Halloween was done at our house.
(Although it looks like Emily is trying to be a midget, they are actually sitting on a broom.)

Fortunately Emily was prepared to wake up at the crack of dawn the next morning. So, our walk to school on Thursday wasn't SUCH a shock to her system.

...Although she did request a starbucks iced coffee midwalk :) What a diva!

After we dropped Bridget off we went back to the apartment and got ready for school. We rode the lite rail and headed for downtown Denver. While I was in class Emily wondered around and as soon as we got back from campus we picked Bridget up from school a little early so that she could see High School Musical 3. Bridget LOVED it she couldn't contain herself, she ended up dacing all over the theatre (even during the parts that had no dancing). Luckily the theater was pretty much empty so she had free reign.

That night was jack-o-lantern night. Bridget made the outline and I carved it. Bridget hates the way pumpkins smell so I was surprised she actually stuck her hand inside. Bridget decided that our Jack-o-lantern was actually a girl and her name was Ashley.

Here's "Ashley" in all of her glowing glory.

Note: We were sad because Brent wasn't able to be there for all of the festivities. On Thursday he had to say goodbye to a good friend who was being shipped over seas and then on Friday he worked over time.

Friday morning we all got up early again and got dressed and ready for Bridget's class party. For Emily's sake we headed for Starbuck BEFORE the morning began. We dropped Bridget off at her class outside and walked around to sign in at the office. When we got into the room we joined the other room mothers who were organizing all of the activities. They kept talking to Emily like she was a room mom too. She just smiled and nodded and then calmly walk over to me and said, "You better not leave me at a table with some random kids." It was then that we heard some kid say, "Hey, who's mom is that?!" It was obvious that she wasn't in L.A. anymore.

Aren't we cute?! I love that I can go to these things.

Here I am in charge of a kraft, spider suckers. Oh, and Nathan W. just so happens to be sitting across from Bridget. He's her love, he just doesn't know it yet.

"He'll probably like me in 4th grade."-Bridget, handling rejection really well.

That night Bridget made sure that we were ready for Halloween. She picked out our wigs and did our makeup. I got an orange wig with green eyeshadow.

Emily got the pink wig with the blue eyeshadow....I wanted the pink wig.













This is Bridget on her second round of trick or treating. We only made it down one side of the street when she announced that she had to pee. We hurried home dumped out her candy, peed, and then went right where we left off. At first Bridget was upset because she thought Halloween was ruined.....









But then she quickly realised that if she hadn't had to go to the bathroom then she never would have dumped out her bag. And if she never would have dumped out her bag then she would have run out of room way before she collected 175 pieces of candy.

We counted... but that doesn't include the amount Emily and I had raided from her bag while she wasn't looking.

Over all it was a successful Halloween!