Shh! Don't tell!

Yes, I was one of the crazy people up and going not-so-bright, but definitely early this morning! After our wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with Dele's friends, we came home and I hit the ads and Internet searching for deals I couldn't live without! I was up until 11:30 pm knowing that I was going to try to be at Walmart by 4:30 am which meant up by 4:15 am.

You may be wondering... why would anyone get up that early? Did I get a great deal?

Well... I like to think I'm getting a great deal and I'd hate to miss out on something! I did get a few great deals, but other items weren't even on sale a little, I just wanted to make sure I got it!

I stayed out shopping until around 11:00 am... it was great! You wouldn't believe all of the other crazy people, though! The nice thing was that most people were very polite and friendly! I just hope the kids enjoy their gifts as much as I had getting them.

Once I got home we sent the kids into our bedroom to "hide" while we brought in the bags of stuff... then we sent them into their room once we had the "stuff" inside so we could hide it somewhere in our room. Dele helped me hide it and hopefully they won't find it! Ayodele keeps asking if he can have an early present... not on his life! :) He'll have to wait like the rest of us!

After all of the gifts were sufficiently hidden, we decided to decorate the house and put up the tree.

Dele helped with the lights this year! :)



Derek even helped put a few of "his" ornaments on the tree... heaven forbid someone else even touch "his" ornaments!Here is Sade being silly and posing for the picture! She's too funny sometimes!

Ayodele and Kayode were the most enthusiastic about decorating the tree! They love going through all of the ornament boxes and showing me each one before they put it on the tree! Kayode especially has to point out the most beautiful ornaments and make sure I approve of his placement of each one on the tree!

Well... we're almost completely ready for Christmas now! I can't believe it's already that time of year! The last and most important decoration that we have to put out is our Nativity. It's a Fisher Price set so the kids can play with it... we'll get that out and set it up tonight after dinner and talk about baby Jesus and the real reason for this Special Time! Let the Holiday season begin! Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for! I whined a little yesterday about not being with family today, but today ended up being a wonderful day!

I set my alarm so I could go out to pick up a newspaper. One of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving is looking through the ads to see if there are any deals I just have to go out to get tomorrow morning. So I went out, picked up my paper and some milk and came home and went back to bed. We stayed in bed until about 11am. WOW! What a treat!

Once we were up I made yummy Swedish Pancakes and bacon for breakfast. The kids and I downed a double batch. We haven't had them in what seems like forever, so it was a nice treat! Then I had the chance to peruse the ads.

The best part of the day, aside from being with Dele and the kids was talking to my extended family. I had the chance to wish most of my family a Happy Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I didn't get to talk to my dad today, but I did talk to my great aunt, my grandma, my grandpa, two of my cousins and my mom. I guess if I can't be with them on this family holiday, at least I got to talk to them for a while.

Anyway... we ended up going to a friend of Dele's. It was wonderful. I haven't ever seen so much food at Thanksgiving! The variety of foods was incredible. There were two turkeys, ham, suya (Nigerian beef), chicken, agussi soup (also Nigerian), hot pepper & fish soup, mashed potatoes, yams, "chunkies" (pounded yam), stuffing, plantain, mac-n-cheese, lasagna, rice, gravy, homemade cranberry sauce, drinks coming out of our ears and dessert to die for... frozen fruits, cheesecake, pumpkin pie, apple-pecan pie and chocolate dipped oreo balls. There were about 30 people there and they were all very friendly and easy to talk to. It was the next best thing to being with family. Before we left, we all sat down and watched "Hancock" together. It was too funny... when the movie was over everyone started standing up to leave, just like in the movie theatres... then there was another little part, so everyone stopped to watch. Anyway... we had a great thanksgiving.

I'm up really late as I finish perusing the ads and figuring out where to go. My plan is Walmart since there ad said they'd match any competitors ad, then I don't have to go all over the place. Hopefully they'll be true to their word. 4:15 is going to come awfully early! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving...

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving! Gosh, can you believe it? Although we celebrated Thanksgiving a week ago with my mom and her husband, I find I'm beginning to feel sorry for myself. Now, don't feel bad for me! I'm so very blessed! It's just the very first Thanksgiving Day that we haven't either had family here with us or very close friends to celebrate with. As I said, I did get to cook a feast when my mom was here... we had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, blueberry muffins, cranberry, strawberry-applesauce jello, pumpkin pie and chocolate mousse pie. Mmm! I am VERY Thankful for that!! It's just weird to be home without a big meal to cook or eat on Thanksgiving Day! But, like I said, don't feel sorry for me as there are so many things I am thankful for. We may spend tomorrow with some of Dele's friends or we may stay home and decorate the house for Christmas, who knows! Here are just a few of the things I am Thankful for that I try to remind myself of daily! We are truly blessed!

T - Togetherness
H - Healthy children
A - Another day to make a difference
N - Nice friends
K - Kind words
S - Smiles
G - God's Grace
I - Invitations
V - Visits from family
I - Ice cream (Yes, I said it!) with chocolate sauce, of course!
N - Never failing love
G - Great people in my life

For You...

Kayode is so sweet! We have such a great time at home together! We eat breakfast with Ayodele, walk Ayodele out to the bus stop, learn letters, count, sing, have some lunch, play with his favorite toys, occasionally I'm raked into playing Lego StarWars or LegoBatman on the PS3, we read, sleep, watch "Tom and Jerry" and once a week we go to the Library! Sometimes I drag him on errands... he loves the 99 cent only store and Walmart!

I'm so lucky to get this time with him! They grow up so quickly! Just look at Derek, Sade & Ayodele...

When the flowers are blooming, Kayode picks 2 or 3 for me and says, "For You!" He makes me feel so special!

Our Fabulous Weekend with Grandma and Grandpa

We were so lucky to get to spend the last few days with my mom and her husband, Dick. They are on the last leg of their 50 day road trip around the USA. Luckily, we were on their way home and we got a great visit in with them! They arrived early enough to visit, help with homework and have dinner with us on Thursday evening. While Sade and I went to choir rehearsal, they stayed and played games with the boys. They brought us all something from the Hershey factory in Hershey, PA. Mmm-Mmm good!

Friday we hung out at our place while the big kids were at school. We picked up Ayodele and Sade from school and then took Ayodele & Kayode to their last swim lesson of the season. After swimming we went home and ate tacos, played more games and watched a movie.

Saturday we met mom and Dick at Circus Circus. We watched Derek and Sade on the Disc'O and then went our separate ways for a while so everyone could go on the rides they wanted to. If you look carefully, you can see Derek and Sade on the top of the ride.

Ayodele and Kayode had fun going on the not-so-fast and flippy rides. They went on the Hopper over and over again!

Saturday was such a long, fun day that after we ate, Ayodele fell asleep watching a movie with Kayode. Sunday we all went to church. Ayodele, Kayode and I went to both services. The children's choir performed and the kids participating in Pioneer Club were introduced. After church we went back to the Condo where Grandma and Grandpa were staying and took the kids swimming while our Thanksgiving Dinner baked in the oven. Derek and Sade played volleyball in the pool almost the whole time we were there.

Ayodele & Kayode kept switching back from the pool to the hot tub.

We finally made the kids get out of the pool when I started freezing (it was about 70 degrees at the pool) and had to start wrapping towels around myself to stay warm. It's a good thing, though, because by the time we got back into the condo, the turkey was done! We finished up our feast and sat down to a wonderful family Thanksgiving! It's a little early, but we wanted to celebrate the holiday with family! Monday, Kayode and I hung out with Grandma and Dick at the condo until it was time to pick up the kids. They got to see Sade rehearse the last few minutes of her musical at school, too! We went back to the condo for dinner and our last goodbyes. We had such a wonderful time! It's always so hard to see family leave! Thank you for everything! We can't wait to see you both again!

Swim Lessons: Take 5

SUCCESS!!!!

Finally!!! The boys had their last swimming lesson yesterday. They did a great job! In fact, I had to remind Kayode several times that one hand was always supposed to be on the wall when the teacher was working with other kids! He's become very confident in the water...bobbing and practicing his strokes! Hopefully we can get them signed up again this winter for some more lessons...

Waiting their turn to get into the pool! Ayodele's back stroke...

Kayode's front float...

Swim Lessons: Take 4

"I'm NOT going!"

That was Kayode's initial reaction when we got to swim lessons today! Needless to say, I told him he was going, took his shirt off for him and scooted him off to where the group was meeting. He got in the pool and actually stayed in the pool the WHOLE time!

Dele seems to love the lessons! He just loves being in the water and splashing around! Every time his turn is up, he looks over to make sure I was watching! It's so cute!

The boys bobbed, dove for noodles, kicked off the wall, used the kicking board front and back to swim to the middle of the pool to the teacher, did the breast stroke and back stroke. I am so proud of them! They only have one more lesson this session and then we have to decide if we are going to continue! Hopefully our last lesson will be total SUCCESS!

My Wonderful Weekend in Connecticut

I was blessed to spend the last four days with my dad and his wife Annie in Connecticut. I left on the red-eye flight Friday night at 10:45pm and arrived at the airport in Hartford around 9:30am with a quick layover in Charlotte, NC. Lucky me... I was seated in 1st Class all the way to CT. Needless to say, I didn't really get to take advantage of the free services because I slept the entire way, minus of course, the layover.

Dad and Annie were waiting for me as I exited the security area. Wow... my first time away from the kids in years! It was truly wonderful! Once we got into the car, we immediately drove up to New Hampshire to attend Annie's nephew's sons dedication. Her family is wonderful. They were warm and welcoming! We visited, witnessed the dedication of Gavin, ate and watched the children play (none of which I was responsible for). It was a wonderful afternoon.

We left around 4pm to get back to Connecticut to relax and have dinner. When we got home, dad had bought all the fixings for my favorite Chocolate Martini. Two out of the three nights I was there, we had delicious martinis... made to perfection!

Sunday was a very busy day! We woke up early, had a yummy omelet and bacon breakfast, got ready and headed into the city...New York City! Dad actually drove and parked right down in Times Square! We wandered around Times Square for a while and saw the Naked Cowboy and the Hershey's and M&M stores. We walked by the Godiva store and saw these delicious Chocolate covered strawberries. We went in and dad asked for 2.

The guy said, "That will be $8.00"

Dad said, "Okay."

Dad gave him $20 and the guy handed him a little more than $2 change...

These are our Deliciously expensive $8 Godiva Chocolate Dipped-Strawberries!

We also added to our lunch a pretzel from a small pretzel stand in the city. Then we were on our way for our purpose in the city...

HAIRSPRAY on Broadway!!!

Can you just say Awesome, fantastic, incredible... WOW!?! We were so lucky, too! George Wendt (Norm from Cheers) played Edna Turnblad and we saw his very last performance!!! Tevin Campbell played Seaweed and I loved him when I was in college! It was wonderful!

After the show we walked up to a small Italian Restaurant and met up with Annie's best friend, Marie. How much fun to finally meet her... I felt like I already knew her! After dinner Dad, Annie and I walked back to Times Square and went up the The View... a revolving restaurant at the Marriot Hotel. It was so cool to see the whole city as we revolved around and drank our drinks and visited. My drink was called The View Fizz. It was really yummy!

Monday morning we went for a drive to Long Island Sound. It was beautiful, but very windy and cold. We didn't get to walk on the beach, but we did have lunch in a great little restaurant overlooking the Sound. After lunch we drove back to dad's and on the way picked up my grandpa. He was so surprised to see me! Dad had kept it a secret and didn't write it on his calendar, so when he saw me, he had no idea I'd be visiting! Annie made a great turkey dinner, we visited, and Grandpa told stories from his past! He looks great for 92 years old!

Tuesday, my last day... dad and Annie racked their brains trying to figure out what to squeeze into our last minutes... we finally decided to go up to Massachusetts to the Yankee Candle Museum and Store. It was incredible... huge!!! Candles are everywhere... it even snows inside! We really needed more time to actually "see" and "do" everything you can there. But it sure was fun to get a glimpse!

My weekend came to an end when they took me back to the airport in Hartford and waited with me until it was time to get to my gate! Goodbyes are always hard... but in 7 weeks we'll see each other again for Christmas! Thank you Dad and Annie for EVERYTHING!!!! This weekend is one I will always remember! I couldn't have had a better weekend anywhere! Thank you again!