Quick Takes Vol.17

 

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 Friday night the girls got to open 1 present.  Team Horning likes to extend the gift opening out as long as possible.  Sometimes it even goes into the New Year.

Theresa's present from Ella.

 

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Team Horning started the Christmas week with a party on Saturday night to celebrate the marriage of my sister. My brother and his lovely wife hosted a reception/dinner at their house. It was a great time full of visiting and catching up with some family we don't often see.

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Sunday morning brought Christmas breakfast/brunch to our house. My father-in-law is an over the road semi truck driver so we do holidays when it works for him. My mother-in-law who just moved back from Nevada came over as well, she was able to go and see my brother-in-law for Christmas in a city 3 hours north of Bismarck. Yes that means almost Canada but, not quite.

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Anne's present from gift opening on Sunday. 

This chair from Grandma is a big hit. Anne has been sitting in it to watch TV and to read books.  She also use it to get onto the couch.

Anne enjoying a movie.

 

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Christmas Eve found us invading my cousin's house for lunch and we stayed for supper too! The big girls went outside to play for awhile.  Look at the beautiful North Dakota prairie.

Laura playing outside.

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No midnight mass for this mama.  We did attend Christmas morning at 10. Afterwards it was more Christmas partying at my sister-in-law house. 

Eleanore with new fan. Ella and my mom made the shirt.

 

Christmas night brought the team to my aunt and uncle's house with more food and gifts.  Our family does a white elephant exchange and this year we brought 5 gifts so that the big girls could play. Amazing they each got a gift that is perfect for them.  Laura opened a giant (Sam'sClub) sized tub of animal crackers,  Ella opened a bag with a stuffed puppy and two cans of beans, and Theresa stole a gift, then had it stolen away later on. She then opened a tie-blanket. 

Theresa enjoying her blanket.

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Yesterday we went shopping, the Christmas cash from grandpa was burning a hole in everyone's purse.  Theresa purchased a Hot Wheel (big spender), Laura purchased a princess doll carriage, and Ella bought some Zhu Zhu items on clearance.

In case you don't know what a Zhu Zhu is. (ignore the date stamp on picture it really is 2012).

 

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Christmas Decorations 2012

I'm Linking up with Katie at NFP and Me to show off my Christmas decorations.

I like the idea of having my Christmas decorating on the web. Especially this year it maybe my last Christmas in this house if everything goes good in the beginning of 2013.

The first stop on the tour the tree

I took a lot of pictures flash, no flash, zoom, less zoom and this is is the best.  I really need a photography class in 2013.

 

 

Next up stockings:

 

 

 

This is the first year I hung the stockings on wall separating the living and kitchen. The wall is 8 feet so no little hands grabbing the stockings down.  Notice Edward the Elf was watching from a stocking.

 

Cabinet in living room:

This holds my Nativities and advent wreath.  For the last two years I had the advent wreath on top of the refrigerator, so that we could light it and say prayers which only happened two times. So this year I decided that I would put it where it would be seen. 

Closeup of the wreath

I put one of my nativity seasons in the middle.  I have read on some people's blogs about want a nativity scene but, not having money to purchase one.  I know for sure that two of mine are second hand ones. We have a Thrift store that has a Christmas shop and it is full of great decorations.

Top of kitchen cupboards will stay decorated with snowmen until spring.

This cupboard arrangement will be changed after Christmas it would be weird to have Santa and Ms.Clause looking at us in the middle of March. 

So those are the pictures of Team Horning's decorations for 2012.  Go over to NFP and Me and checkout some of the blogs.

 

Quick Takes Vol.16

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Spent the weekend working on cleaning out/up the house. We made our listing active this week. So far we have had one showing.  Keeping the counter cleared off and bedrooms looking good this week was not so fun. 

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North Dakota received some snow this week, so shoveling was on list of activities.  If you live near us and need a driveway cleaned out I have a child that is ready to work.

Anne shoveling

 

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While Anne and I shoveled Laura helped out by throwing snow back onto the driveway.

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We celebrated Laura Jo's 4th Birthday on Wednesday night.  She had a small family party just her sisters.  She wanted a snowflake party and I lucked out and Sam's Club had a little cake and cupcakes with snowflake rings.  She was very excited and enjoyed her party it was the best birthday ever or at least that was what she said that night.

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All the guests at the party excited to sing.

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I made it to the YMCA two times this week.  I am pretty sure that I am officially done working out in 2012. With no school next week I figure I will stay home as much as possible.   As I was lifting this week I was thinking that I should set some goals for 2013 so that I have something to work for.  I am not the best goal setter, I am still not sure if I buy into the whole SMART Goal setting idea.

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We saw Santa.


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Quick Takes Vol. 15

 

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Last weekend Eleanore participated in The Nutcracker Ballet.  The Ballet had great dancing and music.  Northern Plains Dance brought in professionals which added excitement to the production.  Eleanore enjoyed being on stage and is ready for auditions for the spring production.

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Well, it is official our home is for sale.  The listing will be active starting Monday the 17th.  I have spent the last week preparing the house for people to see.  Here is the picture on the listing.

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Where are we going to live you might ask?  We are going to build a home a couple of streets to the north of our current home.  It is going to be a very similar house to our current home just bigger. The most exciting feature is a tie between a third stall for the garage and the coat closet by the front door.

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Our Elf on a Shelf Edward has been a fun addition to this Christmas season. So far he has gotten sick by eating too many Candy Cane Hershey Kisses, broke a stocking holder, and threw some ornaments on the floor.  My girls are worried that he learning naughty things every night when he returns to Santa and talks with other Elves.  

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No YMCA for me this week. I think that going up and down stairs and cleaning closets will count as a workout this week.

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Are you almost done with Christmas shopping yet?  Our home has been busy with wrapping gifts and getting everything stuffed under the tree. There are just a few more items that I want to pick up next week.  

 

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I like Christmas music and yesterday at Target I purchased Blake Shelton's Cheers, it's Christmas.  It is a great album that I know will get a lot of playtime.  

 

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Quick Takes Vol. 14

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The North Dakota Guard family suffered a loss of two soldiers this week.  Spc. Tyler Orgaard , age 20 and Sgt. 1st Class Darren M. Linde, 41 a father of four.   They were killed in Afghanistan and another solider was wounded in the attack.  Please add their families to your prayer list. - Thank You

 North Dakota National Guard soldiers killed in action.

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I went to Grand Forks with just the hubby to attend the 1-188th ADA Battalion's Family Readiness Group meeting.  I also got to attend the Christmas party - more on that later.  The information that I gained in during the meeting was great. Most everything I had heard before, but in the last deployment didn't apply to our family because our kids were too young. 

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The bigger reason to go to Grand Forks for the weekend shopping without kids on Saturday morning.  I hit Micheal's, Good Will, and Gordmans.  I also went to Great Clips for a hair cut!  I am almost done with my gift buying.

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Hubby and I had planned a date night for Saturday,  we did go to Ruby Tuesdays and then decided going to Lowes, Wal-Mart, and Menards was more important then a movie.   Which turned out fine because our hotel room door was right across the hall from the ballroom where the Battalion's Christmas party was being held.  It was fun, the unit hired a DJ with a Karaoke machine and had prizes to get people out to sing.   It was loud in our room so we just had to join in the party.

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Thank you to the family members that watched our girls. We split them up so that they were easier to watch.

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Last night Eleanore had a dress rehearsal for The Nutcracker Ballet.  The rehearsal was a Christmas party for a local energy company.  She didn't get home until after 10 but seemed in great spirits this morning.   She also performs on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.  It is going to be a long weekend of hair and makeup for me.

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All week the hubby was in D.C. lucky him.  I have been to D.C. three times and enjoyed it more every time. He was with training with Army and had the chance to see the apartments for deployment and I guess the setup is nice.  Much better then Iraq, which is hard to beat.

 

 

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Quick Takes Vol. 13

 

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Last Friday night hubby went to Skyfall. To fill our evening the girls and I made forts in the basement. The big girls decided to sleep in their forts.  By 9:30 only Eleanore remained in her fort sleeping. Theresa and Laura ended up back in their own beds.  

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Theresa's Fort.

 

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Eleanore's fort under a table.

 

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Laura's fort.

 

 

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Anne visiting Laura's fort.

 

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I made it to the YMCA once this week.  Yeah for me I spent some time on the treadmill and lifting weights.  The two little girls were so excited to go to Child Watch that they left me standing at the counter. They ran down to the room and Anne was hanging off the door knob when I caught up.  I think their excitement on going to Child Watch should tell me something about going to the YMCA.

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I did some Cyber Monday shopping, including two electronic items that I scored great prices on.  Glad I waited to purchase them till now. 

 

 

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Quick Takes Vol.12

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The weekend started with my hubby flying away on a plane. So it was girl power all weekend long.

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Saturday I hosted sewing at my house. My wonderful sister-in-law inspired us to make aprons from old jeans.  I did do some sewing which is good for me.  I will admit my equally wonderful aunt did my ironing and pinning. So basically I just sewed from one pin to the next. 

Laura and Ella in jean aprons
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Sunday attended mass, Anne fell asleep about 10mins in and I had to hold her the rest of the mass. I have to mention that there was a baptism during mass so it was an extra long time to hold a sleeping 1 year old. I really dewelled on wanting my baby wrap during the Litany of the Saints. I am sure that one of the kind Saints said a prayer for me to not drop the baby or wake her up.

Early in the summer ~ see how easy it is to hold a sleeping Anne with the wrap.

 

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Sunday night brought the hubby home with our Grandma !!!

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I am proud to say that half of my van got vacuumed on Wednesday. The school bus came and dropped off kids so I was interrupted midway.   Also my van did not get driven from Monday night until Friday afternoon. That is very good on the gas budget and other budgets it means that I did not go anywhere either.  Except in the truck on Thursday night more on that later.

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No Thanksgiving pictures. What no pictures? What was I doing? I know what was I doing, cooking for 11 people and planning my shopping list for Wal Mart.  You can check out Camp Patton What I Wore to Thanksgiving Dinner Link-Up to get a picture fix.

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How did the Wal Mart go you might ask, Great Great Great I have a bunch of Barbies and Legos, for future presents.  My hubby and I got all the electronics and other items on the list except for the one.  So TEAM HORNING scored big on Thanksgiving night at 8pm and 10 pm at Wal Mart.

 

 



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Quick Takes Vol. 11

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Last weekend in central North Dakota started with a snow event!   In the Capital city we received about 10 inches.  During a no travel warning, I drove into dance to find out that dance was canceled. The drive in wasn't bad but, home was slow going, having to drive in the middle of the road couldn't see the sides or any of the lines. 

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After snow is an exciting time.  Unless you are a 1 year old that hasn't seen snow or played in snow then it isn't exciting it is tramatic. Anne kept trying to get back inside the house by hanging off the front door and then the door between the garage and the house. 

Theresa built a fort on the corner.

 

Eleanore giving Laura a ride.

 

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 Due to the cool weather I took the time to work on decorated coffee mugs. This is all over Pinterest and I thought it sounds easy and cheap.  I did not pin the directions I have only liked the directions so no link for you to follow.  Basically take a stone mug, plate or what ever item draw on it with permanent marker and bake for 30mins at 350 degrees.

A Pintrest fail ~ do you know the right directions or should I even bother trying again?

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On Thursday I took Laura to gymnastics with no little sister so I took some pictures.

Concentration on the beam

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Big sisters brought up baby carriages and dolls for Anne early in the week. So I have been very busy wrapping up dolls in blankets all week. A reminder to me :look around for the pretend bottles for the dolls I know that we have at least two.

Anne and baby Belle

 

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The hubby left today Friday early afternoon on a flight to Las Vegas. Before you think lucky him, and sad for me wait for the story.  Hubby flew down with his brother to drive a U-Haul and car back to North Dakota for their mother. This is very exciting my mother-in-law will be living in Mandan right across the river. I don't know how long she has been gone from North Dakota but, I would guess years,years, and even a few decades.  We are all very excited that she will be back in the state and near family.

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I Finished Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin.  This is the second book in the series the HBO show Game of Thrones is based off of.  I have it checked out of the Bismarck library on my Kindle.  A reminder: return/check the book back in to the library.  I will admit I was a bit pissy about mid way through the book about something that happens to some of the characters. After a few days off from reading, I rationalized that the author must have a plan and I finished the book. 

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Quick Takes Vol. 10

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The week started with hubbies' National Guard Christmas party. A little early you maybe thinking but, the date and scheduling worked out. I am part of the Family Readiness Group or the FRG (the military loves acronyms) so I was in charge of salad, extra dessert, and some other parts of the party.  It was a huge success. My hubby said that he heard good things the next day at drill.

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Sunday brought more FRG events with briefings that were long and some what confusing. A briefing about health insurance was especially confusing.

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On Monday it was Eleanore's dance observation week.  She is in a pre-ballet class and she really loves all the movements she is learning.

Eleanore at the bar.

 

Some kind of ballet position 

 

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Saddy, I forgot my camera on Wednesday night at home. Our church had a Thanks Giving (yep two words) party.  The kids colored place mats for the parish appreciation banquet, made magnets (which I need to find directions online and pin ), wrote Thank You cards for the parish to use.  There was also games and some treats.  All four girls had a great time! 

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So I did not make it to the YMCA this week.  So I have wrecked my average of working out once a week.

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I found an interesting linkup this week at Positively (Im)Perfect!  I don't know if I'm ready for Making it Count Monday but, I have enjoyed reading the posts.

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I finally watched "I Don't Know How She Dose It" It was so funny and I think most women can/could find something to relate too.

 

 

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Quick Takes Vol. 9

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The week started off with another party. We hosted a big family party for Theresa and my sister on Sunday.  Theresa picked out another cake, this one was Carmel Pull-Aparts.

Ready to sing HAPPY BIRTHDAY

 

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After the party it was pumpkin carving time.

Laura with her kitty

Eleanore and spooky face

Theresa and a spider

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We were so lucky that were able to attend our local Army National Guard Halloween party at our armory.  This year the party seemed extra big and fun. Some of the units decorate their office space in themes.  My brother's office did a space theme, including NASA flight suits, astronauts, and aliens.

Girls getting setup for a picture, I can't wait to see what the picture looks like.

 

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First game the girls played find the eyeball in the brains. 

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Laura ran off once but, we caught her trying to meet Gingy.  I made her wait until we had gone through some decorated office.  Gingy was part of a CandyLand theme office. 

Laura and Gingy


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We visited a Saloon, that gave away not only candy but RootBeer.  There was straw all over the floor, I am very glad I didn't have to clean it up.

Entering the Saloon

 

 

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One office did a carnival theme with fun games.

Eleanore waiting to shoot some Nerf guns at pumpkins and ghosts.

 

 

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