Return of Elvis

It's almost December? Seriously. Does time speed up as you get older? I've heard that it does. And this time of year always flys by.

We spent Thanksgiving at Wes' parent's house and with his side of the family. Taylor and Corinne enjoyed playing with their cousins, although the crowd was a bit much for Corinne at times. She kept telling me how much she wanted everyone to leave, except Logan and Cael. They love their cousins.

Wes and I ate our weight in food, and left the kids there overnight. Wes wanted to check out Black Friday the next morning, but we missed the memo about it starting at midnight, rather than 5 am. So we showed up at Target and Walmart a few hours after all the deals were available. But on the plus side, we missed the crowds and finished our shopping for the girls, anyway.

A cricket hopped on Wes' shoulder. He said it was good luck, so I resisted the urge to squish the little bugger.

Wes' cousin, Ruby, was baptized the day after Thanksgiving. We didn't stay long due to cranky Corinne, but I was able take some pictures of Ruby with her brother and sister. Always looking for a chance to take a good picture.

And to top off the long weekend, we took the girls to Disneyland. I randomly posted on Facebook that I wanted free tickets, and lo' and behold, it happened. My good friend, Stephanie, has worked for Disney for a while but recently put in her resignation. But she took advantage of her status and got us in to both parks. It felt like Christmas came early. We told the girls that we needed to go get flu shots that morning. They were really unhappy with us, which made it all the better. We spilled the beans when we rolled into Orange County, and they were so relieved. Especially Taylor. They had never seen Disneyland decorated for Christmas, and it was fun to see their faces light up. We were even given a free front of the line pass  for California Adventure, and walked right into the Toy Story ride without waiting an hour. We packed our own food, and the kids were really understanding that this trip was devoid of "treats." They were so happy and well behaved. There's no way we could have gone right now without Steph's offer, as tight as money gets this time of year. I'm SOOO grateful to her and her husband for meeting us down there.

                                       

We've been having a brutal time with Corinne lately. She was acting like a holy terror, so I took her to the Dr. with instructions to fix her or keep her. He asked her how she felt. "Fine." "Anything hurt?" "No." She had a cough, but so does everyone else. Turns out, poor kid had a bulging ear drum that was on the verge of bursting. You'd think she'd say, "YES! MY FRIGGIN EAR HURTS!!!" We've asked her about her ears all week, and she insisted they were fine. Ugh. She's killing me, this kid. Her preschool teacher today told Wes that she was lethargic while she was there. But when I got home, she was dancing and singing. Out of nowhere, she barfs.

"Corinne, did your stomach hurt today?"

"Oh, yea it did."

Throw me a bone here, kid. She has an insanely high pain tolerance, so it's hard to tell what's going on with her sometimes.

We took the kids to see "Wreck it Ralph" this weekend too, and then Taylor and I ran away to the bike path. Aside from the 14 freeway being next to it, it's pretty peaceful. I know she can't help it right now, but we needed a little break from Hurricane Corinne.

I hope I read this one day and remember what an awesome guy I married. I came home to this card on the bed the other night. Just Because. From Wes. Letting me know how much my family loves me. I almost never need a reminder of that but it was nice, regardless. Wes is a perceptive guy. It's just nice to know that no matter who goes in and out of my life, I have them. Always. They know me and love me- the good, the bad and the ugly.

And it looks as if Christmas is in full swing in the Pollard house. Why not decorate for the holidays in your bathing suit? (It's a battle I chose not to fight.) I knew Wes wouldn't wait until December. He'd buy a tree right now if I let him. But with decorating comes the unveiling of Elvis the Elf, our Elf on the Shelf. And hopefully good behavior will follow, since the girls have a healthy fear of Elvis reporting naughty behavior to Santa. Ho, ho, ho, suckers!