when #16 grows up....

Miss Camille Anaya, the baby of the family. She is twelve years old today. I made some French toast this morning, so she could walk into the kitchen and smell some yummy warm goodness before she got on that school bus. And to eat too, of course. She got a new pullover sweater to wear to school, she liked it, and said, "It smells like Target!". That's a good thing, I guess?

I have a few other little things for her after school, then she gets to go to the youth meeting tonight at church, because she's twelve now. Tomorrow night, she is going to get her nails done with Evelyn. Tomorrow afternoon, I am going to Ottawa with Margaret, staying for the night. (Yay! I love going on trips, even short ones! I mean, Canada IS another country, right?)(And seeing friends! And spending time with Margaret in the car! Stopping for something to eat in Watertown! What!?)

Yesterday afternoon, Margaret came for a visit with her little Wulf. They played in the giant box that came in the mail from Kohls...


The box from Kohls...oh dear. I had ten in Kohls cash that was expiring the next day. So I went online and discovered that I had $25 MORE in Kohls cash, so, of course I had to order something. There were ankle boots on sale for $20, with 20% off, so I let Sonja, Char, and Cam each choose a pair. If I spent $50, I would get free shipping and another $15 in Kohls cash. So, I kept adding the $2.99 towels and pillows to the order...there was an additional 15% off those...making them like $2 each. So I ended up with eight towels and six pillows in the order. The box came, the huge-0 box, and Paul was like, WHAT DID YOU BUY?

New pillows though.

Then I had to spend the $15 Kohls cash. It was so easy. The electric blankets were 65% off, which isn't saying much because their prices are so high to begin with, but with the $15 off, it was only $12.50. I picked it up and saved on shipping, too.

Anyway, online shopping is way too easy and way too fun. I did order some new valances for the kitchen last night, ugh. I CAN make them, I never just buy them, but. They were quite reasonable, and I also ordered some new string lights for the windows for Christmas, very cheap at Target right now. See, I am sneaking the Christmas stuff up, little by little. It's not too early for lights in the windows, not yet, in two weeks. I did buy a tiny little Christmas tree at Target, couldn't resist. It's so cute.

It's supposed to get colder here and snow, that'll be fun. Anne will want to go out and play in it, for sure.

Oh, here is Jon with his deer...my little boy is growing up. It's a difficult feat to bow hunt and hit a deer with an arrow without scaring him off. And to -sorry if this is gross- "process" the deer, cut it, package it up, it took Jonathan several hours...Paul helped him, taught him how to get all the proper cuts and not to waste anything. They put a roast in the crock pot right away, and raved about it. I don't really get into it, but it's not bad.


And this one is just cute, Anne with Paul. She calls him, "Grandpa", because to her, old guys are probably Grandpas. She also calls him Cranky Franky because that's what he calls her.


He has the entire week off from work to hunt, which means getting up at like five in the morning to be in the woods when the sun comes up. There's a huge buck that keeps wandering by, but hasn't been in range yet. Fingers crossed, it'd be nice for him to get one! Now you have to understand, Paul grew up doing things like hunting and fishing, and when we got married and started having kids, he stopped going. We were very busy, and just didn't do things for ourselves. So a few years back, he got into it again, and he loves it. It's peaceful in the woods, and it's all this strategy, and then the recipes for venison, and the whole bit. So it makes me happy that he gets to do something that brings him such joy.

Anyway. Anne will be here soon! We should make a birthday cake today, for Miss Cam when she gets home!!!