Unexpected Visit

Today was a typical Saturday afternoon for our family. Well, one that I didn't have to work (which is always nice). We were out running errands and eating lunch when I received a text from my husband's favorite cousin saying hello and that they were in the area (they live in Florida). Well, my hubby called him back immediately and invited both he and his mother to come and visit us. They said they'd be at our house in a couple of hours.

Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but my house is generally "well lived in," meaning that it isn't dirty, per se, but it isn't MY idea of clean. So, we had to finish up our errands very quickly and head home for a cleaning frenzy! I started tackling the guest bathroom, which is also the kid's bathroom. I had been meaning to clean it this weekend, but it was going to happen later that night and Shane started picking up the random toys and such on the floor and vacuuming the carpets. We finished just in the nick of time.

They brought us and the kids some gifts, which was wonderful. We had pizza for dinner and pumpkin pie for dessert. I think they really enjoyed it and I know we did! It seemed like they were barely here for long before they had to hit the road to finish going home. While they were here, though, they helped us decorate the house for Christmas (we had been promising Gabriel that we would) and we watched some holiday movie favorites.

Here is our Little People Nativity set on the mantle. You can also see the garland!

Unexpected visits from long distant loved ones are always great! The kids had a great time and we enjoyed catching up.

Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, if it is a holiday that you celebrate. We have a pretty small family, so we don't really make a big deal out of the day. Also, the kids are still small and picky eaters, so I really don't go to the hassle of cooking up a storm just to have to a) throw everything away or b) feel compelled to eat the leftovers myself. Therefore, we went out for a late lunch/early dinner at Cracker Barrel. They had a Thanksgiving dinner plate at a reasonable price and it even came with bread AND dessert!! Annnnnd, the portions were just right. Annnnnnddddd, there were no leftovers!!!

After lunch, we took the kids to run off some energy at the park and then cruised Wal Mart to scope out the Black Friday items. We were there around 4pm and there were already lines forming around the pallets they had roped off. Shane is planning on going back at 5am to try and get a TV. We're probably some of the few people left in the US without a HDTV. In fact, we don't get TV reception at all! (Sad, right?) Sometimes I think it's better that we don't. There is a lot of unnecessary garbage on TV and I don't want to waste my time on it.

If you use Swagbucks (and I sincerely hope you do), I leave you with some Black Friday specials that they have going on tomorrow:

Swagbucks has some great deals for Black Friday and Cyber Monday - first, all of the Jewelry in the Swag Store will be on Sale starting Friday and going all the way through Monday. If that wasn't good enough, you get double Swag Bucks for any purchase made on Shop & Earn on Black Friday and Cyber Monday! For an added bonus, from 6am-9am PT on Cyber Monday, you'll get TRIPLE Swag Bucks for your Shop and Earn Purchases!