Girl with Beard

You never what is going to happen here Monday and Tuesday mornings. I can tell you that is never boring. It started with a very colorful mustache.

Then the little Diva was turned into an Old Man beard and arm hair. She just had to let her inner old man out. Coffee Filters are FUN!

Post Thanksgiving, Pre Christmas

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We got to go Nonna and Pappy's for Thanksgiving. We had some snow on Thanksgiving. In case you are wondering the above picture is the snowman version of Donkey from Shrek courtesy of Chuckles. We also got to go see the Movie Tangled. I thought it was decent and the boys really enjoyed it that even included 90 year old Pappy. If that isn't an endorsement than I don't know what is.

Pappy has a hummingbird feeder and I managed finally to get a photo of a hummingbird at their feeder.

No begins the Pre Christmas rush. I actually really enjoy decorating for the seasons. I LOVE ME SOME TINSEL! We are doing things on a little smaller scale as we are going to be doing some traveling during the Christmas Season and I don't think the our large Christmas tree would survive the bachelor cats even with our Cat Minder's intervention. I plan on joining the Nester's Christmas Tour on December 13th. I can't wait to show you what I have come up with.

Tradition

The Diva

Big E's

Chuckles

There are things my before school kids like to do because we have done them before. These cinnamon roll turkey's are one of those traditions.The ones above had yet to be baked. This is an excellent after school snack. The original idea is from Life as a Mom but here is what we did last year.

Turkey's

Two words that shouldn't be used in the same sentence late start and early release. Why bother sending the kids. Anyhow, I have my little kids before and after school today. We all were rather unmotivated this morning however there was a whole lot of turkey going on. Big E created the Lego Turkey. Everyone colored a turkey. I thought they all did awesome. The coloring page is found at Art Projects for Kids.

THE DIVA

CHUCKLES

BIG E

Of course, I had to contribute too.

Snow

#1 Son in his handy Elmer Fudd Hat

We got our first snowfall of the season. This morning the boys were VERY eager to go out in it. The wind is blowing it all around so there some nice drifts. I have spent the last couple of days ensuring that everyone had enough snow gear. We were lucky to have snow pants and boots that still fit.

Chuckles

Squirrel

We made these squirrels this week. It took us both Monday and Tuesday. The project and pdf's are found at Artist Woman. I think they turned out cute. The tail is made from a coffee filter.

Whirl Wind Thrift Trip

Yesterday was my Birthday. Mrs Epi and I embarked on a whirlwind thrift adventure. I think the above picture says it all. You can find just about anything at Goodwill. We saw a lot but this one takes the cake. These were in the Collectible Section at the largest Goodwill we visited. Several questions came to me and Mrs Epi. First off for inquiring minds, these were priced at $199.99 (seriously). Who shops for prosthetics at Goodwill? I am not sure if I were in the market for prosthetics that Goodwill is where I would start. If you need to shop at Goodwill for prosthetics, I think $199.99 would be out of your budget range. Do people actually collect prosthetics? I am tempted to google that but I am not sure I want to know. Don't do it Mrs Respiratory Therapist aka the Google Queen! I CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH.

We hit about 10 thrift stores in the Northwest Washington Area. We even hit up the glitter and glam event at the Seattle Flagship Goodwill (Dearborn Street Store). Here is our list of the best and the WORST.

THE BEST

Mount Vernon Goodwill

Mount Vernon Value Village

Ballard Goodwill (lots of furniture)

Ballard Value Village

St Vicent de Paul Thrift Store - 13555 Aurora Ave N Seattle, WA 98133 (worth the stop)

Seattle Goodwill Store -Dearborn St (I would like to go back here when there aren't a zillion people)

Heart and Home Thrift Store - Bellevue-this was spur of the moment stop

THE WORST

Everett Goodwill Hoyt Street location. I actually had to hold my breath in there. OH, Mrs Epi had to hold her breath too. It is right across from the Everett Children's Museum. There might be some great finds but couldn't get past the smell. We describe it as a wall of smell.

We also visited the Everett Mall Way Goodwill , Bellevue Goodwill , Value Village on Evergreen HWY99 (not sure on the exact location of this one)too. There were fine thrifts just not knock your socks off great. We finished up our adventures at the Tulalip Casino at the penny slots. A day of thrifting makes you want to let it all ride. Thanks Mrs Epi for a Fab day.