Saturday morning and a Christmas gift idea...

The days are creeping by until Markus gets home. Monday night can't come soon enough!

 1. Since I last posted, we've caught 4 more mice and our total has now come to 8. I am a little embarrassed to tell people this because in the back of my mind, I wonder if I am doing something to attract them. But then again, if I were a small rodent living on the mountain behind our house in this terrible weather, I too would be scrambling to find a way into a warm kitchen somewhere. I *think* we've gotten all of them, but the mousetrap is still set and ready if there are others lurking around.


2. Speaking of terrible weather, an intense weather system has just moved over us. It was crazy! Alternating between heavy rain and hail with extremely strong winds, it sounded like the roof was going to be ripped off the house a few times. I had to fight the wind as I was driving and hold tightly onto Emma when we were walking...the gusts would have blown her away!


3. Last night some girls came over for a movie night. (We missed you, Line!) We finally settled on "Ever After" and we laughed and cried our way through the night as the hail pounded outside and the house shook. Our snack table was pretty amazing (we girls take our movie night snacks pretty seriously) and I took this picture before my sister-in-law had arrived with her delicious pizza rolls.

4. I wanted to show you all something that I've been working on this month...

Markus and I will soon be celebrating 9 years of marriage, and in all the years we've been together, I have seriously been lacking in my Christmas gifts to him. It's like my brain freezes up when I start thinking about what to get for him. I mean how do you possibly find something for someone who is as wonderful as he? I don't have that much trouble finding gifts for everyone else...it's just him. I know I don't have to get him  something expensive or fancy or big, but the problem is that I'm unable to find anything at all regardless of the size or price. Usually I end up going shopping with him right before Christmas and having him pick out what he wants me to buy for him (I'm so imaginative, right?), but when I saw two of my sister-in-laws making advent calendars for others, I was inspired and thought that it would be a perfect present for Markus this year!


Over the last few weeks, I've bought 25 gifts (some small, some not-so-small) for him. I had a roughly set budget (what I would have spent on his Christmas gift), and with that I was able to get several "nicer" things and the rest are smaller, fun gifts that I know he will love. (Technically, I should have only bought 24 gifts since Advent starts on December 1st and ends on the 24th, but since our little family is celebrating Christmas on our own this year and doing it American-style {i.e. opening gifts on the 25th}, then I needed something for him to open on that extra day.) 

Now everything is wrapped up and numbered and waiting for December 1st when he will get to start opening them. I am *really* excited because this is the first time I feel prepared when it comes to Markus' Christmas gift, and I had so much fun being creative in buying the gifts and putting it all together. And I know that he is going to love it. So if any of you are like me and have no idea what to get for a good friend or a husband or wife, you still have a few days before December 1st to make them a special advent calendar for this Christmas!


5. And now I am going to go and make breakfast with the kids. Today we are going to have a quiet inside day (ignoring the storm outside) involving at some point or another: hot chocolate, a movie, some cleaning and laundry, some Christmas decorating (yay!), and maybe even some baking! 


-Sarah-