Ok~so we are on an upswing

I might have been a little hasty in calling the week crap.

The dog is doing better.  We picked him up Friday afternoon (along with a gigantic vet bill).  He still was not really eating, and mostly slept.  But, I think he is on the upswing.  He is eating a little, barking a little, and this morning he seems to be more himself.  I think we will be keeping him. =]

Yesterday was a great day.  Lucien had a basketball game, wreath selling for Cub Scouts, and then went to play at his friend's house.  This left Ella and I to have a Girl's Day.  We went to Ellsworth for some laid back Christmas festivities.  We went to the parade there.  It was wet, and rainy, and too much fun.  Although she tried to play it cool (she is 7 after all), Ella was very excited.  With shiny eyes, she watched as Cinderella, and Scooby Doo, and tiny ponies moved slowly down Main Street.  She would barely even drink her hot chocolate, as she didn't want to miss a second of it.  

After the parade, we walked to the offices of the Ellsworth American newspaper, where they were giving a book to every child.  She carefully looked through the tables of books, finally choosing one about a reporter for a school newspaper.  She is so very thoughtful, and wanted to be sure it was ok to choose one for Lucien as well.  From there, we walked up Main Street to the Grand Theatre to await the arrival of Santa, again, trying to play it cool.  Santa arrived in the same car he had rode in during the parade.  From here, playing it cool was over!  She squealed and bounced, and expressed her concern that she did not know what to ask him for!  The line was not very long ahead of us, but gave her enough time to decide that she would ask him for a Zhu Zhu pet.  When we got into the theatre proper, and neared the stage, we noticed that they were giving out little goody bags to the kids.  Again, she wanted to be sure to get one for her brother.  Finally, the big moment had arrived; it was Santa time.  She was adorable, and polite, and Santa was everything he should be.  

We walked off the stage, she chose a cupcake from the treats table, and we decided it was time to get something real to eat.  We walked just a few storefronts down to the Riverside Cafe, where we had brunch.  She chose scrambled eggs and I had the veggie benedict (my fave!).  She entertained me while we waited, making up stories and telling me random facts.  From there, we headed to Walmart to pick up a few things we needed.  The girls in the office and I have chosen 3 needy kids from our school to buy presents for this year (as we do every year) and I always like to involve the kids in doing this shopping.  El and I got a few things from these lists (which include snowpants, boots, and long sleeved shirts :( ), and headed home.

Lucien got home shortly after we did, and we decided to make the cookies for his Cub Scout Christmas party that is this afternoon.  We had intended to go to the Festival of Lights parade in Bangor, but I got the time mixed up and it was really raining, so we spent a much needed, cozy night at home instead.  The cookies that we made were super easy, but mega delicious!  Really, they could not be easier.  All you do is wrap cookie dough around a bite-sized Snickers bar.  Bake, eat, heaven.  The kids had fun choosing different sugars and sprinkles to roll the uncooked cookie balls in.  With the cookies done, we jammied up, ate a couple of the extra cookies, and watched a movie.

(cookie pictures coming as soon as Matt gets back with my camera!)

After waking up to a blanket of snow, the kids and Matt are outside sledding.  Next, they are going to go cut a Christmas tree for Matt's 90 year old great-aunt, who lives across the street.  I'm off to make a salad to take to the Christmas party this afternoon.


This is so not crap.

ps~ I figured out how to get the pictures off my Blackberry!  =]