Good Things

Good thing Balsam pine trees last for a long time (that's what was promised to us by the guy at the local tree lot anyway...) because my 3-year old was insistent about us getting a tree. Two weeks ago. We usually always do real but never buy before like the 5th of December. So far so good....will share pics soon!

Good thing we finally got a kid table and chair set. I was done and done with strapping our youngest in and out of the high chair and with helping our oldest in and out of his booster seat. Thank you Downeast Home for bringing Pottery Barn quality and style to Logan for like half the price!

pottery barn kids

Good thing we have a Red Balloon toy store. I was getting pretty Scroogy about all of the annoying toy ads showing up in our mailbox. "We just don't need any more toys!!!!!" I would proclaim. I honestly felt like we have so many that was even considering only doing books this Christmas. THEN I noticed a 20% off coupon in the paper for Red Balloon....there I found LOTS of fun, educational, and unique stuff to both LEARN and PLAY with. I had the boys entire Christmas done within 30 min. (Side note: I shopped while my kids were IN the store. It really worked because they were happily distracted the whole time with toys the store already had out for play.  Also, if you ask, they'll even double bag all of your stuff for you in a big black bag....perfect for staying secret even during the to-and-from the car). 

Good thing my husband is a computer guy. This past month we've had to get a new hard drive, re-install a new operating system (I'm still on the fence about this new Windows 8...), and transfer over lots of files from my almost-dead (bought it in 2005) laptop. I checked out immediately from all of those tasks. Yikes I say! :O

Good thing our credit card company ended up refunding us for that purchase we did earlier this year with that dishonest, no-good, rotten (ha ha) New Egg company. I complained about it here awhile back and am happy to report that it all got resolved with us getting a full refund about a month and a half after it happened. This is why I think it's sooooo smart to always do significant purchases on credit cards....they've got your back!

Good thing we didn't end up splurging on any fancy kind of blender. Turns out a few weeks after I posted this (thanks to all of you who left recommendations!), my mom bought a new Oster and gave us her old one. Works fine. Noisy, but fine. I also realized that we really don't use a blender as much as I though we did....probably because smoothies and soups take more pre-thinking than I have time to do right now. 

Good thing for the reliable food staples of noodles and rice. Pretty sure we have either one or the other for every meal nowadays (what can we say, our toddlers help keep our food palette very simple). If not one of those, then a baked potato, Pasta Roni, Lynn Wilson bean & cheese burrito, Boca meatless chicken patty, or SOUP! Basically, I've been giving up in the kitchen A LOT lately.

Good thing my husband came up with the genius idea of buying a tripod. By taking our annual family photo ourselves this year (not going to lie, photography lessons really helped!), we were able to skip the headache of having to coordinate with someone else, experience no wait to view and order proofs, and get the poses and overall look that WE wanted. Best part was all the fun we had while taking them!

Okay, well I think that's it for this Good Things list. Coming up this month I also plan to share my Winter Loves as well as some interior pics of our holiday decor (nothing too impressive, just a little glimpse of what's making our holiday feel warm and cozy. ;)) Hope you all are off to a good start to the holiday season- it comes and goes so quick!