Thanksgiving

All in all, it was an awesome Thanksgiving for the Hagen's.  Even though Larry couldn't be with us, Morgan and I had a great trip up to Minneapolis to visit with tons of family and friends.  We not only got lots of family and friends time in, I also got to go house shopping and found a house that I think we may be putting an offer in to.  So, it was a very productive trip too!  I can't believe that Thanksgiving is already gone and Christmas is only weeks away. 

Free giveaways are always my favorite!!

Check out this site and register to try and get a FREE MomsBudget Holiday Planner! I personally would love something like this to try to get this household a little more organized...especially during the holidays!  Enjoy and good luck!!!

http://www.momsbudget.com/blog/win-a-momsbudget-holiday-christmas-planner/

I just wrote a letter to Santa!

I just wrote a letter to Santa!

For every letter received, Macy's will donate $1 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, up to $1,000,000. Help make wishes come true by writing your own letter to Santa!

Holiday Crafts & Gifts...have you started yours?

Have you got your holiday crafts started or even figured out you're going to make at this point?

I haven't even started!  I can't believe the first week in November is gone and as I look at the calendar I'm realizing just how soon Christmas will be here.  We have a Hagen tradition that in this house, when we spend the holidays with family, we try to make our gifts.  The past few years have been harder on us to do that since Morgan came into our lives and power tools are a little more difficult to keep safe.  We opted the east way out with photos; whether it be a larger one in a frame or a collage or a photo book...we've tried them all. 

Before Morgan, here are some of the gifts that I can remember we made:
 - Rustic wood picture frames
 - Birch log candles
 - Hand painted tiles made into coasters
 - Decorated Cookie/snack basket (with a minimum of 4 different types)

One of the best handmade gifts we've ever recieved were knitted socks from Larry's mom!  They are always welcomed and a blessing in these cold winters!  We've also recieved quilted pot holders, embroidered potato sack towels, an hand sewn apron and for Morgan she's recieved hand made blankets, burp rags, sweaters, socks, hats and mittens.  We are very blessed to have such a creative and thoughtful family!

Sunday, Sunday

After a lot of running around yesterday, today we had a nice breakfast then got to work on fixing our van.  It had some scrape marks on the side that looked like a tiger got to it.  Actually, the repair job that was attempted (before we even bought the van) was falling apart.  It was starting to break up and rust under the bondo making some really icky cracks and runoff down the side of the van.  Thankfully Larry knows a little something about bodywork thanks to Coast Guard and so now it's almost finished.  He should be able to finish up the final process next weekend when he's home.  It's nice to have the mess cleaned up and looking more decent.  At least now it should survive the harsh WI/MN winter coming up!  I wish we would have took some pictures...it would have been neat to show the process.  Maybe next project!

Well, after the hubby left to drive back to MN, Morgan and I went upstairs to have some quiet time (naptime doesn't seem to be working lately) and turned on the football game.  Vikings vs. Cardinals and the Vikings thankfully won on overtime!  It's about time they step up and play the game!  When I turned on the game initially, it was in the 4th quarter and I think the score was 24-10 Cardinals...I thought for sure this would be another game down the tubes for the Vikings but no!!!  they stepped it up, got their game faces on and made 2 touchdowns to tie it up.  The sudden death overtime went first to the Cardinals but once again the Vikes stepped up their game, held them off and then scored first with a field goal.  I am sure glad I didn't change the channel like I was tempted to do when I first looked at the game. 

All in all, this was a very good Sunday for the Hagen household.  We're just bummed that daddy had to go back to MN but we enjoyed what little time we had with him.  He'll be back in a week so we can play some more!!!

This week just keeps getting better and better...

Never a dull moment in the Hagen household...within the past 5 days it feels like we've been on a roller coaster that I wouldn't mind stopping for a breather! 
~Monday was a pretty normal day for us girls...we went to the library group we regularly participate in, picked up a few books and then did some quick shopping. 
~Tuesday we spent most of the day at home coloring and playing until it was time to finally get out and VOTE!  I hope you all did the same.  That Tuesday evening, we found out that daddy was getting recalled from Coast Guard.  Not great timing but it could be a lot worse.  So off to New Orleans he'll be heading to for 60 days.  Since our house hasn't had any bites yet, we'll get to hang out in WI a little longer and decide where and who to spend the coming holidays with.
~Wednesday we cleaned and cleaned and cleaned some more getting the house ready for open house #2.  It was scheduled for 5:00 -7:00 pm to catch the folks coming home from work.  This worked out great for us schedule wise since we had our second TumbleBugs class to go to.  Morgan is having a blast in this class and it was well worth the $22 enrollment fee!! The open house didn't go as well as hoped with only one family visiting that couldn't afford it.  Well, at least we got SOMEBODY in the door! 
~Thursday Morgan and I decided it was a good day to get out of the house again.  I had an Antique Portrait  scheduled for her in the morning that was a fundraiser for the local MOPS (Moms of Preschool Students) group.  After a quick 15 minute photo shoot, we headed to La Crosse for some lunch with one of my old co-workers.  Sounds like nothing has changed there...same folks making work unbearable for everyone else.  I sure don't miss the stress from there!  Well, on our way back home, I spoke to my aunt who heard through the grapevine that Larry wasn't going to be around for the holidays and offered up some of her frequent flyer miles for Morgan and I to fly to South Dakota for Christmas.  This was a great offer and I always love to head home for a visit.
~Friday...well, we were waken up by our regular daddy phone call but found out that there is a little more to his mom's medical condition than she's been leading on to and there is the potential that she'll need to come to MN to get an apointment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.  The only thing holding her back is no-one to take her or be with her.  Of course, Morgan and I are available for that so we'll see what happens.  It may change our holiday plans so thankfully we haven't bought a ticket yet!  To get our minds off the chaotic scheduling to come, we took off to Tomah to go play at the Cranberry Lodge's swimming pool.  Morgan always loves to play and slide and swim there.  Play Shoppe was cancelled today so it was a great alternative to get Morgan out and socialize with kids and practice her swimming.

So, there you have it...our crazy life the past week and I have a feeling it's not even close to being done or settled. Stay tuned for more updates and hopefully get some fun stuff on here soon!!!