Family walks & Christmas shopping...

We just got home from from a walk...I think we're quite the site walkin' down the street...Dad, Mom & 6 kids! haha - of course I'm counting our 4-legged kids Hershey & Buster. Hershey is our 9-yr old dauschaund (i.e. wiener dog) and Buster is our 18-mo old springer spaniel....just guess who is better on the leash! I told Shane tonight that if I was on a skate board walking Buster, we'd probably be going 50 mph down the sidewalk! We all enjoy our walks - at least I do when the weather is nice :)

I could feel Fall in the air today - my absolutely fave season of the year...I love jeans w/ sweatshirts, wienie roasts w/ marshmellows, football games w/ hot chocolate...I could go on & on! Pretty soon, I'll plant our mums, take pics of the kids in the leaf pile, get out the fall decorations...of course fall just leads up to my favorite "eating" holiday - Thanksgiving! YUM!

People may think I'm nuts but I've already started Christmas shopping - hey, w/ 4 kids I can't afford to wait until November to start!! I guess I should confess that my "list" is actually an Excel spreadsheet w/ separate columns for each kid and 2 separate worksheets for Shane and the rest of the family. Oh, it doesn't stop there - I have a color-coding system showing what's from us and what's from Santa, bolding & italicizing to show what's been purchased & what still needs bought....I have everything we've bought for the kids since we started shopping together (2005) - let me say, we've got some pretty spoiled kids! Kevin, the Wal-mart store manager, looks for me every year on the day after Thanksgiving just to see my list...he's in Rotary w/ me so he razzes me all year long about my infamous Christmas list! Yes, I'm anal-retentive and proud of it!

We have soccer practice the next 2 nights then the homecoming parade Friday so it may be a bit before I can post again...I'll try to have pictures next time!