Move Out of the Way... It's BLACK FRIDAY!

Such is the atmosphere at 3 am on Black Friday.

It's everyone for themself. And don't expect them to give you the right-of-way when you're headed for the checkout.

Every year, my Mother-in-law and two Sisters-in-law wake up at the butt-crack of dawn, and head to Enid to shop till they drop. I've joined in on the festivities the last three years. I'm just glad this year I'm not pregnant.

So here's how our day went.

Alarm is set for 1:20 AM, just in case I want to snooze for 10 min. But no more than that, our shopping trip is in MY hands (as Shawnda tells me) since I am the one who set their alarm. Well, who needs alarms? I have a 5 month old. Riley woke up at exactly 1:18 AM, just enough time for her to have a quick midnight snack....

Afterwards, I woke everyone up, we get dressed and head out around 2 AM. ETA to Old Navy is 45 minutes. Too bad, we didn't get in line fast enough and they only had 25 #'s to hand out for the Wii game. Strike 1.

The next stop was JC Penny. Nothing big. Got our snow globes :-)

From there we went to Walmart. Now, they did things WAY different this time. Apparently you could get there as early as you wanted, put items in your cart, and check out as soon as it was 5 AM. A bunch of crap if you ask me. So, when we got there (At 4:55 AM!), most of the really good deals were gone. Probably for the best. I spent WAY too much money there anyway!

Now, if any Walmart employees, engineers, or execs ever read this, I'm telling you now, you NEED to have a better to coordinate the checking out process. The current method simply does not work. There are entrances on either end of the store. The line for the checkout on the end (right next to the entrance) ran lenghtwise, instead of straight back, blocking the entrance, and prohibiting any movement for those wishing to complete their shopping elsewhere, etc. Unfortunately, my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law were trapped in this scenario. For like 2 hours. It was a mess!

From there, went to Lowe's and KMart. And then, we had a BIG PROBLEM.

I wish I would've brought my camera.

You truly can't appreciate Black Friday until witness a group of girls with an SUV that is SO full, you have to pile stuff on someone just to get the door shut. Toys coming into the front seat, you have to hold onto them so that they don't fly and hit the windshield... and don't even think about trying to open the back door.... unless you have a death wish!

Well, we had 'er full by 7:30 AM.

No Kidding.

So Grandpa Lyndal drove up in Shawnda's Avalanche and swapped us vehicles.

And on we go!

Walgreens, Atwoods, and to the mall- Bath & Body Works, Sears, Famous Footwear, The Buckle, Butterbean, Dillard's, Claire's, and last, but not least, one of my favorites, Hobby Lobby.

We made it through the rest of the day without any major hiccups... well, except for one little thing. Turns out there is a spending limit set on my bank card. Didn't know since I've never exceeded it!

Well, I guess our mortgage hit our account on Black Friday as well. So, after that and my relatively large purchases at Walmart and Old Navy around 10:30 AM, I had to call and talk to the bank PRESIDENT to get a spending increase, because the day just wasn't about to end for me! We were just getting started!

I'd also like to add that this whole time, I was pumping and storing breastmilk. Yes, every 3 hours, I broke out the breastpump and cooler, listening to the sound that I am likely to never forget for as long as I live. Around 10 minutes later, I was done and good to go.

So last year I was somewhat nauseas and pregnant, and this year I was a traveling milk cow. Great. I can only imagine how next year is going to be!

Anyway, I hope everyone had a happy and *safe* Black Friday! I will be there again next year for sure!! As my sister-in-law Shawnda says, "Screw the turkey, let's shop for two days straight!!"

Come One, Come All!

It was a full house at the Skaggs' last Friday and Saturday! Thanks to the help of family and friends, we now have a new roof over our heads! With a little food and free beer, we were able to round up some good help! My cousin, Matt, does roofing on the side, so he came out and helped us so we would get it done right!

It was beautiful weather, about 80 degrees or so and light wind. The *manly men* sure worked long and hard! My Uncle Kent worked his tail off, and still managed to smile for the camera!

On Friday, they stripped the roof, laid down new paper, and even got started on installing the new shingles. I believe they worked from 7:30 AM to 8:30 PM that day. I think Ryan said it well when he crashed on the bed and said, "I just don't want to move..." My dad was pretty wore out the next day also.

They finished it all the next day around 4:30 PM. They really did a great job too!

The food was fantastic. On Friday we ordered pizzas and grilled hamburgers. But, on Saturday, we had spiral cut ham, company potatoes, green beans, macaroni salad, pasta salad, french bread, cherry cobbler, angel food cake and strawberries, brownies, lemon bars, rice krispies..... yummm!! It was quite a feast! Thanks to all the ladies who brought dishes to help feed everyone!

Of course, while the men were working, the women were.... SHOPPING! Okay, *I* was shopping! As a "good job" present to myself for carrying Riley for 9 months and having a natural birth (my attempt to justify my purchases), I got 6 new tops, 3 pairs of shoes, a necklace and bracelet, and a pair of jeans! Needless to say I will not be buying clothes again for a while! Until it gets cold anyway.... ha!

I also got a few things for Miss Riley. I have seen these caps everywhere on little girls, and thought they were the most darling caps!! I had to have one! Isn't she adorable?

I also got her a few more sleep 'n play outfits that were 6 months and 9 months sizes. They are so handy because I can let her sleep in them all night and then just put her in her car seat and drop her off at Tammy's and not have to change her in the morning before I leave the house! If only they didn't have so MANY SNAPS!

While they were helping us with the new roof, my mom and dad stayed with us at Casa de Skaggs. Riley loved the attention from both Grandpa and Grandma.

On Sunday, we loaded up in Daddy's truck and headed to Medford to dump the shingles and go to my cousin Amanda's baby shower. I duded up in my new clothes, put Riley in a cute jumper and headband, packed up all her stuff and off we go! A 3/4 ton pickup pulling a loaded down trailer is sure a bumpy ride! Riley still slept through most of it though!

We arrived at the shower a little late, but got to see Amanda open most of her presents. She got a lot of nice things! Our family always gives us nice showers and are so helpful! She is doing so well with her pregnancy- still running 5 miles/day! As you can tell, she looks great!

And as always, Grandma and Grandpa had fun showing off their little baby granddaughter!