American Christmas Update 2

Avoiding all the good deals on Black Friday did require some self control. Oh how I love a good deal. Thankfully, we really don't need anything.

Morgann and I did go to Nini Bambini for our monthly La Leche League meeting that I lead! And I did partake in some Black Friday shopping! Nini Bambini is a locally owned baby boutique that carries oh so scrumptious baby items: lots of slings, baby carriers, cute diaper bags, shoes, clothes, baby legs, toys, lots of great breastfeeding supplies, nursing bras, pumps, ect. I love how supportive they are of breastfeeding. Thank goodness that Morgann is older or it would have been too tempting!

They had a Black Friday sale as well - plus lots of goodies - and apple cider! And it was relaxing. And I love the owners and what they support - moms and babies. So I bought Morgann a wooden magnetic "paper doll set" for Christmas. Plus, I got 30% off. I looked all over the packaging and it looks like its American made as well. So yet another success - and a peaceful, relaxing shopping experience.

If you are local, check out Nini Bambini for gifts for babies and toddlers. You won't be disappointed. You may spend an extra $2, but its well worth it - supporting a great business, AND a pleasant, peaceful shopping experience.

Oh and did I mention that they wrapped the present free of charge as well? Score!

American Christmas Update 1

Score! I found local fruit at Hannaford's yesterday! So not only will my jam 0r canned good I decide to do be in an American made glass jar, but filled with NH fruit.

Sadly, the only US made sweater at LL Bean was UGLY. All I want is a sweater....we'll see, eh?

Thankful!

Ahhh, Thanksgiving. This year, new aroma's swirl in our home - risotto with garlic, leeks, and artichoke. I did use Turkey stock for the broth though. Lobster is chilling in the refrigerator. We do have pumpkin pie. We are laid back and relaxed. Its nice. In a while, we will head over to Matt and Marie's, feed the kids, put them to bed, and then have a quiet dinner for 4. Nice!

Speaking of laid back and relaxed, check out last night in Rich and Abbey's bed. (don't worry!)



We are sad to be missing Thanksgiving in FL. Congrats to Erik and Sarah!!

American Christmas

In my quest to: save money, not support slave labor or sweat shop practices, and help the American economy, I have decided to have an American Christmas: all gifts are to be homemade or made in America. The concept is simple, but I'm unsure how easy it will be:-) For example, I do want to print pictures: ummm, I am pretty sure that a. My printer is foreign, b. I have no idea where the ink is made, c. the paper. So I will do my best! 

Here is what I am doing so far: Canning jelly and jams. Ball jars are American made. Now, since I did not plan  ahead, I am wondering if my fruit will be American grown or not. That I may have to let slide. Next year I can think a bit more ahead.

Don't tell Morgann, but I am making her a Princess Pony Castle. Once again, I have no clue where wood is made, but I'll try! She wants it pink. We'll see if I can find pink American made paint.

Rich and I will probably exchange small gifts. Honestly, I really don't want anything and he just got his "big tool" - laser Miter Saw (and a puppy, SC made!) 

I love Wardolf toys, so I may head over to Pine Hill School for their Holiday fair and see what else I can find. The students at Pine Hill School make the toys! Very cool.

I'll keep updated on my quest for an American Christmas. I hope I can report back that I was able to find American made products (even better yet, from businesses with positive business practices!) And I hope to continue it into the New Year. It's something that I've been meaning to do, but too lazy to really do it. I'm sure balance will be a crucial key in it all as well~!

16 hours, 9 states, a puppy & toddler

Last Monday we found out that Rich's parents had a big house fire at their new home in SC. Feeling the need to go down to be with them we loaded up Sarah's Camry and headed down to SC around 8 p.m. We drove through the night, picked up some Starbucks, and arrived to the burnt house around noon. We surprised them, our dorky selves drove up with Starbucks and said: "Hey, we though you might need some coffee." I think it was a good surprise. Anyway, we spent the week down with his parents, brother Kevin, and grandparents, delegating our time between Charleston and Georgetown SC. It was a nice visit. Getting a shelter pup in NH is near to impossible and expensive, and half of the dogs are from the South anyhow. So we've always said we would look for dogs while back in the South. Well on Thursday we went to the Georgetown Animal Shelter and found Lo. (Short for Loretta, her given shelter name). She is a sweet 5 mo. old golden/lab/hound mix. The shelter manager is actually from VT and was more than willing to let us adopt and take her back to NH. So on Friday we picked her up and on Saturday we started our adventure back to NH. It went as well as to be expected with a toddler and a puppy. Poor Sarah's Camry sure was stinky by the time we made it back to NH at 3 a.m. Lo was a great passenger and slept most of the time. Morgann was pretty good little rider too and talked to the doggie, sang songs, and ate way too many snacks! So here she is - the newest girl in the Clegg household - Lo. Poor Rich sure is outnumbered by females now!

(Photo by Sarah Wickstrum. I am too lazy to upload, we are pretty beat from our adventures in SC)

Family

We are about to head out on the road. 17 hours to SC. Rich's parents - Ron and Lynn lost their home today in a fire. We are going down to just be with them and try to encourage them. Ron's birthday is tomorrow. Morgann will be a good present. We love our family. Pray for Ron and Lynn, and for us that we can be an encouragment and comfort. Pray for safe travels as well.

Lets try this again....a bit aged, but I wanted to post it anyhow.

I babysit the H. kids on Friday. Just dropping off a picture of them being cute. It has been a gorgeous fall afternoon and we had fun playing in the yard. As I type, Bryn is napping. Morgann and Eli are in bed with me watching Toy Story 2 while I blog:-)

Oh Rich lost the game of chicken. He turned on the heat about 2.5 weeks ago. Wimp.

We finished our foster care classes and are now working on the paperwork! I'm so excited to see what God has in store in our future. It is pretty cool to think that in just a short time, we may have another kiddo in our family, for however long God allows him or her to stay with us. We do hope that it will eventually lead to adoption. We have a bit of house work to do and I finished my paperwork, which should get the ball rolling.

*I started this post on 10/31, but blogger was having issues, so now I am finishing it tonight....

Morgann votes

Morgann doesn't typically like going with me or Rich to vote. As Rich jokes: The Cleggs vote early and vote often!

Being the political junkie that I am (or perhaps was after this long election process), I wanted to encourage her to enjoy going to the polls. I told her this morning that we were going to go vote, to which she cried: "NOooooooo. I don't like going to vote. I don't want to go vote!"

So I made her a ballot up. With pictures to choose and bubbles to fill in. So here are the long antcipated results:

In the race between kitty and dog: Kitty won
In the race between Red horse or Blue Horse: Blue horse won
In the race between Pink Elephant or Green Donkey: Pink elephant won (mmmm, perhaps there could be an investigation into the fairness of this race....)

So there you have it. God bless America! She was a bit disappointed that she could not put her ballot in the ballot machine, but then realized that she could color in the animals and was happy with that decision. The polling workers thought it was pretty darn cute as she proudly displayed her ballot to them:-)