Christmas Eve

So The Hubby's parents came down to visit over Christmas. They rented a condo on the water a bit south of us. Beautiful views and it even had two bedrooms so the boys could spend the night!

Our family has some Christmas Eve traditions. One of them is we go out for seafood dinner. This year we went to Captain Geroge's Seafood. We had been to the one in Virginia Beach and one in Williamsburg before but this was our first time at this one. We were there right when it opened so got seated right away. It was nice to have the in-laws there to help out with getting the kids their food since The Hubby had to get all my food too. Cat Boy and Monkey were excited for the crab legs and I lost count of how many I opened for them. Monkey did try and do some himself but it took him FOREVER. The staff was great with Monkey's allergies and let us know what to stay away from. They said some dessert was safe but we always stay away from dessert in case it was cut with a knife that was used with a nut item. The food was nice and hot and was good. We all stuffed our faces. It was nice getting there early because by the time we were really to roll go home it was filling up.

Another tradition we have is after dinner we go look at Christmas lights. We didn't know where to go so we drove around the neighborhoods where the in-laws were staying. My favorite thing was the Santa Duck. Isn't he so cute? We didn't see a lot of houses decorated but some were really done up so they made it worth it.



When we get home it is always time to open one gift. Another tradition. The gift is always a new pair of pajamas. After everyone changes it is time for the last tradition. The Hubby reads everyone The Night Before Christmas. We then put out cookies for Santa and head to bed.

Gino's Real New York Pizza

For lunch one day we decided to try out Gino's Real New York Pizza in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. It is located just south of Myrtle Beach. Boy were we glad we did. It wasn't buys and the staff was very helpful while we decided what to order. They also made sure to check everything in the food we would be eating to make sure that it was safe for Monkey to eat with his peanut and tree nut allergy. Not only did the lady who took our order check, but I watched as 2 other people from the kitchen checked and double checked everything. This was very comforting to me and I appreciated to effort.

We ended up ordering WAY to much food. We got garlic knots, wings, garlic fries, and two different pizzas. We ended up being able to take some of the pizza home since we had so much food. The food came out in a decent amount of time and was piping hot. Everything was delish and we ate until we were way past stuffed.

Everything was very clean and the price we felt was very fair for as much food as we got. I would definitely recommend you stop by on your next visit to Myrtle Beach. They have two other locations in the Myrtle Beach area. One in Myrtle Beach, and one in North Myrtle Beach so there is bound to be one close to you.

Sadly I didn't get any pictures of the food but here is one of Princess waiting for her food.

Leading up to Christmas

So on the weekends we tended to go out to malls to try and get some Christmas shopping done. This particular trip was to Broadway at the Beach It is a nice outside mall with a lot of restaurants and shops. When it is peak season they also have a little carnival there for the kiddos. It looks like it is a very happening place during the summer and at night. They also have MagiQuest, the Ripley's aquarium, mini golf, a wax museum, and SO much more. We had to call a guy to rent a wheelchair since they do not have them there. So be aware of that if someone in your party needs one. We had a good time walking around (or being pushed around) and bought a few things. They had a store full of hot sauces so The Boy was loving it. We had a good time but had to leave as the sun started to go down because it was getting quite chilly out. I so wanted to be farther south by this point but it was better then being in Maryland.
Two weeks after I got my cast on I went in to get it checked out. The removed the old cast, x-rayed me, and put on a new cast. The bone was healing nicely so that was good. I had asked the lady to alternate my cast with red and white to look like a candy cane but she just did plain red. She didn't do a very good job either and the back of my ankle was sharp and by the end of the two weeks actually had a hole in it because it was to thin. I almost went back after a day to have them redo it but didn't want to be bothered so I just dealt with it.
I just want to share this picture with you. We went to leave on day and we saw a beautiful rainbow. I love that it was just days before Christmas and we were on the beach, in semi-warm weather, and seeing something so pretty. We really are so lucky to be able to follow our dreams like this and moments like this just prove that.
So my wonderful sponsor with Young Living Crystal, send me some presents. One of these items was a preally nice diffuser necklace. You put some oil on a little felt pad and put it inside the necklace. Then you can breath in your oils all day. I use peace and calming in it mostly because, well, 4 kids. So Princess had stole it one day and it was in the kids bedroom. Aparently Monkey had it and was swinging it and let go. It went flying and landed on the prongs of their DS charger that was only half plugged into the wall. I was sitting on the coucha nd saw the flash out of the corner of my eye but just thought it was one of them messing with their light. About a minute later Money brings my necklace out to show me it broke. I tried to ask him how and then finally understood was he was saying. I ran back there as fast as I could with a broken foot and turned off the power to the RV on my way. The Hubby was of course gone but I called him and he was on his way home. Nothing was hot and there was no smoke so I knew that was a good sign. He got home, removed the cover and checked all the wires. Everything was thankfully fine but man did it take a long time for my heart to start beating back to normal. You can see all the charred stuff and what the necklace looked like after and before. LOL
It was fianlly time to decorate for Christmas. We got a teeny tiny tabletop tree for the table and bought some foam ornaments to decorate. We left our big bin of ornaments with my Uncle Rob when we left. I might go grab some next time I visit for next year but probably not. I kinda like all the homemade ones we did. My mom had also sent us all her Stik-ees window clings a couple years ago. I brought them all because they are small and don't take up a lot of space. But there are so many we can really decorate everything. She has had them since at least the 90's if not the 80's so they REALLY REALLY last. We love them and I know you would too. Princess had lots of fun redecorating them all the time. LOL We also put up lights along the bunk beds and some in our room to make it a tad more festive. The kids loved it. They were a bit sad our tree was small but were happy we still had one.
So The Hubby was needing to get a passport. He new he was going to be needing a picture taken and so he decided to make a beard cream to help make his facial pins hair look nicer and softer. Apparently me complaining that it stabs me when he kisses me wasn't motivation enough. But a picture was. Whatever, I don't really care as long as I can kiss him and not need first aid after. So he took some tips from some other oily husbands on a boys only facebook group for males counterparts of our wonderful oily family, The Lemon Droppers, and grabbed the coconut oil. He mixed in some of this, some of that and mixed it all up. He combed that stuff into his beard constantly for days even after he had his picture taken. I will saw it worked. It was A LOT softer after and it was sooooo nice. In fact I think I need to tell him to go back to using it. Plus there is something SUPER sexy about seeing your husband grabbing the oils himself and making something. Hubba, hubba!

Nailed it.....or not

So I ran into Walgreens the other night and decided on a whim I would paint my nails to look like Minnie Mouse. I mean how hard could it be right? Yeah, famous enough last words. I am going to share with you the horror that is my manicure. I forgot how bad I was at painting my nails. Now everyone will know my secret. I paint nails with the skill of a 3 year old! I did two coats of polish on both my toes and hands. I then took this picture of my hand to show step one.
I then realized just how awful of a job I did. I would like to use the excuse that I did this in my bed by the light of my phone, but let's be honest here. It would have looked the same in broad daylight. After I saw how bad I did I managed to cover up the spots I had missed and went on to do the dots. I did my big toe and was so tickled at how cute it was I quickly tucked that foot under my leg to do my other big toe. Yeah, it took me all of two seconds to realize what an idiot I was. Of course that toe was ruined. So I fixed it, did the other toe, and moved on to my fingers. My original plan was to just do some accent nails. However when they were done they just looked off, so I did them all. Even though my nails were a hot mess I still thought they looked cute. So I put on a top coat and waited for it to dry. I then tried to clean up the skin around my nails the best I could. I sure as heck can't take this show on the road, but for my first time I think they look decent. I will try again with some better lighting and better nail polish. Hopefully next time it will take me less then an hour and a half.
To paint my nails I used Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme wear. I grabbed it since it was pretty cheap. I was not a fan. It was thick but in a bad way. Almost goopy. It dripped a lot and went on pretty rough. I don't think I will use it again. Next time I will spring for a more expensive polish. For the dots I used the I <3 nail art pen also by Sally Hansen. I really liked this pen and will be getting more to try other designs. For the top coat I used a strengthening top coat also by Sally Hansen since I have pretty weak nails. After a full day at the waterpark it was already starting to chip. Not sure if it is the top coat of the fact that I was in the water for over 6 hours. So I will reserve judgement until I use it again which should be soon because it has been 2 days and my nails are looking pretty rough. Toes still look great but they always last a lot longer.

My first week in a cast

So Monday rolled around finally and I was able to get in to get a cast. I was also smacked with the news that I would be in a hard cast for at least 8 weeks, maybe more with NO weight bearing. I was given the option of having surgery and having a pin put in. I called my step-sister to ask her opinion because she has broken herself more then anyone I know. (Love ya sis!) She said if it were her she would avoid surgery so we went ahead and went with the cast. I was also told after the cast I would be in a book for a few weeks with no weight bearing as well. This meant we would be stuck in Myrtle Beach for a couple months since The Hubby drives the bug van towing the trailer and I drive his car which is a stick. There was no way I could drive.
Since I was broken the kids helped out on occasion on their own. (Very RARE ocasion but they did help out some. More often of not it was after I lost my cool. Not proud of it but hey, it happens.)
We didn't go out much but we did venture to the mall one weekend. We got me a wheelchair and I held Princess most of the time. She did get down a few times to walk with her brothers. We also went to see Santa. Monkey was the only one to talk to him since Princess fell asleep in line and the other 2 boys didn't want to talk to him. All in all it was a good outing. The Hubby wasn't thrilled with pushing me. Apparently it was a little low and some areas with carpet made it tough. We made it through though and were grateful it wasn't super busy since it was just a couple weeks till Christmas.