Random Holiday

Every year I swear that I will NOT find a reason to go to the store on December 24th. And every year it seems I end up at the store. This year it was Walmart.

We needed sprinkles and frosting for Santa's cookies. Because it wouldn't be good enough to leave Santa brownies. Made with the brownie mix that was ALREADY in my pantry. No siree. Santa had to have Christmas cookies. Meaning we had to go to Walmart.

Did I mention that we also needed to hit the photo department to print some pics for Diva Nana & Diva Papa's Christmas gift?

While I braved the retail world on Christmas Eve, I did manage to avoid it today until after church. The Tweenager got a couple of gift cards for Christmas and they were burning a hole in his pocket. It wasn't horrible, as all of the bargain-hunters were presumably home sleeping after hitting the stores at oh-dawn-thirty.

For our Christmas Eve dinner, we had homemade tamales and pulled barbecue chicken sandwiches. We had leftovers for Christmas dinner. I'm making a more traditional Christmas dinner tomorrow night. Diva Nana & Diva Papa are coming for a visit. I was very excited to find Butterball Turkeys on sale earlier this week at Target for 50 cents a pound. SCORE!

I'm glad DN & DP are coming for a visit. We missed being together for Christmas this year. Mom commented that it was the first Christmas since she and my dad got married that they weren't with family.

Did I mention they celebrated their FORTY-SECOND wedding anniversary on the 21st?

The boys seemed really happy with their Christmas gifts. DH was so thoughtful in his gift giving to me. I got a gift card to buy books for my Kindle and a big digital picture frame for my office. He loaded it with dozens of pictures from throughout the years.

We'll do gifts again tomorrow with the Grands. My favorite gift, though, is coming at the end of the week. My brother and his family, who have lived in Texas for almost ten years, are moving to the Windy City this week. They'll be living in a suburb not terribly far from us, and I'm so looking forward to having The Lawyer, Diva SIL, Tex, Sir Falls-A-Lot and The Bean close by!

I managed to get a decent picture of the three boys this Christmas. If I'd gotten around to sending Christmas cards, they would've had this on it. Hope you all had a very Merry Merry!

Unspeakable Joy!

Merry Christmas!

If Only In My Dreams

"I'm dreaming tonight

of a place I love
even more than I usually do
and although I know
it's a long road back
I promise you..."

Family has always been important to me. Growing up as an Air Force brat, we rarely lived near family. Driving 300 miles or more for the holidays was commonplace.

As I've grown older, I've come to value my family relationships more and more. I understand what my parent sacrificed to make sure that we knew our extended family and spent as much time with them as possible.

"I'll be home for Christmas.
You can count on me."

If you've been around here for a while, you know of my enormous respect for the men and women in uniform and their families. All of them sacrifice so much to help protect the gift of our freedoms. Families who "keep the home fires burning" while their loved ones are deployed, either domestically or internationally, hold a special place in my heart, because my mom had to do just that. While my dad never had to fight in a war, he served two remote deployments, each for a year, where he had to be away from us. He served several smaller temporary duty assignments through the years as well.

"Please have snow and mistletoe
and presents under the tree."

It's never easy to be away from family, but the holidays are exceptionally difficult. Whether the loved ones are serving across the country or halfway around the world, it's hard to be merry when someone is missing. E-mail, Skype and cell phones can help, but nothing takes the place of a real-time hug.

"Christmas Eve will find me
where the love light gleams."

So if you are of the belief that has you celebrating this season, hold your loved ones a little closer. Hug them a little tighter.

And if your loved ones are serving our country and can't share the holidays with you, know that many hearts are with you.

"I'll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams."

Merry Grinch-mas!

I love Christmas. I love the REAL meaning of Christmas. I love finding the perfect gifts for friends and family. I love Christmas decorations and Christmas music.

Now that I've made that clear, I'm hoping that you'll indulge my inner Grinch for just a moment.


I really don't like the Christmas song "Blue Christmas". Strongly dislike. Despise. Hate. Abhor.

I mean, really. Why in the world would someone take what is arguably the most joyous time of the year and write a song about being sad? And why in the world does Sirius XM feel the need to play it so.freaking.often?

When I was seven, my dad was away for a year in Alaska. An active duty Air Force man, he was given a remote duty assignment and couldn't take us along. My mom, brother and I moved to the small town where my grandparents lived. Being 1976/77, Skype didn't exist. Nor did e-mail or cell phones. Needless to say, we missed my dad a LOT. My memories of that year are fading, but I do remember a popular Christmas song that year.

I hated it then because my Dad wouldn't be home for Christmas. I wonder how many military families feel the same way now.

On a related topic, I took The Manimal and Little Darth with me grocery shopping last week. Little Darth is pretty much attached to my...well, you get the idea, and in a moment of insanity out of the kindness of my heart I offered to take The Manimal with me so Diva Husband could fix our non-functioning toilet have a few hours of peace and quiet.

After one minor Christmas gift related meltdown in Aldi (during which I may have, for the thirty-seven-eleventh time, used the Santa threat), we headed to the Evil Empire. Among other things, I had to pick up some gift bags for teacher gifts. I was planning to avoid the t-o-y aisle altogether, not wanting to have to take the name of the Big Elf in vain again. Quick and easy, we picked up what we needed and headed to the Christmas wrap and decorations in the Seasonal section of the store. For the record, this is on an opposite end of the store from the t-o-y section.

A few fa-la-la's later, and we were there. And what to my wondering eyes should appear right next to the gift bags?! Three, count them THREE aisles of T-O-Y-S. In seasonal. Really?! I'd love to say I was able to grab the gift bags and go, but noooooo. Another meltdown discussion ensued about why we would not be buying ANY t-o-y-s before Christmas, and if he didn't behave, I would have to contact the birthday fairy (not really, but you get the idea) about a certain little boy with a January birthday...

I was seriously ready to send a nasty-gram to the President of the Evil Empire begging him to NOT put T-O-Y sections throughout the store.

I settled for a glass of wine as a reward for surviving my outing with The Manimal.

Maybe I'll boycott all brick & mortar stores and become a complete hermit, doing ALL of my shopping online. At least then I could have a glass of wine WHILE I shop.

Here Comes Santa Claus

I love giving Christmas gifts. I love finding the "perfect" gift for someone, and the creativity of putting the gifts together. I think that's why I've participated in the Secret Santa Soiree for the past three years. Georgie always does such an amazing job administering the process and I've had a blast with it.

This year was no exception.

She organized it a bit differently this year. Instead of blogging about what we RECEIVED, this year we were to blog about what we GAVE. How fun! I hope my recipient enjoys what I chose for her! She should be getting it by Tuesday, if "neither rain, nor sleet, nor SNOW, nor dead of night..." well, you get the idea!

Like me, she's a lover of pink, so I decided to make pink the holiday color this year!


She's up in the northwest, so I'm sure she'll be needing so warm winter gloves, in lovely pink and white!


After a day in the cold, she'll love a hot shower with some vanilla shower gel and pink bath scrubbies!


After relaxing in the shower, who couldn't use a little chocolate pick-me-up. In this case, her fave is chocolate and peanut butter...M & M's to be specific!


When decorating for Christmas, everyone needs a little angel watching over her!


And finally, since we're so close to turning the last page on the calendar, I thought she'd like to ring in 2011 with a new year calendar!

Hope she enjoys my gift as much as I enjoyed putting it together! Thanks to Georgie for putting together another festive and fabulous Secret Santa Soiree! :)

Overstimulation

I'm finally to the point where looking at my Christmas pictures doesn't give me the cold shakes.

You know what I'm talking about, right? I mean, I love Christmas. Love it. But frankly, it's stressful. So I take the pictures, then don't look at them again until my Christmas decorations are packed safely away until next year.

Of course, that means that half of the toys you'll see in the following pictures are probably down in the land of forgotten toys playroom already.

Just kidding.

These pics are actually some pre-Christmas celebrating with our nieces. Here is our youngest niece, Cutie Pie, with DH. She was fascinated by DH's train around our tree.


Once The Manimal realized that someone else had captured Daddy's attention, he quickly tried to capture Daddy...

...and the spotlight.

SS#1 isn't really defying gravity here. For some reason, Blogger decided to rotate my picture.

Our older niece, The Amazing B., took some time to work on a craft. Just like her Auntie, that one! :)
Thanks to my wonderful Aunt J., a lovely Diva herself, we had some TO DIE FOR, chocolate ice cream over the holidays. If you like chocolate ice cream, you absolutely MUST get your hands on the Zanzibar Chocolate from The Chocolate Shoppe. It's not in any way healthy. In fact, their nutritional information disclaimer reads as follows:

"Don't even ask. This is the best ice cream made in Wisconsin, and it tastes so good because it has gobs of rich Wisconsin cream, tons of real ingredients for boat-loads of luscious flavors. This means it's not low-fat, low-calorie, or low-anything, and that's why everyone loves it. You want nutrition, eat carrots!"

The Manimal demonstrated our collective love of this ice cream.

I got to display one of my favorite Christmas decorations this year. My Grams (mom extraordinaire to Auntie J. and Diva Nana, as well as two fabulous Uncles) made this ceramic Christmas village.

Princess the Wonder Dog even got to celebrate with her gift from "The Bacon Lady" (aka Diva Nana).

Diva Nana has a loathing dislike is not especially fond of dogs. Princess, of course, sensed this right away and took a liking to her. One day when Diva Nana was cooking breakfast, she was feeling generous and gave PTWD a piece of bacon.

The "liking" became a full-blown obsession, and Diva Nana has joked ever since that PTWD must smell bacon every time she sees my mom.

While I love to take pictures, I don't often get the "wow" shot. This is SS#1 opening our family gift, a Wii (Papa & Diva Nana got us the Wii Fit Plus to go with it).


A very intense game of "Hungry, Hungry Hippos" between The Manimal and DH.


Did you know that while you are playing H3, you must yell "HUNGRY, HUNGRY HIPPOS" at the top of your lungs?

It's a rule.

Or so I've been told by a very bossy knowledgeable nearly four year old.

Preschool board games are great for venting one's frustration. Witness our resident police officer and his Whack-a-Mole game.


Be warned, though. Venting one's frustration can also be painful.

Or maybe it was just a massive case of overstimulation.

Merry Christmas to You and Yours!

Let the stable still astonish:
Straw ~ dirt floor, dull eyes,
Dusty flanks of donkeys, oxen;
Crumbling, crooked walls;
No bed to carry that pain,
And then, the child,
Rag-wrapped, laid to cry
In a trough.
Who would have chosen this?
Who would have said: “Yes,
Let the God of all the heavens and earth
Be born here, in this place?
Who but the same God
Who stands in the darker, fouler rooms
Of our hearts
And says, “Yes,
Let the God of Heaven and Earth
Be born here ~
In this place.

~Leslie Leyland Fields

Preparing for Him

A sign shall be given
A virgin will conceive
A human baby bearing
Undiminished deity
The glory of the nations
A light for all to see
That hope for all who will embrace
His warm reality

Immanuel
Our God is with us
And if God is with us
Who could stand against us
Our God is with us
Immanuel

For all those who live in the shadow of death
A glorious light has dawned
For all those who stumble in the darkness
Behold your light has come

Immanuel
Our God is with us
And if God is with us
Who could stand against us
Our God is with us
Immanuel

So what will be your answer?
Will you hear the call?
Of Him who did not spare His son
But gave him for us all
On earth there is no power
There is no depth or height
That could ever separate us
From the love of God in Christ

Immanuel
Our God is with us
And if God is with us
Who could stand against us
Our God is with us
Immanuel

Immanuel
Our God is with us
And if God is with us
Who could stand against us
Our God is with us
Immanuel

~Michael Card

Thank You Santa!

This is the second year that I've participated in Amy and Georgie's (aka "amyandgeorgie") Secret Santa Soiree. I received my package on Thursday and this year's Santa did just as well as last year! :)

She's apparently a crafty Miss Santa, because it had these two beautiful vinyl lettering projects. The first is a magnetic "Countdown to Christmas" board and easel stand, which Sweet Son #1 and The Manimal both love as much as I do.

It's a good thing I don't rely on them to know what day it is!


The second gift is a wooden sign which will soon find a home on one of my walls.



The final gift isn't homemade, but rather my favorite bath product scent, "Moonlight Path" from Bath & Body Works!



Now, I can't be absolutely sure who my amazing Secret Santa is, but I have to give a shout-out to the creator of the fabulous vinyl lettering projects. Just Another Cute Idea is, to my excitement, a LOCAL company! :) I'm excited to check out some great projects and may be making a few purchases myself!

Many thanks to Amyandgeorgie for arranging the Secret Santa Soiree once again!

Music Monday

I didn't grow up in Chicago, but apparently this is a Windy City Christmas classic!

Tuesday Top Ten

It's not Letterman's Top Ten, but welcome to Ten on Tuesday!

Ten Things I'm Loving Right Now

1. Il Moscato

A delicious, budget friendly version of my fave sparkling moscato. Trader Joe's has it for $9.99 a bottle. Yum-O! An odd little quirk with this brand, which also has Il Prosecco, if you're so inclined, is that it doesn't have a cork. Rather, it must be opened with a bottle opener, so if you're the only one enjoying a bit of the bubbly, be sure to pick up one of these vacuum stoppers to keep it fizzy for next time.

Or you could just finish off the bottle. However, then next morning, you might need this.

2. Home Depot

While I'm not usually a big fan of superstores in general, I don't mind going to Home Depot to pick up the random item for Diva Husband. Last week, Homer and the gang ran this fabulous deal for $3 off LED Christmas Lights. Since DH does light duty in our home, he sent me to pick up lights for our new tree (See below).

3. Ginormous Christmas Trees

Our family room ceiling is 18' tall. For five years, DH has lamented the fact that our Christmas Tree, in all of it's 8' glory, was lost in the height of the room. Thanks to Craigslist, we are the proud owners of an almost-new 12' tree. And our pocketbook is $50 lighter.

Not a bad deal. Pics to follow.

4. Patient (If a wee bit dumb) Dogs

If you've read my musings for any length of time, you'll be familiar with Princess (the Wonder Dog)and her archnemesis, The Manimal. I had really hoped that, with Christmas coming, we could use the age-old threat: "Santa only visits good little boys."

It's not working. Poor pup.

5. Fall Weather

I love Autumn. It's my favorite season of the year. The gorgeous fall colors, crisp air, Friday night bonfires. The whole package. I enjoy the occasional Indian Summer weekend, but I especially love Autumn.

Particularly when Mother Nature remembers that Autumn weather should occur in October/November.

6. A Nine Year-Old Boy

I love SS#1 with all my heart. He's my first, my baby, my little Squirtle. I'm not loving this "I'm always right" stage. But I do love my boy. I love my boy. I love my sweet stubborn boy.

7. Finding the Perfect Gift

I found the absolute perfect gift for my parents. Unfortunately, I can't even give you a clue, since BOTH of them read my blog. I also found the perfect gifts for The Lawyer and my Wonderful SIL, and my nephews, Tex, Sir Falls-a-Lot and Baby Bean. Well, I haven't really found the one for Baby Bean yet, but I'm hoping my luck holds out.

I can give you a leetle clue on my gift for The Lawyer and Wonderful SIL. She actually introduced me to this company. Prices are reasonable and I found a 35% discount code which made my personalization and shipping FREE! :)

And that leads me to...

8. Online Discount Codes

I'm late to the party on this one, I'm sure, but did you know that you can Google to find discount codes for online shopping? They don't always work, and sometimes they bring up expired codes, but it's SO worth trying! I just enter the business name and "discount code" or "coupon" and it brings up the results.

Saving money AND finding great gifts. Merry Christmas to me!

9. Good Books

I've recently finished reading the Mitford books, by Jan Karon. When I was 7, I received the Little House on the Prairie Boxed Set for my birthday. I read them so many times that my mom had to put them away for awhile so I'd read other books.

Last year, she gave them back to me.

I've re-read them twice since then.

I'm pretty sure Mitford is becoming my grown-up version of the Little House books.

10. Vacation

I have exactly four days of work left before I'm off for A WHOLE WEEK. Three days if you don't count today. Then I work for fourteen days and I'm off for TWO MORE WEEKS.

Vacation/PTO days are one of the few best perks of my job! :)

Fragmentation

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! No, we haven't had snow, but in my head we're having a white Christmas. Yeah, I know. I'm crazy, but I'm all about the decorating this year. I've also had this song running through my head.

You're welcome.

What is with children and sofa cushions? It is apparently impossible for my children to play in the living room without removing ALL of the cushions from BOTH sofas. On the plus side, the dog likes to eat the dust encrusted fruit snacks and pieces of popcorn that seem to multiply like rabbits in the crevices, and our change jar has grown a bit heavier.

You know those days when you want to run away and join the circus? In a week I'll be about as close as I'll ever be. Ringling Bros. is in town and we're going to sell the boys to the clowns.

Not really. The clowns said they'd take the big one but the little one scared them a bit. I told them they came as a package.

They said the deal was off.

So we're just going to watch. I'll let you know how it goes.

Tuesday Top Ten

It's not Letterman's Top Ten, but welcome to Ten on Tuesday!

Ten Fabulously Easy Holiday Decorating Tips

1. We'll start with one of my favorite holiday centerpieces ever! Find an inexpensive cut glass bowl or glass trifle dish (often already living in your kitchen or pantry) like this:


and fill it with glass/plastic ball ornaments like these:
2. Do you love holiday wall decals like these? Me too! Unfortunately, we'd rather not spend that kind of money on them. Check out Walmart, Target and your local grocery stores. I found some smaller Christmas themed decals for...are you ready for this?

$2.00 each!

3. If you're having guests for the holidays, try to put a bit of the holidays in every room. In our powder room, I have a square laurel wreath with a brown velvet ribbon. During the holidays, I put red berry picks in the wreath. Before our guest room was otherwise occupied with a certain preschooler, our holiday guests enjoyed small candle groupings and holiday potpourri on the bedside table.

4. Stock up on Command Strips and Hooks. Trust me on this one. It will make your holiday decorating SO much easier!

5. Decorating is much more fun if you set the mood. A nice cup of cocoa or glass of wine, along with some fabulous background music will really make for an enjoyable time. I'm partial to a nice sparkling moscato and one of these new Christmas music collections:


6. Let the kids help. When I was little, Diva Nana used to let Baby Brother and I make window decorations. We'd draw and color to our hearts' content, then she'd tape the snowmen, candy canes and Christmas trees in the front window. They may not have made the cut for Pottery Barn or Martha Stewart, but we loved them and loved that we got to help!

7. Take a bow. You'll be taking bows after you show off your incredible bow-making skills. Several years ago I happened to be in a Container Store where they were giving holiday bow-making classes. That fifteen minute class and some practice with wired ribbon has served me well over the years. Pre-made bows are pricey, and it's amazing how some sale ribbon can be transformed into beautiful bows for stairwells, mantles, gifts, wreaths and more! Check out your local Michael's or Hobby Lobby, or ask a florist friend for their secrets!

8. Go back in time. Have a hot air popcorn popper in the depths of your cabinets? Pull it out and make some popcorn garlands. Be sure to use a fairly fine needle and make LOTS of popcorn, so you've got enough to string, even if some breaks. If you're really ambitious, alternate with cranberries or even red beads.

9. Remember your outdoor friends. Make some popcorn bird feeders with pinecones, peanut butter and birdseed. Hang them with some red string and deck the outdoor halls!

10. Pick up an inexpensive solid color tablecloth for everyday use. Even if, like me, your china doesn't match and you tend to use paper napkins, and your cuisine is more Rachel Ray than Julia Child, everything is a bit more festive when served with a tablecloth!

Happy Decorating!

Music Monday

Christmas is coming.

Yes, I realize that in past years, I've berated the jump the gun retailers who start pushing Christmas the day after Halloween.

But I'm actually looking forward to decorating for Christmas this year. I can't explain it, but because I'm an event planner, I have to seize that Christmas spirit when it hits.

Case in point: Last year, we had maybe 30 ornaments on our tree. By the time we put it up, I was so DONE with holiday decorating, that I just couldn't handle one more colored light, candy cane or styrofoam cup bell ornament.

Things are gonna be different this year.

We may be setting a new family record for earliest Christmas decorating, but by Jove, we'll have some spirit! :)

Which leads me (in a strange, roundabout sort of way) to Music Monday. Growing up, my mom had four Christmas albums that made the rounds during the holidays. My Christmas music teeth were cut on the classics.

Johnny Mathis, Bing Crosby, Boots Randolph and Andy Williams.

So it's no surprise that one of my favorite Christmas movies EVER is "White Christmas" with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen.

Love it.

Happy Early Decorating.

Secret Santa Soiree

It's that time of year again. "What time?" you ask?

Ahh, dear readers, it's time for Georgie's Secret Santa Soiree!

Remember when you used to do the gift exchanges in grammar school? And your spending limit was $5? And you got all excited over a pair of multicolored toe socks?

No? Oh, okay then.

Think of this as a WAY better gift exchange. I participated last year and got some of the most FUNNEST (it's okay to say "funnest" when you're talking about fun things like mystery gift exchanges) things evah! You do need to have a blog to participate, but seriously? It's worth starting one JUST so you can! :)

"But it's too EARLY for a gift exchange!" Trust me when I say that Georgie is the absolute QUEEN of organizing the perfect gift exchange and you will SO want to be a part of this one. The price limit is $20 before shipping and you'll get some clues as to what your Secret Santa likes, so it's easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy!

Go see Georgie now. Sign up. Have fun!

Happy New Year!

Wowza! It's been a long time since I went a week without a blog post!

I can 'splain, though. :) We've been spending some vacay time with Diva Nana and Diva Papa. We're having an absolutely marvelous time, and getting to reconnect with some old friends while we're here. More on that later!

The Manimal and SS#1 are thrilled with their "haul" from DN and DP. The Manimal has been playing NON-STOP with Thomas the Train (don't get me started on the Thomas racket...a post for another day!). Sweet Son #1, while he loves the Legos (oy...more of the deadly little bricks!), has really been having a blast with DN and DP's Wii Fit. Have to say, I'm enjoying it myself and if I had an extra $500, one of those would be going home with us! :)

Meanwhile, we had some tasty crab legs to ring in the New Year (a sort of Diva family tradition) and will be enjoying homemade tamales tonight--Diva Nana and Diva Papa love them, so I decided to make them the other day. Nana made the beef and we searched all over town for the masa preparada. We FINALLY found it! Can't wait to try them tonight! :)

Well, I'm off to have SS#1 beat me soundly in bowling! Hope you and yours are enjoying a wonderful kickoff to the New Year! More later!

Merry Christmas!

You'd Better Watch Out!

Decided to take a break from the Christmas prep in the Diva House. The Manimal just took the garland off the Christmas tree, and suddenly there's a whole string of lights that, well, won't. A break seemed appropriate at this time.

At any rate, just wanted to share a site that's a lot of fun today and tonight as the Big Guy makes his way around the world. Did you know that NORAD tracks Santa? Check it out and see the cool places that he stops.

And, of course, if you do celebrate Christmas, be sure that you remember the reason for the season. And if you are a bit tired of the Christmas Carols at this point, how about a nice rendition of "Happy Birthday" for our Lord and Saviour?

May you and yours have a very Merry Christmas!