The One Where Angie has a Conniption

Most of the time, I consider myself to be a pretty easy going gal. I'm an emotional person, but I don't get overly excited or overly angry about anything, really. However, the past 2 days have put this to the challenge in a major way. Apparently, when it comes to my kids, all bets are off because this whole other side of my personality has emerged, and it isn't pretty.

Remember here, where I told you about the whole preschool waiting saga? (Don't worry, I'll wait for you to go catch up on that story) Well, there was a development this week. And it wasn't a good one.

I showed up for a playdate at a friend's house Wednesday and was settled in for a great time. The other moms were wonderful and we were all just chit-chatting away, when the inevitable subject of school plans came up. Everyone was throwing out what they are planning to do for this Fall, when someone asked me what my plans were. And I told them the same story I told you. And then, the boom fell.

Another mom there proceeded to tell me that SHE had already received a spot for her wait-listed son and their deposit was due by this weekend. I could feel my blood pressure rising. I asked her if she had other kids already enrolled at the school. She said no. Oh my, I can feel my face turning red. I then told her that it was my understanding that only currently enrolled families were allowed to register before this weekend and THEN they were pulling in wait-listed kids. She shrugged her shoulders and said that all she knew was that they received a congratulatory letter 3 MONTHS AGO, giving him a spot. ARGH!!!!!!!!

To make a very long story short, because I could go on for another 10 paragraphs as to what's gone on, Big A still doesn't have a spot and now the school is being very evasive about answering my questions. I.AM.PISSED. I've called the school twice, called every friend who will listen to me complain and talked to every stranger who I think might be able to offer me info, all with zero results. I did, however, discover that someone behind me on the wait-list didn't even receive the letter that I did last summer. That's been the only encouraging thing I've seen so far.

And so, here I sit, carefully formulating my plan to blast the school in the local media if they don't give me some answers soon. I don't mind playing by the rules (however stupid they might be), but by george, they had better be the same rules for EVERYONE. Don't mess with Mama Bear because she WILL take you down.

Facebook: A Social Forum or Public Humiliation Vehicle?

Ok, I have to get something off my chest here. Shannon & I had a discussion about this yesterday as we were driving back from Atlanta. (**Editor's Note: Thanks to all for the prayers an well-wishes for our friend, Kat, who's hubby is in the hospital. He's doing better and you can read more specific details here. Another fabulous bloggy friend, Lizzy, is updating Kat's blog with daily updates)

Now, back to my rant. I made the crucial error of jumping on the Facebook bandwagon several months ago. After finally getting over wasting LOTS of time updating my status every 5 minutes, collecting flair, and taking every quiz under the sun, I've finally started using this network to reconnect with old friends and catch up on people. However, little did I know that these childhood friends would take this opportunity to post HORRIBLE old pictures of us. And then to add insult to injury, they've tagged my name all over these atrocious pics so no one can be confused as to which kid is me. Yikes.

Part of me is enjoying the trip down memory lane with all of these old childhood friends, but good grief, if I wanted to remind myself of the horrible poodle perm and giant glasses from 6th grade, I would unearth my scrapbook at home and take a quick look. And just so you know, that album is covered in dust right now. Any ideas why????

I guess I don't mind really that they're posting the pics, but I'm not thrilled that my name is all over them. And I'm not sure if most people realize that the default on Facebook when you post pics is to make them public for anyone to view. (Hey, don't get any bright ideas wiseguy!) And anyone can then comment on the pics. Oh joy.

So, I'll just retreat to my corner, suck my thumb and wait for the onslaught of humiliating childhood pics to pass. It has to be over soon, right? Yeah, I was afraid you would say that.

My entertainment addiction has a new dealer

As if I needed another time waster in my life.

So, my BFF Angela introduced me to this neat little website several months ago called Hulu. Upon first glance, I was amused and thought it was a cool concept, but didn't get sucked in. Until last night that is.

I was working late and desperately needed some background noise to offset all of the creepy sounds that I kept hearing all around the office. Since I was a tween, I've needed tv or music constantly in order to concentrate on anything that I'm working on. Since I didn't have access to a tv and I had grown tired of listening to my iTunes library for now, I needed another alternative and quickly! And then I remembered Hulu.

And so off I went searching for something to "watch" while I worked. And I was soon transported to entertainment mecca. After wasting 10 minutes searching through their extensive library of full length films and tv episodes, I finally found a little piece of nostalgia to get me through the evening. And it's name was St. Elmo's Fire. I love that movie!!!

Thankfully, I only flipped over to "watch" a few minutes here and there and I successfully got lots of work done. Thank you Hulu! I just hope that now I can only call on you in such desperate times as those last night. Oh, who are we kidding? I'll see you later dear.

Who needs online tax help...for free?

One of the many money savings blogs that I follow is Bargain Briana. She does a great CVS post each week that helps me in my quest to pinch pennies this year. Anyway, she is giving away codes to file your taxes with Turbotax for FREE this year!! I have used Turbotax for many years and swear by it. It takes much of the fear out of doing your taxes. Anyway, go over to her place and check out her giveaway.

Monday Morning Eye Candy

Happy Monday everyone! Here are some hotties that you might not know that will hopefully get your day started off right. Enjoy!

Santiago Cabrera - I was channel surfing and came across this movie called "Love & Other Disasters". I was just about to change the channel when this guy popped onscreen. Oh my. Recently, he's starred in Heroes. Yet another reason that I must be a fool for not watching that show.

Timothy Gibbs - I spotted this cutie on a rerun of Sex & the City. He played the detective that falls for Miranda when Carrie gets mugged. Anyway, he hasn't been up to much lately, but I'm still enjoying his hotness.

Gabriel Macht - Oh.my.head. I saw him on reruns of Spin City and Sex & the City recently and had a heck of a time tracking down his name. And here he is. Phew. Someone pass me a cool rag.

And there you have it! Three total cuties that will hopefully be onscreen more in the upcoming year. See you next week!

Prayers & Good Thoughts Needed

If you pray or can please send some healing thoughts, they sure are needed right about now. I have a good friend, who is also a blogging buddy and she had a horrible thing befall her family. Her husband has just gone emergency surgery for an anyeurism and they need all the good thoughts that can come their way. I don't want to reveal her name for privacy sake, but I really appreciate anything you can do. The family will appreciate it also! Now let's count our blessings for a moment and hug our loved ones for we never know what the future holds.

Knowledge is...profitable

This week has been sliding downhill steadily as sickness has once again invaded our household. Big A started it, Little A followed closely behind and now I have come down with some sort of coughing/sneezing/stuffed up fun. So as not to let this linger on for weeks, I took the girls to the pediatrician's this morning for something to nip this in the bud. However, before I left, I scoured the Sunday paper from last week for pharmacy ads offering giftcards for filled prescriptions.

After a relatively painless trip to the dr, we set out for Walgreen's with 2 prescriptions and 2 coupons in hand for a competitor pharmacy. I had heard rumor that Walgreen's was great about honoring competitor coupons. Apparently, my local Walgreen's didn't get that memo. They acted a bit surprised when I politely left with all of paperwork in hand and told them that "I was SURE that another pharmacy would honor the coupons." And I was right.

I've often cheered for CVS and the great deals consumers can get there if they're willing to do the legwork to get coupons and wait for sales. And today, CVS gets another huge cheer from me! They honored the competitor coupons and I walked out of there with medicine for my girls (at a very reasonable price) and a $50 giftcard that will be used quickly I'm sure. Thank you CVS!

Now, medicine, GET TO WORK. I need well kids soon so I can get some things done around this house!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

I can just hear Andy Williams singing in the background as I write this. While Fall is by far my most favorite time of the year from a holiday and family gathering perspective, there's another time of year that I also cherish. Any guesses? Anyone? Hello, is this thing on?

I am speaking of the season that strikes terror into the hearts of many. The season that people gripe about all year long. I'm talking about TAX SEASON.

Yes, I am one of the freaks out there who gets a little giddy about this time of year. And it's not because I enjoy paying taxes or anything crazy like that. It's because I am an accountant and one of my favorite things is individual tax preparation. I know, I should really have my head examined.

Yesterday was awesome for me because I finished my first return of the season for a customer! I get such a high from all the fact collecting and number crunching. It feeds my control freak tendencies and gives me such a feeling of accomplishment when I see that return being e-filed.

I know, I'm a freak. And proud of it.

Picture Frenzy

One of the MANY items on my "to do" list for 2009 is to get into a routine with uploading my pictures to Shutterfly regularly. I'm hoping that by doing this, it will give me the motivation to order prints regularly, which means I will have plenty of prints to scrapbook, which means my scrapbooks will ultimately not be 4 years (and counting) behind. However, after seeing just how far behind I am in uploading pics currently, I'm already discouraged.

Between last night and this morning, I've already uploaded over 1,000 and I've still got at least 6 months of 2008 to go. So, if you try to upload anything to Shutterfly today and it's running REALLY slow, well, sorry about that. It's me. But I really hope that after today, I will be all caught up. Yippee!!

And now something to take my mind off all this photo madness.

Ahhh, I feel better now.

I've created a monster

Birthdays weren't made to be a big deal when I was growing up. I mean, it usually consisted of a family dinner and a homemade birthday cake made by my grandma's loving hands, but no big birthday parties and such that tended to be the norm in my peer group. Which was incredibly disappointing to me. As a result, I have seriously overcompensated by going over the top with each birthday milestone that my daughters reach.


This reality became all too clear to me during dinner a few nights ago. The subject of birthday party destinations and cake decor has become the "topic du jour" at my house lately, so it was no surprise that it came up again during dinner. Little A announced that she wanted a cake with pink icing for her birthday in April. And then Big A proclaimed that SHE wanted Angelina Ballerina on her cake (in October...geesh!). At which point, Little A trumped her by demanding Max & Ruby on her cake.

And then after the little angels went to bed, mommy stressed out for hours while searching the internet for Max & Ruby birthday ANYTHING. And was not terribly surprised, but dismayed to discover that there is no licensed Max & Ruby birthday stuff out there. And the homemade stuff that IS out there is expensive. Sigh.

Note to self: Get art lessons or several ounces of creativity ASAP.

Monday Morning Eye Candy

Good Monday Morning to you all! I know I mentioned a Golden Globes recap this week, but I came across a few newbies that I just had to share with you. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have!

Bradley Cooper - This cutie has played supporting roles in many tv shows and films, including "Failure to Launch" and "Wedding Crashers". He's got a slew of movies coming out in the next year, so I'm delighted that we'll be seeing more of him!

Drew Seeley - I have seen a million commercials for an ABC Family movie that this guy is starring in. After spotting his hotness there, I checked him out on IMDB and discovered that he's an accomplished writer/musician as well as actor. I love those multi-talented guys!

Tom Brady - Ok, he's hardly a newbie, but I've never featured him before and decided it was time. He's hot, but I'm still unforgiving of how he dropped Bridget Moynahan like a hot potato.

And there you have it! Enjoy the hotness and I'll see you here again next week.

The Interview!

Ok, I know I've been keeping something on the down low this week, but since so many of you have seen my little blurbs on Twitter and Facebook, I've come here to spill the beans.

Earlier this week, I received an exciting email from a marketing company for a large and well-known company in the U.S. They have launched a web initiative and have decided to employ 10 mommy bloggers from around the country to help them get the word out. It is a paying gig that includes some travel to New York to help launch the thing and would be a VERY exciting opportunity for me as a mom, as well as a writer!

My phone interview was this past Friday and I think it went really well. I tried to be as honest and down to earth as I could, so hopefully I fit the bill of someone they are looking for. My interviewer said that they hope to make some hiring decisions at the end of next week, so please keep your fingers crossed. If I am hired, then expect to hear a LOT about it in the coming months! And thanks so much for all the support that I've received from email and phone calls! You guys are the best!

Clutter Revisited

You know you have too much crap when you spend 5+ hours trying to clean up a room and it looks far worse than when you began. That's been my day today.

One of the items on my "to do" list for 2009 is to finally finish the "decluttering of the house" project that I began last year. Peter Walsh, the Aussie home organizer from TLC's "Clean Sweep" has an online support thing going. So, I signed up for his handy little emails once a month that give me a homework assignment and some motivation.

The assignment for this month is to take back our bedrooms, especially the master bedroom. I don't know about you, but my bedroom tends to be the dumping ground for stuff that doesn't belong in any other room. So, I've spent the better part of my day trying to sift through the TONS of scrapbooking stuff that has taken over my bedroom. The good news is that I've found lots of stuff to get rid of on eBay or giveaway. The bad news is that I STILL can't find those Christmas cards from 2007. Sigh. The war wages on...

Birthday Selfishness?

I had an epiphany last night. I was resting in bed, ready to head off to dreamland when all of sudden I blurted out to hubby, "I think I'm going to take myself to Disney World for my birthday this year." Crickets. So I said it again. And he replied, "You mean just you & me?" And I said, "No, just me alone. Remember, you said you didn't want to go back after our last visit."

So, the question is, would it be selfish (and really strange) of me to drive 8 hours to Orlando to spend a few days at the happiest place on earth for my birthday this year? And yes, I'm talking all by myself. Going to the parks that I want to visit, the stores I want to stroll around in, the attractions that I want to see and the rides that I want to ride. Complete control over the whole trip!

I've already registered my birthday with Disney for their free admission promotion, so now I'm off to see how much this little dream might actually cost to make happen. It might end up as only a dream when it's all said and done, but it sure is fun considering it!

The real question here is would my kids ever forgive me if I ran off to see Mickey Mouse without them?

The Waiting Game

There have been many moments in my life that I have eagerly anticipated throughout the years.

The first kiss.

Getting my driver's license.

Graduating high school & college.

Getting married.

Having babies.

Waiting for the acceptance letter from preschool.

SCREEEEECH. Stop the bus. Yes, you read that last one correctly.

Hubby & I are currently chewing our fingernails waiting for February 2nd, which is the first possible day that we will find out if Big A has gotten into a new preschool program in our city. It's VERY hard to get into and we know that we're #19 on the waiting list. The unknown variable here is how many spots will be open to pull from the waiting list when the time comes.

"Why?" you ask are we doing this? Here's the simple answer. The public schools in this area are AWFUL. Since we're not financially equipped to send our kids to private school, we are trying desperately to get her into the only public school in the county that I think is great. (And it IS great!) However, it's a magnet school and they take zoned kids first, teacher kids second, kids from their 1 year preschool program third and then any remaining slots are filled by lottery. We don't live in the zone, I'm not going to become a teacher and I've never won ANYTHING in a lottery situation. So, we're going with the preschool option. And if we get Big A in, then Little A is grandfathered in. Woo hoo!!

So, cross your fingers for us in the next few weeks that we get some great news from this school. If not, I'm probably going to have to put a new hat on my already full rack: Homeschool Teacher. Heaven help me.

Queen of the Dance

I got some bad news last week.

I had put Little A on a waiting list for a Mommy & Me dance class at Big A's dance school, several months ago. While we were Big A's class last week, the scheduling manager notified me that the class was finally going to happen. I was so excited!

Little A has desperately wanted to go to her own dance class for a while now, so this was a great opportunity. That is, until I found out one little detail.

At the end of the semester in May, there is a big recital that Big A is VERY excited about performing in. Each class puts on an adorable costume and performs a song in front of the crowd. I couldn't wait for the recital until the lady informed me that Little A & I would now be performing in it. Huh?!?!?!?!

Frankly, the thought of me trying to squeeze into some silly dance leotard/costume is just more than I can bear to think of at the moment. Much less getting on stage and dancing around in front of a couple hundred people that I don't know. Oh, this is SO NOT HAPPENING.

Stay tuned for this ongoing saga. Let's see if I actually end up going through with it. Hubby has already assured me that he will secure front row seats and a tripod for our video camera if I do end up in this show.

Micromanaging Kids Crafts

While my brother & his wife were in town for the holidays, they brought the girls some gifts from their most recent travel excursion...Iceland. Yes, those crazy kids went to Iceland during Winter. But that's a blog post for another day.

One of the gifts they gave them was ceramic piggy banks that they can paint and personalize. Perfect! Both my girls love to paint and this was a great bonding project for their uncle & aunt.

Here's my brother helping Big A get this project started

And here's my sis-in-law helping Little A


Big A doesn't like much direction when it comes to art, so she had a good pairing with my brother. He doesn't micromanage, thankfully.

Little A doesn't like direction either, but she's a bit more easygoing. She was off and running with her favorite color...BLUE!

Big A changes her favorite color everyday, so it was no surprise that she utilized every color in the paint set

I love this picture because of the whole tongue hanging out cuteness. She made this funny sound with her mouth the ENTIRE time she painted. We were all laughing hysterically by the end.

And here we have Little A's finished project. It's very her.

And here's Big A's work of art. Again, it's very her.

I baked the pigs in the oven for 10 minutes to make the paint jobs permanent and now both are in their new homes on each girl's shelf. And I'm proud to report that each pig's belly is getting full as both of my girls are good savers so far. Yay!

Monday Morning Eye Candy

Good morning devoted Eye Candy viewers! Sorry I'm running a bit late today. Yesterday was very busy and I finally enjoyed an evening of not working or being on the computer. It was delightful! Shannon had a wonderful idea of doing a recap of last night's Golden Globes (which I faithfully watched), but I had already started this entry, so that will be next week's theme. Thanks girlfriend! I did steal one of her idea's from that lineup though. You guys enjoy!

Dan Wheldon - I'm not a fan of Indy Car racing, but I spotted this guy last week on a tv show and my heart skipped a beat.

Chris Pine - For all you trekkies out there, you are probably well aware that this is the new Captain Kirk in the movie that's coming out soon. He's pretty cute. I might have to check out my first Star Trek anything now.

Jared Leto - I've heard this guy's name for years but had never seen any of his movies. Hubby & I stumbled upon one that he made in 1996 and I'm totally enamored now. It's the eyes. Swoon!

That's this week's batch of cuties! Have a great Monday everyone!

Spot's Sunday Entertainment Roundup

The Movie Roundup

Moving - This Richard Pryor classic gives new meaning to the terms "bad day" as well as "neighbor from hell". And it's freakin' hilarious!

The Dark Knight - Oh my, Christian Bale never looked so good. And for the guys, there's lots of action and things blowing up. Two thumbs up on this one.

Reign Over Me - I've been avoiding this movie for months because of the subject matter. After realizing that it's been on my DVR since August, I sucked it up. I love Don Cheadle. He's such a great actor. Adam Sandler gives a GREAT performance as a 9/11 widower who has completely lost his way. Overall, it was a pretty decent movie, but it moved too slow. They could cut out 30 minutes of material and I wouldn't have missed it.



The T.V. Roundup

Confessions of a Teen Idol - VH1 has reached epic proportion with really crappy programming in the last few years. You might think this would dissuade me from watching their newest offering. You would be wrong. This show has gathered 7 former "teen idols" who want to be back in the spotlight. It's tragic and yet, I watched the whole episode and created a series record on my DVR. Now THAT'S tragic. Sigh.

Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... - I love music. All kinds of music. My iPod is a discombobulated mess of bluegrass, pop, classical, kids, movie soundtracks, country and everything in between. Which is why I knew I would love this show. It appears on the Sundance Channel and it's a "talk" show of sorts. Elvis Costello hosts the show in a theater and has a different guest musician on each week. The guests talk about their history in music and there are always performances. It's a fabulous show. So far, I've only seen the eppys with Elton John and The Police as guests, but I'm looking forward to going back and watching his shows with Lou Reed and Tony Bennett and his upcoming show with Rufus Wainwright.

Holiday Recap ~ Part 3

I promise, this is the last set of Christmas photos. And this is the longest entry of the 3. So, let's get this show on the road.

We ended up back at my parents house on Christmas night because my brother & his wife flew into town that afternoon. After a huge and yummy dinner, we raided the living room, so the assault on the rest of the presents could begin. The kids were chomping at the bit because by this time, they were well versed on this whole present opening thing. They were like vultures circling their next meal.

Big A is showing off a couple of Little A's presents. Don't those red socks compliment her outfit? She requested Hello Kitty stuff this year and Santa left her those socks in her stocking. She wore them the whole day.

Grandaddy assists Little A in opening one of her gifts. More tiny furniture for her dollhouse. Yippee.

I'm laughing because Little A has been asking for a football for months. She carried that thing around most of the night. And still plays with it almost every day.

Here she is playing with her Uncle (my brother) and having a ball! No pun intended.

Big A loves animals and really loved Little A's new dollhouse. So, she got a family of critters also who can "visit" Little A's dollhouse on occasion.

My brother and sis-in-law are a very interesting couple. They couldn't imagine anything worse than the vacation that we took to Disney and were very glad that they weren't invited. It's for that reason that I took a lot of delight in the gifts that my parents got for them. First we had the super-sized coffee mugs. These smiles are completely painted on. They complained for the next 3 days about how much they hated their gifts.

And then hubby & I took a lot of delight in the matching Mickey Mouse shirts that they opened. Ha ha ha! Again, they hated them, but they at least faked smiles for the camera. I should've insisted that they leave the shirts for hubby & I. Later this year, I should be able to fit into one of them. Hmm....

As the night came to an end, Big A gathered her family of bunnies and was ready to lead us home. It was a very busy few days.

A couple of days later, my father-in-law came into town to bring, yet more gifts, to these children who are in toy overload by now.

Big A, the pro gift opener, dives in first. It's a Cabbage Patch Kid! Oh, the memories of when I got my first CPK.

Little A was ecstatic to open a package of baby doll accessories. I didn't think I would ever get this swing put together.

And then to convert the thing to a high chair...somebody get me a glass of wine please. I'm OVER putting toys together.

We all had a great visit and Big A enjoyed a snuggle on the couch to wrap up the day.

It was a really great Christmas full of wonderful visits with friends and family! Now, let's put this one in the books and move on to our next holiday...Valentine's Day! Good thing that we've got a month until that one.

Holiday Recap ~ Part 2

Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning are big traditions around here. On Christmas Eve, we usually head over to my parents house for dinner and the first big round of gift opening. This year was a little different. My brother & his wife were coming into town on Christmas Day, so we wanted to save the big festivities for when they arrived. So, I cooked for the majority of the day and we ventured to the 'rents house for (my) home cooked meal and a couple of gifts for the kids to open. This is what we entered to find.

My mother goes completely overboard every Christmas when it comes to gift giving. I should note that 95% of the gifts around the tree have one of my kids names on it. And yet, Big A still complains that she has nothing to play with. Ridiculous.

After (my) yummy dinner, we ventured into the living room, so the girls could unveil their "big gift". It was a train table and more Thomas the Train set pieces than could fit on the silly table. The girls were in heaven!

The other thing my girls love is Build A Bear. It's my mother's goal in life to obtain the entire collection of animals that the company makes apparently. Big A was really excited about her new pink ballerina bear.

Ailey, who is major fan of penguins, got another 2 to add to her collection. They even came with their own igloo. Too cute!

So, we got the girls calmed down a bit and returned home so that Santa could pay us a visit while we all nestled in our beds.

Here's our tree. Yes, that's Snow White at the top. We've done a Disney themed tree every year since hubby & I started cohabitation, 15 years ago. That's a lot of Disney ornaments.

And I should note that all but 2 of the gifts under this tree have my kids names on it. It was a lean year for hubby and I in the gifting department. Sigh.

Here's my next favorite display in our house. Holiday cards (especially picture cards) make me smile. I run to the mailbox everyday during the holiday season to see what new cards have arrived. I'm still planning to send out my holiday letter...one of these days. It'll just be a little late. Ahem.

Santa brought Big A a Tinkerbell costume that she had to put on immediately. And then she & Little A tore into their other gifts.

This was the first year that we let the girls pick out something to give each other. Big A chose a Cinderella doll for Little A. Great choice! Little A loved it.

Little A chose a My Little Pony set for Big A. She was so excited that she ran over to give some sisterly love!

We moved into the kitchen, where hubby & I whipped up a big breakfast for everyone. He's the master of pancakes and I can make some mean scrambled eggs. With bacon, fruit and fresh blueberry muffins to round things out, we all gathered back in the living room to let the kids finish opening their gifts.

This picture just makes me smile. With the floor looking like this, I remember how happy we all were that morning and thankful to have each other. No amount of purchased gifts can replace the gift of family and the gift of time spent with the people you love the most.

Tomorrow we'll recap Christmas night and a few final holiday pics, including some pictures that I'm sure my brother will not be amused to find out have been posted.

Note to Angie's brother: See what happens when you don't read my blog but once a year? I told you, if you're not a reader, then you likely become content.

Note to everyone else: This rule only applies to my family, who apparently can't seem to locate my blog address, despite the fact that I've provided it to them numerous times. Oh well. Their loss is your gain! Happy Friday everyone!

Holiday Recap ~ Part 1

Friends have been asking me for some holiday pics. I've been out of touch with most everyone lately and I flaked on doing my annual holiday letter & picture. If I can pull some pennies together, I'll be sending out a "Happy January" letter. Ha ha! In the meantime, here's the beginning of the holiday picture onslaught. All I can say is be careful what you wish for.

Today, we'll be reviewing one of my favorite traditions...the building of the gingerbread houses! I have been known in my mommy circle to be a little overly competitive when it comes to building these houses. For the past 2 years, I've gotten together with several friends and their kids to have a building party. Unfortunately, due to craziness, we had to fly solo on the mission this time around.

Here's Little A working very meticulously on her roof (notice me NOT micro managing)

Here's Big A working diligently (notice Grandma micromanaging? See where I might get that from?)

Little A is VERY proud of her home progress! She decorated the roof all by herself after I put the icing on.

Big A was equally proud of her culinary achievement thus far!

No project is complete without enjoying the fruits of your labor. In this case, it was iced gingerbread cookies. There's nothing better!

Little A was a HUGE fan of the icing. The cookie, not so much.

Little A proudly displays her finished confection construction

Big A is very excited to show off her finished house and grandma's iced cookies

We all had such a great time! However, next year, I'll have to get some moms together again so I can show off my mad gingerbread house building skills. Because I'm not competitive or anything. Ahem.

A New Year, A New Bed

2009 marked the beginning of a very exciting time for Little A especially. She has been a fervent admirer of Big A's big girl bed for months. And then she got to sleep in a big bed while we were on vacation last month, which firmly cemented in her mind that her toddler bed would no longer fit the bill on sleeping accommodations. And so, we converted her bed from a toddler bed into a full size sleigh bed. And now she's the happiest 2 year old on the planet.

Grinning from ear to ear

She's saying "I love polka dots!"

Finally, a proper place for her and her penguins to sleep

That's my little ham

The cutest 2 year old smile that I've seen in a long time