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

Random Thoughts

When am I going to learn that drinking apple juice right before bedtime is not a good move, that is, unless I want to be up until 2am for the 3rd night in a row? Who needs coffee when you have apple juice?
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I was watching Toy Story 2 with the girls last week and found myself sobbing as a result of a song that one of the characters was singing. Does this indicate my over-emotional state or my inability to separate fiction from reality? Or both? My bet is on option 3.
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After the last few weeks, I'm now convinced that my tombstone is going to read: Loving wife and mother, Master of Procrastination. Hey, we all have to be good at something, right?

Monday Morning Eye Candy

It's Monday again and here's to the first Monday Morning Eye Candy of 2009! I hope you'll enjoy my picks for this week. So, without further ado, here they are!

Olivier Martinez - This Frenchman woos Diane Lane in the unforgettable Unfaithful. That's hot. Mega hot. And so is he.

Erik Von Detten - Ok, I know that 98% of you are saying "who?" This guy was a heartthrob in several tv shows and movies in the 90's. Total cutie!

Leonardo Dicaprio - An oldie but goodie. I first saw him on Growing Pains and was instantly crushin'. Titanic sent me into a tailspin. I cannot wait to see his new film, Revolutionary Road!

And there we have our first batch of hotties. I hope this gets your 2009 started off right! Until next week...

Spot's Sunday Entertainment Roundup

The past few weeks have been without any leisure reading and movie watching, but boy, I have hit the motherload on some t.v. viewing. Let's review, shall we?

The Dog Whisperer - National Geographic Channel has an enormous amount of great shows on. This show in particular has captured the attention of both hubby & myself. Cesar Millan is my new hero. That man has no fear when it comes to dogs with issues and I wish that I had known about him years ago when I had my issue-filled canines around. This show makes me want a dog again. Sigh.

The Smoking Gun Presents The World's Dumbest Drivers - Ok, in addition to some great tv, I've managed to waste time on some REALLY.BAD.TV. Let me spell it out for ya. This show appears on TRUtv, which is also the home of other gems like Disorder in the Court, Black Gold and Principal's Office. Don't waste your time. Please.

Top Chef: New York - I am so in love with this show. I love Tom Colicchio and his snide comments. I love all the crazy challenges where they prepare food that I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. I just love it all.

House Hunters - I have a love/hate relationship with this show on HGTV. My nosy side loves to see other people's homes, but I must admit that I'm highly annoyed by the fact that in many episodes, people are searching for a vacation home that's usually in a price range that I can only hope to shop in if we win the lottery. Oh well. It doesn't keep me from watching!

Flip This House - I'm a big fan of A&E. It's the home of my favorite trainwreck show "Intervention". Flip This House is way less intense and even quite humorous at times. It shows the pitfalls of home flipping in many major cities in the U.S. I'm a little enamored by the boys from Atlanta. One of them is kinda cute. And Atlanta isn't too far from me. Just sayin.

All right, there's some t.v. ideas for you. Go forth and watch the tube!

Angie's 2009 "To Do" List

Here it is, the first day of 2009. Ideally, the first day of the new year brings about people scrambling, trying to list all of their "resolutions" for the upcoming year. I was one of those people for many years. And every year, I would break those resolutions, sometimes in record time. I'm convinced that, for me, it was the term "resolution" that set me up for failure year after year after year. And so, last year, I put my foot down and decided that the term "resolution" was no longer part of my vocabulary. (At least where the New Year was concerned)

With that, I bring you "Angie's 2009 To Do List"! This list will hang in my bathroom for the next year (just as my 2008 list did) because I need a constant reminder of my "to do" list if I ever have hope of accomplishing anything on it. So, let's see what I'm planning to do this year.

1. Put together and implement a budget that actually works and one that I will keep up with regularly
2. Eliminate the majority of our financial debt
3. Finally finish the Patten Chapel cross stitch (Editors note: I started this before I got married 12 years ago and made significant progress on this last year. It's a portrait of where hubby & I married.)
4. Start & finish the Bambi cross stitch for Little A's room
5. Continue the weight loss adventure and wear a size 6 jeans by December 1st
6. Implement date night once a month with hubby
7. Make significant progress on my novel and blog regularly
8. Finish decluttering the house
9. Get the scrapbooks up to date
10. Be more open with people

I know it seems like a long list and there's definitely a lot that I want to accomplish. Some of these are hold overs from 2008 I must admit, but that's ok. I made progress on many things last year and I know that 2009 will be even better!

So, what's one thing on your "to do" list for 2009 that you're hoping to accomplish?