top 5 of the year

I realized last week that I have never been tagged. Ever. (Don't worry, I am not too bitter or anything.) Then I realized that there are no rules stating that I can't start a fun tagging game. So that is what I am doing.

The game is: Your top 5 pics of 2008 and why. Does it bring back a good memory? Do you look smokin' in it? Any pic and any reason works, but you can only choose 5. Sound fun? I hope so. See end of post for taggees.

So without further ado...my top 5 fave pics of 2008.


Number 5: Ellie and Enzo kissing. Love this pic. They are the best of buds and I captured a great moment on a fun day.
Number 4: On a walk around the block. This was one of the first warm days last spring and we were excited to be out of the house. Also, I love her outfit. She wore this A LOT. Look at those cute leggings!

Number 3: Ellie and my mother. Sorry if you find this a little morbid but I think the picture turned out really nice. She looks so reflective. Like she is missing my mom as much as I am.

Number 2: Riding the tractor on pumpkin patch day. I just love the colors and have considered getting this blown up.

And my Number 1 fave pic of all of 2008: Ellie and Daddy. I adore the look of love in their eyes. These two are peas in a pod and I love them both endlessly.

So for this fun game I am tagging ABBY, MOLLY, BETH, KERI, LYNDSEY, and FRANSCESA.

Have fun girls!!

are you sick of holiday wrap-ups yet?

Me too. So mine will be short.

Wow. Just Wow. We had a busy and wonderful Christmas. Like every year, though, I am glad it is over and things can get back to normal. We all got lots of nice things. We all ate too much. None of us got enough sleep. Isn't that the way it is supposed to be?

what do you get? A good weekend is what!

What do you get when you add:

brunch with family

plus a trip to the house where "A Christmas Story" was filmed (sorry to chop your head off Nick!)

the original "leg lamp!"

where Ralphie slept

think those are his toothmarks?

crazy toddler

crazy teenagers

plus a little wine tasting

plus some Wii Bowling

plus some cookie eating

plus some secret telling

plus some present opening

plus some super hero making

plus a visit from Santa (since we are travelling over the holidays)


plus some new toys to play with


plus a new Kate Spade bag???? (that I had no idea was coming. My hubby rocks!)

Why you get a pretty darn good weekend. That's what you get! Lots of activities. Lots of fun. Lots of love. My family is awesome.

This will probably be my last blog til after the holidays so Merry Christmas to All!

let the holiday begin!!

7 days before Christmas and I am DONE! The presents are wrapped. The cards are sent. The cookies are baked. The house is clean(ish). Let the fun begin!

It's starts with a pancake snowman.

Thanks mom!

Then presents with friends.

It's a tool box! My friend Jen was so mad at me. She has 2 boys and loves to buy girly stuff and when she asked what Ellie might like for Christmas I said a toolbox (like her son has, because that is what she plays with EVERYTIME we go over there.) So she missed her opportunity to buy girl stuff. Sorry Jen! She loves it though!

Some fingerpainting. It started out nice and neat.

But ended a little differently.

Dinner with our dear friends Jeff and Megan, who are also Ellie's godparents. We had Chinese food. Just like in A Christmas Story. I think it should be a tradition.

More presents!

Ellie got a Merry Christmas Crown (and decided on her own that the tutu needed to be worn too!) They also got her (us) a membership to the Science Center. How cool is that? They are definitely 2 of our favorite people. You can read more about them HERE. Love you guys!

We are going to be all partied out by the time Christmas is over. Bring it on!!

spritz cookie recipe

Wow! I have had lots of people want this recipe so here you go!

Ingredients:

2 sticks butter - why they're so good
2/3 C sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 C flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
flavoring - to taste. It takes quite a bit
food coloring - optional

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and mix thouroughly. Add dry ingredients. Separate dough and add flavoring and food coloring (if desired). I usually separate dough into 3 bowls and use almond, maple and vanilla. My red hearts are always almond, my green trees are always maple and my uncolored dough is always vanilla. I have always wanted to try pepperment though.

Put into a cookie press with desired shape and press onto ungreased baking sheet.

Bake at 400 for 8-10 minutes.

There you have it. They are not a terribly sweet cookie. So if that is what you are looking for, these are not for you. They are best with coffee or tea! Enjoy!

baking day!!

Today is baking day! Don't they look delicious!

Traditional Butter "Spritz" cookies. My personal favorite. They make such a pretty present! The white ornaments are vanilla, the red hearts are almond, and the green trees are maple. YUMMY!!

Not bad for a few hours work.

and...SNICKERDOODLES! Surprise Honey! I usually can't make a snickerdoodle to save my life (and they are my husband's absolute favorite cookie) and then I saw THIS post from Keri and knew I had to give them another try. They are divine and my butt is going to be ginormous at the end of the holiday season.


Oh well, that's what exercise is for, right??

not quite ready

Chris and I are enormous movie people. We love them. And we miss going to the theatre to see them. When Ellie was first born, I seriously hated Friday nights because I was home with this needy baby instead of at my beloved theatre eating lots of junk and watching a movie. Imagine, resenting a baby because I couldn't go to a movie. I had issues. It passed quickly.

We thought maybe Ellie was ready for her first movie. We were so excited! Madagascar 2 had been out for awhile so we thought "What the heck?" We packed up a snack and off we went!

We even played a few games before the movie started.

She loved this one. I beat her though. She may be cute but I am competitive!

Waiting for the movie to start.

She lasted about 45 minutes. Then she wanted to climb the "spooky stairs" and hang on the railing. I think she even ate popcorn off the floor. Gross. Oh well. Maybe next time.

riddle me this

Ellie and I were at Target yesterday and she was playing in the toy section. All the "special anniversary" Cabbage Patch kids were there so I started looking at the names. I love to see what they name these poor dolls. They are always so funny. The ones I had growing up were named:

Stefanie Kathleen and Dolly Belva

Not too bad I guess. This poor little doll I saw yesterday had the worst name ever. Her poor name was:

Randi Fanny

I am not even kidding. Apparently she is either a stripper or a hooker when she is not a cute little doll. I kept looking at it, sure I was reading it wrong, but that was really her name. Poor thing.

How in the world did a name like that escape the company? Or maybe I am the only one who sees the wrongness of the name? Or the humor??

toy soldier

We had a nice weekend. Saturday, we took Ellie to see the Toy Soldier at a downtown mall. He, of course, terrified her, but she did still manage to enjoy most of the day.

Look at the wonder in her face!

What could possible hold her so mesmerized?

A jumping water fountain!

Here we are on the stage!

And of couse a train ride. Her favorite part. It is really neat. There is a driver and it goes all around the mall!

We took her to "Kris Kringle's Imaginamium" and even Chris and I were freaked out. It was supposed to be a fun little tour that ended with a visit with Kris Kringle (which we were going to skip), but instead, it was like Willy Wonka's factory on crack cocaine. I don't have many pictures because we were both trying to keep Ellie from losing it. It was really scary. We did get this one of her "inventing toys". See the creepy purple hair lady? Ellie didn't like her.

Waiting for the show to start. It looks like she is screaming here, but she isn't. I think she was singing "Frosty the Snowman."

Ellie and Daddy watching the show.

And the Toy Soldier. It is just the neatest show. He dances with little girls from the audience and moves like a Toy Soldier would. I really can't describe it. It is just really neat. Maybe next year Ellie will dig it.