christmas recap

It was a whirlwind.

It always is.

But is started out nice and slow.

Christmas Eve was just us.

We saw a movie

(We Bought a Zoo,  Good!)

we had a nice dinner,

we played SORRY!,

we had a fire,

 we put out cookies for Santa,

we read "Twas the Night Before Christmas,"

and she went to bed at 8 pm.

 Then Santa came!

He responded to her letter, explaining why she didn't get the Princess Piano Vanity thingy.

The elves had technical difficulties.

And Chris and I played Gin,

and were nestled in our beds by 10.

 She slept til 8:30 Christmas morning.

It was glorious.

I was up at 7.

Coffee made,

breakfast casserole in,

couch sitting and reading,

waiting for her.

When she did get up,

she was a happy girl.

I think 5 is the best year for Christmas.

Period.

 We got the kitties a bed.

It's a hit.

One of them is always in it.

 And she got Elizabeth.

A real hit.

Chris is so very excited to enter the American Girl world.

He is giddy.

 It was such a nice morning.

Chris went to Anthro.

I got clothes, and soaps, and accessories, and such.

He also went to NorthFace.

And I got the most comfortable pair of fleecy pants ever invented.

I love that man.

 In the afernoon, we headed over the river and through the woods to Paigey's house.

 We spent some time with our favorite peeps.

 And then we traveled home to Indiana for a bit.

This is where it gets nuts.

We visited,

a cousin got attacked by a dog and spent time in the hospital,

(He is ok, will be on long term antibiotics for infection.)

we visited some more,

we just danced 3ed,

we went to the casino,

(where I did NOT strike it rich),

and we had the Davis family Christmas.

Ellie is the only child on this side.

Can you imagine the spoiling that goes on?

It is absurd.

In the best kind of way

She collects the "Jungle/Kitty/Puppy/Horse in my Pocket" series.

She got every single one known to man.

And a beautiful jewelry box and locket from Nana,

and a Barbie car,

and a Barbie vet clinic,

and Barbie furniture,

and Barbies and clothes,

and a happy napper,

and Squinkies

and clothes,

and slippers,

and stuffed animals,

and target gift cards,

etc.

etc.

etc.

Spoiled rotten this one.

Chris and I spent most of last night opening everything and trying to find a place for it.

So now we are home.

The house is a

 DI. SAS. TER

the fridge is empty,

and today I am going to a memorial for a friends grandparents and Chris is taking Ellie to the doctor for a probable ear infection.

And then I am more than likely going to the grocery,

and putting Christmas away until next year.

I am tired just thinking about it.

It was a good one though.

We are blessed.



christmas greetings

May your Christmas be magical!

Love

 Chris, Tia and Ellie

today i promise

Today, I promise:

to forget about the little messes and play with my girl.

to say "yes" more than "no."

to be patient when she wants to dawdle.

to let baby polar bear come with us, even though that means I will have to hold him.

to watch every single time she says "mommy!  watch!"

Today, I promise:

to do something nice for a stranger.

to smile and be pleasant when we are out and about.

to remember that we have it good, and the things we worry about are so silly.

to not check my phone every 5 minutes and live in the moment.

to have beer waiting in the fridge for the football game that is on tonight.

Today, I promise:

to really get in the spirit.

to wear my most obnoxious Christmas earrings.

to drop some coins in the little red bucket.

to let the magic of Christmas overwhelm me.

to wink at Santa.

to see it through the eyes of my 5 year old and remember.

I promise.



saturday from my phone

It was a good weekend.

Saturday might be one of the new favorite days of my life.

And nothing really exciting happened.

It was just one of those great days.

We woke up, had breakfast (oatmeal, bacon, and clems,) and lounged around a bit.

It started to snow.

Ellie wanted to go for a snowy walk.

So we did.

At the zoo!

We love love love the zoo in winter.

We have the place to ourselves and the animals are so much more exciting.

We saw sliding seals, and the polar bear was active and the 4 new bear cubs were all wrestling around and such.

The wolves were pacing and the beavers were gnawing on some wood.

 And it was so pretty all decorated for Christmas.

 Then we went for some lunch.

And Ellie met a friend.

 And then we went home.

We put on our comfies and brewed another pot of coffee and played games.

Someone, however, needed a cuddle.

 Then the night took a slight turn.

I was flipping through the channels and Toddlers and Tiara's was on.

Ellie saw the pretty dresses and wanted to watch.

Oh. My. Word.

Those people are nuts.

With a capitol Crazy.

Ellie, however, then wanted to play "pageant."

So we got all dolled up and pranced around a bit.

Remind me to never, ever, ever, ever, under any circumstances let her leave the house in make-up.

Not even when she is 15.

This worries me.

 Then she went to bed and Chris and I had a basement date.

Hello Ryan Gosling in Crazy Stupid Love.

He is good looking.

To say the least.

After the movie was over, I headed to bed.

I wasn't quite tired however, so I turned on the tube and continued my evening of sketchy tv watching with Teen Mom 2.

Again,

 OH. MY. WORD.

I hadn't watched this show before.

If Ellie ever talks to me like those girls talk to their mothers,

if she ever tells me to go f myself,

she will be grounded so long she will never see the light of day again.

Or worse.

Can I get an Amen?

***************************************************************

6 days til Christmas.

Is everyone ready??

the pros and cons of today

Let's start with the good, shall we?

I got round 1 of my baking done yesterday.  Woot!

Ellie likes to help some though, so I thought I would save gingerbread to do with her next week.

Cookies for Santa, perhaps.

My husband walked in with a HUGE bag from Anthropologie this week, put it in his closet, and told me not to peek.

Just knowing it is in there makes me happy.

Did I ever mention how much I love that man?

My Christmas shopping is done.

I have 4 more presents to wrap and I will be done with presents altogether.

Can I get an Amen?

I am pretty sure a basement date is happening this weekend.

My favorite kind of date.

Yesterday I got 9 Christmas cards in the mail.

It was a tremendous mail day!

Christmas cards are one of my favorites things about Christmas.

My mantle makes me happy this year.

Simple. Simple. Simple.

Now, the not so good.

Someone won't stay out of the Christmas tree.

Someone is ruining it.

Someone is leaving little kitty claw marks in all the presents.

Someone is scattering ornaments all over the house.

But I am not naming names.

 I have approximately 235 little messes like this around my house.

These little messes bug me to no end.

Here we have constuction paper to make a name tag for the teacher gift, very last minute this morning,

a random cat toy,

a dolphin puzzle that Benjamin brought last night,

and a filthy ipad, who's sole job righ now is to play Michael Buble's Christmas album.

I have to go to the grocery today.

Yuck and gag.

We seriously have no food in the house.

Ellie's lunch today was embarrasing.

But what's even worse, is that I don't really know what I am planning for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning meals, or what I am taking for Christmas at Paiges, so this is just a "get us by" trip.

You know, bread and milk, some fresh fruit, and enough meals to last us through the weekend.

I don't like "get us by" trips.

They seem so pointless.

I finished my book and nothing on my shelf looks appealing.

Which means I am not reading a book right now.

This is not okay, people.

I have 26 loads of laundry to do.

Ok, not really, but there's a lot.

I still don't understand how my teeny tiny family makes so much damn laundry.

All that baking means we have my favorite cookies in the house.

Hello spritz and snickerdoodles.

Some people might consider this a pro.

However, did you know a  double recipe for snickerdoodles calls for 2 sticks of butter and a cup of crisco?

Combine that with the spritz cookies and I used 8 sticks of butter yesterday.

Yeah.

Hello expanding backside.

Thank the holy mistletoe, most of it is going away.

And Ellie's room.

I have given up on this space in my house.

It is perpetually messy.

I have decided for all concerned, it would be better to just let it be.

For now.

Happy Friday Friends!

benjamin

Our sneaky little elf is back.

He has been especially feisty this year.

(Thanks to pinterest...)

So far, we have found him swinging from the chandelier.

 And the mistletoe

 Ellie is so into it this year.

Pardon the hideous picture, but here is her face when she came around the corner and found him.

 One night, we was particularly naughty, and we found him in her booster seat in the car.

With an empty Christmas Ale.

Shame on you, Benjamin.

Stealing a beer and sneaking out to the car to drink it.

He was in serious trouble that day.

So, the next day, he left Mr. Chris an apology letter, and a book for Ellie.

 And he must have still felt bad, cause the next night, he finished my Christmas cards.

After that, he was forgiven.

 We have found him fishing for goldfish.

 And reading to Ellie's animals by the Christmas tree.

 Thank you, Benjamin, for making my girls' holiday a little merrier.

We have also found him sitting on a box of Santa tissues,

buried in the stuffed animals, who were hiding a huge jug of animal crackers,

and hanging from the upstair hallway light.

Who knows where he will pop up next.

You never can tell.

He also has a few more surprises to leave.

(Hello, first chapter book!)

I love Benjamin.

He's a good ol' elf.

christmas in chagrin falls

We spend yesterday wandering around Chagrin Falls.

We met some friends for lunch and then headed to Holly Hall to look at all the trees.

And to get a picture with Santa.

 Then we went back to our friends house for a bit of a visit before heading back into town to wander around some more.

On the way back into town we passed houses like this one...

(I die!!)

 and this one.

All the houses here look like this.

 We took a carriage ride around town...

  with Star and Stumper as our guides.

 I mean, seriously, the entire town is trimmed.

 I could never in a trillion years do it justice with my camera.

Not even if I had a good one.

 You know how towns put up decorations on light posts.

Signs.

Or reindeer.

Or wreaths.

Chagrin Falls put full Christmas trees on every light post.

Cause that's how they roll.

 It is simply gorgeous.

It was a nice day.

book club regroup

Before I even start this post, forgive my poor little camera.

She is working her poor little dying heart out.

All pics from now until I get a new one are going to, well...suck.

************************************************************************

My book club had a busy year.

3 of us (and by us, I mean them) had babies! 

And another of us (and by us, I mean them) is pregnant!

What do new moms not have time to do?

Read books.

So!

We are taking the next year and switching things up.

Whoever's turn it is, picks the activity for the night.

Could be dinner and a movie.

Could be drinks and apps.

Could be a quilting bee.

Could be a 5k.

Whatever they want.

We had to get together and discuss this important switcharoo.

With delicious food and drink of course.

The festivities even warranted a fire.

 Good grief these girls can cook.

We had mini crab cakes,

and prochutto wrapped dates stuffed with goat cheese,

and stuffed mushrooms and squash,

and little crusty pockets filled with meat and cheese goodness,

and cheese puffs,

and lemon pototoes,

and brocolli cheddar muffins.

For dessert there was

macaroons,

and peppermint cookies,

and eggnog covered almonds,

and apples and caramel.

I think I gained 10 pounds.

 We talked and laughed and shared stories.

And kept Ellie up.

She kept telling Chris we were being entirely too loud.

 Lisa told a story which will go down in history as the funniest story I have ever heard.

(That is Lisa above, far left. Gorgeous girl.)

I would repeat it here, but I think she might kill me if I did.

But, trust me when I tell you, it was legen (wait for it) dary!

Another story was also shared.

And it was a doozie.

One of us (and by us, I mean them) went to a dinner party last weekend.

 A woman at the dinner party just stood up in the middle of it and vomited everywhere.

And she wasn't drunk.

Can you even imagine that?

The storyteller said everyone just froze.

Didn't know what to do.

The awkwardness and horror of it all.

I would die.

And then probably vomit on top of her vomit.

It was a funny story that got even funnier when she said Windex was used to clean it up.

Windex!

And we talked a lot about vaginas.

I mean, 3 of us (and by us, I mean them) just had babies.

Vagina talk was bound to happen.

When I went upstairs, Chris said

"I kept hearing the word vagina.  Why was there so much talk of the vagina?  I was uncomfortable."

We also did our annual gift exchange, which is simple.

Pull a book off your shelf, wrap, and regift.

I got Me Talk Pretty One Day, which I had never read.

Score!

It was a fun night!

I love love love to entertain.

And then everyone leaves,

and I hate to entertain.

There wasn't even much of a mess this time, but it still sucks to clean up.

Oh.

And a PS.

When Paige heard my book club wasn't going to be reading for a year,

she declared that unacceptable and pulled me into hers.

So, no worries, I am still reading.

(As if you can ever stop me.)

We just read this:

http://www.amazon.com/Kitchen-House-Novel-Kathleen-Grissom/dp/1439153663

Drop what you are doing and go read it.

Now.

I mean it.

Are you still here?

I am not kidding.

GO!