Festivities At a Glance...

Tuesday December 23rd-
All things are finalized.
Brent and I make one more run to make sure we've got the best gifts Santa could give. And while we're out we eat at Five Guys Burgers and Fries. My review: ah, it was ok. Maybe we'll try the Cajun fries next time.

Wednesday December 24th-
I send Brent to Smith's for any necessary food we might need. I have major anxiety knowing I will not be able to go to the store on Christmas day. I most likely won't need anything but what if I do?!... the anxiety!
Marcus and Brent going sledding in the backyard (they built an awesome hill down to the pond.)

We have our second annual Christmas Eve Swim at the pool in AF and then we get pizza. (who wants to do dishes on Christmas Eve? Not me.)
Marcus goes to bed pretty early so Santa can come but since Charlie had a nap he's up til 10.
Santa comes to deliver the toys while Brent naps in Charlie's bed. Santa even sets up the HotWheels loop de loop (unofficial name.) Because Santa is the bomb.
Santa addresses all the gifts in lowercase cursive. (that'll throw 'em off.) Interesting.
I go to bed without having major anxiety for the 1st time in 30 years. Peaceful. And very tired.

Thursday December 25th-
Marcus wakes up at 5:50 a.m. I make him wait until the rest of us wake up, close to 7 a.m. We all come downstairs to check the loot. Everyone is pleased. They may not have gotten everything on their list but the good thing is that they totally forget their lists at this point.
I make breakfast.
Then you know what I did? Took a nap for 2 hours.
We headed down to Noni's to open more gifts.
We came home to make our contribution to Grandma's Christmas dinner: rolls.
After dinner we had a live nativity with 12 of the 13 grandkids. What? You think Charlie would participate in something like that?
Then it was the gift exchange. And Brent got the Nerf Vulcan EBF 25. HOLY MACKEREL!
When we got home I tried to clean my house but the kitchen was all I could do before I crashed.

Friday December 26th-
The things I did:
-made breakfast for Charlie and Gwen
-took a nap
-tried to clean
-organized the boy's room. Out with the old, in with new. (why didn't I do this BEFORE Christmas?)
-made lunch
-watched Elf
-attempted to make doughnuts
-sent Brent to Smith's for doughnuts (I'll leave that up to the professionals.)

The things I definitely did not do:
-shower
-brush my teeth
-change out of my PJs
-clean my house
-leave my house

Friday could possibly be the best day I've ever had. Bubba, please don't EVER go back to work.
And then, you know how it all ended?
As I was unplugging the Christmas tree I glanced outside to see if it was snowing and I watched 11 deer walk down my driveway and then down the street. Cute little things (except not too little.) They made it all perfect.
Pictures to come soon. Very soon.

Not Enough...

TIME!

On Dreaming...

Sometimes my dreams get too big and out of control. Like the time I dreamed of having a Christmas Showcase. I really wanted to write about people who love Christmas. And I especially wanted to tell you all about the house in my neighborhood that is decked out with an entire Nemo theme. I'm serious. This house has wooden Nemo characters all over the front lawn and the yard is even outlined in blue lights, as if the characters are actually in the ocean. I wanted to post pictures. Because it is totally wackadoodle. BUT guess what I forgot? That it's Christmas time. (Hello!) Which means life is a little crazy. I haven't even started my shopping yet. Seriously, I haven't purchased anything. And Chooch turns 4 this week. And I wanted to make neighbor gifts. And I definitely want to make some Christmas candies. And, most importantly, I love to procrastinate.
So, here's to next year... Cheers!

Christmas Lists...

I found the boy's Christmas lists. It looks like they worked together on this project and here's what they've come up with:

Marcus:
-new church socks (his church socks now bug him so bad.)
-dirt bike (uh, no.)
-whole basketball court (yes, and where would we put it?)
-new blanket (great idea)
-Madagascar 2 video game (we'll see.)
-Beast Quest books (like this one. Reading material.)
-nerf gun (don't we have a dozen of these already?)
-trampoline (maybe we'll put this next to the whole basketball court.)
-Wall E toy (do-able. But will never be played with.)
-ipod (maybe a shuffle)
-mini skateboards (more?)
-Star Wars the Clone Wars movie (I'll think about this one.)

Charlie:
-Power Ranger suit and mask (we already have this.)
-toy motorcycle (already have dozens of these.)
-new pants (as opposed to the hand-me-downs he gets from Marcus.???)
-Power Wheels Jeep (ummm...)
-tool box (I like this one. A little handy man.)
-Moon Sand (definitely do-able.)

And I'm thinking we'll get Gwen some batteries for all of the hand-me-down baby toys that don't work anymore. She's going to love it.

Introducing...

Christmas Showcase

This year for Christmas I thought it would be fun to showcase some people that go the extra mile this time of year. So I will be posting pictures and telling stories about people I know and others I'd like to know. And in the process maybe poking fun (with love, of course) at their crazy Christmas habits.

Let me introduce you to the first Christmas Kook on my list. Have you ever had the pleasure of meeting this wonderful woman? If not, I feel sorry for you.

This is Mary Ann.

And this is how she does Christmas:

This is her 9 foot tall tree hanging from the ceiling. It boasts thousands of clear lights, hundreds of ornaments in green, red, purple and gold, ribbon, and hangy things.

(This picture really doesn't do it justice. It's enormous.)

This is her Grinch Tree. It's decorated with thousands of lights and lime green and red ornaments with the perfect little crooked top. This tree would make any Christmas Grinch grin with delight.

A cute little angel girl on the Grinch tree.

Mary Ann really outdoes herself every year. She just can't get enough of Christmas! This year she will have 3 trees, a house decked out in icicle lights and possibly even (get this!) a tree on top of the house! (that is if her little apprentice can figure out how to do it. And have it sustain the wicked lake effect winds.)

You think this year she's gone crazy? I wish I would've documented the year we had 11 trees!

I'm cookin' up something really special for the Holiday Season. So come back soon cuz you're not going to want to miss this!