A few from Christmas, 2011

Theodore wasn't sure at first about the whole Santa Hat thing.


Eventually, he decided it was OK. :)


Theodore unwrapped the first gift of the night.


Uncle Paul scores a win with an empty box. What kid doesn't LOVE a big box to play in? It also occupied small bodies as the big people did gifts.




Sorry sweetheart, worst face ever. But we're now ready for spring training around here!

Christmas Decor, 2011

We don't have a Christmas tree. I don't apologize for that. We have a cat. And a dog. This seems like a recipe for disaster, so until 1) we have children and 2) They are in school and 3) realize they are 'missing' out on a tree, I see no need for one. :)

But not to be a total hater, I picked up some ornaments after Christmas last year with just this application in mind. I got a thick and thin ribbon and pinned them from the window. They were festive and looked great!

One of my biggest weaknesses is taking down decor/etc. I was talking with a client/friend, and said 'gosh, if I'd have gotten red, I could say they were for Valentine's day ... or wait, if I got green, they would work for Christmas, then St. Patrick's Day!' - I'd get tons of use out of them. :)

It's the first week of January, and I've managed to find time to put away my December decorations. Phew!


In magazines, I see 'coordinated' boxes for Christmas, and think it's a bit silly. But I had a lot of red and white paper, so wraped most of my gifts in those. Seeing how nice the differing patterns looked, I see the appeal. Yet I still have plenty of paper with other uncoordinated looks to use up, so it might be 3-5 years before you see this sort of coordinated effort en masse.

Merry Christmas!

The recycling bin is filled with shreds of wrapping paper and there was a mountain of dishes on the counter. It must be Christmas morning!

My family came to chill with us yesterday. It's the fourth year we've hosted, and I like doing it. We keep tweaking and working to find the best timing for everyone and everything. I think we're getting closer.

Menu*:

Salad
Pot roast. Easy and always tasty.
Mashed Potatoes with Broccoli as our side. It's one of our faves and my mom seems to like it lots.
Tuscan Polenta Bread. I couldn't find the right tomatoes, so I used dried ones. I'd cut the amount in half. I also forgot to make the bacon ahead, so we went without. Still good.
Cherry Dark Chocolate Bread Pudding for dessert. This is one of my all-time faves. And there's *some* sugar, but not TONS .... and I use my Irish Soda Bread for the bread cubes.

*This is more so I'll remember what I did. What worked; what didn't.

My friend Kristine stopped by and grabbed a full family photo, but I don't really want to download it now; I'll share later.

Christmas Cookie baking, 2011

Remember yesterday's post? How little Theodore was. Well, this is the 2011 version of him:


What a change, eh?


The morning started as every does at my parents' house. With coffee. And Papa teaching Theodore how to make a good pot of coffee.


Cookie cutters make FUN NOISE when you bang them on the counter. Just ask Theodore. :)


The FIRST cookie.


Adding a little pre-baking decor.


Working on those fine motor skills.


AHA!


I'm not gonna lie: eating the cookie dough is the best part. I get sort of sad when it goes into the oven to cook.


"Q: What's in there?"
A: The best part, kid!




He finally caught on!


This is a cute little series of photos.






... see, disassembling the rolling pin is just as much fun as using it!


Waiting for cookies to bake.



iTheodore. :)

Papa Wayne is showing him the joys of technology. Next year, the kid will be able to re-program my cell phone.

Christmas Cookie baking, 2010

Yeah, so I'm a year late on this. I've been meaning to post it, but life has happened.

So, this is from LAST year before our nephew could crawl or walk. BIG difference from this year, where he was running around the house! :)


I'll share photos from this year's installment of cooke baking SOON! :)

Christmas 2010 with Theo

Robin and Chris and Theodore were in town in December, and I'm pleased to announce Baby Theo got his first Christmas present from us. :)

His jam-jams even match the wrapping paper.

This is a funny aside: Evidently every baby photo of Daddy Chris involved Chris' tongue sticking out. Theodore certainly follows in his daddy's footsteps.


Mommy and daddy helping out.


Theodore is pretty good at grabbing. They pulled the package and so Theo "opened" the gift. :)


Just look at that tongue on Theodore!!!!

What did Theodore get???? The Elf on the Shelf book set. :)


Not to be left out, Mommy Robin got a little something, too. I found these vintage pilot goggles at Restoration Hardware. They were super cute! :)


Robin, of course, got it and was all about using the scarf. :)


The tongue is STILL out!


With Uncle E.

Our little secret — Christmas trees

The day after Thanksgiving seems the most appropriate for setting up the Christmas tree. Even if the retail stores have had Christmas stuff out since the beginning of October (sheesh).

Can you keep a secret? Really?

Ok, here goes: we don't have a Christmas tree. And we don't go get one at a tree lot or farm either.

Growing up, my family had a fake tree, which was fine with me. It lived in the basement and made its way out every year the day after Christmas.

In college, I split the cost of a small tree with a roomie, but when she moved on, the tree went with her. Didn't really bother me, though. One less thing to move, right?

Then I moved out on my own, and Esse the cat came into the picture. I honestly have to say I'm not sure how she'd take/interact with a Christmas tree. Would she climb it? Likely. And it'd be a battle all Advent, so I admit my laziness over the whole thing.

What I DO do for Christmas, though, is get out the Advent wreath (which the cat has chewed several of the candles on ..... what would she DO with a tree???) and the nativity sets out. And that's "decorated" for Christmas.

I don't really think of myself as a "scrooge" per se. I actually like ornaments and Christmas music IN MODERATION.

This all has pushed my brain into gear. There has to be some middle ground for people like me, right? And then, I was introduced to the ornament tree! :)


I actually think this could be a nice compromise on the tree front. As in, it gives me something to hang ornaments on, but isn't a real or fake tree.


There are some smaller table-top options, but I am digging the "full-sized" ones, which range from 47 to 90 inches tall.

Here are a few interesting ones I've found online:

Gold tree, but I"m not sure how I feel about a gold tree...

Another one in black or gold, yet again, I'm not sure if black is something I'm crazy about either.

Here's one with beading. I wish they had a better picture online. Can't really tell much from the photo.

A more rounded option, which I find interesting. I also like the Fleur de Lys on the top.

Does anyone know of a location where I can see something like this in person? It's just difficult to tell with some of these online photos.

Merry Christmas

May today fill your hearts with grace and peace.

Is that a tradition I smell?

Last year, I told my family if they wanted to see me for Christmas, THEY would have to come to ME.

Dinner was simple: pot roast, mashed potatoes and some simple veggies.

Well, once again, I have a roast in the crockpot. Never would I have guessed I would do this two years running. Probably because it's so easy. ;)

Cheers.

Elf on a Shelf

This afternoon, I was at our friends' house and met Maynard, their "Elf on a Shelf."

Mommy Dawn was telling me one of the grandparents got the book for their kiddo. What happens is there's a story that goes with the elf (you name the elf). What happens is the elf sits on a shelf (or tree or wherever) during the day, and at night, he goes back to Santa and reports if the child has been naughty or nice. Then he finds a new place to sit and kiddo has to find elf in the morning.


Awesome, eh? I totally LOVE the idea! :)

And Dawn said it works well for behavior ... when someone is on the verge of a meltdown or being difficult, all they have to say is "What do you want Maynard to tell Santa tonight?"

GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!

SO glad our friends are doing the kid thing first so we can learn the tricks .... I'm really hoping my friend Nicole gives more info about the "Cleaning Fairies" who live in the wall (there's a really cute miniature door involved!). Nicole, blog about it, because I want to hear where this caper came from! :)

YOUR favorite Christmas Carol?

I don't have the time to download personal photos and the like, but I want to keep fresh content here ... so I'll share a few Christmas Carol faves.

1. "Venite Adormenus" - "O Come Let Us Adore Him" .... it's the Latin version.


I've always LOVED the Latin version. When I studied Latin in college, it made it THAT much cooler that I actually comprehended the song. :)

2. "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas"

C'mon. Seriously, who DOESN'T love this song?!??!?!? It just cracks me up!

Ok, ok. Audience participation time .... leave a comment and let me know what YOUR favorite Christmas song/carol is. I'm always on the lookout for new ones!

Christmas Card Capers

Our Christmas cards are out. Mostly. I'm still looking up a few addresses.

BUT ...... I sort of have this little competition going. It's all in my head, really. My friend, Erin is ALWAYS the first to get her cards out. Without fail. She forever beats me to it. And I'm ashamed to say one of my life goals was to beat her to the punch. AND I DID. This year. We sent our cards, then I waited a few days, seeing if she'd sent hers the same time I'd sent mine. NOPE!

It's silly and childish, really, but I need *some* excitement in my life!

The blog is sad and lonely as of late. I know. I've only been in 4 cities this week. All within 1 to 2 hours' drive of one another. I'm BUSY people .... so sit tight and I'll resume with colorful antics when I have about 12 seconds to think.

Christmas 2008

We were pleased to welcome my family to our home Christmas Eve. :-)

Erik had to work Christmas day, so we only had 1 day off, so we decided to host anyone who wanted to come for the day. That-a-way we didn't have to make a marathon trip anywhere.

We had dinner, went to Mass and returned home to open presents.


I'm all about ease ... dinner was potroast in the crock pot, mashed potatoes and steamed asparagus. Erik contributed the big salad.

These gems photoed above were my stab at creativity. They're SO simple .... but mom thought it took quite a bit of effort to make. On contraire. Not difficult at all.

1. Just take almond bark, stick it in a mug and melt in the microwave.

2. Stir.

3. Take a pretzel rod and dip in the mug ... evenly coat the pretzel rod.

4. Place on wax paper or cookie sheet.

5. Cover with topping of your choice. Shown here is crushed peppermints. I also used mini chocolate chips (MY FAVORITE!!!!!), or take melted chocolate and drizzle over the pretzel rods.

Christmas Cookie Time!

My most favorite part of making Christmas cookies is .... eating the dough the night before. :-)

This ritual was done annually while growing up ... and I'm excited to show Erik the art of sneaking cookie dough in the middle of the night. Robin and Chris will be around to do the baking. And good for them. We'll leave the baking to them and the cookie dough eating to US!

(notice the Christmas tree cookie cutter? Mom always said cookies shaped as Christmas trees taste the best).