funnies

~anna was climbing out of the bathtub and out of the blue said, "it's a good thing we live on a planet that has pigs. if we didn't, we'd never have bacon!"

~ben now tries imitating every animal sound in his animal book. ask him what a lion or tiger says and he roars at you!


~i told josh to get dressed for the day yesterday. he came downstairs wearing shorts and tee shirt. it was 40 degrees outside!

~the kids beg every single night to open a Christmas present. anna told me tonight, "we can pretend it's a celebration!"

~john made breakfast this morning: fried eggs, hashbrown potatos and "bacon." the "bacon" was really some hotdogs he sliced up to trick the kids. he told them it was european bacon. and they DEVOURED it.

ok, that's it.


shopping's 100% done.
wrapping's 99% done.
the house is 100% a mess!

lots to do. nana and pop get here on wednesday!

gift card tree

in the beginning of the year, i signed up to be anna's class room mom.
i love being a part of her kindergarten memories.

for the most part.

but there are times when i FREAK out, CUSS, SWEAR and SWEAT over it.
like for Christmas.
what do i do for a class gift??

enter the gift card tree.
{i think it's brillant. BRILLIANT, i tell you!}


each child sent donated a gift card of their choice, dollar amount of their choice and i simply tied them on a small houseplant-like live tree from lowe's.

right now they are 50% off too. BONUS!


i did a little recon and asked the teacher about her favorite places to eat, shop, coffee, etc. and forwarded that on to help the parents choose, but besides that, there was no pressure at all.

no pressure to donate, to give a certain amount, nothing.

i think parents appreciate the SIMPLICITY.


i did good, right?

girls christmas party

tonight was our annual girls' night Christmas party.
i almost didn't go. i've been cranky pants again all day long.
BUT, i'm so glad i did.
it was wonderful.
and our friend, mrs. tessa, was once again the year's best hostess.
and the food.

OH
MY
GOODNESS!!

chicken piccata, four cheese pasta bake, homemade bread with garlic and herb compound butter. salad with artichokes and squash. two yummy warm dips with a different kind of bread. and for dessert, snickerdoodles with fresh strawberries and brown sugar whipped cream. (just had to document it. it was ridiculously good.)

ok, girls. here are a few pictures.
love you all.
MERRY CHRISTMAS.

tessa made the cutest penguin hors d'oeuvres. olives, stuffed with cream cheese and carrots.


tessa's uncle (i think) is an artist and made this of mary and baby jesus. i love it.


another reason tessa is so cool: she has a "shoe" tree.


some of the girls.


and mrs. tessa herself.


more lovely ladies, sitting by the fireplace.


the food table after round one.


and of course the sparkly bar area. she's so GOOD, it's sick.

we all begged tessa to host another party in the spring.
she's already planning an italian themed party with roasted pork loin.
can't wait.

taking the time

i've been m.i.a. on this blog lately.
i'm trying very hard to take time for the things that need to be done.
mainly finishing up for Christmas and spending special time alone with each child.
this is no easy task.

BUT, yesterday was anna's day.
{warning, scary picture below}


we went to see the nutcracker ballet,



and then out to eat.
in a RESTAURANT.
by OURSELVES!

it was so nice, so relaxing, but so weird without the rest of the family.
anna didn't miss them at all.
she kept telling me over and over how much she loved her special day.
and she was sooooo well-behaved too!
(poor middle child!)

after all the excitement of our day out, i wrapped all the gifts last night after the kids went to sleep.
and made a list of what we still need to buy.
yuck. more shopping.
double yuck.
let's stop talking about it. it's making me feel nauseous.

one new tradition we started this year is the elf on the shelf.
i'm sure most of you know about/already do this, but after hearing tricia tell me how excited her kids are over this little elf, i had to get one for us too.


i can not even begin to explain the excitement.
every morning, the kids jump out of bed to see what he's done/where he's moved to.
even on school days!
no more shaking the crap out of them, er, shaking them in the morning to catch the bus.
oh no. they JUMP out of bed and are awake and HAPPY!
it is amazing.

last thing. because this is becoming the longest post ever in the history of the world.
i bet you've been wondering how ben did at his Christmas program.
he did GREAT! we were so relieved!
i didn't cry.
he only cried a little when i dropped him off with his teachers.

he was a little freaked out on stage,


but as soon as the audience started clapping after their first song, he clapped for himself and his friends, got the biggest GRIN on his face, and all was well with the universe.


he didn't sing, but shook his jingle bells instead.
and again, clapped for everyone.


he's awfully sweet like that anyways.

ok, off to drink more coffee, make more lists, and maybe do a couple hundred loads of laundry.

playing for change

i watched this today and it made me smile.
maybe it will make you smile too.

Playing For Change: Song Around the World "Stand By Me" from Playing For Change on Vimeo.

heading to ben's school tonight for the annual Christmas program.
he'll be on stage with his class for the first time.
let's hope he doesn't cry, maybe sings a little, and that i don't cry.
yep, let's hope i don't cry!
i'm such a wimp...

i got nothin

i don't know what to write tonight.
i'm watching football, sort of sinking into the sofa, warm from my favorite quilt.
man it looks cold in green bay. i'd much rather be on my cozy couch.

john went shopping this evening and i held down the fort at home.
he needed clothes for work and we had a ton of kohl's cash that expired tonight.
the kids were easy and fun while he was gone.
they spent most of their time playing legos and putting on a parade.


the legos are new to us, another craigslist find.
john brought home SIX bins full and couldn't wait till Christmas.
around here, they are priceless.

ben was all smiles, chasing anna around and around.
throwing legos everywhere, climbing on chairs and maybe even the kitchen table!


josh and i sat on the floor together watching the movie elf and just talking.
he is growing up so fast. i need to spend more time LISTENING to him.
he's changing so much.

one funny of the night--before i forget...
anna wanted to do something and john had told her no.
she was pleading her case when he told her he was the king of the house but she, however, was not the queen.
choosing not to be defeated, she countered back, "but i'm the queen of COOKIES!"
what do you say to that?!

ok. time to close up the laptop and recharge.
'night.

snow day

we woke up to a little suprise.


the winter's first snow.


the kids were so bright eyed and happy to be out in it.
never mind it wasn't even 7 a.m. yet!



nothing puts me more in the Christmasy mood than a little snow, rosy cheeks and warm cocoa.

it was so beautiful, so sparkly, and gently blanketed everything.




now, if only it would snow on a school/work day so we could have a stay-home day!