Post Christmas Miscellany

White Christmas's Rock.

Even though we didn't get "snow man" snow we did get "snow angel" snow. Don't tell Tyler but aren't they supposed to be made while on your back?

Even without proper snow gear (c'mon, why buy snow gear in Altanta?) L and T had a blast.


The snow is trying hard to stick around in the shady spots but with temps in the lower 50s today and for the rest of the week it doesn't really stand a chance.

Tyler and Lauren ease their disappointment in the melting snow with new Christmas PJs and white chocolate bars.

Since we're crazy we let them decorate their laptop computers.

Since we're not that crazy we bought them kitchen timers. They now get 30 minutes to play on their computers before they need to find a CREATIVE thing to play. (i.e. read books, color, play with their non-electric toys, or throw a complete fit ...(not that they've done that or anything...omg.))

Today the kiddos went across the street to play with Jake and Dylan. Since I had 4 hours to myself, I went shopping, of course. A Williams-Sonoma gift card was burning a hole in my pocket .

Here's what I came home with.
(thanks Jan and Michael!)

a magnetic drip stopper for my wine bottles

new kitchen towels

a lemon juicer
(which works great! by the way)

and some Silicone Ties which didn't get a close up picture.
Wow...if this LINK is in US Dollars than I got a GREAT deal. (Like over 95 percent off!)

I was going to post this blog entry from my brand spankin' new iPAD but after 30 seconds I just couldn't figure out how to do it. (i.e. how do I download the photos but not delete them from my card, how do I resize them, what do I do with them once they're downloaded etc. etc.)

30 seconds is pretty much the limit to my attention span.
I'll have to ask Matt.
(I'm pretty sure he likes to help me with these things.)

In the meantime if you want to play Scrabble or Words with Friends...look me up.

Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas dear readers! If you are not family by Matt or myself then I give you a free pass to skip today's blog. Today's post should be more about the gift of salvation through Christ's birth (which we are beyond thankful for) but what you'll see if you keep reading is an over-abundance of gifts.

According to the children this was the best Christmas ever. They've had, respectively, 6 and 4 Christmas' on which to base their decision. Which, if you ask me, is an ample amount of time.

Last night I told L and T they could get up at 7 o'clock in the morning. On a normal day Lauren would come into our bedroom, while Tyler waited outside, and ask if she could go downstairs. Today, instead of checking in with us first, she and Tyler went downstairs to check if Santa came. While down there they emptied their stockings! and then made their way back up-stairs to wake us up.

And now for the gifts from SANTA!

Purple Unicorn Pillow Pet

Pillow Pet in the shape of a Doggie

American Girl Doll
(Lauren is beyond excited!)

Nintendo DSi
(this is Tyler's "beyond excited" face)

While Lauren's American Girl Doll "Little Lauren" got comfortable we opened the mountain of gifts under the Christmas tree. Little Lauren ended up following us. Can you spot her?

the Kung Zhu pets were a big hit

ornament painted by Grandma Jan

Zoobles

Kung Zhu Battle Arena

the pile of wrapping paper

After all the gifts were opened it was time for some serious playtime. Lauren spent many hours playing the Wii...Littlest Pet Shop and My Babies First Steps were her top favorites.

Tyler divided his time playing Mario on the Nintendo DSi...
and Mario Kart on the Wii.
I feel some rules and guidelines regarding computer/electronic/tv time are in our near future.

Lauren and Tyler also received their very own LAPTOP COMPUTERS! (Thanks G'ma Jan & G'pa Michael (I think.))
Now there will be no more fighting over who gets to play on the computer. Unless Little Lauren insists on playing as well.


Matt and I also got some great gifts but we had the most fun watching the kids open and enjoy their presents.

I may have to agree with Lauren and Tyler about this being the best Christmas Ever because although, it's very rare in Atlanta we enjoyed a snowy white Christmas.
MERRY CHRISTMAS Y'ALL!!!!!

Christmas Eve 2010

Christmas Eve 201o

Today we went to church...the 2:30 Christmas Eve service at Southside.
(before that we were completely lazy and watched way too much TV)

Here are the darlings just about ready to go.

And here they are in a more natural form.

The Christmas Eve service was great. Awesome (Awesome!) music but Lauren and Tyler got a little tired from sitting still for so long. (Everyone was together for the Christmas Eve service...no "Sunday School" for the kids.)

Back home we got ready for Santa and the Reindeer.

We made chocolate chip cookies for him.
(Tyler and Lauren did some quality control)

And we made Magic Reindeer Food.
Tyler made his at school.Lauren made hers from scratch.
Recipe for Reindeer Food:
1/3 cup Whole Grain Old Fashioned Oats

and about 10 shakes from the colorful sprinkles jar.
(so the reindeer can see the food from above.)

Then go outside and spread the food all over the front lawn...or in our case all over the walkway to the front door.

Look at those sparkly sprinkles.

After we made sure there was plenty of reindeer food out and about we went down the street to take care of our neighbor's pets.
We played with Sadie.

(who Tyler kept calling Stacey)

and also hung out with Meow.

Back home we watched a Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer show and then it was off to bed.
L and T left a cookie for Santa and a carrot for Rudolph.

Merry Christmas to all!

Merry Christmas Eve's Eve

Merry Christmas Eve's Eve!

In our house we've been counting down the days until Christmas with the Countdown Santa Grandma Jan painted for us a few years ago. He sits on the shelf next to the book my Mom (or GG??) bought for us when we moved to the South. Both deliver great information.As you can see above we only have 2 more days until Christmas!

As we've counted down the days we've been quite busy:
Lauren had her Christmas Party at school.

The only picture I took (out of 20 or so good photo-ops) was of Mr. Zack reading a story to the kids.
(Mr. Zack is a high-school student who plans on getting his teaching degree so he spends part of his school day helping in Lauren's class.)

I snuck Tyler in there too and nobody seemed to notice.

I had my Mom's Night Out gift exchange.
It was a very fun evening in with the ladies even though the gift I stole was then stolen from me. I ended up going home with a gift of 2 bottles of red wine. Not too shabby at all.

Today
I was in the kitchen doing something very productive (as always) when I heard Lauren and Tyler both burst out laughing in the office. They were on the computers playing Curious George's Banana 411 game.
Can I just freeze these kiddos so they don't get any older?!

Before I get to today's food let me share a couple of cool things with you.
Thing #1
Oregon vs. Auburn Diaries
At her school Christmas party, Lauren's teacher told me she is rooting for my Oregon Ducks in the BCS National Championship Game (aka the Nattys.) I looked at her and said, "But I thought you were an Alabama fan?!" She said, "I am." And then I remembered that Alabama is NOT the same as Auburn, AL. I was afraid that Alabama fans would automatically choose the SEC over the Pac-10 or anyone else for that matter but it appears it is not the case. Whoo Hoo. I'm happy to have any and all Alabama fans. So c'mon Alabama let's Roll the Tide in Oregon's direction!!

Thing #2
Our Church's iBand
They performed this last Sunday.
A-W-E-S-O-M-E
(especially the second song so make sure you listen to the entire clip)

and a bonus Thing #3
My brother and sister (in-law) are going to have a BOY!!
Congratulations Kevin and Mili!

And now for today's food.

I follow about 40 blogs in my Google Reader (too many?) but occasionally there will be a blog about exactly what I need. I had a container of left-over canned pumpkin in the fridge that was on its absolute last day. 'Lo and behold Carrots' N Cake blogged about some Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Dough Balls which (when doubled) used the exact amount of canned pumpkin I had left over. I love when that happens!
They are delish and as I type this post Matt and Mr. Mike are in the basement making a pretty good dent in them.

Dinner tonight was from my Rachael Ray magazine.
Smoky Tomato and Couscous (but I used Orzo) Soup
This smoky and very SPICY tomato soup is going into my All-Time Favorites folder.

Matt made his famous grilled cheese sandwiches to go with it.
Look at those beauts! I refuse to learn how to make grilled cheese because mine couldn't possibly come close to his.

To close, here are a couple pics of the children patiently? waiting for Christmas morning.

Tyler in front of the ridiculously full Christmas tree and...

Lauren finishing up her latest masterpiece.

Merry Christmas Eve's Eve Y'all