It's Beginning To Smell a Lot Like Christmas...

I just finished mopping the kitchen floor. It's heavenly. I've only been avoiding it for like two months or something, but it is my least favorite chore- EVER. Where is Tara when I need her (my sister who mops REALLY well)? Anywho, I just couldn't bear the thought of such a dirty floor for Christmas so tonight after the kids were in bed I did it, moved the chairs and the table and everything. I just hope it lasts through tomorrow. With the kids not in school I'm not holding my breath but I can dream, can't I? At least it won't be as dirty as it was... seriously!

On Sunday Gracie was bored (she asks me daily "what are we going to do today" or "are we going to do anything fun today?") so I told her to make a list of all the fun things she wanted to do this week. She was DELIGHTED with this task and the list is now hanging on the wall above the stairs so as to be sure and be seen by me every morning when I come downstairs so we don't forget to do something fun! On Monday they made ornaments, on Tuesday we went to the Flood Museum and today we made gingerbread cookies. The cookies were originally supposed to be an actual gingerbread house and it was supposed to be done on Monday but due to my lack of being able to get it all together (and my unwillingness to pay 16.99 for the kit) we had to make some minor adjustments and a schedule change. But, alas, we made the cookies today and the kids had a great time decorating them. And the house smelled delicious!

The Crazy Crew! (Aunt Miche came over for the fun)

Rex cracked me up with the cookie balls he was making, I didn't realize he was doing it until I looked over and saw all of these, it was pretty cute!

Frosting fun!

Stop the madness!

The finished product! (Aren't those gingerbread house cookies cute? Gracie and Owen are each holding one.)

Mugging Santa

Nothing is going as planned this Christmas. No Christmas cards sent, no presents wrapped, no presents sent (yet) :( I've been staying up way later than I should be since the kids are out of school, but really I just wish I could stay in bed and watch TV all day (if only the kids wouldn't wreck the house if I really did do that). I do believe I'm suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder (it's a real thing, people!) or in layman's terms the winter blues. Alas, life is calling me and I must push through! Right? Right!?!?! So, I had intended to post a lot more this month, to capture all the wonder and glory of the season, ya know... but well, you read the above explanation, right? Needless to say I just don't have it together this year. Oh well, there's always next year. Anyway, at least we got the decorations put up, that IS something! And I thought I would share my favorite Christmas decorations for your viewing pleasure. It is my collection of Santa mugs. My love of Santa mugs stems from my childhood wherein my Grandma Wright had a set of blue Santa mugs and I just adored them, truly loved them. And so, years later when I saw one in a store that closely resembled my Grandma's mugs (it was not blue) I just had to buy it and so began my collection. I still have yet to find a blue one (I'm sure I could find one online but I haven't looked there yet). I usually just buy them when I see them in a store or Kris gives them to me for Christmas. I hope you enjoy- although they are much better in person!

Blogging is good therapy! I already feel better :)

Ransom

We have found many treasures in our house since we moved in, and one of them was an old typewriter which the kids thought was really cool. It's like an ancient piece of technology to them. And to think I actually used to use one, ooooohhh. So we decided to let them have their fun since we really have no use for it and they were fascinated with it. Well, after a little while we started to find these little notes. We were actually quite impressed with their abilities. I guess a typewriter's not so hard to figure out when you've grown up on computers.

Brotherly Love

I caught these two cuddled up watching Santa Buddies (of Air Bud fame for any of you who don't have kids this age, his progeny just keep on going and going...) and it warmed my heart. 'Tis the season. So why don't you all go cuddle up with someone you love and watch Santa Buddies (haha, just kidding but I'm sure you could find some Christmas movie that you love to watch this time of year. My pick- While You Were Sleeping, now if I could just get Kris to cuddle up with me and watch it...)

Flushed

This is what Colby has been into lately.

And apparently, he thinks it's pretty funny.

Me, on the other hand, not so much. It is a chore to keep this kid out of the bathroom what with a house full of people needing to use the restroom and such all day long. And if one door is shut he just heads to a different one. He also likes to throw things in the tub. Such as: the x-box controller (with water in the tub), the cordless phone (no water), a library book (water, oops!), my cell phone (no water, phew!), and other miscellaneous items. Yes, my life is very pleasant chasing after this kid, isn't he a little young for this crap?!