Evolution of the Gingerbread House

One of our Christmas traditions is the construction of a Gingerbread House. Every year the kids and I bake and decorate a House. It was surprising to me to find that this is something they look forward to every year. Every year it takes me a little longer to get into the "spirit" of constructing our Home. It is a multi-day event and very labor intensive (at least for mom). This year we barely completed it before Christmas. It is finished and it we are quite proud.

Knitting again

This past week I have begun to knit again. I took a little break from it to do things like laundry, cook, unpack, and you know the usual mommy things. But this week I have been knitting! I have been sitting down every night with my knitting needles, yarn and a Mojito (the most important of the knitting supplies :) and knitting away. It has been a huge stress reliever. I cannot believe I have set aside so many projects in order to do laundry! What was I thinking. I can honestly say that I haven't completed much (possibly due to the alcohol consumption?) but the rhythmic action of knitting has been a God send. That coupled with the fact that I am not trying to get anything specific finished for Christmas, have been most enjoyable. Then today I stumbled upon a t-shirt that read, "I knit so I don't kill people" and I realized that it is not just me who needs this stress relief. Perhaps a great gift idea for the knitter in your life. Happy Knitting!

joke of the day

In the interest of keeping my humor this Holiday Season I'd like to share this joke.

Walking home after a girls' night out, two women pass a graveyard and stop to pee. The first woman has nothing to wipe with, so she uses her underwear and tosses it. Her friend, however, finds a ribbon on a wreath, so she uses that. The next day, the first woman's husband phones the second woman's husband, furious: "My wife came home last night without her panties!" "That's nothing," says the other. "Mine came back with a card stuck between her butt cheeks that said, 'From all of us at the fire station, we'll never forget you.'"

Read more:

Please Stand By..

Just when I think it couldn't get any busier, it does. With all that has been going on this year Christmas got put on the back burner. Oh, what a mistake that was. It was only this morning, while sitting idle at the All Tune & Lube (fun times) did it dawn on me that I have exactly 5 days left. FIVE DAYS! The kids will be out of school Friday and with all of their energy and enthusiasm I am sure I will not have any time to put towards Christmas. Just to keep me on my toes, Mark is enjoying a winter season of 3 vs. 3 soccer and Jack is trying out for The Sound of Music (He made callbacks! WooHoo!) While I continue to work at unnatural speeds please enjoy this cartoon. I'll be back shortly.

Books & Reviews

If you are an avid reader and are looking for new material check out librarocity . It is a relatively new site for podcast reviews of various titles. I enjoyed the reviewers comparison of books with related themes as well as her quirky sense of humor and wit. Okay, and maybe I am a little bias as well.

Do you see what I see?

Here's the scoop. The kids, primarily Jack and Emma play this game with party necklaces. The plastic party beads you see at Mardi-gras or at little princess birthday parties. Ok, we have many, many necklaces, and large variety of shapes, colors and lengths. While Emma enjoys wearing them, Jack not so much. Anyway here is the game they play. They ball up the necklace, throw it up in the air and then watch to see the shape they make. I know this may not sound exciting to many of you, once you start going it can be quite hilarious. Here are some of our "tosses" and what we think they look like.

Angel.

Mermaid

Squirrel

Duck

Jack's running man

And a Partridge in a Pear Tree....What do you see?

It's up and

It's GOOD!

After days of the dreaded Christmas box invasion The Tree is UP (and complete with train)! WooHoo!

A Thankful List

In the spirit of the season I'd like to take a moment to share a few items on my thankful list.

Family & Friends

A plentiful table and people to share it with

Desserts and COFFEE

Health and Home

Warm sunny days on the East Coast

Good Books, Bad Jokes and Big Smiles

Silly Kids with the giggles

Nieces and Nephews to entertain

Electronics that travel in the car

A puppy to love and be loved by

A warm bed

Rainy days

Love and Life.....

Jack's 10!

I apologize for this late post. I have been having "issues" with the computer. Never-the-less here is Jack on his 10th birthday! WOW!

Happy Birthday Jack!

Legal Council

While sitting down to dinner with the kids, I noticed Emma did not have her glasses on. So, I asked "Where are you glasses?"

Her response was quick and easy, "I took them off when Jack and I were jumping on the bed."

WHAT! Jumping on her Antique bed!

Almost immediately after responding, her error was obvious. With a look of horror that mimicked my own she turned to Jack for help.

Jack gave Emma a stern look. He then turned and held his hand up to silence her. This clearly signaled the "I"ll handle this."

He turned to me and said, "I can neither confirm nor deny that we were or were not jumping on the bed."