ornaments

My in-laws decided to do a Christmas ornament exchange between all the cousins. It turned out great and was so much fun to see all the different types of ornaments given and received.

This ornament exchange got us to thinking about a tradition we would love to start this year. We already snag ornaments from places we visit. We have two new ones to add to our tree this year: a crab from our trip to Florida and a couple we picked up in Hawaii. But we want the kids to be involved more and so we have decided to let them pick out a new ornament each year. And we are thinking that they are more likely to choose something they are into that year. For example, went to the local Hallmark store this morning and let them loose. Well, not loose as in all over the place, but let them take their time looking at each and every ornament.

Have you been to Hallmark lately?? Gees!! They have surely stepped things up over the last decade. Or maybe I just didn't even notice the ornaments before because we really didn't have a reason to. They have an ornament celebrating every type of thing in life: movies, characters from TV and movies, classic toys, movie stars, comic book heroes, musical instruments, holiday characters (of course)...and the list goes on. I began to regret my decision to let them choose. It was a very hard decision but both made excellent choices.

Mo's choice was a bit surprising to me. I thought he would for sure choose Spiderman but instead he picked up this one:

It is seriously cool. So I was not about to argue with the little man. Guesses for what Mi-mi's choice was?? Yuppers. Anything associated with The Wizard of Oz is definitely a no-brainer for this little blonde cutie-patootie. Would you believe it also plays the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"??? It couldn't be any more perfect.

P.S. we also plan to write their name on it and also the year so we can keep track. Maybe all their ornaments from over the years will make a great present to them on their wedding day! Among other things, of course. ;)

happy happy joy joy

Happy birthday to D. I wonder if he likes being married to an older woman. I love being married to a younger man. It keeps things lively. ;) We have had lots of fun celebrating and holding his hand while entering the threshold of a new decade. Here is one of my favorite pics of him and Mo-mo. Enjoy.

snl weekly: double-dose

With it being Thanksgiving weekend I am feeling extra generous. Here is another favorite skit of mine that I failed to post earlier (not sure why). I must apologize if you have not seen this sooner...especially if it was because you were waiting for me to post it and I failed you. Not sure what it is about her but I love Lady Gaga. Not only was her musical performance on SNL superb but her acting chops are pretty saucy. Check out Andy Samberg putting her to the test when a fashion faux pas comes head to head.

snl weekly

The musical guests on SNL a lot of times overshadow the nonplus of skits. Lady Gaga's performance is memorable. Taylor Swift did an amazing job of hosting AND performing. But I think this performance takes the cake. Green Day is a band from my high school days and it's awesome to still have them around. Especially on award shows like the AMA's where most of the acts bombed...except for Green Day. So here they are with a fever and the only prescription is more COWBELL.

favorite children's books

I remember being so fascinated by snow. Do you remember how fun it was to throw on your snowsuit and giant moon boots to spend hours playing in the first snowfall? And the many afterwards? We could literally spend hours outside playing in the snow, never tiring of the many things one can do in the snow: snow angels, sledding, and building snowmen, to name a couple. So it is no wonder that my kids now share the same enthusiasm about snow and snowmen. They love being out in the snow and also reading stories about snowmen, especially the most famous one of all. Snowmen At Night and Snowmen At Christmas have become instant hits at our house. The rhyming story about all the fun that goes on after dark is delightfully cute and the wonderful illustrations capture the essence of joy snowmen must feel when they sneak off in the night to meet up with their friends. Christmas is such a magical time of year and to incorporate that with the snowmen deserves two thumbs-up: gathering for snowy ice treats, singing around the city's Christmas tree and then welcoming the snowman Kris Kringle opens a whole new world to the imagination of a child. Who knows...maybe it is snowmen who have the most fun, not blondes. :)

grateful

I have so much to be thankful for today. There truly is not enough space or interest (I'm sure I would bore you all to death with my list) here for me to document every single thing I'm grateful for. But I do want to tell you how grateful I am for my D. He is hard-working, an amazing, gentle father, patient, loving, loyal, faithful, strong, and super-duper sexy. Because of him I am a stronger, more confident and loving person than I think I would have been. Of course, I have many weaknesses but he always points out the strengths and helps me overcome my faults. He gave me a life and it is one I couldn't live without. Is that statement somewhat ironic? Anywho. You get the picture. And speaking of picture, here is one from the first day of our committed, eternal, hard and fun life together. I love that he is the only one who is locking eyes with the camera lens. I also love how happy he looks. Such a beautiful, happy day and to have that captured by the look on his face is, truly, priceless.

herrrrrrcut

So I decided I was sick of my hair and got a haircut. This was my inspiration. Anyone else watching The Biggest Loser this season? I just love that show. Especially love that while I'm watching it, I'm usually snacking on something. Isn't that how it always is? Well, it shouldn't be. I should be working my tail off too. Anywho. The Biggest Loser make-over show was last week and I love this haircut Rebecca got. I have been wanting something new, just to change it up and to also be a bit easier to fix in the mornings. My friend Steph is absolutely amazing and worked her magic. Before and after pics soon to follow!!

snapshot

Mi-mi's prayer tonight at dinner:

"Pwease bwess the food. Pwease bwess Dorofy, Toto, Lion, Tin Man and Scarecrow..."

At least she remembered to bless the food. :)

anniversaire

I am amazed that it has been 8 years but so, so humbled as well. I still have so much to learn. But again, I could not have found a better partner-in-crime. He is my best friend. He is my worst critic. He accepts my faults and loves me through it all. An 8 year old wine is good but not great. So here's to more aging, more experiences and more ups and downs together.

fanatical friday

Thanks to the new Twilight movie, New Moon, and my wonderful magazine subscriptions, I have some great reading material to fill in the gaps over the weekend. :) The gaps I'm referring to are the "down time" moments I get after squeezing in some major cleaning, laundry, food prep and playing with the kids. Here's to a couple of great weekends full of reading, eye-candy and the movie release next weekend!!

tricks and treats

Not sure why I hadn't loaded these until now. I just love Halloween and am sad when it is over. Much like Christmas...except after Christmas, there really isn't much to look forward to. February always seems so far away and the snow would be much more enjoyable if I could ski more often. How ideal to wake up and just go skiing...all day...once a week.

We did have a ton of fun on Halloween this year. We barely made it around the block but did manage to get loads of candy. We had fun visiting grandparents too and watching fun Halloween shows like the ones I mentioned before. I even stayed up and watched Hocus Pocus. To me, that was a treat. But the best of all was spending time with the kids and watching their faces light up every time a neighbor put a treat into their welcoming bucket. And BTW -- my idea was to decorate those ice cream buckets. As you see, it didn't happen. Maybe next year. ;)

favorite children's books

Here is a cute book about turkeys that I got from the book orders. 10 Fat Turkeys is a cute rhyming tale of turkeys who like to mess about and do crazy stunts. Each sets them flying to where there are no more turkeys on the fence...and no more fence. But in the end, they find something else to climb and get on being crazy turkeys. Check it out.

wizard of oz

Mi-mi goes through stages. One month she could not live without watching The Iron Giant. Then it was Pete's Dragon. Now, she cannot live without The Wizard of Oz. She loves the singing. She loves the characters. She constantly talks about the lion, the scarecrow and the tin man like they are her best friends. She even loves the tornado in the beginning. She always gets so excited to tell me that "the tornado is coming!!" She loves Toto too. But she especially loves when Dorothy lands in Munchkinland. She jumps up and down and dances with all the Munchkins. She loves the Lollipop Guild and laughs giddily when D re-creates the song and dance for her. It really is quite a sight to see him do it.

I'm thinking I'm a bit of a pushover because I usually let her watch the movie. In my defense, she does beg for it ALL DAY LONG. Plus she is so stinkin' cute. I can't say no. I've tried a few times and it turns into fits of rage and tears.

I did try to explain to her that the workers at the beginning on Aunt Em and Uncle Henry's farm are the tin man, scarecrow and the lion. She didn't really care or understand. Not sure why I even attempted to explain and ruin the magic of it all for her.

I'm bummed that Dorothy's red shoes were not on display when I went to the many Smithsonians. How cool would it be to wear these for a minute?! Probably the most coveted shoes on earth. The red shoes truly steal the show. How uncool would the whole movie be if Dorothy wore those black school shoes she wears in the beginning?!?

The movie is such a timeless classic and from it comes one of the most famous, and most sung/recorded songs on earth. One of my favorite versions is from Israel Kamakawiwo:

snl weekly

Taylor Swift hosted and sang on last week's SNL. I thought she was pretty funny and the skits were some of the funniest in a while. Highlights: Firelight sketch, Scared Straight sketch (Bill Hader cannot keep a straight face), Driving PSA skit, The View skit (Swift as Kate Gosselin) and Swift's opening monologue. Pretty original and funny. Here it is for your viewing enjoyment:

fanatical friday

Here is a clip from the very sweet Mat Kearney concert we went to last week. Of course, I really liked him before but I'm loving him now. He was really good live and was an impressive show-man. Enjoy.

berfday

Here are pictures from the big day. We really had a fun, relaxing day. It was great to spend my birthday with the people I love and could not live without. Here is Mi-Mi doing her best impression of what 30 looks like: And here is Mo-Mo's impression:

I told D that I wanted to carve pumpkins for my birthday and celebrate with family.

I got my wish for both. Thank you for making my day perfect!!

book recommendations

So I've finished my current reads: The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. Now I'm in need of a new book to read. But I'm having a hard time narrowing down my choices. Anyone have a great book recommendation for moi?? Gimme, gimme, gimme some ideas. What are some great books you have read recently??

fun theory

Thanks to my sis-in-law Sue for sharing this with me. It is innovative and fun. Too bad we can't do this everywhere. :)