Why the Craziness?

Why do we insist on making this time of year crazy? I mean really...why? Just over the last 7 days, I have:

Made 5 doz chocolate mint cookies for a cookie swap.
Attended cookie swap.
Made 2 doz choc. reindeer cookies before I decided I didn't like them and didn't make the other 4 doz cookies!
Made 8 bags full of Chocolate Pretzel treats for gift giving.
Ordered 4 additional gifts from on-line retailers.
Ran to nearby town for additional "in store" shopping. Wasn't very successful!
Wrapped 6 more gifts.
Taken both girls for haircuts, which is always a fiasco!
Went to Church.
Painted 9 additional clay ornaments for gift giving tags.
Hosted Beth's special day, which required getting 2 different crafts ready for 15 kids and making 15 cups of homemade "who" pudding.
Going to Walgreens with photo memory card and spending over an hour trying to print pictures!
Decided on 2 more recipes to make for cookie tray gifts - fudge and Oreo Balls and buying the ingredients.
Took Beth out to lunch yesterday.
Got my car's oil changed.
Oh...does cooking dinner each night count? (except last Sat/Sun)
Oh - did I mention Bob was out of town for two days during this? And also not home Sunday (Titan's NFL game with my dad)?

For the next 2 weeks, I fully expect just as much craziness, but it will get nuttier the closer to Christmas we get! Beth's Christmas pageant is next week, which requires making/getting an "Inn Keepers" costume for her, as well as providing a fresh fruit plate/dip for the reception after! Our office party is next week...and that will require coordinating lunch for 7 people and the gift exchange. Oh, and B'fast with Santa is this Saturday, following by an evening Nativity at my parent's church, that Beth really wants to go to. And we promised we take her out one night this week to go look at Christmas lights around town. The Scholastic Book Warehouse sale is also next Mon-Wed and I REALLY do want to go to that! Hum....and I'm still not finished Christmas shopping, but at this point, I'm all about doing it all online. In fact - I still need to order Sarah's gift from me ,too!
I LOVE this website:
www.littledressupshop.com
Their dress-up clothes are really nice and wearable, MUCH better than the actual Disney brand dresses! And they ship free! I'm getting the girls matching Cinderalla dresses.

Sheesh...I'm tired.....

Special Day

Beth's Nursery School "Special Day" was yesterday. We spent the morning at her Grammy's house reading the Grinch, eating who-pudding and making a few Christmas crafts. The weather was also nice enough to go on a "bear hunt" outside. Any excuse to get kids outside this time of the year is a good excuse!

Getting ready to read "God Knows Your Name"

Singing to Beth

Eating "Who-pudding"














And Going on a Bear Hunt:

And lastly - the ornaments the kids made (and recipe to follow in case you would like to make your own!

Baker's Clay
1/3 Cup water (more if too dry)

1/2 Cup salt

1 Cup flour

Mix all ingredients until a dough forms.
Add more water if too dry.
Separate and add food color if desired.

Roll out and use cookie cutters to make ornaments
If you'd like to keep your creations, bake at 275 degrees, for 1 hour.
Varnish, if desired, once cooled.
Insert ornament hooks before baking (or poke a hole to tie a ribbon through later).

***Sorry about the odd look and formatting of this post - I've tried and tried to fix it with no success!

Haircuts at last - THANK GOODNESS!

The girls were starting to resemble shaggy dogs! Beth got her usual cut and trim, but Sarah got her first real "cut" and looks so cute!

Sarah Before:

Sarah After:

Beth Before:

Beth After (or at least the back of her...she was being so squirrely and wouldn't even look at the camera!):

Does anyone know this little girl?

I've seen this doll several times in stores and online and each time, I do a doubletake! And my on-line friend, Sarah, pointed it out again today! Its the "Little Mommy Doll" by Fisher Price! Its like a mini-Sarah Katherine!!

Bob, The Horse...

The girls just LOVE to play piggyback with Bob! Just some normal evening fun around our house!

Cute Christmas Song...

On YouTube. Make sure you have your volume up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8

Totally made me smile!

Christmas Traditions...

Someone asked me recently what my favorite Christmas tradition was? It started me thinking about what "traditions" we currently have and if there are any I might want to add...hum.....

The things we do each year without fail include:

1. Christmas "Eve" dinner at my parent's house. (sometimes this falls on the 23rd) Its been the same for my entire life. Although the location has changed from my grandmother's house to my mother's house now, its still roughly the same. Its my family, my uncle's family and my grandmother - now that all the cousins are getting married and having kids - I think we are up to 18 people? Everyone dresses up nice, we have a big formal dinner, then the craziness of opening presents begins! We all take family pictures each year. Everyone grumbles about it, but you know, I truly value those pictures. Its so fun to go back through the years and see basically the same "family pose" each each and see how the family has grown or changed, whether it be the birth of a child, the addition of a new spouse, etc. I don't think I realized just HOW MUCH I valued those pictures until I had kids of my own. Generally, they aren't great pictures of EVERYONE (although it HAS happened before) because we are usually trying to hurry because of a squirming child! Here are a few from over the years:

2003 - when Beth was 9 months old:

(Don't know what happened to the 2004 picture!)

2005 -I was pregnant with Sarah:

2006 - Sarah was 8 months old

2. Last year - we started this one:

Each year on Christmas Eve, we gift the girls matching Christmas PJ's and then they curl up with Bob and he reads them The Night Before Christmas, then we put out milk and cookies for Santa and then its off to bed!

3. Christmas Morning has also been relatively the SAME for me, since I can remember, regardless of WHERE it was, with the exception of one year that I can remember. It generally consists of waking up and waiting till everyone was awake. Then we go into the living room and the kids check out Santa gifts and then we open our family gifts. Its just us and its wonderful! We eat the same thing each Christmas morning - powdered donuts...and Sister Schubert Sausage biscuits (and it was Sausage balls when I was growing up). The rest of the day is usually different each year, but that morning tradition means the world to me!

2005 - Beth checking out her stocking!

2006:

4. And at some point during the 2-3 day Christmas festivities, we head over to Bob's family's house and have Christmas there, too! His mom makes some killer cheese dip with sausage that I look forward to each year!

My Sister-in-Law, Becky, and Beth in 2003:

My nephew, Chase, and Sarah in 2006:

What is your favorite tradition?