unblogged

I figure this is the day to do my Review of 2011 post where I go back through my archives and photo albums and tell you all my favorite things we did this year.

All our lovely family bonding experiences.

All the fun and educational activities I did with my children to enrich their lives.

All the life lessons I've learned.

All the best that 2011 had to offer.

Except I'm not going to.

Today you get all the stuff I didn't blog about.

Some pictures I took. Sometimes intending to blog about them. Sometimes not. Who knows? Most of the time I get ideas and then little people and fatigue get in the way of my computer time and stuff just goes unsaid and unshared.

So here it is.

2011 Unblogged (except now it is blogged so I guess that's not an appropriate title...too late)

From the top (that means starting in January, duh.)




Countless bath pictures and stories did not get shared. You're welcome.

Red, white and blue sandwich cookies I made for President's Day. Boring but kind of nice to look at.

So many pictures of Cate in her tutu (that no longer fits) walking around the house pushing dollies in strollers. The life of a little girl.

We got a new garage door in March. The old one broke 2 Februaries earlier. Yep. Broken door for a year. Sorry about that, neighbors.

Polka dot bums. I'm not sure why that went unblogged.

Dan dug up a monstrous dead tree root system (something like that) from under the swings in the backyard. I was pretty sure someone was going to fall off the swings one day and get a traumatic brain injury with that thing lying there slightly exposed. Those were some big honkin' roots.

Danny denied Cate's kisses too many times to count. Who wants to blog about that? Not me.

I was called to be the Young Women's president in May. Yeah. Me as the leader, teacher,mentor and overall awesome example for a bunch of teenage girls at church. Scary. It's been fun and challenging. My first big activity was scraping paint off an old house with the youth. Unblogged, until now.

In June Danny gave Grama Bama a lick of the frosting off my birthday cake and I didn't even blog about it. What is this world coming to?




One of my favorite unblogged pictures from July. I call this one "Monkey See, Monkey Do" and I can't look at it without smiling a little. She's just adorable. Have I mentioned that before?



Oh, August. What happened? I blame the heat. So many things unblogged.

The biggest and most memorable (at least that's what I'm hoping since I am still planning to post about it) was our road trip from Alabama to Utah with Grama Bama and Grandpa. I blogged about the other parts of our summer vacation. Just not the 4 day trip home. It's coming. Some time before next August. I know you don't care about it anymore but I sure do. I want to be able to click back in my archives some day and remember that I'm a survivor! (And Dan is too since he survived listening to Cate's Oswald DVD for 4 days straight.)

We came home from the high school reunion trip and I immediately had to get out my yearbook and remember what these people used to look like. I honestly didn't remember some of them. That first one is my senior picture. Look at all that hair. I have no idea where it went.

Cate saw the picture of the guy on the opposite page from my picture and said, "Dat's Daddy!" Eek. If I squint real hard I can see the resemblance.

Marisa commented on this post many months ago and mentioned that I should blog about my shoe hooks. I figured maybe I would so I took pictures of my shoe hooks. There they are. I got three of them from a cute little shop in town. Then I decided I wanted more but the next time I went back they were out. I looked online (from the tag on the hooks) and found them here. I want more because I have big plans to make a coat/backpack hanging spot near my back door. Don't go ordering a whole bunch and making them be out of stock, please.

Then I figured if my shoe hooks are blog worthy then so are my cupboards. Pretty cool, right? They're supposed to be the kind that you load cans at the top and they just roll down. Like at the grocery store. My grandpa built them.

I don't use them for cans. They hold jars and empty honey bears and baby wipes and sacks of extra flour. I think they'd be an awesome method of food organization if I'd just use them for what he intended. I think can sizes have changed and they don't work perfectly. Or I'm just lazy. See, that was a good one to leave unblogged.

Princess Cate with a kazoo.

We got a new roof for the back porch next to the back garage. The demolition stuff always makes me feel kind of sad.

The kids piled up all the stuffed animals and all the blankets onto Danny's bed one day and watched a movie together. Why did that go unblogged? That's breaking news, people! Miraculous things are happening over here and I don't tell you. I have no excuse.



Remember how Christie took some family pictures for us this summer? A whole bunch of them got left unblogged. Not because I don't love how they turned out. I do. I got distracted and stuff happened and those pictures just sat on my computer. Here's one of my favorites though. Better late than never. And it serves as a good reminder to me that I had quite the farmer's tan.



Lots of unblogged recipes. These mini pizza things were a big hit. Very tasty. And super easy. The recipe states that they're only 66 calories each. Only 66! That's just dandy unless you eat 10 of them in one sitting. Not that I would ever do such a thing.

And then there's the apple pie. We were at the store one morning and Cate asked for apples. Danny heard her and asked if we could make apple pie. I said we could, thinking to myself, "wow, i'm such an awesome spur of the moment mom. look at us. we're going to just head home and make us some apple pie. nobody even planned it. just doing it for the fun of it." So of course we bought some boxed up pie crusts and went home. I let them watch me cut the apples. Then they stirred a little bit until somebody wasn't careful and stuff flew out of the bowl. I stuck it in the oven and didn't even mind when nobody even wanted to taste it when it was done and cooled. These crazy kids of mine.

And then that very same day I read this post about this awesome mom who made apple pie with her little kids too except they picked their own apples, grated their nutmeg fresh and looks like they had homemade crust to boot. I felt bad at first but now I just figure we all try in our own ways. Plus, her kids probably ate their pie.

Cookie jar I found during back garage clean up time. I really love it.

Vintage ribbon and bead barrette that I probably wore all through high school. Any takers? I'm wondering how much I could get on eBay for it. It's vintage.

A beady purse of Grandma's I found out there too. Wondering if I should let Cate use it for dress up or if it's vintage too, like my barrette.

Old Yahtzee score cards and Absentee Report Forms from the same clean up session.

Why is this cherished wedding gift not hanging in my house right now?

Another recipe. One of my favorites. Rice krispie treats for grown ups. There's peanut butter in there.

Me in the mullet. I told Danny that if he'd let me take his picture in it, I'd let him take mine. There's a reason that one was left unblogged. Actually, there's lots of reasons that one was left unblogged.




I know I shared this one before but I love it. I feel like it gives me a glimpse of what Danny would look like as a cute little girl.



Cousin Andrew got married in October and the whole shindig went unblogged. So here's 9 pictures to make up for it.

Danny being whiny and complainy while we waited outside.
Cate and Dan checking out each others tonsils. Cate's are huge by the way.
The happy couple from the back.
Cate eating all of Aunt Suzy's breath mints. Poor little girl was starving.
Danny being tortured by his other big boy cousins.
Cupcakes!
Posing with Cousin Billy.
Cate with two big girl cousins. Grandma had a 16 year break (filled with the births of lots of little grandsons) between baby granddaughters.
Danny being extremely uncooperative.



The cousins, big and small. The small tend to not like to stand still all at the same time for one really good picture so we get shots like this instead.



Did I blog about how cute Danny is with Ray Ray? Maybe so.

I found my Girl Scout jacket during clean out the closet time. Oh, the memories. Danny was mostly impressed by my badge that had a rocket ship on it. He said, "Wow! How did you get that one?" Maybe a trip to space camp? I don't remember.

Danny was not very happy to be posing in Grandpa's old jacket from high school. That's why I didn't blog about it.

I don't know how this one got left out. First drawing of the blue sky at the top of the page and the green grass at the bottom. And don't forget the big red ball of fire in the middle. I really was very proud of this milestone.

A mess. Who blogs about messes? Not me.

Danny's birthday cake. Unblogged. That's a cupcake though.

My favorite ornaments. Unblogged. Because really, who cares besides me? That's what I thought.

The damage Cate did to the wall in her bedroom. Unblogged because I'm not very happy about it. Who wants to remember that kind of thing? Not me.





Here's our tree on Christmas Eve. I took a picture of it because it makes me happy. In years past I've been so frustrated with the lights. Really. I just felt like there weren't enough and I didn't do a good job putting them on. This year. Perfection. The tree's still up and the lights are still on. I'm having a hard time taking it down because it took me so long to get those lights just right. It'll be coming down on Monday.



Also unblogged, the time I let Cate put on blue eyeshadow while I was doing my hair. She was a cute mess.

Cousin Kris' birthday cake. He wanted red. I decided I'd have to use too much red food coloring or else it would just look pink. So I convinced him to pick a different color. He picked yellow. I didn't have yellow. He got green. I aim to please. I just fall short sometimes.

Cate playing with her little people in the morning sunlight.

Then one night Cate and Ray Ray got into the soap in Aunt Judy's bathtub. Cate rubbed it all over their hair. It was a slightly damp bar of soap so a lot of it got stuck in their hair. It was not a pretty sight later that night during bath time when the soapy water from that mess dripped into her eyes. Not pretty at all.

Another bath unblogged. You're welcome again.

Dan and his siblings at his mom's house on Christmas. Dan's grouchy and I had to chop off Uncle Tim and Aunt Suzy so they'd fit in the square.

Danny got some Tinker Toys for Christmas. The first thing he made were light sabers. The red one belongs to Darth Maul and the green one is Qui-Gon Jinn's. Obviously, the attempt to expose him to other toys and steer him away from Star Wars didn't work.

I love Yoda.

My fancy hairstyle I never blogged about. Three buns. The three little bunnies.


And one last picture of the whole gang. How could I not blog about these cute little creatures? Aunt Cindy made them for Danny and Cate for Christmas. She'd be happy to know that they were in a puppet show a few days ago. Danny's idea.



So yeah.

There's 2011 Unblogged.

I promise to unblog all the boring stuff in 2012 too.

You're very welcome.

last friday night video of the year

I saved the best for last.

Cate singing an original piece.

She's quite the songwriter.

All about bugs and monsters...or is it?

She cracks me up.

holiday highlights

Danny had a sleepover at the cousins' house on Friday night. When we came to pick him up on Saturday morning, we were informed that he puked in the middle of the night. Kris told us that when he woke up and saw Danny puking (or when he saw Danny's puke on the floor, I'm not 100% clear on the details), he puked too. Lovely.

Danny had a pretty good fever too so I gave him some medicine, buckled him into the car and made him come on a little family outing anyway. Sickness is no excuse to get out of family Christmas bonding time. Plus, I had a 20% off coupon for the BYU bookstore that was expiring that day and no way was I going to let it go to waste. Such a good mommy. I know.

I guess the medicine worked because he was fine and happy walking around the bookstore (at least for the first little while). We got some stuff and then headed outside to do some sightseeing around campus.

No trip to the BYU bookstore is complete without purchasing a few (or more than just a few) chocolate Lindor balls.



And none of that white chocolate either. That stuff's not real chocolate. It's not fooling anyone. Milk chocolate and dark chocolate. My favorites. I ate one and then saved the other one for Dan's Christmas stocking. I'm a giver. He ended up giving it back to me but it's the thought that counts.



Photo op with the big Y on the mountain behind them.

Know what I love about this picture?

Danny's fireman boots are on the wrong feet.
One side of his pants is stuck in the boot.
He's holding Hard Puppy in one hand and his bag of candy in the other.
Cate's legs. She's a little bit knock-kneed and her thighs are terribly adorable.
Dan's smiling and the sky is blue.



Here's my best effort at a family shot. It's a good thing Danny's head is right there because it covers up the humongo zit on my chin very nicely.



We roamed around outside for a while since it was sunny and not too cold.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I love that place. I spent some of the best years of my life there.

I had a good childhood. No complaints here. My parents and sisters are wonderful. I actually liked high school and even junior high too. I had good friends and lots of great experiences. I'm pretty sure band camp prepared me for the real world.

I love my husband and my kids are great. Duh. I'm thankful for them and all the good that's come to my life because of them. The good times just keep getting better (especially since I don't change diapers anymore).

But the years I spent in college are some that I will always treasure. Sounds really mushy and cheesy. Sorry. It's just the truth. I made some lifelong friends, learned how to have roommates (with 3 sisters I'm pretty sure I'd already been doing that one), went on my first date, had my first kiss (at the ripe old age of 19...good grief), found Dan (who was neither my first date nor my first kiss), and actually learned stuff! What could be better?

I walked around campus on Saturday fighting back tears a few times (and now as I'm writing this too...sheesh, I'm a cry baby). I love it there. I want my kids to love it there too. I think we're off to a good start.



We wandered around this huge building (that wasn't there when I was a student) with a big fountain in the courtyard. Danny loved it. He stood there staring at the water and then stated, "I'm gonna be standing here forever probly."

Less than a minute later we were on the move again.

The kids had fun walking around and jumping off these ledges. They weren't very far off the ground. No one got hurt.



Dan and I recreated our first kiss. The one where he leaned in, I turned my head and he ended up kissing my chin.



Ha. Just kidding. I'd never do that.

I just wanted a picture of us together. My big zit kept getting in all the shots. Dan switched sides and covered it up for me. Such a gentleman to kiss my zitty old chin.

The highlight of our BYU outing (besides the zitty kiss) was standing in line for the free gift wrapping. Two old guys were in front of me talking to a young man with one arm. They were just chatting it up like this youngster was some kind of celebrity. How honored they were to meet him. Wishing him well. A one-armed baseball star. Yadda yadda yadda.

I went home and googled "one armed baseball player from Utah" and turns out he is a little bit famous. Plus, he plays basketball too. And he's engaged. I heard him mention that to the old guys. Pretty cool that I eavesdropped on the conversation of a kind of famous one armed sports star on Christmas Eve day.

And then we went home where Danny slept for 4 hours and Cate made Dan play tea party with her for about that long.

I started a new Christmas Eve tradition. I'm pretty sure of it. I made Swedish meatballs for dinner and they were scrumptious, if I do say so myself. Really good. Almost as good as IKEA's. I even had a jar of lingonberry jam to go along with the meatballs. Yum. My grandma's maiden name is Monson so I figure we're Swedish enough to have their meatballs on Christmas Eve.

The cousins and their parents came over to eat and exchange gifts.



Danny finally woke up still feeling crummy and a little bit feverish.

Know what's fun about a sick kid on Christmas Eve?



Nothing.

Dan and Cate had fun trying out Danny's new Star Wars helmets. It kind of made Cate look like a little bobble head doll.



I got a picture of Cate later in her new jammies. Danny was feeling extra grouchy and crummy and would not cooperate. No new jammies and no picture. Party pooper.



I did manage to get a picture of them together the next morning. They sure are cute but I think a few smiling lessons are in order.



You can never have too many pillow pets right?



Cate got some pink girly Legos of her very own from Grama Bama.

I built the house and the car for her. She got busy decorating the garden. That's what she called the green flat square we stuck the house onto.



I think that's my favorite present. Pink Legos. Seriously cute stuff, people.



And in case you wondered, yes, Dan is a very good sport. The perfect daddy for a little daughter.



After church (which was only attended to by me due to the sickness level of my kids), we headed up to Grandma's house for more presents and a yummy turkey dinner.

Dan received a brand new head flashlight thingee from his brother. He put it to good use whilst carving the turkey.



Ricky and Billy kept sicko Danny entertained with their video games. Danny really is happy to just sit and watch sometimes.



Oh, this next picture just makes me laugh. I won't tell you how many pictures I actually took in order to get one where everyone has their eyes open and some of them are smiling. Good times.



I took a happy little Danny to the doctor Monday morning. It was strep. He's feeling much better now, thanks for wondering.




Cate and I went to Target later that morning (mostly to pick up Danny's antibiotics, but also it turns out we needed a few packages of 50% off ornaments for next year and a bag of way too salty popcorn...and a Diet Coke mixed with a squirt of Dr. Pepper) and boy, oh boy, did we ever feel sad that Grama Bama wasn't there with us. Cate sang a song called "I Miss Grama Bama" on the drive home. She mostly just sang "I miss Grama Bama" over and over again.


Other holiday highlights in no particular order with no accompanying pictures:

☢ the key lime flavored chocolate orange I put in Dan's stocking (mostly so I could eat it myself without feeling too selfish)

☢ Cate telling the lady at the gift wrapping station that she wanted lipstick, a phone and a computer for Christmas (the lady mentioned that sounded a lot like stuff a 14-year-old would ask for)

☢ only took me 2 days to clean up the aftermath (not counting the tree or all it's needles that are scattered around the carpet)

☢ my pants have only gotten a tiny bit snugger despite my over consumption of chocolate and under utilization of the stair master at the gym

☢ this little conversation I had with Cate on Saturday night (Mom, when is it Christmas Eve? Today! Is it snowing? No. Mom, it has to be snowing to be Christmas Eve.)

☢ the eggnog milkshake Dan bought for me on Friday afternoon

☢ buying the 2011 Lego advent calendar for almost 50% off (and I plan to use it through the year as needed. nothing motivates my boy to do good like Legos.)

season's greetings

one hundred

my dad and his parents

Today's my grandpa's birthday.

He would have been 100 years old.

He passed away when I was 9.

I don't have lots of memories of him because I didn't grow up around him.

He lived in Utah.

I lived in Alabama.

Now I live in the house that he built for his family.

It's the house that my dad grew up in.

I like that it's the house my kids are growing up in too.

I have neighbors who remember my grandpa well.

I asked one of them to share a few memories that she has of him.

(Please excuse Ray Ray and Cate making a lot of ruckus in the background. That's life with little kids.)






I love that she said "duck bumps" instead of "goose bumps."

I can't listen to her story without getting duck bumps of my own. And tears in my eyes.

This kind neighbor also told me that she remembers tending my dad when he was about 2 years old. She's pretty sure he already knew how to read at that age. She said when she was reading to him he'd stop and correct her if she missed a word. That sounds about right.

If my grandpa was still around I would have called up Willard Scott and had him added to the Smucker's spotlight on the Today Show.

That's for sure.

Happy birthday to my grandpa.

a few more items of business

I'm 2 days behind on sticking paper ornaments on the paper tree. That's what happens. Danny's totally caught up on eating the chocolate out of our advent calendars though. He doesn't miss a day. Chocolate for breakfast every day for him.

Anyway, I think from here on out we'll just be sticking up circle ornaments. The Grinch stole my creativity. Look at this amazing tip my friend passed on to me (because she knows I don't love the mess of glitter). Stick on some double sided tape. Put glitter in a baggie. Insert the ornament with tape. Close the bag and shake it up until the glitter covers the tape. Take it out of the bag and done. No glue. No waiting for the glue to dry. No anxious little fingers smearing the glittery glue into a messy mess. I love it. It's nice to have friends looking out for me.

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Today is cousin Kristopher's 7th birthday. I don't know what Danny would do without him. He's been a great pseudo older brother and playmate. And he's taught my darling little boy everything he needs to know about burps, farts, boogers, poop, Legos and Star Wars. That's what pseudo big brothers are for.

♢♢♢♢♢

This is the first year since Danny was born that Grama Bama and Grandpa won't be spending time in Utah with us. Danny's never known a Christmas without them. Neither has Cate.

I've been trying to not think about this because it makes me sad.

Dan said to me last week, "It's going to be weird this year." My reply, "I don't want to talk about it." I think he was referring to the absence of Grama Bama and Grandpa but now I'm not sure.



I realize that I have 2 other sisters and they and their kids deserve time with the grandparents too. It just makes me sad that they're not here. I just don't like to share.



That's Cate on her first Christmas. It snowed so much that we didn't make it up to visit Dan's family. Grama Bama sat on that chair by the kitchen window holding Cate and watching the big boys play in the snow in the back yard for what seemed like hours. I'm sure Cate enjoyed it.

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Speaking of snow, I'm starting to wonder if we're going to have any for Christmas. That's Danny playing in the snow cave 3 years ago. Right now we've got practically nothing. I see flurries out the window but that's it.

I heard on the Frosty the Snowman movie that if the first snow comes on Christmas day then it's magical. Sounds good to me.

I like a little Christmas magic once in a while.

'tis the season

Time for a little potpourri. My Christmas gift to you. I'm feeling very generous.

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The kiddos are loving the Christmas lights we see around town. This house is their favorite. Lucky for us, it's only a few blocks away.

I took this picture one night on the way home from the gym. Just stopped right in the middle of the road and snapped a picture. It was 10:00 and I was the only car around. Don't worry.

When we drive past this one I go slowly so they can take it all in (because quite frankly, there's a lot to take in). Danny said one time, "It. Is. So. So. Beau-teeee-ful." He wants to live there some day. I'm not sure how that's going to all go down but he likes to dream big. He told me he thinks old people live there so I guess he's thinking they'll just die and he'll move in.

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I came across this printable manger scene while perusing the internet one day. I thought my kids would love coloring the pieces (you can also print it in color but what's the fun in that?). Cate had fun coloring Mary, Baby Jesus' swaddling clothes and the cow. She got mad at me for coloring the angel's hair orange. It was supposed to be pink. Duh. I ended up coloring the rest of the guys.

I love how they turned out.



Cate wanted us to act out the scene. She's very into that kind of thing. Danny even participated. And Dan too but he was still in his pajamas so I kept most of him out of the picture to protect his privacy (and his messy bed head).

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How to make your very own Santa beard...

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In an effort to avoid the crying this year (although it is adorable right?), we had pictures taken with me dressed like Santa instead. I think they're pretty cute. I'm pretty sure my children would have refused to sit on Santa's lap and have a little chat anyway. They might not have cried this year but you never know.





That box was empty in case you're wondering.

I saved my favorite shot for the Christmas card. I wasn't going to order any this year but after our little photo shoot, I couldn't resist. It's too late to send them out but I'm hoping they'll get here in time to bring around to the neighbors along with their non-chocolate goodies.

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Every morning we change the number on the countdown to cousin Kris' birthday. Then we change the number on the Christmas countdown. Then we eat one chocolate out of the advent calendars that Grandma gave us. Danny usually eats his and mine and Dan's if he can sneak it. Then we add an ornament to the tree I made.




I know. I'm so very crafty. Don't be overwhelmed by the sheer genius of it all. It's just a lot of paper and tape and a little glue. And and even littler amount of glitter.

I don't own a fancy countdown calendar thing-a-ma-bob so I made one. Out of stuff from the closet that I already had. Everything was free. You can't beat free. I'm pretty much a slacker when it comes to the paper ornaments to stick up there though. I had this grand plan to have a whole bunch made so they could pick which one to stick up each day. Yeah, that didn't happen. I turned it into a big now you get to tell me what kind of ornament to make and sit there and watch me while I make it because I'm too lazy and unprepared to make them in advance kind of thing. They don't seem to mind.

There's a lot of snowflake ornaments up there because sometimes I'm just fresh out of creative ideas and snowflakes are easy. There's even a few circles because those are even easier than snowflakes.

I make the kids pick questions out of a jar each morning before they stick the ornament up. All the questions are about the birth of Jesus. Who is Jesus' mother? Who is Jesus' father? What did the Wise Men bring to the baby Jesus? Muuuuuh (that's how Cate says myrrh since she can't say her r's. it's adorable.) After a few days of these questions Danny said, "Are these all about church?" Yep, they are.

Some of the questions aren't really questions. Sing Away in a Manger. Sing Silent Night. Give your family a hug and a kiss (he did NOT like that one). I've got a Christmas matching game in there too that I printed off the computer last year. I have no idea where I got it from or else I'd share.

I know my tree is nothing fancy and you probably have something much nicer at your house. I had a big tall blank wall, lots of paper and two kids who needed to be reminded every day that there's more to Christmas than Santa and presents. So that's what I came up with. I'm sure I'll toss it in the trash when we're done and make something completely different next year.

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We don't have an Elf on the Shelf at our house. I can't say that I really want one either.

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Cate has been watching our Frosty the Snowman DVD a lot. I heard her singing the song in her room one morning just after she had woken up. Her version goes a little something like this:

Frosty the snowman you have to go to your room because you don't have any pickles to eat and you are not going to be my friend but you should go play at Idda's house and we will go to Target and then they want to wash their hands so they don't have pee on them and I want to have a picnic with you so will you do the puzzle with meeeeeeeeee!

That's not a direct quote, mind you.

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I won't be baking any friend/family/neighbor treats that contain anything chocolate. Not because I don't love chocolate. It's because I do. Too much. Just thinking about last year's friend/family/neighbor treats makes me gain 5 pounds. Those were yummy.

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I'm very tempted to do this to my hair on Christmas morning. I'm not sure I can pull it off though since I'm not an 11-year-old girl. Also, I'm supposed to be playing my flute for the Christmas program in church and I don't think Rudolph on the back of my head would be very appropriate. I'm saving it for when Cate has enough hair though. Is it ok to have a blonde Rudolph?

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Guess what I'd make this year if I was super organized and crafty and not overwhelmed and feeling like I have zero time?

Snow globes!

I currently have 13 of those jars. I can't throw them away. They are too cute. And they are perfect for snow globes. Now I'm glad I've been saving them all year. Look out next year, neighbors, teachers and friends. You're all getting snow globes. Don't say I didn't warn you.

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We went to a family Christmas party last night at Aunt Cindy's house. Cate had a blast playing with Rusty. I'm pretty sure she just bossed him around all night but they both looked happy. Mostly.

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We went to the dollar store last week to pick out stuff for the gift exchange at preschool. I don't remember what was going on but I know that by the time I got to the check out I was ready to be out of there. (Three little kids at the dollar store is hard work, even if one of them is strapped into that tiny green shopping cart.) Danny picked out a package of very small Christmas stockings that he wanted to get for his puppy (the stuffed one he sleeps with). There were two little stockings stuck together (on purpose) with one of those white plastic things. I said ok.

When we got to the checkout, the guy beeped our stuff and bagged it. When he got to those stockings, they wouldn't beep. He tried several times and then asked me (HE asked ME), "Are these a dollar?" I just smiled and said yes but what I wanted to say was, "Are you kidding? Do you know what your store is called? EVERYTHING'S A DOLLAR. I believe that's the name of your store. Some people call it the Dollar Store. So, yeah. They're a dollar." Are there things at that store that are not a dollar? Maybe some of the candy at the checkout? Otherwise, don't you pretty much take a chance a figure stuff is a dollar. Do they do a lot of price checks at the dollar store?

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I remember watching Mr. Krueger's Christmas every year when I was a kid. I'm pretty sure that's my favorite Christmas movie. And here's my favorite part, because sometimes I need to be reminded that Christmas is more than Santa and presents too.