Christmas...

Brings a smile to my face!

Hope Santa was as good to you as he was to us!! Next stop...2010!!

Soon...

There will be a fancy celebration for her!

Today I...

1. slept in until 8:00 am
2. played leapster with Big wee one and babies with Little wee one
3. ate munchkins and drank coffee from dunkin' donuts (weekend ritual)
4. played kitchen set playdough and "chixos with pixos" with the wee ones
5. started my computer to work on my mom's birthday gift and then got a call from said mom
6. said mom mentioned shopping and i really wanted to go, so loving husband said to "hit it homey", so i turned the computer off
7. took a quick, super, duper fast shower and got ready to go shopping
8. mom showed up and we hit the road jack for a girls day of shopping...which i'm sure we haven't done since Big wee one was born
9. made mom promise to have me back for a radio "thing" i had
10. did some shopping and bought 2 new shirts, pants and sweater for not a lot of money (YEA! after Christmas sales)
11. had lunch, and burned my tongue on my chai tea latte (oh so good)
12. made it back into town for radio thing and had a blast and will soon be starting my new job as a radio dj (SIIIKKEEEEE....not really, I did a radio promo/interview for IceFest 2010)
13. got back in the car with mom and headed back out to go shopping...bought mom her very own laptop and bought myself a bamboo tablet! i'm practicing with it now :)
14. got dinner, got heartburn and got the girls into bed
15. now i'm twiddling with the bamboo tablet and hoping to update pics tomorrow :)

Happy Day After Christmas :)

It's a...

Famillllyyyyyy tradition!

My mom and I have been baking cookies with "the gang" for, well, for FOREVER! As long as I can remember! Lele would come over and bake, along with Jenny and I'm sure Rach came at times...Gary was always around with Eric and Nick held his own. We were some decorating, baking, icing fools back in the day and I am proud to pass this tradition (and mess) onto my girls! They love it. I love it. Mimi loves it (she doesn't love the mess). We love listening to the Jackson 5 and jamming to "Sannnnntaaaa Clause is comin' to town (ohyyyeaaah!!)", while dancing around the kitchen. The girls love to taste test and I love to decorate.

This is an all day ordeal. No joke. We start in the morning and finish, feet barking, stomachs aching and needing a HUGE glass of milk around 7 pm. We make a TON of cookies...from coconut macaroons, to sugar and snickerdoodles and everything in between.

We then like to pack some up and send them to Eric (in the deep blue sea, sea, sea) and split them between us. I'm not going to lie, I then give them to the girls for breakfast, lunch and (duh!) we wait until after dinner for the last one....ha! Just kidding...well kind of, if we are in a rush, I may let them eat cookies for breakfast :) I've also found them when I wake up in the morning with chocolate around their lips...stinkers!

It goes to say that this is probably one of my most cherished holiday traditions. I love spending the time with my mom, destroying her kitchen (some day we can destroy my kitchen...promise!) and teaching the girls the way in the kitchen. In fact, Big wee one would like to be a chef (and a cheerleader) when she grows up...she's got the bug!

What's your favorite family holiday tradition??

Sugar Rush

If you can keep your wee ones from eating the decorations, Gingerbread houses are pretty cool. This is our 2nd attempt at making one (and Paul bought an extra one just incase this one didn't work out), the first one just would not stay together. The girls had a blast eating the icing and the candy and I (of course) got anal with perfection...at least I can admit it...hehe! (I get it from my dad!)
A nice warm break after playing in the snow. Stay warm!

Show Off...

She knows she's hot stuff! She was the Littlest Christmas Tree in the mini-musical, "The Littlest Christmas Tree"...she has a future in acting. I can tell ;-) hehe! *Next time I'll be sure to wipe her nose before the curtain opens!*

Bakerella

As much as I would LOVE to claim the brilliant cakeball idea below, I must confess that I frequent the Bakerella blog/website...and so should you!
She's got oodles of ideas out the ying-yang and most of them are fun for the wee ones!
The reindeer came from this part of the site, and I used red velvet for the center...enjoy browsing her site, you won't be sorry you did! Unless, that is you dispise baking, and if that's the case, then pass it on to your favorite baker and drop some serious hints!
Enjoy friends :)

Reindeer Sighting

If you are 4 years old (or 5) and you are in Mrs. W's class with Big wee one, then you'll be munching on one of these delicious little morsels of deliciousness on a stick!

If you are 3 (or 4) in Mrs. H's class...you'll have one without a stick. I LOVE cakeballs!! And these are red velvet cake balls (Big wee one insisted).

Happy Christmas Party time of year to you!! I hope to have a little Christmas Tree surprise for you later...hehe!

It's Christmas Time

I hear bells ringing...

it's my alarm clock! Does it seem like life is flying by for EVERYONE?? I'm sure it is, it's the holidays after all! Who needs a life when you have cookies to bake, cakeballs to mold, presents to wrap and fun to be had!

We've been busy, and I would love to post about it, but since it's 11:30 pm, I'm going to address Christmas cards instead :)

We were lucky enough (thanks Mimi!) to visit Hershey Park and the girls had a BLAST! It was beautiful (and cold)...

if you have the chance, be sure to visit Hershey at Christmas...it's the sweetest place on Earth!

Happy Birthday!

To the newest addition in our backyard crew! The wee ones were so excited to hear that "Ms. Shammon" surprisingly had her baby today! When I heard, I threw on some jeans and headed straight to the hospital...Momma and baby are doing beautifully...she is soooo pretty and the girls are already asking how many days until she'll be home :)

Super proud big brother!Crazy backyard crew!

Congratulations Friends!!!

Candle Night

One of my favorite days of the year, Candle Night in downtown C-burg. Paul and I used to go this event before I worked for the Downtown Business Council and now we enjoy it with the girls. This Friday night was a beautiful evening. Not too cold, no breeze, no rain...just a beautiful evening with my family and friends. Big wee one enjoyed seeing Santa, not once but probably 4 times! She asked him if there really was a rudolph and she also let him know that she'd leave cookies out for him.
The wine shop was packed and good spirits were abound on this evening. Pictures below are from last night...a little taste of Christmas in C-burg.

Just about 1,000 luminaries line the streets of downtown.

Our giant tree that sits on the square as you drive through downtown.
Just a little picture with Little wee one...of course she's not looking, are you surprised? I'm not!Busy, busy at the wine shop. I am (again) so proud of my parents and the hard work they have put into making this dream a success.Who is that among the crowd??Little wee one just loves her daddy...I'm pretty sure he likes her too :)One of the many pictures (this one just happens to be the least blurry) with the Jolly man himself.Strolling...Olympia Candy Kitchen has the most beautiful window displays, and some of the best chocolate ever!The sounds of the season rang through with this brass band, a saxophonist and strolling carolers. Love it!Big wee one taking a peek in the window of Here's Looking at You. She had some of the cast members of "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" in her window.She's wishing and hoping she gets lots of presents for Christmas...I'm pretty sure she will ;-)The reason for the season. I hope you all are enjoying your holiday festivities...Christmas parties are starting, shopping and wrapping are steady and lots of chatter about the big man and his helpers are filling our house. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Pick Me Up...

You ever need a little pick me up? I do, and I did today. Things have been rough lately, but when I opened my email this evening, during a mid-edit break, I had a delightful email from the owner of this etsy store: Plays With Mud. She let me know that I am the WINNER of a custom designed platter that she could have ready for me by Christmas. How awesome is that?!

Thank you so much Paula!! Not only where you my first etsy store purchase, but I'm super stoked to receive my custom ordered vase and decide what I want on my platter (and who will my platter go to??)

Go check her out and then check out this site, because I wouldn't have found Paula/Plays With Mud, if it wasn't for her :)