Christmas Re-cap Picture Post

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind, and I need to get some of this written down before I forget it all! Hopefully I'll find a chance to scrap it sometime next year!

On the weekend before Christmas, we drove to Kingman for a family get-together. My aunt and uncle are famous for having the best decorations in Mohave county. She paints each of these herself. I couldn't come close to fitting the whole display in one shot, but this is an idea. Let me tell you...I think talent skips a generation in my family!

The next few days were spent building a swingset in the dark and freezing cold. With all of the rain we'd had lately, that poor pathetic fire took about 5 logs, 1 whole newspaper, and about 4 gallons of gas. I'm not sure why I thought it was a good idea to let the boys mix fire, power tools, and alcohol late at night, but you do what you have to do, right?
Christmas Eve at Bama and Papa's house with Toni

All bundled up in front of our tree on Christmas morning... The kids weren't exactly sure why I was making them put on jackets and gloves over their jammies.

But they figured it out soon enough! They were thrilled with their "park".

Uncle Chad shared his Wii, so the rest of the day was pretty much spent playing games and eating. I put a yummy casserole in the oven for breakfast and then we fired up the crock pot for some queso (with chorizo!) and ate tamales from Carolina's for dinner. That was the extent of my cooking this year!

My parents gave Elliot a beautiful doll, which she has named Reese (that's her middle name :) My mom also made several different matching outfits for Elliot and Reese to wear. Did I mention that talent skips a generation? Now when we get ready for bed each night, we have to put Reese's jammies on and tuck her into the bed my parents made for her. Too cute!

Some more wii.... I boxed my mom, and I'm ashamed to admit that I was sore the next day. And I weight train regularly!! But I was throwin' punches pretty hard. I couldn't let her win...I had to knock my mom out!Uncle Chad got Ethan is first bike, which was also his first ride-on toy that wasn't a hand-me-down. I did a couple of quick calculations, and figuring a standard cul-de-sac radius of about 45' and approximately 20 laps around said cul-de-sac, they rode a bit over a mile that afternoon. Not bad for a two-year old. I wonder when Lance Armstrong started training?

More wii...it took awhile to explain to the kids that hitting was okay if it was wii boxing, because it was only pretend. Once they resolved their moral dilemma, it was game on.
My two greatest presents in the whole world!

More Reasons Baby Chad Rocks

There are a lot of reasons that I love my brother Chad...

During a long and boring day at work, he'll send me text messages in jive:

Chad: I can dig it. Cut me some slack jack. Pray to J I get the same ol same ol.
Me: That honky mus' be messin' my old lady...Got to be runnin' cold upside down his head.
Chad: See a broad, to get that booty yak 'em...leg 'er down 'n smack 'em yak 'em!
Me: Cold got to be!

He helps comfort my children. As Ethan was having a little tantrum this evening, he sat down and put his arm around my 2 year old son and calmly said "You know E, things don't always go your way, and you can't always get what you want. That's just called life, man." To which Ethan responded, "Okay, Uncle Chad."

But perhaps one of my favorite reasons...instead of mocking me when my ipod playlist is a bit heavy on the Neil Diamond (the greatest performer of this, or any, generation) he'll just break it down and sing along. Really, what else can you do?

Christmas Cards!

I waffle over this every year, and each year I come to the conclusion that I'm not going to bother doing Christmas cards anymore. But then as soon as I start getting cards in the mail, I realize how much I enjoy getting them from other people. And then I figure that if I stop sending them, I might stop getting them! And then my kids will go and be all adorable (like this year in their hats, or last year with their letters) and I'm left no choice but to share this cuteness with our friends and family. And also some random blog readers I guess.

(For anyone who is looking for a fun way to do cards, I designed these on Scrapblog and then printed them at Walmart. Cute and frugal! What a deal!)

Merry Christmas!

Happy Repeal Day!

The 18th Amendment heralded a rather dark time in our nation’s history, commonly known as Prohibition. Although well-intentioned, this banning of the production, sale, and consumption of alcoholic beverages ironically increased America’s appetite for alcohol and gave rise to a massive network of organized crime. Luckily for us, the 21st Amendment was ratified 75 years ago and Prohibition was repealed. I’m paying homage to the day by enjoying some Oreos and a nice bottle of Pinot Grigio. I can think of no better way to celebrate! Cheers!

(Did you know that the demand for “sacramental” wine, which was excluded from the Prohibition act, increased by 800,000 gallons in a two year period? I suppose Prohibition brought about a religious revival!)

But what I’m supposed to be doing right now is planning a menu for a dinner party. My wonderful mother turns 50 next week and we’re hosting a little surprise shin-dig on Sunday afternoon. My parents’ grown-up friends are coming over, and I’m trying to decide what sorts of impressive foods I can offer. I think I’ve got dessert figured out, but I’m still trying to finalize my appetizers and main course (something Italian maybe? Who doesn’t like Italian food?) I’d like to be able to do all of the prep-work ahead and I’d like everything to be delicious and I’d like everyone to be thinking to themselves “Wow, Chandy sure has her act together! She is an amazing cook and a wonderful hostess! I’m so glad we came over to enjoy her astounding culinary talents and unmatched hospitality!”

So, dear readers… (yes, both of you! I need all the help I can get!) What should I make? Any recipes or suggestions? Please help a poor girl out!

Deck the Halls!

I'm scrapblogging and regular blogging on my lunch hour today, because I don't feel like working through lunch, nor do I feel like walking all the way to the parking garage, battling traffic on Camelback, and then driving...where exactly? I don't really even have anywhere to go, and iffin' I went to Trader Joe's, I'd just spend too much money on wine and cookies. Mmmm....I know! I think I'll go to Trader Joe's on my lunch hour tomorrow!

Anyhoo, that leaves me with today's lunch hour to kill, and I find the two aformentioned forms of blogging to be very effective methods for time-killing. I was feeling festive last night and snapped some pics of the Christmas decorations I put up over the weekend. And here is a snazzy little layout I put together of said pictures.