Merry Christmas

from Rudolph, the chunky monkey

Ms. Claus, my diva

and my two cute girls!

is this a run-on sentence?

the new doctor with the TV who doesn't give shots told me to brush my teeth every morning and every night.

still, it's good advice, as M reports.

what a difference a year makes!

these were my cute holiday girls a year ago!

by the way

he aced the final!!!!

smarty pants

he's makin' a list, checkin' it twice..

...gonna find out

who's naughty

or nice!

Yeah, I think he's gonna have a clue just by virtue of the fact that she's trying to eat him!

Man, this girl!

Reviews: You know you've been wondering what I've been reading! :)

I saw a movie last night that made my jaw drop.

I saw in a friend's facebook status that they had watched "Grey Gardens" and wanted to do some home improvements. I thought, hmmm. Wonder what that is. So I googled it, got even more intrigued and proceeded to wait three months for my request at the library to come in.

You need to see this movie. It was absolutely fascinating! It's a riches to rags story and it will make you truly wonder how people can live in certain conditions and yes, it will make you want to clean your house!

Another facebook treasure, a friend mentioned this book so I got it from the library, read it, loved it and proceeded to share it with my brothers and sister in law and then wait ever so impatiently for...
...the sequel which is just as wonderful and now we have to wait a year for the third book! Augh!! I had just finished the Uglies series so I wasn't sure I would be that interested in another story about a futuristic society but these books don't disappoint and will make you think!

Read them!!
And just for fun, I will tell you that I love these two movies.

I was raised by a trekkie and love any movie that swells up a guys' hands to Mickey Mouse size.

And despite the fact that I don't think they needed to add a scene that isn't in the books, I liked the movie better the second time and loved it the first.
My Mom loaned me this book recently. I have loved other books by this author like "Where the Heart Is" and this was another wonderful story. I love books with good southern flavor but that don't poke fun that we talk slow. Just gets me proud of enough to want me some catfish 'n okra!
and yes, you can get me any of these for Christmas :)

just kidding, just sharing my recent reads!

Meet the Parents

Lots of kids have imaginary friends.

I always wanted one and pretended I had one. But I didn't really.

I think M is in that same group. It's not a real imaginary friend...yet. But for now, it's convincing, perpetual pretend play.

Except her friend isn't a gal pal to play dress up with.

Meet Derek.

Her husband.

She waits on him hand and foot. She tucks him in (they have more of a parent-child relationship than a romantic one but that's probably good at her age!) and tucks in their five, yes, five children.

She instructs me where to walk so I don't step on him or their kids and she talks to him about his day.

It makes me laugh. It's also a little awkward sometimes. Hopefully he treats her like a princess!

Finals!

W has his final tonight.

Wish him luck and pray for him. He has worked so hard and I am so proud of him! ...and yes, excited for a month free of reading, quizzes, and computer hogging fights! :)

Last night, as he was explaining his pen twirling hypothesis (did you take debate? let me know!)

I asked him if he felt confident about his test.

His response:

Yeah, I did pretty well on the midterm and I got my participation points. We went over the final in my review and so I don't need to ace it and I don't think I'll bomb it.

in my head:

What?!?!? What do you mean you don't need to ace it?!?!?

My response:

Do you know how hard it is going to be for me when one of our kids inherits your school genes and laissez faire attitude toward grades and not my type-A anal attitude?

Heaven help us!

Christmas Love: Kiddos!

I love being a Mom at Christmas.

I love getting excited for them.

I love sharing the wondrous spirit that is Christmas with them.

I love the look in their eyes as they discover everything around them!

I love little girls in Christmas jammies and hats with ear flaps!

I love puffy coats and bundling my girls up so they look like big marshmallows!

I love love love our Have a Beary Christmas and I love that my Mom gave it to me and I love that my girls love it as much as I do!

I also love the cheapo Christmas leggings and gear for my girls to sport around! (and hand-me-downs from big sister that make it all possible!)

I love that my husband convinced me to keep the goofy snowman who plays the piano that one of my patients gave me, knowing how much my children would love it one day!

I love Christmas projects and preparing gifts that we hope someone they love will love!

Have I said "love" enough yet?

Quote of the Morning

M stole candy from the advent calendar.

I was trying to explain to her that we do this as a family and when she asked why, I told her that she needed to be obedient to her parents....

M: I'm not a kid anymore.

Seriously?

For all you folks out there that haven't seen M in a while, let me remind you

she's 3 years old!

Spaghetti Deluxe Casserole

So, I was going to make a post of my next December or rather, winter love. I was going to take snazzy pictures and post a long description of how to make one of my favorite winter foods that would make the Pioneer Woman hungry.

First, my camera was in my car.

Then after dinner, my older daughter bit me and my younger daughter peed on my bed getting dressed after her bath.

Then my husband's most positive comment about dinner was, "You usually make great dinners!"

I liked it. It appeased my nostalgic self.

Apparently it wasn't a crowd pleaser.