Mr. Claus

We took Colin to the mall to meet the real Santa Claus (the weekend before Christmas). He was soooo excited to tell him he wanted monster jam trucks, specifically King Krunch, Blue Thunder and Maximum Destruction. He repeated the names while we were in line. He got face to face with the big man and froze. Ha ha. He was so nervous that Santa wouldn't come because he didn't talk to him.

Here is the mall photo... it may be a little fuzzy since Santa was kind enough to email it to me :)

Wishes

Merry Christmas

Lack of a Post

I've got nothing to blog about. I'm sorry. I didn't upload pictures yet from our Christmas celebration with Justin's family. I didn't check my hotmail account to post the picture of Colin on Santa's lap. I seriously have nothing.

I could post about my love of UPS tracking - but that is a rather boring topic (unless they want to advertise on my sidebar - then I'll talk about it up and down) - and that would be 2 posts about the good men in brown in one week and I'm not that strapped for a topic.

I could post about how I'm having Christmas Eve at my house tomorrow and I'm not even close to ready - or how I still have to wrap all my family's Christmas presents. That would resemble a blogging "to do list" and I'm not sure I'm ready to go there.

I could post about the bad weather we are supposed to get tonight- the bad weather my husband has to drive home in during the ice, sleet and snow - all 2 hours of his commute - but that makes me sick to my stomach...

I could post my New Year's Resolutions - but we all know I wouldn't keep them... So why waste time?

I guess I'll just post about my lack of posting and call that today's post.

Baking.... Kate style

We spent the whole day last Saturday baking - cut-out cookies, buckeyes and fudge. We started at 9:30am and we finished decorating at 11:30pm...

Here is our timeline....

10am - the boys making fudge - oh and by the way... Colin discovered Fluff.. he took a spoon full and hasn't stopped talking about it :)

So then... cut-outs... not quite as planned. Lisa and I made the dough Friday night and it was pretty much ruined for no apparent reason... So Justin played around with it and I started baking... Let's just say - a few were burned and so Justin took over the baking part of it too!!! 134 cookies later - we were done baking... OH and the ones that turned out! YUM... I'll post the recipe I got from a fellow blogger at the bottom...

We took a break and made homemade pizzas for dinner - yummy! I have pictures but I won't bore you with more food photos :)

Time to decorate! Lisa came over and we had so much fun....

Cookie recipe

So I got my fabulous cookie recipe from the blog www.thegoodapple.blogspot.com - ok this lady has perfect cookies so please don't compare mine to hers.

And she suggested using pudding - I used the cheesecake pudding and it tasted great! this is the recipe straight from her blog in her words :)

Cream
1 cup butter room temperature
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Add
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
Sift and add
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
Chill and roll 1/4 inch thick. Cut cookies and bake 8-10 minutes at 375*.

Some tricks I use
Cream the butter really well
For a softer cookie I will add most of the sugar but substitute a little instant pudding. For example, I might add 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar and then 1/4 cup of pudding. ( I never measure - I just eyeball it) I use vanilla pudding, white chocolate (yum) and cheesecake (my favorite). If you add to much pudding the dough will become pasty. Don't worry, your cookies will still taste good just make a note of it and use less next time.

I believe

I got a phone call last night from my mother. I could hear in her voice something was wrong. I was on the couch dying from the flu and I just had an additional pit in my stomach...

COLUMBUS, Ohio—Two people were injured Tuesday night in a crash in Gahanna.
The crash occurred at Granville Street and Hamilton Road at about 5 p.m., NBC 4reported.
A minivan and UPS truck were both involved in the accident.
One person was taken to Children’s Hospital and another person was taken to Grant Medical Center.
There is no word on their conditions.
(www.nbc4i.com)

My brother was the driver of the UPS truck and a minivan veered left of center and hit him head on going 50 mph. He is fine. I believe in angels and I'm glad he had one of his shoulder. I love you, Mike (aka Spike)!

Silly Silly

My sista tagged me... Why? I have no clue but I never turn down a challenge. And just FYI... I've done 3 of these in the past 3 days - I'm getting kinda sick of these questions.

Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Hot Chocolate - made by someone else. I am lazy and love when a mug of the warm liquid is served to me on the couch under a fleece blankie.

Does Santa wrap presents or set them under the tree?
Santa would never just place a present under the tree. (S)he believes that it is all about presentation. I LOVE finding pretty paper, matching ribbon and driving my sister nuts - she tries so hard to find better paper - won't happen... Sorry, Lis. I saw your selection

Colored Lights on tree or white?
White. See my tree here.

When do you put your decorations up?
The trick here is to never take them down.... But I put them up the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
Oh my mom is a fabulous cook and I think about her Christmas dinner all year. I lurve her disney potatoes.

Favorite Holiday memory as a child?
Every year my Nana and Papa would come over around 10 or 11 on Christmas morning (with a trunk FULL of presents) - I remember waiting by the window.. Or the year I got Blades of Steel and played Nintendo with Papa for hours.. My absolute favorite memory was going to Grandma and Grandpa's big Christmas Eve party

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I assume my brother or my sister ruined it for me. I don't remember exactly but I do recall pretending I still believed because I thought my parents would quit doing it if they knew I knew... make sense? I still believe. If you had my parents, you would too :)

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Only an ornament from my annual Christmas Eve ornament exchange.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
Red and green. Sparkly ornaments are my favorite.

Can you ice skate?
Not at all. My brother tried to teach me in 5th grade and I was so soar the next day, I had to call off school "sick"....

Do you remember your favorite gift?
Yes.

What's the most important thing about the holidays for you?
Family

What is your favorite holiday dessert?
(I think Lisa added this to put a picture of her Santa cupcakes on her blog) - I am not sure. Probably pie... strawberry banana - oh wait, that's my favorite dessert period...

What is your favorite tradition?
I have a lot - going to the zoo to see the lights, putting up our decorations as a family, my Christmas Eve gathering, spending 5+ hours opening gifts w/ my parents... But my favorite is when my dad is done yelling about the mess of presents in his family room, my mom puts on old family Christmas movies - I love seeing Papa every Christmas!

Do you prefer giving or receiving?
'Tis the season - I LOVE giving presents

What is your favorite Christmas song?
All I want for Christmas (Mariah Carey) and that Christmas Shoe song that makes me cry...

Candy canes Yum or Yuck?
ewwwww

Ever recycled a Christmas present?
Nope.

I refuse to tag anyone... This took way too long and nobody will even read it all the way through!

Nose

The snoring will stop. I will get to sleep without hitting him, yelling at him, convincing him the guest room bed is way more comfortable...

Justin is having surgery on the 7th of January to get rid of his deviated septum.
He now joins the ranks of Jennifer Aniston, Ashley Simpson, Ashely Tisdale, Cameron Diaz...

It's safe to say, my husband is part celebrity.

The Zoo

The Wildlights at the Columbus Zoo - recap

* 24 degree temperature

* two toddlers in wagons

* FREEZING cold mom(s) complaining (that would be Lisa and I)

* Our financial planner hosting an animal display, cookies, hot chocolate and family fun (Thanks, Craig - it was a great time) (as if Craig reads this - I know Ash will - so thanks, Ashley)

* Beautiful LED lights

* The end.

Colin (cookie on face) and Megan (cookie in hand) inside getting their free snack groove on

I had one suggestion for Mr. Jack Hanna - where is the dome? Indoor zoo - now that's a million dollar idea. I searched and searched for a suggestion box but couldn't find one.

We got a group picture on some pretty sled - of course the printer broke when it started printing my pic so they gave us our money back - but sorry - no "professional" zoo picture in this post.

I did it!!!

Can you believe I actually finished this monogram wreath?! I can't... I couldn't get the garland to stay put on my big "c" - so I went out and bought a staple gun and it seemed to do the trick..

I hung it on my pantry door for now... I think I might put it on the inside of my front door or something... it just is too big for that door.

What is missing (besides the obvious)?! It needs something and I can't think of what! Help a sista out here folks :)

is it weird that I want to wear that damask ribbon? I love, love, love black and white damask...

Oh and I'm sorry about the ick pictures - of course they were taken at night in BAD kitchen lighting!

MY blog

I always read other blogs about RUDE people... I thought I was lucky and didn't have to deal with it. Last time I checked, this was my blog and you don't have to read it. If you think it is necessary to leave a rude comment, click off and go continue to lead your miserable life.

I have blog patrol. I see who looks at my blog. I may not know exactly who you are, but I can at least see where you are coming from....

So I guess I must treat people like children...

if you have nothing nice to comment, don't comment at all.

decorating day

We decorated the entire house all day Saturday. We woke up early and Justin washed the floors for me (the last chore before we began)... Justin spent the ENTIRE afternoon outside decorating.

I cheated just a tad - the empty tree was staring at me and begging me to hang just a few ornaments. My mom and Nana give Colin an ornament each year. It reflects something about the year - last year he got Thomas and Percy the train ornaments (he rode on a train at "day out with thomas") the year before that he got a John Deere ornament (he loves tractors) - his first year was an ornament that said "baby's first Christmas".... So anyway, he saw the tractor and train ornaments and it was all over.... Justin walked inside and said "I thought we were all going to decorate the tree" - oops... I was too excited :)

my shelf - You can see my J-O-Y letters I made :)

stairs - I need more berries and apples but this will do until I get to JoAnn's again...

(imagine a picture of the outside here)

so Justin spent the entire day outside - the lights are beautiful... all white light with red tree trunks, my favorite kind of decor... We put the timer outside and came home after dark last night. We thought the timer was a dud since the house was dark... After an hour in the cold rain, Justin figured out we have to re-do the plug-in situation... So hopefully by the 24th it will be back up!!!

Turkey Turkey

We had Thanksgiving day dinner with Justin's family. His mom and dad hosted the event for the whole family.. I didn't take many pictures but here are a few...

then after a 14 hour day shopping, we went to my parent's for some turkey goodness...

my brother and my niece, Austyn

In our family, the birthday boy or girl cuts the cake and the next birthday boy or girl has to remove it - and make a wish. It was Austyn's birthday and Justin is the next birthday in January!

The end of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

The pictures tell the whole story... We attempted a picture of the four grandkids per my mom's request!

apparently pictures will have to wait...