Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

It's a Christmas Miracle!

I actually finished my Advent calendar! I kept putting it off and then I started and had some issues with some chipboard letters and glitter that made me want to toss the whole thing in the trash. I swore I was going to have it completed before Christmas. I finished the dang thing at 9:30 pm on Christmas Eve. I will probably end up reworking some of the numbers next Christmas, but for now, I can call it done. And there is a glare on the photo and I know it. I just don't want to go back downstairs and take another picture. I am too tired.

It's late and Miss K is still up. She has taken two 2 1/2 hour naps today. Her Christmas PJs are in the dryer. As soon as they are done, I am getting her dressed, take her photo and put her to bed. I've got a couple of gifts left to wrap, clean up my scrappy mess, straighten the living room and set out Santa gifts. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

"He's a really good daddy"

Friday night we dropped my mom off at the airport and then headed out for dinner at Wing Stop. We love Wing Stop. Since there is a Kroger in the same strip mall, I asked Brian if he didn't mind us grocery shopping so that I didn't have to fight the crowds tomorrow. (Well...I have to go back for bread since my crazy dog ate an entire loaf of bread in like 2 minutes.) Brian was pushing Miss K in the cart and singing Christmas songs to her while we were shopping. She was giggling at him and waving her hands in the air. A lady walks up to me and says, "He's a really good daddy." She took me by suprise, so my response to her was, "Pardon me?" I wasn't sure I heard her right. She repeated herself, smiled and walked away. I looked over at Brian who was singing "Here Comes Santa Claus" at the top of his lungs in Kroger and I know...he is an AWESOME daddy.

PHOTOS!!!

Can you believe it? I actually took photos today! Tonight we had our Christmas with my mom. She is leaving for Texas tomorrow to spend Christmas with my aunt. She is really looking forward to being off from work for a week. We had fun tonight. Miss K was a lunatic opening gifts. She has finally learned to rip the paper off. She was in her element...she is all about tearing up some paper! Meemee got Miss K a Blues Clues that dances and sings the ABC's. She was dancing with her. But her FAVORITE gift was this little "dust buster, Dusty". Doesn't really pick anything up, but she thought it was too funny. She will be in heaven on Christmas because Santa is bringing her the matching vaccum cleaner! Brian got a flash drive (I think that is what they are called.) and I got an American Express gift card. I am really wanting a Wishblade. But, but the time I finally save all the money, I will probably be over the wanting. Who knows.
Meemee was THRILLED with her gifts. She mentioned that she wished she had a collage picture frame, so I found her one holds 41 photos. I also gave her 41 photos to put in the frame. I didn't have time to put it together for her. She also got some coaster with photos of all 4 of her grandchildern on them. She got a piece of stoneware from Pampered Chef...her first piece. She was very excited about that. I knitted her a scraf and she told me how much it meant to her that I made something for her. Miss K gave her a calendar that has a photo of her on every month. She said that was her favorite gift. I told Brian that Miss K would be giving those for Christmas gifts every year! Can't wait for my dad and stepmom and my inlaws to get theirs. They love stuff like that.

So...are you ready for Christmas? I need to grocery shop in the morning and wrap presents while Miss K naps and before Brian gets home. I ordered him a skin for the lap top, but it still hasn't come in. Oh well. I'll print him out a photo of it. I've decided, next year, I am having a gift wrapping party. No cookie exchange...gift wrapping. You bring you paper, ribbons and bows and I will supply scissors, tape, wine and holiday cheer.

Okay...it is 11 and I started working on my Advent calendar last night. I had some "issues", so I hope to get most of it done tonight. I also started a mini album for Christmas. I got the spine and the cover done. I am not loving it yet, but give me some time.

Night!

No Mommy!

I think I jinxed myself this morning when I was talking to Annie about Miss K getting her photo take today. It was a DISASTER. Yep...it totally called for caps. Oh my. Crying so hard there were snot bubbles. Crying so hard that people were coming to look in the room to make sure we hadn't hung her up by her tiny little toes. Crying so hard that they were unable to take one single photo of my daughter dressed in her beautiful Christmas dress. Five minutes after we walked out of the studio, she is giggling and laughing and entertaining people at Subway. I think being sick was part of the crying, but the other part...GBS....grumpy baby syndrome. I wish they made some medication for this. I know they do for mommies...WINE. So, Christmas Eve morning before we head out to church, I hope to get a photo of her in front of the tree.

I got the last couple of gifts bought that I needed. My parents are always so hard to buy for and this year was even more so. I always end up getting them the same thing...gift card to Outback. Well, we got them that, but I wanted to get them some fun things. Things they could use for their new "adventure". So, I got my dad a Global clock. Tells the time in 32 countries. I also got them them beautiful coffee table book on Qatar, which is where they will be moving to.

Got more information on our move and it is ALL good. We found out what our part of the rent is going to be and it was a little less than we thought, so that is good. I still want to get the house on the market soon. (I might be giving you a call Amanda!) We are on the first floor which is great since I have two rotten dogs that will have to be walked. We get a garage! Yeah! I can take Miss K's wagon and some bigger things that I thought we were going to have to store or get rid of. I did tell Brian this evening that I was very sad and he was shocked because I've been telling him how much I've been looking forward to our move. I am looking forward to my inlaws spending more time with Miss K. I am looking forward to the fact that when we move back to Nashville, we will be moving into a new house. I am thankful that Miss K and I are able to go with Brian instead of seeing him every other weekend. I am very thankful for all of it. I am just so sad to leave my friends. Old friends and new friends. (Thank you Renee for your comment the other day.) Sad to pack away most of my household items and memories.

And...to the mommy who left her child in her stoller in the middle of the aisle at Target and then walked over to another aisle...yes, I was giving you the eye. Don't you know that there are crazies in this world and even at Target who will take your child!? That was probably your car I parked next to that had the dog locked in it with all the windows up.

Okay...off.

I promise that there will be some sort of photo tomorrow.

Not much...

I hate blogging without photos. But, I've not taken my camera out of the bag in a couple of weeks. Bad Hollye. I will be better about it in the coming days. Plus, I've got a sick child and I don't want to even attempt to take a photo of her. Suppose to get her Christmas photo taken tomorrow. I dunno about that! Nothing but constant whining the past week. Between her and Brian, I am ready to stick my head in the oven. Not that it would do anything...it's not gas!

Have you ever found something out about a "friend" and it made you sick to your stomach, your heart break and your head hurt?

Okay...just because I hate the no photo thing...here's one we took at Opryland a couple of weeks ago. Miss K wouldn't sit still.

Okay...later!

Yes Hollye, there is a Santa Claus

Brian finally got some information on our move. I am really irritated how his relocation specialist has handled all this. He has had to call her and ask her for any information that he has gotten from her. All his employees have been called by their specialist and given updates as things happen. It takes a lot to irritate my husband and I think he has reached that point with this lady. So...onto the news. Our original plans were to get a 3 bedroom unfurnished. Well, we were told that wasn't going to happen. 1 or 2 bedroom and it MUST be furnished. So, Brian called his relocation specialist on Thursday and asked her if we could get a 2 bedroom with a den. She was going to check into it, but didn't know if she could find one. (Brian has already called the complex where his employees were placed and found out they did have one. When you look on their website, it shows a 2 bedroom with a den and a 3 bedroom. Get this...they are they same exact floor plan. Brian was sure that they weren't going to let us have it. (We have to pay the difference for the apartment so I don't know why it is such a big deal to them.) Again, Brian called her this morning to get a status on the apartment seacrh. We got the 2 bedroom with a den! YEAH! THIS MEANS I WILL HAVE A SCRAPBOOK ROOM! I will have to share it with Miss K as a play room, but I am SO okay with that! We will be living here. And this is the floorplan. I just wonder how much more this is going to cost us per month. I think I need to push Brian to get our house on the market by the end of January. I know it will be a LOT of work, but with a little bit of help, I think we can do it.

Okay...I am off. Miss K is still croupy (is that a word?) and Brian is feeling worse today, but is still at work. I am going to try and get Miss K down for a quick nap and do more LAUNDRY. In my next life I am going to be wealthy and will hire someone JUST to do my laundry. I mean wash/dry, fold AND put away. I stink at the putting away part. Heck, I stink at all household chores.

Crying baby.....blog ya later!

Up to my ears in...

tulle
peppermint bark
hot chocolate
candy canes
cookies
wrapping paper
unwrapped gifts
late shipped gifts
unfinished projects
sickies in my house
slobbery baby kisses
unpacked Christmas decorations
LAUNDRY
holiday dinner menus
trip preparations
move preparations
stress

Christmas Tag

I've been tagged by Amber!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate. No egg nog for me. Ick!
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? They sit all nice and pretty under the tree.
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White on tree. No lights on the house this year, but when we do, they are white
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No need to, I get slobbery, wet kisses about every 30 minutes these days from a 17 month old!
5. When do you put up your decorations? December 1st!
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Christmas cookies made by my wonderful mother in law!
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Tracking Santa on TV. Trying to stay up to see Santa.
8. When and how did you learn that Santa isn't real? I figured it out pretty early, but when I asked to make sure, I was told that if you didn't believe in Santa, then you didn't get gifts. So, I STILL believe in Santa.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We did when we were kids, but not now.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? SLOWLY. It's the 15th of December and I am not sure all the ornaments are on it yet. My tree is decorated with hand crafted ornaments taht I have collected over the years. I love the ornaments on my tree.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Can't stand it and I am about to move to the land of snow and ice. Can't you hear me crying about it?
12. Can you ice skate? Yep, but it's been forever.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Cabbage Patch doll. Still have her too!
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Remembering the reason for the season. Also spending time with my extended family since they all live so far away and Christmas is usually the only time we get to see everybody.
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Chocolate pir made by my best friend's mom, Mrs. Hewitt.
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Watching bowl games with my husband. We won't get to do that this year because of our move and my parent's move. This is going to be a sad season for us. More crying....can't you hear?

Jennie and Jill, you're next! ;)

Digital camera for $1.26

You read that right! About 3 months ago, Brian was given an award at work. The award was a $250 gift card and you got to pick the location from a large list. So...what to buy? It was Brian's award, so his to spend. He decided that he wanted a small digital camera. Something that was easy for him to use. He will use the Rebel, but he would prefer something smaller. So, he got a small Sony Cybershot. We went to pay and the total was $251.26. I handed the girl the stack of gift cards and she couldnt' believe it. So, I handed her $1.26 in cash and walked out of there with Brian's new digital camera. We also went shopping at Target with some gift cards, but even with a bunch of gift cards, we still shelled out some MONEY. But, we did get a wireless router. I am LOVING my new laptop. And my daddy informed me this evening that he is buying us all computer video cameras for Christmas so that he can see his grandkids often. That ought to be fun!

So, my happy place is having a HUGE sale. 40% off. Oh my! Miss K and I have some errands to run in the morning. I have to hit Hobby Lobby to pick up some tulle. I am making her this tutu for Christmas. She has decided that she would rather dance and walk on her toes than anything. That is how we spend our mornings in Miss K's house. So, I thought a tutu would be something fun for her to have. So, I guess on my run to Hermitage (yes superstar...I am going to Hermitage AGAIN!) I will HAVE to make a stop at Scrap It!

My goal is to be home by noon, feed Miss K, put her down for a nap and start making candy. I am so far behind on things I need to do, but I am DETERMINED to get every one of them done. That's right. I WILL get that Advent calendar done. It might be December 24th before it is done, but dang it, it will be done!

Oh...Brian looked at my blog posting from yesterday and the first thing he said was, "oh! I should have gotten a skin for the laptop." I yelled at him to stop reading. Now I am wondering if I should order it? What to do...what to do.

Santa came early!

Brian and I have been talking about what we wanted for Christmas for months. We are both the type of people that if we want something, we will just go out and buy it. He golf and I don't know much about golf, so I can't really buy him anything without him knowing. Same thing with me and scrapbooking. So, he mentioned laptop and I was right on that. So, Santa UPS Claus delivered my Dell Inspiron E1705 Monday. Can I just tell you that I am in LOVE with my laptop? Well...OUR laptop. Even Miss K likes it. We sat in bed with it yesterday watching a DVD and she thought it was great. Gotta love that 17 inch screen!

So, the only thing I really need to buy for Brian is come stocking stuffers. I am thinking of getting a skin for the laptop. Even though I would prefer a cute girly one, I think he would really appreciate the Michigan one. And even though I am not a graduate of the University of Michigan, I am a huge fan of their football team. (for the record, I am a University of Houston graduate.)

I came up with a couple of gifts for my parents. I got my dad this great clock that tells you the time in every time zone. I also ordered them a book on Qatar. That is where they are going to be living. I've been told that it is the richest oil area in the world. I was also told by several people that living there is pretty much just like living in the states. I am still nervous for them, but I am glad that my dad is being offered this chance and that he is finally doing something for himself and not for everyone else. I need to work on getting our passports. Which means I need to get Miss K's birth certificate corrected. Okay...rambling!

Okay..I am off. Miss K is sick...AGAIN. Up all night last night. Poor Brian, I was so tired that I couldn't stay up with her, so being the wonderful daddy that he is, he got up with her and sat in the bonus room with her until he got her to fall asleep. So, we are just hanging out at the house today. We are waiting on Comcast to come and replace our modemn. Sometime between 3-6. Only problem is it is located in my scrapbook room and you seriously can't even walk in there right now. As soon as Miss K goes down for a nap, I've got to "clear a path" so that he can actually get in there!

Brian should get some information on our relocation today. At least I hope. He starts work in Warren on the 2nd of January. I hope they have a place for us to live!

Miss K meets Santa

Well...here is the photo that I paid almost $22.00 for. Priceless, huh?

Cookies, Santa and a lot of time in the car!

Tomorrow I am attending a cookie exchange at the home of the super cute Amber. Now Amber has some strict rules on the cookies, so I searched for a recipe I thought would be fairly easy. I also wanted a recipe that was pretty big since I had to make 7 dozen. So, this morning, we got up and got going. Miss K watched her morning show and I addressed the rest of the Christmas cards. WOOHOO! Done! I started a load of laundry. With cloth diapering, I am always behind on the laundry. Miss K demanded a large breakfast this morning, so I cooked for her. Then we hung around upstairs playing with a bowl. I know...sounds funny, but she had a blast. She went down for a nap and I set out to make cookies! Now, I am not a cookie person. I'll eat them, but I've never had luck with making them. These cookies turned out just like they were suppose to, but let me tell you...it was a LOT of work. The cookie dough got too thick for the Kitchen Aid, so I had to knead it by hand. Then I had to make the cookies into 1 inch balls....by hand. After they baked, I had to hand drip them in glaze and then cover them with sprinkles before the glaze set. Miss K woke up before I was done, so she "helped". Her helping was eating the sprinkles. She had a grand time doing that. I am really looking forward to the cookie exchange.

Miss K and I spent a lot of time in the car the past couple of days. I've been trying to get the rest of my Christmas shopping done. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can get my parents? I don't want to get them anything big since they are leaving. I want to give them something they can use or something they can take with them. Yesterday we were in Hermitage AND Cool Springs doing shopping. Today we had to run to Murfreesboro to buy something to wear for our family portrait. I am so far behind on that. I usually have it done the first week of November! Then we headed BACK to Cool Springs to meet Brian and visit the "big man", Santa. That went over like a ton of bricks. I am posting the "before Santa" photo tonight. I'll post the Santa photo tomorrow.

Okay...I am off to make hot chocolate cones!

Please say a prayer for my dad and stepmom

My dad was up for a job in the Middle East. Things didn't pan out so he was planning on retiring at the end of next year. Great! Well, they called him back and offered him the trainer position. So, my dad and stepmom are headed to the Middle East after the first of the year. I am glad that he has this opprotunity and when he retires, he will have a nice nest egg to retire with. I am also very nervous and a bit sad. I don't see my dad very often, but I know that if I needed him, he is just a short 2 hour plane ride away. Now it will be a 24 hour plane ride. Makes me sad. The nervous part? Well...it's the Middle East. That should sum it up right there.

So, please say a prayer for my parents.

A Miss K funny

**I have to give you the "background" first. We have a cat named Socks. We call her Socksie and we kind of sing it when we say it.**

Last night we were in the car picking up Brian from the airport. Miss K took her socks off and was trying to hand them to Brian. He asked her if she can say socks. She doesn't say anything. Then he asked her if she could say Socksie. She says in...in the sing-song way and then starts going "meow meow" over and over again. I laughed so hard I started crying. She will usually either call the cat Socksie or Meow Meow, but she has never put the two together, so it was really funny. Guess you had to be there.

We are headed off to the doctor today. Miss K got hit with that virual infection that everyone seemed to have right after Thanksgiving. She also got the rash that I am told is also virual. Well, she is all better, but the rash has gotten worse and she keeps itching. When I put a onesie on her so she can't itch, she cried. It's a mess.

Hot Chocolate Recipe

Okay, I've had a number of people ask me for this recipe. It is a HUGE recipe. I am sure that you could cut it in half, but I don't. My neighbor and I share the hot chocolate, so we manage to use it all up on gifts and whatever we drink. It's really good. And to answer Christy, I did use icing bags once, but it was expensive because you need 2 bags per cone. I found a place on line to order them from. I can get 100 bags for less than $9. I order my bags from Great Scents. They have the BEST customer service and ship very fast. I normally use the 12 inch plain bags, but they ran out, so we are using the bigger bags with snowflakes on them this year.

And before some of you run out and make this...if you are going to see me at any Christmas event or gathering, you will most likely be getting one of the cones!

Here is the recipe. It is HUGE. The person I got it from says that she mixes her in a trash bag and then stores it in a tote. I just mix mine in the tote and store it there.

Hot Chocolate
4 pounds powdered milk (not Carnation brand. I used the Wal-Mart brand. It's a huge 4 pound box.)
1 package ( 2 pounds) powdered sugar
2 big (32 oz) jars of non dairy creamer (I just use the Wal-Mart brand)
2 big Nestle's Quick (It's about 4 pounds. This year I used 2 poubds of the Wal-Mart brand and 2 pounds of Nestle's.)

Then to make the chocolate you fill your cup about 1/3 full and add hot water.

Funny photo

We went to Opryland this morning to take photos. We weren't the only ones with that idea. Lots of people. Miss K was already getting tired, so we took photos quick, walked around a little and then headed out. I wanted to get a cute photo of her by the ponsettias, but she wasn't having anything to do with it. So, I sat down on the ground with her to take a photo. This one cracked me up when I saw it. She has this thing about pulling on her ears and I was trying to get her to stop and this is what the result was.

We did get a photo for our cards and I got those ordered this morning. They turned out okay. I also ordered the photo calendars for the grandparents. I am working on getting things crossed off my list!

Lots going on...but no photos!

I have so much that I need to do, but here I sit infront of this stupid computer. No wonder my house is a mess. I got to go to my 'happy place' today. I took a class from Sherri. I don't even remember signing up for the class, but I am glad that I got a chance to take it. It was nice to hang out and just chat with everyone. I am trying to get my fill of all things "scrapbook" before we move. Makes me cry just thinking about it. I just want to get through the holidays and deal with it afterwards.

So, I've got TONS of things to do tonight/tomorrow. I need to rearrange the downstairs living room so that we can put the tree up first thing in the morning. Brian is leaving for a business trip tomorrow evening and won't be back until Wednesday night. So, I want him to get the tree up so Miss K and I can decorate it while he is gone. Tonight I am going to mix up a HUGE batch of hot chocolate so that I can get working on my hot chocolate cones like I made last year. They were a huge hit and I've actually gotten orders for 100 of them from two of my friends who want to give them as Christmas gifts to the teachers at the schools their kids attend. Tomorrow morning we are headed to Opryland Hotel to take some photos. Hopefully one of them will turn out so that I can finally get my Christmas cards ordered and get the final photo for the calendars that I am ordering from Zazzle for the granparents. They have their calendars on sale for $9.99 and free shipping. Can't beat that!

I've got a Christmas party this week and a Cookie Exchange on Saturday, so I am going to be BUSY, BUSY while Brian is out of town. Oh well. That makes the time go by faster.

Hope that you are having a great weekend and that you are staying warm. I will hopefully get some photos uploaded soon. I made a slide show, but everytime I tried to place it on the blog, it messed up the format of the whole blog. I am not too good with this whole blog thing.