Counting Lessons and Merry Christmas

On the twelfth day...

Do you like how I count? One, two . . . skip a few . . . twelve!

We've had a wonderful last few days that included last minute shopping, looking at Christmas lights, making and delivering a quilt for baby Kate, a birthday party, some laser tag, and holiday cooking. Now we're off to celebrate the evening with my mom and dad and wait for Santa to arrive!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Paint fumes go a long way towards making it through the holidays with a smile

On the seventh day...


Yes. We're doing it again. I'm a slow learner. Or a glutton for punishment. Honey says that I have a tendency to forget the bad, stressful, frustrating aspect of things and only remember the satisfying, cute, fun side. I think that's an endearing quality, and one that is necessary to survive the little thing we call motherhood.

Actually? I just hate to see all of this great, sturdy paper go to waste. Because, isn't it good for the environment to recycle, reuse, and repurpose?

Our checkbook is loving it, too. We haven't bought wrapping paper in 2 years now. Although, I have bought more boxes than usual. But last year, I saved the boxes I could, so, technically, this year, we're recycling and reusing them as well.













I did pick up a few pointers from my experiences last year. I let the kids do most of the painting. And we took one morning and painted A LOT of paper. I was hoping to paint more than what we needed this year, thus eliminating the last minute dash to paint more paper because we're out.






You may be wondering if this whole paint a whole bunch at once thing worked. Well, honestly? I have no idea. Because I have not one single present wrapped and under the tree. Not one. But I'm fixin' to do that rightthissecond. And when I'm done, I'll let you know if I ran out of paper. I know you're curious.

On the sixth day...

I absolutely do not have time for this. I have a list of things to do that's a mile long. I know you can sympathize, because you're probably checking things off of your long ole' list as well.

And, I'm stuck at home. I'm waiting for a delivery from UPS. Their computerized message yesterday afternoon stated that they would be by some time between 7 am and 7 pm. So, I'm waiting. At home. Because I do not want to add driving all the way out to their shipping center to pick up my package to my list o' things to get done in the next week.


About half of the things on The List are home things, so I am getting something accomplished. Bubba's Christmas party for school is tomorrow. I'm supposed to send cookies. Bubba requested that I make these.



I used Pioneer Woman's directions for making them. I made them last year for his school birthday celebration, and they definitely proved themselves worthy of being filed under "kid pleasing". Today I used chocolate chip cookie dough and Hershey's kisses. Our favorite combination is chocolate chip dough with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, but we try to stay away from the whole peanut allergy attack thing while we're at school.

Now that we're down to T minus 7 days, what's on your To Do List?

I Have Issues

On the fifth day...

Yesterday, the girls and I went grocery shopping. The BIG grocery trip. The one to buy all the stuff that will last us through the holidays and hopefully into next year. By the time I'd planned the menu, compiled a grocery list, shopped for, loaded, unloaded, and put away groceries from two different supermarkets, I felt like I'd been dealing with food all day long. I was tired and my brain was fried. And so far all I've noticed that I forgot was air freshener. So, I think we did pretty well.

Between supermarket stops, on our way to pick up Bubba from school, I was in need of a slice of marble pound cake from Starbucks to reward myself for all I'd accomplished and all I still had left to do. But the new, healthier me frowns on emotional eating, so I participated in some emotional shopping. Honey will be so excited about my new perspective.

My most favorite candles to burn around the holidays are of the Yankee brand. In December, I just can't do without "Home for the Holidays". About 7 years ago, my mom bought one for me, and I've loved it ever since. In fact . . . and I don't think I'm imagining this . . . 7 years ago it was actually called "Home for Christmas". That was back when it was OK to say Christmas out loud. But now we're much more PC (even here in Texas) and it's "Home for the Holidays". Don't even try to deny it Yankee. I know you switched, but I'm not holding it against you. Because it still smells the same.

A couple of years ago, I discovered another scent that I love, so in November I burn "Cranberry Chutney". It's a delightful sweet cranberry scent, and you can tell by how much is left in the jar that November was over long ago.

The best thing is that the two scents really compliment each other so if I have "Home for the Holidays" burning in the kitchen, and the leftover "Cranberry Chutney" burning in the master bedroom, your nose isn't offended by the difference. Riveting, I know.

Do you have a favorite scent during the holidays?

The Baking

On the fourth day...

When I was in junior high, one of our neighbors a few doors down made Almond Poppy Seed Bread every year and delivered it to nearby households around the holidays. We started receiving bread from her the year we moved in down the street and never missed a year. My family fell in love with the treat and decided that the holidays would not be the same without it.

At some point I began to realize that our neighbor was only getting older, and baking all that bread was probably not as easy as it used to be. So, I took matters into my own hands. I walked down the street and offered to help her with her Christmas baking in exchange for her poppy seed bread recipe. She took me up on my offer, and I've been making it every Christmas since.

It wasn't until my newlywed years that I realized that what I was making wasn't really bread, it was more of a cake or a muffin, if you will. And because the batter bakes similarly to muffins or cakes, I could make the treat in many different forms. Muffins, bundts, small loaves, cupcakes, mini-muffins all started appearing out of my creativity, and for other reasons besides Christmas.

It was also about this time that through a series of unfortunate circumstances, I found out that if you eat an undetermined amount of this bread right before you take a drug test, you may or may not test positive for having taken drugs. But, really, drug tests are not a very Christmas-y thought are they? So we'll move on.

These days it's a treat I make for the kids 3 or 4 times a year, and it's always part of our Christmas morning brunch. I also like to make a few extra loaves and give them to friends and neighbors around the holidays, just like Miss Dixie used to do. And just like Miss Dixie, if you want the recipe, come on over and bake with me and I'd be glad to share it with you.

And...

Speaking of bread. We've got another little thing going on here at Casa de Hairdryer. Apparently, we have some secret friends that have been leaving us treats every night to celebrate the countdown to Christmas. Pictured here are the chocolate kisses, chocolate-dipped pretzels, and fresh bread that we received. Not pictured are the sugar cookies we got a couple of nights ago. Because...um... as of press time, there were no sugar cookies left to be in the pictures.

Anyway, it's a fun little Christmas mystery, and I can't wait to find out who our Secret Santas are.

What are you doing to pass the time until Christmas arrives?

Long distance celebration

On the third day...

The girls are at such a fun age right now. I don't really remember years 3 through 5 with Bubba because the girls were born when he was 3 1/2 and, sadly, those first couple of years caring for 2 babies are just sort of a blur in my mind. So, I'm experiencing some of this stuff for the first time.

The girls missed school last week because they were both sick. I brought all of their work home and we had "homeschool" once they were feeling better. When all of their school work was done, they begged for another craft, so we made placemats.

Mary TuTu is showing off the finished product in the picture above. The plan is to mail them today to our family and friends that we won't see on Christmas. We try to do our part to spread some Christmas cheer.

There absolutely must be a tree...

On the second day...

It's pretty well documented here on the www that I love our Christmas tree. I found it 4 years ago at a pre-Thanksgiving sale, and it was love at first sight. It was the only one left that was 9ft tall, and the 40% off tag attached to it was just an added bonus. The spark that drew me to it 4 years ago hasn't died one bit. This year we even had to replace some of the lights that came on this pre-lit beauty, and I still love it as much as the day I brought it home. In sickness and in health, right?

You know when you find a pair of shoes you really like and you are tempted to buy 2 pair so you'll have a backup in case they ever stop making that particular shoe? Well, that's how I feel about this tree. If I ever find another one like it, I'll be tempted to buy it so I'll have a backup for when this one just absolutely falls apart beyond repair.

One of my favorite things to put on our tree is this raffia garland I made several years ago. I have a thing for raffia. It's so casual and natural and understated.

Anyway, when we were first married and living on a very modest youth minister's salary, I made the garland for our tree. I used several strands of raffia and tied them together with red, green, white, and blue scraps of fabric. I placed the fabric ties about 6 inches apart and each raffia strand has about 8 or so ties. It's so festive and simple at the same time. The garland has been on our tree ever since.

Every year at The Preschool we give the parents an ornament to help them remember the year their child spent with us. This is my 4th year to do this, and I finally came up with an ornament that I love. I'm nothing if not slow... and since I'm a parent in my class, I got to keep two of these.

Pictures with Santa

On the first day...

Early on in the holiday season, we make a trip to see Santa. It's the one tradition that I can't even imagine missing. We've found a great place here in our city to see the jolly elf. The line is never too long, despite Santa taking time to visit with each child in a personal way. And, since Santa's elves aren't selling pictures, they don't mind if you bring your own camera and pose and re-pose as many times as you like.

This year the kids have decided to go in together and ask for a trampoline. When they informed Santa of their choice, he gave them a pretty...um...in-depth explaination of safety and taking turns. He also threw in a lesson on visualizing yourself successfully accomplishing your goals and how important it is to believe in yourself. I think the kids were a little thrown off. They spent most of the time on his lap with confused looks on their faces.

I didn't care if they were confused or not. It gave me time to change the settings on the camera. And really, it's a small price to pay for unlimited poses.

Countdown to Christmas Eve

So . . . in case you haven't heard . . . I love the holidays, and not even the bad economy blues can dampen my Christmas spirit. We've wrapped up things at The Preschool for 2008, and I'm in full Christmas mode.

In preparation for the season, I've decided to Countdown to Christmas Eve here on the blawg. Starting tomorrow, I'll be celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas - Talking Hairdryer style, and I would love for you to join me.

I plan to share some of the things on our Christmas To Do List, and, if the truth be told, pictures of all of those things. (Because I am still playing with the new camera, so right now, everything that happens around here is camera worthy.)

It's just my way of spreading some Christmas cheer. And getting my stuff done. And living to blog about it. See you tomorrow!