Tuesday, November 30, 2010

My List...

...of MUST.WATCH Christmas shows....check 'em out!


1.) A Charlie Brown Christmas
A true, heartwarming classic. I don't know anyone who hasn't seen it and loved it.



2.) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
He's cuuuuute....I think he's cuuuuute!



3.) How the Grinch Stole Christmas
My small heart grows three sizes every time I watch this!
That Cindy Lou Who....ADORABLE!



4.) A Christmas Story
You can watch it ALL.DAY.LONG on Christmas Day....
if that doesn't make it a must-see then the leg lamp DOES!!! :)



5.) The Year Without a Santa Claus
This is an obscure one to a lot of people.
The Miser Brothers dancing with their little "mini-me's" make it a worthwhile watch!



6.) Santa Claus is Coming to Town
This is the show that teaches you everything you ever wanted to know about everyone's favorite Jolly Old Elf :)
Put one foot in front of the other...



7.) Frosty the Snowman
Happy Birthday!



8.) The Little Drummer Boy
This one helps to remind me of the reason for the season.



9.) Prep and Landing
My NEW favorite!
Debuted last year and I can't WAIT to watch it again!!!



10.) Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas
That Emmet....Adorable!
This is the DVD that MUST be added to our collection this year! Hubby and Iz have never heard of/seen this show and it's been WAY too long since I've seen it!


Those are my favorites....what are yours?

Monday, November 29, 2010

No Such Thing as Too Much TV...

...when it comes to Christmas Shows, that is!


We try and limit the amount of tv Iz watches. In reality she still watches too much but, in our defense, 90% is educational and she's learned languages, shapes, colors, sharing, imagination, dance and a million other things from her *buddies* on PBS, Nick Jr., and the Disney channel. The amount of television we watch is directly affected by the weather. When the weather is bad, the tv is on...and vice versa.

However, the Christmas season has begun (well, to me it doesn't officially begin until December 1st, but we won't get into that right now) and all tv rules go out the window when it comes to Christmas specials. ABC Family is beginning it's 25 Days of Christmas on Wednesday and all the networks have various Christmas shows scheduled to air throughout the month. Me? I plan on watching them ALL with Iz right by my side!!! :)

I read an article in the paper yesterday where the author listed his holiday specials to warm the heart. It was HIS ten favorite Christmas shows. You can find the article HERE.

Here's his list:

1.) A Charlie Brown Christmas
2.) Miracle on 34th Street
3.) A Christmas Story
4.) How the Grinch Stole Christmas
5.) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
6.) It's a Wonderful Life
7.) It's a Wonderful Life
8.) Frosty the Snowman
9.) Saturday Night Live Christmas
10.) Scrooged

There are 3 shows on the list I have not seen (pathetic, I know, but I've never watched #2, 6 & 9 ....probably because my holiday viewing focuses mainly on cartoons!) but, I must say, it's a good list. However...there are a few shows missing. I'm not sure why - maybe the author was limited to 10 or limited himself to 10. Either way...tomorrow I'm posting MY list of must-see holiday specials and then I'm going to make a point of watching the above list AND my list in the next 26 days (um, 26...that's how many days 'til Christmas y'all!!!!).

Bring on the Fa-la-la-la-la, Ho Ho Ho and You'll Shoot Your Eye Out!!!! I'm ready :)

Friday, November 26, 2010

Black Friday

Got up at 4 am this morning, navigated through the freezing rain to meet up with Mel & her sis, then dealt with the crowds and waited in line for an HOUR at the store with the big red circle :)

It was worth every minute though because see this?


Yep....bought myself one today :)



Oh, AND I got a few other great deals including this set of princess dolls for almost 1/2 price which Iz will be getting for her birthday!!!

Home by 11, napping by 1...now I'm up and ready for the rest of the day/weekend!

Have a great one!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Giving Thanks

I am thankful for...

...a wonderful Husband

...an amazing daughter

...wonderful "big" kids

...a family that's always there for us

...great friends

...the privilege of being a SAHM

...a safe, secure, happy home

...the wonderful teachers at Iz's school

...Glee :)

...iced coffee

...love

From our home to yours:



What are YOU thankful for?

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Happy Birthday!

AUNTIE D!

Can't wait for lunch :)

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Not That Easy

Next week I'll be getting Iz all dolled up and heading out to find a scenic spot to snap some pictures for this year's Christmas card. Last year I was lucky enough to get three pictures that I loved and put them ALL on the card. This year I may not be so lucky...getting ONE good picture is not as easy as it sounds. For example, yesterday...

Me: Hey Iz! Why don't you put on the Pilgrim bonnet you made at school so I can snap a picture?

Iz: *dirty look*

Me: Yes I realize you're finishing your snack but it'll just take a second (cramming bonnet onto said little girl's head). Smile!

*checking camera*

Me: Eek. Not so good.


Me: OK Let's try again. Smile!

*checking camera*

Me: Hmmm...maybe you could walk away from the snack while we take the picture?


Iz: Ugh *walks over to doorway*

Me: OK! Smile

*checking camera*

Me: Dern! I'm not sure if I can crop out the doorknob.

Iz: *flails arms in exasperation*



Me: OK. One.More.Time. SMILE!

*checking camera*

Me: Ahhh...that was easy, wasn't it?

Iz: *stomps off to finish snack*


Monday, November 22, 2010

VA-CA-TION

You probably won't hear a lot from me this week...Hubby's on VACATION :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!



Friday, November 19, 2010

Playdate with Roo

Mel had stuff to do yesterday so we met up with her in the am and Roo came over to play for the day :)

The view from the spot we met up at....gorgeous, isn't it?



They got right down to the serious SERIOUS business of PLAYING!


After lunch we played a little Candyland DVD.


A FUN day was had by ALL!!!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Here's to Hoping

There's 11 days left in November and then the "official" countdown to Christmas begins :) I've already purchased a chocolate advent calendar for Iz (just like last year) and once we get through Thanksgiving we'll drag out the totes of decorations and get this place ready for the big day! I got a magazine in the mail yesterday that included "12 Days of Christmas Cookies" and that's in my plans now too (more on that another day). With a future filled with Christmas cheer and TONS of yummy baked goods I have a plan...

The next time I see someone in the area working in a bucket truck I'm going to beg and plead for them to come to my house and get down this branch:

It came off the top of the tree over a year ago and has been precariously perched over the turn-a-round of our driveway ever since. I might be wrong but I just have a *feeling* about that branch. A feeling that THIS is the winter it's going to come down. A feeling that, when it does come down, it will be on a day when there are people here and parked directly under it, naturally.

So. I'm going to plead. I don't know - if I worked in a bucket truck and some crazy lady came to me with promises of hot coffee and baked goods in exchange for getting a branch down I would take her up on it! What do you think?

Yeah, I think I'm outta luck....but, here's to hoping!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Wordless Wednesday: Tolerance

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Guess What We've Been Reading?

We read to Iz A LOT. We read her anything and EVERYTHING we can get our hands on. Short books. Chapter books. Little kid books. Big kid books. Even book on topics you would never think a 4-year-old would be interested in (see HERE).

Lately though, we've been on a bit of a kick when it comes to book selection.

Can YOU tell what we've been reading?


How about now?

Absolutely adorable books. Check 'em out!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Wordless Wednesday: Kick It!



Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Mad! Mad! Mad!


Now THAT'S a mad face!

Wondering what was making Ellie so mad?



She was THIRSTY!
(She gets the same look I get when I don't get any iced coffee :) )


Ahhh....much better!


Monday, November 8, 2010

Score!

I usually try to avoid the post-Halloween clearance stuff since I end up buying a bunch of decorations we don't need or candy that we DEFINITELY don't need, but I hit the big time Saturday when I went into WallyWorld and all their Halloween stuff was 90% off!!!

Things weren't complete picked clean and there was still a TON of stuff available. I decided on the spot to do a dress-up box for Iz for Christmas.

I got 4 complete costumes (princess, fairy, pixie & little red riding hood), 3 frilly skirts, 2 crown/jewelry sets, 3 wand/headband sets & a pair of wings. Total cost? $11.97 :)

Then I found an under-the-bed storage box for $10.

SCORE!!!

Monday, November 1, 2010

Halloween...The Highs (LOTS of Candy!) and The Lows (Um....puking....yeah)

Halloween is officially over :( The decorations will come down later today and we'll start gearing up for Thanksgiving and *gulp* Christmas (1 month, 3 weeks and 2 days people!!!).

We spent Halloween at Auntie D's house, as usual. I spent Saturday night and some of Sunday morning carving pumpkins (pictures coming, hopefully, soon!) and we headed over to Auntie D's Sunday afternoon. I brought pumpkin whoopie pies and veggies & dip....there was also american chop suey, chili, mini apple pies, chips and who knows what else - always plenty of food around with this crowd :)

Not even five minutes after we got there, I turned to see Iz with her hands against her mouth and a strange, panicked look on her face....oh, yes, she was getting sick- poor baby. I grabbed the trash can and up came lunch :( I cleaned her up and set her up on a couch with a movie and she seemed to snap out of it within an hour or so. I'm thinking now that maybe it was a combination of a little too much lunch and a lot of excitement about trick-or-treating.

We went all over Auntie D's neighborhood and gathered quite the stash of candy but it was VERY chilly out, VERY dark and a LOT of houses were not lit up and handing out candy. Close to half of the houses that we usually stop at were dark and abandoned tonight. Talking to a high school buddy that lives in the area he said that people just couldn't keep up anymore....people come from other parts of town to trick-or-treat in Auntie D's neighborhood because it's quiet, has a lot of houses and is easily walkable...this buddy of mine said that last year he spent $150 on candy to hand out!!! Seriously? Then, getting back to Auntie D's when we were done, she told me that they had a lot less trick-or-treaters this year than previously. Strange. I also noted to Hubby on the way home that the ages of the "kids" out last night seemed a little off....for every preschooler/grade schooler walking by, I saw probably 3-4 teenagers (and older!) out gathering candy. Sheesh! Does that seem off to you?

Anyway, I'm going to do my best over the next few days to 1)Get both Iz and I over our pesky colds AND 2)Not eat all of Iz's Halloween candy...I'm thinking I'll have better luck with the former vs. the latter :) Excuse me, I think I hear a Milky Way calling my name.....

 

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