You've Got to Trust Me on This One

I think it's time to get that crazy picture of Britney Spears off of the front page of my blog. :0)

Did you all have a great holiday? I hope so. Mine was busy and full of family. It was wonderful. I was very spoiled this year, as was the rest of my family. We got OODLES of yucky snow that made it miserable to drive around in. But, "thankfully" it rained for an entire day and now we just have mounds of slush all over the roads to deal with. {BTW...trying to keep kids from splashing in the slush puddles that have formed in store parking lots is maddening!}

I have begun the massive process of decluttering my house and re-organizing everything. With no school to worry about I have been able to let my OCD run free. It's great. :0) I got some awesome new dishes for Christmas from my mom and so yesterday I had to reorganize my kitchen cupboards to make everything fit. My junk drawer has been compartmentalized. {don't you love that word?} My laundry room is sparkling. The movies have been re-alphabetized. Christmas decorations are almost put away. And.....

I have watched 16 episodes of '24'. You know... the television series? Yeah...that one. The hubby started watching it at the beginning of season 5 but felt like he was missing out on some important information. He's been wanting to start at season 1 and get through all of the episodes before season 6 starts. Santa must have heard his cry for help because he brought season 1 and season 2 to our house this year. And every night since, the two of us have lazily sat in front of the television for HOURS trying to get through the first season. It's now 4:00 pm...so that means we still have about 8 hours {or 8 episodes} to go. Ok...without commercials it takes way less time than the normal hour tv block, but still. I don't hardly ever watch tv anymore so I'm feeling kind of naughty. :0)

BTW...for those of you who watch the show...have you ever counted how many times Jack Bauer actually says "You've got to trust me on this one" each episode? For a guy who basically trusts no one...he expects an awful lot of trust from everyone else around him. :0)

This tag is from "It's What I Love" by my good friend Bonnie B.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper
2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial
3. When do you put up the tree? weekend after Thanksgiving
4. When do you take the tree down? week after Chrsitmas
5. Do you like eggnog? it's ok....not my favorite
6. Favorite gift received as a child? don't remember...there was a cabbage patch doll once (that I still have)
8. Easiest person to buy for? Mackenzee
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Several- I've started to collect them
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mine have already been sent out in the mail.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? ???
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Polar Express
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? August
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes
5. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? mom's sticky buns
16. Lights on the tree? Yes, it's pre-lit
17. Favorite Christmas song? When Christmas Comes To Town
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Home
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? yes
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? neither..no room because my tree is too tall
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? We open pajamas on Christmas Eve and everything else on Christmas morning.
22. Favorite Christmas Tradition? Christmas jammies
23. Favorite ornament, theme or color? I love gold on my tree with dots of red in there too.
24. Favorite Christmas dinner? Whatever it is that I haven't had to cook. :0)
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? world peace. :0) Oh wait...how about that my house sells, that the housing market will pick back up, that I will get through school in one piece because I'll falling apart with that one, and perhaps some rammekins so that I can make individual molten lava cakes. :0)

You guys want to play along? It's a tag...and so since you read all the way through mine consider yourself tagged! :0)

Little People Nativity

My favorite Christmas decorations are my nativity sets. I have four so far, but would love to collect more. A couple of years ago I purchased the Willow Tree Nativity set and fell in love with the simplistic beauty of it. Last year at a craft fair I was thrilled to find a white ceramic nativity set identical to the one my mother has had since I was a little girl. My first nativity set was purchased six years ago and consists of little ceramic figurines as well. The other set I have was given to me by my grandmother and is actually made up of those cute little nesting dolls. You know, the kind that fit inside of each other?

I put these decorations out a couple of days ago and threatend my children with their lives afterwards. I fear we will have broken pieces before the week is out. My daughter loves to touch the decorations in my home and often rearranges them. And though I remember rearranging my mothers ceramic nativity set as a child, I am way too high strung to be able to watch her handling the delicate pieces. She could hardly contain herself yesterday and stood as close as she could to the table they were on.

Guess what I found today though? I was out shopping for presents and found this adorable Little People Nativity set at my local church bookstore. I was so excited and knew I had to get it. Not only is it another nativity for my collection, but my kids can play with it all they want. I put it out as soon as I got home and my daughter has rearranged and played to her hearts content ever since. As an added bonus, it is a fun way for her to learn the story of the birth of Jesus. My son isn't as excited about it because...you know....he's cool like that.

Anyway...any of you looking for a new great Christmas decoration or even just a great new Christmas toy for your kids...I highly suggest it.

When Christmas Comes To Town

Christmastime is crazy. Since Jaysen and I got married we have made sure to share the holiday with both of our families. Every other year we are with his family and vice versa. On the years that it is my families turn, we go to my Grandma's house. Ever since I can remember my family has gone to her house for Christmas Eve. She has always made it such a huge event and takes no shortcuts when it comes to making sure it is a fabulous evening for everyone. In fact, as the family has gotten larger and larger {her kids, grandkids, and great grandkids} the family room was made bigger in order to accomodate everyone.



Santa Claus comes every year so that the kids can get in their last minute requests. We eat until we are so full we can't move. We sing carols. We play the bells. We learn about the true meaning of Christmas. It has been this way forever. Traditions are a part of what make the holiday so great.


About eight years ago a few of the traditions were changed as the families grew. Instead of going to my Grandma's house again on Christmas morning to open presents, we open them on Christmas Eve. This is done at the end of the evening. My grandparents pass out gifts to EVERYONE. {That's a lot of gifts!} They love to give these gifts and give them from their hearts. I appreciate them and all they do for their family. There's a lot of us and I know it takes months of work for them to cross everyone off of their list.

This year we are spending the holiday with my husbands family. I am new to their traditions but have found that no matter what activities take place, all that matters is that we are able to spend the holiday with family. This mean that this year we will be eating pizza from the favorite local pizza place. We read the Christmas story. We play fun games. We exchange ornaments and the kids open up their pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa. The opening of the pajama boxes is almost like an unveiling ceremony. The kids get so excited to see what their new jammies will look like each year. And every year as we put up our Christmas tree we get to reflect on the ornaments of Christmas' past that we have received from Jaysen's siblings. I have come to love and appreciate these traditions of his family and look forward to them every year.


The past few years I have struggled with the overwhelming amount of gifts that my kids receive every year. Not only do they get presents from me and Santa, but from cousins and grandparents too. My daughter receives presents from four sets of grandparents. My son...wow. His birthday is this month as well so he is in present heaven. To top off that...he has two sets of parents and six sets of grandparents that give him presents {that I know of}. Yeah....I don't know if he even knows what he gets every year because there is so much. Now, I'm not saying that grandparents and cousins can't give gifts to my kids. In fact, my kids give gifts to their grandparents and their cousins themselves. It is just disheartening to see my kids simply looking for the next gift to unwrap. What is interesting though, is that the gifts that have had a lasting effect on my kids have never been the toys. Even so.....

I worry that my kids don't grasp the true meaning of Christmas.



I worry that the commercialism of the holiday is all they remember.


I worry that they will grow up and the only traditions they can look back on are opening presents.

I have been struggling with this for a few years now. There are so many other kids that receive little or nothing for Christmas. If you have seen the movie, The Polar Express, you will remember the adorable little boy who doesn't believe in Santa because he's never gotten a present from him. His family was too poor. And then there's my kids who have never wanted for anything. Am I the only one struggling with this? I worry that I have enabled my children to have this cushioned view of life.

I have tried to reign things in this year. After seeing the piles of presents that my kids opened, I told myself that was it. I wasn't going to do it again this year. Their presents are bought and I am done. I wanted to focus this year on teaching my kids the true meaning of Christmas. I want to take them caroling to the nursing home. I want to have them take presents to those who would otherwise go without. I want them to learn about the reason we give gifts in the first place.


I told them yesterday that we were going to be giving presents to baby Jesus this year because it is his birth we celebrate. Trying to keep things on my toddler's level I told them that we were going to have a birthday party for Jesus. The Wise Men took him presents to celebrate his birth and we have been told to give to others to honor His life. Not necessarily materialistic things, but of ourselves as well.

If any of you have other ideas that would help me to continue to keep the true meaning of Christmas as a theme for my family this year I would love to hear them. One aspect of Christmas that is identical no matter where we go to spend the holiday is that the story of the birth of Jesus is told. I grew up playing characters from this story as me and my cousins acted out the scenes. I am so grateful that my grandmother has kept this tradition alive. I love her so much for all of the time she puts into every Christmas Eve. She is 76 years old this year and I worry there won't be too many more years of her Christmas programs.

Sorry for the ramblings here....I've been frustrated over a few aspects of Christmas this year and needed to ramble on a bit. :0) Thanks for listening.

Christmas in a Can

This project has taken over my mind! As part of my church calling, I am one of three in charge of Super Saturday for my ward. What is this you ask? It is a day where all of the ladies get together and get their craft ON. :0) After helping to come up with enough fun things for everyone to do, I was put in charge of "Christmas in a Can". I was given an example of what another ward had done, and though I thought it was cute and a really good idea, I wanted to do something a bit different with it. Why? Because I like to go crazy trying to come up with something that hopefully EVERYONE will enjoy. Sigh. Ok, really, I just can't seem to stop myself from adding more things to my list.

Honestly, though it took oodles of hours to come up with an idea and then try to find things that would go along with that idea, I am really pleased with the outcome. It turned out great and I was able to stay within my $10 budget.

Here is my version of Christmas in a Can....

There is a talk in the December 2001 Ensign Magazine by President Faust about the Five True Gifts of Christmas. I based my can on this.

Tucked neatly inside this paint bucket are five "gifts".

First...the gift of PEACE.

It is a little sachet of bath essence. :0)

Second....the gift of SELF.

It is a "To-Do List" notepad.

Third....the gift of LOVE.

I found this picture at my local Church bookstore. The description on the back talk about the love of Christ.

Fourth...the gift of SERVICE.

I had a hard time with this one because it is so similar to the gift of Self. But then I found this cute idea and knew it was perfect.

Finally...the gift of FAITH.

After all...what is Christmas if you do not believe?

Must have been on the nice list....

Because I was spoiled rotten this year for Christmas. I got two of my wish list items, plus other things I couldn't have even wished for!

Santa brought me an iPod (yes, it's true...I didn't have one. Jaysen did, but not me) and now I can take my entire iTunes collection (1500 songs) with me wherever I go. I told Santa not to buy one for me as they are not one of those "needed" items. But, Santa must have thought that I was REALLY good and gave me one anyway. The stinker! He also brought me a new Cricut cartridge (the Mickey font) and I can't wait to be able to use it!

The picture is of me and my Grams...she put on a huge Christmas Eve program (as she does every year) and had me narrate it. The program included caroling, which is what we are doing in this picture. It's one of my favorites from this year. :0) My Grams got us a Grain Mill to grind wheat. I'm excited to try it out. I may just have to go get myself a bread machine here soon. Either that or a REAL bread pan. The one I have has seen better days. ;0)

My sister-in-law Holly got me the pasta machine I was wanting! I'm so excited to whip it out and make some yummy pastas!

And my mom got all of her daughters a beautiful necklace. I'll have to post a picture. Oh! And she made these amazing purses. Out of placemats! I'll post a picture of that one too! They are definitely on my "to do" list. I want to make oodles of them! Seriously! I'm thinking one in every color.

If I didn't post about the gift you gave, it wasn't because I wasn't grateful or that I didn't love it! We were truly spoiled this year and received far more than what was expected. I actually have some Christmas cash burning a hole in my pocket that I need to go spend. I'm thinking I'll be able to go and get the angel for my nativity with it! YAY!

Jaysen got the Guitar Hero game for our new Wii and we've already broke it in. I totally rock...and he's not too shabby himself. ;0) We're thinking we need to get a second guitar so that we can battle each other. Won't that be a fun family home evening? :0)

So, I am dying to know what all of YOU received! Fill me in! I hope you all got a few wish list items as well! For those of you that I "know", you have all been really NICE to me! So, if was up to me you'd all make that list! Can't wait to hear what you got!

Just in case...

...you were interested in the Chocolate Nativity Molds I used in my Christmas baking you can find a set of your own here. I ordered a new one for myself since I had stolen this one from my mom a few years back, and a new one for my mom since the one I stole is now cracked and useless. ;0) I have only used white chocolate when I've made it.....it's prettier ;0)

While you're there, you can check out this fun idea, or even these hilarious cookie cutters. Enjoy!

Done!

No picture to post here. Too much craziness going on at Landon's class party to take a picture. ;0) We played Santa, Santa Where's Your Sleigh?, Pin the Star on the Christmas Tree, and Snowball Toss. It was crazy! But, thankfully.....

IT'S DONE!

Can I just tell you how elated I am about this? Once again, I am checking something off of my to-do list. It's getting shorter, thankfully. Tonight is Landon's Christmas piano recital, I've got a party to plan for Monday, a rainbow jello salad to make for Monday night, one Christmas present to finish up and wrap...and I think I might be done with everything that I'M supposed to take care of. The other stuff we're doing in between all of this, I thankfully don't have a dang thing to worry about.

OH! By the way....if any of you are looking for a great deal on a Christmas tree....check out Michaels. They have awesome prelit trees there that cost almost 1/4 of the original cost. I was thrilled. I told all of you that I was going to get one so that I didn't have to string lights anymore. I didn't even have to wait until after Christmas though. So thrilled. Though Jaysen now tells me that we'll just have two trees. One for the basement and one for upstairs. Sigh. I think he might have to take care of the basement one then. Do they make BSU ornaments?

Super Cute!

So, I found this idea on another blog I look at and decided they might be fun to use for prizes at Landon's class party tomorrow. They turned out soooo super cute. Don't you think?

It's Rudolph if you didn't catch on. I think they're pretty self explanatory...but.....here's how ya do it.

Wrap a Hershey bar in kraft paper. Glue on google eyes, pompom nose and pipe cleaner antlers. Tie a ribbon around it for a bow and tah dah!

I just finished them. Why on earth did I decided this would be a great idea to do the DAY BEFORE his class party? Because I'm insane. I've decided this just now. I'm not even finished getting the stuff for the games together, but hey! Let's make 24 Rudolph candy bars....why not? I think I need help. And a muscle relaxer.

I'm going to bed now.

Christmas baking

It's a yearly tradition at my house. One big day of making Christmas goodies to share with friends and family. This year I was alone, sadly. Every other year I've had my little sister doing it with me. There have been years where others have participated as well, but she was always there. So, it was sad to not have her here to do this with me. She moved this last summer up to Nampa. I did call her as I was working on the goodies to find that she was doing the same thing! Making Christmas goodies...by herself. Apparently we were still on the same page. :)

This year I went with the super easy. Without the extra hands to help (Landon wasn't even here to help!) I tried to find things I could make that wouldn't take days to finish. Actually, every year I try to find something new and different that I haven't made before. It's fun finding the new recipes and ideas. I've made homemade Twix bars using Christmas cookie cutters, Nutter Butter Santas, Eggnog Truffles....you get the idea. But EVERY year we make pb cups and pb Ritz sandwich crackers dipped in chocolate. It's just what we do. But, those take some serious time. Making the pb Ritz sandwiches and then dipping....and the cups take a bit too. A dollup of chocolate, dollup of pb, final dollup of chocolate. Sigh. Needless to say, this year was truly a sad year in the goodie department. I did come up with some really great ideas with the help of the internet :0) so I thought I'd share!

These were truly easy. Just unwrap some caramels, dip them in chocolate and sprinkle with your desired topping. I used whatever I had in my cupboard. Nuts, sprinkles, coconut, pb chips...you get the idea. Whatever tastes good in a candy bar with caramel...go for it! Even crushed pretzels would go great on it. Or, if you've got the time and patience...you could wait for the chocolate to dry and use a colored frosting and make cool designs on the top. Swirls, zig zags, stuff like that.

These did take a little more time as the dough has to refrigerate for an hour, and then with the cutting out of the shapes, and several trays of cookies to bake.....you get the idea. I'm not a cookie baker, but these did go really quick. I used mini cookie cutters, so these are bite sized, which means I could bake 20 cookies per sheet, 10 minutes per batch...it wasn't too bad. After baking, I dipped half of them in colored chocolate and sprinkled the chocolate with the same color of sugar sprinkles. My daughter ate three all at once. Apparently that means they are good. OH! And they are gingerbread cookies. Not sugar cookies.

This one was the easiest by far. I have made peppermint bark in the past. But this one is my favorite so far...just melt chocolate in your double boiler, spread on parchment paper on a cookie sheet to desired thickness, and then sprinkle with those yummy Andes peppermint chips. The chips actually have itty bitty pieces of candy cane in them. So, there's still a small amount of crunch, but you still get tons of peppermint flavor. The only thing I would change is maybe using semisweet chips for the bark part instead of milk chocolate. I'm a dark chocolate girl. I would eat it up!

And, this is something that I try to make every year. My mom got these chocolate molds FOREVER ago. I don't know how long ago...but they've been around for a while. I borrowed them from her several years back, and have just kept using them. It's a full Nativity. I definitely use white chocolate as you wouldn't get the same effect using brown. I made four sets yesterday. They aren't quite done as I need to shave the excess off of the sides. I've just got the pieces laid out on parchment paper right now as you can see. But just look at the pieces! The molds actually have the mold for the stable as well, but I usually don't make that part, as I put all of the pieces in a cellophane bag and wrap it with a pretty ribbon. These I give out to those I visit teach, or those who Jaysen home teaches. I think what I love so much about these, is that my mom has a Nativity set she made out of porcelain a LONG time ago that she puts out every Christmas that is identical to these chocolate pieces. I was lucky enough to find an identical set of the porcelain Nativity this year at the CSI craft fair. It's truly beautiful. Unfortunately, it's not displayed this year for fear that Mackenzee will break the fragile pieces. But, my mom will have hers out...as always.

My Christmas Wishlist

is pretty specific this year. Last year if you would have asked me, I wouldn't have been able to give you a single idea. But this year I was prepared! ;0)

(These are in random order here. One is not wanted more than the other!)


I have been wanting a pasta maker for a while now. It's one of those "luxury" items, so I've never splurged. But isn't Christmas the time when you can unexpectedly get the items you normally wouldn't be able to? This machine has two other attachments, making it possible to make three different types of pasta. I wouldn't say that I was dying to make my own ravioli, but to make my own fresh noodles...yeah. Good stuff. Flavored pastas...can you imagine how yummy?

I am also in need of a bread machine. Mine died a couple of years ago and again...I just haven't gone and gotten another one.

There's just something about the smell of fresh homemade bread.

(You're hungry for a slice now aren't you?) It's just so yummy. And our home has been missing out on this. Sad, isn't it?

Cricut cartridges! I have fallen in love with my machine. OK, so not

literally, but I am loving having it around. Even with just the cartridge that comes with the machine, you can do SO many things. Letters, shapes, phrases...all with the push of a button. Check out my slideshow of the scrapbook pages I posted a while back and you'll see all the different things I did with my cricut in just a few days. This cartridge is one that I don't have that looks like I would enjoy. I'm more of a font cartridge girl, though I do use the shapes on my George cartridge. Now, if I only had more time to use the dang thing!

And last but not least....I need these two items to finish my Willow Tree Nativity set. The angel

with her beautiful stand so that she can look down over baby Jesus. The final touch

to complete my favorite Christmas decoration for my home.





Hopefully I've been good enough this year so that Santa will leave me one of these items on my wishlist. I can't admit to being perfect...so hopefully Santa will look past my "woops!" moments and fill my stocking. ;0) What's on your wishlist?

Christmas countdown....

Copying from another blog I read.....my family is going to complete an activity based Christmas advent calendar. To continue to get us in the spirit of Christmas. So, here are 24 Christmas based activities that our family can do to help spread the joy of the season till Christmas.


1. watch: how the grinch stole christmas (check)
2. drive around to see neighborhood lights (check)
3. make paper snowflakes (check)
4. make a paper chain for a Christmas countdown
5. make a present to leave for santa
6. read a christmas story
7. make cookies & treats for friends
8. take kid shopping so they can get a present for each other
9. donate our Christmas Jar (see Christmas jar post)
10. Watch: Nightmare before Christmas
11. make gingerbread houses
12. 12 days of Christmas for a friend ;0)
13. Host a Christmas craft exchange!
14. make hot chocolate floats
15. visit Santa at the Lynwood
16. make Christmas cupcakes!
17. Sign up to purchase gifts for a needy child
18. Watch: Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas
19. Check out Grandpa's display
20. 24 hour Josh Groban Christmas song marathon! (This one is my favorite!)
21. Watch: ELF
22. Go to a Christmas party!
23. Flannel board story of Jesus' birth!
24. Christmas talent show at Grandma's

Feel free to come and participate with us! We'd love to have you come!

To: Landon's Teacher

I found this cute idea in a Simple Scrapbooks magazine and thought I'd share it with you. It's a keepsake box for your childs' teacher.

materials:

5½ x 3½ x 5½ wooden box (or any wooden box with a hinged lid)

coordinating patterned papers (those shown are FoofaLa)

acrylic paint to match papers

rub-ons

letter rub-ons

ribbon

chalk

pencils

project by Elizabeth Dillow, Mountain House, CA

Instructions

1. Open the lid of the wooden box, and paint the edges of the lid and box. Let dry.

2. Measure the inside of the lid and the interior sides of the box; then cut patterned paper to fit. Adhere in place. (Elizabeth used a Xyron machine to cover her paper with adhesive. With cardstock, try something stronger, like PVA or Yes! Glue.)

3. Measure the exterior sides of the lid and the box; then cut patterned paper to fit. Adhere in place.

4. Embellish the lid of your box using theme rub-ons, letter rub-ons, and other appropriate accents. (Elizabeth used a box with a faux chalkboard top, adding two short pencils and a piece of chalk tied up with a ribbon.)

No guarantees that Mrs. Grubbs will be getting one this year. But it's the thought that counts right?

I love this one....

Last year, I went back to work for about two seconds. Ok, it was more like 6 months. Not because we needed the money. It was because I thought I needed it for sanity. Turns out, adding a job into the mix just created more INsanity. So, I'm back home now. But, the extra cash flow was super nice. Of course, it was only about $500 per month because I was only working part time and still had to pay for a babysitter, but still....
And, it was the holidays for the first two months of it! I have wanted this Willow Tree nativity for a long time. It is absolutely gorgeous. But, it does cost a few pennies, so I have never been able to go for it. I bought the main pieces before I started working last year thinking I would just

buy one set per year until the whole set was complete. (It comes in at least 5 boxes, which you have to buy seperately) And so Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, a donkey and a couple sheep sat on my table for a while. And honestly, they are truly beautiful all on their own. But I wasn't satisfied. So, I bought all the other sets except for the Creche (Stable) when I started working. I couldn't help myself! My mom was a dear and bought the Creche for me for Christmas last year to complete my set.

At least I thought it was complete until I took the pieces out of their boxes yesterday. I need an angel! There is no angel! So, I think I might have to trek down to Crowleys and buy myself a little angel on a stand. They do have one that matches the Creche. I remembered that. So, off I must go!

Anyway....this is my favorite Christmas decoration. The true meaning of Christmas. And cause for a great discussion about it at the dinner table last night. The creator of these pieces did such a beautiful job. The pieces are so simple, which is exactly the type of circumstances that He was born into. Nothing fancy, just simple.
Merry Christmas!

Craft of the Week!

It's Christmastime! You probably already knew that though. We all have those people that we don't know what to get for Christmas. And gift cards, or i-Tunes cards are very popular right now. I realize they sell gift card holders (I have purchased some really cute ones!), but where most of us a pretty crafty people....why not make our own? I found this really cute idea at giftmakermagazine.com and thought...cute, fun, homemade.....you can't go wrong! They look pretty simple too! Now, I'm not a sewer on my scrapbook projects...so I would just use a really strong adhesive on the edges to glue to sides together and then ink and distress like crazy! (Because that's what I do) So, have fun with this one and let me know how it turns out!

Christmas Jars

Needing some help getting into the TRUE spirit of Christmas? Or maybe you are looking for a new tradition to start in your family? READ THIS BOOK! My grandma gave me this book a week ago, and though it is a short read...I just barely got to reading it on Saturday. I finished it up last night with some serious warm fuzzies. My grandma also gave me a jar to go with my book...so we've got some serious work to do here! I'm excited to get Landon involved though. To help him understand what Christmas is really all about. Not what we GET, but what we can give with our hearts. ;0)

Merry Christmas!

Let It Snow?

We got our first "official" snow last night. It wasn't much, but snow did fall from the sky and it's frozen to my car as we speak. (Still not able to park in the garage due to the hoardes of unopened boxes in there.)
Honestly, I'm not a big fan of snow. I know we need it for the moisture and all. But if God could just let it strategically fall onto the fields for the farmers and even up on the mountains...that would be perfect! Not on the roads please! I hate driving in the snow. It's miserable. I drive like an old lady with white knuckles on the steering wheel. It's not my driving I'm concerned about...it's all the other lunatics out there in their SUVs who think that because their car is massive and they have 4 wheel drive that they can still drive fast. Now, don't get me wrong....we own an SUV. We're just not lunatics. ;0) 4 wheel drive does not creat a protective bubble around your vehicle. And what's worse, the bigger the SUV seems to get, the crazier the driver seems to be. (No offense mom....you are not one of these I am speaking about!) So, they drive fast, crash into another car.....and because they are driving their massive cars they crush those they crash into. Their SUV retains minimal damage, but those of us driving safely....have to go without our cars because we were ran over by a Hummer. Sigh.
On the bright side here....the kids were truly excited about the snowfall last night and were hoping for more so that they could build a snowman today. So, they were highly disappointed this morning to see that there was nothing out there for them. I think if I was actually able to pick up each individual piece of snow on the grass in my backyard I could make ONE snowball. And not a very big one. ;0)
So, do you think we'll have a white Christmas? At the rate we're going it's not very likely. And though I complain...it's honestly not Christmas without snow. Big fluffy white snow. After Christmas it can all melt....