Christmas in November

I used to be on the naughty list

I can't believe it. Only 29 more days until Christmas. I am so pleased with what I have gotten done this month.....ordered Letter's from Santa for both kids, planned my Thanksgiving menu, written the Holiday newsletter, bought more gifts from Amazon (free shipping folks) and got a bunch of things for Vincent to bring to the children. We have all of the ingredients for our holiday baking and we are looking forward to a tasty Thanksgiving meal.


I am most excited for something that I have been keeping a secret. But the invitations have been sent so I can talk about it now. Me and Mallory are hosting our very first Mother/Daughter Holiday Tea Party! I have always wanted to have a tea party and I cooked up this idea as a way to show my friends how much I love and appreciate them. I have been working hard on my menu and gathering items to make the party special.

This is the final push to get things done!

Christmas in November: To Do List

1. Decorate House!
2. Take Christmas picture of kids, order photos.
3. Make list of ingredients for Christmas Menu, start purchasing non-perishables.
4. Address, Stuff and Stamp 20 Christmas Cards a day for 5 days.
5. Purchase final Christmas Present.
6. Add baking days to calendar.
7. Complete Advent Calendar List of Activities.
8. Wrap Christmas Presents. Box up gifts to be mailed....Post on December 10th.
9. Prepare cookie gift boxes for hubby's co-workers.
10. Get a babysitter and go see Four Christmases with hubby.
    
11. Visit Santa
12. Buy lots of wine....
13. Enjoy the holiday's with my family!
    

Check back all through the month of December for all of the Elfcapades!

And don't forget about the Christmas Parade of Homes on December 15th.

The Love of a Sister

Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet. ~Vietnamese Proverb

The beautiful and talented Mallory is very affectionate. She likes to give and receive kisses.

Alex is two. Ever so often, he will give and receive kisses....but not very often. And especially not when he is very busy reading.

the good thing about picture books is that you can read them upside down too.

Poor tenderhearted Mallory...she becomes upset when her kisses are rebuffed.

But just look at that look in his eyes. He really does love you little sister.....

Mallory would like me to add a note here that she was having an off fashion day. Her Gymboree clothes were all in the wash and she was forced to either dress like Ronald Mc Donald or go naked. Thank you for your understanding.

To my little sister....

She is your mirror, shining back at you with a world of possibilities. She is your witness, who sees you at your worst and best, and loves you anyway. She is your partner in crime, your midnight companion, someone who knows when you are smiling, even in the dark. She is your teacher, your defense attorney, your personal press agent, even your shrink. ~ Barbara Alpert

Having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of. You know whatever you do, they'll still be there. ~Amy Li

How do people make it through life without a sister? ~Sara Corpening

A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life. ~Isadora James

Feathering my Nest

A few months ago...on our 2 year anniversary in Utah, I finally put some pictures on the wall. In preparation for getting my house ready for the holidays I bought some vinyl clings made by a local Etsy store called Sticky Graffiti. I just love them and they make me so happy.

The Best Things in Life are Not Things.

This one is supposed to be for Christmas but I think I could leave it up year round...don't you think?

Peace Love Joy

I am going to have her make a custom cling for me with my favorite quote on it.

The days are long, but the years are short!

*********

I found a great Link Up that I want to participate in for the holidays. It is the Christmas Tour of Homes 2008! Here's what you do...post pictures of your decorations and traditions and also a favorite holiday recipe on your blog on December 15th....then go to Boo Mama's blog and link to your post. It will be so fun to see everyone's decorations and I'm always looking for new traditions and recipes. Join me in the fun!

Wordless Wednesday

**taken at a playdate last week....and so it begins, two young ladies mesmerized by Alex.

The Good Morning Guys!

I grew up in Greeley Colorado. It was a little farming community with a big smell, and at one time....I was a redneck! I listened to country music, I knew how to line dance and two step, I drove a gold Trans Am and a Dodge Power Wagon. I lived on a 600 acre cattle ranch, drank Old Milwaukee and I wore boots.

During this time, my favorite radio station was K99. In my early teen years, they played top 40 music and I would spend many a Saturday night dedicating songs to my current crush (it changed every couple weeks) and dancing in my room in front of a full length mirror. I had some rad moves!

In 1987, when I was 17 years old the format changed to country. And soon after, the comedic stylings of Brian and Todd would fill my mornings with laughter and entertainment. Brian and Todd aka The Good Morning Guys, were with me through my many jobs, my horrible husbands and I formed a bit of a relationship with them. Occasionally, I would call in when they were discussing a topic of interest or when I wanted them to shout out a Happy Birthday to my Mom.

In 1995, my Dad opened an FBO called Aquila Aviation at the Weld County Airport. It was a dream come true for my Dad....he rented and repaired airplanes and offered flying lessons. When he had his grand opening...he hired K99 to do a live remote and I was so excited when Todd showed up.

Look at Bobbi's awesome belt buckle!

The summer of 2000, before I left Greeley for the big city, I was at the Greeley Mall. I had just had my very first professional bra fitting at Victoria Secret and discovered that I was a D cup. To a redneck girl, this was thrilling news! As I was preparing to exit the mall I ran into Brian doing a live remote with a giveaway for tickets to see Clint Black at Cheyenne Frontier Days. He asked if he could interview me real quick and I said YES...I was so excited to be on the radio.

When we went live on the air he asked what I was doing at the mall and I said, 'I just had my b(.)(.)bs measured and I just found out I'm a D CUP!' Brian...being the comedian that he is, played along nicely and asked my husband's name. He then did a shout out to him, 'hey Dumbass (not his real name) Your wife is a D CUP!' A few days later, I would get a phone call saying that I won the Clint Black tickets...I don't think it was a coincidence. I think Brian liked my D Cups and threw all of the other entries out!

A month later, I would leave Dumbass and Greeley in my rear view mirror....never to return. I tried out other morning shows but no one ever took the place of my Good Morning Guys.

Last Tuesday, eight years later....I was sitting home watching TV. I could have been watching the CMA awards but I was three episodes behind on The Starter Wife. I got a text from Bobbi and she said that she had just seen Brian and Todd on the Country Music Awards and they won an award for Personalities of the Year!

I felt such happiness and pride....

Congratulations Brian and Todd for being selected CMA Small Market Personalities of the Year!

Interesting (or not) Tidbit: Amanda Peterson, who appeared opposite Patrick Dempsey in Can't Buy Me Love, was from Greeley and I once saw her at Target!

News from The North Pole

Part of what I love about being a Mom is getting to experience things with my kids for the first time. This year Alex will understand Christmas a little more and I can't wait to do all kinds of fun things to make it magical! I've been waiting for two years to enlist the help of a little friend of mine from The North Pole.

I decided it was finally time for me to adopt an Elf from Santa. To order your Elf-Magic, click here.

I submitted the necessary paperwork which included...my mission statement about Christmas, my favorite Christmas Song and a list of cookies I was going to bake this year. A few weeks ago, Mrs. Clauses nephew Buddy came by to do a home visit.

I am happy to say that we passed with flying colors and Vincent is scheduled to arrive in his little blue sleigh on December 1st! I will be posting about Vincent and his adventures at our house all through the month of December. Click here to see what our elves have been up to!

** ** ** ** **

You can't talk about News from the North Pole without talking about the most important piece of correspondence in December. Nope, I'm not talking about Christmas Cards or Holiday Newsletters.....I'm talking about a Letter from Santa!

I came across this fabulous website the other day where you can order a custom letter from Santa for your child for only $8. It is called North Pole Secretary, they have 8 wonderful letters to choose from. Each personalized letter contains your child's name, the city you live in, accomplishment from the year, two gift wishes, sibling and pet's names. There is also a section in the letter about the true meaning of Christmas. Santa also includes some news from the North Pole. AND as if all this wasn't enough...it will be postmarked from North Pole Alaska! How cool is that?

Order your letter's soon....Christmas is coming!




Photo Credit

Sad, Mad, Glad...

What I've got they used to call the blues
Nothin' is really wrong
Feelin' like I don't belong
Walkin' around
Some kind of lonely clown
Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down.
~The Carpenter's

I read this post and remembered when I was talking to my sister the other day about what we do when we are feeling not so fresh. No wait, that was a different conversation. We were talking about when we are sad, or mad or well, glad and how we handle it.

Bobbi likes to shop. When life becomes a little too hard to handle...when a man has done her wrong, when her dog drags a potted tree through the house, when someone she loves disappoints her....she takes her frustrations out on a VISA card.


I like to eat. When life becomes a little too hard to handle....when my kids throw up or poop on me, when my hubby tells me I can't go to BlogHer 09, when I have to chew Dave's ass, when I got to Walmart and they are out of size 6 Huggies, when the hospital charges me two co-pays, when the end of the Young & the Restless is preempted so they can tell me it is snowing in Utah....I take it out on a bag of cookies.

And this would explain why my sister is so skinny and well dressed and I am a little on the chubby side.

How do you deal with stress/disappointment/happiness?

Photo credit...flickr

The Husband Tracker

Many years ago, when I was married to a loser who spent all our money on booze and cheated on me....I often thought that a tracking device would have really come in handy. It would have saved me many trips all over town looking for my good for nothing mate.

I am now married to the most wonderful man in the world! I always know where he is but sometimes...I would like to know just how close he is to arriving home so I can touch up my make-up and have his martini ready. Sometimes I just like to know what he is doing, besides thinking about me, during the day.



All of this can be yours with The Husband Tracker....aka Loopt! Loopt is an iPhone and Blackberry Application that lets you connect with your hubby/friends/family and see what they are doing. You can even send them pictures of what you are doing. You can find them on a map and you can send them comments. It is awesome! What I like is that I can Ping him and demand, I mean, request his location!


Ladies...this is not advertised as a Husband Tracker because, honestly your husband wouldn't buy it if he knew it was tracking his every move. So...this is our little secret. The only trick...and this shouldn't be too hard if your hubby is like mine and is in love with his iPhone, is getting him to update his activities. DO NOT COMPARE THIS TO TWITTER. Husbands' don't understand Twitter and they will run screaming from the room. Send him pictures of your b(.)(.)bs through out the day and he will be more than willing to update on his end.

WARNING: If you are going to send your beloved pictures of your...goodies. Don't invite your family & friends to be your 'friends'. They will also receive the picture. Just sayin.....
Here is a commercial that explains The Husband Tracker in more detail.

This priceless (seriously...it's free) application is FREE!

Get it today!

Mad Dancing Skillz

My daughter loves music. She will bounce and dance to just about anything. I am so thrilled that she inherited my dancing abilities and not Calvin's.

I did discover the other day that Mallory hates John Denver. Especially the song Sunshine On My Shoulders. I thought the poor girl was having a seizure. I do feel her pain. When I was growing up we used to go to a drive in for dinner almost every week. They also had inside dining with a player piano and a jukebox. There was one song on that thing that drove me crazy....I hated it with a passion. It was To All The Girls I've Loved Before by Willie Nelson. Being the kind and loving sister that she is, Bobbi would play that song every time. One time I think she used all of her allowance playing it over and over.

Here is a cute video of my kids dancing. I hope you find it as funny as I do. And if you don't...lie to me and tell me you like it. Thanks!

I'm a Katharine

Last week, Melody at Eternal Sunshine of an Empty Mind took a fun quiz. I love quizzes like there...especially when they are so spot on! If you want to know who you are...take the quiz here.

You Are A Katharine!

You are a Katharine -- "I am happy and open to new things"

Katharines are energetic, lively, and optimistic. They want to contribute to the world.

How to Get Along with Me
* Give me companionship, affection, and freedom.
* Engage with me in stimulating conversation and laughter.
* Appreciate my grand visions and listen to my stories.
* Don't try to change my style. Accept me the way I am.
* Be responsible for youself. I dislike clingy or needy people.
* Don't tell me what to do.

What I Like About Being a Katharine
* being optimistic and not letting life's troubles get me down
* being spontaneous and free-spirited
* being outspoken and outrageous. It's part of the fun.
* being generous and trying to make the world a better place
* having the guts to take risks and to try exciting adventures
* having such varied interests and abilities

What's Hard About Being a Katharine
* not having enough time to do all the things I want
* not completing things I start
* not being able to profit from the benefits that come from specializing; not making a commitment to a career
* having a tendency to be ungrounded; getting lost in plans or fantasies
* feeling confined when I'm in a one-to-one relationship

Katharines as Children Often
* are action oriented and adventuresome
* drum up excitement
* prefer being with other children to being alone
* finesse their way around adults
* dream of the freedom they'll have when they grow up

Katharines as Parents
* are often enthusiastic and generous
* want their children to be exposed to many adventures in life
* may be too busy with their own activities to be attentive

Who Ya Gonna Call?

This has to be one of the worst days I've had in a while. All of that drama this morning over my vote not counting and then my candidate didn't win. The good news is that I just found this article written by the Deseret News about voter fraud in Utah. I am going to call the FBI tomorrow and tell them my story.

Federal authorities said they will be out Tuesday, prepared to respond to election fraud and voting rights abuse complaints.

It is a federal crime to interfere with an election. Voter intimidation, bribery, malfeasance by election officials, qualifying fictitious people to vote, falsely claiming U.S. citizenship and voter coercion are all crimes. Federal laws also prevents people from denying the rights of voters, and protects the rights of voters to mark their own ballot in private.

On Tuesday, the FBI will have special agents available to handle complaints. The U.S. Attorney's Office for Utah can also take election fraud and voting rights abuse complaints at 801-325-3336.

And I think I will mail a copy of the article to Dave!

Voter Fraud in Utah

This morning, we have become victims of Voter Fraud! Calvin went to vote and discovered that we are not on 'the list'. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why because we registered to vote when we got our Driver's Licenses on October 2nd.

I called the Weber County Clerk's office and found out that when we marked the box that asked if we wanted to register to vote, the employee that helped us should have printed out something for us to sign, which would have been forwarded to the County Clerk. The woman I talked to said it is an ongoing problem with the Ogden Driver's License Division.

I called the Lt Governor's office and reported the problem. I emailed KSL 5, ABC4 & the Standard Examiner. I called CNN's hot line for voting problems and left a message.

Then I called Dave. Dave is the man in charge at the Ogden Driver's License Division. I told him what happened and explained how serious this is. He asked me what the person that helped us looked like. I told him that the situation is more serious than that. Because Calvin and I went to get our licenses 3 hours apart because we have small children. We were helped by TWO different people Dave. AT LEAST two different people in your office are not doing their job and NOT registering people to vote when they get their license. This is a serious problem!

Dave tried to blame the County Clerk. Seriously Dave? The County Clerk is responsible for YOUR employee not printing out a form for me to sign. And do you know what Dave said to that? He said...I said I was Sorry. Did you Dave? Are you sorry Dave? He said he tells them all the time to make sure to print those forms out. Dave. I think you need to do more than TALK to them. Do they understand english? Maybe someone should be fired Dave.

I told Dave that I would be calling him every two weeks for the rest of my life to make sure that he is staying on top of this. I also told him I was going to get a baby sitter and come in and test his employees once and a while. Dave told me to...Bring It On! Oh Dave, it's already been brought!

Let this be a lesson to all of you. This isn't just happening in Utah, it is happening everywhere! Don't bother registering when you get or renew your driver's license. Go directly to your County Clerk office. This is the only way to ensure that you're truly registered. Don't fall victim to Dave and his crappy management style.

You may be wondering why I am getting so worked up over this. Well, I take my right to VOTE very seriously, but more than that it is when something happens to me that I think is dead wrong and could happen to someone else....I have to speak up. I am not and have never been one of those people that just says, oh bother. I am a Tigger...not an Eeyore!

And so this concludes my attempts to like living in Utah. I have really been trying hard to like it here, but Utah isn't cooperating with me at all. It keeps giving me reasons to hate it. And since it looks like I won't be escaping this hell hole anytime soon...I am forming a new club.

The I Hate Utah Club.

Edited: To Add Dave's phone number....at Rachel's request!

801-476-7700

Are you looking for my ample bosom?

I often wonder....what brings some people to my blog. I like to check the key word searches because they can be very funny. Here are the ones from this week.


ample bosom colorado....from Lakewood, old boyfriend maybe?

hobo spiders for kids....I don't recommend hobo spiders as pets.

lawn spider nests....yes, they also live in your grass.

hobo spider identification, utah....apparently, I am a expert in hobo spiders

9 month old baby bit by hobo spider....oh lord, I hope not!

spiders out of biscuit dough....i'm sorry but these two things don't go together at all.

fun weekend trips with kids....highly recommended as long as lots of alcohol is involved.

skits about attitude adjustment...not sure about this one...I have never done a skit in my life.

carved pumpkins with pacifier...I would have to recommend a knife and not a pacifier for this job.

the three bears what really happened...I really don't know what happened. I'm not Goldilocks!

The Winner Is....

The winner of the beautiful Pregnancy Necklace from Moon Over Maize is Swanny at Swanny's order of chaos! I loved reading all of the comments over the last five days. So many of them brought me to tears and prompted me to hug my kids a little closer. Here is the comment that Swanny left.

first off I have to say the picture on the top of your blog is absolutely PRECIOUS!!!

the best thing about having children is the complete joy they give you. I have 4 children and love them to bits!

I want you all to know that I didn't pick her because she complimented my children. I thought that was lovely but this was completely random.

Congratulations Swanny!

Halloween Fun 2008

these are the neighbor's pumpkins

This was our first 'real' Halloween. Our first year of dressing up and going door to door begging for candy. Daddy's rule is that you have to be able to say 'trick or treat'. Alex can say it, but Mallory can't. By default she got to go too.....and spent the entire time on her Daddy's shoulders.

Here are pictures from last year.

Alex was a train engineer and Mallory was a puppy...a very unhappy puppy. However, she is enjoying the results...she loves M&M's.

stay away from my candy woman!

Our first stop was accross the street to Natalie's house. She is our baby sitter and Alex was so excited to see her that he tried to follow her inside her house. It took a little while to get him to realize that we wanted him to go up to people's homes and receive a treat. I'm sure he thinks we have lost our minds.

don't make me call Nana!

Carving Pumpkins

Happy Halloween!

On Sunday, we had a great time carving pumpkins with Alex. He really got into it and even put aside his pacifier for a short time to get some serious carving done. Calvin assisted Alex in designing the pumpkin. Which would explain why the it has some crazy eye holes.

Calvin and I decided to try out a costume idea....he was dressed as Hugh Heffner. And I was wearing a playboy bunny costume. To bad I am always the photographer.....


Here are our finished pumpkins! I carved the tree pumpkin....have you ever tried to carve a pumpkin in a bustier and 5 inch heels? Note to self: costume idea for next year....Hillary Rodham Clinton!

You may be wondering what Mallory was doing while we were having Halloween fun! She was doing laundry. Poor thing. I see a Cinderella costume in her future....

In case you missed it....I made an awesome loaf of bread this week. And there are only a few more hours to enter my giveaway. Hurry.....

Visit We are THAT Family for the Pumpkin Party!

Christmas in October

Welcome to Christmas in October!

During the last month, I have been VERY busy. I bought our Christmas Cards, I purchased (and returned) and re-purchased Christmas Outfits for the kids. I located and bought a couple more Christmas presents AND my Christmas Pajamas. You will now find plenty of Christmas items in the stores and Disney/Nickelodeon/Noggin are starting to play toy commercials.

Christmas in October: Things to Do!

1. Decide on treats to make (carried over from last month)
2. Purchase most Christmas Presents....small items for baskets.
3. Make list of ingredients for Goodies, start buying.
4. Purchase the kid's Christmas Pajamas.
5. Start Holiday Letter outline.
6. Find and purchase Elves...start notebook of things they are going to do.
7. Go through Christmas Card List...decide who is getting cards this year.
8. Take Christmas picture of the kids to put in the cards. Order photos.

Wow! I have a lot of work to do....I better get busy!

The Crate and Barrel catalog came in the mail yesterday! I found something that I have to have....a Silver Serving Stand! And if you are looking for a bag of coal you will find it there.

This month....it is also time to plan your Thanksgiving Meal and start putting the ingredients on your shopping list. Buying a little during each grocery trip to spread the cost out over the month. I am adding two new recipes this year. Big Martha's Mashed Potatoes with Cream Cheese and Woven Breadstick Wreaths. The Wreaths are featured in Martha Stewart Living November 2008.

I am so excited for this year's feel good Christmas movie featuring Vince Vaughn! It is called Four Christmases and it looks so hilarious! It starts November 26th....here is the movie trailer!

Come back on Monday for my GIVEAWAY!

No, Not Papa

I was just sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper while the kids' ate their breakfast when Alex started saying....'There's Papa!' Papa is what he calls my Dad.

I couldn't figure out what he was talking about because he often talks about everyone being gone. Dada gone, Papa Gone, Nana gone....

I looked at the back of the newspaper and saw a full page ad for Direct TV. One of the small pictures was advertising for Headline News and a picture of this man.

Anderson Cooper

I guess he does look a little bit like Papa. LOL!

I think it's the hair....

Letting Go

I have had long hair for most of my life. When I was five years old it was down to my rear end, I got gum in it, it was always a mess and my pet Raccoon Racky used to sneak into my room at night and pull it, so my Mom cut it very short. Then no one could tell if I was a girl or a boy.


I used to spend hours blow drying and curling it when I was a teenager. And then in 8th grade I had a home perm go wrong and I walked three miles each way in the blazing sun and spent my allowance having all my hair cut off. That was also the year that I only wore Grey, Black and Red and loved RATT. Short hair worked for me.

Nice mustache DAD!

The summer before my senior year, I worked outside painting gas meters for Greeley Gas. My long hair was miserable in the Colorado heat, so I cut it into a cute little bob.

What is with these wings? me and Bobbi look like we are about to take off!

I snagged myself a husband with my long blonde hair, my winning personality, my beer drinking abilities and my good birthing hips suitable for producing an heir.


Then I had a couple kids and my hair went curly on me. I tried to embrace my natural brown hair color and then I got highlights earlier this year. NOTE: if you can't make it to the salon every 6-8 weeks, don't get highlights....they look like poop when they grown out. And so here is what I looked like on Saturday right before I left for the salon.


I decided that it was finally time to let go of my long hair. It was no longer working for me and I always looked a mess. I have this vision of the person that I want to be. The Mom and Wife that I want to be and the long messy hair didn't fit the picture in my head.

This is more like it!

Pumpkin Patch Fun

Last weekend, we decided to take the kids to a Pumpkin Patch and let them pick a pumpkin. I did some research and found Day Farms in Layton had a hay ride out to a patch for $5 per person. Each of us would get to take home a pumpkin. After consulting the gals on twitter and then doing the math of $20 for 4 pumpkins, vs .60 cents a pound for pumpkins that we would buy at their farmer's market....I decided we would take the ride.


It was a beautiful afternoon and temps were in the high 70's. Perfect Pumpkin Pickin weather! We got on the trailer pulled by a tractor with about 25 other people and we were off. Mallory decided that she was starving and kept trying to jump out of my arms....we fed her M&M's and goldfish crackers to keep her occupied.

When we got to the patch everyone jumped off of the trailer without waiting for the stairs to be placed on the end. It was a mad dash to find the biggest pumpkin you would carry and haul it back to the trailer. Some people then forced their children to sit with the pumpkin to prevent anyone from stealing it. Many people were back to the trailer with their pumpkins before Mallory and I were even off of it. My concern was that we had a time limit or something and I was wasting precious time!


Right away Mallory tripped on a pumpkin vine and got mad. Alex was off like a shot. He was not really hunting for pumpkins but just running all through the pumpkin patch trying to cover as much ground as he could. Finally, Calvin and Alex found us three very nice pumpkins (I picked my own) and we were back on the trailer. And then Mallory's blood sugar finally returned to normal and she realized that we were in a Pumpkin Patch and got all excited.

Coming soon....Pumpkin Carving!

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