Naturally Optimistic

The Christmas tree is on it's way to it's seasonal home at the MN Power Plaza in Duluth.  We watched it drive by from work. I could almost smell the pine needles. I almost hate to admit it, but I start getting excited this time of year!!

Today marked Dahlia's "stage" debut. I must admit, I took a photo of her name in the program. The first of many I'm sure (I hope?). She was an Angel in the Christmas program at our church. And oh - my - goodness, she was edible she was so cute & sweet - if I do say so myself. The Littlest Angel She has been really good at the music for weeks now. We have a CD of the songs & I'm about ready to bash my head in from listening to the simplistic, repetitive tunes & lyrics, but she eats it up. She walks around the house talking about laying the baby in the manager & the stars sparkling & shining. Yesterday she had rehearsal & although she was bored to tears (well, bored enough to lean, sit, yawn, play with her tongue, etc) she did great. This morning, however, I was worried. She threw a MAJOR fit before going out the door about being "scared" and not wanting to sing, not liking to sing (yeah, right) and she didn't want to ...

After a morning of kitchen deliciousness, gifts, and way too much rain for this time of year...oh and Steve shoveling the heaviest, wettest snow he's ever encountered - we finally made it to my in-laws. The main roads had been plowed (ours had not) and without the Highlander's 4WD we never would have made it up there. We enjoyed good company, lots of good food, the kids LOVED seeing the big bob-cat type thingy clearing the driveway, more food, delicious cake and presents! The kids loved playing with each other...and Miss Dahlia was asleep before we could back out of the driveway! When we got home, we discovered the plows had come through and with all the rain & ice, we had to get out and shovel in order to make it up the driveway. That part wasn't too fun, but we didn't have to shovel completely, just enough to make it through. Today's agenda - eating more Monkey Bread, seeing AVATAR in 3D and another holiday party at Steve's Aunt's tonight!

Although we're still without the play kitchen (damn Target & their missing pieces!), Dahlia was full of excitement when she saw a pile of presents by the fireplace! She has had a lot of fun playing with her new toys. The sled from Santa was a BIG hit...although she thinks it's a "boat." I didn't even know she KNEW the words to "Row Row Row Your Boat"....apparently she does! Merry Christmas Everyone!

Dahlia & I just came in from being outside "playing" in the snow (while Steve still shovels & snowblows). We're having a respite right now from the flakes & winds, but a full blown blizzard is supposed to be in effect by midnight! We're stocked up & ready to hunker down if necessary (if we can get out - we'll go to church & my FIL's for Christmas Eve dinner...we shall see). My only MAJOR disappointment is the fact that we are STILL MISSING a piece for Dahlia's kitchen so I wanted to run to Target today. Steve may go in a little bit to see if he can get one (and he has a couple other errands to run) but we might have to wait a day or two to get Dahlia's full Christmas morning reaction. I'm super bummed about that as I know she's going to LOVE this kitchen, but what can you do? I'm trying not to let it ruin my day. For all you in the northern climes, enjoy the white Christmas! While all you in the warm sunny states can ...

After my ECFE/Daycare Teachers Christmas Gift Poll, I decided to just do gifts for the Daycare providers, and skip ECFE (since there's like 8 of them and we only see them once a week). But...my budget is tight this year. I'm trying to be more frugal, to stash more cash in the bank, to prepare for the long, cold, dark winter ahead (and the non-productive potentially income-deficient maternity leave in my future). So instead of going out and buying some tchotke or baking something (which they probably get a TON of) I made some card packs. I made each of the 4 teachers a 5-pack of Thank You cards. I figure I ALWAYS need thank you cards after the holidays, and they probably do too (good lord, I hope there are still other people out there who send thank you cards). I included 5 envelopes & 5 stamps as well, and I packaged them in cello bags. This is the best part: I didn't buy a thing (save for the stamps). I used card stock & decorative paper that I've had for YEARS...

I participated in a cookie exchange with some ECFE Moms on Monday. I was happy to be apart of it because I've always wanted to do one, but never been asked. There were 6 of us participating and we decided on doing 6 cookies for each Mom. That was a great number. I made a normal sized batch of cookies and it worked out perfectly. Of course I think my cookies turned out rather ugly. They were a bit better when I packaged them but still I was rather disappointed with their outcome. Oh well! Hopefully they will be enjoyed regardless.

...and Santa's Elves were hard at work last night working on Dahlia's Christmas present. A cute little kitchen set that she can bake lots & lots of "Happy Cakes" in & brew many pots of coffee for her Daddy. This doesn't look too hard... Oh, there's a few more pages. Good thing we started "early." All the pieces lined up & ready to go. Hmmm, what's this? I see a bag of "A," "B," "B," & "C" screws.....seems we're missing the "D's" (incidentally used in 'step #1'). ARGH! Back to Target I go!!

Gifts or no gifts? Advice please.

I figured out yesterday that I just am. I would be the type of boss (if I had anyone working for me - like an assistant or something) that would be so incredibly annoying. My assistant would sit idle because I would do all the work that an assistant should do...you know, like file expenses, write reports, work on letters, memos, research, mail Christmas & birthday cards, etc. That would put me REALLY far behind on all the IMPORTANT work that I, as the boss, would have to do, and subsequently cause me great stress. I know this because every time I delegate something NOW at my NOT important job, it is done INCORRECTLY (or languishes not getting done) and I end up doing it myself. I tried really hard with this last project to let some of things I *normally* do go and let them be picked up by appropriate people. Guess what? They're not getting done so who's picking up the slack? ME. And then there are additional people we've hired and quite frankly I don't know WHAT th...

Whew! What a week it was last week... Tuesday - Lasagna Judgement - it actually went really well. Everyone was on their best behavior. The only thing that irked me is that my BIL (who also came) drove up to the backdoor and they entered there. Unfortunately this is exactly where I DIDN'T WANT them to be. All of our coats, bags, purses, etc were stashed there. The front door enters right by the Christmas tree & fireplace. Hmph. Oh well. So much for first impressions. Everything else went fine and like I said - they were on their best behavior and it was actually quite enjoyable. Who knew? Wednesday - Steve took the day off and we spent the day packing, making chex mix, raking the roof and getting ready for the trek to Austin. We pulled outta here around 2:30 - only 30 minutes behind schedule. Pretty good for us. We arrived in Austin to 3 babies having dinner and general chaos! haha! Dahlia jumped in on the dinner action. After getting all the babies fed & to bed, the adults ...

I put our tree up on Sunday (Monday?) afternoon but we hadn't had time to get the lights on and it decorated yet. Steve is the master of all things LIGHTS in our house (from lamps, to dimmer switches, to different wattages & colors of lightbulbs to Christmas lights) and he didn't want me messing with the lead-filled light cords so I waited (mostly patiently) til he had time to get the lights on so I could decorate. I love his preciseness in this task. He makes sure the tree looks lovely & perfectly lit and that makes me happy. I'm much more "slap-dash" about everything myself so it's nice to sit back once in a while and watch a perfectionist at work. Then I come in and throw the ornaments on....and then we fill in the gaps together. I'm so happy to have it up *early* (for us) this year. I wanted to be able to enjoy it before more craziness sets in. I absolutely love the mellow light it throws off and I think it's about time to pull out the Chri...

It's that time of year and I couldn't be happier. Time for decorating, wrapping, Christmas Carols, cards and all the goodies that go along with the holiday season. I don't get sick of it. I love it. I anticipate it. I like feeling warm-holiday-fuzzies, making gifts, giving, receiving, special meals and fresh snowfalls (hopefully!). This year obviously holds extra anticipation and I'm going to try to enjoy every minute of it. This is my super-anal Christmas card list.....going back to 2002 the send/receive list. I always *think* that I'm going to drop losers from my list who I NEVER EVER EVER EVER HEAR FROM....not even once, one time a year in 5 years...but I don't....because I like making & sending cards too much. Basically my list just keeps growing. The card-making has begun and hopefully will be concluded in due fashion.

I just saw a HUGE ASS pine tree being hauled down Superior Street...as in taking up both lanes of traffic and with a police escort. I guess that's the official Duluth Christmas tree! Can it be???

Finished! The Triplet Baby Blankets...as of last week. These are the last two...the yellow is for Joshua and the green for George. I dragged Steve into a fabric store in Minneapolis with me yesterday. He was a good sport. I tried to make it interactive "ooh - I like this fabric, can you find one that matches in blue....etc" which worked for a while... It was so fun to be in a store with SELECTION. I was nearly freaking out. I spent a lot of money there...but I could easily spend that much every week! I have many Christmas projects to work on...you just might end up with these fabrics under your tree...... You never know.

This Christmas was....well, sort of odd. I wasn't much in the spirit - due to my Grandma, my back, the lack of snow, etc so I think that made it not as jolly as usual. Friday morning we drove down to Faribault for the visitation at the funeral home. It was nice to see my family and be able to spend some time talking with various aunts, uncles & cousins. But it was sad. There were photo boards around the room and the video I made for her 80th b-day playing on a constant loop. We were there for about 5 hours! It was very long. And tiring. We went back to the hotel after that and I was able to soak in the hot tub for a while which I think I really needed - mentally and for my back! We ordered pizza and went to bed relatively early. Saturday the funeral was in the morning. It was a very nice service. I wish I could've gotten up and said something or shared a memory or sang or something. But I don't do well when I'm sad and have to speak out loud. No one is. The cemetary...

Merry Christmas to everyone! Hope you're enjoying a peaceful and joy filled holiday with family & friends!

I managed to get all the Christmas cards done this weekend - they are eagerly awaiting Steve's signature, our wedding photo and postage. I'm happy to have this lovely Christmas task completed. I also completed these gift bags. I am anxious to send them out!

I'm feeling a bit discombobulated.... I think the vacation smack in the middle of holiday season has thrown me more off course than I originally thought it would. I am feeling in a lack of holiday spirit and I hate that! I love the time between Thanksgiving & Christmas - for decorating, baking, crafting, mailing, Christmas cards, Christmas music, lights, parties, etc. Instead I'm feeling the crunch... The Christmas cards will most likely be New Year's cards this year...due to the fact that (oh yes, they'll be written!) I was horribly deliquent in ordering wedding pictures for said cards. Doh.... The Christmas tree is up (yay!) but so far only adorned with green & white lights (Steve's the LIGHT MASTER around here). Ornaments to follow soon but I dream of a lovely evening of "trimming the tree" with my honey but instead I have a feeling it will be - "hurry up - throw these on the tree before it's time to take the tree down!" My Christm...