A Little Late

Happy New Year everyone!

Since it's already '09 and I still haven't posted about our Christmas, I figured I'd better get to it!
This Christmas was so much fun because Kate actually got excited about Santa (or 'Ho Ho' as she calls him).

We had our family Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve night at Sal Gal's house. Everyone brought a dish or two and we ended up having a pretty big spread.

I volunteered to bring the green bean casserole and chocolate bark.
I always volunteer for the green bean casserole because it's so easy and doesn't take long to prepare. I do however take the time to fry up a few strips of bacon to crumble in it because that can make or break it in my book.

Grabbing my dish and heading out the door

After everyone ate, we drew a picture or wrote a few words on our table cloth. Instead of putting the table cloth on the dining room table, we just put in the living room on the coffee table and took turns sitting around it and drawing.

I ended up finding the perfect table cloth at Target. It was solid white and 100% cotton.

So I scored on the linen but pretty much blew it with the markers. The markers I bought had way too fine of a point and they were very hard to draw with. I am definitely getting different ones for next year. Because of the marker issue, the drawings aren't as dark as I'd like them to be. But it doesn't bother me enough to break out a needle and thread and embroider it either.

Here's a few of the drawings:

How precious is that? Out of everyone's drawings, Kate's little random lines are my favorite. I'm smiling right now just looking at them.

So maybe I didn't have time to practice other Christmas drawings and ended up going with the candy cane after all. I tried to add a little twist to it by drawing two of them into a heart, which did nothing but confirm the fact that my artwork will never end up on the walls on the Guggenheim.

Let it be known that I drew my picture first, therefore making it obvious that Sal Gal did indeed copy me. Except for that patch of grass. Everyone knows that candy canes come with their own sod square, right?

Most of us drew a small picture, except for M to the Izz-A of course. He had to go all out and turn it into a competition.

Seriously dude, did you print out a template and practice all week or what?

Look at his face and you can tell how proud he is of himself.

Over all the table cloth turned out great. We had so much fun doing it! It will definitely be something we do every year from here on out.

Big Al, Sal Gal, and me

Side note: I wasn't sure what color the darkest bead was on my necklace. I'm usually very good at distinguishing colors, especially between blacks and blues, but on this necklace I really couldn't tell. On that particular night, I wore it with a black and grey color scheme so I called it black. But on Sunday I wore it with a navy blouse and called it navy.

It's black. It's navy. It's blavy. Work with me here.

Kate LOVED her kitchen from Papa and Gaga. Can't you tell?

Before bed on Christmas Eve, Kate and I had a tea party with the tea set she received from Lillie (Sal Gal's daughter).

Of course in our house we pretend that it's ice cold sweet tea.



Kate and her cousin Kennedy on Christmas morning

I loved this Christmas and am looking forward to the new year ahead.

We just returned from a quick trip to my mother-in-law's and all I'm going to say is this:

And you thought I could catch air with my heel clicks...

Stay tuned...

A little Q and A

I've been too pooped to post.

Q: What did I do the day after Christmas?


A: Play in the dirt with Kate the first half of the day and then throw my too long body on a too short love seat with Kate's too cute new blanket and completely out stay my welcome in Dream Land the second half.

We had a great Christmas and even managed to do the table cloth tradition , which I plan on posting about soon.

We're planning on going to M to the Izz-A's mom's for a couple days this week but I still may be able to keep in touch with the blogosphere due to Santa's little unexpected gift.

Kate's giving me a high-five in this pic, helping me celebrate!

Q: What do you do when you forgot ran out of time didn't want to spend the money on Christmas pajamas for yourself?

A: Throw on one red tank top and one green tank top with some old sweatpants and call it the perfect Christmas 'jama ensemble. Minus the purple toe socks.

So that's all that's been going on 'round here. Just wanted to give a quick update.

I hope to do a Christmas re-cap post soon with plenty of pics, of course.

The Thrill of Hope

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS

Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas!

Wordless Wednesday : Cookie Dough Is The New Hair Gel

If the server questions your confidence in your order, you may want to change it

Is it wrong that out of all the times I've eaten at The Cheesecake Factory, I've only gotten their cheesecake once? I love eating there, but really, it's not for the cheesecake. I'm usually too stuffed to think about dessert after eating the humongous portions they serve. Their large portion size is in fact one of the main reasons I love that place, right after reason #1 which is their perfectly cut stems of potato goodness fried to crispiness heaven, also known as french fries. I hate going to places that try to be so fancy and only serve you a couple of bites on a too-big plate covered with greenery and other types of inedible tree-like decor.


So last night I went to eat at The Cheesecake Factory with my friends Kerri, Rayna, and Tara. We've all eaten there before, except for Rayna. After telling her how delicious everything was, and how we've never eaten anything off the menu that wasn't downright yummy, Kerri and Rayna decide to try something none of us had ever ordered...Turkey Supreme something or another.

Clue #1 that it may not be the best choice: I don't think we ever correctly pronounced the type of bread it came on.

And Clue #2 (which should have been the dead giveaway): When they ordered it, the server promptly responded with, "Have you ever had it from here before?" And then went into an in depth description of it all the while making weird faces.

Despite the red flags, they went ahead and ordered it and needless to say, it turned out to be a flop. The so-called melted cheese it was supposed to be smothered in was more like Alfredo sauce and they both agreed it was a complete let down. So, just a heads up for the rest of ya: Steer clear of the turkey something or another on the hard to pronounce bread.

We still had a great time and of course, snagged a few pics:

Rayna and Tara

Kerri (K-Bo) and me

After dinner, Tara had to head back home, but the rest of us stuck around for some coffee and last minute shopping.

Tonight the fam and I are supposed to go to Sal Gal's to let the kids decorate holiday cookies to leave for Santa. I'm sure Sal Gal has been slaving away all day and is tired from all the baking. Breaking apart that refrigerated, pre-cut cookie dough can be quite exhausting.

If there's a limit, I've exceeded it

And if for some reason your computer decides to shut down on you, it very well could be due to the fact that I have totally exceeded the max amount of photos your allowed to post at one time.

I knew that getting a new camera would lead to this and that's why I've apologized ahead of time.

Now, on with a weekend wrap-up...

Friday night was our Sunday school's Christmas party, which was held at my cousin Ben and his wife Kristin's house. As always, we had a blast. The food was delicious. I ate until I was decidedly uncomfortable and played Catch Phrase until my facial muscles felt sore from laughing so hard.

Here's a few pics from the night:

Ben and Kristin

My cousin Marella and me

On Saturday, we went to my nephew's (J.P.) 5th birthday party. It was a beautiful, warm day and ended up reaching about 75 degrees! Welcome to December in the South!

Aunt Ali (also known as Big Al and J.P.'s mommy) stealing some sugar

Just a swingin'

Seriously Aunt Hollie, can a birthday boy get his swing on without having a camera put in his face every second?

Giving 'Great' some love

J.P. and his daddy, James

Papa and Kate

Gaga and Kate

Wonder why Kate is wearing only one shoe?
The other one is sitting on the table soaking wet, because 'somehow' it ended up in the fountain. Therefore, Kate was a one shoe wonder for the majority of the party.

And bear with me, here's a few more of Kate in her Christmas dress before church this morning.

If you stuck with me through that, you're a champ.

And oh yea, I was tagged by a few of my pals to post a pic of the 4th photo in the 4th folder on my computer, but I'll have to do that in another post. I don't need a reason to add any more photos to this one. I'll get to it ASAP girls.