Girl v. Food

I wanted to write this story down before I forget, I have a habit of doing that these days:

A couple weeks ago, we went out to dinner at Red Robin. Supe had ordered chicken fingers and had eaten all she could and then some. She was stuffed, but her food wasn't gone yet. All of the sudden, she leans back in her seat, pats her belly and says, "Today in the battle of man verses food, the food won!" Jason and I looked at each other and started cracking up! Apparently, we have been watching way too much Man v. Food lately!

Christmas 2009

These are a few of our favorite things...

Sue's favorite gift was her "tennies". She keeps saying "aren't they just so cute?"

Loo's favorite gift was a bath robe, but she said "I'm not getting my picture taken in my bath robe. I wear that when I'm naked!" But her second favorite thing was her Roxy hoodie. (shown below)

Super's favorite gift was her portable DVD player. She used all of her Christmas money and a tiny bit of birthday cash to buy it. That's a smart shopper!

Jason's favorite gift was his yellow hoodie. He looks pretty cute in it too.

and, last but not least, my personal favorite thing is a toss up between my gift card to Hale Theater and my food processor.

note: You'd think that Loo would be fine to have her picture taken. She has a digital camera and always does self portraits, but NO. When it's my idea, it's just not cool enough. Oh well, at least I finally got it!

Today, it would only be appropriate to have Favorite Things by Julie Andrews be the song. Don't you think?

The Houses that WE built

These are the houses that we built.

This is the kit that has all that we need

for all of the houses that we built.

This is the gingerbread all crispy and browned,

that comes in the kit that has all that we need

for all of the houses that we built.

This is the frosting all sticky and white

that goes over the gingerbread all crispy and browned

that comes in the kit that has all that we need

for all of the houses that we built.

This is the candy that’s hard and sweet

that stays on the frosting all sticky and white

that goes over the gingerbread all crispy and browned

that comes in the kit that has all that we need

for all of the houses that we built.

This is the "we" who's creativeness shows

that put on the candy that's hard and sweet

that stayed on the frosting all sticky and white

that went over the gingerbread all crispy and browned

that came in the kit that had all that we need

for all of the houses that we built.

Our House by Crosby Stills Nash and Young

"I can't move my arms!"

Busy. Busy. Busy. Getting ready for the upcoming holiday.
Here's what we've been doing:
school
work
shopping
Christmas parties
get-togethers with friends
wrapping presents
shopping
decorating gingerbread houses
watching Christmas movies/ TV shows
drinking hot chocolate by the gallons
shopping
tomorrow- lights at Temple Square
Wednesday- Winder Dairy and scones
pictures and in-depth updates coming soon (I hope)

Family Traditions

aka

Proud Mommy Monday

I don't feel like I have much to toot my horn about today. But we are pretty good at keeping up and making new traditions. So, I'll share a few with you today.

We have a fun holiday tradition for the eve of December 1, or November 30; however you want to say it. I think I've shared this before, but I'll share again just in case... So, on the eve of December 1, we gather the kids together and have them make their Christmas lists. They place their list in one of their shoes and set them out near the front door. The elves come into our house at night, take their lists, and leave a small gift and treats in it's stead. The girls look forward to that tradition so much! Even Sue does!

Another holiday must is Christmas brunch at our house. Every Christmas day, we host brunch for all of the family who wants to join us! We do the same casserole each year, and sticky buns, and hot chocolate, etc. But this year, we've decided to switch it up and we're going to make crepes with all the trimmings instead. We'll have chocolate and vanilla pudding, berries, bananas, whipping cream, sausage, eggs and cheese. Mmm. I can almost taste it now! (If you're worried that we're not going to make our traditional meal, fear not, for we are going to make it for Christmas Eve dinner)

We do other Christmas traditions too:
See the lights at Temple Square
Picking out an ornament each year for the kids
Open one present on Christmas Eve (used to be pjs, but we've decided it will be games for awhile)
Game night on Christmas Eve
Elf Festival at Gardner Village...

Another family activity we really enjoy (all through the year) is Family Movie Night. I capitalize it because we really try to make it an event when it happens. Now, don't get me wrong, we do watch movies together. Quite often really. But when a new movie comes out, that we've recently purchased, we really try to make it special. We usually eat dinner downstairs, get some Blue Dew, pick up lots of treats, and finally, crank the sound system! We love it when a good, new movie comes out! Recently we did Star Trek and Up movie nights.

song for today: an un-traditional version of The First Noel by Sarah McLachlan

Looking for a good Christmas cd with a good mix of old and new? Check this one out. It's one of my very very favorites!!

Christmas Carols Super's Style

Man I need to snap some more pictures! This one is old!!

Supe is quite the entertainer at home. She sings and dances all the time! Sometimes, her lyrics aren't quite right. So I want to share a couple versions of her carols - mainly so that I won't forget.

Sleigh Ride:

Outside the snow is falling and friends are calling you Dude. Come on it's lovely weather...

Winter Wonderland:

In the meadow we can build a snow man. And pretend that he is nice and brown.

That's all I have for today, but I don't want you to forget the code of the elves:

Treat every day like Christmas

There's room for everyone on the nice list

The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!

Enjoy Winter Wonderland by Aretha Franklin and Sleigh Ride by Harry Connick Jr.

The Code

The code of the Kids
1- Treat every day like it's a vacation
2- There's room for everything in Mom and Dad's room
3- The best way to spread household cheer is fighting loud for all to hear

November 30 (Kids)

Today, I'm thankful for my children. I'm thankful for their health, their love, their knowledge, the knowledge I get from them, their disposition, their drive, their creativity, their willingness to pitch in sometimes. I'm trying to be more thankful for their messes, because I know that one day, the messes will be gone.

November 29 (holding hands)

Today, my thankfulness is inspired by my blog friend, Shannon. She took the most adorable photo of her husband and her kids holding hands while walking. So, I thought, hey! I love holding hands. That will be my thankful post of today! Anyway, I try to hold Supe's hand every chance I get because I know that there will come a time (probably very soon) that she won't want to hold mine anymore. Sometimes, when it's just her and I in the car, I'll reach around to the back seat to grab her hand. She has the softest hands too!
Jason and I hold hands as much as we can. In the car, walking into the store, during a movie. I just love him and I like to show him that I do by this simple gesture.
Holding hands makes me happy!

November 28 (Scarecrow)

Today, I am thankful for Scarecrow and his "If I only had a brain" song. I'll surely be singing it all the live long day today, for I had forgotten to pay my citation until this morning. What's the problem with that??! It was supposed to be paid by the 25th. So, technically, there could be a warrant out for my arrest today for not paying my ticket for not stopping all the way at a stop sign. So, this leads me to my next course of action for the day, go down and put my payment in the drop box and pray that since it was due the day before thanksgiving, and of course they aren't open on Thanksgiving, and they aren't opened on Fridays or the weekend either, they won't care or they won't notice that I am a couple of days late.
I would dance and be marry, I would be the doot do dooty (I don't know that part) if I only had a brain!
I bet you can't guess what today's song is? Not one, not two, but three, yes, three different versions of the song! I'd add some more if...