Holiday Memories - 2008

Braved the brutal central Illinois winter weather, just days before Christmas --- CHECK!







Baked and decorated 9 dozen cookies --- CHECK!

Had a wonderful and festive Christmas Eve --- CHECK!

Santa visited our house and granted everyone's wishes --- CHECK! . . . and if you're thinking that the left side of the tree looks a little more 'heavily loaded' than the right, you also must know that Alex & Nick DID get that drum set they were wishing for ..... so this photo isn't a true representation of their Christmas haul . . . :o)

And, last but not least, hosted the annual Christmas Day celebration with the Miller side of the family --- CHECK! (Sorry, but I was too busy in the kitchen to snap photos -- darn it!) We had a great time - ate way too much food, opened even more gifts, and then settled in for some good old fashioned game playing and catch up time with all the siblings/in-laws and cousins. The day is never quite long enough and we're always sad to see it come to an end.

And, before we know it, the Christmas season comes to a close. I do love this time of the year -- all the anticipation, hype, stress, and happiness -- but I also look forward to the start of another new year -- new beginnings, new resolutions, new adventures. Being the achievement-oriented person that I am, my immediate quest is to get all the Christmas decorations put away. And for those of you who've seen our house this time of the year, you know that putting everything away is no small task. :o) We'll see how long it takes me to meet that goal . . . I'm typically done before New Year's, so . . . I think I best get started soon.

Once again, Happy Holidays to everyone! Best wishes for a wonderful 2009!

Happy Holidays!

Ho Ho Ho! Tis the season!!! This time of year is always so festive ... so exciting ... so full of anticipation ... so busy ... so hectic ... so exhausting! LOL. We're slowly getting ready for the holidays around here -- the decorations are up, the kids are excited . . . but only a FEW presents have been bought so far! I do this to myself year after year --- and each time I ask myself WHY do I procrastinate with the Christmas shopping? Thankfully, I'm taking a day off later this week and will shop all day with a dear friend. Maybe she will inspire me to get going on those Christmas lists! Carly is starting to get worried -- she even cornered me this past weekend up in her room with a notebook and pen and asked me to PLEASE write her list down on paper. She then promptly gave it to our Elf on a Shelf in the hopes that he would deliver it to Santa on one of his nightly trips back to the North Pole. She was thrilled when she got up on Sunday morning and found that Mr. Elf had indeed moved to a new location in our house (if you're familiar with the Elf on a Shelf tradition, you'll know what I mean) and ... the list we made was GONE! She is convinced now that Santa has what he needs in order to fulfill at least some of her many wishes. The boys have one item on their lists this year --- a drum set. Yes, a REAL drum set. Seems as though all the time they've spent playing Rock Band and Guitar Hero in the last year has inspired some (until now) hidden musical interests in each of them. We shall see what Santa does about that wish . . .

As for our remaining holiday festivities, we'll be getting our live, flocked tree for the basement hopefully this weekend (which will bring our tree total to SIX - smile), we'll be decorating Christmas cookies and, if my patience holds out, we'll also be making a gingerbread house. :o) And, I have yet to make the first batch of homemade caramels, which is a BIG tradition in our family. I guess the fact that I haven't yet made any isn't all bad -- how good for you can a bunch of cream, milk, sugar, and corn syrup be, anyway? NOT! And, considering the fact that Mike and I are going on a cruise at the end of January (Merry Christmas to us!), well . . . I really need to stay away from some of the many Christmas goodies! And that is OH SO HARD for me because I dearly love sweets. All of them! LOL.

I hope you all are enjoying this wonderful time of the year. As I remind myself daily . . . always remember the "reason for the season"! Happy Holidays to all!

Winter Wonderland

Oh my GOODNESS - winter has arrived!! We woke up on Sunday morning to 6 'lovely' (it is a matter of perspective -- if you ask me, 'lovely' is used sarcastically vs literally - LOL) inches of SNOW. The funniest part of it is that I didn't even realize we had snow in the forecast! Yep, I guess that is a sure sign of someone who is too busy for their own good. :o) I must start paying more attention to these small details. We were blessed with relatively mild temperatures throughout the day on Sunday, which allowed the kids to play in the new fallen snow, much to their delight. Here are a few pictures . . .