the holidays are offically over.

but man,

did we have a great time.

hosted christmas eve family hoopla,

got and love our new family member franklin,

donated christmas to a family in need,

celebrated 5 wonderful years with my husband,

watched leah make a chocolate cake with fondant *beautiful*

partied it up horton style for new years,

and today,

went to the gym.

more about that later.

what did you do for the holidays?

christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat....

smoke a turkey all day long..................check.
deliver gifts to our adopted christmas family............check.
talk to santa on the phone with the 3 little ones.......check.
shower...............not so check.
make an awesome dinner...................check.
clean the crap outta the house................check.
bathe all 4 munchkins.............check.
vacuum the pine needles 500 times.............check.
watch anderson for a few hours...............check.
successfully put all kids to bed (including mary)......check.
get ready to wrap the last of the christmas presents at 10pm at night, i use up the last of the wrapping paper wrapping 2 gifts, still have 8 to go. scotts at work. faaaarrrrrt! i really need more hours in the day. merry christmas to all.

dollhouse findings on etsy

c.j. loves playing with her fisher price dollhouse that ama and papa got her last year for christmas. it included a family of 4, table, 2 chairs, 2 highchairs and 2 potted plants. for christmas we will be getting her more furniture to match. lately she has been using her brothers building blocks as furniture, and littlest pet shop animals as family pets. i would just love to get her these.

#1 mini 1\12 shabby pink baking table

#2 mini serving tray with sweet treats

#3 baby grand piano and bench

#4 armoire

#5 cutest ever tiny yo-yo quilt

p.s. #5 is really #1, #2 is #4 and so on. i copied them backwards. oops.

lysol and laundry

christmas was a hit. lots of gifts, parties and food. fun was had by all! i was pleasantly surprised by the hubby, a wedding anniversary gift. the children had pajama parties else where. yup a night with each other. we went out to dinner with a good friend and her family. separated from them and played pool at a new local pool hall\bar, then hit up a dance bar, then came home to a quiet house. what an awesome night! meanwhile leah got the flu at my moms house. charleigh and jax now have it. lots of laundry, baths and lysol. i almost feel that im being punished for ditching them. they are getting back at my by vomiting in my hair, and on the new princess comforter. oh well, life goes on. new years will be quiet this year, the hubby is working. maybe leah can have a friend spend the night. we will see. i get my car back on wednesday. yeah! my good friend has been generous enough to lend me her van while mine is on the fritz. charleigh loves the van much better. she wants to trade. time to check on the hubby. hes in the garage. his favorite place to be on his day off. i dont blame him.

my christmas wish list

the kids christmas presents are done. bought, wrapped, and tucked away at an undisclosed location. i think the hubby and i did quite well shopping this year. we didnt overspend (yet). and we didnt spoil the kids rotten. we will leave that up to the aunt, uncle and grandparents. they are very good at it. and much appreciated.

i dont consider myself a consumer. i very rarely shop for other than necessities. so here is a smallish list of my christmas wants...rather than need. moonlight path body lotion by bath and body works. wonderful scent, awesome for winter hands. i have only a smidgen left from last christmas. a steam mop. it steams and sanitizes hardwood and other sealed flooring. four kids and a dog. need i say more. a camera. we had a camera similar to this one pictured. it came up missing this october. i really need one. i think it will have to wail until my birthday though. i dont have any garden ornaments besides flowers and plants. everybody needs a feisty little gnome tucked away in the garden. and a buddha to bring a bit of zen. i found this purse\bag on etsy and immediately fell in love with it. i havent owned a new purse since the late 90s. kinda silly i know. its about time .