Christmas in a flash.

Doesn't Christmas come and go in a whirlwind?

All of the preparation
and anticipation
and cooking and shopping and wrapping
and then in a flash...
it's over.

But it sure is good while it's happening.

We spend Christmas Eve with my family.

It's a small group and it's relaxing and comfortable.

Avery loves Uncle Dan.

We opened presents
and were done by 6:30.
And then I was ready for bed.
Can you tell?

And Christmas morning came earlllllllly.
Colin was up at 3:59 am.
Seriously.
If it wasn't Christmas I would have killed him.

coffee : coffee : coffee : coffee

After a cup {pot?} of coffee we let the kids come see the Santa loot.

The big hits this year were the doll house and Lego Rock Band.

Santa even remembered me.
I got an 85mm lens
and I am in l-o-v-e.

And maybe a new camera, too.
:)
New toys are fun.

Gary is off this week and we're going to have some adventures.
If I'm absent in the next few days just assume we're out having fun
and enjoying the last week of 2010.

Hope you will be, too.

This time of year...

...I love the hazy light that comes into the house.

I love that the light floods the kitchen in the mornings.

I love the Christmas cards hanging on our windows.
December mail is the *best*.
It's always depressing when January rolls around
and the junk mail and bills are back in the majority.

I love my stick tree there in the corner.
One day in early December the kids and I
made a trek to the park and I gathered sticks while they played.
A little silver spray paint...some shiny ornaments...and voila.
Stick tree.


I love the Christmas movies
and the cookie baking
and the kids' excitement.

I love Luke 2:1-20.

I love that I'm sitting here blogging while Gary's putting together a doll house.
And has been for the last two hours.
:)

I love these kids.

Even when this one gives this look.
Trouble.

I hope you're loving this season as well.

And if we don't talk before...
have the merriest of Christmases.

Oh, what a world, what a world....

The boys' class parties are tomorrow
and then we can say goodbye to school until 2011.
We're all pretty excited for a break.

I'm bringing cupcakes to Riley's party.

I think they're cute,
but then I was wondering if melting snowmen are kind of depressing.
{are they?}

This one's my favorite.
He looks so pitiful.

Ten bonus points if you can name the movie from the title of this post.
:)

288 served

As of five minutes ago,
288 people's lives will be forever changed.

A well will be built for them.
Contaminated water, no more.

Thanks to everyone who played a part,
large or small.

The *winner* of my little piece of the Project 320 giveaway
{according to random.org}
is Julie.

Congrats, Julie!

And thank you, all.
288 people received clean water.
Now *that* makes for a Merry Christmas.

Cozy Days

We are getting some serious rain and chilly temperatures here.
Brrrr.
{But no snow.  Not usually in the cards for us San Francisco bay area folks.}

These cozy crank-up-the-heater days are nice, though, aren't they?
They allow for staying in jammies a little longer in the morning

lingering in the tub to soak up all of those warm bubbles until your fingers are wrinkly

listening to Christmas music on pandora
{Michael Buble holiday station - my favorite}
and addressing Christmas cards

finally saying 'yes' when the kids ask for the 548th time if they can decorate the gingerbread house.

{sigh}
Riley's feet are on the counter.  Again.  There seems to be a theme here....

and no cozy winter day is complete without 
the glow of the Christmas tree from a dark room.
{a dark room that needs curtains - let me know if you see any cute gray-ish ones....}

That tree has a few more presents underneath it now,
thanks to some kid-free time I had this morning
to do a marathon wrapping session.
We are DONE with our shopping and wrapping.
100%.
That makes me h-a-p-p-y.

This week I expect a few more cozy days ahead.
I think our kids are some of the only kids in the nation that aren't
on Christmas break yet.
They are in school until Wednesday,
so I have a little time this week to tie up all loose Christmas ends.

And to make P-Dub's cinnamon rolls.
Cinnamon rolls are our tradition on Christmas morning.
That and a hashbrown casserole.
And loooooots of coffee.

ugly sweater party

I highly recommend throwing one.

It really was a lot of fun.
I loved that everyone participated
and showed up in a lovely Christmas sweater.

But some sweaters were definitely...lovelier...than others.
I don't know if you can tell in the pictures...
but mine had lights.
:)

This is a fun group of girls.
We also had a white elephant gift exchange.
Some people bring gag gifts
{sauna suit...talking toilet paper holder...bumpit}
and some real gifts
like the adorable butter dish I ended up with.
I love it.

But...I might be willing to trade it in if 
I could get this type of volume with a bumpit.

I am seriously lacking in the volume department.


The day after the party
was rainy and cold and
I pretty much did nothing.

I was wiped out from getting ready for the party
so we lounged.

It felt so good.

And lucky for us there were leftovers.

The Gift of Water

Do you remember Project 320 last year?
It's back.


It's all about giving access to clean drinking water
to those who need it.
It's something we *can* do.


And I know this is a tough time of year to donate.


Between gifts for your own family and children
and the angel tree at church
and adopt-a-family at the elementary school
and gifts for teachers and piano teachers and drum teachers
and everything else
things are tight.
I totally get it.


But if you have $10 to spare
(skip Starbucks this week?)
consider giving towards clean water.

And...you can even win something!

A clip for every month.
Because what little girl doesn't need a snowman clippie next month?


You will win this cute scrappy wreath I made, too.
It will look great from now until Valentine's Day and beyond.

So if you want to enter
{and, more importantly, help build a well}
 here's how it works:

For each $10 donation through the charity:water
Project 320 well page,
you earn *one* entry.

There's no limit to how many times you can enter,
as long as you adhere to the $10/entry rule.


And...there are other blogs participating.
And lots of other cool stuff.
Check out the Project 320 page to see it all.

before : during : after

This was a full weekend.


Baking
party prep
preschool programs
a birthday party
crafting
sewing.

Oh, and cleaning.


But I had help.

{peanut butter kiss cookies: before, during, and after}


Tomorrow's Monday
and I'm looking forward to this week.


It's gonna be good.

Tomorrow....

I'm going to the grocery store.
(for the...third?...time this week)

I'm taking Avery with me to get a manicure.
And maybe a pedicure.
I painted her toenails today with OPI Sparkle-icious.
The name says it all.  It is v-e-r-y sparkle-icious.

I'm painting some frames.
This one came from Goodwill.
It was a lovely orange and gold color
and had a Renoir print inside.

It's not orange and gold anymore.

I'm making these.
Please...if you make no other treat this holiday season,
make these.

I'm also making snickerdoodles
and fudge
and maybe peanut butter kiss cookies.
{The first two items on my grocery list for tomorrow: flour and chocolate.}

I'm having some fun ladies over Monday night
for some food and fun and
an Ugly Sweater party.
My ugly sweater came in the mail today.
All I have to say is...it's UGLY.

And it has lights.
I can't wait to show you.
:)

The view from here.

Don't you love it when 4:30 rolls around 
and your kids are all quietly doing homework
or reading
and you have time in your afternoon
to just sit and stare at the fire burning?

You have nothing to do but to sit
and relax
and enjoy the moment.


And you sip your Diet Dr. Pepper
and think about how clean your house is
and how quiet your children are being.

Ha!
Did I have you fooled?

True, I was sitting and staring at the fire burning
but the house wasn't clean
and the kids were running amok
and I was enjoying my Diet Dr. Pepper
and doing my best not to glance to my right.

See ya.
I'm off to put some laundry away.

Bribery Works.

Did I miss the weekend?
It already happened, right?


It's hard for me to tell. 
Gary worked yesterday and is working today
(and is still there now...at 9:30.)
This schedule will continue until around April.
I may need to be committed to an institution by then.

Friday morning Avery learned the beauty of when catalog meets Sharpie.

Friday afternoon I taught an art lesson in Colin's class.
We were doing a study on Kandinsky.
The kids always blow me away with what they do.

Friday night was such fun.
It was our town's annual Christmas tree lighting,
which we go to every year,
but this year was a little different.


This year Avery was wearing a purple tutu
(underneath her warm jacket and sweats)
and performed with her dance class.

When we got there she said, 
"I just want to dance in my class."
I guess she didn't realize she'd be dancing on the street
in front of a hundred smiling parents and grandparents.


I told her if she did the dance I'd buy her a zhu zhu pet.
She danced.
:)


And then as we walked on down the street we came to The Big Guy.
The boys didn't want to sit on his lap
but realized Santa was the means to an end.
(Candycanes, of course.)

Candycanes ... cookies ... hot chocolate.
It was worth it.


Our town's tree lighting is, to me, perfect small town fun.

The streets are crowded
and filled with people we know.
There's music and carolers and drinks and Santa.

It was a great night.
And the zhu zhu pet I bought Saturday morning was worth every penny.