Santa Detox

(pants courtesy of Flossie :-)

As for the tree, I had big plans to have our front room (seen in pic below) cleared out enough to have a real tree. That isn't even close to happening, so I settled for our emergency back up tree complete with kid friendly ornaments. The kids didn't seem to mind, and I don't have to worry about Abri eating tree needles.



Christmas came a few days early when a box arrived from Grandma & Papa

Merry Day After Christmas!

It's a chilly one up here in the Northeast. The girls and I are still in our pajamas revisiting all the exciting "prizes" that were opened yesterday. We're soon going to head out to Home Depot b/c they have their 18 gallon storage bins on sale today and tomorrow for $10 for 3. For now though, we're waiting for the ice to melt off the windshield. I'm in no hurry.

With just the 4 of us, Christmas was a quiet one this year. This was the first time Lise' really understood Santa's role in the process. As you saw from earlier postings, she didn't want to be in the same room with him, much less speak to him, so we didn't push the Santa side of Christmas. It all changed about a week ago when I took the girls to an indoor play group. It was their Christmas party, and Santa was there to take pictures. I asked Lise' again if she wanted to tell Santa what she wanted to Christmas. Her first response was NO, but as the hour went on and she saw that he wasn't out to get her, she let her guard down. By the end of the event, she had told him that she wanted a dollhouse for Christmas. After that, it was all Santa.

On Christmas Eve, we made cookies for him. Man were they good!!!! Here's the recipe for the Raspberry Cream Sandwich Cookies from Martha Stewart. Nothing for the best for Santa. The next time we make them, I think I'll make them a little smaller. They were just so rich. Even Santa couldn't eat all 3 of his.



With the cookies and milk in place, we all went to bed to wait for his arrival.

The next next morning was fun. The cookies were gone, and low and behold, there was a dollhouse for Lise'. Santa had remembered. Lise' even allowed Abri to play with a few things in the dollhouse. Her favorite thing was to look through the windows to see Lise' on the other side.



Another favorite item of the morning was blocks. It was definitely a block Christmas. I think we got a total of 4 different types. There will be a lot of building going on here. We should be able to turn one of the girls into an architect yet!


After our bellies were filled and all the presents were opened, we decided to hit the road and explore our backyard. It was a pretty day, so we settled on sailing the Staten Island Ferry from Staten Island to Manhatten. It was a chilly one, but fun nonetheless. It was a training run of sorts for when you all come to visit. We searched out the best location to view the Statue of Liberty and not freeze your tush off and learned which ferry to ride for the best sunset shots this time of year. So bring it on!

One more just for fun

Lise' watches the snowball card over and over, so I created another for her enjoyment. Hopefully, you'll enjoy as much as she does.

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The Annual Christmas Card

Well folks, our move has finally affected us. For months now, we've known that in order to get the card out and in your mailboxes by Dec. 24, we'd have to be organized. I'm here to tell you we are not! For starters, we couldn't decide where the card should reflect...Alabama b/c it was our home for 11 months of the year, or NJ b/c it's where our Christmas would be. Add in the stress of the move and general disorganization (like where in the world is my address book) and you still have no card.

All hope is not lost. We still intend to send one out, but when it arrives is anyone's guess. In the meantime, I hope this tides you over.

Thanks to our guest appearance by Uncle P.J.

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B here....I just completed the personality profile.

Ok. Julie showed me her personality profile and I knew that I could do better than her, so here it is:



This is my first time posting anything on the blog. Interesting, this blog thing is.

Personal DNA map

Just checked out my friend Angie's blog, and she just completed this personality test. My results are what you see. It says I'm a considerate director. I do direct an intricate corporation on a daily basis, and I agree that I'm quite considerate under the demands of the job, so I'll just go with it. Roll over the different colors to read what they mean. Be sure to check it out yourself.

One week later

We rolled into town in time for our realtor's Xmas party. As you can see, Lise' still doesn't want to get near him. This may be our one and only attempt this year.

Abri's socks were a hit! They read 99% Nice 1% Naughty

As for our move in status, we're still living in boxes. We have found a few must have items like the bathroom heater, but we're still missing a few too. The one I want now is the down blanket for my bed. The search goes on.

The unload went well enough. The truck arrived early, so to the house we went. I took the girls down to Dunkin' Donuts for a sugar rush. You'll see from the pictures that both girls enjoyed them. The rest of the day was spent keeping them out of the way. THANK GOODNESS for portable DVD players. As a rule, we only use ours on car trips, but that day it sure came in handy. Lise' started out with just a recliner and the movies. Eventually, she saw the rocking horse come off the truck and requested it join her in the den. That kept her busy for hours. Eight hours later, everything was off the truck, and we had wall to wall boxes.


Donut Hole Anyone?

The Directors of the show

Can't really decide what to do with the tractor. We may just decorate it for Xmas!

Give a toddler a dvd player, a horse and McD's, and you won't see her for hours!

Abri was pretty content too.

And, it was FINALLY over!

Weekend of unpacking has been sidelined by illness

We had big plans this weekend. A Christmas party on Friday followed by cleaning out the front room for a Christmas tree.

That all changed with a case of food poisoning for Lise' and I. It wasn't pretty and ended with a trip to the emergency room. We'll spare you the details, and although we're feeling better, it's slow moving around here. Just don't order me a caesar salad anytime soon.

As soon as this all blows over, I'll be happy to update you on where we are around here. As always, I have more pictures to share.