Merry Christmas!!

Tt's the holidays and well, we all deserve to have a great day filled with warmth, friends, family, and fun!

Christmas Eve!!!!!

Looks like my day happened to be Christmas Eve! Didja get your last minute shopping done? I did. Finally.

Here's my list: (Don't tell them yet!!)
A pair of purple thigh high boots for Kealie Girl. Goes with her fairy costume.

A whip for Mysti, so she can convince her CB to come out and play. (He's shy.)

Fur lined cuffs for Jenny Kat. She needed replacement ones.

The boys? I can't say in public but they were all VERY satisfied.

What would I like? A contract, of course. Would help if I bothered to sub something. (I'm getting there. "Permanent" is almost done.)

And as it says in the old story: Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!!!!

A Little Christmas Spirit

I love a little Christmas romance ... let me share some with you.

Love Actually:



Family Man:



Four Christmases:



Serendipity:



What are some of your favorite Christmas romances?

Pretty Paper and Fancy Bows

I love wrapping presents, but I have a question. Do you shop for specific paper for specific people? Or are you one paper fits everyone?

I'm the first type. I have about 15 rolls of Christmas wrap. Gerard and Luke have a secret (well, not now) love of Batman. So they get Batman paper. Jeremy loves Scooby Doo. So he gets Scooby paper. The youngling? He gets Star Wars. Loves ole Darth Vader. Mom, she gets something with pretty birds or snowmen. You know, the sparkly, glittery kind. Except this year, because I fell down on the job--long story--I tend to give those I truly love presents with lots of bows. I don't put tons of ribbon cuz I'm good with whips and chains, but not knots. (not knots...heee heee). Dad gets something with tractors on them.

Oh, and yeah, I shop for the cats and the dogs. Sure. They love having Christmas socks and getting things. Who doesn't like getting things? I love giving, so it all works out.

One more thing: What do YOU want for Christmas? I don't have a very long list this year. I have the boys already. Have the pets. Have the youngling.

So what do I want? Something sparkly!!! Ruby, Garnet, or Sapphire and I'm good.

What about you?

Merry Christmas!

Today is Christmas, and while I know that most of you are probably doing family stuff and won't see this, I still wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate whether it be Yule, Kwanzaa or something else. Since there will no longer be any more Thursday Thirteen, I decided that I would show y'all one of my favorite Christmas carols sung by one of my favorite musical groups.

Here's hoping y'all have a safe and wonderful holiday, and we'll see you again, real soon.

Happy Christmas Eve!

I'm busy, busy, busy... cleaning and cooking and writing and "family-ing", so I thought I'd just post a couple of things that are traditions with our family this time of year.

A tree -- covered mainly with homemade or gifted ornaments:



Stockings hung by the chimney with care (including ones for our pets AND for two of my DD's stuffed animals -- and yes, Santa brings gifts for them, too):



Watching my two all-time favorite Christmas movies:

It's a Wonderful Life:



Miracle on 34th Street (the original, of course):



And of course, presents!



What are some of your holiday traditions?

Thursday Thirteen: Christmas Cookies

I have baking for Christmas on the brain, so thought I'd share some recipes from my fave all time recipe site, www.allrecipes.com -- just click on the photo to get the recipe if you're interested!

13. Delicious Christmas Cookies



12. Christmas Molasses Cookies



11. Christmas Ornament Cookies



10. Christmas Cornflake Wreath Cookies



9. Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookie Logs



8. Holly Berry Cookies



7. Peanut Butter Cup Cookies



6. Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars



5. Festive Shortbread



4. Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies



3. Holiday Biscotti



2. Gingerbread Cookies I



1. Turtle Bars

Lifus Interruptus

*sigh* I suck... I'm sorry everyone! I forgot completely about Saturday Hottie. Actually, I started one and was so tired I told myself I'd finish it Saturday morning... instead life interrupted and I never made it back onto the computer Saturday. I have been making files and getting them organized to have posts ready to go ahead of time, but it hasn't come to complete fruition yet. Hopefully, soon I'll be able to have stuff all organized.

So, aside from a nagging case of Lifus Interruptus, things have been pretty fun in our house. I love Christmas, and with four children I am constantly given an opportunity to see the world in a whole new way.

We had a fun activity that we participated in this weekend: Breakfast With Santa! Technically, we didn't get to eat directly with Santa, but we had a nice breakfast as a family and then got to visit with Santa (there were a lot of kids, I think Santa would have been trampled if he hadn't sat on his... throne and had some order to the whole thing). My kids loved it... except the baby. His reaction was the most dramatic we've ever had to date. At first he was fine with this person taking him and holding him (he's a pretty easygoing kid), but once he did a double-take and saw it was some strange man with lots of white hair on his face... he got a bit frantic and started to scream and squirm to get away. The entire time I was trying to take the pictures with my hubby insisting quite loudly that I hurry cuz the baby was freaking out... and my camera wouldn't take the picture. Poor Santa valiantly tried to keep the baby from nose-diving off his lap until I could get the picture. He succeeded, but not a moment too soon by the way, my camera worked and my hubby snatched the baby from Santa who looked a little strained.

Needless to say, it was interesting and fun. It wasn't until we got home and loaded the picture that I realized that I had actually captured the baby's double-take at Santa. The look on his face is priceless!

Well, here's to holiday memories no matter what your traditions, and I hope Lifus Interruptus doesn't take permanent hold on my life, lol.

Thursday Thirteen ~ Things I'm NOT Getting My Kids For Christmas

It's that time of year, and while I love the holidays, I don't love the commercialism of it all. I like getting my kids things they need and even want for Christmas, but I don't like the constant begging for things that I would never buy them anyway. It doesn't help that the commercials on their channels (the only ones they are allowed to watch BTW) are all about these super-duper, priced up the wazoo toys that are most likely poorly made and will break once my boys start really playing with them. So, my list is thirteen things I will NOT buy for my kids for Christmas.

1. A Cell Phone ~ Are you kidding me? My oldest is only 9 years old! I see kids his age with their cell phones out texting back and forth, playing games and downloading things. Heck NO! He does NOT need a cell phone to call his friends, he can use the house phone. He does NOT need a cell phone to listen to music or play games, he has an MP3 player and Gameboy for that. He doesn't need one for the walk home from school... we live right across the street. I'm just as neurotic as most parents these days... but giving a 9 year old a cell phone is just asking for an astronomical cell bill.

2. A PSP (PlayStation Portable) ~ They can barely take care of their much cheaper, much more durable Gameboys (and not the DS kind either). Why in the world would I get them something else they can treat poorly?

3. A puppy ~ Somehow I don't see Harley taking too well to a hyper little puppy invading his space. He has a hard enough time finding a quiet spot away from my rambunctious kids... a puppy would drive my poor baby insane! Not to mention the fact that I would be the one who would have to do all the taking care of a training. I'd rather not when my health is so... off right now. LOL

4. Night-Vision Goggles ~ OH, don't get me wrong... these look cool as all get out! I even considered them until I remembered that I have a hard enough time getting the little darlings to go to sleep as it is. They don't need another excuse to slip out of bed. "Mommy... I can seeeeee yooooouuuuu!"

5. An Actual TRAIN ~ I just don't have the room... or the money! Four boys + All their toys = Enough clutter to last a lifetime! :-D

6. Designer clothes ~ *SNORT* If they can tear holes in the knees of Levis with reinforced knees... Can you imagine how much it would cost me to pay for designer clothing? :::shudder:::

7. Tickle Me Elmo Extreme ~ Cuz it's just plain creepy! Come on, you have to admit... that little Elmo doll that giggles and kicks and rolls around... GAH gives me the willies!

8. A Wii ~ Mainly because I can't afford one. We do well enough with my hubby's job and my dance classes. We don't go hungry, we have a house and some luxuries... but we already have a perfectly good gaming system that still makes games. I don't see the point in upgrading. Yeah, yeah... it's not gonna happen... deal with it.

9. A Laptop ~ HA! Do you know what I had to do for Santa to get MINE? The pervert! *snicker* They don't need one, they can use the desktop PC just fine... and that's that!

10. A New Car ~ Umm... yeah, my oldest is NINE YEARS OLD! I don't even get a new car. Did I mention we probably couldn't afford it anyway? Why put ourselves in debt over something we don't really need? BUT, isn't this one so puurrty?! *sigh*

11. A Furby ~ :::shudder::: Yet another creepy toy! I get chills whenever the darned thing open their little eyes and start talking.... GAH, I just now gave myself the willies!

12. A Set of Golf Clubs ~ Did I mention I have boys? Yeah... I'd be buying new windows too. No thanks!

13. Heelies ~ A couple years ago my mother bought a pair for my oldest son. I hated them! I think that they teach poor manners. My kids aren't supposed to RUN through a store, and yet I see all these kids popped up on their heels rolling through the stores at top speed with no one telling them to stop. Granted, whenever I caught my son doing it I threatened to remove the wheels and he stopped, but the temptation was ALWAYS there. I won't stop him from wearing them if someone else buys them... but I won't be buying them.

So that is my list, I hope you enjoyed it. Like I said, I DO love this time of year and trying to find the perfect gift for my family and friends is really a blast when I'm not so tired... and sometimes even when I am. Happy TT!

All I Want For Christmas...

Okay folks... I need some suggestions. I have lots of people on my Christmas list, and I'm going to try to get books for one and all. I don't read much outside my fave genres, so how about some help?

What would you recommend for:

Romantic Suspense?
Straight Horror?
Cozy Mystery?
Young Adult?
Middle Grade?
Sweet Romance?
Paranormal?

Anyone? Bueller?

And... what about you? Are you buying books this Christmas? What's on YOUR wishlist?