Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Well this will be my very last entry for 2008. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a safe & happy New Year's. Today (Christmas) was a wonderful day and I'm sort of sad it's almost over, but I'm looking forward to our trip to Myrtle Beach tomorrow. We'll be there until 1/3 and we get to celebrate Christmas with Sara (my stepdaughter), my parents and then with my sister & her family. Gotta love stretching out the holiday over another week! LOL.

So I'll leave you with a picture of silly ole Daisy who's tuckered out and stretched out on the couch after a long day of playing with wrapping paper, playing with her new toys, trying to steal food off the counter and just enjoying being the fantastic little kitten that she is!

Here's to 2009!

Before the end of 2008....

I have to take the time to do this blog entry.....

A little less than a year ago, I decided to make a New Year's resolution to start a blog and keep it current. I remember brainstorming the whole drive home from Myrtle Beach over what to name the blog (details details!). So here I am, about 12 whole months into it and I can say that I'm pretty proud of myself. I blog every month (maybe not in July when I was away? Maybe I blogged when I was home that one week for the Springsteen concerts). I had fun blogging. I had fun sharing photos. It was and still is exciting for me to read the comments many of my blogging friends leave for me with each post/entry. I tend to blog pictures more than just thoughts & words.

Today is 12/23... tomorrow our festivities will start (Christmas Eve spent with Dh's dad & Stepmom), then the big day is Thursday. Oh how I love Christmas. Oh how the boys love Christmas. Oh how Jim loves Christmas! We love spending the holiday here in our PA house, then hopping in the car the next day to head down to Myrtle Beach. We'll put the tree up down there and then celebrate with my parents, my sister and my sister's family. It doesn't take much to get us to draw out the holiday as much as possible. LOL.

So before I no longer have the chance to get online and post this, I decided to make this blog entry tonight. Merry Christmas to all my blogging friends. I hope you all have a fun New Year's Eve. (raising my glass)... Here's to a wonderful 2009. Maybe it be a happy & healthy one for all of us. ~Lisa

What are my favorite subjects?

The boys and the kitten, right? So how about a picture of both? Or all? LOL

I was wrapping gifts on Sunday and when I cut off the first strip, Matthew put it on his head and an idea was born. Make Indian headresses out of the strips! So Andrew had to have one, then I got to listen to them "woo woo woo" all around the kitchen for awhile. ;)

Today, while I was finishing up a few homemade gifts, Daisy just got right onto my Making Memories cutter and made herself comfy. She looked too cute and I had to take a picture.

Dreaming of a White Christmas?

This is too cute!

http://www.aroundmd.com/whitechristmas/

Finally.... we got some SNOW!

We had our 4th snow day yesterday, but it was the first real "snow day". The other 3 days were all about mixture junk, ice, etc... Nasty! It was so nice to finally have real snow. It started at 9am and pretty much snowed all day long. Jim even stayed home from work, which was a good call since they closed his work at 12pm and he would have spent most of the time in the car trying to get home in the mess! We had a great day - we baked cookies, watched some movies and just enjoyed the day. :)

Kitty vs. Webkinz!

I was talking on the phone with Linda, when I saw Daisy coming down the stairs with this white, Seal Webkinz that belongs to Matthew. I started cracking up and had to get my camera. It took awhile to get some decent shots, but you can see that Daisy is carrying it around in her mouth, wrestling with it, hugging it, etc.... Too funny! I threw in a picture of her sleeping for good measure. :)

Single Digits!

There are only 9 days 'til Christmas! Wow, where did November and December go? Why didn't I start all of my holiday prep (including shopping & our Christmas cards) wayyyyy back in September? lol. I've been trying to enjoy everything and not be stressed. I'm doing a decent job with that. So how's everyone else doing? I'd love to hear something positive that's going on in your lives this week and before Christmas, so please share!

She'll eat anything!

Daisy is a funny cat. She loves food. She loves people food. We have gotten her where she doesn't always try to steal food from us, but she's still a sneaky little devil some days. Tonight, Matthew was eating buttered Italian bread and Daisy decided the small hunk she got her paws on was now hers. She "fought" with this bread in the kitchen for awhile and pretty much just ate the butter off of it. She's such a goof!

Homey the Clemson Santa Claus

Andrew "dressed up" in this outfit yesterday and was all proud of himself. He reluctantly posed for a few pictures by the tree, but you know I had to have a picture of that get up! I also thought it would be nice to have a picture on my blog that wasn't of the kitten. LOL

Christmas Getting to Know You

Feel free to borrow this idea for your own blog! :)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Mostly wrapping paper, but a few gift bags when convenient
2. Real tree or Artificial? Real (blue spruce) here in PA - artificial in MB
3. When do you put up the tree? Usually the first weekend in December, but we got ours last weekend when Sara was still here. We'll put up the MB tree on 12/27. lol
4. When do you take the tree down? 1-2 weeks into January. 2nd weekend if I had my way. We take the MB tree down at Easter.
5. Do you like eggnog? Nope. It's yucky.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? My turntable and anything Barbie related.
7. Hardest person to buy for? Jim
8. Most you've ever spent on a Christmas present? I'm not even sure! Probably a watch I bought for Jim a few years ago. I like a lot of smaller gifts vs. big ones.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, a white one made by AVON
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail
11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received? A set of bowling salt & pepper shakers
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? It's a Wonderful Life or Holiday Inn. As for specials, I love The Year Without a Santa Claus (love the meiser brothers!)
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Sometime in fall.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Nope, but I'm thinking about doing something with the salt & pepper shakers. Does anyone want them? LOL
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Baked Cream Cheese & Almond Crescent Cookies
16. Lights on the tree? Large, colored ones here in PA. Small, white ones in MB
17. Favorite Christmas song? I can't name just one. "Baby Please Come Home" by U2. Santa Claus is Coming to Town by Bruce Springsteen. I love any/all traditional Christmas songs. I love them all.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home, but leave for MB the day after.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yep - Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen & Rudolph
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel here in PA. Star in MB
21. Open the presents Christmas eve or Christmas day? We open on Christmas Day. Jim & I wait 'til later in the day, though.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Items being out of stock and finding a parking spot.
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? We buy dated, ceramic handmade ornaments and they are my favorite ones.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? We don't eat a real dinner - just lots of appetizers and yummy things. Bring on the spinach triangles, leek soup dip, baked cream cheese, shrimp cocktail, etc... burp!
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Sex and the City DVD, a new Cricut Cartridge, the 2009 Passport (Disney Guide book), a Disney strap for my camera, Rascal Flatts Greatest hits CD, some new fuzzy socks and PJ bottoms, scrapbook stuff (of course!).

Homework Helper?

Daisy is just too funny. She wants to be right in the middle of the action. Today, she decided she was going to lay down in the middle of Andrew's homework. She was either right on the sheet he was writing on or lying on his folder. I added in a few other new photos of her, too for good measure. ;)