Yep, Christmas!  ’Tis Ova!  We had LOTS OF FUN!

We baked cookies and goodies…

We saw Christmas light shows…

We decorated our tree…

We drank hot cocoa…

We partied, we sang, we loved, we laughed, we celebrated life….

And now.
Now.
Now…I am dog-tired.

Tired as a Dog!

…Time to WAKE UP! Here comes the NEW YEAR!  
2012 here we come!

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This is a post I originally wrote around Halloween!! I was thinking ahead but not moving as fast as I was thinking. Here we are 2 days away and I’m in disbelief and lack-o-preparedness! Anyway, I thought it was a good time to quickly revisit my post outlining the good, the bad, the ugly, and the lovely that come with Christmas and the Holidays!! Feel free to chime in!
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With the holidays approaching, I was inspired to share some of my most and least favorite things about Christmas or the holidays overall. Here’s a peak at my Love/Lame List on Christmas.

My most favorite Christmas things:
Christmas lights
Decorating the tree
Christmas music
Christmas movies (my favs are:
A Christmas Story [HD DVD] (1983)
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (Special Edition) (1989)
The Family Man (2000)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
Hot cocoa, hot buttered rum
Baking Christmas cookies and goodies with my kids
Eating the Christmas cookies and goodies we made with my kids
Homemade egg nog (my grandma has an awesome simple recipe, but if I share it with, then I’d have to kill you)
Snow falling
Smell of pine…and cinnamon
Laughter
Family
Playing in the snow
The bright smiling faces and excited shreeks echoing throughout the house Christmas morning
Ambiance at the mall, touching all the senses
Wrapping presents for loved ones
Getting a great deal on a purchase
Black Friday (only because it officially “opens” Christmas in my mind)

Things that are lame about Christmas:
Purchasing, budgeting (love giving gifts, but just dislike the purchase part)
Driving in the snow
Driving in the ice
Worrying about my husband driving in the snow or ice
The “deeper cleaning” required, that accompanies entertaining at your home
Running out of Christmas cookies and goodies before the holiday…because I ate them all with my kids
The slight “deflation” when it all ends
Taking down the tree
Getting rid of the tree (we have an old tree graveyard in the very back corner of the yard)
When the ambiance at the mall turns to the feeling of being crushed in a sardine can
Running out of wrapping paper or scotch tape while wrapping gifts
Fighting for a parking spot….2 miles from the store
When you think you got a great deal on a purchase, just to find it’s marked down another 50% 2 days later
What to do with the fruitcake (and I’m not talking about anyone in particular…talking about the actual cake that is supposed to be edible…wondering why people still give those away) Though I have to say the description on this fruitcake makes me reconsider my stereotype.
Black Friday (only because the few times I’ve gone out, I spend most of the morning in the same line)

Well looking over my lists and checking them twice, I can see my Love list is longer!  What about you?  What about your love/lame relationship with Christmas?

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OK I absolutely had to share this!  My sister shared this video with my this morning and I laughed so hard!  It’s so mean and so funny ~ make sure to watch it all the way until the end!

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Walking by my Christmas tree this morning, and had to do a double take! Wait, what?

Guess that’s what ya get with kids n’ dogs!

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Last night, our family decorated and lit up the family Christmas tree.  We put together a little film to share with everyone.  Yes, I picked on my husband just a little bit (I was peer pressured by the kids!).  I assure you that no husbands were husbands were hurt during the making of this film, AND my husband is a good sport!

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<4BMYMBG3SUG9>With the Christmas season comes those once-a-year enjoyments such as homemade Christmas cookies delicately decorated by children, egg nog, Christmas trees, lights… and favorite holiday movies and music. I did an earlier humorous post Christmas: Got Love in One Hand and Lame in the Other which included a few favorite Christmas movies.

So without further ado…<drumroll>…Here’s our family’s top ten best holiday movies and best Christmas holiday music:

Best Holiday Films:

A Christmas Story [HD DVD] (1983)
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (Special Edition) (1989)
The Family Man (2000)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
The Polar Express
Elf (Ultimate Collector’s Edition)
It’s a Wonderful Life
The Santa Clause

You can actually pick up a combo DVD set with a few of the best movies: Christmas Comedy Collection (Elf / A Christmas Story / National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation)

And our family’s top picks for best all time Christmas holiday songs:

1. “White Christmas” The Drifters
2. “Baby it’s Cold Outside” Dean Martin
3. “Last Christmas” Glee Cast
4. “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” Bruce Springsteen
5. “Oh Holy Night” Celine Dion
6. “Do you Hear What I Hear?” Glee Cast (…or Whitney Houston)
7. “Last Christmas” Glee Cast
8. “Little Drummer Boy” Bob Seger
9. “Mary Did you Know?” Kathy Mattea
10. “Happy XMas” John Lennon
11. “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” Straight No Chaser
12. “All I Want for Christmas Is You” Mariah Carey

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A big part of Christmas memories I cherish include making Christmas crafts.  I still have home made ornaments that adorn my tree, that I put my artistic signature on as a kid.  Even as a teen and young adult, my sister and I would get together to bake and get crafty.   It’s a fun way to spend quality time with the kids, while creating lasting memories.  So, gramma, the kids, and I all kicked it off this year over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  And we produced…our family, as snow-sock-people!  Basically the idea was to make snowmen out of socks.  As we moved along members of our family came to life from the cotton sock balls, not unlike frosty the snowman coming to life with the perfect placement of the perfect hat!   It’s our little sock-snow-people family holiday nativity scene!

The how-to’s:

Find a clean (cute) sock, and stuff it with stuffing (we didn’t have stuffing so we just cut up a bunch of inexpensive yarn to use as stuffing).

Tie off your “body balls”.

Adorn with eyeballs, fuzzy balls, sequins, added socks for beanies, yarn for hair, twigs for arms, etc… Voila!  Sock Snowmen!  Or Sock-Snow-People!

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This year I am thankful for
…Peter’s generosity in helping us to pay Paul (Peter, we will pay you back)
…that there is a calorie conversion buffer…between our consumption and fat cell expansion (that the massive quantities of awesome food do not instantly turn to massive quantities of extra a**, hips, or other baggage)
…for the typtophan in the turkey to counter to the sugar in the pie (thinking of kids on a roller coaster…the ups and ultimately the down)
…that I’m not hitting Black Friday before we have any right to call it FriDAY…which brings to thanks for online shopping!
…that Harold Camping did NOT know what he was talking about…as of yet
…to the many many turkeys that grace our tables, that always show up perfectly tanned, and beautifully dressed!
…for the discovery of fine fermented grapes
…for the wisdom my kids have taught me
…that my bird doesn’t repeat everything
…for the ability to laugh at ourselves, along with everyone else

OK in all seriousness…today I truly am grateful for my family and friends and so much love! I am thankful for answered prayers! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving day filled with love, laughter, good times, and thanks!!

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Turkey is tradition for most families on Thanksgiving, which is why you will start to see every grocery store freezer fill with cheap turkeys this time of year.  Even so, more and more innovative, interesting, and odd ideas pop up every year on what we can do to make the main bird…well fancier, more appealing, and tastier. Turkey alternatives? No, more like Turkey combos.  

A couple of years ago, we forked out big bucks for a Turducken.  For those who don’t know, this is a duck wrapped in a chicken wrapped in a turkey.    The big bucks was not just for the meat, but also to pay the butcher to debone, wrap, and cinch the birds into one bird, (besides the fact that we got the 3-in-1 birds at a natural foods market, Whole Foods, which of course increases cost even a bit more).  I wouldn’t dare attempt to debone, wrap, and cinch on my own.  I am challenged enough when it comes to “carving” the turkey, much less trying to make three birds look like one pretty bird.  I’m convinced it would not have had the appeal-factor I would be looking for.

So, was the Turducken worth it?  Was it better?  My personal opinion is no.  I like Turkey – perfectly roasted, juicy, stuffed Turkey. The Turducken was perfectly cooked, smelled mouth watering and looked like it could hold its own at the center of any fancy table. The taste was just not as I anticipated. Perhaps I had expectations that were too high after all the excitement and fuss. Or perhaps I’m just not a big duck fan (never had duck before that).

IF you are one that is looking for something to really fancy the table and your guests, check this video out!  (you may want to turn a blind eye to the calorie count on this one, or take it as a warning to potential heart attack waiting to happen during the main course)!   I did actually read that more heart attacks occur on Thanksgiving =O So be careful if you opt to try this one!

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