Wordless Wednesday.....

One tired little guy, with his two favorite presents, who couldn't quite make it through Christmas Day without a little nap on the floor.

Blizzard of 2010

"If I live to be 100, I'll never forget that big snow storm a couple of years ago." ~Sam the Snowman, narrator Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Who knew he had a name??? and am I the only one who always thought it was Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer???

Yep, it's the first big snow storm here on the East Coast. Last night as the wind was howling away and the snow was blowing and every weather forecaster was talking about blizzard conditions, I couldn't get the beginning of Rudolph out of my head.....you know, where it's real windy and stormy and all the packages and ornaments are being blown all over the place.

The kids were excited to go outside this afternoon. With it being so windy, I figured they'd be in the house quicker than it took to put all the snow gear on, but they surprised me. All the struggling with snow pants, boots, hats and mittens was worth it!

Lots of fun in the snow!

A little angel making......

Some sledding.....

They had a blast until a huge gust of wind sent them back in the house for some hot cocoa time!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Dishing It! Party ~~~ Christmas Traditions

I think the nasty, Grinch like cold that has lived in all my children for the past month is almost out of our house. Cheers all around! A few coughs here and there, but nothing like it was, and everyone seems to be feeling better.

So, today's it's time for some fun! Amanda at Serenity Now is hosting another Dishing It! Party. A special December version all about Christmas traditions. Time to share our traditions and meet/get to know some new friends. Grab your cup of cocoa and join in the fun!

~Do you have any specific traditions that your family looks forward to each Christmas? My girls love to pile into the car one night, after dark, with some popcorn and drinks, and drive around and look at Christmas lights. They talk about this all the time.

~Is your tree real or fake? We have a real tree. So lucky, my brother-in-law has a tree farm and lives about 5 minutes down the road from us.

~Do you have any favorite ornaments? I love the ornaments we've bought while on vacations, but my favorites are definitely the ones the girls have made themselves.

~What's your favorite Christmas treat? Hands down, Christmas cookies!

~Coolest crafty thing you made or home decor thing you tried this Christmas season? Ahh, nothing. Which I hate because I had so many ideas. But, see first paragraph.

~Your favorite Christmas movie? Love The Grinch-it's a family favorite! I also love to watch It's a Wonderful Life-can you believe I had never seen it before meeting my husband!

~Most difficult person you have to buy for? The older girls are getting a bit tougher. Their lists are just as long as the little ones, but their requests are much more expensive!

~What's the number one thing on your kids'/husband's/wife's/significant other's list this year? All the kids want Pillow Pets!

~If Santa could bring you one big surprise this year, what would you want it to be? It would have to be the Coach purse that my husband doesn't know he's giving me but has already been purchased I've been eyeing.

My go to meal......

Chicken
Chicken Broth
Frozen Veggies
Rice

These four items are always in our house.

Permanently on my shopping list and definitely stocked up on when I find them on sale.

For those nights when the kids are cranky, or we have multiple basketball practices, or we get home late, or I'm just plain unprepared, those four items can quickly be whipped up into a chicken stir fry dinner that is easy and everyone loves. Well, ok, I can't say they all love all of the meal, but I know everyone will at least eat the chicken and rice part of it! And for my house, if everyone eats at least part of the meal, that meal's a keeper.

I don't really look at the recipe when I make this anymore so half the time I forget the ginger-still tastes the same. I've also started using 2 cans of chicken broth and doubling the soy sauce and cornstarch to make more sauce for us. I've used lots of different vegetables to make this too-I usually just use whatever frozen vegetables I have in the freezer, sometimes a bag of stir fry vegetables, sometimes I just cut up onions and peppers and throw them in.

Easy, quick and yummy!



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"Community-Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas"

It's Thursday night! The one night my husband and I definitely sit down to watch some of our favorite shows on NBC. Often, and don't ever tell my kids, with a pizza from our favorite pizza place...... pizza with carmelized onions.....my favorite!

Tonight on NBC, at 8:00 EST ( oh, wait until you see this episode, you won't ever want to say standard again!) "Community" airs their brand new Christmas special. It may not seem as if it's new though. It's an all stop-action animated episode just like all the Christmas specials when I was younger -songs and all.

When Abed (Danny Pudi) wakes up in stop-motion animation, he takes it as a sign that he and the group must re-discover the meaning of Christmas. Meanwhile, Jeff (Joel McHale) and Britta (Gillian Jacobs) become growingly concerned about Abed's mental health and enlist the help of Professor Duncan (John Oliver). The group undergoes hypnosis to explore Abed's winter wonderland and soon unravel the truth behind Abed’s madness. Chevy Chase, Yvette Nicole Brown, Donald Glover, and Ken Jeong also star.

I had a chance to preview this episode yesterday. Love the ending and how Abed's friends stick by him. Laughed out loud all by myself at some funny one liners. And as I said above, I'll never say Eastern Standard Time again!

"Community-Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" air tonight on NBC at 8:00 EST/7:00 CST.

This review is my own opinion. I viewed this episode through One to One Network. No money was received. My post will be entered into a drawing to win a prize.

I have become a human tissue....

for this little guy....

who's down and out with a nasty little cold. A cold that has invaded our whole house for a couple of weeks now. A cold that is so bad, if it were a Christmas cold, it would be the Grinch cold. A cold that has morphed into a sinus infection for one of the 7 and a respiratory infection for another.

So, between the coughs, when his nose is running, he has decided that my arm or my shoulder or my leg - really, whichever body part is the closest and available - make a wonderful tissue and swipe, there goes his nose across my arm or shoulder or leg.

The sad thing is -that in my sleep deprived state-I think gross, yuck, but then think oh well, and go on my way. Whoever would have thought that before having kids.