Do it! Hit it! Give me my Christmas Present!

We are in the midst of constant preparation over here.

One of our number is turning 5 tomorrow and so we baked some cookies to bring as a treat for her class.

I also have a couple of work knitting projects to finish up before I start on the serious family gift making.

Thanks for all of the Christmas Music suggestions!

I have downloaded them all and am enjoying them.

I have a serious addiction to Christmas Music.

I have about 80 albums either in the case or downloaded.

My favorite for this season might be James Brown's Funky Christmas.

Do it! Hit it! Y'all do your Christmas thang!

Jess

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

We have our tree up!
There has been non-stop Christmas music 'round here for about 3 weeks!
We had a fun time this morning with Father Christmas.
The kids did really well, and we got some great Christmas-y shots.



Hey, anyone have any christmas music suggestions this year?
I am always on the lookout for another album to add to my collection.
Have a great day!
Jess

Hey Mom, Hey Mom

Look what I can do-

My lovely parents-in-law took the kids overnight last night so that the hubby and myself could build this bunk bed.

We got through building the whole thing without injury or a fight.

We also only had to go to Menards once, I had the wrong size drill bit.

And, my super parents came over and helped finish painting our kitchen.

This was, to quote the Elder Hug-a-Bug, "The best day EVER!"

We have giant closets in our house and we decided to move all of the beds into them so we could better utilize our space.

We are also switching bedrooms with the kids and painting and cleaning and it is really exciting for us, though there aren't too many fun pictures that I can post about sweeping so it's not too terribly exciting to read about.

Anyway, we are on our way and I will post some after pictures when we get there.

Have a great Sunday,

Jess.

Thanksgiving and a little silliness

We celebrated Thanksgiving this past Thursday.

The day started out great and ended so-so.

We, the Hug-a-Bugs, the Hubby and myself set off for Thanksgiving breakfast at my parents' house.

It was delightful.

My brother and his family were there and I got to spend some super together time with my nephew. He is 7 and a real joy.

We played some goofy games and had a lot of fun.

Then we came home and I made the dinner.

I don't know nothing about baking no birds.

We had Thanksgiving here 2 years ago, and the turkey took about an hour longer than we expected.

This year, we made a chicken and I thought it was done 15 minutes early, so I rushed all the sides to the table, and then I saw that the chicken was, in fact, not done.

So, back into the oven for the bird.

We ended up eating room-temp sides and then having chicken for dessert.

Oh, well.

We have a lot to be thankful for, not the least of which is spending so much family time in one day.

Actually, the dinner wasn't a complete disaster.

I got on the list to test recipes for Cook's Country Magazine and I tested a carrot cake recipe for the non-chicken dessert.

It turned out really tasty.

The frosting was the best part. Neufchatel, Marshmallow Fluff and a little powdered sugar.

Light, tangy, mmmmm.

I didn't take any pictures on Thanksgiving, but I do have these;

The other day the Hug-a-Bugs got into my sewing stuff and asked if they could build some robots with the sewing machine attachments.

The Elder put this one together, and insisted upon taking her own photos.

I love two things here, first his hair is made of tiny bolts, and he is holding a little wrench.

I hope that you get in some family together-time if you haven't yet this weekend,

Jess.

Cookies

In the December issue of Martha Stewart Living from 1997 there is a very tasty Gingerbread cookie recipe.
I have made these cookies every year since then, and we started cookie production a few days ago.
The dough is pretty easy and it keeps well in the refrigerator.
Martha says that the recipe will make 16 cookies, but it really makes about 70.
I have a tiny cookie cutter addiction, and this is the one time of the year when I pull them all out.
The Elder Hug-a-Bug and I had a counting party and she put them all in categories.
It was difficult to decide whether the foot should go into the people or stuff pile, but the rest were pretty easy.

Then we start cutting out and baking and eating and eating.
Happy Holiday season!
Jess

It's beginning to look...

I have been thinking and doing Christmas all week.
I am in a couple of swaps, and I finished the ornaments for the Freshly Blended/Cake & Pie swap.

They are ready to send out tomorrow or the next day.
Also, the other swap that I am involved in, the one from Sew Liberated, it is suggested that I make a mix CD of Christmas music.
This is a difficult task for me, as I love Christmas music.
I have finally decided on the list, I think.
That swap stuff is almost entirely compiled.
Then, we have to schedule a visit with Santa for pictures.
Whew, I am a little mentally winded, but I am having tons of fun!
Talk to you soon,
Jess

Sad Day

I have just found out that ABC is cancelling 3 of my favorite shows.

I may or may not have mentioned it before, but I am a TV junkie.

I love my stories, and now I have to give up 3! in one season.

When will there be a long-running show with musical interludes and dance numbers?

Is it too much to expect that a knitting detective will be there for me every week for more than 13 episodes?

And you, billionaire bad boys, I think I'll miss you most of all.

Sigh.

I guess I am going to have to start making jam or something to fill up my empty life...

Boo Hoo.

O.K. that is the end of the wallowing.

Maybe next year there will be a show with a billionaire singing knitting detective who can bring stuff back to life.

or maybe not.

Jess