Our House

Yep - that's our house this holiday season.

Sneak Preview

Our computer room has been dubbed the "Spy Room" in our house because it faces the street, and the way our house is angled, we have a pretty good view each way down the block as well.

We've used this "Spy Room" to keep tabs on the neighbor's teenage daughter (well, not really keeping tabs - but we were able to provide our neighbor with inside information while she was at work), and we've got the best (and warmest!) seats in the house to take a peek at the light show.

I'm being treated to a sneak preview right now. Of course the lights are just shining; there's no "dancing" and no music, but it's quite a sight anyway.

Here's a quick snapshot taken from the "Spy Room" window....



Notice the great big glorious Christmas tree! There's got to be a gazillion lights on that thing (hey Clark, er, I mean Joe -- care to share just how many twinkly bulbs are on that thing?)!

It's over

Tonight was our last night for our fundraiser. We started off the night with sirens wailing and lights flashing as the ambulance lead the procession with the firetruck behind, carrying Santa and the 2 children that won the Ride With Santa raffle.

Sold plenty more raffle tickets within the next hour, several cups of hot cocoa, took a few straight donations and then pulled the winners for all the raffle items.

Our grand total raised ....... $2,500.

We've raised more than the fire department ever has been able to with dances, etc. They estimate that the mailing they will do prior to floating the referendum again this Spring will cost $2K. So this was all worth it, and if the referendum passes next Spring -- it was worth it that much more.

It's December what?!

I swear that the month of December shrunk. Or there are less days between Thanksgiving and Christmas or something because I cannot believe that it's already the 10th of December.

Things are as busy as ever, but quite honestly it's nice, even if stressful. I've managed to wrap about 48 presents so far, and today is B's family party at the house. His party with friends was on Thursday, and it was great. Aside from bringing the cupcakes and drinks - I had to do nothing. It was worth every bit of what we paid for his 1.5 hour party there. So more and more is getting crossed off the "To Do" list. The biggest project to accomplish right now is the baking. I'm cutting out a cookie I normally bake, but instead I'm going to try my hand at making kolacky cookies. I also need to bake 6 dozen more cookies than usual as we are hosting the cookie exchange next weekend.

I'm busy, but things are falling into place and I'm hopeful that everything gets done in time. My class ended this week, so I no longer have any obligations on Thursday evenings. That will allow me a bit more time to accomplish more.

Our fundraiser is running rather smoothly. We're not seeing the turnout we had hoped, but we can't complain too much. To date we have raised $880. Not too bad, but much, much lower than the number we had in mind. At this point we're hoping for $1500. If anything, we are having fun out there, even if we are frozen at the end of the night, and it's quite possible when it's all said and done that I'll need my baby toes cut off (I'm joking, but there have been nights I've come in and had little or no feeling in that toe and it was a slight shade of blue .... that can't be good). If I need a toe amputated, I certainly hope when the fire department comes to pick me up that they send one of those hottie firemen along. :)

Busy, Busy, Busy

The Christmas season is always so crazy. Why should this year be any different? Well, it is different in that instead of having my hand in 6 different pots, I've got them in about a dozen.

You see, this year I'm doing 2 separate parties for Braeden. One next week for just his friends, and then we'll be having family and friends over for cake & coffee that weekend. Makes things a bit crazier with planning and preparing, but in the long run it'll probably be a tiny bit less stressful than having family, friends and a dozen (or more) preschoolers to deal with all at the same time. So, tonight I was out picking up Ninja Turtle goody bags and Hershey's miniatures so that I can get the personalized wrappers on them (granted, I still need to print & cut them all first).

Not to mention that my mom and I are hosting the December "Girl's Night" for our community, which is a cookie exchange/grab bag. There isn't much to do to get ready for that aside from cleaning the house, but it's that much more baking that needs to be done.

Plus, I've still got my photography class once a week. It wraps up next week (makes me a bit sad, but I don't think I could keep up with the holidays and all), and I've got a photo essay to do. I've been racking my brain for ideas, but I'm frazzled. Too much on my mind to focus on assignments, I guess. As it is, this week's is not done yet.

And did I mention about the fundraiser? Yup .... it kicks off this weekend. Music, Christmas lights, candy canes, hot cocoa, raffle baskets, Santa ..... the whole she-bang! It's actually come together quite nicely so far, though we are working on getting broadcast. So far we've made one newspaper, and another is going to do an article - but we want TV coverage. I guess we can't complain .... many members of the community have embraced the idea, and plan on coming out to volunteer their time, or to take part in the festivities. Our entire block is shining with Christmas lights. There are only 5 homes that didn't put up any Christmas lights - but they still have time. And considering the festivities haven't kicked off yet .... we've already raised over $200.

The plan is to see how it goes this year, but we're optimistic that it's going to be successful, and there's plans to do this as a yearly thing, picking a different charity/organization/group to donate to each year. This community truly amazes me, and those that I'm on the committee with are a great group of people. It feels so good to be a part of something like this.

So, I'll be volunteering alot of my time to working "Santa's Landing" (Friday & Saturday nights for a few hours each night), and the rest of the time I'll be working, finishing my class, buying the last few Christmas gifts, baking a billion cookies and wrapping a gazillion presents. Hopefully I'll still be able to squeeze sleep in here or there.

Turkey, Trimmings and Babies

A late Happy Turkey Day to my readers. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family, friends & loved ones.

We celebrated with my family with lots of food, a bit of laughter, and full stomachs. Then at 1am, I kicked off the Black Friday shopping by hitting the local mall for their Rockin' Shopping Eve. I went to just the Disney store, could barely move around, but found a few things, got in line and stood there for an hour just to check out.

By the time I got home and wound down enough to sleep, it was after 3am. And let me tell you, 7:30am came around real quick.

So now the holiday season is in full force. Lots of shopping, lots of get togethers and even more lights and decorations. We're already blowing fuses on our lights and overloading our musical Christmas light device. We have to get it worked out this weekend, as the community fundraiser we'll be holding every Friday and Saturday night starts next weekend, on December 1st.

In the last few days we've seen more and more neighbors on ladders, and stringing lights in their bushes, or around their front doors. It's really going to look beautiful when it's all said and done and everyone has everything in perfect working order.

I really do love this time of year. I always have, and it's even better now that I have kids. Seeing their eyes light up in fascination, hearing the excitement in their voices, the curious questions as to just when Santa will be coming. I love buying them the things they really want, and watching them rip open the paper, anticipation in their eyes, and the sheer glee on their face when they see that beloved item they've been asking for the last few months.

Good friends just welcomed their first child into the world in the wee hours of this morning. One of my cousins just announced to the family that she's pregnant, and due early July 2007. They, too, will find themselves sneaking packages into closets, stashed in the basement, or tucked away under the bed. Quietly wrapping gifts on Christmas Eve from "Santa", and nibbling cookies and drinking milk before heading off to bed themselves. These are the moments that make those memories. Memories that will hang on even after the kids have gone away to college, have married, and started families of their own. Precious memories.