A toast for the New Year!

And ye, who have met with Adversity's blast,

And been bow'd to the earth by its fury

To whom the Twelve Months, that have recently pass'd
Were as harsh as a prejudiced jury

Still, fill to the Future! and join in our chime,
The regrets of remembrance to cozen,

And having obtained a New Trial of Time,
Shout in hopes of a kindlier dozen.

-Thomas Hood

Christmas Morning

Rather try and write a witty Christmas post,
I'll let the pictures (with captions) speak for themselves.




























































From our (disaster of a) home to yours:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The Stocking were Hung...

Santa worked another miracle this year!

I He had all of the stockings stuffed and
was in bed back to the North Pole by 1 am!

He even got some great pictures of the stockings
before they were attacked the next morning!

It only took 10 years....

Last year,
and the year before that,
and the year before that, and the year before that,
and the year before that, and the year before that,
and the year before that, and the year before that,
and the year before that, and the year before that,
I have spent every Christmas Eve in seclusion wrapping gifts
like a mad woman into the wee hours of the morning.

There is a good reason why there are never any pictures
of me on Christmas morning: I look a hot mess.2-3 hours sleep doesn't look good on anyone.

This year, I am resolute.
After a decade of marriage, I *WILL* be awake
enough on Christmas morning to enjoy the festivities!!

And VOILA:

Those my friends, are presents.
Lots of them.
Wrapped and Ready.
And in our closet there are 4 paper grocery sacks
filled with all of the accoutrements Santa will need
to fill the stockings.

I am a rock star!

Post Thanksgiving Weekend

The day after Thanksgiving, I forwent my usual midnight venture into the land of sales and instead we loaded up the kids, the pets and the luggage and spent the weekend in Asheville with Ed's parents.

It goes without saying that we had a fantastic weekend!

Ed Sr. spent the weekend cooking for us and Rody and I got to chat the time away!

My Ed and I were even able to put a rather large dent in our Christmas shopping without putting a large dent in our wallets!

I wish I'd taken pictures over the weekend, but it slipped my mind! (Surprise, Surprise right?)

But I did get these pictures of Dominick and Diana playing in the leaves:

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving, as it usually is, was a quiet affair in an intimate setting.
I'm not sure intimate is the right word, it sounds a bit too fancy,
a better choice might be squished.

Over the past few months the dining room has been overcome
by all of our different homeschool paraphernalia!
Trying to de-school only to have to re-school it seemed futile.

Instead, we put the leaf in the kitchen table and enjoyed our supper there!
And what a dinner it was! I made as traditional meal as ever there was: Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, monster salad and rolls and the little kids personal favorite: Sparkling ciders!

(They feel so fancy drinking from our wine glasses!)


Every single picture I took of the kids came out horribly dark,
and this is the best I could do with lightening it:



My famous sweet potato casserole:



Of course, after supper was done, everyone slowly trickled
away until only Brooke and I remained. She was just downright *thrilled*
when she realized that we'd be doing dishes alone.
What an angel! ;)



Regardless of who stuck us with the dishes (and I ain't namin' names) I can't help but be grateful for all that I have.
I have my children by my side day and night and they allow me to the distinct privilege of being their Mother, teacher and sometime slave-driver.
And in my husband I find one of my staunchest supporters and closest confidants.
I am truly blessed.

It was indeed a Thanks-giving!

Trick - or - Treat

Come little children and gather 'round to hear the most
pathetically un-spooky story to 'ere be found!

It was a peaceful, calm night when we didst meet
in this beautiful neighborhood to trick-or-treat

The houses were lit with golden glow
and from home to home we all did go..



A mummy, a genie/gypsy and a Goddess did ride
in the hatch of the 'burban because it was much more comfortable than
jumping in out of their seats all nights.
(PS: as author I do not have to rhyme, this is a crappy Halloween poem, not the Iliad!)








The candy was divvied at the end of the night
M&M's, Mars, candy corn and ... Crystal light?
(Seriously! I think someone thought they were pixie sticks???)

Lucky for you this is the end of our story
No guts, no ghouls, not a single thing gory
Nothing to fear, not the simplest fright...
But a moral it does have:
Trick-or-treating with family.... is the best kind of night!

Et Tu Brookie?

For weeks and weeks Brooke told me
that she wanted to be a cutesy-girly
version of the Mad Hatter for Halloween.
But when push came to shove,
she set her heart on this Roman inspired ensemble instead.
(I can't blame her, it's gorgeous!!)

PS: I'd like to think her study of Roman and
Greek Gods of late helped to influence her! ;)

The Gypsyish Genie

I think this might be my favorite Diana costume to date!!

We found this weeks and weeks ago at TJMaxx and
Diana just knew it was the right choice.
We're still a little unclear as to whether it was supposed to
be a Genie (Pointy shoes) or a gypsy (Gold coins)
but either way, we DO know it was absolutely adorable!!

The Mummbie

Mummy Costume
+
Zombie Make-up
=
The first ever Mummbie!

Carving Pumpkins

I have a secret: I hate carving pumpkins with my kids.
Maybe it's because they are always overly ambitious with the patterns they choose,
maybe it's because I *always* end up having to finish the
three half-carved pumpkins left on the table by myself,
or maybe it's because pumpkin guts are almost impossible to clean up
after they've dried on the hardwood floors.
Regardless, I secretly dread it every year.

But, (and I'm sure you've guessed it) this year was different!
The kids did so much better! The pumpkin guts were cleaned up quickly,
the kids picked (or drew) their own EASY patterns,
AND they even finished them.... By themselves!!

It helps to have the the right tools of the trade:


Dominick, unsurprisingly, was the most enthusiastic
and started straightaway with very little help from me!








Diana did not enjoy the gutting, but managed all the same!


And Brookie, trying to lessen her pumpkin footprint, made her own litte workspace on the kitchen floor:


And behold: The Three pumpkins that I hardly no part in!!