The Final Countdown...

Today is the last day of November.

Do you know what that means? That means that you officially have :

You should have been prepared. I warned you that day. I told you it was coming and now there is no running, no hiding and no excuses.

If you spent your time Harumphing (I actually had to go check how to spell that word. LMAO) or you spent your time wishing people would just play nice or if you started decorating and learning how to create a new kind of life. No matter what how you've gotten over the past few weeks, it is officially the time to be jolly, blow money on gifts, get fat on Christmas cookies, be okay with that, and sing Christmas carols out of key.

The joy of Christmas has arrived :-) And I'm excited. I'm exhausted. I'm listening to Christmas music 24/7.

I wrote this Guide to The perfect gift last year, but still love it so I'm going to repost it :-) I hope you enjoy it.

Now relax, grab a yummy Starbuck's Peppermint Mocha and fa la la la la your way through the next 25 days :-D

The Christmas Pickle (Literally)

My bestest friend gave me an early Christmas preset yesterday. She gave me a pickle!

I know what you are thinking. I am the luckiest person in the world to have a bestest friend who would give me a pickle ornament. Other best friends may have gone with things like a poinsettias, a necklace, a picture. But a real best friend. Oh yes. She gives you a pickle!

Okay, I know you're like, "Seriously? What is with the pickle? Inside joke you care to share?"

And truth be told, when she gave me my pickle...I was thinking the same thing: "A Christmas Pickle. A Christmas Pickle Ornament. Wow. Okay." Of course, then I was worried because only very rarely does Molls act or do totally insane things, and assuming that this wasn't one of those times....I had obviously missed something.

Me (in my head): Oh shit. She's looking at me for my reaction. There must be an inside joke. 15 years of best friendship and I remember every joke we ever had! How do I not remember a pickle! Shit. Shit. I can't fake this. She'll know I'm lying. Full Speed ahead and damn the torpedoes "

Me (out Loud): Aww. It's cute. Thanks you.

Her (In her head) (Okay, I can't really know what was in her head as I wasn't actually present, but here's what I Imagine): Seriously, why is she looking like this pickle is so cool? I mean, she can't have a clue what it's all about yet. Awww, shit. She's doing that fake laugh and that fake "Awww, it's cute. thank you!" Idiot. How did we end up best friends for 15 years??

Her (Out Loud): Wait! There's a tradition!

Me: (in my head): There's a Christmas Pickle Tradition???
Me: (Out Loud): Really?

And then she read me this:

It's a German Tradition that in the Holiday tree a pickle is hung where no child can see. The child who finds it is given a toy, and blessed with good fortune for a year filled with Joy. Merry Christmas!

She really is the coolest bestest friend ever. And I do love my pickle. (Even if Prince Charming had some other suggestions as to what it was. Oye. Men.)

********************************************************************

I do want to say after some research here and here I have found that it is not a true German tradition. Either way I still think it's really cool :-)

Do NOT Panic I repeat Do NOT Panic

Too late. I am.

Panicking that is.

Looking at the calendar I realized that it's :




Yes. That's right Ladies and Gents.

50 DAYS.

Doesn't seem like it's that bad, right?

That's 7.5 weeks. Or, even worse...only 7 Saturdays. Or if you get paid every two weeks then that means you only have 3 or 4 paydays left.


Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Boo! Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to one and all!

I grew up in a religious household and Halloween was considered the 'devils holiday' by my church, therefore we did not celebrate or participate in Halloween festivities. Once I was older my church began hosting a 'fall festival' on Halloween for all the children in the church and any others who chose to participate. It was a night full of games, fun and treats.

I had never been trick or treating until I had my own children. My husband had to guide me the first Halloween in everything from decorating to costumes. It had just never been part of my life until then. Now it is easily one of my favorite holidays. I love the decorations, the adorable costumes, and the socialization that happens in my neighborhood between parents when walking their child from house to house. I guess I am a believer that ever holiday is what you make of it.

As the holiday approached this year I became curious about the true history of Halloween. Where it came from, how it evolved and if it really was a holiday dedicated to nothing more than devils and demons. What I found actually surprised and intrigued me. As it turns out, many of the traditions we celebrate today during Halloween are actually evolved from traditions began by the church! Here are some excerpts I found on the History Channel website as to the origins of Halloween. I hope you give it a read. You might be surprised how the holiday actually came to be!

Ancient Origins

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).

The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.

The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.

By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.

Modern Traditions

The American tradition of "trick-or-treating" probably dates back to the early All Souls' Day parades in England. During the festivities, poor citizens would beg for food and families would give them pastries called "soul cakes" in return for their promise to pray for the family's dead relatives.

The distribution of soul cakes was encouraged by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits. The practice, which was referred to as "going a-souling" was eventually taken up by children who would visit the houses in their neighborhood and be given ale, food, and money.

The tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween has both European and Celtic roots. Hundreds of years ago, winter was an uncertain and frightening time. Food supplies often ran low and, for the many people afraid of the dark, the short days of winter were full of constant worry. On Halloween, when it was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world, people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes. To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits. On Halloween, to keep ghosts away from their houses, people would place bowls of food outside their homes to appease the ghosts and prevent them from attempting to enter.

Evolution Of A Holiday

As European immigrants came to America, they brought their varied Halloween customs with them. Because of the rigid Protestant belief systems that characterized early New England, celebration of Halloween in colonial times was extremely limited there.

It was much more common in Maryland and the southern colonies. As the beliefs and customs of different European ethnic groups, as well as the American Indians, meshed, a distinctly American version of Halloween began to emerge. The first celebrations included "play parties," public events held to celebrate the harvest, where neighbors would share stories of the dead, tell each other's fortunes, dance, and sing. Colonial Halloween festivities also featured the telling of ghost stories and mischief-making of all kinds. By the middle of the nineteenth century, annual autumn festivities were common, but Halloween was not yet celebrated everywhere in the country.

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May your house be filled with good smells, creepy foods, delicious candy, smiling children and may you receive more treats than tricks!

Fathers Day Craft Ideas

"I hate that Fathers day is in June."

"Ummm. Okay. Why??"

"Because You get the cutest little crafts and things from school and I never get any of that."

Insert huge feeling of guilt and bad mommy/wife self bashing here.

Seriously, it just never dawned on me. I always stress about the perfect gift for him..and homemade was the answer. *D'OH*

So this week I have been scouring the web for some great craft ideas to bestow upon Prince Charming in thanks for his superb job in helping raise our three royal munchkins.

These are the best of the best Fathers Day craft pages that I have found! So get that craft gear out for a fun summer project and surprise Daddy with a homemade gift this Sunday!

DLTK's Crafts

Family Fun Crafts

Activity Village

Garvick Crafts Page

Woman's Day Magazine Crafts

Childfun Crafts

Family Corner Crafts


What are you giving for Fathers Day?

Samantha....

I mentioned yesterday that Liberty received an American Girl Doll (Elizabeth) for Christmas. Well, Prince Charming also purchased mine. Here is Samantha:


Now, Why does a 28 yr. old mom of 3 need a doll? Because I have wanted her since I was a little girl, and he noticed how I teared up when I touched her at the store on the day we bought Liberty's. Impractical? Absolutely.
One of the sweetest things he's ever done for me? COMPLETELY.
That is why he's my Prince Charming.



***The stair case was a gift from my sis that I could NOT find a place for in my house...until I did this table top display this morning. Now I LOVE it!**

Happy New Year...

Happy New Year!!!

It seems crazy that 2007 is here. I hope you all had a wonderful new years eve night! Hubby and I sat at home and rang in the new year in our own 'special' tradition of the past 4 years. Lets just say...we brought in the year with a "bang" of sorts. **blushing**.

This year I'm going to really try and keep my new years resolutions.

So here's my list....so you can help me stay on track ;-)

1. Be a better and more involved friend
I have social anxiety and I use that as an excuse to not meet new people who want to get together and also to not stay in touch with the friends I have. I value each one of them and I need to start showing that!!

2. Loose Weight
I will be purchasing the Ultra Ab Lounge this tax season after my step brother has had amazing results and the reviews are wonderful! Plus I will also be ordering a month of Nutra System. My mom has done it and had GREAT results. She also let me use an extra months worth she had and I LOVED the food. I still crave many of the meals. I lost 15 lbs. and have kept it off for over 4 months!!!! So I will be purchasing my own month this time and hope to see the same results with that combined with the ab lounge. It is expensive...but worth every penny.

3. Get back and STAY on the Flylady system.
My entire house and prince charming were soooo much happier when I did the system. It also freed up a lot more time for ME and to spend having fun with my babies.

4. Take better care of ME
I'm going to start tanning, get my nails done and immerse myself in my favorite hobbies by actually making time for them.

5. Quit smoking!!!
Enough Said

6. Take more time to relax and giggle with my babies.
I have spent so much time stressing out about the house and homework and money and everything else and not enough time enjoying the wonderful unique things my babies are.


Right now that's all I have thought of :-) I'm sure I'll add more as the days go on.

What did you do to ring in the new year?

What are your resolutions??

Have a Merry Christmas!!!!

In Two hours I have to leave for an all day family Christmas gathering. My three little elves are still sleeping (it is only 7:34 am), Prince Charming (in charge of gift wrap and stocking stuffers on his way home from work) will be home in about 20 min. so that we may commence in a flurry of hurried wrapping and bowing. Liberty threw up twice last night...so we were up until around 2 am. But I am going to be a very bad sis/daughter and bring her anyway seeing she hasn't thrown up since 2. I don't want to miss Christmas. As Grinchy as I'm feeling right now...I still want to go. I should be doing a million things right now, but I wanted to stop in and just say Merry Christmas to anyone who may wander across my blog in the next few days :-) I hope you enjoy your family and your holidays!

P.S.
Here's a link for Christmas Eve to track Santa via Norad :-)

Dear Santa....The kids are on to you...beware.

I can't explain exactly why this morning when I read this story it made me giggle, or why I am still giggling, nevertheless it did so I thought I should share some of my holiday cheer.
Maybe CFASS (Christmas Fatigue And Stress Syndrome) has finally taken over, the stress caused searching for 'Santa Letter Requests' (Thank you MOM and MOLLS for your AMAZING HELP) has warped my sense of humor, or the unavoidable over indulgence in family time without the pleasure of a little spiked egg nog has made me seek retribution.

Whatever the reason....the thought of Santa being pelted with a mince meat pie seems to make it all worth it! I know it's wrong...but Giggle Away!

THE SERENDIPITY LIST OF 2006

With Christmas less than 6 days away, holiday vacation from school fast approaching, and Alex’s eighth birthday less than a month away, I realized that the New Year is on the horizon and 2006 is almost at an end. It’s amazing how fast and yet slow a year passes by. I always love the changing of a year. It brings hope and promise and 365 fresh days of new opportunities and challenges. Every year I make promises to myself to accomplish this thing or change that thing in my life or self. Sadly, every year I feel as if I always have failed in most of those promises. There are the standard promises: I will lose weight, I will go to a gym, I will become more organized, I will remember everyone’s birthdays/anniversaries. Also, the not so standard: I will be a better mom, I will show more patience, and I will remember to take care of me better and even that I will become a sex goddess to my husband. Some of these I manage to uphold for short spans of time, some of them longer, and yet some not at all.

As I began thinking about this past year, I realized that although I couldn’t even remember the promises I made in January, I had accomplished much more this year than ever before. The most amazing thing about this realization to me was that they were much deeper accomplishments, in different ways, than I would have thought. So I decided to share some of these things. If I could, I would have Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Everbody’s Free (to wear sunscreen)’ playing in the background as that seems to be going through my head as I write this. So as you are reading my list (the only thing that seems appropriate to the music) please hum it to yourself for the full effect (if nothing else this should help prevent you from falling asleep).

THE SERENDIPITY LIST OF 2006

I have discovered I love baking

*I am actually good at it

*It calms me down

*It’s actually become a passion

I am addicted to blogging

*I love to blog when I have time

*I love to find new blogs

* I do have some writing talent

I am a Normal and Good Mother

*I always try to put my kids to bed with a giggle

*They truly are PHENOMENAL kids

*I do need space and time to just me

*It is okay and GOOD to have space and time to just me

*It is normal (and okay) to loose patience now and again

I have had a period of self discovery

*I am not as convinced I’m fat blob

*I can be sexy w/out being a size 5

*I do have talent in many things

*I do not have to be perfect

*It is okay to be me

*I should have more love for myself or no one else can

I have started dreaming and hoping again

*I want to take online classes

*I will try to get my children’s book published

*I want to begin a home bases business I am passionate about

* I will be financially aware and responsible

* I want to be the best person I can be…and be happy with her

I know that to many this list may seem small and insignificant, but to me it shows a tremendous cycle of growth and acceptance of self. I actually feel like I am coming into my own, and really living my life instead of just playing house. I have stopped whining about things that I should not. I have started to put my time and energy into things I love doing thus helping make me happier.

Thank you 2006 for all your Serendipity moments and all the potential you have given me for 2007.

Bah Humbug

I do it every single year. I SWEAR that next year I WILL have all my shopping done by Thanksgiving. And if it's not all done...that I'll at least have most of it done, with just a few items left to pick up, but it will still be planned out.
And every year Thanksgiving comes and goes followed by Christmas school concerts, and special school projects, and this thing or that thing and before I know it...I look up and it's 12 days 'till Christmas.

12 DAYS TO CHRISTMAS.....AW WW DAMN!

Here I sit...with one gift purchased. That's it. My daughters American Girl (More to come regarding her later) is safely tucked away..and she is the only one.

So now I am freaking out, desperately hoping that when I do get to go shopping that everything will be in stock and that Santa won't have to make any last minute substitutions.

sigh.

So next year...I SWEAR...I will have my shopping done by thanksgiving....and the things that are not purchased...will be written down and perfectly planned. No...really!

Thankful

I am Thankful For:

My Morning Coffee

Nestle 'Peppermint Mocha' Creamer ( IN my morning coffee)

Land O' Lakes Peppermint Whip Cream (on the TOP of my morning coffee)

Dark Chocolate

Crisp Days with warm sun

My love of photography and scrap booking (thanks mom)

Blogging!

A houseful of more 3m Products than we could every use

The privilege of Nursing three babies

The honor of giving birth three times

My wonderful husband

My amazing mom

My beautiful, intelligent and amazing three kids

The chance to make mistakes and now be mature enough to realize them and try to learn from them

Thank you to everyone who reads my blog and gives me a smile with thier blog!
I hope you all have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!
See ya after Next week!

What to buy and for Whom...A guide to FINALLY giving the PERFECT gift

Every year...you ask yourself the same question, 'What should I get Aunt Berta?' You start to unavoidably examine her life and who she is. She is..lets see..how do you put it nicely. She really is on her way to becoming 'Crazy Cat Lady'.

I know..it isn't a nice thing to think. But..how else do you explain a sweet 50 something lady, who really does own more cats than pairs of shoes and just can't seem to understand why she can't find a 'special gentleman' to stay around after they've visited?
So..why not get her a gift to...send a sweet but gentle reminder!
This sweet cat loving figurine is engraved with the wise saying, "Dating can be awkward. But so can becoming the crazy cat lady." This little Life Lessonswill hopefully help her realize...that when you need 5 litter boxes and two rooms dedicated to simply housing the feline friends...it's time to make a change!

Now that we have Aunt Berta out of the way...we move on to your sister-in-law. She's sweet and pretty....but due to some VERY bad break ups in her past ...she is a tad bitter. So..why not help her release some of that pent up hostility and frustration. This wonderful Knife collection will not only help her carve out those bad memories..but also help future men be a tad bit more mind full.

And should one of them still decide to stray, then this one of a kind toothpick holder will be a perfect companion gift so she can pick them out of her teeth after she's carved them up!


Okay, so we've gotten Crazy Cat Lady Aunt Berta and your Sister-in-Law out of the way.

Next it's your Cousin Jimmy. He's a great guy and the perfect definition of the Perpetual Kid. Thanks to a lucky bet a few years back on a pigeon rolling contest he is rolling in the dough!
So this year...help him smell like he's rolled in the dough...PLAY DOH!

This unique scentwill bring back fond memories of his childhood while being a unique and interesting gift that for once...he won't already have!

I hope you have been able to find something for everyone on your list. I will post a few more links to my other favorite ideas below...just in case you need some more inspiration!

For the Baker : ABC (Already Been Chewed) cookie Cutters
The Lingerie you REALLY wanted: Candy G-string and Bra
The cold office worker: USB port heated gloves
The newly technological senior: Retro Cell Phone

The Gift Of Giving

Recently one of my favorite bloggers, MommaK of Petroville wrote about the lost meaning of Thanksgiving. I completely agree with her and was going to hold off on this post. But then realized that many people do much of thier Christmas shopping online and in stores during this month. So, I have decided as an early Christmas gift to my readers that I will help relieve some stress on deciding what you should buy by offering some helpful tips and ideas and a laugh (okay..hopefully a LOT of laughs) if nothing else! So enjoy!