Merry Christmas Eve eve.

It's the Eve of the Eve, and I have a few last minute holiday links to bring you cheer!

• HOLDAY CHEER: If you're looking for something to dance around to while you cook in the kitchen or wrap gift tomorrow, check out these free albums and their familiar faces (here & here)
• WRAPPING IDEAS: Here and here you can find more last minute christmas tags so you don't forget whose gift is whose, or stay some moola by recycling!
• GOODIES? Try these great holiday treats: christmas tree meringues, peppermint patties or just buy some good ole fashion candy.

For the very first time in my life, I'm spending christmas in a house where girls are totally out-numbered by boys. So, farewell! I'm off to Halo training sessions, ping-pong tournaments, and lots and lots of homemade chex-mix. Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

**ALSO,  two hilarious clips: this video you shouldn't miss & Fallon's #hohohellono**

(picture here)

Spare time...

Now that school is out, I'm all over some christmas crafting.  Our latest project has been these caroling banners. Please excuse the bad photography, our kitchen lighting isn't the best. Inspired by this website, we decided these were the perfect fun and cheap decorations. So, last night, we played around cutting out letters, dipping pretzels in chocolate and listening to a Louis Armstong Holiday pandora station. And now, our walls officially say, "Fa la la la la" and "Pa rumpa pum pum" - two of the most recognizable lines in all of christmas songs, of course. 

What's next on the list? Maybe some Martha Stewart….

Or how about doing a little thrifting, finding some old sweaters, and making these as gifts? What a great house warming present! I think this craft may take the cake. 

Anyways, hope all of your holidays are filled with cheer and hope these fun ideas give you something to do on a cold winter's day. 

*And for some really great downloadable xmas tags, click here!

Share my affinity for elf culture.

((source))

I'm pretending this is what Alabama looks like as I eat my homemade chicken noodle soup and head out to do a little holiday shopping.  In case you forgot or aren't counting like me, there's only...

17 days til Christmas!

And don't forget, the best way to spread christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!

Meet the Ornaments: part 2

Meet the Guardian Angel. I really do appreciate her sincere desire on my behalf. But every night I pray that she is someone else's guardian angel. "Why?" you may ask, "She seems pleasant enough, floating through the boughs of your nylon Christmas tree." I'll tell you why. If guardian angels are going to watch over you, THEY NEED BIGGER EYES. I want the angel watching my back to see in very large, crisp detail, not tiny, blurry shapes and colors.

There is another minor detail that disturbs me about this guardian angel.  Notice the lovely, handwritten sign bearing her wish?  The angel had to write down this message because IT DOESN'T HAVE A MOUTH. I need a guardian angel that can vocalize some kind of warning if I'm in danger. Suppose this angel did detect some imminent danger through its tiny pinhole eyes. It must then furiously scribble a warning in delicate gold letters, telling me of the danger which surely has already killed me dead. Even if the angel did display the message in time, I'm not a very good reader, and it has tiny handwriting.

So, I hope you're having a wonderful Christmas season, and I would advise you to pray that this isn't your guardian angel either.

Meet the Ornaments

As soon as our forks clattered to a rest on our plates after Thanksgiving dinner, Laura officially declared it to be "Christmas Time!"  So we bought a fake tree, got out Laura's collection of ornaments, and started decorating.  In order for the tree to fit in our house, I had to give up my place at the dinner table and move around to the side.  But I must say it looks pretty good.

Hey, that's my seat!

Since these were Laura's ornaments, I had never seen any of them before. So, I am going to chronicle my first impressions of some select ornaments over the next few days.  Starting with this one…

Meet American Santa.  This was the first ornament I picked up and it was the first one on the tree.  After being placed on the tree, American Santa declared eminent domain over the rest of the tree, but was unable to enforce his borders once the other ornaments started immigrating to the tree as well.  Now, everyone knows that Santa Claus is an American citizen and a proud patriot, but I didn't know he was such a huge Captain America fan too.

I love the subtle propaganda that this ornament embodies.  So, Merry Christmas to all America, and to all America a good night!