We’ve been praying with Li’l Foot lately. She now is starting to “get” it. She does the sign of the cross, although it sometimes winds up going in the order of pointing to her heart, then her forehead then her right shoulder and then her left, but you know…baby steps!!! She occasionally will do it right though too. And she loves clapping her hands together at the very end and saying with authoritative enthusiasm…”A-MEN!”

Last weekend we put up our tree and decorated it. Which meant all the other decorations came out too. We have a manger scene our priest friend gave us and you would’ve thought Li’l Foot just opened a new box of crayons. She was so excited when I turned it over and it started talking to her and telling her the story of Jesus being born in the stable and playing Hark the Herald Angels Sing. She was so excited. But she was so attentive. Just look how captivating that one little piece of Christmas decoration was to her.

There is no button to push to make it play over and over again. I have to flip it and turn it off and back on again. But just loved it, and I just loved that she loved it.

Besides that, she also thoroughly enjoyed decorating the Christmas tree. I’d unwrap an ornament and she’d beg to put it on herself. Either she’d step up on the step stool or if it was a bottom of the tree safe ornament just put it on. But everyone I unwrapped I’d hear, “I do it by myself mommy!” She’s becoming more and more independent every single day. There’s just no stopping her anymore. She’s got a very thick head. Gee, I can’t imagine where she gets that from. Must be her father!

Perhaps the best part was the new ornament addition this year…

Today I am so thankful. Although I didn’t see “my” family, I did see LFD’s family. And circumstances being what they were last night, Li’l Foot and I woke up in my friend, Izzygsmom’s house this morning.

I started off the day by stealing her kid and giving my friend the morning to get ready for Thanksgiving travel without a toddler underfoot. We took Izzy to breakfast and then brought her back when we were done.

We were going to go to the park for a hike, but it was a little dreary this morning and I didn’t think a hike in the wet woods would be fun for anyone, certainly if one of had to hear “pick you up” the entire time from Li’l Foot because she was too tired or lazy to walk on her own. We stayed home instead and LFD went to sleep for a couple hours since he’d been working overtime all last night.

Li’l Foot and I hunkered down on the couch and watched the parade on tv. We had thought maybe we’d meet LFD in Yonkers and go down to the parade, but my couch was a far better view than standing on some street corner feeling like a sardine. I was DVRing it so when we sat down to watch at 10:30 we fast forwarded through the commercials. Best. Invention. Ever. At 11, Li’l Foot fell asleep on me and I basked in the snuggling that ensued.

LFd woke up about 1 and got ready. We left the house about 3 for our 5 o’clock dinner reservations at Mannion’s in Yonkers with his family. I’ve never been out on a Thanksgiving. We talked about going out last year with my mom and my Godmother but then she wound up being too sick to go out so we just kept it low key at my mom’s instead. We left our house so early because we were going to the cemetery where my dad and the rest of my family on his side is buried, and then to the cemetery where my Godmother is buried. It was so peaceful in both cemeteries. And look my Godmother’s head stone has been replaced. (Before it was just her parent’s names.)

We took some pictures while we still had some natural light too…

We had reservations at a family favorite. And it was clear upon arrival that my in-laws are still as hooked up there as always because we had an entire room to ourselves. Table set up diagonally for 12 people! It was perfect. An entire room for Li’l Foot to run around in when she wouldn’t sit still. The food was amazing as always, and while it probably was a turkey kind of day, I opted instead for the prime rib…call me wild and crazy! But OMG…so delicious!

While we were there, we caught up with family, toasted to each other and had a really great time. The thing is though, you see, there’s this judge that my husband’s family knows. And well, he was in the restaurant tonight. And well, he wears a patch on one eye. He was mingling with the family and Li’l Foot saw him she ummmm, kinda started blurting out the Backyardigans, Pirate song “a pirate, a pirate, a pirate saaaaaaaaaaays, ARRRRRRRRGGGHHHHHH!” And well, I turned 5,000 shades of red and placed a muzzle on her because OMG seriously? Mortifying!!!

Here are a couple favorite pics of Li’l Foot at the restaurant…

I bet you didn’t see that last one coming! Heehee!!! So anyway, we had a really nice day. New memories were made and all in all a really good day!!

Today is monumental day for so many reasons. Today my sister left Alabama bound for the northeast to move back up here. She’s driving so please keep her in your thoughts and prayers these next few days as she is still en route and when she gets here its a mad dash to find a place to live since the original arrangements fell thru because the owner of the place she had is a big poopy head and made it fall thru. Today also is the day 10 years ago that my Uncle Jack passed away. Today also is LFD’s nephews birthday. We went to dinner tonight armed with an envelope for each of his two nieces (whose birthdays had passed) and his nephew.

Thanksgiving has always been an at home family holiday to me. Stay home, everyone pitches in to cook, watch football, snack. But today was perfect. Absolutely perfect. And guess what, no dishes to be done at the end of it all! Well, there were dishes, I just wasn’t the one that had to do them!!! That was a huge win!!! Tonight my sister-in-law and I shared a bottle of red wine and we did it proud!!! I couldn’t imagine today any differently. We were surrounded by loved ones and we had a wonderful time. And…AND? I am sending out warms squishes to my parents-in-law who totally picked up the tab tonight for the family. They are both amazing people and I am incredibly lucky to have such an awesome mother/father-in-law duo!!!

Well, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I hope your day was as fantastic as mine was!

I am so blessed to have people out there who I have never met, though they send me care packages and love. People I have met trough the blogs we write. Someone I first met in a pregnancy message board and once we got o chatting and know each other better, we did meet, and it was awesome. It’s just so touching to know there are good people out there.

In recent weeks I’ve not only felt touched by comments left and emails I’ve received, but also packages I’ve received. It is only right that I recognize these wonderful women/friends. They are not only people I know on the interweb, they are friends.

First package I received was from Dawn (be careful, her blog header is delicious!). It was completely unexpected. I didn’t even think she was thinking of sending something. I arrived home one night to a big box and couldn’t imagine who it was from. Our families don’t send us stuff (except my sister in AL who sent some really cute Halloween outfits for LF). When I looked at the package and saw it was from Dawn, I was floored. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t begin to imagine what was in the box.

If you’ll recall, throughout December I was pretty bummed that our stove was on the fritz and after being visited by a repair man, TWICE, giving him money, and then have him voluntarily give it back to us because whatever he tried to fix wasn’t the problem and the problem was most likely the mother board and would cost half as much as a new stove. So we ordered a stove, but it took a while to get here. ntil then all holiday baking was pretty much on hold except for some exploratory Convention Oven baking in our Microwave/Convection Hood above our stove.

Well, here’s where Dawn came in. Because she is awesome and lves baking and probably about eleventy billion cookie recipes to try this season for her cooking blog, she sent us a wonderful assortment of Christmas cookies since we had no way to cook our own. I can’t tell you how awesome Dawn is. She was so thoughtful to have sent us such yummy goodness. And while I’d love to show you the cookies she sent, they are all gone, because they were so yummy.  SHe sent some iced Christmas tree cookies (which are important to her because her grandmother would make a ton of shapes for Christmas cookies, but the Christmas trees were always the ones that got eaten, so she just makes them instead of all the other shapes too). She sent Peanut Butter Blossoms and some choclate cookies with peppemint kisses in them and some gingerbread men.  I did just however take a picture of the giant cookie tins she sent and they are sitting on our brand new stove. Thank you Dawn for your thoughtfulness. We loved the yummy goodness you sent our way.

Then last week I came home to another unexpected box. If you’ll recall, in November my theme for NaBloPoMo was to post a picture a day of a selection of my snail collection. So I basically put myself out there and everyone now knows, if they didn’t already, that I collect snails. Danielle and I have recently connected up through our blogs and have become fast friends. She is a great person and a wonderful blogger. Danielle apparently read my November blog posts and sent me this most awesome snail…

I mean seriously, that little hat on top of his tiny antenna? His bow tie? His cardigan sweater which rolls up as a cuff to form his shell. It’s just so adorable. I will treasure him for a long time. I just can’t believe how thoughtful Danielle was to spot this at Anthropologie and send it to me. She didn’t mention at all that I’d be receiving a package, so it too was completely unexpected. Thank you Danielle, this means so very much to me.

The final packages. Yes I said packages…plural…came from my friend Nicole, I’ve known through a birth message board we both joined while we were pregnant. Our daughters are only a day apart. It’s just too bad that she lives soooooooo far away and we can’t see more of each other. We have met though. In the summer of ‘07 she and her husband traveled to NY and they stayed the weekend with us. We’ve become so close and now she has her own blog too. She’s just hysterical and keeps me laughing all day long.

Yesterday upon returning home from our trip to Vermont, we had a package at our doorstep. This was inside…

As you can tell, Li’l Foot LOVES it. It’s her first dollhouse. I couldn’t put it together fast enough yesterday. I didn’t even help LFD bring stuff in from the car because she demanded I put it together. This is just so awesome of Nicole to send to our little girl. Li’l Foot has spent much of the last two days playing with it.

And then tonight, we should’ve had a package on our front stoop, but when I arrived home and asked LFD if one had arrived, he said no. I was puzzled but ok, maybe Nicole misunderstood the delivery confirmation or something. Then while we were eating dinner, there was a knock on our door. The dog went nuts barking, the kid told him to “SHUSH, GUINNESS”! and hubbie answered the door. It was a man who lives around the corner apparently and had our package delivered to his house by accident and he was redelivering it to us. I can’t imagine what he would’ve thought had he opened the packaged and ravaged the contents, because this is what was inside…

WHICH IS JUST SO FLIPPIN AWESOME! It will stay out all year long and not just be an ornament. I crack up when I look at it! Teehee…there I go again… But that wasn’t all that was in the box, check these out…

Yup…CHEESEHEADS!!! LFD and I are officially Wisconsin, CHEESEHEADS!!! Nicole and her family are from Wisconsin and we’ve made the jokes about them being cheeseheads, so now we are too! HOW AWESOME ARE THEY? Seriously!

We got two of them, but the dog simply had to be in on the act…

As did Li’l Foot…

But that wasn’t all that was in the package either! Can you believe this box o’ stuff? Perhaps the best part and the part I am purposely staying up late to hide is this…

NOMNOMNOMNOMNOMMITY goodness… You can’t even imagine how good this peppermint bark is! Seriously, don’t even try, you just can’t!

And one more parting shot before I conclude this blog post of love (given to me)… The newest little Cheesehead would like Auntie Nicole and family to know that she loves her dollhouse so very much and thanks you from the bottom of her little diaper!

So, thank you! Thank you Dawn, Danielle and Nicole. Thank you for being such wonderful friends. Dawn and Danielle I do hope that sometime in the near future we get to meet in person. If only we lived closer

Alternate title to this post…”My bloggy friends who sent me packages and all they got was a stinkin’ Christmas card with my kids face on the front.”

A post is coming to sum up the entire Christmas experience. But until then, I thought you should have a glimpse into our morning. It may get a tad deep spiritually, but TRUST me…read to the end, you won’t regret the laugh you will have at my expense.

We woke up at about 7:20 after only going to bed at about 3 a.m. We figured we’d high tail it out to church, but made sure to capture Li’l Foot discover the gold mine beneath the Christmas tree. We let her open one and after giving her the gift, I realized it wasn’tt he best one to choose being that it was one of those magnetic letter toys that go on the refrigerator. I hadn’t been quick enough to think of a toy that didn’t make noise that would be ok for her to attach to and take to church. I was able to divert her attention to a My Little POny stocking stuffer and she was happy taking that to church.

We arrived at church on what was a beautiful sun filled morning. LFD dropped us off in front and went to go park the car. I chose to sit in the back pew because it’s just easier to manage Li’l Foot these days in the back where she can run around if she needs to. (I’m not a fan of the “wailing room” but that’s a story for another time.)

I noticed as we sat down that the priest was reading the bulletin announcements at the front of the church before proceeding to enter into the Mass. He was reading by candlelight. Throughout the Mass, the lights were left off. I know that there are candlelight vigils and stuff so I didn’t think too much of it. It was just that throughout the Mass I DID start to think about it. In fact I started to overanalyze it. As I sat there in the back pew of the church I felt the warmth of the sun light hitting my back and felt a warm glow around me. It was…simple. It was…satisfying. It was…spiritual. I began to believe that the symbolism of the church leaving the lights off in the church for Christmas Mass was a symbol of the “Light of the World” being born on Christmas day and that he was all we needed in our lives. “Lights” as in bulbs, per se were not necessary, because we had the sonlight to light our way. I was kind of basking in the depth of my thinking throughout Mass.

We went home, I felt warm inside, finally feeling the spirit of Christmas. This season has just been rough for me for reasons I just can’t get into right now. I love Christmas, it’s my favorite holiday, this year though was been less than stellar. But after our Mass by candlelight I felt the whole spirit of Christmas emerge in me. We went home, made breakfast, waited for my mom to arrive and then opened presents and drank some nog.

We were on a schedule being that we had to be at the hospital to visit my godmother by about noon. On the way down in the car, I worked up the courage to admit I didn’t know everything there is to know about my faith. I turned to my mom in the backseat and the following conversation took place…

Me: Mom, what’s the significance of the lights not being on at Christmas Mass?

Mom: (a brief puzzled look before being interrupted by LFD)

LFD: The power was out!

Hysterical laughter ensued! For. minutes. on. end. I even laughed at myself and this undeniable blonde moment to end all blonde moments. Apparently, according to LFD the priest announced that the power was out, which I did not hear at all.

I think I’ll just keep believing that there was symbolism behind the lights being out. I like my reason better. If nothing else, it put the spirit of Christmas in my heart which is what I needed.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Tell me, what did you get for Christmas?

We had a snow storm this past weekend.  It was so much fun.  I will share with you some of the images I captured throughout.  One of my favorites was this one…I did nothing to it to get that spinning effect. Li’l Foot happened to turn her head as I snapped the picture. I just love it.

Li’l Foot feels great joy whn she catches snowflakes on her tongue…

Gee, I wonder who she gets that trait from…

As you can tell we got a. lot. of snow…

She won’t fit in these boots much longer, I can tell you that for certain…which makes me sad, because I love these boots…(see also blog header)

The first day I brought her out in the snow, she wasn’t so thrilled (I mean she was fine, but just didn’t “get” it), this weekend she found her inner snow bunny and became one with the snow…

My little pink stay puff marshmallow michelin girl…

The shamrock LDF has on the back window of his truck…

Helping daddy snowblow the driveway…

A cold sky…

“Bye, snowplow man…” “See ya…” “Wouldn’t wanna beya…” “Oh and thank you!” “And also, my daddy’s just gonna snowblow the snow out of our driveway into the street again!”

Buh-Byeeeeee….

(What? No, those aren’t her pajamas she’s wearing under her snowsuit, don’t be silly, also get your eyes checked!)

Irish pointy head…

Our gate that hubbie and I built last spring…

Asleep on the way home from church, breakfast with classmate’s family and Target and dropping off cupcakes to Pocklock for her birthday…yes, a very busy snowy Sunday morning…

Seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw…

It looks more official than it was…truth is, putting a plow on the front of a lawnmower tractor is not very officient, although ask LFD and he’ll tell you it was awesome!  pfffft!!! Right buddy, you keep telling yourself that!  I saw you pull out the snowblower to use instead of your tractor, you can’t fool me!!

The magnolia would very much like to know when spring will be here…

We probably should’ve taken this downa while ago. Li’l Foot asked to “sit” in it this weekend…brrrrrrr

Rigged up a sled for Li’l Foot ghetto style…

My little cutie contemplating the white stuff falling out of the sky…

She LOVED sledding…

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVED….

I mean really…PURE. JOY.

Our house number on an old fashioned milk jug…It’s a good number.  We had to fight with our town when we moved in to have this number…

Our little house…Do you see our Christmas tree in the front window?

I do not like this pine tree thing…it is so prickly when it’s not covered with snow, and even when it is…

(Oh and that would be our busted up garden in the bachground )

We tried the sled many different ways of sitting/standing/laying on it as you can tell…

Our fake well…

A self portrait…sometimes are the best kind…I actually kind of am ok with this picture of me…for once.  Ugh, did you see the picture of me from last weekend, iew! Puke!

This one is not a self portrait however. She isn’t really allowed to touch my camera yet.

Must share this one. She was yelling to daddy to “come heeeeeeere!”

This one’s for Pocklock, this is her favorite mutt ever…they’re BFF’s…

This is hubbie’s stocking from when he was a kid…

Hubbie deep in thought…or he’s silently saying, go away with the camera, I’m trying to watch America’s Most Wanted…

Do you see the irony in the fact that we have a decorative (but real) saw hanging above the Christmas tree?  heehee

A couple of my favorite ornaments…

Bought this one in Maui this year…

No tree complete without a leprechaun…

Also bought in Hawaii, but in ‘04

Mine from when I ws a kid.  If you canmake out my name at the bottom left on the blanket? well, then you have better eyes than I do.

Got this one at the horseback riding place a few New Year’s ago…

Li’l Foot’s hand print last year…

Gooooooooooo Pat’s…

She LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVES the Christmas tree and is so good with it…

No, Li’l Foot youre doing it all wrong, you’re supposed to turn into the skid to regain traction…

That’s right, walk away from the car. Come back when you’re 24, and maybe you’ll pass the driving test then…

And that’s it folks. Are you bored yet? One of these days I’ll post something with content. Maybe. We’ll see. Don’t hold your breathe.  Until then, if I don’t come back before Christmas, Have a Merry Merry Christmas! I will be thinking of all of you and praying you have a wonderful day filled with memories to last a lifetime.

Click on the picture for some Christmas fun!

(Sorry you had to click thru, but the jibjab site does not play nice with WordPress…grrrr)

This year was not like any other Thanksgiving.  I made the decision back during the summer when I found out my Godmother had was sick, before we even knew it was the “c” word that I would make sure that whatever we were doing, we would be doing it with her.  I didn’t care what we did, but that was what I would be doing on Thanksgiving no matter what.  There’s a lot more involved in there, but I’ll spare you (for now).  There’s a bunch of denial and emotional leakage in there so be forewarned.

Yesterday was a beautiful day.  We woke up and LFD wanted to go out for breakfast.  I thought we’d just make breakfast at home, but as we started to shuffle around downstairs, I just couldn’t face it, no matter how much I wanted to stay in my pj’s and watch the Thanksgiving Day parade.  So the diner it was.  We went to our favorite one which happens to be over in Connecticut.  Elmer (the owner greeted us and gave Li’l Foot a huge cookie.  We hadn’t been there in a while since our fall was super busy.  We think we hadn’t been there since before we went to Hawaii (oh, that reminds me I must write Day 6…sorry).

While we were at breakfast my phone vibrated, it was Pocklock.  She was grilling me on how to make deviled eggs.  Specifically, how to get the stupid eggs out of the shells without peeling all the egg white off the egg with the shell.  I conferred with LFD and determined the best course of action would be to drain them and peel them while they were hot.  But then one thing led to another and I put my foot down and told her we’d be right there, don’t do anything.  We arrived within 15 minutes.  While I helped her, LFD went to oversee Pocklock’s EHH putting together the exersaucer. (heehee, the thought just makes me giggle)

We hung out, I helped her make cookies too and then we were on our way.  On our way home Li’l Foot feel asleep.  We had a stop to make at home so I could shower and get our stuff we were bringing to my mom’s for dinner with her and my Godmother.  We had such a nice time.  It was quiet and peaceful and low-stress which was just what the doctor ordered.

After dinner, Li’l Foot had some energy to burn and really wanted to go outside.  So I took her out.  Just her and I.  Here are some of the pictures I got in that time.

Thankful…signing “more”

Happy giggles…

My little fireplug inspecting the fireplug…heehee

Training to be a firefighter, climbing…

Playing ring around the rosey with the fire hydrant…

Passed inspection…

A little secret…Her calves are a tad too big for this outfit?!?!  so I parent hacked and used rubber bands to button the bottom of her pants together…my little fireplug…here she is outing me and my parent hacking…

Playing in the grass…

Pigtails in motion…

She loved playing on this hill…

Trying to keep her footing…

She’s just so smiley…it kills me…

Now inspecting the storm drains…she did the old, throw a rock and a pine cone trick down to make sure the drain was in proper working order…

Getting ready to bolt…

I am so thankful for the day I had yesterday.  I should’ve posted this yesterday but I was enjoying my day.  I was so very thankful to have my Godmother and my mom to share our day with.  I am also so very much thankful for my little girl and her daddy.  I don’t say it nearly often enough to him, but I love him and I am so lucky and blessed to have him in my life.

What did you do for Thanksgiving?

And now to reveal the poll results of the 2nd annual help-me-choose-a-Halloween-costume-for-Li’l Foot-because I can’t!  It was overwhelmingly voted for.  With 14 votes out of 18, you chose for Li’l Foot to be…

I will write more about Li’l Foot’s Halloween tomorrow.  Right now, I’m so tired, but I promised to post a picture today, and I know it’s so late, but it’s here!  Please ignore the pink sneakers.  The costume came with footies, but I couldn’t see ruining them.  She’s so cute, right?  I know, I’m biased, I’m sorry!  Halloween was a success though and she loved every minute of it.  And so did I.  But if I’m being honest, this kid is quite the social butterfly.  She’s got more appointments than I do!

We went to a Halloween party last night.  It was fun.  There was a theme: Crime & Punishment.  But since we knew everyone would either show up at cops or jailbirds we opted to not go with the theme.  Here I am:

I was Raggedy Ann! The freckles were more than I expected and made my blushy cheeks look like ladybugs.  Oh well!

Here’s hubbie:

LFD was the Big Bad Wolf.  Technically he did fit the theme of the party because the Big Bad Wolf DID harass the 3 little pigs…but I never heard of the Big Bad Wolf taking home Raggedy Ann at the end of the night so maybe we can include kidnapping in his list of crimes!

Here are some other pictures I took at the party.  The house was beautifully decorated…

In the fireplace…

Gargoyle…

Ghostly spook…

Spider in the branch…

Spider on the lamp…

Skeletons above the fireplace doing a cartwheel…do you see it?

Bats…

Caught in the spider web…

Spider going to collect her catch…

Skulls in a vase…

Matre d…

Spider on the lamp…

Trick or treat…

We also carved a pumpkin as a party favor at the party (how cool is that?)…here it is…

I know it doesn’t look like much.  I was going for the “on fire” look.  But check it out with a candle inside it…

Kind of like fire, no?  Well, I had fun anyway.  I hadn’t carved a pumpkin in so long!!!

A big thank you to Pocklock and EHH for taking care of Li’l Foot while we were at the party!  Li’l Foot and Lyla had a nice little play date!!!

I’m having a hard time again trying to figure out what Li’l Foot should be for Halloween.  Help!  Please vote in the poll please.  Thank you!

A pumpkin:

A butterfly:

A flower:

You decide…because I’m horrible at this!