Wordless Wednesday: A Snowless Late December in Minnesota -

We can hardly believe it & this is still Minnesota we live in. When this was our view... we thought the snow was here to stay:

 Munchkin was excited to bundle up & get the sled out for the first time this season with my poor hubby on "Giddy Up Horsie" duty.

Despite all those people dreaming of a White Christmas in the Twin Cities, we enjoyed a brownish-green one just as much.

On the 26th of December the temp reached 52 degrees - a record not seen since the 51 degree day back in 1936. And even though Tuesday wasn't quite as warm as Monday, my neighbor was out cleaning up his yard of fallen leaves on the riding lawn mover.  It was really too good to be true.

A year from now we may have the complete opposite going on so I thought it's time to blog about it... or we'll forget it really happened this way.

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy: Twas The Night Before Christmas...Once Again or Last year's Christmas view: A Christmas Eve Tradition

Twas The Night Before Christmas...Once Again

I decided to take today off from work.  One day before Christmas Eve & I'm trying to decompress to prepare for the day ahead. I stayed up late the last two nights getting a jump on the gift wrapping.

This fiery Winter sunrise was the scene I woke up to...

...then I ventured out early in the day to get a few groceries for the long holiday weekend. We have no snow. Even though we got a little dusting today, it didn't last long - the sun came out & melted it all. This is the first year in my 40+ years that I ever remember having absolutely no chance of a White Christmas.

I made the easiest holiday snack possible - Rolo Pretzel Turtles.  They take no time at all & taste so good.  For those of you that know that I hate peanut butter & nuts in general in my food - this is different.  I actually love Turtles.  I love pecans in Turtles. Don't ask me why this one combination is different - I'm not sure it just is : ).

Munchkin & I wrapped gifts for my Mother-in-law, and godparents - five gifts in all. This was the first year that he wanted to help do the wrapping.  I let him be in charge of the tape. Earlier in the week at preschool, Munchkin had wrapped a present for us, that we will open Christmas morning. He proclaimed himself an elf & expert in tearing tape & taping the paper.  Lucky for me he did really well.  I was impressed. 

As we wrapped Munchkin starting telling me the words from "Twas The Night Before Christmas". When he'd get to the part where the reindeer names are - kept repeating the order until he got them right. Can you still name them? I admit I had to read them out of the book!

My hubby has a tradition of shopping every year on the day before Christmas Eve. After he quietly brought in his haul, while Munchkin was napping, hubby wrapped everything & put the gifts right under the tree. I was surprised - he didn't care to hide that those gifts were from Mommy & Daddy.

Me on the other hand carefully separates the things for opening on Christmas eve & wraps them all in white tissue paper. I then take the remaining gifts & wrap some in one pattern of paper (more from Santa). The other pattern of paper designates gifts from Mom & Dad. The little remaining things go unwrapped into the stockings.

In the morning Munchkin & I will bake cookies to be sure Santa's belly will be full. The reindeer will get carrots. We will go to Christmas Eve Mass & then spend some quality crazy bonding time with the in-laws. The tradition is that Santa visits the family while we are all together & all the nieces & nephews open Santa gifts at the same time. The older kids deliver them around the house to the younger ones.

I'm thrilled to be creating a series of  memory making events that hopefully will stick with my son as he grows & matures.  Hopefully those are some of the most important memories he have. 

To everyone who occasionally stops by to visit NightLight Journeys, I say thank you.  Embrace the true meaning behind the holidays. Remember why we are really celebrating.  Be thoughtful & kind to your neighbor, be generous with your time & money, It's our responsibility to do what we can to help those who are less fortunate.  

As I finish writing, it's now officially Christmas Eve... so Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to all!

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy: Wordless Wednesday - Santa List (Naughty or Nice?) or A Christmas Eve Tradition

Stream Of Consciousness Sunday: Holiday Home Stretch

What a challenging work week.  I couldn't wait for it to be over so I could decompress. Don't get me wrong I feel very fortunate to have a job, but this one can really break you down sometimes. Time to focus on the week ahead - It's week 22 of my Stream of Consciousness Sunday posts.

How can this year be 2 weeks from being over...already?!  I took inventory of everything I've purchased for Christmas. (Pretty good shape!) I placed a rush delivery order for holiday cards which arrived Wednesday & I knocked them out in a couple of days, mailing the last batch today. Better late than never.

It dawned on me that I hadn't purchased gifts for Munchkin's preschool teachers & the director of the daycare, which I do every year.  I made a run to one of my favorite go-to stores @Homegoods earlier today & in 30 minutes had everything I needed as well as a couple more things for my Mother-In-Law as well as Sister-In-Laws & Brother-In-Laws.  

I am the resident gift buyer of the family... for my hubby's family. It always helps to do a good portion of the shopping in advance throughout the year.  I can not deal with the frenzy of last minute shoppers - Drives me bananas!

We were also a couple weeks late with getting a Christmas Tree, but we finally got it today.  I spent the better part of the rest of the day decorating it... and it's done, but now I'm worn out again.  No wonder it's almost 1:00am & I'm still trucking along!(I won't tell you how many times I was distracted by Pinterest though!) 

How are you doing with your own Holiday-Do Lists?

 

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.

§         Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.

§         Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.

§         Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.

§         Link up your post at all.things.fadra

§         Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy: Stream of Consciousness Sunday - Another Big Milestone or Thoughtful Thursday - Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Wordless Wednesday - Santa List (Naughty or Nice?)

 

Here's my munchkin making his "Santa List"...inspired by Arthur Christmas. Here he was "pretend writing" and naming off everything on his list as he went along.
 

The next day, however, he got a little more serious & asked me how to spell everything he wanted to write & this is what we got: 

It's a must see flick for the little ones. I actually liked it much better than Cars 2. We went with a couple of friends this past weekend & the moms had a great time watching our kid's reactions. Be forewarned one of the previews is the Justin Beiber video which is a part of the sound track.  My kid didn't know who it was, but the 5 year old girl sitting to my left told me immediately who he was ;  )

I told him Saturday evening that I was going to download an app that senses whether you are naughty or nice & sends a message to Santa & Munchkin freaked out "No, Mom!" Hee Hee! Naughty Mom! :  )

Happy Christmas Shopping!

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy: Wordless Wednesday - More LEGO Fueled Imagination or Wordless Wednesday - LEGOs, Chalk & Endless Imagination

Stream of Consciousness Sunday - Pre-Holidays Freak Out

This past week was full of ups & downs.  The first up: I had the opportunity to finally meet one of my virtual mentors, Olivier Blanchard aka @thebrandbuilder (in real life). He made a rare Twin Cities appearance to speak about the role of a Community Manager in an organization at a MIMA (Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association) event, so I took the morning off from work to attend. He's a down to earth "what you see is what you get" kind of guy, an awesome communicator, a blogger, business owner, family man & also a published author. If you haven't picked up a copy of his book: Social Media ROI - you really should add it to your business reading list. I have it on my phone as well as on paperback.  For more info on Olivier's book, click on the link to part 1 of my book review at the bottom of this post. One of these days I'll get around to writing the part 2.

 

Up number two was volunteering for the Greater Mpls. Crisis Nursery, which I've been doing for five years now with other ladies & gents from my church.  We cook lunch for the kids who are staying at this facility once a month & we all take turns rotating in 4 times a year.  I make a mean quesadilla & the staff always remembers me and asks how things are going for me & my family.  The kids are so sweet, you never leave without plenty of smiles & hugs from them.

The downs...Found out my hubby was going Deer Hunting (again), so I am solo Mom this weekend. Work is also ramping up - right at the wrong time when I need to be thinking about when to take the rest of my vacation & I just don't know how I'm going to make that work given everything on my need to accomplish list.  So, now that I've got that off my chest, I'm getting ready to time myself... It's now 10:11 pm.

After a brief hiatus last week due to a last minute Saturday post, it's Week 18 of my Stream of Consciousness Sunday posts. I'm starting to feel the "pre-holidays freak out."  It's only a few days away Thanksgiving. As I alluded to above, work is a B-word, so I have no idea how I'm going to do all the cleaning & prep work I normally to to prepare for the big family group we normally host for dinner.  I have a feeling I may be ordering food to be delivered & working from home on Wednesday... that might make it manageable.

It's also way too close to Christmas & I'm not nearly as far along with my holiday shopping.  Munchkin is still dog-earing toy catalogs in hopes that Santa will back his sleigh up to our house & dump the mother load of toys down our chimney. I'm going to do my best to pare it down this year & give him a few bigger ticket items instead of a million small & medium things to open. It's tough because his 5th birthday is only a few months away.  

I know somehow everything will get done. Then I'll look back & say why was I so worried?!  But until everyone has walked out of the door after Thanksgiving, the house is clean and put back together, & I can sit with my feet up, over the next few days it will all seem so overwhelming.

What are you guys freaking out about lately...do you stress about hosting gatherings during the holidays?

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. (Well sort of this week.) It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.

§         Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.

§         Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.

§         Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.

§         Link up your post at all.things.fadra

§         Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy: Olivier Blanchard's Social Media ROI - Part 1 of a 2-Part Review or Walking the Fine Line

Guilty Pleasures - Spa Time

It's Veteran's Day, one of the few days that we have as a corporate holiday & I took it.  I spent the morning running errands & then headed to a spa to get a couple of services done after having to cancel last weekend's spa birthday party (for a friend) appointments due to a sick Munchkin. I had a gift certificate that a friend had given me a couple of birthday's back, so I was excited to use it for something other than running in to buy product.

Going to a spa in the middle of a strip mall doesn't have quite the same relaxing effect as it used to when we used to go to a Spa up North in the middle of winter for a couple of days with a large group of girlfriends, but I'll take it. I had a very nice pedicure. Every time I do, I say I need to find a way to do it more often, but it just doesn't happen. Having someone else do all the work while you sit back in the massage chair is almost healing - it shouldn't be legal. Here's proof... I have the world's ugliest feet & toes, so it's just a peek, but they look really lovely now. (I know, I'm crazy.)

I also got a 60 minute facial -  don't ask me what type - I have no clue, I don't even know everything that she did to me except I remember the hot steam & the feeling of the warm towel being wrapped around my face between steps. I requested extractions where they remove all the crud that clogs your pores & goodness gracious I never knew how much that hurts! Do people honestly subject themselves to that on a regular basis?! Thought I was going to cry & excuse me if a tear or two rolled down my cheek. I even caught myself holding my breath.

Contrary to my fears my face was not a bloody mess when she was done - it looked pretty darn good.  Not exactly ten years younger but definitely clear & hydrated. I can guarantee my hubby & Munchkin won't notice anything is different with my face, but my son will ooh & ah over my pretty toes, so it will make all the guilt that I feel for going at all go away for a while.

When was the last time you treated yourself to a special service (besides for your hair)? Did you feel guilty at all?

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy: Stream of Consciousness Sunday - The Pieces That Make Us Whole or Stream of Consciousness Sunday - Mom's Night Out

A Christmas Eve Tradition

There's absolutely no doubt that we will have a White Christmas. After staying up late wrapping all munchkin's presents & a couple for hubby, we woke up to yet another fresh dusting of snow. 

 

Every year my munchkin gets more & more into the tradition of the holidays & I try to think of ways to make lasting memories.  Last year we made the Rolo pretzel cookies - far too many of them. I was still eating them a week later.

 

I also started the making cookies for Santa & leaving carrots for his reindeer tradition & it was a huge hit. Of course I had to munch some of the cookies & the carrots to make it believable & by the surprised look on his face it knew it was very convincing.

So this morning the first thing munchkin wanted to do was to make cookies for Santa. So I cleaned up the kitchen & we started baking. Now I have to admit I totally cheat & buy the package cookie mix - what can I say? My sister-in-law T is the reigning queen of cookie making in our family & I'll never try to "out do" her, so I keep it simple.  I just added my own butter & egg & off we went.

We made a batch to be frosted

& then decided that decorating, then baking was the yummier way to go so we made pan 

 after pan,

 after pan,

 until we were finally done.

Thankfully mommy's tester approved!

Whatever the tradition on Christmas Eve morning is in your home, I hope it's always fun & memorable. Sending wishes of love, peace & hope to all of you - from our home to yours.

~Merry Christmas 2010 & 
Have A Happy & Healthy New Year 2011~