The year of the Apple.

I know Christmas 2010 was SO LAST YEAR, but I wanted to share Langley's letter to Santa. I just love this list, her writing, her thinking and all the hard work put into it. Someday in the future, when she is jetting around the iEarth in her iBug, drinking her iCafe, connecting with her friends via iMind she will remember the year she gave Santa her iList.

"I want for Christmas is a pool and a Ipod and a ds and a computter, and a gutar, and a dsI and a Ipad and a Itouch.  How do your reindeer fly?  I have blue eyes my name is Langley and my brother Zeb wats a Ipad.  Love Langley."

And she got exactly one of those things.  A guitar.  A real one...not even an iGuitar.  There are many reasons why she didn't get all of those things on her list.  The obvious being FINANCIAL ONES.  Pair that with the fact that Skip hates anything with little i.  He is a PC man.  But that is a whole blog post for another day.  Suffice it to say, it's so not gonna happen.   Santa did, however, bring her great things.  Things that were fun but also things she needed.

(I will go on record to say that a pool is a definite NEED.  I was kind of hoping that would work in her favor. Maybe next year!)

Part of me wonders if this was her "is Santa really real list?"  Her Santa litmus test.  Give Santa the impossible.  If he delivers then he must be real. 

Hopefully, not. 

It's probably just Apple's mad marketing genius that got her hooked!

You can bet that her daddy is going to spend this year trying to outplay, outwit, outlast the power of the little i.

Two Christmases and a Mystery. Part 3.

For the last 15 Christmases, Skip's dad has planned a special vacation for the whole family. We are gone for about a week and have absolutely NO IDEA where we are going.

On Christmas night, we all gather together to collect clues for our annual Mystery Trip. Skip's dad plans the trip throughout the year and reveals bits and pieces to us that evening. He tells us what the climate for our destination will be. He tells us if there will be scuba diving available and he always has a picture that he cuts up into a puzzle.

We can ask him questions only if we are OK with "North Dakota" being his answer. We put together the puzzle piece pictures, evaluate all of his clues and make our first guess as to our destination. No one knows what he has planned, not even his wife. Everything is TOP SECRET. Only Papa knows the answers. One year, we were boarding our third plane when we finally found out our final destination.

The roads he has taken us down have been very memorable. This unique opportunity has provided fodder for conversations year after year. We are still laughing about the 18 hour trek into the Costa Rican jungle to find a volcano. Two flat tires, men with guns and a rain shower later, everyone saw the stinkin volcano except Skip's dad.

Or, the time we were at Pearl Harbor and a bird pooped all over my brother-in-law.

Or, the time we were in Wal-Mart with sick, vomiting kids bathing them in the sink.

Or, the time we had mutiny on a bus headed to Disney.

Or, the time when we couldn't get home because of a huge ice storm that grounded all flights.

Or, the time when we discovered that The Alamo was really a stone's throw from the Dillards in San Antonio. Just wrong.

Or, the time when we all smooshed our faces together in one window to see the New Year's Eve firework display over New Orleans.

Or, the time when we fed sharks in Curacao.

Or, the time when we played Scattegories in Grand Cayman and "someone" threw a temper tantrum and now we can't play that game anymore.

Or, the time when we had a High School Musical marathon that led to massive fall-out.

Or, the time where everyone in our family was offered d*r*ugs on the beach. Even my 5 year old boy!

Or, the time I almost died scuba diving in Barbados! One must really leave the regulator in their mouth in order to breathe under the water! Just FYI.

Or...

Or...

Or...

I could go on forever. Each trip holds its own memories for all of us. The details and the stories get told again and again with each person adding their own spin on it. Some stories just get better with time.

Here I sit on the eve of our next Mystery Trip with full anticipation. What will this year hold? Where will we be going? What new adventures await us? How will my kids adjust? But most importantly, how soon will it start?!

Thank you, Papa! I know it is your biggest thrill to provide this opportunity for your family. This is your legacy...your gift of love.

Two Christmases and a Mystery. Part 2.

Much of the day between the two Christmases include cleaning up my house and searching for new places to store toys. Sometimes, it includes a nap...sometimes, it doesn't. After clean-up, I am busy cooking food for the evening. My standard dishes for this night include meatballs, sausage wrap, fruit and veggie trays.

The kids are bustling with excitement to spend the night at their cousin's house. They prepare toys they are going to take with them, they make conspiratorial phone calls to plan their wake up strategy, and they ask every 5 minutes when we are leaving. A night surrounded by cousins is pure thrill for them.

Skip's family all lives on the same road in B-town, all about 1 mile apart. We live in the same neighborhood as one of his sisters. We all make the "long" trip to her house to set up camp for the night. We gather around for an evening of storytelling and appetizers. The kids, ranging in age from 18 down to 6 months, all run around the house playing with each other. Sometimes even the older ones join in the fun. It is very loud and busy compared to Christmas #1.

The kids all find their ways to our designated rooms in which all of Skip's family spends the night. This year, the kids made a fort in a closet that they SWORE they would sleep in. It lasted about 30 minutes until they all decided that sleeping in a bed would be better. Once the kids are asleep, the real magic begins. Gifts are wrapped, toys are assembled, and Santa secretly comes in and takes over the living room. Each child has their own special chair or section of the couch where their gifts are displayed. The living room could put any retail store to shame.

In the wee hours of the morning, all the adults go to bed. The kids usually wake up about 6:30 and manage to stay contained until 7:00. Then the screaming and chaos begins as they wake up the entire house. Everyone gathers in the hallway until the last person wakes up.

Ten, nine, eight, seven.............

The countdown begins for the mad race on the living room. The kids can hardly wait to burst out of the hallway to see what Santa brought for them. The joyful noises are music to my ears. The morning progresses into breakfast and opening presents finishing with the grandparent gifts.

The things I love most about this Christmas is waking up to a house full of kids that are all excited about Santa. The yummy appetizers that we wait all year to eat. The late night laughter. The ins and outs of housing 23 people, if only for 1 night...bodies are everywhere! The nap that certainly follows a busy couple of days! Seeing my husband laugh and joke and tease his family. It is magic.

Our Christmases are both extremely special to our family. They are alike in some ways and very different in others. I pray my kids find the special moments in both.

Merry Christmas! I hope you enjoy your holidays and traditions as much as I do!

Two Christmases and a Mystery. Part 1

We are so incredibly blessed to be surrounded by both of our families. Having said that, holidays are a bit tricky navigating from one house to another without hurting anyone's feelings. It has taken years, but we have found the perfect solution for us. A solution that honors both sides of our family. Since we tweaked our situation, we have the most relaxing holidays. I love our traditions, I love the memories we are creating for our kids that include relationships with both sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

Celebrating with my family is a wonderful affair with lots of yummy food and time to savor each person and gift. We start on the 23rd with a dinner at my Granny's house. She bakes the ham, scalloped potatoes and an amazing four-layer chocolate dessert. My mom and I add the traditional ham side dishes. It is heavenly.

After dinner, we retreat to my house where my mom and step-dad spend the night with us. We give the kids their Christmas jammies, take about 300 pictures of them being silly, and write a note to Santa with his cookies. Then everyone gets tucked into bed.

One of the challenges we have had to overcome with two Christmases is the Santa issue. Neither side of the family wants to miss that magical moment when the kids discover their presents from Santa. Thankfully, Santa Claus is very accommodating! We write him a note each year asking if he could please divide our gifts over two days. Santa is just cool like that!

We wake up the next morning to the smell of coffee and the excitement of three kids. Santa gifts take first priority. The kids play with their gifts and watch a new movie while my mom and I make breakfast; monkey bread, scrambled eggs, bacon, juice and coffee. During this time, my brother and Granny arrive. I love sharing a meal and a full house with people I love the most.

After breakfast, we start opening presents. My brother plays the part of Santa and hand-delivers each gift. We take time to watch each other and play with toys. We build up to the grand finale, saving grandparent gifts for the end.

The thing I love most about Christmas #1 is the relaxed feeling of savoring meals, presents and movies. I love the jammy presentation and the crazy wrestling that always follows. I love that the dishes we use to serve the food are steeped in tradition. I love the smells associated with this special morning. I love that my kids each have a grandparent that sleeps with them and they get to wake up in the morning and giggle with them.

I love it all.

A Christmas Meme!

Thank you, Sarah for tagging me for this fun meme. I am going to dedicate this to my mom. She gave up her entire day to help me decorate our tree/house. I have been feeling so yucky and she was a real lifesaver.

Growing up, she always made decorating special and never shooed me away from the ornaments. She would make fudge and play beautiful music. It was a magical time. I hope someday I will relax about my decorating and let my children help. I am sure they love hearing..."DON'T TOUCH IT!!!!!!!"

I am creating the best holiday memories, for sure!

Thanks, Mom! I really appreciate your help today. You made it all so pretty!


1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Christmas is really the only time I wrap presents. All other occasions are bag worthy. Not Christmas. Our paper has to match our tree. I choose 3 or 4 coordinating patterns and have fun wrapping. It seems to make them more special.

2. Real tree or artificial?
Artificial tree from the dark ages. It is probably the first artificial tree ever made. It is a hateful tree that mocks me every year. Once decorated, it is gorgeous and worth the pain and misery. I love it, but am hoping for a pre-lit tree next year.

3. When do you put up the tree?
We start the week of Thanksgiving. The kid's trees are a breeze to put up and decorate. This year the "mocking" tree has been up and naked for 2 weeks. Thanks to my mom it is DONE!!

4. When do you take the tree down?
After the New Year. Actually we pay someone to come take everything down while we are on our annual Christmas vacation sponsored by Skip's dad. He takes us all away to a mystery location for a week. When we come home our house is clean and normal. I LOVE IT!! It is a beautiful thing for me.

5. Do you like eggnog?
Yes! Although this year I can't stomach it. Makes me sad. One year I bought the Halloween Nog just to start drinking it earlier!

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
I don't really remember, but my favorite gift as an adult has been the Willow Tree Nativity that I got last birthday. I am enjoying it right this minute. It is so peaceful and beautiful.

7. Do you have a nativity scene?
We have 2. One the kids can handle and "play" with and my newest Willow Tree Nativity.

8. Hardest person to buy for?
Loulabelle. She doesn't really play with anything. She usually plays with whatever Z will allow her to play with. She loves to get presents, but then loses interest quickly. This year she is asking Santa to bring her a stick. Seriously.

9. Easiest person to buy for?
Z-man. He actually has collections (Star Wars, baseball cards, etc). It makes it easy to shop given his interests. I think he is getting string and tape from Santa this year. That kid can make a serious set of traps. My Little MacGyver.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Hands down, a pair of Sesame Street overalls. I was seven. Sesame Street was so over for me by then.

11. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards?
Mail. That reminds me...GET THOSE IN THE MAIL!!

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
Polar Express, Home Alone. Is it just me or does Rudolph have the most bizarre story line? Anyway, I love snuggling with my family and watching the classics with popcorn and the glow of our tree. Special times.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
Through the year I carry an idea notebook. This allows me to think about it all year. If someone says they like a certain thing, it goes on the list. It has been a handy way for me to organize my shopping list.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
I will never tell...

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Um, lets see. There is the appetizer feast at one home, the ham dinner at another, and the early morning Monkey bread. I love it all. I truly love the tradition of the feasts. The same foods every year make it so meaningful to me.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
The main tree is clear...all 1400 strung by ME. It is a hateful tree.
Z's tree is red with red chili peppers. He has a cowboy room.
Lou's tree is white, vintage crystal bulbs. They all burnt out today. I get to take her whole tree down and replace them. I am so thankful that it wasn't the main tree, but still...

17. Favorite Christmas song?
O' Holy Night by any male singer.
Mary Did You Know by ????

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
All of our family lives in town. One celebration is at our home with my family sleeping with us. The next night we sleep at Skip's sister's house for his side of the family. Spending the night feels like we travel, even if it is just a block away.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Dancer, Dasher, Prancer, Vixen, Yada Yada, Rudolph.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
The main tree has an angel, Z's tree has a cowboy hat and vest, Lou's tree has a copper angel.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
When lights go out! The commercialism. The busyness of our schedule.

23. What I love most about Christmas?
Family, friends, lights, movies, traditions, church. I could go on and on. Like Sarah, my wedding anniversary is this month. I love the romance of the season when celebrating our life together.

I would love to see all the B-Town bloggers tackle this list. It was so fun!

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas music to brighten your day!

Go HERE now! Immediately. It will be worth your time.

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What are you waiting for?

Pure sugar with blonde hair.

As we were driving home tonight from my family birthday party (which ROCKED!! Thank you, mom and grannie!) we purposefully went the long way. Our first thought was that maybe the kids would fall asleep in the car only to be carried to their waiting beds. But it was pretty evident that they were way too hyped up on sugar and good tidings for anything resembling sleep.

Or quiet for that matter.

Well, the long way in our town is completely decked out in holiday splendor. Out every window there were twinkly lights and beautiful displays. The kids could not stop OOOHHHing and AAAHHHing.

Loulabelle started the trip home with tears over her beloved Blankie. In our rush to leave the house, we "accidentally" left it behind. She became especially excited to see all the sparkle. When we were almost home she said, "Cwismas lights make me happy when I am missing my blankie. They make me so happy."

Girl, you are pure sugar wrapped in blonde curls. I can't wait to see the magic in your eyes as we decorate your Cwismas tree this year. It will make me so happy.

Maybe you will be too happy to remember where we "accidentally" deposited blankie...