Random Superlatives 2012

I have 2 confessions.

(1) I was ready to box up Christmas on the 26th of a December (a far cry from my childhood days of whining while we took the tree down on New Years Day.  I could have kept Christmas year 'round back then.)

(2) I look forward to doing this and my goal post starting back in November.  I don't know what it is about wrapping up the old year and starting anew. 

So here we go with my Random Superlatives for this past year...


~Favorite book read (even though it took me for-e-ver to get through:) Memoirs of a Geisha

~Favorite movie checked out from the library and watched on a night S was working, just so he wouldn't harrass me: Memoirs of a Geisha

~Best deal that ended up costing me more money in the end: going to Downeast Basics for an $80 pair of capris...only to find that they were 40% off that day!  So I bought 2 pair...

~Most incredible new recipe tried (and to be shared on my craft blog at some point, don't worry:) Black and White Cupcakes from The Sweet Tooth Fairy

~Best use of a cooking appliance rarely ever used before: Slow Cooker (Seriously.  It's probably had more use this year than the last 10 years we've owned it.)

~Best personal trainer: Bean.  After my c-section, she took me on several walks to the juice station on the maternity floor.  She wanted juice.  I needed to get back on my feet.  Perfect solution.

~Favorite song:  Three-way tie between Adele 'Skyfall,' David Guetta 'Titanium,' and September 'Cry For You.'

~Best gift received (other than having S home for Christmas for the first time in 4 years...which was my facebook status update and which I very sincerely meant:) it could be the room (and desk and shelves...) that S built for me.  Or it could be my new iPhone Santa brought me.  Or it could be my kitty-cat footsie pajamas (there's a whole other story behind that one.)  But I would have to say my 4 stone birthstone pendant he gave to me on our 10th anniversary in the very spot where we first met.  One of the most memorable moments I've ever shared with him. 

~Scariest moment: being left home alone with 2 kids for a week while S went to some out of state training.  Boy was only 10 weeks old.  Nothing catastrophic happened but I sure was glad to see S again!

~Favorite movie I expected to like (and did:) a tie between The Hunger Games and The Avengers

~Favorite movie I didn't expect to like as much as I did: What to Expect when You're Expecting.  Might have just been the proximity between watching this and Boy being born, but I cracked up during almost the whole movie!

~Thing I didn't miss at all while I was home with the kiddos this summer: Work politics, obnoxious behavior, and the doomsday-ism that tends to come with my job.  (Wow, that makes it sound horrible.  It really isn't that bad...)

~Thing that I don't miss about being home all of the time: the constant poopy diapers and spit-up that comes with a new bundle of joy.

~Proudest moment at work: validating two new instruments in record time AND validating them both to do antibody identifications when I was 8 1/2 months pregnant.  (I can multitask.)

~Proudest moment at home: when Bean came to me and told me that she had written her own name down.  I kind of nodded my head, "uh-huh," and didn't think much more until I went in the other room and...she had written her own name.  She's three going on twelve.  Also, surviving potty-training at the first of the year.

~Favorite date with S:  I loved our trip to Atlanta together last January (even though I nearly slept through half of it.)  I also loved our first evening out without the kids after Boy was born--an anniversary dinner up at Log Haven and then milling around City Creek for a few hours.  But the thing I remember the most was when Boy started sleeping well enough through the night so that S and I could stay up after the kids went to bed and watch a movie.  (I may have actually fallen asleep then, too, but I was thrilled when S suggested the idea!  It's the little things that show progress...)

~Favorite new website: Houzz.  It's like Pinterest, but with home design and remodeling in mind.  Their weekly emails are full of fantistic ideas (that I then pin to Pinterest, haha.)

~Most unexpected reaction on Christmas morning: when Bean refused to come downstairs because she thought that Santa Claus was still there.  Nothing like starting off the morning with kicking and screaming...

~Best new addition to the family: Boy.

This Christmas...

...Bean decorated her own gingerbread house,

(I did one too)

...and a graham cracker house.

Boy found his toes.

All of our ornaments were hung on the same branch with care.

Bean finally got to play in the snow,

...we survived the shortest day of they year (and the end of the world,)

... and we had the prettiest house on the block (minus a few bows that were lost in a wind storm.)

We partied with family (Boy and baby M are 5 months apart.)

Boy played with some cousins,

...and Bean.

Bean was introduced to the gift-wrap wars that ensue every year at Grandma/Grandpa-great's Christmas party.

Boy met Santa Claus for the first time,

...so did Bean.

She became deathly afraid of the dear Old Man,

...even after he gave her a present.

We left a key on our door so Santa could leave us presents,

and fill our stockings.

He ate his treats and left us a note

...and lots of presents.

We played with our new toys,

...and Boy played with the box.

Bean dressed up in Grandma J.'s Santa hat...and Minnie Mouse ears, and sang Christmas songs at the top of her lungs.

Hoping your Christmas was as wonderful and magical as ours was!

I tried to write a post about our latest happenings today and I just couldn't.

I've been thinking about these sweet kiddos of mine a lot these last few days...

My heart hurts when I think of those sweet children lost this week, and those who died trying to protect them.  I find myself grieving for people I don't even know.  I cannot begin to imagine what they are going through right now.

We all have "those days," you know, the ones where nothing goes right and you rush out the door and lose your patience with your little one who is going just a little bit too slow.  At the H home, we had two of them this week.  My biggest fear is that one or more of those families might have had one of those days as well and that they will have to live with that being their last memory.  I pray that this isn't the case.

I found out on my way to work via radio (it had been one of "those days" and I hadn't so much as turned the tv on.)  The rest of the day all I could think about was wanting to go home and be with my little Bean (and Boy too, of course.)  They spent the day with Grandma H so when I got off work that night, I went into the room where Bean was sleeping, crawled into bed next to her, and was silently overcome with emotion.  I thanked God that I was able to be the mother of these precious children and asked Him to somehow comfort those who had lost theirs.

I highly suspect that I am not the only person who has felt this way: there are probably a lot more mommies and daddies who hugging their kiddos a little more tightly now.

Thanksgiving Week

With not so successful holidays in recent memory, you would probably have thought that I was crazy to host Thanksgiving this year.  I've always wanted to, but I chicken out when I think of all the preparation. 

What am I going to make?

Where is everyone going to sit?

How on earth do I cook a turkey?

When Thanksgiving was brought up a month or so ago, my father-in-law jokingly said he was coming to our house this year.  S and I turned to each other and said, "Okay!"  I think he felt bad at first but I was already considering it and we thought, what the heck, let's go for it. 

We kept the invite list very small.  (We will expand said list as I become more confident.)

We assigned out a lot of the food, including the turkey.  This made it a no-brainer preparation on our end.  It literally only took a few hours to get everything ready.  (Did I mention I worked the night before?)

Here is the setup (yes, we used paper plates...)

It was probably one of my favorite Thanksgivings ever!  It was so casual and the company was excellent.  I don't think I felt stressed once.  Another perk?  S goes into deep-clean-mode anytime he even knows someone is going to visit so our house was spotless!  Also, our Thanksgiving movie this year was Brave--after the kids had gone to bed. 

I want to try this again.  Maybe next year.  I might even do the turkey this time.

Riding on the back of such a successful holiday, I didn't even want to set a foot out of the door on Black Friday.  So I didn't.

I told Bean that we would decorate the house instead.

She loved decorating for Halloween (which, I admit, I didn't undecorate our house from Halloween until Thanksgiving morning) so you can imagine how she felt about Christmas.  The pictures are poor quality but (top) Bean literally didn't stop running around the entire time we decorated and (bottom) she had to arrange the nativity scenes so that they matched the box exactly.  OCD?

We had leftovers for dinner that night and, as is usually the case, they were even better the second time around.

I was in a particularly good mood at this point so when we woke up on Saturday and S asked what plans I had for the day, I suggested we go get our Christmas tree.  I called my parents to see if they were game and they were (they even took us out to dinner afterward!)  We didn't even know if the lot we usually purchase from would be open yet, but was it ever!  There were more people there than I had ever seen before.

It was the end of November but it felt more like mid-October.  I laugh at my recent post on my craft blog (written last May) because I didn't think it would still be so warm.  Truth be told I'm actually ready for snow this year.  But on this outing, it was nice not to have to bundle the kiddos up.  Boy seemed to really enjoy the stroller ride.  And Grandma.

I feel like putting up real Christmas trees is almost becoming a thing of the past so I was really excited to see so many people out that day.  There is nothing like the real thing...

S had to work the next few days, but Bean made a Holiday "honey-do" list for him while he was gone.  The first on the list was putting the lights up on the house.  I am so lucky that S likes to do this.  I climbed a teeny ladder to hang the bows up on our garage lights and about passed out; my knees were shaking so hard. 

S headed out around lunch and didn't finish until just before dinner.  I always hold my breath when S is perched on top of our roof.  He's such a good guy though; our house looks Beautiful!!

Second on the list was decorating the tree.  S and I had set up the tree a few nights prior while Bean was in bed but it remained bare for the next couple of days.  I think the anticipation nearly killed her.  Right after dinner we started emptying ornament boxes.  She was hanging them up so fast that I couldn't keep up with her.

Most of the decorations are on the bottom branches--and mostly on the same branch--but there is no way I'm touching it: it is the best our tree has ever looked!

We finished off the week by going to the Festival of Trees.  If you've read my blog for awhile then you know this is a beloved tradition of mine and my mom's.  It was fun to add another member to our party this year.  Boy loved the stroller again and didn't even whimper the entire time we were there.  Bean got a little tired walking around (those trees can all start to look the same after awhile.)  When I asked her if she was having fun she said, "No, but probably when I get a little bit bigger."  Well, at least she's honest.  But when asked if she wanted to go back again next year, her response was an overwhelming "YES!"

Bean's favorite part of the day was watching the kids "put on a show."  This is because she will be "putting on a show" this weekend (i.e. recital!!)  Also, if you know how much Bean loves Mickey Mouse then this picture will be obvious.

What a wonderful way to start of the Christmas season!  As of today I am over 75% done with my shopping and all from the comfort of my computer chair.  I love Amazon.

Here's hoping that my holiday luck has turned and that it will stay that way through January!