Double Date

Uncle C and his girlfriend Alyson accompanied us on a date last night.  Oh, the joy of leaving all the knives in place!  Ordering appetizers- YES, I said appetizerS- and taking our sweet time! The joy of eating our food while it's warm!  The joy of only going to the bathroom when someone really has to go!  The joy of not cutting up food into little bite-sized pieces!  

It's the little things in life, really, folks.

So, the food was amazing!  

We ate HERE.

Not only was the food amazing, but the atmosphere was great.  The decor made me want to move right in or redecorate our whole house.

By night:

By day:

 

It was crisp, clean, and simply decorated for the holidays.  Large cedar wreaths with WIDE chocolate satin ribbon bows.  White lights.  Gorgeous.

The appetizers: wow.  WOW.   WOW!  That's more like it!  Angry mussels. Wood-burning fire toasted bread.  We asked for more. Farmstead cheeses, almonds drizzled with honey and the thinnest little apples slices.

I enjoyed the beet, avocado and goat cheese salad with the salmon as my entree.  The salmon had a delicious winter artichoke and was served with potato dumplings.  Yum.

The guys had shrimp and grits.

Alyson had the grouper with kale and pureed cauliflower.

Then we went to the movies.  We saw Will Smith in Seven Pounds.  It was entertaining.  A good night had by all!

FOOD

What's a celebration without food?  The girls (that's adult girls) and I celebrated Lou Lou's birthday with a trip to the Marietta Square on Monday night.  It's still decorated for Christmas and just beautiful.  The luminaries really made the evening sky glow.  We ate at the Marietta Pizza Company.  Yum.  Yum. Yum.  We indulged in some mini cheesecake bites and chocolate covered brownie bites.  Evidently Kroger is getting into the fancy bakery tasties. 

I drank too much Diet Coke- in conjunction with three cups of coffee earlier in the day- and had a wonderful time chatting it up with the girls.  

Meanwhile, The Daddy took the girls (that's AE and HJ) over to his parents to visit with Uncle C. in from California.  Uncle C's girlfriend came in town on Sunday night and is enjoying some down time with the Phillips fam before going back to the hectic work world.  They ate pizza, too.  Except I ate calzone.  And then I ate some more.  And I heard HJ went to town on some baked ziti.  Go, girl!

Presents to Present

Over here, we've got to get creative to find presents for the grands.  I found a couple of blogs that gave instructions on how to make these sweet silhouettes of the girls.  While I was at it, I made a set for our house, too.  Those haven't gotten the finishing touches like, names and the date painted on the back yet or pretty ribbons tied up on top, but I'm happy with the way they turned out and the reactions from the grands.

AE's silhouette ornament

HJ's silhouette ornament

Back in the summer, we spent A LOT of time with our friends Brodie and Dylan.  Brodie had a pair of roller skates, so AE wanted a pair as well.  I told her, "That's something you can ask Santa to bring you for Christmas."  Never did I imagine that she would remember.  Periodically, she would bring them up and say, "Oh, Santa will bring those."

Well, it came true.  She asked and she received.  And oh, was she pleased!

AE's present from Santa

HJ didn't have a clue what she wanted, so I put a bug in Santa's ear about some Tadoodles.

HJ's present from Santa

We'll be back with more Christmas once we get the video stuff figured out.  Maybe tonight.  After my date.  Our date.  WHEEEEEEEEEE!

Post-post-post Christmas

So our holiday went well.  I haven't been able to gather all my thoughts about it yet.  The Daddy and I (OK, ok, just The Daddy) have been transferring all our files, photos, etc from our old computer to our new Mac.  Yes, we got a new computer for Christmas!  So fast.  So shiny. So BIG!  Love, love, love it!  

When I figure out how to upload pictures, we'll grace you with a few photos from the festivities. We may even figure out how to upload the precious video (wonders will never cease) of our offspring coming downstairs to see what Santa brought them and the interesting reaction AE had to Jesus FINALLY being in the nativity scene!

The Late Edition

Click on the Collage to see pictures BIGGER!

To be short, we've had a big day.

Final preparations for company to come in town.

Birthday party for Jesus at our friend, George's house.

Lunch time and naps back at the homestead.

Christmas Eve church services.

Christmas Eve dinner at Nana and Papa's house with the whole family.

Christmas light decorations tour on the way back to the homestead.

Wake up A.E. to put cookies and milk out for Santa.

H.J. was a trooper and stayed up all the way home, despite the late 9:00 hour.

Put cookies out.

Put girls to bed.

Come back downstairs.

Santa had already come and eaten all the cookies.

(PLATE FULL OF COOKIES+CRAZY DOG= DUMB PARENTS)

Yes, the crazy dog has struck again! He explained that he was just helping us with our diets.

Have a Merry Christmas, ya'll!

Oh, the Holiday Memories!

I would have taken a picture of the mess on the floor, but the crazy dog got there before I could snap a pic. Here's to holiday cooking!

I Saw Something!

Quite frequently, while we are in the car, I hear from the backseat, "Mother, I see something."

And yes, I'm still Mother.

I usually ask, "What color is it?" to narrow down the endless possibilities.

Tonight as we drove home at dusk, A.E. shouted, "I see something!"

I immediately knew to what she was referring. The Daddy asked her what it was.

To that she relpied, "It's antlers! It's antlers! I see antlers!"

She saw this:



"No, honey. That's a menorah."

"...No, I see antlers"

Christmas Cookies and Crafts

I've made some new friends at church through the last two years of doing Wednesday Bible study. One is Lori, who invited a few of us moms over with our little ones in tow to decorate Christmas cookies. Lori had a slew of sugar cookies and gingerbread men baked and ready to decorate. She even made homemade icing! Along with all the yummy toppings, the kids were in sugar heaven.


Some on the half-eaten works of art


The kids getting started


Sweet James, our host


Stacie and her daughter Mary Alice (cleaning up "snow")


Hayley was all about the sprinkles


A.E. sneaking a gumdrop


Cheese!


H.J. gets her chance to decorate, I mean eat

Cheese!

Sprinkle power

I'll save this part for later

Right here

Pat it down

Our collection


After decorating cookies, we played. Here's H.J. with the baby girls, Kate and Lily.

James showed the girls his bedroom!

A.E. is behind Mary Alice and look at Hayley go!

After we had our cookie date, we went to Nana and Papa's house for "nap time." Is that what you call it when both kids are on such a sugar high they can't sit still let alone fall asleep?

After "resting" we headed over to Stacy's house for some more cookie decorating, arts and crafts, and general merriment. Stacy always has the cutest ideas and a great big spread of food for us hungry moms; she had peppermint tea, sliced apples, fresh popped popcorn,--get this, NOT from the microwave--a new and delicious thing called a chicken ball with crackers. The chicken ball was kind of like chicken salad but with way more cream cheese than chicken. Maybe that's why it was so good!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
• 1 can chicken
• 1/2 can water chestnuts
• 1 pkg ranch dip seasoning
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

To Make:

• Mix first 4 ingredients at medium speed until blended.
• Form into a ball.
• Roll in nuts.
• Serve with crackers or Frito's. (I would go with crackers. Stacy did.)

After stuffing our faces, (or in my case, in the midst of it) we made these:


How cute! They are supposed to look like s'mores, and they came in a kit. Moms helped. Kids liked. We're going to string ours up on the tree. A.E. did the reindeer on the far left, and H.J. did the Santa on the far left.

Thanks to all my friends for planning such fun activities and the grandparents for taking us in in between play dates!

Phriday Photos

The Ornament Exchange

It's a very subtly competitive tradition. Everyone wants their ornament to get "stolen". That way you know you have good taste. Should you wrap your present in a deceptive way? Should you have the exclusive store you found your ornament in gift wrap for you? It's a shoe-in to be picked! Should you bring a dud just to mix it up a bit? I'm always tempted, but my competitive nature gets the better of me.

This year I let the competition in my spirit out and just let the spirit of the season take over. It felt much better to be honest. I grabbed an ornament out of the bin at Hobby Lobby and was done with it. I gave away my "winner" I bought last year to a dear friend last month and let all that ugly competitive junk out.

Each year after Christmas, I search for next year's ornament for half-off prices. I would tell you my favorite place to shop post-fa-la-la-la, but then you might get ahead of me in line. Oh, yes a line will form before the doors open. One year, I saw a teacher I worked with, but we never let the name of the store pass our lips when we saw each other next. Another year, I saw Lou-Lou's MIL and SIL enjoying some great deals on chic steals. I almost didn't recognize or acknowledge their presence in my shopping high.

Oh, yes. It is that good. I scoped out the store this week on H.J.'s and my day-date while A.E. was in MMO. I've got a mental list of where to bolt when the doors open. I just hope they don't change the floor plan on me. Ornaments were already 25% off. I hope one of the three I want will be there next Friday.

So this year, we met again at Claudia's warm and decked-to-the-halls home. Here are some pics of the scene and the scene stealers. That's the ladies. Us. You know.


What treasures lie within?


Don't you love Claudia's live tree and fresh arrangements on the mantel?


A beautiful table scape


In the dining room


Another table in the living room

Felicia, Carrie, Mama, and Stacy B.


Another Stacie, Ashely, Kelly T. , and Heather H.


Kellye R. and Emily


Another Heather H. and Kelly T.


The Whole Gang- all a-smiles!

The Whole Gang with their ornaments

My Treasure from the evening

My Treasures on earth

My Treasure forever

Before and After

Before

After

Weight Watchers Herb Roasted Chicken

I made it. I ate it. And The Daddy did, too.

Isn't She Sweet?

As I was getting ready Monday evening for a night out at an ornament exchange, A.E. chatted with me about my "routine." I usually try to get ready before the girls get up in the morning, so she typically doesn't see the whole "routine" I go through to look so beautiful. HA!

Feeling adventurous, I bought some new eyeshadow and set out to try a smoky eye. She asked me what this was:

To which I replied, "It's make-up."

"For a clown face?"

I promptly washed my face and started over.

Irony at Its Finest

I used to be a teacher. I used to be a high school teacher. I used to be a high school English teacher. Don't judge me.

I talked in my first blog post ever about why I wanted to blog and the pressure I felt to be a "PERFECT" example of creative and grammatically correct writing. I no longer feel that pressure. Thank goodness!

But as we trudge nearer to Christmas, I still have a strong feeling of compassion for the teacher. Especially the English teacher. The papers. The grading. The deadlines. The students who just aren't motivated. I'm reminded of one of the reasons I began teaching: a love for teenagers at such a pivotal moment in their lives.

Having lost my mother when I was a sophomore in high school, I could relate to some of the tragedies students go through during their pubescent years. Sometimes it was easy to talk to them and let them know someone understood. Sometimes it was hard to watch a student make such negative choices for themselves.

Now that I have two children in "school," I have a different perspective. Granted, I don't get calls from the teachers that my child is failing, got in a fight, threw a tantrum, but I know a preschool teacher deals with a lot of attitude and, quite frankly, pee-pee and poo-poo.

I made the unfortunate decision to send A.E. to school in big girl underwear last week. She had been progressing quite well in the potty training ranks, and I thought this was the next level we could go to. Just in case, I sent some extra pants, socks and underwear. With feelings of apprehension, when I walked in the school to pick up the girls, my eyes scanned the hallway for signs of success. I was greeted with a bag full of urine soaked clothes. And I was angry.

I wasn't angry at A.E. I was angry with myself. Do you ever make parenting decisions where, in retrospect, you knew what you should have done and didn't? I had that mom-moment where as I helped A.E. get dressed that morning, I knew it in my core that she wasn't ready. When I dropped her off, I knew she wasn't ready. An hour before it was time to pick her up, I knew she wasn't ready. AND I contemplated picking her up early to avoid any accidents. But I didn't.

So I was angry with myself. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know what else I can say to A.E. to help understand how to know if she needs to go. I'm just going to have to have more accidents. And wake up earlier. And do more laundry. And laugh.

So today when I picked the girls up from school, I left with their teachers a little Christmas present. H.J.'s teachers got cute metal magnets that look like presents, bow and all. But for A.E.'s teachers, they got soap. And it looked like this:

QUIZ: Did you catch the irony?

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Welcome to a Christmas Tour of Homes!

Come on in!

After-Christmas Deals from Target

Our "old" tree in the dining room this year

The staircase

The Dining Room Tree, aka The Kids' Tree

A few of my favorites from the kids' tree

The Pink Pig- it's an Atlanta tradition

Another Pink Pig- Priscilla

The Dining Room Table- keeping things simple

IKEA bird clip

The Butler's Pantry

Kitchen Chandelier

The "real" tree by day

And by night


Santa from The Biltmore

I'm loving rustic/glitter ornaments right now


Tribute to Park City, Utah- see you soon!

More rustic/glitter


Might be my most favorite!

The built-in decorating nightmare

The other built-in decorating nightmare

I love this "chocolate" Santa!

My gardening angel

The Daddy's stocking


H.J.'s stocking

The Mama's stocking- with A.E.'s on the right


The crazy dog- his first Christmas


Suggestions for this guy? He needs a face? A hat? What???

And the one picture I'm missing is our nativity. It's a Little People nativity. We need a big, ol' set that's got a baby Jesus who can come out of the manger until Christmas morning. Any ideas?

Want to see more homes decked out in their Christmas splendor? Go see Rhoda at Southern Hospitality, We are THAT Family, Kimba at A Soft Place to Land and Julia at Hooked on Houses. And don't forget BooMama!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, YA'LL!