25 days of christmas eve

The 25 Days of Christmas starts tomorrow!! Are you excited? Are you participating? Do you think I'm crazy for planning out 25 days worth of Christmas family fun?

On tap for tomorrow - writing our letters to Santa!

shot through the heart

December 1st is right around the corner and that means it's time for the 25 Days of Christmas Adventure. Abby was wondering just the other day what sorts of things Elwood is going to leave us to do. Hoping to get some ideas to help me... uh... I mean Elwood out with his family fun planning I asked her what she'd like to do. And this is what she said......

Bake some cookies and watch a movie.

But not any cookies, oh no! These ones....



Yep, her Mama can bake like nobody's business and she wants "Hills Berry" cookies with Frosty on them. Pardon me while I go pull the dagger out of my heart.

glad that's over

So yesterday was a big busy day here at the Blogmother Ranch. A day that involved intense deep carpet cleaning and a major furniture shuffle involving several large pieces of furniture in several rooms. You know when you get these brainwaves that this dresser would look better in this room and that would look better in that room. So on top of the carpet cleaning, I emptied these items to be moved of their clothes or what have you and then we lugged stuff up and down stairs and then realized in the middle of it all that this was the worst idea we'd ever had. You know how that goes. But, of course, by then it was too late and we had to finish it up.

That's when things get ugly, right at the end of a project like that. When you're short on patience and wish that everything would just get itself in the damn drawers and why do we have 5 miles worth of random cables that neither of us could tell you what they're for, but gosh, should we hold on to them just in case? And then the living room that we just put back together with all the stuff it's new spots... well why doesn't the remote for the dish work now? Hmmm? All we did was move it from here to there. Why does the remote not work, for the love God?! Then to make things that much more fun I walked right into the corner of the entertainment unit and took a blow to the temple... wow those stars were pretty. And just before things got really *I'm going to sleep on the couch tonight* kind of ugly we stopped and ordered pizza and called someone who knows more than us when it comes to electronics and that's when we got the best advice.... just walk away from it for half an hour.

So we did. Luckily one of my best girls JJ had sent over one of my favourite treats a little while earlier... bavarian honey nuggets from Picard Peanuts. Because moving furniture with your husband totally calls for some stress eating... does it not? So after some peanuts, pizza and a session with google everything is kinda sorta back to normal. It is normal to have a 7,000 pound entertainment unit in your kitchen, right?

planning

Christmas is a bit like a puzzle for us and the pieces are....

Mike's two sets of parents.
My Mom, who works in retail.
My brother and his wife, who live out of town and stay with us over the holidays, but only spend Christmas day with us every other year.
Two kids who sing in the church choir.

You'd think we'd have some sort of formula by now, but we don't really. We make up a new game plan each year. We have a couple of constants... we alternate Christmas day dinner between my Mom and Papa and Grandma Linda. Christmas Day until dinner time-ish is for the four of us.... unless it's a year Uncle Dave and Auntie Mel are home then it's for the six of us. Either way it's a quiet hang out day. Beyond that we just figure out what works best for that year.

What kind of Christmas plans do you make? Are they complicated or are they loosey goosey?

i pledge

About a week ago Mike made a pledge to me. He promised to help me shop, wrap and organize for Christmas. Normally I take care of Christmas, the decorating, the cooking, the baking, the shopping, the planning, the 25 days of Christmas.... all of it. And it's a lot of work. A lot. And it's stressful and I will have at least two meltdowns before it's finished. We'd both like to avoid that this year.

So we've had a couple of planning meetings, to figure out when we can get together with the folks we love the most and what we're going to buy them. That last part went pretty quick because it ain't much kids. Our theme is small, but meaningful this year.

So tonight we headed out shopping and crossed the kids and one set of grandparents off the list and then I made a pledge to Mike.......

I promised that by Christmas Eve everything would be done. All the gifts would be wrapped and ready to go wherever they need to go. We'll go to church Christmas Eve and afterward get the kids into bed and then maybe split a bottle of wine and that deadly cheese dip I make and watch TV because there will be nothing else to do. No last minute frenzy of wrapping and cleaning and such. I promise peace and quiet for Christmas Eve.

Think I can pull it off? Think you can?

what's cooking wednesday

Well a very happy Thanksgiving to my American friends and very happy bargain hunting for my cross border shopping Canadian friends!

What is your favourite Thanksgiving dish?

Mine is stuffing, all the way baby!

Alright now it's time to let me know what you're cooking up in those kitchens of yours.




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page. *All front page links will be deleted!* Don't make me be a jerk. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday

yawn

Wow I am sleepy. Apparently it was not a good idea to stay up until way past a reasonable bedtime online shopping while talking to my Mom on the phone.

On the other hand, wow!... that was a huge chunk out of my Christmas shopping.

And of course tonight Mike had a meeting, so I did kids and choir and focused 15 and plasma vs lcd TV research all on my own.

No wonder my eyes are blurry. I'm headed to bed.

But hey, which would you buy plasma or lcd if you were in the market for a new tv?

And how's your Christmas shopping coming?

too much

Today at church the reading was about Jeremiah and when Maya heard our Minister say the name she turned to me with a big smile on her face and said....

She's talking about me.

Get it?

Jer-a-*Maya*!

friday high five - christmas movies

Last Friday I let you all know what my desert island movies were, but my pal Julie over at the smothermother took it one step further and listed her desert island Christmas movies. Since we are on the cusp of the 25 Days of Christmas adventure which means a few Christmas Movie Movie Nights, I thought I'd let you know what my top five Christmas Movie desert island movies are, you know in case I'm stranded on a desert island with a tv and a dvd player and get to pick 5 movies to take with me. What, Allison? It could happen!

1. The Polar Express - This may be my very favouritest Christmas movie. Just such wonderful from start to finish. I mean it's so great I am finally willing to forgive Tom Hanks for Joe Versus the Volcano. Fantastic message.... yes, this movie does make me all gushy and stuff. Even more so than usual.

2. Christmas Vacation - Shocking, right? Last Christmas AMC played it on repeat all day on the 25th. That was total awesomeness. That movie never gets old... Cousin Eddie, Todd and Margo, the squirrel, dried out turkey and the Christmas lights. Still funny! I'm curious though, has anyone out there never seen it?

3. Elf - Does anybody play a man child better than Will Ferrel? Hmm? Well maybe Zach Galafinakis. Ooooh they should team up for a movie. That would be awesome.... where was I? Oh right... Elf. There is something about casting James Caan as the father to an Elf that just slays me. And that scene where Buddy tries to put the star on the tree gets me every time. The kids haven' seen it, so I have a funny feeling Elwood the Christmas Elf will be leaving it here for movie night this holiday season.

4. The Office Christmas Special - Well technically not a movie, but it is a two part TV show, so that counts, right? I'm talking the British Office here. Which is one of the funniest things ever put on TV. How do those Brits do it? Rickey Gervais as David Brent is the text book definition of socially awkward. It was the perfect episode to wrap up that series. Love it.

5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas - I actually enjoy both the original cartoon and the live action one with Jim Carrey. Hopefully Julie and I can stay friends after that admission. The cartoon is a holiday classic and Christmas isn't complete unless I've seen it at least once.

As an aside, I have to admit I have never seen Love Actually, but have heard from several people that I must. Maybe I'll roll it out for the Christmas addition of Jammie Movie Night.

What are your favourite Christmas movies?

that time of the year

Tonight was our parent teacher interview with the Abster's teacher. It was completely uneventful. As it turns out Abby is struggling with reading and she's a bit of a chatty kathy. And by a bit I mean she needs to sit near the teacher so she can keep her focused. Yep, shocking development. Didn't see that coming. Oh wait she does talk. All. The. Time. And when she's not talking the other one is.

In all seriousness though, Abby is coming along as expected. She's already had noticeable improvement from the reading program she's in. She's struggling a titch with math, but her teacher felt she just needs some practice at home. She's great socially.... see above.... and is still enthusiastic about school.

We didn't have a interview with Maya's teacher, but she came up in Abby's interview, oddly enough. I guess not long after Maya started JK Abby's teacher found her standing in the hall outside the grade 3 classroom. Just standing there. Not saying a word. Abby's teacher asked her if she was lost. Maya, of course, didn't answer her. I can only imagine she was overwhelmed with panic. I mean, she's lost and now a stranger is talking to her. Turns out Maya was supposed to go to the office, but she made a right when she should have turned left and when she couldn't find the office she just stopped. Luckily, Abby's teacher figured she belonged in the JK room, since Maya wouldn't speak and she delivered her safely back there. Poor little thing. I surprised she never mentioned the horror.

focused 15 and flying

It's a well known fact that I only steal the very best ideas and usually from Andrea of a peek inside the fishbowl fame and this time is no exception. Focused 15, friends. That is where it's at.

What is focused 15, you ask?

Well at my house it's when I gather up the other three people that live here with me and force them to clean/tidy the kitchen, living room, bathroom and office. The main living areas of our house. Yes there is much groaning and complaining.... from all three of them... but it works. When we stay diligent about our daily focused 15 then the house looks damn near company ready most of the time.

We were really great about it just after the kids started school, but then everything go so busy and nobody was ever home and it just kind of fell by the wayside until I had a Mommy meltdown about the perpetual mess the house was in and now I am happy to report that Focused 15 is back on the docket.

I hold out hope that one of these days when I signal the start of Focused 15 that the kids and Michael will just jump in and help with out complaint.... ha! Until then I'm the meanie Mom who stands over Maya while she complains that she's starving or dirsty (thirsty) or her legs hurt or her arms or she's too tired and makes her pick up her dirty socks off the living room floor even though she's got all that other stuff going on.

Oh and they all want to unload the dishwasher. Every time there is this great debate about who's going to unload the dishwasher. Which is totally fine with me, dishes not being one of my favourite domestic duties, but it's just kinda weird for a 4 year old to beg to put dishes away isn't it?

So yeah, Focused 15 is great. It's an hour of cleaning in only 15 minutes. That is all kinds of awesome! An added bonus to F15, is it frees up some time for me to follow along with the flylady too. I've been trying to follow her "flight plans" that tackle some of the bigger cleaning projects in smaller more manageable bits. For example this week we are in the bathroom and the task for today was to wipe down the vanity. I love having these prompts.

Do you have any special cleaning schedules?

what's cooking wednesday

Well I am up to my eyeballs in spreadsheets and recipe notes trying to figure out all this baking stuff. I'll be happy when this part of it is over. Until it is please give me some kitchen inspiration. What are you whipping up in your kitchen?




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page. *All front page links will be deleted!* Don't make me be a jerk. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday

she's linus

Auntie Yoli bought it for her as a Christening gift. One of the corners is embroidered with Maya's name and the date Auntie Yoli became Maya's Godmother. It's been well documented that Maya as a baby was a terrible sleeper and I read every book I could get my hands on in my quest to get her and me some much needed sleep.



Many of the books suggested introducing a "Lovey" so for many of the endless hours Maya spent in my arms as I tried in vain to get her to sleep I would tuck that little pink blanket into her hand or lay it against her cheek and eventually after what seemed like forever and a day Maya was sleeping through the night with her trusty blankey tucked under her cheek.



Maya has also taken a while to find her stride in social situations. So when we were going to be somewhere with a lot of commotion or where she would be meeting new people we'd bring blankey along in hopes that it would help her feel more secure and maybe she'd let go of my skirts for 30 seconds.



And it's taken a very long while, but we made it. She still has her moments, but they are getting fewer and farther between. Just this past week I've noticed that blankey doesn't make it upstairs to bed with her every night anymore. I find it tucked under a cushion in the toyroom or abandoned behind the chair in the living room or discarded on the floor by my desk. I'm not going to lie to you, it was a little bit heart breaking to realize she's outgrowing blankey.

Just last night I tucked her into bed tucking blankey in beside her.....

Me: Is blankey your best friend?
Maya: Yep.
Me: Why do you love blankey so much?
Maya: Because he's so soft.
Me: Is blankey a boy or a girl?
Maya: He's a girl.
Me: *He's* a girl?
Maya: Yep.
Me: Why is he a girl?
Maya: Because he's pink.

Do you have a special lovey in your family?

randomly

It's late, but I'm really unwilling to go to bed and make the end of the weekend official.

I spent today at my sister-in-law's. Her house is super cute and so nicely decorated. I kinda want to rip mine all apart right now and paint and rearrange and reorganize. Also I want new furniture. Mike will not be happy she invited us over.

I really loved today. My gosh we laughed our faces off.

My brother is terrible about phone calls and returning emails... not that I'm much better, but I really love that he texts me random inane things.

I love texting. Really, truly. Do you have my number, do I have yours? I'll text you and if we love the same shows I'll text you while we're watching.

I did overhear Abby tell Maya on three separate occasions this weekend - I wish I had a muzzle for you. Yeah, she kinda talks a lot. Like can't hear your own self think a lot.

Grandma Linda is home from the hospital with her brand new knee. She is doing well. Thanks to all who asked about her.

This morning I ordered a super cool Christmas present for my family. It should be here in a week and then the waiting for Christmas to hand it over will kill me! So excited!

How was your weekend?

friday high five - movies

So imagine for a moment that you're stranded on a deserted island and that island is equipped with a TV and a dvd player. What? It could happen. Here's the question.....

What five movies would you take with you to watch forever and ever, amen?

1. Step Brothers - There is something about Will Ferell and John C Reilly together in this movie that I just never get tired of. That scene where they are having dinner together for the first time, slays me. Anybody want some fancy sauce?

2. Erin Brokovich - This movie is just all kinds of awesome and it always makes me feel good. I watch it every chance I get.

3. Ocean's Eleven - This is Clooney and Pitt doing what they do best. The rest of the cast is nothing to sneeze at either.

4. The Hangover - This movie has kept me laughing for longer than any other movie I've seen. And like Step Brother is heavily quoted from in my day to day life.

5. The Breakfast Club - It's the Breakfast Club, 'nuff said.

What five movies would you take?

she cracks me up

The girls and I were walking back home from church after choir practice. It's dark now when we do, so I don't let them run on ahead. I make them walk with me. As we were walking I notice that all of the sudden Abby comes up to my chin or there abouts. I put my arm around her and pull her in for a squeeze and I say to her....

Hey do you realize you're almost up to my chin now? How did you get to be so tall all of the sudden?

And without missing a beat she says...

That's just the way life goes, baby!

what's cooking wednesday

Well it's time once again for you to let me know what you've been cooking up in your kitchens! I've been busy working out all my Christmas baking stuff so dinner has been soups, chili and wraps. Quick and easy has been my motto.





What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page. *All front page links will be deleted!* Don't make me be a jerk. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday

excels

I thank you for all your kind comments regarding Abby's struggle with reading. I do appreciate them. After yesterday's post I thought today would be a good day to tell you the things that Abby rocks the socks off....

Singing - there is not much she loves more than to sing. In the past year our church hired a new choir director, an amazingly talented young lady who runs a wonderful junior choir. Right now they are rehearsing their Christmas pageant, which will be sung. They sound fantastic and I cannot wait to see them perform the real deal. Outside of that she listens to her mp3 player whenever she gets a chance and always insists on music while we're doing focus fifteen. She's been on a Grease soundtrack kick for weeks. So every night we tidy up to Abby & John Travolta telling us Grease is the word!

Riding - I don't claim to know much about riding, but even I can tell she sits well in her saddle and is quite confident when she rides. A couple of weeks ago her instructor tripped and spooked Abby's horse. The horse took off and Abby stayed calm and more importantly stayed on the horse until Star got stopped. Then she finished up her lesson like nothing had happened. Afterward she told me,"I just kept saying in my head, Oh God! Just hold on. Oh God! Just hold on. And I did Mom, really really hard." Now she can trot, while posting with a crop in her hand and they've just starting working on her jump position, which means they're getting ready to jump things eventually (Oh God! Just hold on!).

Art - Our house is littered with sketch books, markers, pencil crayons and about a gazillion projects in progress. This girl draws and draws and draws some more. She's been telling me for years now that she plans on being an artiste when she grows up and I could definitely see that happening. It did not surprise me when one of her areas of strength listed on her IEP was, visual learner.

It's a treat to watch her do those things that she truly does love.

struggles

So the Monday morning following the fair I received a call from Abby's resource teacher. I just missed getting to the phone so she left a voice mail saying she needed to talk to me asap regarding a program she'd like Abby to participate in. So I called her right back and she outlined the program for me. It's from Toronto Sick Kid's research department and there is pros and cons, she told me.

Pro - this program guarantees success.

Con - this program is intense and requires 4 sixty minute sessions per week. They will not pull her out of a literacy period, so she'll be missing gym, which means no grade in gym this year.

I'm not going to lie to you, by the time she was done I was one weepy Mama. It is no secret Abby has been struggling with her reading since she finished up first grade behind the rest of her class. She had an IEP for second grade and she had improved her reading from a level 10 to an 18 in that school year. I asked the resource teacher how she felt Abby was progressing with the aids we already had in place. Her response was, "how do I put this diplomatically? Abby is following her own unique learning curve. She is getting there, we'd just like to see her get there a little bit faster."

I honestly felt like my heart was being crushed. I mean she's at a great school with really great teachers and I know she'll get there, but I just hate to see her struggle. I mean I see her sitting there with her fairy books and she's flipping through the pages so it looks like she's reading it and she likely is to some extent, but when I ask her what the story is about she tells me she can't remember. I feel bad because clearly she wants to be able to read it.

So she's started the program and there is definite improvement. There's also a lot of tears. She hates missing gym and spending so much time away from her class. Now we add Maya into the mix. Maya who's picking everything up at school with such ease that even Abby's noticed that it's easier for her little sister than it is for her. Gah! So she struggles and pouts and cries and feels sorry for herself. And let me tell you, it is no easy to task to figure out how to be encouraging to both of them. Reports come home in a week or so and parent teacher interviews follow soon after, can't wait to hear what they have to say.

things that make you go hmmmm

Last night Grandma Linda and I had dinner out at our new favourite restaurant where the pulled pork sandwich is scrumptious, but I opted to try the tamale pie and I am so glad I did. It was awesome on a plate.

While we were eating dinner I couldn't help, but notice the couple sitting at the next table. They were my age-ish and had already been served their food. I am assuming they were a married couple as I noticed wedding bands. The odd thing was they were both engrossed in their reading. Him a very thick novel and her a very wordy magazine. I don't think they exchanged one word the entire time we sat there. I couldn't tell if I felt sorry for them because they didn't appear to have anything to talk about or whether I thought they were awesome for being so comfortable in their relationship.

I will admit Mike and I and the kids have done that at home. All of us with books or magazines or homework or colouring. But I can't say it's happened at a restaurant. Now I'm curious, have you ever done anything like that?

you capture - halloween

So I think we should probably get this Halloween thing all wrapped up and You Capture this week was Halloween too. Perfect! On top of the swinging disco party I attended we also hooked up with some friends and their kids at a Halloween party/Haunted house at our church.



The kids had a blast with the Mummy contest (that's Abby all wrapped up beside the girl in the red costume), bobbing for apples, scavenger hunt and the main event.... the haunted house. Maya refused to go downstairs and Abby declared it soooo not scary, but we took a tour when the kids were done and we were all pretty impressed with the skeletons, bloody foot prints, dismembered body parts and the Mummy they had down there.



The main event of course was the trick or treating. Abby went as a rock star, originally she was a rock star vampire, but after 3 parties with all the black, the cape and the fake teeth she was ready to lighten things up a bit. So we threw together her funkiest outfit, sprayed some silver and red glitter in her hair, popped our sykping headset on her head and she thought she was Taylor Swift. Maya went as a witch, but without the hat because it kept sliding off her little head. Also she needed everyone to know she was a good witch!



This was the first year we've decorated beyond carving pumpkins. I hope to expand our display for next year.... I know right, who is this person.



For pumpkins this year I went with guy who lost an eye and....



Yoda! I hesitate to give away my pumpkin carving secrets, but Zombie Pumpkins has the best pumpkin stencils, hands down! They have some freebies, but you do have to pay to access the rest of the site and it is well worth every penny if you like having the best looking pumpkins on the street. And I do.



This year we also did some Halloween crafts with the kids, making lanterns out of glass jars. We took some glass jars once they were empty of their salsa, pickles and/or spaghetti sauce and painted some up to look like Frankenstein and some to look like pumpkins. Super cute, super easy and super cheap.



All in all a pretty great Halloween. How was yours?

you capture hosted by

halloween disco

Oh my gosh. It seems like Halloween was about a month ago. It really just wasn't on Sunday night was it? I have to tell you I actually loved this Halloween. This holiday has really grown on me in the last couple of years. This may have been the first time in my life I haven't had any anxiety about all the people dressed up in costumes. Heck I even dressed up myself... kinda, sorta.



This year Mike and I were invited to a Halloween party. I haven't been to a Halloween party since I was about sixteen and some quick and dirty math will tell you that was eons ago. We had actually decided not to go. We'd been out the night before and Maya was just a bear and it really didn't seem worth the effort. So we were settled in with the kids watching Scared Shrekless when ML & T popped by on their way to the party with a costume for me (it was a disco theme). Mike agreed to hold down the fort and with no good reason not to..... I went.



So we danced and we sang and we made some new friends and we laughed. Oh my gosh did we laugh. Everyone was in costume, nobody wimped out. And really great costumes too. It was like stepping into a time machine. It was all white patent leather platform boots, afros, bell bottoms and tight shirts unbuttoned to the navel (guys only on that one). Our host is a long time DJ (he DJ'ed our wedding!!) so you know the music was great. We didn't stay too late, that's what happens when you party with a dairy farmer.... 5am comes early and the cows are easier to milk when you aren't hungover.... I would imagine.

It was a really great night. A big thank you to the world's greatest DJ for inviting us. And more big thanks to my best peeps ML & T for bringing me along. I really had so much fun.

Did you hit up any Halloween parties this year?

knowing me, knowing you - november 2010

Time once again for my favourite monthly interview project. I hope you'll play along.

1) Last month I asked if you had started your Christmas shopping yet, this month I'm curious as to what's on your Christmas wish list.

Every year Grandma Linda asks me for a Christmas list and every year I drag my feet getting one back to her. I have no idea why. Even without a list I think I'm pretty easy to shop for. I love books and dvd's. I'd be thrilled with a big bag of yarn. The new Shopaholic book is out. Season 1 of Modern Family. Season 5 of The Office. How I Met Your Mother. Gift certificates to the movies are always a treat too.

2) Do you have a hand held video game in your house?

No, but Abby is lobbying hard for a Nintendo DS for Christmas. She asked for one last year, but I told her I didn't think she was old enough. So of course she keeps pointing out that she's a whole year older now. I keep going back and forth on the issue.

3) Are you going to participate in the 25 Days of Christmas Challenge?

We did this for the first time, two years ago. We attempted it last year, but I had less than zero Christmas spirit, so it was far from awesome. This year, though, I am all in! I can't wait for some of our favouries like watch Polar Express, make cookies for Santa and decorate gingerbread houses. Oh and the Christmas themed charades is always a lot of fun. Hoping to add lots of fun new activities this year.

4) What is your favourite kind of cookie?

Homemade chocolate chip of course!

5) Coffee or tea?

Almost always tea, green tea preferably. Nothing in it. Occasionally I'll have a coffee. Like tomorrow, for instance because it is way past my bed time and I am going to need it to get through the day.




So now the rules, they're pretty simple. Post your answers to these questions on your own blog in the next few days. Remember to link back here in your post and sign the Mr. Linky too, so we can all see what you have to say. Please make sure you link to your actual KMKY post and not your blog's front page. Any front page links will be deleted. And most importantly, have fun! Have suggestions for next months questions? Leave me a comment or send me an email and let me know.

what's cooking wednesday

Okay kids! It's time to wow me with what you've been cooking up in those kitchens!




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page. *All front page links will be deleted!* Don't make me be a jerk. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday