Friday

People I've Thought (at least for a moment) Looked Like Our Friend Mark

1. Gerald Henderson (Duke basketball player)
2. Phil Dunfee from "Modern Family"...love him!
3. Lee Pace (Ned from "Pushing Daisies")
4. President Obama
5. Lance Donovan (soccer player)
I think it's funny because NONE of these people look alike

Thursday

My Lunch Nachos

1. Tostitos Multigrain chips
2. Frieda's Soy Taco
3. Adzuki beans
4. Nutritional yeast sauce
5. Greek yogurt
6. Green Mountain Gringo salsa

Wednesday

Kitchen Overhaul

1. Need to find some space for my new convection toaster oven and rice cooker
2. Packing away to storage some bigger pieces/serving pieces/decorative pieces that we don't use right now
3. Getting rid of baby stuff- bottles, lots of bibs, restaurant mats, etc. Let W keep a couple bottles for her dolls.
4. Combining my small pyrex/glass food containers into the big drawer with freezer bags, aluminum foil, parchment paper
5. Packing away wine glasses--never use those
6. Getting rid of plastic food storage containers, cookbooks I have never used, and candles that I have
7. Reorganizing some food so that R cannot get into the cereal containers...a constant struggle at our house
8. Need to make our panini press more accessible...we use it nearly every day
9. Laying out my blender to be repaired
10. If I need it, I will no longer have a drawer reserved for our dog
11. There are 3 big cabinets that can be condensed into 1 1/2, I think

Monday

Tomorrow To-Do

1. Finish packing up Christmas. So sad.
2. Find places for all the new stuff
3. Reorganize kitchen cabinets
4. Blog post on our family blog
5. Grocery shop

Sunday

Gifts I Got At My IL's Christmas

1. Rice cooker
2. Countertop convection/toaster oven
3. Owl sculpture
4. Manicure
5. Prints from etsy
6. Cookbooks
7. Pie pan
8. Silverware
9. Ornaments


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Saturday

The Kids Christmas Gifts

1. New Baby Stella outfit for W
2. Magnetic wooden letters on a big jelly roll pan for W
3. Fancy shoes for W
4. Big cardboard building blocks for R
5. Boy Baby Stella for R
6. Blue doll stroller for R
7. R's stocking stuffers: sunglasses, Hot Wheels, Ice Age movie, t-shirt, harmonica, wooden tone flute, flashlight
8. W's stocking stuffers: sunglasses, felt strawberries for her kitchen, Dora silly bands, flower barrette, harmonica, flashlight, little stuffed bird, wooden tone flute, binoculars

Friday

Movies W Has Seen

1. Beauty and the Beast
2. Finding Nemo
3. The Land Before Time
4. Lady and the Tramp III: Scamp's Adventure
5. Babe
6. Spirit

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Thursday

Songs That Remind Me Of My Family

1. You are Everything- The Stylistics
2. Duke of Earl- Gene Chandler
3. Don't Know Much- Aaron Neville and Linda Ronstadt
4. Crystal Blue Persuasion- Tommy James & The Shondells
5. School Days- Byron Harlan
6. Cotton Fields- Creedence Clearwater Revival
7. Samuel's solo song on Legends of the Fall- I think it's called Twilight and Mist
8. Down in the Valley
9. Dear Mr Jesus (Tracy, that one's for you)
10. Words- Bee Gees
11. A made up song, "The Gown Girls"
12. Romeo and Juliet- Indigo Girls
13. The Chipmunk Christmas song
14. Leader of the Pack (and my sister's re-write)
15. River- Joni Mitchell
16. Leaving- Indigo Girls
17. Thunder Road- Bruce Springsteen
18. Wouldn't It Be Nice- The Beach Boys
19. With a Little Help From My Friends- Joe Cocker
20. Rains Down in Africa- Toto?
21. Lady Down on Love- Alabama (a lot of old Alabama songs)

Wednesday

Today

1. Hit the ground running...baked Rolo Toffee cookies to put with W's teachers' gifts
2. Made cute honey&cinnamon butters for the girls in Andy's office
3. Put together the teachers' gifts
4. Discovered that I had lost a Target gift card (?) so I had to make a mad dash to Target
5. Picked W up from school
6. Baby Hope is spending the day with us. She is the BEST baby!
7. Lunch was peanut butter on crackers, mandarin oranges, pear slices, and green beans
8. Too cold and too many babies for a walk, so we took Puddy to the parking garage for a good run
9. Finally cleaned my kitchen counters off.
10. Want to just perch myself on the counters because they are the only clean surface in my house and the kids couldn't touch me up there
11. Excited about Top Chef All Stars tonight!
12. Andy's not coming home after work...going straight to hang out with friends. That makes for a long Mommy Day.
13. Got a glimpse of my hair in the mirror. Kinda resemble Bon Jovi circa 1990.
14. I might have a vodka and lemonade when the kiddies go to bed
15. Egg burritos for the kids for dinner tonight. Luckily, I made vegan chili for myself last night.
16. I was going to deep clean the bathroom during naps, but instead I piddled around on the computer and ate a bowl of cereal
17. I am excited to spend time with my friends tomorrow night

Tuesday

My Mom, In Honor Of Her 55th Birthday

1. We are a lot alike
2. She is very sentimental
3. She loves Christmas and loves having her family together for the holidays.
4. My mom is an amazing cook. I love everything that she makes.
5. I feel really lucky now that my parents started their family so early, because now I have really young parents
6. My mom takes care of people really well
7. She is very hospitable
8. She is so accommodating...one vegan daughter, one uber-vegan daughter, vegetarian daughter, meat-eater son, and everyone else with specific tastes...there is always something for everyone
9. I think my mom always looks really nice
10. She loves giving gifts. Even if it's something small, she gets joy from giving people things.
11. Growing up, I remember mom being really fun
12. She used to love (probably still does) to roller skate. I think that says a lot about her.
13. She is so loving towards us. I've NEVER heard her say one complaining/cross/unflattering thing about us kids
14. She's a really good realtor and goes above and beyond with all of her clients
15. My mom knows me well. She can always guess what I would like, how I would respond, what would taste good to me, etc
16. She is very selfless
17. Her and my dad love to travel together and always have a great time on trips
18. She loves my kids really well
19. She is extremely generous (time, money, herself...)
20. Family is always first to her.
21. She is my biggest fan. And she lets me know that all of the time.
22. She never judges me, which is a great thing to say about your mom.
23. She cries at bizarre things. It seems like a funny thing to say, but it is really cute.
24. I have a really good time with my mom and really look forward to our visits.
25. Even though 55 is NOT old, she does not look or act like she's 55.
26. Growing up, I never felt pressure to perform or live up to any high standards she had. She's always loved me for who I am.
27. She is also rough when she needs to be...she's not afraid to drop the s-bomb or tell you that you're being a titty baby.
28. She is a trooper...always up for most things.
29. I think that her and my dad are cute together. They've been together for over 40 years!
30. People who know her love her.
31. She always tells me how proud she is of me.
32. She always tells me that I am a great mother.
33. I am proud of her.
34. She is a great mother.

Monday

My Favorite Christmas Treats

1. Mrs. McEntire's wafer cookies
2. Gingerbread cookies
3. Modestly iced and decorated Christmas cookies
4. Christmas morning challah bread pudding
5. Good hot chocolate

Sunday

Arkansas Christmas Stocking Stuffers

1. An orange Kuhn Rikon knife
2. Anthropologie gift card
3. An owl necklace
4. iTunes gift card
5. Peacock ornament
6. French fry slicer
7. Fuzzy socks
8. Body wash
9. Tea tree toothpaste

What I Watched On TV Today

1. 3 episodes of The Wonder Years
2. Bits of the UCA/Mizzou game
3. Documentary on metal coffins
4. Eclipse
5. Dora's Christmas Adventure

Saturday

What I've Done Since 9:00 PM

1. Made a vegan pomegranate pumpkin cranberry fig upside down cake
2. Finished wrapping many gifts for my mom
3. Baked walnut brownies for my dad
4. Vacuumed
5. Cleaned the front rooms
6. Baked vegan thumbprint cookies
7. Watched 3 episodes of The Wonder Years
8. Put my five year old nephew to sleep holding him and tickling his face
9. Did some laundry
10. Took the dog out
11. Filled my mom's stocking

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Thursday

Gas Station Snacks We Bought Road Tripping Today

1. Cheddar Chex Mix for the husband
2. Milk for the kiddos
3. Purple Gatorade for the husband
4. Nutter Butter Bites for me (they are the only store bought cookies I like anymore)
5. Cherry Coke for me
6. I brought along pretzel/cereal mix for the kids to snack on

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Wednesday

The Van Morrison CD I Compiled For My Sister

1. Astral Weeks
2. Cul de sac
3. Straight to Your Heart
4. You Don't Pull No Punches, But You Don't Push The River
5. Comfort You
6. Steppin' Out Queen
7. Bulbs
8. Tupelo Honey
9. Wild Nights
10. I Wanna Roo You
11. Crazy Love
12. And It Stoned Me
13. Caravan
14. These Are The Days
15. Brown Eyed Girl
16. Fast Train
17. Everyone
18. Sweet Thing
19. Into the Mystic
20. Starting a New Life
21. Choppin' Wood
22. Real Real Gone
23. Moonshine Whiskey
24. The Beauty of Days Gone By
25. Bright Side of the Road
26. Old Woodstock

Tuesday

Today

1. The kids and I slept in until 9:20
2. So, probably no one is going to nap
3. Have been listening to songs I used to love in high school all morning
4. Am preparing for a big run to Kinkos...color copies galore
5. Need to get W's teacher gifts together. Gift cards and cookies.
6. Think it's officially time to stop listening to songs in front of my daughter that have bad words and questionable lyrics. She's pretty perceptive
7. Excited about the Biggest Loser finale tonight
8. I am freezing!
9. Lunch: orzo with roasted asparagus, steamed broccoli, raw spinach, peas, and sauteed zucchini/garlic. I call that Green Pasta.
10. R and W have a new game they play all the time. It's basically fetch, but with R acting as the dog. They think it's great fun.
11. Need to go buy dog food
12. Probably going to pull an all-nighter finishing my little sister's birthday present
13. I haven't taken a shower since Saturday

Monday

My Holiday Baking Grocery List

1. Whole almonds
2. Quick cook oats
3. Maple syrup
4. Pomegranate
5. Fig preserves
6. Dried cranberries
7. Canned pumpkin
8. Vegan jams
9. Canned coconut milk
10. Agave nectar
11. Bananas
12. Applesauce
13. Vegan chocolate chips
14. Earth Balance
15. Almond milk

Sunday

Our Family's Christmas Stockings

1. Are monogrammed and from Garnet Hill
2. R's is dark green with a cute train chugging down the length of it
3. W's is cream colored with Rudolph and his big red nose
4. A's is navy with a snowy hill full of evergreen trees
5. Mine is cream colored and features a partridge in a pear tree
6. Puddy's is red and has little doggie biscuits and bells on it
7. We don't have a chimney, so they are hung on our balcony door with care
8. Are hung with discreetly placed zip-ties, which are my husband's most favorite thing in the world

Saturday

What I Ate For Dinner

1. Lots of chips and Mexican layer dip
2. Wheat Thins dipped in cream cheese and chipotle raspberry sauce
3. Pumpkin dump cake
4. An Oreo cream cheese chocolate ball
5. Vodka Kool-Aids

Friday

Things I Don't Like About Christmas

1. Inflatable yard decorations
2. When we lose the spirit of Christmas. Even if you don't believe the whole baby Jesus thing like I do...there has to be more than fighting over toys at the mall.
3. Christmas ham
4. When girls wear Santa hats
5. Similarly, when girls dress like a Slutty Santa. So wrong and awkward and it doesn't even make sense.
6. Christmas cards that when you open them, it's like a glitter factory exploded inside
7. Yule log. I don't know what it is, but the words just freak me out a little bit.
8. I hate candles. I feel like candles are the go-to gift for a girl you don't know what to give. I feel like I've gotten a lot of candles over the years.
9. When people do a poor job with Christmas lights on the exterior of their homes. No "A's" for effort here.
10. Egg nog

Thursday

My Favorite Christmas Songs

1. Oh Little Town of Bethlehem
2. So This is Christmas- John Lennon
3. River- Joni Mitchell
4. Baby It's Cold Outside
5. Merry Christmas From the Family- Robert Earl Keen
6. Away in the Manger
7. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree- Brenda Lee
8. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
9. It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
10. Silver Bells (I did a solo in the song in elementary school at our Christmas program..."City sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style...in the air there's a feeling of Christmas"
11. Frank Sinatra singing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Wednesday

What I Bought Today On My Last XMas Shopping Run

1. Christmas present for my mom
2. A little stocking stuffer for the hubs
3. Christmas present for my father-in-law
4. Batteries at Walgreens
5. Recordable cards at Walgreens
6. Stocking stuffers for my mom
7. Clothes for a little girl in a family W's class has adopted for the holidays
8. Silly Bandz for the little girl, because apparently, every 5 year old girl is in the know
9. More stocking stuffers for R- sunglasses, Hot Wheels
10. Pajama pants for me
11. THIS CUTE PURSE for me--it doesn't look cute online, but I LOVE it in real life. And, my new best friend...faux leather!

Tuesday

Things R Says

1. Mama
2. Dada
3. Nana (for banana, but don't tell our Nana)
4. Papaw
5. Yeah
6. Dean- Andy said this in conversation, and R kept repeating it
7. No
8. Neigh (for horse)
9. Night night

Monday

Things That Make Me Cry

1. Flash mob videos
2. Little House in the Prairie episodes
3. When Winnie comforts me
4. "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" -David Gray
5. Reading the book "Someday" to my kids
6. Wonder Years episodes
7. Hearing "Little Drummer Boy" or "Mary Did You Know," which happen to be two of my least favorite Christmas songs. (the lyrics are good)
8. When I speak, if I am standing up for myself
9. Thinking about my Grandpa and his life of service
10. "It Is Well With My Soul"
11. Remembering my great-aunt and great-uncle
12. Extreme Home Makeover and The Biggest Loser
13. Looking through old photos

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Sunday

Chili Ingredients

1. diced tomatoes
2. can of red beans
3. can of black beans
4. can of kidney beans
5. frozen corn
6. sauteed garlic
7. sauteed onion
8. sauteed bell pepper
9. water
10. roasted butternut squash
11. cumin
12. chili powder
13. salt and pepper

Saturday

Crafts W Made Today

1. Painted a candy cane with rolling marbles in paint
2. Decorated a christmas tree cookie with icing, skittles, and m&ms
3. Drew a Santa Claus on a ceramic paint with paint pens (this is something I will treasure FOREVER)
4. Made a hot cocoa mix packet
5. Crafted an ornament out of a sweetgum ball and gold toothpicks
6. Assembled a Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer ornament out of old-fashioned clothespins
7. Made a jingle bell necklace

Friday

What's In Our Freezer

1. Two bags Trader Joes organic wild maine blueberries
2. Four frozen black bananas
3. The bowl to my ice cream maker
4. A bag of beet cookies
5. A bag of chocolate chip cookies
6. A container of orange juice concentrate
7. Package of Whole Foods whole wheat tortillas
8. Box of Trader Joes organic brown rice
9. Bag of sweet peas
10. 3 packages of Gardein strips
11. Box of Quorn cutlets
12. Box of Quorn chicken-free nuggets
13. Some deli chicken
14. Box of Nature's Path Hemp Plus waffles
15. Morningstar fake bacon
16. Morningstar Meal Starters- "chick'n strips"
17. All of our ice is probably funky because we never use it

Thursday

Holiday To-Do For December

1. Drive through Tilles Park to see the lights
2. Go see the Gardenland Express at the botanical gardens
3. Cookies & Carols at the art museum
5. Go to Wild Lights at the zoo
6. Decorate Christmas cookies with the kiddos (well, maybe just Winnie)

Wednesday

My Favorite Christmas Decorations

1. Our monogrammed stockings from Garnet Hill
2. Our Advent calendar--it's huge!
3. All of my Christopher Radko ornaments
4. A tiny little ornament hanging on the tree that was my great-grandmother's
5. The photo of Puddy with Santa when he was a teeny-tiny puppy
6. The ornaments that my great-aunt Mert crocheted
7. This Hallmark thing with penguins and a snowman that sings, "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree"...it's actually kind of annoying, but it brings my children SO MUCH joy that I love it
8. My nativity set. My mother-in-law bought it for me--it was made by someone in Africa