Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday. I took this video a couple of weeks ago (I will explain the face paint on another post later.) Ned has learned The 12 Days of Christmas and loves singing it. He knows it by heart but felt more comfortable using the book for the video. Don't worry, he did not sing the whole song, the video is only 33 seconds long.

Just call me CRAZY

This is what happens when your kids are home from school for 19 days and it is cold outside. You start to go crazy and allow them to (no, you don't just allow it, you encourage it) tape a diaper box on the back door and play basketball.


So, call me Crazy (or Clever, I'll answer to either) but my boys are having a lot of fun, and that makes me happy (and a little less crazy)!

I've got to go now. I am off to return some Christmas presents and buy more diapers. ;)

Because everyone is doing it...

and I am a follower. That, and the boys giggle every time they watch this:

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Traditions- Peppermint Bark and Friendship Bread

I am spending a lot of time in the kitchen this week. I saw peppermint bark on the cover of a Williams-Sonoma catalog a few years ago and thought I would try to make some. It is one of my newer traditions to make it for my children's teachers at school and church, neighbors and a few friends. (Vanessa- I am saving some for you, just call me when you get here!)

This year I am adding Friendship Bread to the gifts. I have made it the last few years and decided it was yummy enough to share. I made six loaves yesterday

with a little help

and will make another four today. I love this time of year, it is so yummy!

That song makes me cry.

I was listening to Christmas music this morning while making breakfast and this song came on.




At about 1:50 in the video you hear Bing Crosby whistle and that is what made me tear up this morning. See, whistling has always irritated me and I realized a few years ago that it is because nothing can compare to the whistle of my Grandpa R. He had a beautiful whistle, like Bing Crosby's, only better. I miss that whistle, the only whistle I loved to hear. I look forward to hearing it again some day.

Teacher Gifts

If you don't live near me, you can ignore this post. :)

Back in October when I posted about the caramel apples that I made for my kids' teachers for parent teacher conferences, some of you asked if I would make them and sell them for other people to give to teachers. So, I just wanted you all to know that I am willing and ready to make them for anyone that wants to buy them as Christmas teacher gifts. The price is $8 for a single apple and $15 for two (on one bigger plate). This includes the apples (obviously), a cute plate, clear cellophane wrap, ribbon and a tag.

If you want one just call me or email me at scrapchairpotato AT gmaildotcom.

Not much going on so far this month, let's talk about last month.

This could quite possibly be the longest blog post of all time. Feel free to just scroll through the pictures and read only the parts that interest you. Not that you need my permission.

I was looking at my blog and was trying to decide what to write about when realized that I never talked about my trip to Utah (and lots of other fun things) last month. So, I think I will take a little time and talk about happenings from last month. This blog is supposed to be my journal, after all. Please remember that these pictures have all been taken since that sad day when my camera's flash was broken.

*Warning: There is so much sugar in this post you might want to cover your sweet tooth's eyes.*

• Oh, wait. Do you mind if we go a day or so farther than last month? I never posted pictures of my boys on Halloween.
  The night before Halloween we went to the two high schools in our town and the boys went trick or treating there.
  Lucky was so tired that he was asleep in the stroller within 5 minutes.
  He hadn't even gotten any candy yet.

I made caramel apples for Dusty's teachers. I did not get a chance to have parent teacher conference with them so I decided to give them their apples on Halloween Day.

The night of Halloween we went trick or treating in our neighborhood and to a friend of El Guapo's from work (where the amigos got to play with dogs, the second best thing to free candy.)
Ned was dressed up as Optimus Prime (same as last year, thank you, Ned!) Dusty was Bumblebee and Lucky was a bumblebee. My OCD brain decided that it was okay that all of the boys didn't match because it all tied together somehow, right?

Lucky loved the idea of trick or treating. Here is a little video of him that night. If you know him you understand that the fact that he is hopping around is and indication that he was having a great time. He is usually so calm.

I wish you could see his cute little stinger better. I love the way it flopped around when he ran.

This is how Dusty searched for his candy that he had collected in his Transformers pillowcase.

• 
  The first of November... well, we have already talked about that. It was a good day! The boys are looking forward to next year's Free Candy Day.


• We had a hail storm.


• We made homemade donuts.
  

Mmmm. Sugar. So disgustingly yummy!

• The Amigos did a little craft project.

Yes, my two year old still has a pacifier, and a horrible pencil grasp and I don't care. Yet. I think.

• More crafts. Same day. Different project.
  

• Lucky insisted on wearing his guitar to bed. I did not realize until seeing this picture that he has not worn it around the house as much as usual. Funny how things change and you don't even notice it. Thank goodness for pictures like this.
  
  
  
  
• El Guapo had a Friends and Family Night at work and they had a cotton candy machine there. They did not use all of the floss sugar. I could not let it go to waste. Not me. Not a girl that had a cotton candy machine at her wedding reception! I stayed up until 2:00 in the morning (the machine had to be returned early the next morning) to use all of the sugar up. I ended up with enough for each child in both Ned and Dusty's classes and a few more bags for some friends and a little for ourselves.
  There is nothing like fresh cotton candy!
  
  
• I went to Utah for a Celine Dion concert that my sister had tickets to. A few days before the concert we found out that the concert had been canceled because Celine was sick. I decided to go to Utah anyway because it would have cost too much to change my ticket to go in February for the rescheduled concert. One of the first places I went was Cafe Rio. I love that place. I wish they had them around here.
  

My tummy is growling from looking at this picture. Mmmmm!

My cousins, sister, mom and I got together on Friday night (the night of the canceled concert) to drown my sorrows in some delicious gelato at Maestro's in Provo.

We had a great time together. Thanks for hanging out with me, ladies!

On Saturday I had Thanksgiving dinner with all of my family that lives in Utah. It was good to see my dad for the first time since his surgery. He was still having some problems but it was fun to see that his sense of humor was still intact.

Even if it did hurt him to laugh.

Poor guy.
Hey, I just remembered that it is my dad's birthday. Happy Birthday, Daddy! I dedicate this post to you. You're welcome. ;)

It was a really quick trip. I missed my boys terribly but it was so nice to see my family for a couple of days.

• We had Thanksgiving with friends from church at the church. We have done this almost every year since we moved here. It is nice to do when you don't have family around. It has saved me from making an entire Thanksgiving meal that does not get eaten. The only picture I happened to get was of the sweet potatoes with extra marshmallows. It is El Guapos favorite. Lucky was sick and El Guapo stayed home with him so I made this for them to share.

• We celebrated my birthday. Ned and I had fun trying out my new Wii Fit. There is a running race that is really hard. It sure gets your heart pumping!
  
  
  
  

Whew! Are you as sick of this post as I am? Sorry.
I know how overwhelming it is to comment on a post with so much info. Feel free to say something like, "_____ (your name) was here."

Top That!

I am not a lover of competition, well unless I am the one winning. My husband and my best friend have started a competition that I am falling in love with because I am always the winner!


Last year Mrs. Morty made me a quilt for Christmas. This was not just any quilt. For years I saved Levi's because I was "going to make a quilt with them." It never happened. I always wanted one because they are nice and heavy. I love heavy blankets. I am NOT a seamstress and even if I was I am not the type to finish something that I started. Well, Mrs. Morty is both. She can sew and once she puts her mind to something she does it.


When I started to open my gift last year I wondered what in the world she would have bought me that would fit into such a large box. I started to cry the moment I opened the box. I could not even call her to tell her how much I loved it because I was too weepy and knew I would feel silly for crying about her gift. This is the quilt...






I love it! I just could not believe she had remembered how much I wanted one and that she took so much time to make one for me.


So this year El Guapo has been trying to decide what to get me to top Mrs. Morty's gift. I think he wants to make me cry. His family does the same thing for their mom. Everyone wants to be the one that makes Mom cry. I heard there were a couple of them that accomplished it last year. Lucky lady!


I have no idea what El Guapo has planned for me this year. He gave me a Wii Fit for my birthday (Yay!) and he says he is working on something for Christmas... I can't wait to see what he has planned.

For my birthday/Christmas gift Mrs. Morty gave me this...

Yet again, she put so much thought and time into my gift. Isn't it gorgeous? I love it so much. Unless you are a scrapbooker you have no idea how much time this took. I am so touched.

She even made me my birthday cake.

Thank you, Mrs. Morty. You are the best!

Man, I love this game. Keep it up you two. I could get used to this!