All I want for Christmas is...[stuff I like]

That's right. I finally decided what I want-a crockpot! I picked up a new crockpot cookbook while shopping for presents. It would make my life so much easier!

That picture I used in one of my favorites. It's Lettuce and I out on the town. With four kids and one income, we don't get out much. That's what made the night so special. Every time I see this pic I smile.

I uploaded this pic to the Sit on Santa's Lap at Ceiva. Isn't this awesome! I thought it was so cool. Then, I did it with each of my kids and they loved it! The pictures uploaded quickly and they loved hearing Santa say their names. What more could I ask for?

I would also love to get a Ceiva digital photo frame. I've never seen anything like this. I could upload all my favorite pictures of my kids and give it to one of their grandmas-it's truly a gift that keeps giving. The Cevia digi photo frame rocks because it is wireless! You plug it into a phone jack. You can even upload pictures from your camera phone. How cool is that? That means I could send pics all the time. Granny could enjoy her grandbabies all the time even though she doesn't live nearby. This is a great gift for anyone who lives far a way.


By the way, don't forget to visit Ceiva yourself and enter got a wish to win $500. One entry is selected randomly every day! Tell Santa that Gina sent you.

Help, please! I have a cookie conundrum....

We are having a cookie decorating party for the kid on Christmas Eve. It will be my ducklings and Smoo's monkey and turkey. The kids are 8, 6, 4, 3, 9 months, and 1 month. We'll probably have some extras, too. We initially planned to bake with the kids but since they are on the younger side, we are going to bake in advance and let them decorate. What kinds of cookies should we make? Smoo is making chocolate chip and I am going to get some Immaculate Baking Co Vanilla Sugar cookies and bake them. (IBC makes the BEST cookies ever!)

My conundrum is this, we want to make 4 types of cookies. I make 2 and Smoo makes 2. What other kind of cookie should I make? And what other type should Smoo make?

I want something that I can use my snazzy cookie cutters on. I was considering gingerbread, but my kids don't seem to like them that much. I like them so maybe I will still make them. Any suggestions (with recipe or recipe links)?

Christmas Dinner

I think that there will be around 18 people at my house this year, more than I have ever cooked for before. I am working on my menu because I need to do my shopping sometime between now and Monday. Here's what I have:

Appetizers:
Shrimp and cheese dip with chips
Veggie tray with ranch

Soup:
Butternut squash soup

Main Course:
Turkey
Ham

Collards
Green bean casserole by Smoo

Macaroni and cheese
Rice
Dressing
Candied yams

Bread:
Yeast rolls
Crescent rolls-thanks to Pink Lemonade and Pillsbury
Cornbread
Buttermilk biscuits


Beverages:
Apple cider
Grape juice
Sodas
Egg nog
Hot cocoa

Dessert:
Apple pie
Blackberry cobbler
Red velvet cake-can you make that too, Smoo?
Cookies that the kids decorated on Christmas eve

Have I left anything out?

Oh, and a gingerbread house, of course!

TCP: Stuff I Like

I have been having an ongoing love affair with TCP for years. TCP is The Children's Place. It's my favorite kids store because they sell kids cloths, not small adult clothes. I try to avoid dolling my chocolate girlpies up like little streetwalkers at all costs but it can be really hard given the current offerings in the retail market. I never have this issue at TCP. TCP is also the first place I found jeans with adjustable waistbands. I have slim kids. Add in the bright colors, continous clearance, 15% off coupons and flat $5 shipping and it's no wonder.

I was in there yesterday, looking for a turtleneck for the Princess when I came a cross this monkey and hat. I love it! I ended up buying the monkey and sweaters for Side Salad and Astronaut! I am going back today to get sweaters for the girls. They will be getting the same ones [when she heard this, Princess yelled "I can't wear a BOY sweater!!!" Au contrare, my dear, you can] because the girl's version has entirely different colors that don't look as fab. I'll take a pic later and post it.

My Birthday

My birthday was Sunday. I am now 27 years old. I took my litttle ones to church. It was lovely. Then we just all spent the day together. My oldest brother gave me some money to buy my own gift. My godmother sent me some money. The kids gave me a card. Lettuce gave me a card and a little table that I can use in bed. I really like it! That night, we went to Wild Wings after the kids went to bed. My mom stayed with them. We got the 25 wings deal where you get five wings of each of five different flavors. I also got a side salad. I decided not to drink since it was already late so I had a tea and he had some beer. The wing flavors we chose were Pollo Loco, honey BBQ, honey mustard, garlic teriyaki, and the hottest of the hot wings. I can't recall what they called them. I loved the garlic teriyaki. They were really good! So I decided to try the hot ones. Here is what happened:

Me: Mmm this is pretty good but it's not really that haaa-, Haaaa-, HAAAAA-! ACK! ACK! GAH! MAH TAMB! MAH TAMB!

I sat there shaking my hands back and forth like Plies the rapper. I probably looked like an ass hat. Lettuce just stared at me, like he does when ever strange things happen to me. It felt like I'd just taken a big swig of some good ol' HCl-hydrochloric acid. My lips and tongue felt like they were about to just fall the eff off! I ate a piece of garlic bread-didn't help, and drank some tea-didn't help. I was so shaken that I couldn't eat another one of those. I took them home and gave them to my mommy.

I should have warned her about the wings. Tsk, tsk.