Santa is coming - I KNOW HIM!!!!!

I feel like a calendar year starts at a slow roll, then picks up speed at 4th of July and by the time you hit mid October it is running out of control fast. Fall spoils us with it's length and similar holidays (Halloween and Thanksgiving) to fully enjoy fall decor, treats and fun things to do. I start putting the fall shwag out in early September and it stays up until the day after Thanksgiving. That's nearly three months to put up, re-do, tweak, create and add on to all my fall favorites. Christmas on the other hand one.lonely.month. As queen of the captain-over-commit club I always way over commit December. I agree to too many parties (is that such a thing?), too many volunteer projects, too much shopping and 'just one more gift' syndrome, too many crafting projects, too many baking creations (again, is that really a thing?) and too many hosted events. It's awesome.

A few years ago my mother finally convinced me to start a Christmas savings account - this was a brilliant idea. I may run out of time but I rarely run out of additional holiday funds thanks to this mindless little automatic deposit the 15th of every month. Subsequently my father has showed me that gathering trinkets and gifts throughout the year as you think of people or while traveling makes holiday gift giving more meaningful. While that is all nice and swell - none of it helps me tackle the ginormous to-do list I want to accomplish every December. So I did what every thirty something woman does... I went to the source. Pinterest.  

I saw a pin titled '12 month planning guide for Christmas' - I thought it was absolutely ridiculous and couldn't get past the third line BUT... it got me thinking. I LOVE to-do lists, why don't I make a to-do list for the things that are important to us this holiday season? Just the other day I told Tommy Thompson how much I was looking forward to THIS holiday, to be settled in our home together (last year I bought 10th & Wash two weeks before Christmas) and be able to enjoy all the crafting, baking, entertaining and celebrating that we can cram in. So here it is, in no particular order - my 2014 Christmas to-do list. You'll notice I've already crossed one off, I find so much pleasure in adding things to my to-do lists that have already been completed (I know what what you're thinking, that's cheating but actually it's positive reinforcement) and you'll also notice some lists within lists. Kind of like conversations within conversations. It's fun. 

1. Make an advent calendar with both chocolate and an activity, a few in the calendar:

     a. Decorate our trees 

     b. Find items of your own to donate to a needy family
     c. Unwrap a new book to read      
     d. Have hot cocoa and cookies
     e. Pick out your ornament for the season and hang it
     f. Write a letter to Santa      
     g. Go sledding
     h. Watch a Christmas movie
     i. Wear new jammies to bed and read the Night Before Christmas (Christmas Eve)     
     j. Decorate cookies 
     k. Decorate gingerbread houses
2. Take family pictures to use for Christmas cards and gifts
3. Go to the 'Catch the Glow' Parade in Estes Park, day after Thanksgiving
4. Visit a tree farm and cut down two Christmas trees, one for upstairs and downstairs with a picnic and hot chocolate (Tommy Thompson when you read this... trust me, two trees will change your life. I promise)
5. Start a list of family holiday traditions
     a. Everyone picks out an ornament each year
     b. Make an ornament from a cutting off our Christmas tree like this 
     c. New jammies on Christmas Eve
6. Attempt the Elf on the Shelf game with the little one 
7. Make my favorite baked goods: sugar cookies, gingerbread men, butter dreams, holly clusters and mince meat bars
8. Send Christmas cards out the first week of December (I bought a deal on Amazon local in early October, I'm halfway there!)
9. Host annual holiday party (I've hosted a holiday party every year since college) 
10. Add to my Lenox Holly China collection 
11. Make a new wreath with a skull like this
12. Watch all of my favorite Christmas movies... twice (White Christmas, Santa Claus THE Movie (Dudley Moore), The Santa Claus movie series (Tim Allen), The Grinch, Love Actually, Fred Claus, Family Vacation, ELF (I know him!!!), The Family Stone and Miracle on 34th St.  - Oh and  I promised Tommy Thompson I would watch A Christmas Story (no... I've never seen it)
13. Wrap presents like this, and this, and this
14. Make unique name cards and menu cards for Christmas Day dinner 
15. Sing along to my favorite Christmas song ever 20+ times 
16. Decorate the day after Thanksgiving
17. Show proof that Santa really came like this 
18. Donate items to a family in need
19. Play in the snow
20. Have lots of hot chocolate and bailey's at the bonfire 
21. Spend time with as much family and as many friends as possible
22. Enjoy mimosas and quick breads on Christmas morning
23. Make small gifts for friends, family, teachers, tenants
24. Make wassail
25. Kiss Tommy Thompson under the mistletoe 587 times
26. Enjoy no less than 20 eggnog lattes 
27. Make a Christmas card book like this

I know I'm missing some and I'm sure Tommy Thompson and the little one have some to add as well. I cannot wait for a fun holiday season! 

Billy Bob, the Two Amigo's and The Princess

Halloween was a few days ago and it was one for the books. Lucky for us it was on a Friday AND we had the little one this year. Seeing Halloween through a ten year old is awesome and seeing it as an adult with a ten year old around is even more awesome.

A few months ago the little one declared to Tommy Thompson and I that he was dressing up as a princess. Wait... what? The kid that runs around the farm with a BB gun, slides down the fireman pole on Castle Gray skull (more on that later) as often as he can, all around boy wants to dress as a princess? Yep. He and some buddies at school had formed a team for their school fundraiser and named it 'Billy Bob, the Two Amigo's and The Princess'. There were five boys all together:

1. Boy One as Billy
2. Boy Two as Bob
3. Boy Three as Amigo one
4. Boy Four as Amigo two
5. Boy Five, aka The Little One, as the Princess

After a brief discussion on how typically 'Billy Bob' was a single individual and that typically there are THREE Amigo's - we still had no clue how they all fit together, least of all the princess and even less so how the little one decided on said princess. We were quickly reminded that at ten year's old logic was of little importance.

You'll remember from our recent shopping trip to Target the guys were found in the Halloween aisle. Tommy Thompson took the opportunity to test the little one's commitment to the princess decision. After a few failed dress fittings, the threat of wearing my heels and one embarrassing moment for any ten year old when I belted out his least favorite song, 'Let it Go', in the middle of the store, he decided to change his direction.  

He morphed. The little one came home a few weeks later as the proud owner of his very own morph suit, crash test dummy style. A morph suit, for those you who aren't cool enough to know (just like Tommy Thompson and I weren't) is a full piece body suit covering you top to bottom, even your face. With a little guidance from Dad on how to 'crash test dummy' and some trial by error on how best to see while wearing his morph suit, the little one was ready for his first of four Halloween parties. 

With two school parties under his belt by 5:00 pm on Friday the 31st we got dressed for the annual VanRooy's Halloween party. After a quick stop to my mother's for way too much candy, a cupcake before dinner (what are grandparents for?) and more glow sticks than any ten year old can possibly carry including a giant green glowing alien balloon that is still slowly dying in the back of my car, we were on way to the party. 

One of my best girlfriends and her husband (the VanRooy's) go all out for Halloween. We're talking outside decorations that can be seen from a mile away, transforming their interior decor to the year's theme, even the dinner they serve - over.the.top. This year's theme was Freak Show Circus. They served pretzel bread wrapped hot dogs, corn dogs, pumpkin queso nachos and more. Our contribution was Oreo popcorn - aka crack. The little one helped me make it the night before and I had to threaten bodily injury to keep the guys off of it. You can find the too simple three ingredient recipe here. 

After dinner Tommy Thompson and the little one headed out for trick-or-treating. While cute in his morph costume... I was making bets on how long he'd make it in the barely there costume. Let's face it, Halloween in Colorado is always cold and that costume did not lend itself to layers. After nearly an hour they came back with loads of candy and stories about all the houses they stopped at. It was so fun to hear about the decorations, what was scary, kids costumes, all of it (since I was too chicken to brave the cold). To cap off his fabulous night of trick-or-treating the VanRooy's unloaded ALL their leftover candy, pencils and tricks into his bag. You would've thought Santa himself showed up at that moment. I love having a ten year old around!

On the way home he crashed in the backseat... looking more like a crash test dummy than ever. I couldn't resist a picture. Once in bed Tommy Thompson stole his bag of goodies and we thoroughly inspected each and every piece testing what he HAD to. Of course, that's our responsibility. Now I know why my parents enjoyed the trick-or-treating as much as I did...

The next morning after sleeping in until nearly 10:00 am from his sugar coma, the little one awoke and immediately inventoried the contents of his bag, covering nearly all of our 10-person dining room table with his loot. I knew it before it happened, we.were.busted. He recalled from memory nearly every piece that was missing, gone to Dad for 'testing' and even still left us a giant pile of candy to share. Pretty awesome kid. 

I FINALLY bought a waffle maker after talking about it for months. 

We broke it in with pumpkin chocolate chip waffles on Halloween morning.

I dressed as a broken wind up doll, Tommy Thompson as a lumberjack post AXident, the little one as a Crash Test Dummy Morph and my great niece here is a witch.

The Little One showing Sweet Lucy some of his 'tricks' from the night before

Tommy Thompson and I at a Nov. 1 party as a 1960's couple. He misbehaved and took a frying pan to the face.