Chris discovers Pinterest and Christmas pictures

So I have a story to tell.  Chris got a recipe from a friend at work.  We all totally loved it.  And then I got an email from Chris.  He said "Brette got the recipe from Pinterest.  Ever heard of that site?"



And I had one of those moments where I was laughing my head off but being touched about Chris' lack of knowledge of all things current.  It was very sweet because he was excited about it and trying to share something that he thought was new website.

I haven't had the heart to tell him I have a whole bunch of Pinterest boards and that I have been pinning stuff for over a year now....

And now for the obligatory Christmas photos.

The stockings are the only thing they can open without us adults being up.

Zeke is only 7 months old...

I like this picture because of the trees outside.

Guess where we are taking the big kids?  Disney World!  We made their shirts as part of their present to tell them what was going on.  Their grandparents are going to be in Orlando at their timeshare anyway, which was the biggest reason we could go- don't have to pay for hotels.  And their other grandparents are paying for the entrance to Disney one of the days.  Plus we aren't taking the littles, it's a good thing they don't know what they are missing.

I'll be typing more about our Florida plans this week.  It should be pretty awesome.  It involves camping in the Everglades and going down Florida's least traveled road....

Miserable Men at the Mall

It's been crazy here at the Nelsons!  And in honor of that, I give you the following pictures which will make you smile.  Chris has definitely had moments like these before!








Go here for all the rest.

Hopefully you don't have to do too much today on Christmas Eve!  If you do, go early!!

The Barf Family

It's just as gross as it sounds.

Owen threw up last Saturday.  I thought we had escaped the dreaded move through the entire family part of it.  But then Ava threw up at school on Tuesday, Chris in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, and Truitt later on Wednesday morning.

Kembia, Moyz and I are the only ones left. I ran out for emergency cleaning supplies this morning when everyone felt decent.



Seriously, this is all I can think about- other people throwing up tomorrow.  A bunch of people barfing together all over the floor kind of does break me just a little bit, at least for a little while.

We're supposed to head out of town on Friday night for Christmas.  We'll see.

The good thing is that it is a remarkably fast moving sickness.  People are feeling back to normal in about 12 hours.  But I would hate to get to Christmas and infect other people.  Maybe we'll  leave on Saturday morning just to give an additional night to see if something happens....

Bad Nativities

We've never had a nativity.  That's probably no-no for anyone who calls themselves a Christian. (Doesn't that just sound more than a little legalistic?!) But it has just never happened.

Also, I kind of have issues with the nativity.  Cause it's sort of all incorrect.  How?  I am so glad you asked.

First of all, there is always a stable, but chances are extremely high that Jesus was born in a cave. That's right, a cave.  Mary is always white, which really irritates the crap out of me, blonde hair, blue eyes, and she is almost always in blue or purple flowing robes.

Where do we start with that?  She was a Jew from the Middle East, and did not look like a native Californian, also, only the rich could afford colors like purple.

The wise men didn't even get to Jesus when he was a baby.  Read the Bible, it's true.  The biblical account says they went into the house and there was the young child.  Not a baby, and not a manger/cave.  It took them at least a year, if not several to find Jesus.

Also, there really weren't three Kings, there were three gifts (gold, frankincense and myrrh) and us modern people automatically assume that it equals three people as well.  I guess there could have been three Kings, but it definitely is not factual.

And, for what it's worth, the best guesses of Mary's age place her somewhere between 12-16.  And by guesses I mean really smart theologians who factor in things like the ages of marrying at that time period and all that fascinating stuff.  So that nice motherly figure you see in the nativities should probably be replaced with a seriously young looking girl, if not a picture of your tween daughter if she happens to have darker hair and eyes.  (Ava with her uber white skin, freckles and blue eyes just isn't going to make the Mary cut!)  Also, I have zero basis for this other than my own opinion, but the Bible talks about how God specifically chose Mary because she was pretty awesome (my translation not the Bibles), so I'm kind of thinking that if she was so amazing that chances are she would have been snatched up to marry Joseph on the younger end of the 12-16 age spectrum.

In honor of all the um, misunderstanding about the nativity, here are some seriously suspect ones for you to enjoy.


Cat Nativity



Dog Nativity


Irish Nativity


Bizarre mermaid nativity


Frog nativity

What is up with all of the animal nativities?  And who buys these?  And where can I get one that resembles the truth?

Batman, Squirrel and a Zebra

I know, the title sounds like one of those horrible bar jokes, Batman a squirrel and a zebra walk into a bar.....   but it's not like that I promise.  Instead it's this.

Kembia found a fur hat and dubbed herself the squirrel.  Truitt is pretty self-explanatory because he's wearing a batman cape.  And then there is Moyz.  Who found a black and white striped hat and called himself a zebra.  I thought that it was quite imaginative for him.  

They are in swim trunks and underwear because they were "swimming" on the floor in the living room.  i.e. doing the army crawl.  Kembia was a mermaid because you see that green headband around her middle?  She tried to cover her chest and tell me she was a mermaid, only it wouldn't stay up.

It's called stir crazy because of how nasty cold it's been.  We haven't left the house in days and are officially hermits.

Conversations With The Littles

In the badlands this summer, it totally looks like they are standing in front of a fake backdrop.

Jess:  What do you want to be when you grow up?
Kembia:  A Butterfly
Moyz:  Play drums
Truitt:  Play drums (what a copy cat)

J:  What kind of food do you like?
K:  Butterfly food
M:  Hamburgers
T:  Pomatoes (tomatoes)

J:  Do you like Mommy and Daddy?
K:  I like Owen

J:  What do you like about Ava?
T:  I like Tru-ee
K:  I like Owen

J:  What's your favorite thing to do?
K:  I want to play parties
T:  I like clothes
M:  Build

Observations by Truitt while on the toilet
1.  After peeing a lot, "there's bubble guppies in there!"
2.  "There is an alligator in the toilet that eats my pee."  Because of course there is.  Also, where does he come up with this stuff?  I might go as far to say that he is the funniest out of all the littles.

What I Am Giving For Christmas

If you are related to me, stop now or risk knowing what you are getting for Christmas.


Filler picture so you don't see what you are getting if you are related to me on Chris' side.  But the saying is true, and the "more" would be Jesus.

Okay, if you are related to me and still here, shame on you!  (I probably would have kept looking too!).  We celebrated Christmas with my side last weekend.  My kids were spoiled rotten, had a blast swimming in a hotel pool, and now we are dealing with new toys in, old toys out issues.

Chris' family Christmas is coming up the weekend before the actual Christmas Day.  And it is getting harder and harder for me to figure out what to get everyone.  So this year, I am making treats.  Everyone loves something yummy, but rarely takes the time to make it.  And the last thing any of us need is more stuff to store and find a place for.

But food, hey, eating is my favorite thing of all time, with the exception of traveling, but then you usually combine traveling and eating anyway....

Here are some ideas I am kicking around.

1.  Peppermint Layer Cake with Candy Cane Frosting


I got this one out of my FoodNetwork magazine.  I am so excited to make this!  And isn't it so pretty?

2.  Peppermint Bark Pretzels


It doesn't get much easier than melting chocolate in the microwave and pouring over pretzels.  This one is a favorite from when I was a child.

3.  Rocky Road Bark  (No bake!)


Yum, and you don't have to bake a thing.

4.  Oreo Cookie Truffles




5.  Pretzel Sticks Dipped in Chocolate


Pretty self explanatory, thus no link to recipe.

6.  Candy Canes Dipped in Chocolate


Ditto with these- no recipe needed, and wouldn't they be great with coffee or hot chocolate?


What are you doing for gifts?

Burlap Christmas

I love burlap because it's rustic (modern, not country), goes with everything, and it's cheap.

Here's a few fantastic Christmas decorating ideas.  None of them look too hard and you should be able to whip them up fairly fast.  Unless you are me.  These are all a pipe dream that won't be happening this year.  But I wish they were.  Maybe next??

Burlap Peace Banner

Okay, so this one is for Thanksgiving, but totally could say Christamas.


Burlap Wreath

Maybe with a red bow instead of blue.


Burlap Trees

There are a million creative diy burlap trees on pinterest.  If this one doesn't float your boat, find one that does.


Burlap Stockings

I pretty much despise the red and white stockings.  This is a nice alternative.  Maybe hand some bells with ribbon to give it a little extra something.

-9 Is Cold to Run

I survived the 5K.  It was -9 degrees out when we ran it.  I bundled up extraordinarily well.  Too much in fact.  We kept seeing everyone in skin tight leggings and small sweater jackets.  Well, turns out when you run in tights and lined wind pants plus a wool sweater and down jacket you are going to severely over-heat even when it is that cold out.  Oops.

We did it in 35 minutes which averages out to just under 12 minutes per mile.  I am going to take it though, considering I ran one mile one time to prepare.  Next year, (we'll see) I will dress appropriately and not fog up my glasses the entire way.

We didn't get any pictures because our camera is broke.  So you can imagine it by these images below.

 
Appropriate running gear for -9


  
This isn't me, but close to what I looked like.  Maybe I would have run faster if I didn't have 15 pounds of clothes on?!

While we were at the Reindeer Run there were actual legitimate runners going around the lake that weren't part of the race.  I looked at them with a mixture of incredulity and awe.  They were out on a Saturday morning in crazy weather because they wanted to be.  I was out because Chris' company paid for it and it is part of their goal to get their employees more fit.  People are crazy!

Forcing the kids to watch musicals

I have never seen The Sound of Music.  Until last night, when I decided I may as well watch the live version with Carrie Underwood.  I know, that's quite unheard of, especially at my age.  And while I could sing you all the songs, it had never happened.

     

But I got this great idea that it would be a good bonding experience for Ava and Owen to watch it with Chris and me.  Turns out, Ava really enjoyed it, but the rest of us were only meh, about it.

To be completely truthful, by the time 9:30 rolled around and I realized that there was still a half an hour left I almost went to bed.  But then the nazis entered and it finally got a little suspenseful and we hung in there.

Looking today at the reviews it turns out that I wasn't the only one feeling mediocre about it.  But, it sounds like Julie Andrews was amazing in it, so now I think I need to watch it again in her version to give it a fair chance.  Still, the songs were fun, especially because I now had the context in which they were sung after all these years.

Owen liked it at least until he fell asleep, Chris said it reminded him of when his sister made him watch it at about Owen's age, and Ava thought the whole thing was pretty good.  Maybe a future theater geek there, we'll see.

Did you watch it, and if you did, how did you feel about it compared to the others?

O Christmas Tree....

This one is pretty explanatory.  Look at these beauties.

 

          



And then, there's ours:

Probably not going to be repinned on Pinterest!  We only had three working strands of lights.  My parents have a tradition of giving all the kids these beautiful ornaments (and highly breakable!) from Lenox.  Actually, when we just had Ava for all those years, she got one every year.  

So you take 5 grabby kids who.just.can't.stop.themselves.from.touching.the.tree, one giant 6 month old Great Dane, and you will get a tree like ours.  Notice how most of the decorations are on the top half?

I think the Nelson tree will resemble something like this for the foreseeable future!

Run, Run, Running (In more than one sense)

Um, December.  I am not quite sure how we got here.  I feel like every time I say that, I am acknowledging the fact that I am getting older because I always remembered old people talking about how fast time was going when I was young.

Still, December.

Let's see.  This weekend I am supposed to be running a 5K.  It's called the Reindeer Run.  Also, the high on Saturday in our neck of the woods is 7 degrees.  Yep, 7 freakin' degrees and I am going to be running around a lake.  For fun.  In the winter.

Do you know how many times I have run in preparation for this?  Exactly one time.  I did it Saturday night after I went to watch Catching Fire for the second time in theaters.  I think I might prefer the clock island to running in 7 degree weather.  Also, I am severely annoyed that the next two movies will be released in Novembers of the next two years. Two more years to wait to wrap up the Hunger Games series.  I seriously hate that they drag it out so long.  

Along the running theme, my family is celebrating Christmas this coming weekend (after we finish the run).  So I will be run, run, running this week to get my house, my tree, and all the other miscellaneous crap ready for that.  We have an obligation every night this week.  I am not quite sure how we are going to get it all accomplished.  

This will not be happening.  We attempted one year to put lights around the bushes in the front of our house.  It looked awesome for like a week until we got the 7 feet of snow we get in a year and it covered all the pretty lights up.  I haven't had the heart to do it since then.  What do you think the electricity bill is for something like this?

And then someone asked me if I was going to make Christmas cookies this year.  I probably gave them the evil eye as I responded that no, I was in fact, not making Christmas cookies this year.  I will probably make chocolate chip cookies, but we always eat the dough before they get baked so I am pretty sure that doesn't count.

Who's ready for the chaos that is now until the New Year??  (I might whine about it, but secretly, I love it!)