just miss kim

holiday recap

Brief rundown of my week in review:

Went to Target. Bought a bookcase for the living room to hold my framed photos. I used to keep them on top of our entertainment center, but we dismantled it when the big honking TV came home, so I need shelves for them.

Finally bought a frame for our 12x12 2007 vacation scrapbook page, to put with our 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 pages.

Ate a really bad lunch and spent way too much on it. We won't be going back to that place again.

On the other hand, later in the week we ate lunch at Old Chicago. It was delicious. Something new to us. We loved the Italian Nachos. We'll definitely be back.

Saw "National Treasure: Book of Secrets." It was *the best* movie I've seen in a long time. We love the first movie, and I didn't think I could like this one as much, but I sure did. Loved Riley. He has great timing.

Went to the mall, which I really try to avoid. Love the Steve and Barry's everything for $9 sale. Got Brady 3 pairs of shoes. Mykiah got 2 DEAR shirts. I got a pair of Bitten capris (that's Sarah Jessica Parker, in case you're not up on Steve & Barry's). One of the pairs of shoes was actually for me, but I bought men's shoes. Which is strange, because they look feminine. But they're the right size for Brady, so now he has 3 pair.

Bought the last 2 Twisted Peppermint body washes at Bath and Body Works. And then the girls spent another $45 on American Girl stuff at B&BW.

Visited Claire's. The girls dropped a bunch in there. I avoided the necklaces, thankyouverymuch.

Stopped at Target again and bought a cube shelving unit and cute fabric baskets... just to hold Webkinz.

Read some books. "Double Cross" by James Patterson, which inspired me to buy "Mary Mary." "The Manning Sisters" because sometimes a girl just needs to read a romance novel or two. "The Haunting of Josie" by Kay Hooper, which was a quick, but good read. And "Blood Brothers" by Nora Roberts, which I haven't yet read, but am saving for last. Because I think it will be the best.

Kept up with my Haygoods... chatted with my online message board friends (Hey Shanna!) while lamenting the fact that I was not at fan night. But hey, only 76 days. And Annette got my CD. Love Annette!

Used my slow cooker a lot. Tried to talk Dan into buying me a new bread machine. Ordered a necklace tree off ebay (told you I would) and a travel necklace holder because I realized while we were driving all over what a huge pain it is to travel with necklaces without getting them all tangled.

Ate a lot of food, and contemplated getting back into an exercise routine after the new year. It'll happen. Need to find my iPod and load it so I can listen to good music while working out.

Wasn't a bad way to spend a couple of days.

wish I was there

So tonight, in my favorite town, my favorite group will be putting on a free concert for their fans. I really wanted to get there, and I actually had reservations for a hotel, but in the end, my practical side won out. I just couldn't justify the expense of both time and money. Especially when we have 5, yes 5!, trips planned for next year. I'll be one of the first to see the 2008 show, so I'll take some small joy in that. For now, I'm sharing a video created by my girl Shanna, featuring some photos by none other than... me. :) Photos really do say it all....

P.S. Those who are there tonight, have a fun time and stay safe! Don't forget to share all the details! And to the Haygoods... save some energy for next year! I'm looking forward to it!

snow fun

When we got to my parents, the kids were dying to try out the Gramps' sled. Here's some of my favorite photos of that event...

our Christmas

We had a very nice Christmas with just our family last weekend. Dan worked all day in a blizzard, came home, spent 20 minutes digging out our driveway so he could park, then took a hot shower while I made dinner. We had originally planned to go out to dinner, and I was thankful that at the last minute Brady suggested that I just make some meatballs and mashed potatoes. We picked up the ingredients before the snow and it was nice to have a hot meal for Dan to eat after the day he'd spent outside.

The girls were thrilled to add a heap of Webkinz to their collections... I got an amazing deal on eBay and bought every 'Kinz the seller had that we didn't already have. Both the girls and I are addicted to collecting Webkinz!

For their "big" gifts, Mykiah got an iPod shuffle, Ches got an American Girl doll, and Brady got NCAA football 08, and Madden 08. Apparently, they go together.

For those wondering, I got the diamonique eternity band I'd posted here a few weeks ago, a half dozen necklaces and a Jim Shore Minnie Mouse figurine from my family. Dan got a couple of ESPN shirts, a couple of DS games, and that big honking TV that he's been watching for a month. Oh, and our whole family got a PS2 for the living room, Guitar Hero 1, 2 and 3 with 2 guitars, and Singstar Amped! and 80s version. We had some fun last weekend!

snow princess

Saturday, we had blizzard conditions... lots of blowing snow. I was sitting my cozy warm house, watching "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen" with the girls when inspiration struck.

Ches was totally game for putting on a princess dress and playing in the snow. For all of 3 minutes and 7 or 8 photos.

I'm going to scrap them using this fun kit by Kay Miller and Robin Carlton.

Hope everyone is staying warm!

We wish you and your family Seasons Greetings and a Happy New Year!
Dan and Kim
Brady, Mykiah and Chesney

This will be my last blog post for a bit. Today starts the beginning of my family's Christmas celebration and part of that celebration is me trying to stay off the internet for much of the time we are together. Not sure when I'll be back to regular blogging, but I'll be back. Enjoy your holidays! Create some memories!

Holiday video

When I was a kid, this was my favorite show of the holiday season. I remember racing home from school to see it air. Santa had a little sidekick (i.e. puppet) named ToyBoy who helped him count down the days until he went zooming around the big wide world. Zooming and zooming.

Christmas mix

Every year, I do a new Christmas mix CD. I'm lovin' this year's, thanks to some new Christmas CDs being released. Thought I'd share...

Kim's Christmas 07 CD

1. The First Noel by Toby Keith, from his "A Classic Christmas" album.
2. Let It Snow by Lucas Grabeel. Hey, I bought the girls the "Disney Channel Holiday" album. And don't think I'm not sick of hearing Miley Cyrus singing "Rockin Around the Christmas Tree." But I like Lucas, maybe because he's from Springfield, MO (which is pretty darn close to one of my favorite places). Maybe cuz I just like him. But it's a fun song.
3. O Come, All Ye Faithful by Josh Groban and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, from his "Noel" album. I bought 3 songs off this album. Not a huge Josh Groban fan, but if he has the right song, he can sure sing it.
4. Christmas Waltz by Harry Connick, Jr from his "Harry for the Holidays" album. Love this song. Brings back memories of Christmases long ago.
5. Grown Up Christmas List by Michael Buble from his "Let It Snow" EP.
6. The First Noel by Josh Groban and Faith Hill. It's my favorite traditional Christmas song. I'm allowed to put it in my mix twice.
7. Hallelujah He Is Born by Sawyer Brown, from their album of the same name. Positively one of the best non-traditional Christmas songs out there. I went to a lot of trouble to get this song a few years ago, but now you can get it at iTunes. Buy it.
8. Variations on the Kanon by Pachebel, by George Winston, from his December album. I love George Winston music. Absolutely gorgeous.
9. Do You Hear What I Hear, by The Haygoods, from their Christmas album. I've got 2 favorite Christmas songs I love to see and hear them perform. This is one of them.
10. O Come, O Come Emanuel by The Knudsen Brothers on their "Yuletide" album. We see these boys in Branson as Six. A stirring arrangement of the traditional carol.
11. Unto You This Night by Garth Brooks, from his "Beyond the Season" album. One of my older Christmas albums. One of the hidden gems on the album.
12. O Holy Night by Gary Chapman, from his "A Christmas Reunion" album. I'm not a fan of this song when sung by a female, but male voices shine. Love this version.
13. Up On the Housetop, by The Haygoods. This one is for Chesney. She has such a crush on Aaron Haygood, and this is his song.
14. The Friendly Beasts, by Garth Brooks on "Beyond the Season." This is a cute one.
15. Little Drummer Boy -- I had a hard time choosing between the Jars of Clay version and the Catherine Haygood version. I ended up with Catherine on my CD, but I like the Jars of Clay version, too.
16. Angels We Have Heard on High by Josh Groban and Brain McKnight, from Groban's "Noel."
17. Merry Christmas Darling by the Carpenters. Doesn't that bring back some memories? Love me some Carpenters Christmas.
Ah, and we're coming up to the big finale...
18. Mary, Did You Know? by The Haygoods. Dominic Haygood sings lead. I know I've gushed about it enough, but truly the best live performance I've ever seen. Ever felt.
19. Joy to the World by Toby Keith. Gotta close out with an upbeat song...
20. When the King Was Born by Freely Bound. My new favorite contemporary Christmas song. Have I said that already? I mean it. Love this one.

hump day

Two things: Jake Gyllenwhatever for eye candy again. Just because he makes one hot Santa. And it was treacherous out there, trying to find a good looking Santa. Trust me. He'll be coming down on Saturday anyway, as I'll be putting up a traditional Santa for the holiday week.

And a recipe. I'm sure I shared this one last year, and I didn't even make it this year, but it's holiday and it's festive. And one of the first Christmas goodies that I made myself as an adult.
And links to two more of my holiday standards, which I did make last weekend. However, I did not scrap (and in fact have not scrapped in almost 2 weeks), so I don't have recipe cards.

M&M Dream Bars -- I first made these 3 years ago for a cookie exchange. We loved them so much that I now make them every year. Mykiah asked me to make them for her birthday.

Cake Balls -- these were the rage on my digi-scrapping boards last year, so I tried them. The girls loved them, and I actually gave most of them away last year, so this year I made a double batch. Ran out of dipping chocolate before I ran out of balls, so we rolled the extras in powdered sugar, and Ches gives those a huge thumbs up.

We also did dipped pretzel rods. Some I dipped in caramel first, then rolled in diced walnuts, then dipped in chocolate. Some Dan spread with peanut butter, then we dipped in chocolate. Some were just chocolate. Everything got sprinkles. The trick to doing the double dip pretzel rods thing is to freeze them between each step. Spread peanut butter, freeze. Dip in chocolate, freeze. Then I put in freezer bags (as I did the cake balls and bars after I cut them) and save for gifts, trays for Christmas at relatives, etc. Do not put out at home. That's just bad news.