My Letter to Santa

My friend Sarah forwarded me this in an e-mail. Thought it was too fun to not share. ENJOY! Merry Christmas!

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children
on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor and sold
Sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the
school playground. I was hoping you could spread my list out over Several
Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red Crayon, on
the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows
when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple,
which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze, but
are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the
grocery store. I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the
seventh month of my last pregnancy.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint
resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music, a television
that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals, and a
refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide
to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, 'Yes, Mommy'
to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and
three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power
tools. I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting 'Don't eat
in the Living room' and 'Take your hands off your brother,' because my
voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be
heard by the dog.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time
to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of
eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Sty
rofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten
the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a
Vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if
you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding
payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is calling and my son saw my feet
under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe
trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry
off so you don't catch cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table but
don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always,
MOM...

P.S. One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my
children young enough to believe in Santa.

Joshua's School Christmas Party

Joshua is truly enjoying his kindergarten year! We are truly blessed to have the same teacher that Marissa had for kindergarten. Joshua just adores Mrs. Meyers! He had a fun class party where he got to create a reindeer sandwich and make a reindeer hat. It was pajama day at school, so it was funny to get up in the morning and tell Joshua to put on his pajamas so that he could go to school! We are now off til January 5th...Merry Christmas Everyone!

Feliz Navidad!

Wow, my early memories of Christmas surely came back when I made and ate homemade tamales. I found out that my friend makes tamales nearly every year with her family. My mom's family always made them when I was growing up. It was always the kids job to help. Now that I am a mom, I think that they put us to work to keep us out of trouble. As long as the kids are busy, no fighting was necessary. I did remember hating my job of cleaning the husks. Well, this was all done along with all the other grueling prep work was done by Sarah's mom. All I had to do was show up! I showed up ready to work and Sophia in tote. Sophia had a fun time playing with her friends and sneaking up on the Mexican Sweet Bread! My job was upgraded.....I got to be the matza filler. I have to say, it was a tricky job....can;t have too much or tooo little matza...it has to be just right! Thank you so much Sarah and Connie for allowing me help you out and demolish some good old fashioned tamales. My Christmas Wish certainly came true this year!

Family Christmas Pictures in Encinitas

This year we had our pictures taken on Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. The morning was beautiful and the beach is always very relaxing...well, except when you are trying to get a good picture that is Christmas card worthy. You see it is already difficult when you have an uncooperative 2 year old, but then add that to a clowny 5 year old...the combination is a disaster! We were very fortuate that Carol has the patience of a saint and she contined to snap away. Here are some of the better shots.... and the last one was a rather typical shot of Joshua that morning.

We bought our Christmas tree today!

The kids had a lot of fun going to get our Christmas tree today. Now we are all even more excited about Christmas. Sophia just loved roaming through the trees at Home Depot. It's a good thing we weren't out in the forest looking to cut down our own tree, or we would have lost her for sure. She was all over that tree lot. She loved playing around the little potted Christmas trees. The kids were so excited to get their tree home, eat their dinner, put their jammies on...and then decorate the tree. WOW, what a day!

A Very Disneyland Christmas!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

We had a nice family day at the Happiest Place on Earth on Wednesday! The kids get off early on Wednesdays so we decided to take advantage of it once again and hit Disneyland before the BIG Christmas Breaks. The weather was perfect and the place was not very crowded. The best part was that dad took the day off and got to go with us. It's always more fun with daddy there, but even more fun because daddy has a nose for treats! when he smells them, he has to have them. Therefore, we get to CHOMP our way through Disneyland. This time our major chomping was done at the Carnation Ice Cream Parlour on Main Street.
We had a lovely time and even got to stay for the Christmas Parade. The kids enjoyed the snow! Might be the only place in Southern California where it snows in the city. Now that's just one other reason to call it the Happiest Place on Earth!

Easy Yummy Festive Christmas Cookies

Here is a family Christmas Cookie recipe that is easy and fun. We love them!
ENJOY!

Raspberry Filled Butter Cookies

Cream 2 sticks of butter with 1/2 cup sugar
Mix 2 cups flour
Roll into 1" balls & place on a cookie sheet.
Put hole 1/2 way through top of each balls.
Fill with raspberry jam.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Makes about 2 1/2 dozen.