Holiday Shopping Tips for the Men

Take note: this is not intended to be a jab at Aaron. He is a very good gift giver, better than me, actually. But I think almost anyone could benefit from a few basic tips/rules/suggestions for more effective holiday shopping.

So here we go:

1) Don't buy her jewelery. Unless you have really good taste.
2) You probably don't have really good taste.
3) things that are out unless specified on her list: electronics, exercise equipment, cleaning supplies, things for her car.
4) Ask her friends. Ask her friends what their favorite books are, and get her one that she doesn't have yet. Same goes for music and movies.
5) Instead of buying her clothes, give her a gift card to her favorite clothing store. It isn't tacky or impersonal. It's a gift with three purposes. 1) she gets new clothes. 2) You're giving her the gift of shopping. Most women will tell you that at least half the joy of clothing comes from shopping for it. That's why they call it "retail therapy". 3) You are pre-paying the way for her to go blow off some steam the next time you upset her. ;)
6) If you go unique, stick with her style. Don't give a vintage treasure to a contemporary minimalist. Do give the antique butter churner to the farmhouse knick knack collector.
7) Give the gift of time. Time away to relax at a massage, pedicure, or haircut. Time together at a concert, theater, or bed & breakfast (hey, that one probably benefits you too!) Time you spent on fixing/creating something for her.
8) Think ahead. Don't limit yourself to gifts that can only be enjoyed during the winter months. Get her and the kids season passes to the pool, zoo, or amusement park. Plant a bunch of bulbs in the yard when she is out one day, and give her the gift of anticipating a flowery springtime.
9) Think: "What will make her life easier or more enjoyable?" when giving gifts of service.
10) "Stick to the list" but make sure there is at least one surprise for her. Even if it is a pack of her favorite gum or chap stick tucked into her stocking, some hair product one of her friends recommends, or a new kitchen gadget.
11) Try not to sabotage her goals. For example, if you know she has a resolution to lose 20 lbs in 2012, don't give her a gift card to TCBY, and don't stuff her stocking with a 6 month supply of harry and davids. Instead, if you know she wants to read more, get her a book, run more, load up her ipod with good running music or get her a jogger pepper spray, Gatorade, and some Gu, or a cute bag to put her workout gear in. Notice how careful I was to not include a workout video or gym membership in that list of suggestions. Whether she wants to create, travel, write, save, or learn, try to think of ways to build her up and help her do those things, rather than gifting something that will distract or prevent her from doing what she wants. If you give her lessons or supplies for a new hobby, be prepared to support the new hobby by making it easy for her to go to the lessons/class.  Get take out, make arrangements for children, don't schedule anything that will conflict with the schedule and prevent her from going, or make her feel guilty for using the gift.
12) Nothing beats a handwritten note. And words of appreciation are free.
13) Don't write the handwritten note on the piece of rectangular card stock that comes stuck to the bottom of a gift bag.
14) Now, make the holidays easy and go make a list of ideas for her to get for you. There must be at least 10 things on the list that are under $40. Because let's be real. Men are SO much more difficult to shop for than women.


Happy Christmas!

He

brought back fresh ground peanut butter from his trip to San Antonio, yesterday.
He loves me.

Good Mail from Auntie!

We got a package in the mail from my sister, HolleeAnn and brother in law Paul.
Holy Moly.
It is the package of all packages.
Look at that excitement:

It was like one of Oprahs Favorite Things Giveaway episodes. I pulled away the tissue and revealed the contents of the (huge) box) And Quincy's head actually blew off her neck with excitement.

Presents. Presents galore!
Seriously, ga-LORE. Something for everyone! I love me some Halloween decorations!
Glow in the dark trick or treating wands

skull bubble necklaces

halloween dinner plates (cafeteria style-with the cute little compartments for each food-love it!)

halloween bowls

halloween forks and spoons

trick or treat bags (that are hillarious, the monster one for Corbin kills me)

skull fruity snacks with light tweezers to pick them up with (can't wait to reuse the tweezers in preschool!)

a gummy candy stick--this is what truly amazes me about my sister. She totally could have put together a package full of sugary sweets and my kids would have loved it...for 5 minutes. The fact that these and the fruit snacks were the ONLY junk food in the entire package is proof of how thoughtful she is. I do love candy, but I love it even more that she sent a package with fun that would last and last.

Batty heatbands and halloween ribbon headbands

halloween socks! (I will shamefully admit that these have been worn a bit too often already...let's just pretend I do a LOT of laundry, ok? ok.)

should I go on? but wait! there's more...

(I am SURE I am forgetting stuff, there was so much!)

glittery halloween window stickers

halloween kleenex

a light up ghost decoration (LOVE!)

metal dogtag ornaments for our Halloween tree with vintage halloween graphics on them (my fave.)

spider kitchen dishtowels (my other fave)

halloween stamps
A glittery cat head bunting. (I hate cats, but I LOVE this. maybe because they are supposed to be dead.)

spooky skull and spider necklaces that light up
and my (other other) fave, a really cute Roxy shirt that I bought for my cute niece Jordan a few years ago. I loved it so much that I almost bought one for myself. Then, my other cute niece, Taylor got one, too, and when I was reminded of how cute it was I almost bought it again, but didn't.
J's closet was purged awhile ago to make room for new wares, and rather than consign the shirt with the other clothes, HolleeAnn mailed it to me. It's really cute, it fits perfectly, and I love love love that it was recycled back to me! Thanks, sistah!

Thanks for the fun package. Opening present after present that were all selected just for us with love and for no reason other than to bring us happiness filled me with joy and gratitude.

I have such a great family. Even though we live far away from everyone, they make time to show interest in my children. They call and talk to them, to hang pictures of them in their homes, skype, send cards, letters, and emails asking about soccer, talks they gave in church, parties, school, music, and everything else.
They tell my children they love them.
They show my children they love them.

We are so blessed to be recipients of this great love.
Look how happy it makes us!

Happy.
Thanks, Auntie!

Repetition

Aaron looked at the recent photos I posted and informed me, "you are always wearing that same shirt when you blog."

I don't know about you, but what I heard was, "You should go shopping, Meg. Buy yourself a lot of new clothes."

Orange you glad I didn't say banana?

First of all, a BIG thank you to my sister for hosting a super fun "favorite color swap!" I've had a lot of fun getting to know Mimi. Be sure to check out her blog, she is a riot! My package should be arriving at her place tomorrow. I hope she enjoys her box of Red, Green, and Purple!
And..... Check out the loot she sent me! It made me so happy to open a box FULL of orange!

My swap partner, Mimi, and I think alike because our notes to each other are very similar.

1) Obviously, my favorite thing in the box, because it is almost time to decorate for Halloween. I probably should have spaced everything out better so it would be easier to see what the items are. It's a sign (that she made...big brownie points and a gold star there, I heart homemade gifts.) from a wood shingle with a skull and raven silhouette on it. It says, "Keep Calm and Scary On". So freaking awesome. It's going in my entryway. Possibly year round...

2) a tiny orange notebook

3) an orange pumpkin shaped cookie cutter....I will be baking very soon.

4) Reese's peanut butter cups (don't ask how many are left, I opened the package ONE hour ago and...it's sort of embarassing)

5) Candy Corn!!! It is officially Fall.

6) what the what? Caramel candy corn----where have these been all my life?

7) this is my other fave. Orange oven mit and potholder. I am in a permanant state of shortage when it comes to oven mitts because aaron likes to wear them when he adds logs to the fire. YES. We DO own fireplace gloves. But why not destroy a nice, colorful oven mitt instead? I cannot count on one hand the number of times Aaron has dashed out to the front yard with a flaming mitt on his hand to shove into the snow. These cute orange mitts are my only pair that aren't scortched and they are off limits.

8) A beautiful soft orange scarf. I totally love this and I actually can't believe that I don't already own one. I can't believe Mimi took the time to make it for me! I LOVE it! Thank you, Mimi!

9) a scented candle! It has a citrus ginger scent and it is really really refreshing. Wishing I'd had this around a few months ago when I was nauseous every day. It will definitely be a favorite in the future if I get prego again.

10) yum, the other scented candle just makes me hungry. It is "cinnamon roll" scented. To me, it smells like homemade caramel. It's already burning in my kitchen. That way, at least people THINK I'm baking...

11) and to add to my autumn decor, a wood pumpkin that says, Blessings on it. Time to get the rest of my decorations out, I think!


I am so glad I participated in this swap! It was really fun to shop for Mimi, and we've exchanged a few emails and she makes me laugh a lot. She's a good friend of my sister's and I can totally see why. Thanks, Mimi! You are great! I love my box of orange!









To go to my sister (the lovely swap hostess)'s blog and see what other people got in their favorite color packages all over the country, click here. She'll have a linky party set up there. What a great way to start off the week!

Swappy

My sister has a blog. Do you read it? You should! She is cute and fun and she gives away like a fazillion things every single week! I love her Happy List posts the most because they are such a nice contrast to all of the whining and complaining on the internet (um...scroll down on my blog to see what I'm talking about. guilty as charged.).

Another thing she is great at is hosting good mail swaps! Who doesn't love to get a package in the mail? Presents? Sign me up!
This particular swap is a favorite color swap....meaning I get to shop around and fill a package of cute stuff in my partner's favorite color, and she will do the same for me.

A box full of spicy orange fun for me!

I'm so excited about this (can you tell?). It's been a few years since I've done one of HolleeAnn's swaps, but last time, I made a new friend. Lately, I've trying to reach out of my comfort zone a little to really get to know other people. I am aware that I am much better at talking than listening, so I'm hoping this swap will be a lil' step toward changing that. I can't wait to see who my partner will be this time and put together a fab package for her!

Thanks, HolleeAnn, for hosting!

Be Mine, Valentine

Some photos to accompany Aaron's post:

I didn't take any pictures of us the night we went out to see Mamma Mia.

I really wish that I had, because we looked pretty decent.
It was a fun show. I do like the movie better, but you just can't beat Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried. The actress that played Sophie in the play looked and sounded just like Maeby from Arrested Development, and I had a difficult time not wondering if she was actually just a 16 year old that was skipping school and living a double life where she pretended to be a professional actress/movie producer ;)

On the actual Valentine's Day, we decided to go to dinner as a family.

Here we have Corbin, eating everything in sight, including a napkin and some crayons.

And here is Quincy cutting up her food, but not actually eating any of it.

Reese ordered cheese pizza with bacon on it, spaghetti, and an orange italian soda. Quincy had a cherry italian soda and some bread. Corbin ate a full loaf and a half of bread. I probably ate the same. Everything was really good. I'm in love with the spicy romano chicken bowtie pasta there. Yum.

We kept things pretty simple for Valentine's Day this year.

Reese and I made her homemade valentines on one of the days that we were snowed in. Half of them open the wrong direction, or the writing inside is upside down, but I think they are the cutest things ever.

For Quincy's valentines, we downloaded and printed the valentines that "cousin Jenny" (that's what my girls call you, Jenny...cute, right?) designed for her work. We attached them to little boxes of conversation hearts. I made peanut butter chocolate suckers for my girls and the kids in my preschool class, with a note that says, "You are a hoot!".

And since it was Jacob's last day of preschool, his also says, "I will 'owl'-ways be your friend."

For my Valentine, I purchased no lingerie, just showed up for dinner dressed the way he likes me best: sloppy ponytail, jeans, and a t-shirt. Nothing fancy.

but not just any old tshirt, either (y'all know how Aaron feels about tshirts)...

I wore a Lakers shirt

...to go with the Lakers shirt that I got for him for Valentine's day. (Can I just point out that buying my husband another tshirt is a sign of true love? 'cuz it is.)

His and Hers Lakers shirts.

Now we can be that couple.

At least it's not his and hers matching haircuts. (Flowbee, anyone?)

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's Cookie Time!

We made some conversation heart cookies while we were snowed in, yesterday.

Buttercream Frosting:
4 c powdered sugar
1 stick butter, softened (DO NOT substitute some wanna be butter product, here.)
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp almond extract
1/4-1/2 c whipping cream ---and that is how you get perfect buttercream frosting. Yum.

Combine the sugar, butter, vanilla and almond extract in the mixer, and slowly drizzle in the cream until the frosting is at the desired consistency. Continue to mix on high for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.

Mmmmm, eat some right off the spoon.

ok, let's be honest, I licked the frosting right off the paddle on the kitchen aid on it's way to the dishwasher.

The girls dumped 1/2 a container each of pink, red, and chocolate sprinkles on their cookies (which were more like sprinkles with a little cookie on them), and I made these for my friend Tia, who recently welcomed a baby girl to her home:

Tia-there are cookies coming your way as soon as your street gets plowed ;)

a few pics of the baby shower decorations coming up next.

I Chose My Love and I Love My Choice

For the past few years, I have been saving.
About a year and a half ago, I really started saving.
Cash.
In an envelope. Stashed.


I wanted to surprise Aaron on our 10th Wedding Anniversary with a vacation fund. I know you probably think it is totally lame and unsentimental to give my husband CASH for our Anniversary, but it isn't like that, at all.


It's an act of love, as all $2915 that I have saved, so far, has not come out of a paycheck.
It isn't money that I just moved from one bank account to another and it isn't from my preschool, either. It is cash I have saved from babysitting, our summer garage sale, birthday money, etc.

{See that, HolleeAnn? "never underestimate the power of small change. Cha-ching!" hahaha}

It is one thing to have money in your account. But that money has been spoken for.
Budgeted for living expenses, college funds, retirement, food, new car, whatever. We have a vacation fund. This will just be like icing on the cake and mean we can do extra fun things on that vacation.

"This is found money, Jerry!" -George Costanza

I also had a plan that the money that I end up saving by using cloth diapers would be deposited monthly and added to this little fund. Cuz that way, when Aaron asked 'where all the cash came from', I could honestly tell him 'it is a reward for all the $#!t I have had to deal with!'


So yeah, I have a money stash.
I also realize that this makes me sound a little bit like a granny-with-getaway-cash-under-her-mattress, but whatever.

I wanted it to be a surprise, and if it went into the bank, it wouldn't be.

And weird, tacky, unsentimental, lame, crazy, or not...wouldn't YOU love for someone to give you $1000?

I thought so.

Unfortunately, 5 months early, my Big Secret came cRaShInG dOwN last night, when I was foolishly adding some money from babysitting yesterday to the stash while Aaron was home.

(Do you see where this is going?)

Since I knew I was getting close to my $3000 goal, I (again, foolishly) decided to count it.

(Don't do it, Meg! Don't count the money!)

There I was, counting out the bills, like a little kid does when she is saving up for a new toy, when in walks Aaron.

And I am standing there with an armfull of money.

I think he thought I was planning to run away, or something.

BUSTED.

Happy Anniversary, My Love.

He loves my unsentimental, lame, thrifty, crazy-paranoid-granny of a gift, and we looked at a map and, like we often do, we started talking about where we are going to go on our Big Trip.
And more than the actual gift, he was surprised by my ability to keep it a secret for so long.


He decided it wasn't fair for him to be the only one receiving an early present, and told me he bought tickets for us to go see this, on Saturday!


I LOVE this musical. Can't wait! I hope the roads are clear enough by Saturday to get to Fayetteville!
Happy (Early) Anniversary to him.
Happy (Early) Valentine's Day to me.

Insert theme song from Rocky here.

***if you are new to the blog, or unfamiliar with the Lawrence Family tradition of the Almond Box and want to read the back story to fully understand the annual Almond Box posts, click the tag labeled The Box at the end of the post *****


A few packages arrived in the mail yesterday afternoon.

Presents!
Ok, I know I'd just said I would be selfish to ask for anything more, today, but I did ask for these.

Also, I don't turn presents away.

Everyone had just gotten up from their naps, so Aaron played Santa and passed out the gifts. We opened a bunch of lovely gifts from my sister Amy's family. My favorite is the puppet theater backdrop. The girls are thrilled to have a venue for their performances, and I know this will get a lot of use by my preschoolers, as well. Also, the running sweatband (that I'm wearing in the video) has a "super mom" logo on it that makes me laugh, because I feel like anything BUT a "super mom" when I abandon my family to go running. I've been wanting one of these bands for awhile, and it is a much needed addition to my running "gear" (scroll down to winter warrior video if you haven't seen it, yet.) Thanks, Oelrichs!

Anyway, there were many many other gifts to open and it was like Christmas morning all over again! I was helping Corbin take the packaging off his new truck, when Aaron plopped what appeared to be a very heavy, yet VERY familiar wrapped present next to me.


I didn't even see who's name was on the tag, but I froze.
Stunned.
Then I smiled.


"I know what that is, Aaron."

"What? That present? It's heavy. It's for you."


"That is the Almond Box."


He said, "no way, you can't tell. It's wrapped!"


But I KNEW. All of the Lawrence Kids know. The distict not-quite-square shape, the spongy feel of the thick thick cardboard, the rounded worn edges.

Aaron had some technical difficulties when video recording the opening of the gift, but it's just as well, as I'm pretty sure I sounded like a spoiled little brat when I squealed, "Eat that suckahs!" or something similar to my siblings.

My parents have never mailed the Almond Box. It has always been wrapped on Christmas Eve, and opened on Christmas Morning. For 30 years. The Christmas after I was married, I made up new rules when I launched my campaign, and declared a "must be present to win" stipulation. I thought it would increase my odds of receiving the Almond Box, since my brother and his wife are always in Utah Christmas morning. Instead, I drastically DEcreased them, since I have only been home on Christmas morning twice since then, and one of those years, the box went to Aaron. I am never 'present to win', dangit!

The familar shaped present sat on my living room floor, and I was near certain that it was what I hoped it was. If I made up the rules 10 years ago, why can't someone else change them? "must be present to win" wasn't working out so well anymore, anyway, since my parents were out of town on Christmas for 3 out of the last 6 years.

Did they really change the rules, and decide to MAIL the Almond Box TO it's recipient?

Bah ba ba bah bah ba baaaaaaaaaa!

YES!
Yes they did! Booyah! Pictured above is the REAL DEAL.

The other new rule my parents have come up with, this year, is that from now on, each recipient holds the responsibility of choosing who gets the Box the following year.

I feel so powerful. Now, I promised myself after last week's confessional, that I try to I'd keep the Big Brother refrences to a minimum. I'm failing to keep that promise, as

I can't help but refer to my nonbox-holding brothers and sisters and husband as the "Have Nots", this week.

Dear Have Nots,
Better luck next year. Let this turn of events remind you that even though this precious box has not had my name on it since 1997, and it would have been another easy year to gift the box to another child, Mom and Dad just couldn't live a lie anymore. They slapped my name on that bad boy and sent it in the mail as a reminder to everyone that I always have been and forever will be Mom and Dad's favorite child. And also that I am the best. ever.

King me,

Meg Almond Box winner 2010

Inside, was another surprise. A real gift! Usually the Almond Box holds something unexciting or lame, like underwear or socks. But my gift was way better than the norm (should I really expect anything less? I mean, I am the favorite and all).

I was incredibly touched to find Grandma Lawrences antique pressing iron inside.
I must say, I admire it almost as much as I admire seeing my name written on the Almond Box.

Aaron laughed and said he's never seen me look so happy while holding an iron.

I reminded him, that according to the new rules, he'd better start kissing up to me a little more, or that box is sure to say someone else's name on it, come Christmas.

He made up for his snarky comment and for not actually recording the fabulous grand opening the Box, by catching this little snippet of the Box and I snuggling on the sofa.

I was a little (very) emotional, and unshowered.

For your viewing pleasure:

Wow.

The Almond Box. Mine, at last.

Just an hour before the package arrived, I'd said that 'it would be selfish to ask for anything more' on this perfect Tuesday.

it managed to get even more perfect!

Lucky Me.

Thanks Mom and Dad! I Love you!

Fashion Show! Fashion Show! Fashion Show at lunch!

After nearly 10 years of marriage, I have come to the conclusion that I am not the one and only love of my husband's life.

That's right. Aaron has a relationship on the side:

with his t-shirts.

These aren't just any t-shirts.

T-shirts to Aaron are like cats to lonely old ladies.

Yeah. He takes in all the strays and freebies, and even if they aren't a good match with his current family of shirts, he adopts them anyway, because he is too emotionally attached to get rid of them.

To "help" Aaron with his t-shirt hoarding, I took the 20 or so shirts that hadn't been worn in several years, and put them in a storage basket in the top of our closet.

Recently, Aaron had a panic and went searching for them. Oh the excitement on his face when he rescued them from hibernation. He sentimentally went through the stack, giving each abandoned cat some much needed love and affection as he tried them all on.

Let's meet the Felidae:

First up, The Billabong Shirt. This baby was part of Aaron's regulart t-shirt rotation when we were dating. I remember thinking, "I am 18. He is 24. 24 is kind of old. Definitely too old to be sporting Billabong."

That was 11 years ago. He still wears the shirt, occasionally.

Next, Quicksilver. Also from the 10-15 yrs old collection. This was actually a nice shirt in it's prime.

Back when it was light blue. Excessive washing and wearing has faded it to an unsightly seafoam white. the collar and sleeves are threadbare.

we had to take a break for a sniff-test.

The Souvenier Maui shirt was brought back by my parents, from Hawaii, for Aaron in 2001. There is a big tear across the chest caused by some branches he was clearing out of the backyard. It also got chainsaw oil spilled on it (which is what put it into retirement)...I think that's what he was sniffing for.

And now, a video clip to demonstrate just how much he loves his t shirts:

Do you see how excited he is to "introduce" you to his cats t-shirts?

Following the Sleeveless Fresno State shirt, he modeled the 1994 Santa Clarita Stake Basketball Champs T-shirt. This shirt has become less of a threat, because when it hit 20 years old it was given "heirloom status", so the risk of him wearing it out in public is minimal.

The Enormous Green Bay Packer's Shirt also got pushed out of my concern, because we're in Razorback country, now, and no one cares about the NFL.

When we were engaged, we painted our ghetto kitchen table a crackled red. It was pretty rad. Unfortunately, Aaron's BYU Intramural Basketball Champion shirt was splattered with red paint. He still keeps it, but is bitter about not being able to trophy it around on his person anymore.

There are easily 40 more shirts. Just as dirty. Just as faded. Just as old. Just as holey. And just as loved by my husband as the other shirts. Monogamy is too cruel a rule for this guy.

Until Christmas.

Aaron gave me one present that was better than all of his other gifts to me, combined. A gift that changed everything. A gift that tells me how much he truly loves me.

First, a little back story for those of you who didn't watch Big Brother last Summer are respectable human beings. Let me fill you in, the last house guest to be kicked out of the Big Brother house was Enzo, the insurance adjuster from Jersey (WOW am I really typing this? Yes. Yes I am. Confession: We totally watched Big Brother last Summer. Moving on...) Enzo got "the shun" by Big Brother and was forced to hand over his clothes, and wear a Penguin Suit for a week. (Still with me? Ok.) At the end of the week, the houseguests gathered around for a ceremonial "shunning" of the Penguin Costume.
They "Shunned the Shun".

And because Aaron is Aaron, he would randomly shout, "shun the shun!" for weeks after the episode, when anyone in our house would complain about not liking something, particularly.

And because Quincy is Aaron's kid, she picked up on it, and still says "Shun the shun" for no reason at all.

Ok, back on track here.....
Aaron gave me one truly FABULOUS Christmas gift. A gift that supercedes all over Christmas Gifts ever given.

A Shirt Shunning.

Forget Penguin costumes, I get to select a shirt to shun, and it's utter destruction will ceremoniously be documented in an upcoming post.

My selection?
The Alpha Male of fugly t shirts.
The Big Don Dada.

It's only appropriate that we begin with the 15 year old Sacrificial Belizean Nakie Guy Shirt.

How should we go about handling the 2011 Shirt Shun?

Will it be cut into a fazillion pieces?

Burned by fire?

Eaten by cats?

Rescued by Hoarder Henry?

Hanging? Stoning? (not with My Love wearing it, of course)

What will be the fate of Mr. Tied Up Fugly Shirt?

I think we need a contest.

Let's hear your best suggestions for t-shirt destruction.

Winner gets a Championship Ring, bragging rights for removing something unsightly from the earth, and of course, a Free t-shirt.

Contest closes at mignight on Thursday, January 13th.

Leave a comment. Enter now!

We interrupt this marriage to bring you the NBA finals.

Father's Day is this coming Sunday.
I couldn't have picked a better man to help me raise our brood.

And nothing says, "thank you for being the father of my children" like a Lakers tshirt.
He really wants one. Probably to go with the nasty Lakers shorts that he's rescued from the trash/fireplace/garage sale bin 100 times.

But which one?
I think the yellow is a little loud. Loud does not = Aaron, unless it's for the Lakers. Then that yellow is the perfect hue. I think he'd like the phrase on it. It's one that comes up often in our home.

Or...
on this site, you can make a "custom" Lakers shirt. It's like one of those Barbie computer games designed for 8 yr old girls, where you have a blank shirt and you choose a color, then put the "stickers" on the shirt. I had fun playing with that for awhile. Maybe I just give him a credit and let him make his own shirt? Will he like it more if he "designs" it himself? Like Build a Bear for grown men.

I Got You a Little Something...

Marge dropped a birthday gift off for Corbin.
Shall we take a look at what's inside the Christmas Bag?

...
...
drumroll please
...
...

Why it's two pairs of tanning goggles!

Just what every one year old needs!
Happy Birthday, Corbin!

Is this simply a side effect of her Alzheimer's?

Is the dropping hints that I need to do something about my white legs?

Maybe she is trying to tell Corbin to enjoy his porcelain skin while he's young, because he will be mocked for his whiteness later in life.

OR...
she plans on me seeing her naked again, and wants to protect my eyes (and brain) from future scarring. Yes, that must be it. How nice of her to think of me.

I am now taking suggestions for what to write on the thank-you card.

Holiday Goodness

Check out the cute package that arrived from my sistah last week!
yep. Everything inside was wrapped! It was Christmas up in the Willy house!
just LOOK at the excitement on that face! Yes. that is purple hair attached to a headband. Totally obnoxious dress up clothes...Auntie knows what they want all right.

hilarious.

Baby guy was not left out of the fun, either! He "opened" a rack a stack and some freaking cute clothes that he'll be sporting in photos to be posted on the bloggy shortly.


So these videos make my kids look pretty much like the greediest children you've evah seen. They tore through those presents SO FAST, then spent the evening (and all week playing with them).


That's right, holiday extravaganza included Easter dresses with matchie matchie dresses for their dolls. Awesome. I'm sure they'll accessorize with the Hannah Montana and Disney Princess purses (that will be stuffed to the max with horses, lacing shapes, finger puppets, hair curlers, books, flash cards, and all of the other goodies they opened this weekend! Thanks Auntie!

She sent some lovely gifts for Aaron and I to enjoy as well...so thoughtful, one made me cry. Pictures later. Love it. Love her.