Christmas Around the Campfire

A special Christmas Eve treat we are going to enjoy tonight will be Smores on a Stick thanks to the wonderful people at Craft Magazine for sharing this wonderful idea. The project originated on White on Rice Couple. They pops are very simple and a wonderful way for me to us my torch which doesn't get much use these days.

Their recipe as a little more complicated than my process, but it was the same idea. I simple melted some Wilton Chocolate Melts with a little bit of Crisco in the microwave. Then I dipped each Marshmallow in the chocolate and shook off the excess before putting it on the stick. I then sprinkled the chocolate with crushed graham crackers before letting them sit on a plate. Tonight before we enjoy them I will toast the Marshmallows with my torch, warming them and giving them that gooey campfire yumminess.

We're betting the kids will love them if they all live to see Christmas Eve. They are currently fighting in the other room - at least Lex and Gigi. Ahhh...the Christmas Spirit. Well I'm off to make sugar cookies for Santa.

Christmas Top 25: Part 2

If you missed the first part of this post take a moment to read Christmas Top 25: Part 1. Here are the remaining 7.

19. Receiving a Christmas card from my brother and sister-in-law that doesn't have inappropriate photo for the first year and I don't know how long.
20. .... (I promised Mad Dog I would put this in. I'm sure you can see the smile on his face from wherever you are.)
21. Lex trying to pee in the snow yelling at Loki, "I'm PEEING in the snow Loki!" all in the parking lot of the Dunkin' Donuts.
22. Explaining to my boss how you stick an Oreo on a stick and losing it.
23. Loki having a Go-Yurt and finding that it was more like the rug and the blue chair had it for breakfast.
24. Finding out that the town of Warren, RI has a Parker Avenue and a Parker Street and that Fedex doesn't know the difference.
25. Knowing that my brother lost his gumdrop buttons and is making my sister-in-law crazy.

A Snowman's Dilemma

Okay this will be very quick, but I had to post this. Last night I stopped at Whole Foods in Bellingham on my way home from work. After picking up a few things I needed I checked out their Bakery. If you haven't done this before YOU SHOULD. They have the most amazing bakery.

I picked up this cupcake for Lex. How cool is that? They had other ones, a Santa, Snowflakes,etc - but a Snowman with glasses I couldn't pass it up. The cupcakes are $3.99 each and huge. Lex loved it, and Mad Dog and I got to steal little pieces off - it was yummy. Even the next morning the few little pieces left in the bowl where moist.

You're probably upset with me since I said I got one for Lex and not Lo-Lo, huh? If you know our Loki, you know she is not a cupcake girl or anytime of sweet treat girl really. I picked up a little container of mixed berries for her. The selection has strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. She enjoyed them as much if not more than Lex enjoyed his cupcake.

Christmas Top 25: Part 1

With the craziness of the holiday season on us, I thought I would put together a few highlights - good, bad, funny, annoying, etc regarding our season this year. My thought was that it would be a kind of Twelve Pains of Christmas, but there were going to be far more than twelve. Since today is December 18th, I will list 18 of the final 25. I would like to note that some of these relate to myself and Mad Dog, but some are just things I couldn't pass up from friends. I won't be explaining all of them, but you can always ask me when you see me - I'll be happy to explain. I do hope you enjoy, they are meant in the kindest way.

1. Sending Mad Dog to American Girl for a dog (D-O-G) and getting a GOAT. 
2. The Forgotten Elf on the Shelf (or my version the Shelf on the Elf) - was a hit for like 3 days and now he is possibly a CSI crime case.
3. A Breakfast Happy Ending
4. Christmas Socks 
5. Cupcake Aprons - Thank you Secret Santa!
6. Trying to explain to Lex it's Christmas we're waiting for not HALLOWEEN.
7. Lex handing out Mellow-pops to Lowe's Employees.
8. Our LEGO holiday gift! (Read all about it in O' LEGO Tree)
9. Listening to The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore - gets me in th Christmas Spirit or the Zombie Spirit (no wait that was The Walking Dead)
10. Trying to get Loki to sit on Santa's Lap at Bass Pro Shop. NOT!
11. Knowing I'm getting an iShuffle for my audio books! WOOHOO! No Bounce, No Play!
12. Customer who don't have their VIP Cards, their receipt and want the world. (Sorry Mad Dog - remember the "Happy" customers will come back soon).
13. Employee discount requests.
14. Waiting for flight information regarding Gabrielle's arrival only to find out she doesn't have a return flight AGAIN! (Coming this Tuesday for those wanting to know). 
15. Christmas Card "shopping" to get the best deal, discount or as many free. Mad Dog thinks I have a black board out back with all my calculations and NASA want to learn my secret. 
16. Having my Brother call me at 11 o'clock at night to ask if his nephew actually gets erections at age       31/2.  -Oh and then asking him if he really called me at eleven o'clock at night to ask me this, because he just interrupted Mad Dog and I were having sex and he was on top of me and...(he hung up at that point). Merry Christmas Sean - I think you'll find you can't fit a bow on that one! (Mad Dog - don't even go there).
17. Making Graham Cracker Houses with the kids (Check out: I Don't Need No Stinkin' Gingerbread). 
18. Going into Whole Foods for some cheese and a little seafood and coming out $36.00 dollars lighter. However I will say the cupcake - FABULOUS; the crab cakes - PHENOMENAL  and Loki eating and LOVING her berries - PRICELESS. 

O' LEGO Tree

One of the new things I look forward to every year (and hopefully it will continue for sometime) is Mad Dog's employee gift from LEGO. Last year they started a new tradition  in the LEGO Group - a specially developed LEGO gift for all employees around the world.

In 2009 each LEGO employee received a LEGO Heart, as a symbol of the reintroduction of one of their six values - caring. The LEGO gift accompanied a wonderful gift Tapas servicing set from a European company called EGO Together . I love the set we received last year and though I think (I could be completely wrong about this) Mad Dog was a bit baffled by the gift, we have used it and enjoyed it ever since.

This years gift was even better. With the launch of LEGO Games internationally this year, the company made an obvious choice to develop and design a unique game for it's employees. With the focus of this time of year on friends and family what better way to celebrate that then to gather around a fun game.

The 2010 gift includes a special collectors edition of Happy Holidays: The Christmas Game. It's Christmas, and Santa needs his reindeer to deliver all the colorful gifts under the tree. Pile the gifts onto the sleighs, fly the reindeer around the tree, and try to collect the most presents. Build the tallest stack of gifts of two colors to win! The game comes with all the piece to build and play. We're very excited about this and are looking forward to playing this possibly Christmas Day at my Mom's.

Along with the game we also received another wonderful gift set from EGO Together. Part of my love for their products is the design of their line. The company based in Denmark has an amazing design aesthetics and beautifully crafted pieces are a special treat (they tease me with the catalog they include). This year we received pieces from their Bamboo "MAGNETficent" textile series. The products are made from sustainable bamboo. The set included two pot holders with small magnets in the corner instead of a loop that will break after tons of use, a dish towel and apron (perfect for Mad Dog since I got a  new apron for Christmas - wait for another post). The set also included a metal mounting plate that can be attached anywhere and the pieces can hang from. I'm sure Mad Dog thinks I'm crazy after seeing how excited I was over the set. 

I love the employee gift we receive each year from LEGO and the idea that there are other LEGO employees all around to world opening their e gift just like us. I like that LEGO gives their employees not only a special gift of play, but they also give something else that compliments one of their 6 values - DESIGN. Though a huge part of LEGO is of course creativity and play, what makes LEGO so great is their timeless design. This is part of the reason that even if Mad Dog didn't work for the company they would be a huge part of our lives. The learning and creative properties of the "toy" are timeless and allow our children to grow with each new building they destroy and rebuild. 

Thank you LEGO for another wonderful year and an amazingly thoughtful gift. 

L is for Lovely and Loki

Today was Loki's Birthday. She turned two. Because we're thick into the shopping season and Mad Dog had to work part of today, we started her birthday festivities off early last night. While I was at work Friday, Mad Dog made a chocolate cake for her birthday. The plan was I would pick up frosting on my way home from work along with an added gift since Lex decided he had to wrap something for his baby sister.

When I arrived home Lex and I slipped away to wrap the Tangled book I picked up for Loki from Lex. He did a good job helping wrap the gift. After that my plan was to tint the frosting I picked up pink, but realized when I was going through my cake gels I didn't have a pink so violet was the back-up plan. Violent Violet. If this it's not a rock n' roll shade of purple I don't know what is. Lex and Loki helped put the finishing touches on the cake. They both worked very hard on their individual sections of the cake. We managed to hold them off for a few minutes while Mad Dog and I put our pizza's in the oven, since neither of us had eaten yet.

We all sang Happy Birthday to her, and she managed to blow out her candle. I think she was a little confused about the whole thing, but I'm not positive. After they had cake and Mad Dog ate some pizza she opened presents. Lex of course wanted to "help" which in a 3 year old's world means open them all by himself and maybe allow her to play with them by the time she is 18. This didn't fly with Mad Dog and I. We repeatedly had to tell him to stop and at one point Mad Dog had him sit in his lap and held him to prevent him from interfering in her opening of her gifts. For her 2nd birthday we decided we would get her a baby doll. I selected the Fisher Price Little Mommy Sweet as Me Doll. The doll is not a baby, but a toddler which measures 14". Along with the doll she got a little stroller and a feeding set for her doll, which came in a bag with bottles, a bowl with spoon and fork and a burp cloth. She fell in love immediately. We still haven't named the doll yet, but she is very well loved. Loki takes her for walks making sure she is strapped into the stroller. She feeds her and tells the doll to blow her nose when she holds the burp cloth up to her face. Lex of course wants to help and like most protective young mother Loki won't hear of it. She yells at him anytime he touches the doll and cries if he tries to leave the room with it. Last night the two went to bed (the doll and Loki) and we heard Loki talking to it in her crib well after Lex has fallen asleep.

Today after morning errands and Build & Grow, Lex, Loki and I went to Mansfield to my Mom's. The kids got to see Nonna, Nana and Papa as well as Uncle Kevin and Uncle Brent. We had a little birthday cake for Lo-Lo and Uncle Brent made cupcakes (STRAWBERRY ones) for Loki as well. She had a wonderful time and really enjoyed the Happy Birthday singing this time.


On the way home the three of us picked up McDonald's and ate when we got home while we watched Sprout. Both kids got to stay up a little bit to watch Frosty on TV, before going to bed. Loki took her doll and they were tucked in together.

It's so odd to think it has been two years. She is such a little person of her own. She has so much personality and is very head strong. Mad Dog will sarcastically say he doesn't know where she gets that from (as he looks directly at me), but I guess if there was anything I wanted her to have it would be a strong will to be her own little person. I'm enjoying this time with the kids, this age where they are becoming little people and seeing how different they are from one another. I can't say we've raised them exactly the same, because I see that there are things I would have not stood for with Lex that I see myself ignoring with her.

But none of that matters, what matters is today my little girl, my baby is two. She is another year older, smarter and prettier. Happy Birthday Lo-Lo. I love you Sunshine.

December 11th: Our Birthday Girl

On December 11th a little girl came into our lives. Her name is Loki Chihiro. Tomorrow she will be two. Somethings you should know about her. Other than that, please enjoy the photos and see how she has grown the past 2 years.

She love peanut butter sandwiches.

She can kick Lex's ass.

She's a Daddy's Girl.

She can talk when she "wants to".

She's fearless!

She's a tiger trapped in a little girls body.

She loves strawberries more than anything else.

She's got ninja skills.

She can sit through a whole movie in the movie theater with no trouble.

She doesn't like "little" dogs.

 She doesn't like when Lex touches her.

She is ticklish all over.

She love doesn't know who she loves more Buzzy or Woody.

She doesn't know Daddy is building a tower for her as we speak.

She is named after the Norse God of Mischief.

She like looking through Daddy's Comic boxes.

She has the power to make it snow in Fort Lauderdale, FL (ask Sean).

 She has a rock n' roll heart.

She is completely independent.

She has a temper that could rival Mount Saint Helens.

She has been to her own comic book collection.


She is my sunshine.

She is Lex's Best Friend.

She said about 20 new words tonight, when Lex asked her to say them.

She has blue eyes.

Her middle name means "A thousand questions".

She can put her coat on over her head.

She can walk up and down our stairs with no help.

She love Maine.

She is beautiful and full of sweetness.

She doesn't like chocolate.