Christmas 2011

Yes, I know it is January 3rd, but I wanted to post my Christmas letter if only for myself. I wanted to make sure I had it for posterity sake. Oh, and feel free to sing it out loud, it goes to Jingle Bells.

Flying ‘round the Cape, taking children here and there,

Could I stay in shape? While on my derriere?

Social media is my friend, of writing I am fond,

Photography is a trend, but I need a magic wand.

Oh, silly girls, silly girls, laughing all the way,

Oh what fun we like to have, living near the bay.

B is at the pool, 5 whole nights a week,

She does well at school, while looking mighty chic.

K’s holding court, whether at school, ring or stage

Cheerleading’s her sport, this summer earned a wage.

(refrain)

We saw Bruno Mars, Phineas and Ferb Live,

Both girls look like stars, no braces! Sakes alive!

Traveling can be fun, and we did our fair share,

LA had lots of sun, at people we did stare.

(refrain)

Texas was for jumping, Belugas were at SeaWorld,

Maine often for friends and shopping, thru the year we whirled.

We wish you Christmas gay, A New Year filled with glitter,

Please come visit and stay, or catch us up on Twitter.

Merry Christmas My Friends

My gift to you for Christmas:

Silent Night (Yes, B is one of the singers:)




Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Christmas in August

One of my opportunities from Blogher, was to go to a Christmas in August party sponsored by Hallmark. Hallmark was probably one of my first words when I was young. OK, maybe I am exaggerating, but Hallmark has been an important part of my growing up. My mom is a card person and has passed that on to my sister and me. We love sending cards for birthdays, holidays and just because. Also, we have so many Hallmark ornaments, we could start our own museum. My mom still buys us an ornament every year, she has some Hallmark series going back 25+ years, I have some 15+ years. I have started collecting for my girls as well. OK, I admit it. I had 3 trees this past year at Christmas. When my brother, sister and I left home to make our own homes, my mom packaged up our ornaments from birth to now and gave them to us. (Here is a hint, put your child's initials and the date on the bottom of the ornaments with a Sharpie.)

When I was given the gift of an invitation to the Hallmark party (love you Melisa), I did a happy dance, called my mom and we both squealed with delight!!!

It was way more than I imagined!

Hallmark had taken the top floor suite of the Buckingham Hotel and transformed it into Christmas.

We were greeted with peppermint drinks (mmm, tasty!) and Christmas music!

Even the outdoor patio was decorated!

Everywhere you looked, the little elves had added their touch.

There was a beautiful Christmas tree in the corner....

with an Australian St. Nick.

We were able to decorate Christmas cookies.

picture courtesy Hallmark

Then when we went upstairs, Melisa squealed because it was more purply and there was a Menorah.

picture courtesy Hallmark

See the books on the bed? Those are classic stories that you can record your voice reading them. How great is that for grandparents to record their voice reading a story and then sending it to their grandchildren? What a gift! They also said that a lot of military families use these books, too. Just a great idea in general. I can't wait to get one of my own!

Melisa and I spent a lot of time on the patio, just enjoying.....everything.

We were resourceFULL (getting food and a drink and commandeering the couch), we were definitely cheerFULL and totally thankFULL that Hallmark had given us an early Christmas/Hannukah gift by inviting us to their party.

Thank you, Hallmark!!!

Secret Santa in the Nick of Time!

I had heard that my secret Santa had some troubles toward the beginning of December, so I was not expecting a package. I was ok with this because I figure I am a better giver than receiver and we all have things that pop up and screw with our "plans". But, my secret Santa pulled through and I got a fabulous package today!!

It couldn't have come at a more perfect time.

For the past 3 days I have gone to 3 funerals of 3 wonderful Cape Codders. 2 past from heart attacks and 1 had valiantly fought a 4 year battle with cancer. All these people had ties to the fishing industry. Basically, it has been a tough vacation week.

So, when I went to my mailbox today and found the little yellow slip that meant "package!", I almost kissed the post office lady. I sped home and ripped into the sucker, I mean, I drove the speed limit and carefully and daintily opened the package.

There were lots of things wrapped up in this box. The first thing the girls and I spied were the M&Ms!! Yippee!

My secret Santa was so nice, she even included stockings for the girls. K is all about the peace sign, so she grabbed this one!

B loves the color blue, so she was happy to grab this one!

Then she nicely took a picture of me with all my great loot! I love Old Navy and my secret Santa bought the place out! And added an ornament and a snowman with hand soap!

Please let me know who you are so I can give you a big virtual hug!!! B was shouting out blog names trying to guess you. This cracked me up coming from my 11 year old who doesn't blog, but knows enough about my bloggy friends to know their names!

A big shout out to Georgie and Amy who put the Secret Santa soiree together!