Becca's Picture view of Christmas Eve

Here are some un-edited pictures taken by Becca and her cousins last night. They are taken with the Kid Tough camera from Fisher Price. She absolutely LOVES the camera. Of course, the quality is not exactly stellar, but I think this camera is a great starter camera! She already dropped it down the basement stairs, and it held up great! The only complaint that I have about this camera is that it SMOKES through batteries. It takes 4 AAA batteries, and they lasted for about 130 pictures (which is about 1 hour, in our case). I think that I'll invest in some rechargeable ones.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Premature Santa-lation

Here it is, 11:00 am on December 24th. Yeah, we've already done the whole Christmas morning thing. There's really quite a history behind it...

When I was small my father (who was a cop) almost always had to work on Christmas Day. Plus, my father is not exactly patient when it comes to gift giving. I'm the same way. Must be genetic. Anyway, Santa always came to our house overnight on the 23rd/24th, and we opened gifts the morning of Christmas Eve.

Fast forward to my grown up years. Yes, I'm already impatient. Tony and I are living together. I was tending bar at the airport, and I always had off Christmas Eve. And always worked Christmas Day (I usually didn't start until 4:00 - and I got FANTASTIC tips that day). Also, at this time the Downey family festivities usually lasted on Christmas Eve until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, and one (if not both) of us were experiencing a fuzzy Christmas buzz. So, the Christmas Eve morning tradition continued.

So, now we have kids. Up until this year, Tony always worked on Christmas Day. Just made sense to keep the tradition alive. This year I had to pause and think about it, though. Yes, Tony is working on Christmas Day, but not until 7:30 pm. Should we break the tradition? Should we follow the Christmas rules? I decided to keep our personal tradition alive, and here is the reasoning: Tony is SO not used to waking up any time before 11:00. If I had to wake him up at, let's say 6:00 am tomorrow morning, it would throw him off for the entire day. So, he came home from work around 3:30, we set up the presents and stockings, and sat around shooting the shit until 5:30. Out came the bells, the mad rush to try to find Santa, and a whirl wind of cute Christmas wrapping, Hershey Kisses and plastic play things. Tony even made breakfast. (Although he kept referring to the 24th as 'tomorrow' and I kept referring to the 24th as 'today.')

Becca is now old enough to figure out that she's getting her presents early. Easy cover up there. PapPap and Santa go way back. Best friends, in fact. There's a very elite group of people that Santa comes out early for. And we're included.

So, now I'm dead tired (I've been awake since about 2:00 am). And I just went through all the opening of the toys. With the wires. And the plastic restraints. I only swore about five times, and came through with one injured finger. I'll share more about the toys (and which ones suck) tomorrow. But for now I will leave you with a design I did for t-shirts and such a couple of years ago. (I think...or maybe it was last year). Anyway, as I was twisting, pulling and swearing I thought of it:

Toy Company Greeting Cards (Pk of 10)

Have a great holiday, and please be safe!!!!!!

Christmas Highs and Lows

Let me start off by saying that Christmas really is NOT my favorite time of the year. Really, I'm not a Grinch. There are some things that I really like about the season. Especially now that I have kids. I love perpetuating the whole Santa charade. And the sheer amount of excitement leading up to Christmas. If you could store that excitement up, you could power a city (::thinks of Monsters, Inc.
::). And the whole Santa Cam and holding Christmas over the kids' heads for a month DOES make life a little bit easier. But you NEED something to make life a little bit easier in December. Now, I'm not a huge shopper. I mean, sometimes I can get in a mood and shop 'til the cows come home. But it has to be on MY terms, and the mood has to strike me. I'm not a big fan of deadlines, crowds and keeping secrets.

Deadlines make me crazy. They didn't used to. I'd get a bill, and mail it that day. I'd have a paper due in school, and nine times out of ten it would be done early. But now that I have these two little bundles of energy, they pretty much dictate how my day goes. And shopping for them? It was almost impossible. The hubby's at work 60 hours a week. I made a mad dash to Wal-Fart one morning when Chloe was in school. Normally, while Chloe's at school I'm working at the restaurant. But I put that off and plowed through the toy isle. It actually was going pretty smoothly. Too much so. I got in line and got somebody on their first day. I'm very patient when it comes to that sort of thing, but I had to make it home to hide the toys before I went to pick up Chloe at school. I was practically jumping out of my skin! I did make it, though, and the kids were none the wiser.

The crowds...well...I've always been like that. I'm a loner. A rebel (anybody know the movie?
). And keeping secrets? I think it's genetic. I just don't enjoy keeping a secret. If absolutely necessary, I can do it. I've also found that it's safe to tell a secret to somebody who basically wouldn't give a crap about it. You know, I'll tell my mother or father a secret about one of Tony's friends that they don't even know. They really don't care, and I get it off my chest. It's win-win. I've kept Christmas secrets so far, but I've definitely dropped some hints. After I drop them, I'm ready to just kick myself right in the ass.

So, I'm glad the season is almost over. I'll thoroughly enjoy watching the kids open their gifts. I will also enjoy having a house free of Christmas Decor. It always feels so clean and organized once all the Santas and snowmen are put away. I may not post again before the big day, so I hope you and yours have a fantastic holiday.

I'm ready to get back in the groove

Well, we've (almost) made it through the long holiday weekend! Our Thanksgiving was fantastic. Baby brother and family came over for breakfast and, if a may say so myself, I made the most kick-ass bacon I've ever tasted. Whenever I cook ANYTHING right, it's a big deal. And it's not that I cook things and screw them up, necessarily. It's that I just don't cook things. Theory is that the more great successes I have, the more I may want to cook. So far, that hasn't really happened.

Anyway, Thanksgiving at the restaurant was great. It was fantastic to have everybody there (except for my BIL Dave, who is recovering from DOUBLE knee surgery) and the gigantic table in the middle of the table was overwhelming. There we were, all sitting at the one table (pretty much). That's the first time that ever happened. And I think it's the first time we all ate Thanksgiving Dinner from actual plates instead of disposable.

Right now I'm in the middle of kids birthday party mayhem. One yesterday at Giggles And Smiles at the mall. The Saturday after Thanksgiving. At the Mall. And one there today, too. The mall wasn't too bad yesterday when I got there, and I actually got a little bit of shopping done. But an hour later it had gotten crazy. So I grabbed the laptop and sat in the food court (Yeah! for free wi-fi) and got some work done. Today the party is at 4:00, which is the same time as the Steeler Game. So, I'm hoping it's not as crazy in there today.

So, enjoy your Sunday! Kids have one more day off school tomorrow, but I'll be working. Hopefully we get the Christmas decorations up today/tomorrow. We're starting to look like slackers. I promise to try for a more meaningful post tomorrow. Really. It will be thought-provoking and possible introspective. I think.

Um, There's No Snow

Well, my kids are royally ticked off at me. There's no snow. It actually caught me a little off guard. You know, this early in the winter you still trust the weather man and the 'Winter Weather Advisories.' Now, if it had been March, I would know that there would be no snow. And as I look at my WeatherBug app on my browser and it has a big ol' sun on the Sunday forecast I realize that it will probably snow that day. That's how they roll. I actually bought snow boots for the girls yesterday, so Becca wouldn't have to trudge through the snow at the bus stop in her sneakers. Oh well.

And shopping - I've really got to get on the ball (and get some cash!!!!). Looks like this entire shopping season will be paired with Mr. Chase Visa. And we're getting hammered with birthdays right before the holiday. Between now and Christmas I have 2 sister-in-laws, a husband and four (probably five) kids birthday parties. Aarrrgh! Of course, there's still a kid inside of me, and I think I've figured out what I want. I want a digital video camera. One of those cute little ones. I saw that Kohl's has one on sale today and tomorrow for $90.

Now, I have no idea on reviews and such for this thing, but for $90 bucks I think it's a deal. They just added Flip Minos at CafePress, and they're almost twice as much. Now, I know that they take a nice picture and I've heard great things about the Flips, but I'm into saving cash.

Well, I'm off to do some office work for the restaurant. Well, not really off...I'll still be sitting here at my kitchen table in my froggie flannel pj's, drinking my coffee, listening to Chloe spin on the sit-and-spin!

OH, I almost forgot! There's a free shipping coupon at CafePress for the weekend. The code is FCPHOL1 and it's for orders over $50. Here's the link to the CafePress Free Shipping Ad.

Using Santa

I don't remember if I ever shared this little tidbit, but here it is. If you're a parent, you know that you can use 'Santa Leverage' this time of year. You know, the whole 'Santa is watching' really goes a long way. Well, I've taken this idea and brought it into the 21st century. My girls totally believe that whenever a light bulb is made a 'Santa Cam' is installed. So, wherever there is a light bulb in the world, there is a camera that is connected directly to Santa's computer. It's a very small camera. I have held Chloe up to the light fixture in my kitchen and said 'See, Santa! Do you see what she's doing? I can't believe it!' It's been working like a charm. My father occasionally will call from Florida (usually a bit closer to Christmas) and use his best Santa voice. I try to save that one for when they're REALLY being bad. I also try to use it if they're being EXTREMELY good. I make sure that I look into a light and say 'Santa, you'd better add another present on to the list!' Yes, I am twisted.

So, my plan for the past week has been to get the girls to bed, clean up the house for about a half an hour, and then sit down and blog/design/work. That hasn't exactly happened. The girls are still awake right now. They are dragging each other around in a large cloth hamper from Ikea. There is a great chance that somebody is going to get hurt. In fact, as I typed this, Chloe bonked her head off the ground, and she's not giving Becca her turn. SCREAMING, CRYING - 'MOMMY, CHLOE WON'T LET ME HAVE MY TURN!!! I WANT MY TURN!!! Excuse me, but the hamper is going on time-out.

OK, I'm back. They are both screaming and crying. What was I saying? And that is why I've been trying to blog at night when they are sleeping. (CHLOE IS THE MEANEST SISTER IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD). So, the reason I haven't been blogging at night is that I've been falling asleep while I put Becca to bed (Chloe is already sleeping by that point). So, tonight I've drank about 3 cups of coffee since 4:00, and I'm getting ready for another. Darn it, I WILL NOT fall asleep tonight.

Hopefully you hear from me again later!

Some Twisted Holiday Thoughts

On this, Black Friday, I've created my first Christmas design. Did I go shopping today? Um..NO!!! I spent the day in my comfy clothes at home with the kids. That was after waking up at 2 am to down some Pepto. I'm not used to eating all that food!!! But it was good. Anyway, here's the design for today. I hope it doesn't offend anybody (um, I guess it might offend somebody who's a hoe, but who would really admit it?)

Hoe, Hoe, Ho Ho Ho!

As usual, it's available on shirts, mugs, hats and more. I made a greeting card, also. I think that would be great to send out to the family!!! It's also available at Zazzle. Hope everybody had a great turkey day!!! Get your shopping done :)

OK, New Christmas/Pittsburgh design

Hey, here's the latest. And just in time for Christmas. I think that the design looks great on a greeting card or ornament (I've included both pics), but it's also available on shirts, mugs and the like. This idea has been brewing around in my head for a while, but I couldn't exactly decide what I wanted it to look like. I'm pretty happy with it...and proud of my lights on the tree. Well, without any further babbling, here it is: