Christmas Eve at Our House

Tonight's SCRUMPTIOUS Menu

Special Drink

(non-alcoholic pomegranate-lemonade sparkling drink)
(and Root Beer in a bottle for Thing 2)

Main Course
"Surf & Turf"

Seared Tuna with Wasabi Butter and Cilantro Sauce
Grilled Sirloin Tips with Sauteéd Mushrooms

Side Dishes

Roasted Carrots with Rosemary
Green Beans with Caramelized Shallots and Red Peppers
Sweet Potato Casserole
Twice-Baked Potatoes

Dessert

Homemade Dark Chocolate Pudding Parfaits
with Chocolate Shavings

There was not a SINGLE thing on the table
that would've received less than 5 stars.
I kid you not.

It was AMAZING.
Thing 1 counted my exclamations
throughout the meal and there
were no less than 22.

It was SO delicious,
I could cry.

I love good food.
I love the holidays.
I love my family.

I love that we celebrate Christmas
on Christmas Eve.
We have SUCH a good time!

We've feasted.
Santa has come to fill our stockings.
We've opened our presents.

And now we're all playing, resting,
talking to relatives on the phone,
relaxing, reading, enjoying.

I love this time of year --
the week between Christmas and New Year's
is sooooooooo kick back.

Aaaaaaaaaaaah.

(I'm not uploading pictures tonight,
because I'm tired and not feeling great.
I've been sick for a week
and the excitement of the holiday
has officially run me down.
More to come later.)

Happy Holidays, all!

A Digital Nativity

This is a super clever video that my MIL sent to me. It's very well done and deserves a post of its own -- so, here you go!

What the original Christmas would look like if it were now...

WELL DONE!!!!







If you can't see the video, here is the link ............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkHNNPM7pJA

14 Years Ago Today . . .

I married my best friend.

Definitely the best decision I've ever made in my life.

I could not be happier.

Happy Anniversary to us!

2010 in 10 sentences (more or less)

I love choosing not to resist these.

1. 2010: How do you pronounce it?

Twenty-Ten. No, Two Thousand Ten. No, maybe I do say Twenty-Ten. Okay, I'm not even sure.

2. Make a facial expression that shows how you feel about the year.

(Picture me sticking my lips out deep in thought).

3. The best thing I bought was some new shirts for the summer.

4. For me, 2010 was a total mix. [Answer with three words]

5. I totally cringed this year when my friend's son got diagnosed with leukemia .

6. The best thing on the Internet by far was NaNoWriMo.

7. I'm pretty sure I overshared on Facebook this year when I . . . nope, got off Facebook over a year ago and haven't missed it, so no oversharing on Facebook for me.

8. The best day of the year was witnessing Ellie's birth.

9. The best place I visited was Rehoboth Beach, DE. (The 2nd best "place" I visited was the Michael Bublé concert).

10. Next year, I'm planning to use the Internet less.

Ooh, Ooh. Yes, please.

I love that Emily answered the Harry Potter questions in the previous post. I would LOVE to hear more people's answers, too. Please feel free to play along in the comments of the "Harry Potter Interviews" post below! Thanks! :)

Harry Potter Interviews

Yesterday, sometime after 11pm, Thing 2 finished the entire Harry Potter series! With both kids, we've read/listened to the audio version (FABULOUS, by the way) during their first time through the series. Both kids have read the whole series around the same age (ages 6-7ish).

I think Harry Potter is PURE MAGIC. Well, duh, right? No, seriously. I think JK Rowling is a genius, her series nothing short of an inspiration. I'm amazed every time I read the books. She leaves nothing out. She has no unimportant details. Everything checks out. She's a genius. Genius! And I really love, love, love the whole series. Love them!

And I *love* reading them with my kids. That's probably why they've both read the series so young -- I'm impatient to share Harry Potter with the kids!!

We've dressed up, eaten Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean, made three kinds of Butterbeer, read the series a bazillion times, listened to the audio, played Harry Potter Uno and Harry Potter Clue, made pumpkin pasties, had adventures all over the house, turned our house into Hogwarts, hosted Harry Potter birthday parties, attended midnight release parties for books, attended midnight premieres of movies, played Harry Potter video games, played Harry Potter trivia, written Harry Potter fan fiction, put up Harry Potter posters. It borders on obsession.

I love Harry Potter! I also cry like crazy every time I read the books, too.

I told the kids I was thinking of doing Harry Potter interviews with them and they thought that sounded fun, so here goes (and after doing it with the kids, I wanted to do it, too):

*****WARNING -- THIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!*****

1. What is your favorite Harry Potter book?

Thing 1: The 7th one -- Deathly Hallows
Thing 2: The 5th one -- Order of the Phoenix
Stacy: Some order of 7, 4, and 6 (It's hard to choose favorites sometimes!)
Mark: The 6th one -- Half-Blood Prince

2. Who is your favorite major character (of the 3)?

Thing 1: Hermione
Thing 2: Ron
Stacy: Ron
Mark: Ron

3. Who is your favorite minor character?

Thing 1: Dobby and Dumbledore
Thing 2: Cho (and Luna and Fred and George)
Stacy: Neville and Luna (I also like Kreacher)
Mark: Neville and Fred and George

4. Do you have a favorite scene? If so, what is it?

Thing 1: The big showdown at the end and The Epilogue
Thing 2: When they're going after the prophecy in the ministry
Stacy: When Fred and George leave Hogwarts
Mark: My favorite chapter is when he reads Snape's memory.

5. Do you have a favorite line? If so, what is it?

Thing 1: "Why are you worried about you-know-who? You should be worried about you-no-poo!" And the line in number 6 when Dumbledore tells Harry, "I'm not worried, Harry. I'm with you."
Thing 2: ""I...must...not...look...like...a...baboon's...backside."
Stacy: "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU B----!" :)
Mark: "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU B----!" :)

6. If you were a student at Hogwarts, in which house do you think the Sorting Hat would place you?

Thing 1: Ravenclaw
Thing 2: Ravenclaw
Stacy: Ravenclaw
Mark: Gryffindor

7. Would you want to play Quidditch? Which position?

Thing 1: Yes, Chaser.
Thing 2: Maybe. Seeker, because Seeker you can hardly get hurt.
Stacy: Nope.
Mark: Yes, Chaser.

8. Who is your favorite teacher or staff member at Hogwarts?

Thing 1: I have 3 -- Dumbledore, Hagrid, and McGonagall
Thing 2: Probably Lockheart, because he's funny. But my favorite is Dumbledore.
Stacy: Dumbledore and McGonagall
Mark: Dumbledore

9. Which is your favorite magical creature/animal in the book?

Thing 1: I have 3 -- I like the unicorns, Buckbeak, and Hedwig.
Thing 2: Hedwig and Fang and Pigwidgeon
Stacy: Dobby and Kreacher
Mark: Dobby and Kreacher

10. Who is your least favorite bad guy? Who can you really not stand (besides Voldemort)?

Thing 1: Bellatrix.
Thing 2: Oh, Bellatrix. I'm glad she died. She drives me crazy.
Stacy: Bellatrix and Umbridge
Mark: Bellatrix

11. What magical power from the books would you like to possess?

Thing 1: I'd love to have a Room of Requirement. That would be awesome!
Thing 2: I'd like to be able to do spells like Stupefy! Reducto! Impedimenta! and Petrificus Totalus!
Stacy: I would love to have food magically appear every night for dinner.
Mark: I just want a magic wand.

12. How did you feel the first time you finished the series?

Thing 1: Sad. Shocked. Happy.
Thing 2: Awesome. I felt like I could do anything!
Stacy: I was glad to have finished it, but sad to be done.
Mark: It was really good, but I didn't want it to end.

We did it again!!