**now that's what i'm talkin' about**

woot! woot!










































meanwhile... in the kitchen i have been really busy preparing sweets for my goodie boxes that the kids and i are going to give as gifts.

























































i have since made chocolate crinkles, molasses snaps, peanut butter balls, and no-bake cookies. today i am going to tackle scotchies and a cake balls. i found the cutest christmas decorated chinese to-go boxes to put the goodies in. yum!


bailey was supposed to have her christmas choir concert on wednesday and thursday but it got postponed until january due to the weather. kind of a bummer since it is special because after at least 5 years of choir it is her last one. i am really anxious to see it. i definately have to get there early to get good seats so i can get good pictures. i always have to take pictures of all three of the girls so i have to have good angles. now that i know what settings on my camera to use for the crappy lighting in the gym i don't have to worry about that. =)

cj had his first wrestling meet last week in salem at McKay high school. there was one scheduled this week at McNary high school in salem but it was cancelled because of the weather. those meets are crazy! there are at least 8 schools there, 3 huge mats, and 2 matches going on each mat. the kids didn't stick to one mat either. they would go to whatever mat was open when their weight class was up. talk about chaos! i got a few good pictures of his matches.





































i got the cutest dept. 56 xmas cats while i was in california visiting danea. we were at Lisa'a Tea Room and in the waiting area there is the neatest gift shop. i have only seen dept. 56 items online so i was thrilled to see them in person. these cats just screamed to come home with me and be displayed next to the funky arrangement that i made. what'cha think? aren't they the cutest?






























danea also took me to an AMAZING christmas store. i have never seen so many xmas ornaments in one place. there were some high-end artificial trees there that i couldn't believe weren't real. each tree was done in a theme or a color combination. i purchased funky ornaments from the circus-themed tree. i shipped them home and next year i will get a small tree to put on my kitchen bistro-style table and use just those ornaments. i love them! this year i have THIS on that table:













i have to hand it to the nursery. they can grow some phenomenal poinsettias. this baby is huge. my mom got ones like this that are white, pink, and marbled. i was too late and got red only. but boy is it pretty.


.......and it's still snowing.


peace.