Beautiful Holiday

In spite of Michael's basement flooding yesterday, dogs trying to rip each other's heads off, forgetting ingredients for the nacho dip, Michael not realizing the stores would be closed so he wouldn't be able to get the sandwich rolls and burnt Brussels sprouts....we had one heck of a wonderful day! I hope you did too.

Matt, Rebecca and Moki fixing breakfast

Michael got his flooding under control and was able to get to our house by dinner. The dogs loved each other one minute and were trying to kill each other the next. I somehow forgot the taco seasoning for the nacho dip, but Irv found some at Walgreens of all places, and bought some small dinner rolls that worked for the sandwiches and the Brussels sprouts.....well, lets just say...they were pretty ugly!

Rebecca and Moki

Like I have always said, I don't get stressed over things like that. The dog issue is a bit unnerving, just because I wouldn't want any one's dog to get hurt, but they seem to work things out themselves as dogs usually do.

Chris, Tresa and Moki

Rebecca's little dog, Moki is about the funniest little dog I have ever seen. If the big dogs even look at her the wrong way, or what she interprets as the wrong way...man that little 3 pounder growls and snaps and the dogs back off like she was a big pit bull. We have had more laughs over her BIG attitude this week.

Rebecca and Sparky

On Christmas Eve when Rebecca's flight was due in, we just kept hoping that the weather would cooperate and she would get here on time. Well, her flight from Grand Junction to Denver was delayed and she missed her flight to Chicago!! Thanks goodness they had added a flight and she got in an hour later than expected. The plane was almost empty and she had 5 seats to herself!

Tresa refusing to smile for a picture

I have saved some pictures for other posts, but here are a few from Christmas at the Kroll's.

Moki the Magnificent

Matt unwillingly trying on Rebecca's new scarf

Nice fit

Bernadette and Michael keeping an eye on the wii scores

Have a wonderful rest of the day! Chat with you soon.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you! I hope you have a wonderful day today. Remember to smile, hug the ones you love...and maybe even the ones you don't love....you never know... you just might make their day. I hope your day is filled with family, good food with lots of laughing and lots of love. Make it the best day ever and I will chat with you tomorrow.

It's Christmas Eve!!

I almost forgot to post the awesome stuff I got in a little gift exchange I did. It was organized by Angela of Pickles on Pizza fame. I was so excited when I opened my package from Creative Coquette at Foxy Monster! Some little birdie told her that I LOVE socks, and she sent me these! They are just so soft and so warm....I could live in them.

Then as if the socks weren't enough, she sent me this darling gingerbread girl necklace from her shop. It is so cute. I wore it to work the next day and got tons of compliments on it. Isn't it just the best?

So, here it is Christmas Eve. I am cleaning house this morning and then just chilling out. We normally stop by Irv's nephew's house on Christmas Eve, but we need to see if and when Rebecca's flight gets in. The weather is suppose to be horrific over much of the country today so we are playing it by ear.

Later this evening, we will be popping in some frozen pizzas that Irv will work his magic on and just enjoy each others company. Tomorrow it will be a full house....full of family, food, fun and DOGS!

Enjoy your day and if you are celebrating Christmas today....I hope it is the best ever!

I Feel Like I Am Back In Kindergarten.....

and it's Show and Tell time!! Here is what I want to share with you today.....

Irv and I did a fine job at the grocery store on Sunday. We had to put one of the seats down in the Prius to get it all in! All I can say is that people better be very hungry when they are here.


Remember the cute little candle holders I bought at IKEA for 49 cents each? Here is what I did with some of them.

I LOVE hot chocolate in the winter. I bought some of the little individual packages and put them out on the table for whoever might want some this week. I also included goodies that Irv got as gifts last week....candied pecans, fudge and chocolate covered pretzels. I'll add some cookies when they are done and I will also put out some holiday tea bags and then people can just make want they want and enjoy....and I won't forget the FLUFF!

Here is what I did with all of the little old ornaments that I didn't hang on the tree. Bern already checked them all out when she was here Saturday. She loved the idea.

Many, many years ago we had some friends that lived across the street from us. They moved to Mississippi...but one year when they were out Christmas shopping they came across this hard cover book. It isn't one of those books you have made to include people's names....this is a honest to goodness book....and yes, Kroll is our last name! Isn't that awesome? I display it every year.

My shopping is done, the gifts are all wrapped, the house is clean and now all I can do is wait.......

Are you ready?

Holiday Preparations

Yesterday was a wonderful day. I started cleaning the house and when it was time to take a little break, I made some hot chocolate and an English Muffin, put on some Christmas music and watched the snow fall. Then it was back to work.

In the afternoon, Irv and Bernadette met at the local park to introduce their Aussie Teagan to our little Maggie on "neutral " ground. It went well. Four dogs familiar with each other....now just two more to throw into the mix next week!

Bern wanted place mats for her dining room table. She found a tablecloth and napkins in the fabric she wanted, but no place mats. She didn't want a tablecloth, but the smart little girl bought it along with the napkins and decided to make her own. She brought the fabric over and we figured out what size she wanted and how many she could get out of the tablecloth. She left and headed over to the fabric store to get the fabric for the backs and the thread. She'll get it all washed and dried tonight and as soon as we can, we'll get together, get them cut and sewn. The fabric was awesome and they will look fantastic when she gets them done.

After that I sat and put the finishing touches on the menu for Friday's dinner. We will have eight people.....two are vegetarians and one is gluten free...so coming up with something yummy for everyone is fun and challenging.

I ended up with pork roast, roasted new potatoes, cheese and potato pirogi from a great deli, a broccoli cheese casserole if I can find gluten free cream of mushroom soup....if not, broccoli with toasted garlic and hazelnuts, roasted Brussels sprouts with pecans and a wonderful green salad. I am hungry just thinking about it.

We'll have lots of snacks, and I'm going to get some packages of gourmet hot chocolate in a variety of flavors and a great big jar of marshmallow fluff!!

Today we will be buying baby food and other baby things to add to the bags for our local food pantry. Haven't bought that kind of stuff in about 26 years!

Matti and Luna will be leaving Telluride early Tuesday morning. He will stop somewhere for the night and then finish the journey on Wednesday. I can't wait for him to get here. His girlfriend, Rebecca, is flying in on Christmas Eve. We are hoping for good weather so her flight gets in on time. We'll pop some pizzas in the oven and chat the evening away......

Is anything better than this time of year? I don't think so.

Been There, Done That

I started to write a post the other day on my lunch at work about "Pictures with Santa". I wrote about hauling the kids off to the mall, waiting in line, sitting on Santa's lap and getting great photos. I talked about the age where the kids would be screaming for Mommy and trying desperately to get away from this strange looking man and how it made me feel bad when I looked back at the photos.

Lastly, I wrote about how when our kids started to hear things at school and started to ask questions about Santa being "real" and how I use to tell them, "When you stop believing in Santa, that is when he stops coming." I was going to type it up and post it with all of the Santa pictures one day next week. It just flowed from my pencil with ease.

Then yesterday I started writing a post about whether you ever look back at your blog from a year ago, or two or three years ago....the exact day....to see what you were writing about back then. Well, I went back to see what I wrote about on December 18, 2008 and guess what? I wrote a wonderful post about "Pictures with Santa!" Oh my gosh....the post was exactly what I was going to post next week. HAHA! I guess I won't be posting a new one, because it is almost identical to the old one which you can read here if you like! The pictures are great!

So, those of you that have been blogging for years.....do you ever repeat topics? Do you remember what you have already written about? Do you ever have a hard time finding things of interest to blog about?

I have only been blogging since October of 2008. There have been a couple of days where I have had to sit for a bit and try to come up with something to talk about.....but since I normally never shut up....that isn't usually an issue for me.

Is it for you?

Christmas Love

Have I told you how much I LOVE this time of year?

I love Christmas music....well most of it. I prefer the classics and don't like most of the remakes and I loathe....yes loathe...the red shoe song.

I love how happy the teachers at school are as they count down the days to their much deserved break.

I love the lights.....not the decorations like the big blow up snow domes and cartoon characters...but I love the lights...especially the little white lights. I love the trees just filled with little white lights...it warms my heart.

I love planning our family get together on Christmas Day. The snacks, the dinner and the desserts. Mmmmmmm!

I love the aroma of cookies baking in the oven. I hate to bake, but this is the one time that the rewards outweigh the hassle....and my family loves cookies. I love making each person's favorite.

I love having our whole family together at Christmas. This is the one time all year that we are able to do that and it means so much to me.

I love hearing Matt get more excited to come home each time I talk to him. His excitement feeds my own until it's almost unbearable.

I love watching Sparky stick her nose in every shopping bag I bring in the house as she searches for her gifts. I honestly think she knows that Christmas means a new toy and a special treat. I love watching her open her own gifts on Christmas Day.

I love the Christmas tree in the evening with the lights shining brightly, and our little fake fireplace with it's warm glow.

I love giving gifts. I love trying to find things that people will truly enjoy and then seeing the happiness on their faces when they open the box.

I love annoying my kids as I carefully smooth crumpled wrapping paper and snatch up pretty ribbons and bows...because I know I will find a good use for them....maybe even to wrap their gifts next Christmas.

I love snow at Christmas. Fresh, fluffy, white and glittery snow as it falls from the sky and rests ever so peacefully on the rooftops and lawns and trees.

Have I told you how much I LOVE this time of year?

Where Have All The Shoppers Gone?

When Tresa and I were shopping on Sunday, we made purchases in a number of stores. Some of them were J. Crew, Anthropology, Eddie Bauer, Starbucks, Lord and Taylor and Sears. We made purchases in IKEA, and when I was headed home, I made purchases in Walmart, World Market and Kohls. In all of those stores.....the longest line we stood in was in Starbucks. In every other store, we either had one person in front of us or none.

Yes, it was Sunday morning, but there is only one more weekend before Christmas. Normally when I shop at this time, the stores are mobbed. The lines at the registers are very, very long. Waiting 20-30 minutes to check out would be expected. Not Sunday.

Sure, it was awesome to be able to walk right up to the check out....but when you think about the reason you are able to do that....it doesn't feel all that good.

Irv and I are very, very fortunate to have our jobs, to be able to buy food for ourselves and to donate to the local food pantry. I am able to throw a little money into every Salvation Army bucket I see. Even though we set spending limits for gifts this year, we are still able to shop for our family for Christmas.

I know what the unemployed are going through. We were there at one time many years ago. I know what it feels like to cry yourself to sleep because there isn't enough money to pay the bills. I know what it's like to be behind on your mortgage. I know how it feels when the phone rings and you don't want to answer because you know it is the collection agency. I know what it's like to charge every single thing you buy, because there is no money to pay for it.

I know that not being able to Christmas shop isn't the worst thing in the world that can happen, but when you have young children that don't understand....it hurts.

My heart goes out to all of those who are living that life right now. I hope that they know that people care, and that one day things will be better. There are so many ways to help....we can donate a toy, or food, or money or time. I hope everyone that can.....will.

Make it a wonderful day for yourself today.

The Gift of Giving.....

Every year I ask my family for a little list of things they would like for Christmas. This year we even set a spending limit, so you would think it would be simple. Not so.

Out of 7 potential lists, I have received one! In fact, two people said they have no clue what they want.

Light bulb goes on over blogger's head....

Maybe the reason I am not getting any lists is because no one really "needs" anything....

If that is the case....how blessed and fortunate can one family be?

I will continue to drop e-mails and texts over the course of the next few days, and if I don't get any lists, then I will just "wing it". My family is always very grateful for what they receive so I'm sure it will be fine.

I have already made a note on my calendar on 9/1/2010 that says, "Check into the Adopt a Family for Christmas Program." Someone was telling me about a program where you adopt a military family or a family in need and shop from their wish list. Then the organization delivers the gifts to them for Christmas.

Here is what I envision for next year....

Our family picks a date and we meet at a restaurant for a bite to eat. We go over the wish list of the family we adopted. We decide who is going to shop for what items and then we set a time that we will meet back at one of our houses. When we get back to the house with all of the gifts, we'll sit and talk about our shopping experiences and who got the best deals. We will be laughing while we wrap up all of the treasures we found. When we're done, we will pack up all of the gifts in big shopping bags and include a card that just says....from our family to yours...and we'll take them to the drop off place for the organization.

How awesome would that be?

There is someone at work that does this every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. His comment today was, "Isn't that what this season is all about....giving?"

Yes, it is and I will share my vision for next year with my family when we get together Christmas Day this year.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

I Love Socks

Yes, I do! I wear socks with just about everything I can wear them with and even some things I probably shouldn't wear them with....like yesterday. I had on a pair of black cuffed slacks and a gray striped sweater AND my pink, gray and black argyle knee socks from the Gap!

I will dig deep into my messy sock drawer daily until I find a pair of socks that works with what I am wearing that day, and I don't like nylon knee highs. They feel awful in your shoes. I want socks!


I have solid socks, striped socks, tweedy socks and argyle socks, Santa socks, Halloween socks, knee socks, boot socks, white socks, black socks, green socks.....you get the picture.

I am a bit distraught right now because 1) last spring I tossed a couple pairs of my favorite shoes because they were literally falling apart and they felt so good with socks and I haven't replaced them yet and 2) I have a number of pairs of socks that are getting very thin in the heel and a pair that has holes and darn it....they don't feel good when you try to sew them up!

So, here is the plan:

Dear Santa,

I have been a really, really good girl this year. Pleeeeeease, leave me some new socks this Christmas!

Love,

Kathy

Merry Day After Christmas

We are actually celebrating our Christmas today with our kids. I am busy making some goodies for this afternoon, gluten free peanut butter bars for Tresa and an eclair cake for Michael and Matt. Irv just ran out for some last minute things. The gifts are all wrapped and we are ready to go. The kids will be here around 1:00 and I think everyone is staying over night, so I don't think I will get back to blog tonight.

I hope everyone had a great day yesterday and that you are able to rest and regroup today. I know many people are working today and that is not cool! I took this whole week off to spend time with Matt, and we are having a wonderful time.

I am so sore from all of the wii bowling yesterday, but I am the champ for the moment with a big 265 game! Woo hoo! I know everyone will be out to get me today though and I don't think I like that feeling.

Have a nice day today and I will be back tomorrow to let you know how the day went. I also started on my decoupage items yesterday and they are lookin' good! I'll post some pics soon.

White Christmas

Woke up to more snow this morning. This has been a really snowy December. Most years we keep our fingers crossed for a white Christmas....we didn't have to this year.

Irv and I ran a couple of errands this morning in the snow. On the way home, the snow started falling in gigantic clumps. It is so amazingly beautiful when it does that. Big huge bunches of snowflakes. When we pulled up, Matt was already outside shoveling. He had his dog, Luna out front with him and our dogs were in the house. Wrigley tends to wander when she is out front and Sparky doesn't go out in the winter unless you pick her up and throw her out the door. She prefers to be curled up under an afghan from about November 1st until June 1st.

I went in and grabbed my camera and let Wrigley out in the back yard. I snapped a few pictures and then threw some snowballs for Wrigley to chase. It is so funny to throw snowballs for the dogs and then watch them digging their heads in the snow looking for the "ball" you threw! I added a short little video at the end of the post.

The rest of the day I spent baking and getting things ready for our trip over to Irv's nephew's house. We had a nice time. It's fun to watch the little kids open their gifts...each with their own special style. We got home around 10:00 p.m. Matt went out with a friend to try to find somewhere open to have coffee and chat. Irv crashed on the couch, and here I am typing away.

Tommorow will be a very quiet day here. We are celebrating our Christmas on Friday so the kids don't have to chase from house to house. I have about a dozen gifts left to wrap and then I'll spend the rest of the day "playing" in my workshop. I'm looking forward to a whole day of organizing and creating.

I hope everyone had a wonderful day today.

Major Meltdown on the Way

Okay, so I am a great multi-tasker. I do not get rattled. I do not get stressed. I don't fret over things I cannot control. I'm pretty good at staying in control. My workshop is usually pretty tidy, because I like order in my workplace. I go with the flow. I always get things done well in advance of when I need them. So, why on earth do I feel like I am about to have a major meltdown??

Just kidding!

I will say that things are piling up a bit, and tonight I really don't give a care. I have tons to do and I'm thinking that tonight I just might not do a darn thing! I went to the dentist today, and it left me with an aching jaw and a nasty headache.

What do I need to do? Well, let's see....tomorrow is Christmas Eve, but we go to Irv's nephew's house and I have the gifts for the little kids ready to go. Tomorrow I need to make shrimp dip and a cake that I have never made before, but no big deal.

I do have gifts that are not wrapped yet that I need on Friday...so those will need be done soon.

Let's see...I have to finish and mail the invites to my daughter's wedding shower, but I am waiting on the confirmation from the restaurant so I can hand write the insides. Don't want to start writing until I know we are good to go. They need to be mailed by the weekend.

Sitting in a little plastic storage bin are the favors I am making for the shower guests. I have 5 done with another 15 to go. Hmmmmm.....the shower is on January 25th. That gives me a month to finish those. No sweat.

I have some thank you cards I need to finish for gifts I received the last day of school. Those I need for Monday.

I have some funny Valentine's Day cards started that I would like to get done and listed soon....

I bought the unfinished wood things and haven't even had a chance to start sanding the rough edges yet. I really need to get some of the pieces done since that is what I intend to open MyOtherShop with in a few weeks.

Oh, and then there is the file folder that is overflowing with FourDogDay receipts...none of which has been recorded or added up. I've been avoiding it. I really don't want to know what I spent to get this business started in comparison to what I made this year. I do need to get that done though. I like to give our stuff to the tax guy as soon as I can. If we get something back from the wonderful IRS, we might drive out to Telluride this summer, and that would be fantastic!

In addition to those receipts, I need to go through our personal tax things and get those in order for the accountant too.

Now, looking at all of that....I keep thinking I really should be on the verge of some kind of breakdown. Maybe the fact that I am not is an indication of my metal state?

Well the boys just got back from doing their Christmas shopping and Michael already asked if I could wrap Bernadette's presents for him..."Please, please, please Mom. It will take me an hour to do it myself." Geez, how can I say no? Just add it to the list....he needs those by 3:00 tomorrow.

In order for me to really not have a meltdown, I think I need to prioritize some of this stuff, have some dinner and then I need to dig in and at least get something done, but instead, I think I might chill out this evening and start fresh in the morning!

Have a great evening and a lovely day tomorrow!

Ho-Ho-Holiday Preparations

Oh my...it's almost here! I am so excited as always. How are your holiday plans coming? I really do love this time of year. Irv and I headed out early this morning to finish up the shopping. My plan was that I was not coming home until I was done, and I did it! I must say that Mr. Bah Humbug started to get a bit cranky when we left the mall and headed into town to hit a few other stores. He can only tolerate so much holiday spirit in one day.

Me, I could have circled the mall all day and been very happy. I love the atmosphere. I love the people and the decorations. Ho-Ho-Ho!!!

We went into the pet store and Mr. Humbug wasn't pleased that I spent over $30 on the four dogs. We have two and the boys each have one. Good dog toys aren't cheap. Ours are getting the fleece toys without the stuffing because no matter how strong it says they are....my little toy fox terrier, Sparky can destroy it in no time and she throws that stuffing everywhere! Mine got the cheap toys. It's the boy's border collie and aussie that cost a bit more. Hey, they are bigger and require bigger toys. Ho-Ho-Ho. I don't care. I love the dogs.

We finally got home and Mr. Humbug started straightening up the "guest" room, figuring someone will be sleeping in there. Mr. Humbug was crabby. He didn't want to be cleaning the guest room. I said I would do it, but Mr. Humbug likes to do nice things and then complain the entire time he does them.

Then we talked to Matt and he thought the basement might be a better place for him to sleep because it's bigger and he travels with a lot of stuff. So, Mr. Humbug went down and cleaned up a bit down there. Now, even though Mr. Humbug complained, he made it so nice down there with the little fake fireplace and some Christmas lights. I told you he does a lot of nice things, I think he just likes to hear himself complain.

I sat on my workshop floor (and let me tell you...sitting on the floor is not very comfortable anymore) and got all of the gifts into the boxes and started wrapping and after two whole gifts I ran out of tape. UGH! I had hoped to get everything wrapped tonight. So, Mr. Humbug went to town to get a new furnace filter and tape....and Subway for dinner.

After dinner I will dig in and start wrapping again. Matt just called and he will probably stop for the night in a couple hours. He's been driving for 15 hours already on only 3 hours of sleep. He hit some nasty weather in Colorado that slowed him down a bit and his windshield squirter things were plugged up and wouldn't squirt! He wants to be home by 11:00 tomorrow...he didn't say why, but I would suspect that it has something to do with football.

Oh, we also have to fix our little Charlie Brown tree...he is trying very hard to fall over. We will never, ever buy that type of tree again. The trunk is very soft as are all of the branches. The lights are having a hard time staying on the branches and now he is falling......timber!!!!

I was talking on the phone earlier to Mr. Humbug's and my daughter, Tresa who I shall from here on out call....Ms. Humbug. Ms. Humbug decided that next Christmas I am going to go shopping with Chris, her soon to be husband, and she is going shopping with Mr. Bah Humbug. She likes Christmas about as much as he does. She went shopping today and hated the snow, the people, the lines and everything else about it. Hmmmmmm....wonder where she gets that from.

Fa-La-La-La-La-La-La-La-La

Ho-Ho-Holy Terrified Toddlers

I remember making plans every Christmas to get my kids to the mall to visit with Santa and get that oh so special picture with Santa. There was a time when the photos were complimentary, or you could take your own, but those days are long gone. I've seen some malls where you almost need to take a loan to pay for the picture with Santa!

When Tresa was little there was a wonderful looking Santa at one of the malls. He had the real beard. I do think he was tired of the Ho-Ho-Whole thing though, because his personality wasn't quite as jolly as one might expect of a jolly old elf! Then there were some really bad looking Santas, the ones where you could see the elastic that held the curly beard in place!

Looking at my picture with Santa collection that I display every year, I laugh at the pictures of my kids crying hysterically, and trying desperately to get away from the guy in red. What's really funny is that I have one of those for each of my three kids, and that always occurred around the same age.

Tresa's screaming with Santa photo came when she was 15.5 months old. The boys were both 19 months old. The one with Michael crying is great! Tresa is 7 years old and at that age, she could just ignore her screaming little brother and smile for the camera.

Then there is the one where Matt is screaming and Tresa is highly embarrassed! She was 10 years old and that's an age where you really don't want the attention to be on you. After all, you already think you might be too old to be sitting on Santa's lap, and then your little brother starts screaming and everyone is staring at you and laughing at the little spectacle on Santa's lap!

Oh, those were the days. When I look at the pictures now, and see the terror on their little faces, I actually feel kind of guilty. Then again, if it really harmed them psychologically, they would all be in therapy. Right?

When the kids got a little older and started asking questions about Santa, the ones that most parents don't like to answer.... I told them this, "When you stop believing in Santa, that's when Santa stops coming."

My kids are 25, 28 and 34, and Santa still stops at our house every Christmas!