Wishing . . .

I was here
or here
or here
anywhere but here, where my house just exploded from filthiness and clutter
let's leave reality behind and run away somewhere tropical together!

The Ugly Sweater Party

It was ugly. All very ugly. But oh so funny. Thanks to farmgirl for being the bee in my bonnet and making sure this party made it from the "thinking about it in my brain"stage to actually happening. Travis demonstrated his lucky gene again and on a whim picked up a new game at Target the morning of the party. The game is called "What's yours like?" and it was non-stop hilarity. Seriously, like my new favorite game ever. He's totally lucky like that, can just pick it up and think, "looks fun" and sure enough, its the greatest party game ever. Me? If I would have bought it, it would have been a dud for sure. He's like his mom that way, she can sniff out lucky slot machines, no joke. Its uncanny. Back to the ugly party, here's the recap:

The sweaters . . . UGLY
The food . . . YUM-O
The games . . . AWESOME

The way Steve can deliver a line, the way Rob described his honeymoon, the images of both Mary Ann and Mike crying in the bathroom and Tara's inappropriate spouse; well, you had to be there.

And, of course, here are the plethora of photos that speak for themselves.

sorry I got you with your eyes closed Sweet Cheeks, but Dillon and Scott are working the camera
Andrea and Marc, who not only is wearing an ugly sweater, but an entire ugly outfit. Takin' it to the next level.
Sarah and Mark wearing the gems he found at the DI. The shorts really complete the look.
Christy, Lisa and Mary Ann looking U-G-L-Y, in a very good way. Heidi (far right) came in her oldest sweater and if there had been a prize for that, I'm sure she would have one with her 1986 sweater. Better luck next time.
Kim, Tara, Staci and Lisa. The shoulder pads, sequins, stripes, and hideous lacy flowers just added to the overall festive atmosphere.

um . . . it was late and we had a camera near-by. Our freakishly long arms have to be good at something, right? Enter the self taken portrait. This was the only one fit to be seen and if this is the good one, what does that tell you about the others?
Mark and Staci were voted, respectively, the guy and gal sporting the ugliest sweaters. They each won a Krave gift card. Who says ugly sweaters aren't good for something? BTW, Staci raided her grandma's closet and feeling awkward asking for something ugly, asked her grandma if she had any unique sweaters. Its unique alright. :)

Some of the spread. I made velveeta nacho dip and we had an array of delectable treats. Said it before and I'll say it again, bit of a party food over-indulger.

Courtesy of KMart online and KMart in town. Yes, we are both wearing womens' turtlenecks and sweater vests. Quality stuff, first rate. I'm thinking I've found my new facebook profile pic.

Brian, Bryce, Trav, Bill and Rob. If we were voting on ugliest shirts, Bill would have won, hands down, for the beauty he had on under his excellent cardigan.
I can't remember why the backsides had to be touching but for whatever reasons, here are Sarah and Sara. Sarah's halloween sweater actually was uglier on the back than the front. Sara had bears wearing hats and ice skating, that's some good ugly.
Thanks for playing along everybody!


ps- anyone else have the old cheer in their head "U-G-L-Y, you ain't got no alibi, you ugly, wooo oooo, you ugly!" not very nice but downright catchy.

pps-used the word ugly 16, oops now 17 times

Books I've Read in 2009

* my favorites including "Belong to me," "Hunger Games" series, "The Help" and the "Mistborn" trilogy. But really, I liked them all, except maybe "Sarah's Key", too depressing.

• Mistborn Series (3 books) by Brandon Sanderson
• Daughter of Fortune by Isabelle Allende
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
• Harry Potter 1-4 by JK Rowling
• Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
• The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
• Sarah's Key by Tatiani de Rosnay
• The Host by Stephenie Meyers
• The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy
• Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• Fablehaven #4 by Brandon Mull
• The Phantom by Susan Kay
• Deep Dish by Mary Kay Andrews
• Nice to Come Home to by Rebecca Flowers
• Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier
• And then there were none by Agatha Christie
• Belong to Me by Marisa De Los Santos
• The Clearwater Union War by Ron Carter
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• The Star Garden by Nancy Turner

A word . . .

A word about Project Runway:
very fun! I feel slightly self loathing wearing my off the rack clothes that are obviously several seasons ago, but watching people design and sew clothes is a million times more fun than I thought it could be. The draping, the styling, and, of course,the petty drama filled reality tv moments have me tuning in for more each week.


A word about this boy:
He was snack helper on Tuesday at school. Oh the glory that is being snack helper! On Monday night we sat down and counted out 17 baggies, he put 1 chocolate oreo, 1 golden oreo and I put 15 cheeze-its in each baggie. And then Tuesday night as I'm tucking him, I ask him (as I do every night) what his favorite part of the day was, and he said, "Being in charge of snack. Mom, everybody liked my snack today." Such a happy, smiley guy!
A word about rain:
Its great for Farmer Frank's crops and all, but I've had enough this week. How do people do it in Seattle? Or any place cold, dark and gloomy? I want to stay home and bake enough goodies to feed the population of China. Not so great for the ol' waistline, if you know what I mean. My motivation to do anything is nonexistent. And I'm down right cold which makes me slightly grumpy.

A word about this girl:
She's awesome! The other night after dinner, unsolicited she finished clearing the table while I loaded the dishwasher, put the dirty placemats in the laundry room, put the clean placemats in the drawer, brought me the high chair tray to be wiped down, got out the baby wipes and cleaned the entire table!!! Then she simply beamed as I thanked her for her hard work. How lucky am I?
And her teacher at school told me this week how much her reading is progressing and what an excellent job she's doing in school. Buttons bursting here folks, literally bursting.


A word about this boy:
He's finally started taking steps!!!!! He's pretty stable and he's very interested in walking. He'll take 4-5 unaided steps before diving to the floor. I can't remember how long it takes between the "I've taken one step" until the "walking is my main mode of transportation," phases.
Weeks? Months? My mom brain is worthless.

A word about popcorn and movies:
I've seen some great ones recently. The kids, grandparents and I saw "Princess and the Frog," thought it was darling. My folks and my hubby and myself saw "The Blindside," and absolutely LOVED it. Fantastic story, the world would be a better place is more people were like Leigh Ann Tuoghy, so glad Sandra Bullock won the Golden Globe for her performance. I've already mentioned it, but also greatly enjoyed "Sherlock Holmes." And last weekend saw "Leap Year," and while I'm not a ginormous Amy Adams fan, I thought Matthew Goode was perfect. What can I say, I'm a sucker for accents and an Irish setting. Very cute movie and hallellujah it was only PG, its about time Hollywood realizes they can make a movie without throwing in the F*bomb or gratuitous sex scene. Thank you. Avatar is on my list of movies to see.

Gooey good times

For those who know me and/or read my blog, I am mildly obsessed with taking pictures of my kids covered in food. I can't help myself. There is something so delightful about seeing them discover this art form. Plus, its such a quintessential "childhood" moment. Everybody has pictures of their own kids covered in squash or yogurt or birthday cake. Its a rite of passage into parenthood it seems. And I guess that's one of the reasons why I like it so much, I can show this picture and say, "You know those little sticky creatures? I have one too!"
Instant member of the club.



for the record: 1) its chocolate cake and 2) he immediately was thrown in the tub and scrubbed down


"Even when freshly washed and relieved of all obvious confections, children tend to be sticky," author Fran Lebowitz

Resolutions

Yep, fully aware that today is the 18th of January and resolutions are usually done at the first of this month. I know, I know. But I'm doing it anyway, so what?

Goals for 2010:

1. Go camping. REAL "break out the tents/lantern/camp stove" camping. ideally, more than once, but baby steps folks, baby steps. I do live with an Eagle Scout who is a self proclaimed non-camper.

2. read every book club book. This has been a goal for me in years past, but I think its a good one and I want to do it every year.

3. send more cards and handwritten letters (I also may have said this one last year, but again, I think it bears repeating.) There are few things better than the handwritten thank you card in the mail.

4. Be a better saver, as in saving dollars, mula, cash, dough, benjamins, etc.

5. Go swimming with the kids more and teach them to swim.

6. Be more consistent with my food blog. I seem to go in spurts of activity and spurts of inactivity. I would also like to do themes, like "the treat of the week" or "salad of the week" or something like that. I'm also toying with give-aways of kitchen related products and actual baked goods.

7. and for my husband, since this is one of his pet peeves, be a better time manager. this encompasses many things, being on time to church is one of them. Not letting the internet suck away my life blood is another one. Doing my ironing before it grows into a giant pile that I avoid like the black plague. It should be done at least monthly instead of semi-annually. ;)

8. have more parties and game nights. I.love.them. and I love party food way more than I should.

9. yell less. this is a biggie. it can also be called, "be more patient"

10. make treats once a month for the soldiers serving in the Middle East. It was such a rewarding experience doing it in December, I want to keep with it.

New Year's Eve 09

Another New Year's Eve. Another kick-a party at the Westons. Its tradition. Not as much before the party prep this year, (no karioke or dance moves to perfect) and that was okay with us. We played a funny game of historical charades. When I first heard that we were going to play this game, I thought, "How is re-enacting the civil war or the Crossing of the Delaware going to be fun?" But I was wrong. I was thinking dry, boring history; not at all the events we had to re-enact. Here are a sampling:

The Beatles first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Work the guitar Mary Ann!

Ed himself announcing "these youngsters from Liverpool, who call themselves the Beatles." And Steve is one of those people that even when he is not trying, because I don't think he ever tries, its all the funnier.

The Hindenburg disaster, Oh the humanity!

JFK's assassination. I played Jackie and Travis was the title role of John Fitzpatrick Kennedy himself. While our shooter was working alone, we'll never know about the presence of a real second shooter. Conspiracy theorists unite!

Guesses, anyone? Okay, I'll tell you. That's Oprah on the left, and Tom Cruise jumping the couch. I actually saw that episode and now its a cultural, iconic event.


Justin Timberlake with tutu adorned back-up singers waiting for Janet Jackson to make her entrance. Moments later there was a ward-robe malfunction.
The Jamaican bob-self team, yeah man. Mike is such a good sport, this is not his cup of tea.
On the floor in front, Robyn, our fiesty lioness. Me playing the guitar back left, our very own Madonna in the middle rocking out to "Like a Virgin" and Trav on the guitar on the right. If you've never seen the music video, stop reading and go to youtube and look it up right now. Then the lion crawling around will make much more sense.

Bob is one of the main reasons this party is fun every year. Exhibit A, Aladdin and the flying carpet. Exhibit B, Lord of the Dance. and now Exhibit C, Madonna. Robyn, love you too, but Bob in any sort of costume makes it *that* much better.
love the blue pom pom tail.
Buh-bye 09!