Hey, Look! A Christmas Meme!

It's SEC Championship Day. Hubs is Atlanta at "The Game," I'm home with 3 kids, and it's 30 degrees outside. Brrr. So I'm gonna be the follower and jump on the Christmas Meme bandwagon.

Here goes.

1. Eggnog or Hot Chocolate? Hands down, without debate, undoubtedly, hot chocolate. I think Eggnog is one of the grossest drinks ever. But then again, I don't like eggs. Or vanilla. So that makes sense.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa brings 3 presents to each child and they are unwrapped. But presents from Mommy & Daddy are wrapped. Now if only Santa would take the toys out of the packaging that has 1000 twist ties, unbreakable plastic, and that requires an engineering degree to get in to....

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White. But my mom uses colored lights and they definitely hold a special place in my heart. I hold no ill will toward any peeps who use colored lights, but I prefer white.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? I did for a couple of years - I had a mistletoe ball that hung. I loved it. But Mary Emma whacked it with a ball one day (that kid has great aim) and demolished it. O well.

5. When do you put your decorations up? Usually the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? I don't really have a favorite - we don't have traditions when it comes to food at Christmas. Except my mother-in-law's cheese ball. It isn't the holidays without it. And, even though it's technically not a dish, my dad's Wassail is amazing.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? I have 2. 1) My parents used to hide our "big presents" and make us think we didn't get them. We would open all of our presents and have that moment where we were disappointed that we didn't get that ONE THING that we had wished for all year long. Then dad would send is to his closet to get his slippers or something like that and that gift would be there. And he would laugh and laugh. 2) My dad is a crappie fisherman. He fishes using cane poles. One year, my brother gave my dad some cane poles for Christmas. He was so excited that he went outside to "practice" by "fishing" out of our swimming pool. In his pajamas and slippers. In the winter. We loved it.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I don't really remember. I do remember being "too cool" to sit in his lap that year and had to pretend because my brother was still a believer. I have a feeling this might be our last year with Mary Emma being a believer. She's getting really skeptical.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? I always want to (I'm not the most patient person in the world) but Spencer doesn't like to let me. He enjoys watching me squirm. :)

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? We have two trees — both are decorated very traditionally. We don't have a color theme or anything like that. The downstairs tree has the traditional ornaments on it - a bunch of wedding gifts (we got married on Dec 20, so we got a LOT of "Just Married" ornaments). We also get an ornament whenever we go on vacation anywhere. Spencer has his ornaments from when he was a kid, and I have mine. The upstairs tree is the girls' tree. It has any ornament that was given to them or that they have made (which are my personal favorite).

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love, love, LOVE the snow. LOVE. Unfortunately, I live in Alabama where there is rarely snow. We did get some snow last night, but the ground was too warm for anything to stick. But it was SO PRETTY!

12. Can you ice skate? I actually can. And by "skate" I mean I can skate around the rink in a nice big circle. I can't spin and stuff. (I KNOW - shocker.) But again, I live in Alabama. Ice rinks are not exactly on every corner.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I don't really have a FAVORITE. Things were favorites according to what was going on in my life at the time. Things that stick out in my mind are 1) a model of the Space Shuttle when I was about 10 ( I wanted to be an astronaut my entire life), 2) my very own TV for my room when I was 13, 3) a diaper bag with Mary Emma's initials on it that Spencer gave me right after we found out that we were having a girl, 4) an ornament that looks exactly like my bridal bouquet, which was given to me by Spencer's grandmother

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Christmas is all about the "Who" and not about the "what." I love teaching my girls about the true meaning of Christmas. Camille's little mother's day out class is having a "Happy Birthday Party for Jesus" this year instead of having a Christmas Party. I CAN'T WAIT. It's gonna be precious.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Anything chocolate. My mom makes fruit cake cookies, which she loves and I think are gross, but the story behind them makes me glad that they're around during the holidays.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? I LOVE a Christmas Eve service. I love dressing my girls and nephews alike and taking pictures of them. I love riding around and looking at Christmas lights. I love making cookies and decorating them for Santa. I love staying up really late with Spencer and setting out all the Santa stuff. But I mostly love watching all the girls climb in Spencer's lap and him reading the Christmas story to them.

17. What tops your tree? An angel.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Both. I love giving gifts, but I'm not gonna lie and say I don't like receiving them, too.

19. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum? I'm Switzerland when it comes to candy canes. Totally neutral.

20. Favorite Christmas Show? Miracle on 34th Street. Preferably the old one, but I like the new one, too.

21. Saddest Christmas Song? Is there a sad Christmas song? Um, Little Drummer Boy. Because it makes me want to beat my head against a wall. The injury sustained from that would make me sad.

22. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Silent Night, O Holy Night (especially the Point of Grace version), Travis Cottrell's "In The First Light," and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (complete with the little interjections between each line "...had a very shiny nose (like a light bulb!)"

I'd love to read yours, too. If you participate in this HIGHLY INTELLECTUAL meme, please let me know in the comments and I'll jump on over to your land of blogginess.

Have a great Saturday!

Bet You Won't Find THAT Little Detail In Your Bible.

When Spencer and I got married, 12 years ago on Dec 20, We were given a Fontanini Nativity Scene. It's one of my favorite Christmas decorations that we have and I always look forward to setting it up in a special place.

This year, Tait and Camille have discovered it. They LOVE it. They play with the wisemen (all of the characters are made of resin/plastic and are virtually unbreakable), the donkey, the camel, and OF COURSE fight over Baby Jesus (who they call a "she" - welcome to living in a house with all girls. Everything is a she.) I have it set up on a table in the den and let them play and play and play with it.

Yesterday, they had been playing with the Nativity Scene for about 45 minutes when they moved on to something else. I walked by it and noticed a new character had been included in the sacred manger scene.



Behold, Cinderella made it to the blessed birth of our Lord and Savior.

I haven't found proof of that little fact in my Bible, yet, but I'm checking all the translations to see if she's mentioned.

In the meantime, Merry Christmas. Hope your holiday season has gotten off to an amazing start!

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I Would Now Like To Show You The Finished Cake

First, if you have no idea what I'm talking about, go here.

Now that we're all caught up, here's a picture of the finished product.



Um, yeah. That's a cupcake. From a box. With canned icing. And "princess pearl" sprinkles.

Apparently I'm not a cake decorator. Especially since the "cake" cost me about $40, a dozen eggs, an entire day, some not-so-nice looks from my husband, and some hilarious laughter with my neighbor, Michelle, who is completely correct in her "Robyn is crazy" assessment.

But you know what?



This little nugget had a great birthday. And that's what counts, right?

I Might Be Overestimating My Abilities Just a Little...

I'm a fan of the Food Network. I love watching how stuff is prepared and practicing my knife skills (yes, cutting things correctly is a skill and one that needs to be practiced - definitely speeds up the whole preparation time). My dad and I want to go to Culinary School - preferably together. But one of my favorite things about cooking is cake decorating. I could watch Ace of Cakes all day long. I LOVE IT. And I have this perception of myself as someone who could totally knock out an awesome cake just by having a little craftiness and some stubbornness to go along with it.

So.

Today I'm attempting this.



Ok. Who's laughing?

I won't be using the same colors but the basic idea will be the same. Camille's 3rd birthday was Sunday and her party with all of her little school friends is tomorrow. So I'm gonna try it.

And know that I'm not above getting one from the Publix bakery if this one turns out as something worthy to appear here.

Stay tuned.....

This Might Not Make Much Sense To Most Of You...

I just got back from LPL Memphis last night and I need to write down (actually, type - who writes anymore) some funnies that happened over the course of the weekend. For many of you, this will look like a jumbled mess of words, but to me, they are hilarious moments that bonded my heart even more with some of the most amazing people I've ever been blessed to know. And I don't want to EVER forget them, to I'm putting them down here.

It's my blog and I can type if I want to.

And I promise to be bringing you a clear, concise, re-cap of the weekend, complete with some deep stuff that Beth threw at us, but it takes a little time to process that kind of stuff. And let me tell you, I read back over my notes this morning, and I was blown away with some NEW STUFF that I learned. Amazing.

So, here goes.

1. Mama Kim and her snacks/cooler in the car. LOVE HER.
2. YouTube videos
3. Eating 3 crackers, 1 piece of pizza, and a third of a bowl of pasta in 3 days.
4. Spending the majority of my food budget on Starbucks.
5. Being able to sleep only 10 hours over the course of the weekend thanks to Starbucks.
6. Dad
7. Noisy pasta
8. Flowers in hair
9. Gumbo for the homeless
10. Really?
11. Being worried that Fran was picking up a total stranger at the airport and then realizing that this total stranger turned out to be the biggest blessing of the weekend.
12. Bi-polar A/C in the hotel. Freezing...sweating...freezing....sweating...
13. Boots
14. Name that tune at 3:00 AM
15. Watching sweet Rachel's baby move in her tummy. Aunt Robyn LOVES YOU!
16. Pam Case's elevator adventure
17. Freezing in line Saturday morning BEFORE the sun came up
18. Excellent seats in the FedEx
19. KLOVE
20. 6 hours, 1 bed, hilarious laughter, sweet friends
21. Peepskin
22. Noisy pasta making Mary/Melinda's room smell like fish guts
23. More Starbucks
24. "DANGIT, who has a key to push the button on the elevator?"
25. The glass shower
26. FREEZING in Kim's car
27. Being very appreciative of an Aflac blanket
28. The sleepy man in the lobby when we checked in.
29. The guy with dreads at Blues Cafe.

I love all of you LPL Memphis people. LOVE. YOU.

You make my heart happy and my abs a little stronger. What a laughter work-out they got this weekend!

The Great Skinny Leg Jean / Legging Debate of 2009

I was watching the Today show this morning and the fashion show of the day was all about Leggings. The "fashion expert" claimed that leggings are for everyone, regardless of how old you are or what size you are. Then several models paraded out in their leggings, which included leather leggings, denim leggings (complete with faux pockets on the front AND back - shudder), and sequined leggings.

I tend to disagree with the "leggings are for everyone" trend that is so popular right now.

And here are my reasons why.

1. The models on the Today show were probably 6'5" and weighed on average 47 pounds. How many people do you know who are that size? Me? Zero. But the leggings looked great on them. I did notice, however, that they didn't bring out a size 12 mom, who is carrying a diaper bag, a kid, and 14 pieces of Polly Pockets to show how cute leggings would be on her. I smell a conspiracy.

2. In the immortal words of my friend, Erin, "Don't wear skinny leg jeans if you aren't." Words to live by, people. Words to live by.

3. Tait, my FOUR YEAR OLD, wore leggings to school today. She looked precious. If your 4 year old looks precious in something, chances are you won't if you wear the same thing.

4. In order to wear skinny leg jeans, you must meet 2 requirements. A) Be skinny. B) Have legs. I have only met B. Therefore, I haven't met the requirements of wearing skinny leg leans. Refer back to #1. They met both requirements. Carry on, telephone pole models.

5. I watch "What Not to Wear" religiously (secretly hoping that someone will nominate me and I'll be TRANSFORMED by the powers of Stacy and Clinton - hint hint, wink wink) and they have a major issue with tapered pants. They say that when your ankles are the skinniest part of you, your BACKSIDE looks huge by comparison. Skinny leg jeans/leggings = the most tapered pant possible. And I can ASSURE YOU that I need no help making my backside look large. And that's all I gotta say about that.

6. Sequined leggings? That reflect light and draw lots of attention to your legs and butt? There's just something scarily wrong with that idea.

7. The last time I wore leggings was in the 80's. Do you remember the 80's? They were bad, people. BAD. It was ALL OF OUR ugly stages. The people who apparently are the "trend setters" today were either too young to remember the 80's or not yet born in the 80's. So I think it's our duty to mankind to show them the errors of our ways. Let's learn from our past. Not REPEAT IT!

So, in closing, I plan on strongly declining the skinny leg pant / legging trend.

What about you?

Talk amongst yourselves in the comment section.