More Holiday Fun!

The pre-holiday fun continues around here. I'm feeling pretty good about having enough of the stuff on my to-do list checked off. All that's left is cooking and cleaning, and most of that stuff has to be done in the last day or two anyway. Tomorrow Joe's parents are taking Julie to the zoo, which will free me up to run a couple of errands with only one child in tow as Joe runs an errand or two of his own and then hopefully helps do some cleaning around here.

One of the errands I need to run tomorrow is to a local bakery, Turtle Bread, which makes a certain chocolate bread. It's not cake - it's bread. I'm going to buy a loaf or two to use in making a bread pudding. Which reminds me - must go to basement and dig around for whiskey for the sauce. Wish me luck in this adventure - I've made bread pudding before, but never with chocolate bread.

Anyway, I need to get some more things done tonight like finish clearing out my office room as much as possible - I still have a nagging feeling that my brother-in-law could show up as a Christmas surprise since he's done that several times now for various occasions. If so, it'd be nice to have the guest room ready for him. Maybe it's wishful thinking on my part. Julie sure would like to have her Uncle Dave here for Christmas. I also want to bake up a few more cookies for Julie tonight - we ate up all the sugar cookies, and they were good, so it'd be nice to have another plate to put out on Christmas and some to leave out for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.

In the mean time, I'm going to quick show you a few pictures from today. We went to the Mall of America and walked around for a few hours. It kept us out of the house and was actually kind of fun despite the crowds. They had a "Polar Express" engine display set up - the girls were only somewhat impressed.



They were much more excited to watch what was going on inside the giant gingerbread house.
I took them in it the last time we were at the mall, and Julie liked it so much she wanted to go back through it. Here they are looking at the display:



And here's the display:



The crowds at the mall were deceptive. When we pulled in to the parking ramp, it was quite full. I somehow magically found a prime parking spot right in front of the elevator on the fifth floor of the ramp, but the whole ramp was full of cars circling looking for spots. The funny thing, though, was that the hallways were totally navigable, there were no huge lines for food or restrooms, and even the "attractions" like the gingerbread house and Legoland were not all that overcrowded. The most crowded spot I noticed while there today was the Apple store. People were lined up to look at all the gadgets and stuff - this picture doesn't fully convey how many people were in there.



We ate lunch in the food court overlooking the amusement park. I had packed food for Julie - partly because of the allergies and partly because the Mall doesn't have very many decent choices for food. I'm even grossed out by the level of fast-food grease available there. Julie spent a lot more time staring out at the roller coasters than she did eating, but that was fine. I usually let her eat her grapes as we walk around after lunch - it buys me a bit more time if I want to do some actual shopping.



When we got home, Julie ran around in the yard for a few minutes, tromping down the first real snow of the year that came down yesterday afternoon. It's quite slushy now, but she had fun doing her little happy snow dance.



I peeked out the front door and found a package on the steps - my Secret Pal came through with an early Christmas present in the most amazing way. I'm loving this Secret Pal business. I totally lucked out with someone who was fun to buy for, and with a pal who bought perfect stuff for me, and was very generous and fun. The card is super-cute with three little mice wearing knits and ringing bells. My pal apologized for the fact that it said Christmas inside, which I thought was sweet, but not totally necessary. I know it can be hard to find the right card without the wrong message inside. There is a copy of Lavish Lace by Carol Rasmussen Noble and Cheryl Potter - it's supposed to be patterns that go well with hand paint yarns. I can't wait to sit down and really read through it, but on first glance it looks like it has some nice patterns. There are three giant skeins of Italian lace weight merino - one in white and two in cream. These would be excellent for either practicing with dyeing on my own (is that what you had in mind, SP?) or knitting just as they are. I think my favorite thing in the package is the little project bag just the right size for a pair of socks. It's from Lantern Moon, and the fabric is beautiful. This is something I think I'll really use - great for carrying the socks inside my diaper bag and/or toting around when I'm at the park or a play date or something. I could even stick my phone and wallet in there too. There is a sa-weeet packet of beaded stitch markers that will be perfect for the lace project that I'm getting ready to start...I promise, I'm going to use them, but I also promise they will end up in the cracks and crevices all around my house and car just like the collection of plastic ones there already. Finally, a decadent little treat - chocolate covered coffee beans - which I love, but I really am going to have to exercise every ounce of self-restraint I possess with these. I know they're caffeinated, and I don't do caffeine unless I want both myself and Sophie bouncing off the walls. I'll be fine as long as I can eat just one or two a day. They came in a little stocking that will make a perfect baby-safe tree ornament. Oh - and to top it off, a gift card for Starbucks. A girl can always use a mocha latte to go with her knitting. Secret Pal, you hit a grand slam with this gift package! Thank you for such thoughtful gifts! I don't know what to say really. You've far exceeded my expectations.



I thought I'd share a few more pictures of the little crafts we've been doing to decorate the house. This barely counts as a craft - I punched holes in all the cards we've received so far and strung them up with some yarn and push pins in the dining room. It makes a nice garland, and keeps them on display but out of little hands that would destroy them in seconds.



This is a portion of the garland that Julie and I made for the Christmas tree out of construction paper, glitter glue and yarn. It's very 3-year-old kitsch, but it adds interest to the bottom of the tree where I can't put the more fragile ornaments and it was fun to make.



I made a bunch of plastic canvas needlepoint ornaments a few years ago. These are also on the edge of tacky, but they are safe and cute and well, I'm all about the tacky when it comes to my Christmas tree.



I didn't get the best picture, but we made a pile of salt-dough ornaments as well. Julie had much more fun with cutting these out than she did with the actual gingerbread dough. This dough was much less sticky, and I was much more relaxed about letting her play with it since it wasn't meant for food.



And now, I really must go get a few more Christmas-elf chores done before bed. I'm kind of thinking that this may be my last post till after the big day. I'll leave you with a copy of the photo montage we sent out on the cover of our holiday cards this year. I can't believe what a busy, wonderful, blessed year we've had. May all of you celebrate your own joys from 2006 and may we all have as many more in 2007.