BLAH. BLAH. BLAH.

Maybe it's what some people think when they hear about someone writing a blog.  Maybe it's what my kids hear when I'm telling them for the MILLIONTH time to <insert pick up, put away, stop doing something>.

But these "BLAH"s aren't the customary winter variety most of us can relate to.  I'm not in the middle of the Winter Blahs due to the weather in NEO.  Actually, it's been a pretty enjoyable winter so far. A few big snows since Christmas with warm-ups in the middle to clear everything out.  I can handle this.

No, these blahs are setting in because of the pace of my schedule.  It's gone from "everyday Mommy" pace to "supercharged Mommy" pace all because of ONE THING.

*JUNIOR OLYMPIC VOLLEYBALL*

My passion.  My love.  My escape.
Yes.  It is all of these things to me.  But it's also a monumental time commitment...which means other things have to suffer.

My family? Never.

My friends? I try not to, but maybe a little :(

My perks of free time Pinterest browsing and blogging? Bingo. <sigh>  Enter the BLAHs I speak about.

While I cannot express enough how much I LOVE volleyball season and the wonderful things that take place between January and May, it does eat away at my "mindless" activity time.

I will pledge to do my darndest to get back on track.
Hell.  I just realized I never finished my "12 Days of Christmas" ideas.  I still have 9-12 listed on my desktop "post-it" gadget. Save 'em for next year, I guess!

Tomorrow is a new day.  With it will bring my January Birchbox product review.  Bright side is I actually got to use the products ahead of time!  WAHOO!!!

On the Eighth Day of Christmas, Some Kindergarteners Gave to Me....

a jolly fun morrrrrnnnnn-ing!

Sweet Pea's class Christmas party was this morning and what fun we had!  Even though class parties aren't the hour long, action-packed fun-a-palooza that they were "back in my day" because of increased focus on instructional time and testing, I thought it was important to plan some big fun for the kids today!  I enlisted the help of the Hubs, who's on vacation for two weeks, and extremely artistically talented.  I have the vision and he sees it through and makes it real.  We're a perfect team ;)  So I came to him semi-last minute (par for the course, eek!) and conveyed my vision for "Pin the Red Nose on Rudolph"....and this is what he creates! C'est MAGNIFIQUE!!

We also played "Human Christmas Tree" which was so much fun!  We divided the class up in to 3 teams.  Each team got a roll of green crepe paper and baggie full of those foamie stickers in various Christmas shapes.  Each team wrapped a member up in the green crepe paper.  And then decorated the "tree" using the foamies.  Super cute and super fun! The kiddos loved it!!

I planned one other game that we didn't get a chance to play.  I made a jingle bell necklace for each child.  The game is played like "Hot and Cold" hidden object.  Have a child hide an object, like stuffed Santa, somewhere in the classroom.  Have the "finder" wait in the hallway while the object is being hid.  Bring in the "Finder" and the children ring their bells slow and low to show the finder is far away from the object, and as the finder gets closer to the object, they ring it louder and faster.  

It was so fun to be back in the classroom and share the giggles of a group of kiddos excited for Christmas vacation. I do miss those "little things" about teaching :)

On the Seventh Day of Christmas, My Cat Gave to Me...

an epic iPhone failure of Mayan magnitude.  Hence, no catchy title in the spirit of the song. No real worthy blog post about something Christmas related.  Because the pictures were on my phone and now they are not.  Along with 100s of other pictures, and most of my calendar appointments, and all my apps in the correct order or page and signed in.  There is information gone from my phone that I am sure I don't even realize is missing until I need it in the midst of a life or death struggle.  It's that's serious. Seriously.


So,  I will do my due diligence to get back on track tonight.  I am still trying to get my phone back in to regular working order. Staying up until 1:30am last night only made it functional.  There's a lot of work to do.


Word of caution, never try to restore your iPhone to get rid of spam taking up space on your memory with a cat in your lap.  Recipe for technological disaster.  Oy.

On the Sixth Day of Christmas, the '40s Gave to Me...

my favorite kind of dec-or-a-ting!

Vintage Christmas...love, love, love! It killed me this year to finally give in and buy LED lights for our living room live tree. (It was more about safety, as the old school lights we were using were pushing 15 years old.  But believe me, if I wasn't seriously concerned about the house burning to the ground, I would've held on to those regular bulbs as long I could!) Our entire downstairs family room tree is full of gorgeous vintage ornaments courtesy of my beautiful Grandma and hours of scouring estate sales/flea markets/antique shows and stores.  Some I bought by the musty basement box load, others I found one by one.  All bring a huge smile to my face every year we decorate our tree!  If your looking to begin a voyage into vintage Christmas. I suggest starting with ornaments.  If you hit estate sales in older neighborhoods or flea markets, many times you will be able to find an entire box of ornaments.  Make sure you negotiate the price, and check that the paint is still in good shape.  As long as the paint/glitter is in good shape, it means they haven't been exposed to too much moisture.  Antique stores tend to be a little pricier, but also will have better quality and selection.  Maybe start your collection one at a time by buying a quality, beautiful piece per year.  Either way, just get started.

Here are a few of my favorites from our tree!

                        

                                     

If you still want a touch of vintage to your Christmas decor, but don't have the time to shop and hunt at antique stores or flea markets or estate sales (believe me, that WAS me for the last 4 years - babies and toddlers do not equal good shopping partners at these places!), many mainstream stores and boutiques offer vintage inspired new decorations. Jo-Ann Fabrics has consistently stocked many choices of very vintage inspired fabric perfect for tablecloths, napkins, place mats, etc.  On a recent trip to picturesque Chagrin Falls, at a small boutique, I found these beautiful sheets of wrapping paper with amazing graphic quality.  They are absolutely too perfect to ever wrap anything in, but they are the perfect poster size for framing and hanging on our dining room wall for the holiday season.  They were only $5 a piece. Easy-peasy and CHEAP way to look vintage.

Also, don't be afraid to mix true vintage with new/re-produced vintage.  Here's a part of my buffet scene...alittle true vintage and little new vintage. 

The elf, snow girl, reindeer and moose all came

from my grandma's collection.  The house I 

found for a STEAL at an antique show.

The small bottle brush trees are

new vintage.  Bottle brush trees

are REALLY popular and easy to find.

My rule for vintage, as always,  if you LOVE it, BUY it!  It probably won't be there if you wait.  And you may never find it again :)

On the Fifth Day of Christmas, Hollywood Gave to Me...

some of my fa-vor-ite Hol-i-day moooo-vies.

Sure there's the standards; "White Christmas", "Miracle on 34th Street" and "It's A Wonderful Life." All wonderful, heartfelt classics. I do enjoy them.  But my favorites are wide ranging and usually comical.  I humbly offer my list of all-time favorite Christmas movies.

THE CLASSIC - "Holiday Inn"

While I am a gigantic classic movie fan, there is only one vintage holiday movie that I cherish.  I started watching it on Christmas Eve years ago when I moved out on my own, and my husband and I still watch it until the wee hours of the night on Christmas Eve.  It's the ORIGINAL place "White Christmas" was played.  And it's waaaayyyy better than it's remake, "White Christmas". I give to you, "Holiday Inn"; Bing and Fred in their glorious best. The musical numbers are magnificent and the dancing is flawless.  

Runner-Up: "Christmas In Connecticut"

THE FAMILY CLASSIC -  "A Christmas Story"

This movie is my hometown.  Filmed in Cleveland in the early1980s, it has it's glory every year for 24 hours straight on TBS starting Christmas Eve.  It began with a cult following and grew into a national Christmastime treasure.  It gave us a wicked Santa warning "You'll shoot your eye out, Kid", THE leg lamp, triple dog dares, "Oh FFFFUUUUDDDDGGGEEE", smiling Chinese duck dinners and pink bunny footie pajamas. It was also the foundation for the TV series "The Wonder Years".

If you are a fan and you ever find yourself in my wonderful hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, you simply have to take a tour of "The Christmas Story" house too.  

Runner-Up: the original "Miracle on 34th Street"

THE BELLY-LAUGHER - (it's a tie) "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" and "Elf"

Will Ferrell at his delightful, over-the-top, family-appropriate best.  There really is something for everyone in this movie.  My daughter watched it for the first time last year and asked, soon after Thanksgiving was over, "When are we gonna watch that silly Elf movie?".  The plot is holiday heartwarming perfection with just the right dose of irreverence and slapstick humor.  It's a must stop while channel surfing and we own in on DVD for "on-demand" viewing too.

Without this movie, there would be no "Home Alone", "Elf", "The Santa Clause"...etc.  The original "take everything that you love/hate/cherish/drives-you-crazy/makes-you-cry/can't-wait-for moments" of Christmas and wrap it in one hilarious box with a big bow of Christmas lights.  

Runner-Up: "Dr. Suess' How The Grinch Stole Christmas" full-length movie

Now I'm in the mood for an all night movie marathon! What about your family...what are "must-see"s in your holiday house?

One the Fourth Day of Christmas, the Browns Gave to Me...

Cleveland Browns™

another Sunday full of mis-er-y :(  UGH.  My hubby and I went to the game today full of high hopes, like every Browns fan across Cleveland, Ohio, the US and the World. It's been FOREVER since we rode a three game winning streak.  And it all seemed to be going our way. In the past weeks, the offense had shown signs of improvement, the defense was playing lights out and there was even murmurs through the city that Pat Shurmur was saving his job.  I know, right?!?!  And to put the cherry on the "confidence cake", we would be playing the Washington Redskins minus RGIII.  This thing's in the bag, right? <insert game show buzzer sound> WRONG! It's as if the football gods said, "Whoa, let's not get too excited here Browns' fans. Yes, you have the building blocks for an offense. And yes, you are just two players away from a lights-out defense.  But really? You're thinking that maybe Pat Shurmur should keep his job just for the sake of continuity? C'mon Man!".  A lot of this ugly game can be placed on a lackluster performance of our quarterback, Brandon Weeden. He did not play well.  But, I continued to see the same problems that plagued us since the beginning of the season, which all stem from the offensive coaching staff - lack of creativity/variety on offense, poor play design and most of all lack of or willingness to adjust the offensive game plan. It's as if Pat Shurmur sits on the sideline and thinks, "Daggumit, this is my game plan and nothing's gonna make me change it."  Juxtaposed by the opposing sideline of the Washington Redskins, who handily beat us with their back-up quarterback, which had a game plan that was adjusted after the first quarter and worked like a well-oiled machine.  I certainly hope the Browns' coaching staff looks at that film and takes notes on how to USE WHAT YOU HAVE TO YOUR PLAYERS' STRENGTHS.  The Redskins found Kirk Cousins' strengths and made him look like a HOFer.

On the bright side, another loss gets us a better draft spot to fill a need.  'Tis the mantra of the Browns' fan.

 I hope it ends.


Soon.

Cleveland Browns™

On the Third Day of Christmas, My Mom Gave to Me...

awesome recipes for our Christmas cook-ies!

I remember my mom baking Christmas cookies for DAYS when I was younger.  She'd bake enough trays for almost everyone in the neighborhood. Spritz, candy canes, Russian tea cakes, peanut butter blossoms...plates and plates of cookies.  All of them wonderfully delicious, even for a kid who really wasn't a sweets fan. (That's me).


The spritz cookies have always been my favorites; wreaths dotted with maraschino cherries in the middle, Christmas trees, camels, logs with chocolate dipped in nuts on each end and pinwheel swirls all decorated with sprinkles.  My mom uses the cookie press she received as a wedding present in the late '60s.  I always loved finding the right amount of twist to give the press to make the cookies come out just right.  I never thought the new cookie presses with the "trigger" would get it quite right.  I was delighted to find an authentic old-school, twist cookie press at an estate sale over 10 years ago in MINT condition, which included two disks my mom's doesn't. (I also love that cookie is spelled "cooky" in the old school stuff!) So now when we have "Cookie Day" at my house, my mom and I are double barreled spritz makers!

SPRITZ COOKIE RECIPE

Snowflake/Starburst cookie die.
Dough dyed with blue food coloring.
Edible white pearls for deco.
Move over, Martha Stewart!

*Taken directly from my Mirro Cooky Press recipe booklet*
1 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 1/4 cup sifted flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
*various food colorings*

Pre-heat oven to 375*

1. Cream the butter using a stand mixer, or hand mixer. 2. Gradually add sugar and cream well. 3. Beat in egg and extract. 4. Gradually add the flour, sifted with the salt and baking powder. 4a. At this point, if you plan on dividing and/or coloring dough, do it now. 5.  Spoon dough into cookie press and squeeze dough out on cookie sheets.
6. Decorate cookies with sprinkles, edible balls, etc.
7. Bake in oven for 10-12 mins, or edges of cookies just begin to brown.

These are the infamous candy cane cookies,
passed down to my mom from
my grandma.  They are PITA to make,
but so worth it. Delicious!!