There’s no place like CLAD’s for the holidays!!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Chrismast!! (No, I didn’t spell it wrong. Explanation later)
We headed over to CLAD’s at 6:30am so that we would be there in the living room waiting for Avery to come down and see what Santa left her. It didn’t go quite as planned:

She was so shocked to see us there it made her cry. But that was all quickly forgotten as soon as she saw the mountains of presents that awaited her!

It was sooooo much fun to watch Avery and Delaney open all of their gifts. With every gift opened Avery exclaimed “I’ve wanted this for my whole life!” Even the smooshy mushy gifts (aka clothes). Delaney didn’t know what to do with herself. For awhile she walked around her pile of presents just pulling off a piece of wrapping paper, then moving on to the next present and pulling a piece of wrapping paper off of it!
I mean, does life get more exciting than this:



Outta my way…there are more presents to be unwrapped!






At one point in the morning we lost Delaney in the pile of presents…can you find her?

After presents I made the traditional G family breakfast of sausage gravy and biscuits. Mmmmmm nummy. A vote was held and this tradition shall continue.

After breakfast Jenn and I headed home for a nap, and CLAD+J went to their Aunts house. We met up again later for more food and to finish unwrapping. We ate lots of junk, played with all the new cool toys like the Barbie Nail Printer, the ZhuZhu pets, Drunk Shut the Box, the Wii that Joni bought for CLAD, Phase 10 and anything else we could get our hands on.

The only sad part of the evening came when Avery went to bed. They had started the Elf on a Shelf tradition and Avery had to say goodbye to her elf Magee. It was heartbreaking. She didn’t want Magee to leave. She was doing that awful hiccuping cry and all of our hearts broke. Lyz and Avery talked to Santa and it was decided that Magee could stay a little while longer in Avery’s bedroom on her shelf. Who wants to ruin a four year old’s Christmas by making her cry??

Chris ended up coming home from work early because he got hurt (no gunshots, don’t fret) so the game playing continued. We stood up to take a break and looked at the clock. Somehow it had become 3am. It was such a wonderful day!! I hope everyone had as Merry of a Chrismast as we did!!

Oh, that is right, I have to explain Merry Chrismast…I bought shirt boxes at Target the other day to wrap the smooshie mushy gifts in…here is one of them:

Twas the night before the night before Christmas…

and all through the igloo:

Not a creature was stirring, not even an octopus:

The mittens were hung by the fire with care:

In the hopes when we took them off, our fingers would still be there.
Delaney was nestled all snug in her stroller:

With visions of freedom dancing in her head.
And Lyz in her kerchief:

And everyone else in the snow gear:

Had just settled down for a cold winters walk:

When out on the trail there arose such a clatter, I jumped from my Crocs to see what was the matter. When what to my wondering eyes should appear? But a sleigh with a driver, grasshopper, and a funny looking reindeer?


And there in the sleigh was a present for Marshall (my lil brother):

Santa was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf. But we couldn’t help but notice, he didn’t look like himself? (no glasses???)

When he was done hearing wishes from Avery and Phoenix, he took Delaney next, who still only wanted freedom:

Then back to his sleigh, and us to our warm cars…
Happy Christmas Eve Eve to all, and to all a good night.

Christmas came early

For Christmas this year Jenn and I exchanged presents a bit early. We’ve been planning this for months and months on end. Ever since I was watching an episode of Miami Ink, which I never watch. It was totally meant for me to watch this episode though. A young woman came in who had adopted a baby and wanted a tattoo of the baby in her guardian angel’s arms. When I saw the tattoo I started bawling. I knew I wanted it. It was perfect in every way.
The original:

I wanted two changes though. First, I thought the baby’s head just looked like one of the angel’s really big boobs. Second, I wanted it to show how the angel is taking care of Blue.

Here I am getting my tattoo…

And the finished product:

I am so in love with the tattoo. I wish I could stare at it alll day long, but that is kind of hard to do since it is on my back hehehe.

Jenn had a whole big plan for hers also. She liked my angel’s wings, but didn’t want an angel. She decided to turn her ying-yang sun tattoo into a whole scene, heaven, sky and earth. And what more appropriate scene than her happy place?
Here it is all mapped out and ready to go:

The wings at the top have Blue’s birthday between them, and are nestled among the stars. The ying-yang sun was already there. Then there is the Ponce de Leon Lighthouse and the ocean, and me laying on the beach. Well, me in my flamingo form anyways!!
Here she is getting it done (took almost three hours):

And the finished piece of art:

So we had to open our presents early you see, the tattoo shop isn’t open Christmas day!! (And besides, since we got them on Monday, maybe we will be able to sleep peacefully on Christmas Eve…having a fresh tattoo on your back and arm make it hard to find a comfy sleeping position!!)

Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow

Over the weekend we got hit with a wonderfully large snow storm. I love me some snow. We decided to hop in the car and head over to CLAD’s who was hosting a blizzard party!! We went sledding and sadly my camera didn’t like the dark and blustery conditions. But I did think this was a cool picture:

After sledding we played this absolutley awesome game called Just Dance on Wii. Oh my holy heck too much fun!!!!!

We took so many great videos but I don’t want to bore you so I am only going to pick one…the one where Delaney is the cutest!!

And a few pics:

Sunday we heard that Dutch Wonderland was opening for free to see their lights so we all headed there. While it was pretty, we were glad it was free because it just wasn’t worth it. They were totally snowed in so no rides were open, and you really couldn’t even see all of the lights.

At least we got to meet Duke, The Knight and the Princess:

So we headed to HersheyPark for their lights and rides!

It is so hard to pick pictures when they are all filled with people who I love looking so cute!!

I tried, honestly I tried.

But, I still can’t find it. My spirit of Christmas is mostly missing in action. There are glimmers here and there. When I first look at our tree, I smile. Then the crashing waves of pain take over. I thought year two would be better, easier, less painful. I ache. I’m sore. It hurts physically, mentally and emotionally.

I love to listen to Avery tell me how she thinks the real Santa was at our mall the other day because he certainly looked like the real Santa, it couldn’t have just been a helper Santa. But will our child ever ask such questions of me?

I can’t wait to watch Delaney rip the paper off of each of her gifts tiny piece by tiny piece. But will I ever know if my kid is the kind of kid who rips slowly and makes sure all the paper is off? Or is our kid the kind of kid that just tears off a big enough piece to see what is inside.

I see the excited look in Chris and Lyz’s eyes when they are giving the play by play of getting one of the years most sought after toys that Avery is certain Santa can bring. I see the triumph and pride in their eyes, and I get myself all wrapped up in the excitement with them. But will I ever feel it first hand?

I see the families picking out there trees at the Christmas tree farm and I see the children pointing at this tree or that tree and the parents smiling because even if the tree was to be pathetic (which would never happen at Landis Christmas Trees) they know they would get whichever tree their child wanted. But will I ever have to sacrifice my beloved Frasier Fir for a Douglas Fir all in the name of love for our child?

In December of 2007 I wrote a post all excited about Christmas of 2008. Jenn made it clear that she would not help the reindeer eat their carrots. I would be able to buy a million rolls of wrapping paper to be forever designated as Santa’s paper. But will we ever have that chance?

I think of Christmas traditions passed on from my family, like opening pjs on Christmas Eve and a yummy breakfast of sausage, biscuits and gravy. Yes, we do both, and this Christmas I’ll be making the yummy breakfast for CLAD+J too, but will our child ever partake of the yumminess?

I’m starting to lose hope. And being hopeless at Christmas time certainly does suck.

Things to do when bored at Landis Christmas Trees

Dress up your favorite four year old as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer:


Jump into the pile of trash while Baam is trying to sweep up the office:

Wonder what the inside of Heidi’s mouth looks like:

Stand around in the freezing cold:

Take a nap:

Realize that Delaney learned how to say “BobBob” before Heidi or Jenn:

Have a dance party:

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Bet you thought I forgot didn’t you??  Sorry, I know I am behind but I’ve been BUSY!!!

So last night I had Avery help me pick the winner for the Bib and Bow giveaway!!

All the names in the hat:

Carefully choosing:

Opening up the paper:

Showing off the winner!!!:

Yay Jamie!!! Send me your address and I will have your bib and bows out to you this week!! (Email me at heidimingo@gmail.com)

Happy 29th Birthday Chris!!!

I am a few days late…his birthday was Saturday and we celebrated at the Christmas tree farm!!

He unwrapped gifts:

We got him a party in a bag!! Inside a trashcan was 12 beers from around the world, a can of mixed nuts, Farkle, Scrabble Slam and some beer glasses. The trashcan is so he can puke when he is done!!

Avery and Delaney got him Spongebob golf balls and a cool reversible beanie!!

Then we ate cake!! (please check out Delaney’s surpised O face!!)

Happy Birthday Chris!!!  Enjoy the last year before you join the rest of us in 30land!!

The Happenings at Landis Christmas Tree

If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend opening a Christmas tree stand. Or Hanukkah Bush stand or Kwanzaa branch. Of course, this is only if you have a wonderful group of friends to do it with. We simply have too much fun. A few pics from the last few days:
The Office:

Trimming a tree:

Silo Climbing (Yes, if you look close you will see a human wayyyyy up there):

Snow covered trees:

Amish beat downs (It wasn’t quite an actual beat-down…but it got close)

I like this picture-Avery and Delaney waiting for Daddy to get one of Delaney’s birthday gifts out of the package:

Have I mentioned that if you purchase a tree you get to take home a free cat ornament?:

They also make good headwarmers:

And purses:*****

*****I promise no cats/kittens were harmed in the filming of this post.

Happy 1st Birthday Delaney!!!

Her big party was on Sunday at the farm after the tree farm closed for the night. She was so cute!! Of course, when isn’t she sooo cute??

She was so excited to see her cake:


She makes the big round mouth surprised face all the time. She’ll see something she hasn’t seen in a few minutes and take a deep breath and O her mouth!! Too cute 🙂
Avery helped Delaney blow the candle out:

Delaney got her very own cake to smash cake:

And then Delaney dug in…sorta:

She played in the frosting for a minute and then decided she was done with that:

Tonight we will open her presents while there is a quiet time in tree sales 🙂 She is so fun to watch unwrap things…every time she tears a bit of the paper she makes her surprised O face!!!