Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

I don't know about you but I love to enter these silly little contests to see if I win, someday I will, I will win big...hahahah. So here goes this one!

TodaysMama (link to: http://bit.ly/tmwishlist) and GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.


1. What is your holiday wish for your family?
That we could all be together.

2. What is your Christmas morning / Hanukkah Nightly tradition?
Open all of our gifts then have breakfast.

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?
I would love an I pad, dont really "need" one but why not!!!

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?
Help organize holiday parties. Just spend someone else's money!

5. What games did you play with your family growing up?
Life, we loved to play life.

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?
Chirstmas Eve Clam Chowder.

7. Where would you go for a Christmas/Hanukkah-away-from-home trip?
Hawaii or Disney World. To hop on a plain and supprise the kids in Disney for Christmas would be a dream come true.

8. Check out GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year?
I want the new Deadliest Catch, someone is getting it so mom can play it!
I also want the classic series like Super Mario and Donkey Kong Country.

Giving Thanks.

Since I became a mother seven years ago, the question “For What Are You Most Thankful?” has never required a moment’s hesitation.

I am most thankful for my daughter.

My blessing — Maci — makes me more thankful than I could ever have imagined being.
Today on another Thanksgiving I cannot stop thanking God for my precious little girl.
I also thank god for Kyle. We completed our first year of marriage this year, and what an honor to be able to call him my husband.

I spent a quiet and profoundly simple day with them Thanksgiving day, enjoying eachothers company. We started the day at mom’s for a hearty Thanksgiving lunch and then took Maci to see her dad. Kyle and I then joined the Grider family for Thanksgiving dinner.

I am so thankful for my little family and thankful for the beautiful day we had together. I can’t wait to see what is in store for us in the next year to come. What an amazing kickoff to this joyous holiday season!

Family is one of Nature’s Masterpieces.

Yesterday afternoon and today Maci is hanging out with Grandpa Tim. Together they have kept each other’s time full of activity eating, baking, putting up Christmas trees, playing on the computer and watching a little TV. Grandpa Tim even sent me some pictures of their adventures.

Yesterday was a half day of school to kick off the Thanksgiving break. Grandpa Tim picked Maci up from school and took her to lunch. She wrestled him into her ever so favorite McDonalds before they ventured home to put up the Christmas tree.


Maci had a sleepover with Nana and Tim last night and Grandpa Tim was proficient in spoiling her one more day.

In a week to be thankful, I am thankful that we live around so much family that is so willing to help out when it is needed. Really Maci could have gone to Boys and Girls Club but hanging out with Grandpa Tim seems to have been a hit!

November

I won’t lie, November hits and I am elated for Thanksgiving, I think I drive my mother in-law crazy asking about the Thanksgiving menu. You see that is my problem, when I hear the word Thanksgiving, my mind does not mechanically turn to noble thoughts of appreciation or patriotism. Instead my mind thinks FOOD!!! It thinks of sinfully delicious juicy turkey, rolls painted with a thick sheet of butter, of gorgeously fluffy mashed potatoes, stuffing dancing with gravy, all to go along with whatever tempting side dishes I can muster up. All topped off with my ever so favorite, a slice of warm blue berry pie with a heaping scoop of ice-cream just beginning to melt. And then; a giant nap only to wake up for round 2 (you know what I’m talking about)! Rearrange your plate from the first round and you can call it the next seriously satisfying meal if it makes you feel better. Note to family, now you know why I want “Thanksgiving dinner” at lunch; so my palate of taste buds gets to be submersed in this fine meal not once but twice in one day!
Back to driving my mother in-law crazy, I have grown quite fond of preparing our Thanksgiving meal down to the crafty table settings. There is something to be said for learning to cook a meal like Thanksgiving dinner. So therefor I begin preparing our so called “menu” weeks ahead of time calling my sister in-law for her dazzling desert ideas like pumpkin pie cheese cake (but we cheat, you can’t beat Costco’s)! I’m known to take a tried and true holiday recipe and give it a twist.

This came home in Maci's backpack yesterday! This was a sign from god that I'm doing ok as a mother. Look at what I have taught her...FAMILY. Thanksgiving is about Family. This is what my princess does for Thanksgiving! That makes me so proud to know that she didnt just put eat like mama did up top! She went into detail about family and playing games, something so simple but thoes are the memories that will last forever.