Christmas Wrap-Up

I must admit that I thought our Christmas this year was going to be sparse... like unto Charlie Brown's Christmas. I had even been prepping Hannah ahead of time so she wouldn't be expecting too much this year. However, several of Santa's Helpers - and a family of elves - came out of the woodwork and helped to make this Christmas extra-special! Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity!!! (You know who you are!)

The "hall" of presents that Santa and the elves brought!

Thank you for my "iPod" Santa!

...and this is how the BACK of my new pants will look!

Does this make me a bad mom?

After opening presents, Hannah got to pick 3 toys to bring with her, and we headed up to Mom and Dad's house for a week of rest, refreshment, and relaxation. But first, we had to make it through some white-knuckle driving to get there - the roads were a mess, and it was a veritable blizzard in parts. But once we made it, we had TONS of fun! I read a few books and got some well-loved rest. We ate a lot of goodies, and then made up for it on Wii Fit (Mom and Dad's fun new Christmas toy). We also found time to do some sledding. Well, me and Mom watched while Dad, Gecky, Rob-Rob, and Bug did some sledding:

A sledding ninja!

Making it back up the hill was the worst part, but I love this pic!

Robin and Dad, preparing for the faces full of snow they're about to get!

The three girls, giggling before the fall...
We THOROUGHLY enjoyed your visit, Gecky!!!

Santa is on Jesus' Team

Yesterday, Hannah and I were on our way up to Mom and Dad's house for some caramel-making festivities. They're really nummy, so you should probably be jealous that you're not eating one right now.

Now, I generally prefer to drive in silence and just listen to music in the car, but Hannah prefers talking. A lot. Anywhere. So she bestowed an hour of wisdom on me while we drove. And I heard at least 30-45 minutes of it. Among others, here are 2 of the goodies I gleaned from the conversation:

1. Santa is on Jesus' team

Earlier this year, Ellie introduced us to perhaps the greatest game ever: Your Team-My Team. (I recommend the rodeo if you want a great selection for opposing teams. Amy and I had lots of fun there this last summer - I'm just sad that we didn't capture the subjects on film.)

Anyway, Hannah hears me play this game a lot and has surmised that I have a Boyfriend Team that is peopled with extremely handsome men. Excellent observation, Bug! She seems to have determined that Jesus also has a team. Of good guys. Of which, Santa is one.

2. Coal isn't fair

At some point during our drive, Hannah asked what Santa gets the "bad guys." I told her that bad guys get a lump of coal. This little gem followed:

H: What's a lump of coal?
M: It's like a big black rock.
H: Well that's not very nice.
M: That's for the naughty boys and girls, though. Good little girls and boys get presents. Remember?
H: But Santa shouldn't just give bad guys a rock.
M: What should he give em then... a spanking?
H: No. (a thoughtful pause) He should give them a bobble-head bad guy toy.

I'll be sure to send a memo to Santa and the Elves ASAP:


"New Policy - Effective Immediately!

Nix the coal. Get started building some "Bobble-Head Bad Guys" for immediate delivery.

Thanks,
Hannah's Mom

PS - Any excess diamonds from the coal surplus can be sent directly to me."

We're still here

Nothing new to report, but we are still alive... I'm wishing that we had gone on the recent visit to Mark and Ellie, et al with Mom, Dad, and Robin. Hannah and I are now the only members of the M clan who haven't held the new baby bird, Sylvie. We're trying not to pout about it.

I can't wait to snuggle this little bundle of cute!
Soon, I hope!

Bite me, please...

Ok, after a second viewing of Twilight, I must admit that I enjoyed the movie exponentially more. I could ignore all the subtle irritants and just enjoy the story (and the view). And Jasper's staring wasn't nearly as noticeable the second time around... I was able to chalk it up to the painful struggle not to bite people, like it was meant to be.

And I could appreciate Edward a lot more, too. Tee hee...


Yep, I definitely needed the second viewing. I might even need a third now... ;-)

Food comas, here we come!

We really like food! Here is a sampling of the goodness that we prepared - and are still enjoying via leftovers...

My relish tray...
The snap peas and olives got their own tray! Mmmm... :)

Robin's lovely centerpiece

Robin's apple pie - looks like a pro, eh?
See here for more details on the HAM situation...

I was in charge of the pumpkin cake this year. We missed you, Mark!
We tried to eat a lot of whipped cream on your behalf.

Our little gang, around the pretty table!

And to all of our friends and family that weren't here... You were missed! We hope you all had a lovely Turkey Day - full of food, friends, and fun!

And we hope to see you all again real soon!

Surprise visitor

On Tuesday (the 25th) Hannah and I were heading up to Mom and Dad's early. Since I have class in SLC on Tuesday nights, it didn't make sense to find a sitter for Tuesday night and then drive all the way back to Provo after class - only to drive back to SLC the next morning to spend our holiday with Mom, Dad, and Robin. So we decided to head up Tuesday and get a jump on the week.

The week before, however, I got a call about a possible visitor... Chris, my ex-husband and Hannah's dad, was going to be making deliveries in Vegas, San Francisco, and Sacramento the weekend before Thanksgiving and would be driving back on I-80 which would bring him through Salt Lake City. Since we weren't positive that it would all work out - weather, timing, etc. - Chris and I decided not to tell Hannah. (No need for unnecessary disappointment.) As Tuesday approached, though, everything fell into place. Chris would be arriving in SLC just about the time we would be. So he got a hotel a few minutes away from Mom and Dad's house, and I agreed to let Hannah stay the night with Dad as he'd be heading back to Missouri the next morning.

I told Bug we were making a quick stop before getting to Grandma and Grandpa's, and then we stopped by the hotel. He was out getting ice, which kinda spoiled the surprise, but she was still caught unawares... wondering what her daddy was doing in Utah. She was excited to see him, but still met him with a "What are YOU doing here?" greeting... It was kinda cute!

Hannah and Dad

It worked out fairly well, so that Mom and Dad wouldn't have to watch Bug while I was in class. And then I was able to go out with a couple of friends after class, instead of having to rush back home like I normally do. I went and picked her up the next morning, so that we could start baking with Grandma.

The best part was that Hannah got to spend time with her dad before the holidays. This was especially good since we're not sure yet whether he'll be flying her out for a visit at Christmas or not.

A rare smile from Chris, while Hannah pretended not to have a smile... Can't win.

I did get a smile out of her, but never both at the same time... Alas.
Check out her two front teeth growing in!

Don't judge a book by it's movie

Yes, I went to see Twilight this morning with Amy and another friend, Carolyn. We had been planning to take today off to go see Twilight, and even bought our tickets a few weeks ago. As our schedules recently opened up considerably, we made a morning of it!

I must admit that I was a little underwhelmed.

If you have not seen the movie yet and want to, then stop reading if you want to avoid a few spoilers (not that the storyline will be much of a surprise). Now, I recognize that book to movie transitions require a lot of changes, but I still have a few issues with the movie:
- Edward and the Cullens were not as reserved, inconspicuous, and distant as I was expecting.
- Bella managed to maintain a monotone for the entire movie.
- Jasper looked crazy, and not crazy-good.
- The infamous meadow scene was more awkward than it was romantical.
- They skipped the line-up of all three guys trying to ask Bella to the Spring dance, though it would have been easy and fun to include.
- The Cullens in the movie have strangely taken to the trees. Edward even calls Bella his "little spider monkey" and tells her to hang on while he leaps through the trees with her.
- Edward needs to work on his snarly angry face.
- The film came off as a bit low-budget, and kinda clunky... It felt like they didn't nail down the transitions and in-between scenes well enough.
- Much cheesiness occurred.

On the plus side:
- I LOVED the guy that played Charlie (Billy Burke). He might have been the best actor in the whole flick!
- Taylor Lautner (aka Jacob) mostly redeemed himself from his Shark Boy role. And should grow into a pretty good Jacob for any future films.
- The chemisty between Bella and Edward was pretty decent, which was a key redeeming quality for the movie.
- Robert Pattinson is still good-looking. And since I'd already gotten used to the idea of him as Edward, I could just enjoy the view.
- They did include a couple of funny clumsy-Bella moments.

I will admit that I unintentionally went in with higher expectations. I usually try to go in with really low expectation for movies of books that I love. I wonder if a second viewing would improve my level of satisfaction... Hmm. I might have to give it a try.

With any luck, they'll get a new director and screenwriter for the future films. The material from the books is good. They just need to figure out a way to edit it down to fit the time frame of a feature film... I'm available to help out, if they're short on staff! :)


Who else has seen Twilight? And what did you think? Am I being too critical, or no?