OH.SO.EXCITED!

The next two weeks are going to DRAG by!

Why, you ask?

Well, because two weeks from today I will get to meet the most hysterical, clever, quit witted person you've ever met.

Two weeks from today I will be dancing in the audience of....





And I would ABSOLUTELY DIE if she is interviewing her...


One of the ladies from my office was able to snag a few tickets to the show and asked if I wanted to join in on the fun. I think it goes without saying that my answer was an immediate, YES!!!!

So, on Thursday, January 21, I will be enjoying Ellen's playful banter as an audience member. I'm sure my couch will miss our afternoon date of watching Ellen together, but since I can't fit it on the plane with me, it will just have to wait to hear what it's like in person.

Officially checked out,
Me!

New Year's Posts...

Yesterday was a busy day for me in blogworld. Eight posts in one day was a record for sure! Be sure to check them ALL out!

• A New Year, A New Post
• 2009 Turkey Trot
• Christmas Crafts Part I
• Christmas Crafts Part II
• Christmas Crayons and Cookies
• A White Christmas!
• The Best Secret Santa EVER!
• An extra special Christmas Gift

I hope you're all having a great day back in the office (except for Emily who gets to enjoy another day relaxing at home!). Happy New Year!

An extra special Christmas Gift

I wanted to show you the gift Cooper got for my Dad this year. Since he's been up to no good and has managed to do his fair share of destructing our house and my parents house, we thought it might be a good idea for Cooper to give my Dad a few of the things he's broken this year. A water gauge and a bird feeder.

Here's the wrapping:

And here's the note that accompanied the gift:

It reads:

"Dear Pops,

Mary Christmas! Fank you for wetting me com pway at your house.

I always have so much fun that sometimes I get too excited and brake your stuff.

So I got you some new things to we-place the stuff I bwoke.

I helped Mom withs the wapping. I hope you wike it!

I wuv you,

Cooper!"

The Best Secret Santa EVER!

Every year at the office we participate in a department wide Secret Santa gift exchange. We submit a "wish list" and draw names in hopes that the person that draws your name is extra talented at picking out the perfect gift. Well I've been lucky two years in a row to have two fantastic Secret Santas! My SS outdid herself this year. Here are a few of the things she got me:

Smore's Winter Survival Kit:

Snowmen socks and M&Ms:

Fudgy Chocolate Brownie Mix:

Holiday Tee:

Bottle of wine and a cute Snowmen holder

Pictures frames for Cooper :)

An Ivy wreath with an ornament and a box of Ghiradelli Peppermint Bark!

See, I told you she was the best Secret Santa EVER!

A White Christmas!

Well, as many bloggers have already stated, Christmas this year was especially magical because of all the snow! I heard we haven't had a white Christmas since 1926!! Truly amazing!

We were visiting Kelly's family in west Texas when we saw the snow. It hit us about 10-12 hours before it hit Dallas. We woke up on Christmas Eve morning to a backyard covered in a white blanket! It was beautiful.

This was Cooper's first time to play in the snow and he absolutely LOVED it! Check out his tongue hanging out!

Kel was smart and captured a video of Cooper "enjoying" all the snow!

Christmas Crayons and Cookies!

A few weeks ago, Kelly and I had the opportunity to babysit Ben again. You might remember when he stayed with us back in June. We always have so much fun when he comes over, and I always try to have something planned to keep him busy. I had seen a blog post on 'Christmas shaped crayons' and I knew this was something that would be right up Ben's alley (and mine too if we're being completely honest!)

LaLa and Chase were heading to a birthday party, so Ben was all ours for the night!

We got to work right away on the crayon project. Ben helped me peel off the crayon labels, and broke them in to pieces small enough to fit in the cookie tin. We let the crayons bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 8 minutes, and this is what they looked like when we pulled them out:

Of course, we had to let them cool....

So we took a few more pictures!

After leaving the crayons in the fridge for a few minutes, we were able to take them out of the cookie tin and see what they looked like...

I bought him a coloring book to use, but he ended up taking it home with him because we were too busy watching Up and unwrapping Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for some cookies I was making for our Christmas celebration with my family the next day (recipe below). After he ate about 6 peanut butter cups, he had this snowman sucker to top him off! Needless to say, when LaLa and Chase picked him up, they had to scrape him off the ceiling!

And as a "thank you" gift for watching Ben, Lauren gave us this cute "O" ornament! Thanks, Lauren! We'll watch Ben anytime!

Recipe for mouth watering Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Peanut Butter Cookies (wow, that's a mouthful!):

1 bag Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

1 roll of Peanut Butter Cookie Dough

Preheat the oven to the temperature on the cookie dough package. Spray a mini cookie sheet with cooking oil, and fill the holes with the cookie dough. Bake for 2 minutes less than directed time on the package. This will keep your cookies from drying out. While the cookies are baking, unwrap all of the peanut butter cups. Once the cookies are finished, take them out and immediately place peanut butter cups in the middle of the cookies. The chocolate will begin to melt, but don't worry, once the cool they'll regain their shape.

They're best if you're able to snatch a few right out of the oven!