Merry Christmas to all and to all a....... wait, where'd it go?

On Christmas morning..

the house was all bright...

I started off rocky, but that was alright...

after coffee from Grove Park,

and fluffy bedroom-shoe boots...

my spirits became chipper...

I was ready for my loot...

My husband surprised me...

a gift that was so grand!

an Ed Hardy hairdryer...

oh what a MAN!

and just what I wanted

a Wii fit PLUS!

I thought you'd forgotten...

You're simply too much!

Thirsty was so pretty...

up under the tree...

and guess who turned 90?

Oh, our wonderful "B"!

Mom, gave her some earrings...

but it made Allison gag.

 Bmama didn't mind a bit...

she was so glad!

Time to open more gifts?

What a dream come true!

Wow, Laney what a doll..

she looks almost like you!

Then we plunged into our gifts...

Surprises abound!

Man, I make funny faces!

but don't make a sound!

I hope everyone's Christmas was a merry one indeed!

 it flew by so quickly...

 time to take down the tree!

 I'm so very sorry to all who read this entire post...

I promise never to do it again...

Lest in the comments I'll roast!

Made it!!!

Ahhh, it made it to New York! 15 seconds of fame..... totally worth it!

Check it out!

Cool.

Gingerbread Repair...

On Sunday we made our way back up to GPI

to

love on my gingerbread house

because apparently it was

"rapidly deteriorating"

and

it needed to be fixed up, beefed up, and fortified

to survive the trip to the Big Apple.

Grove Park was BEAUTIFUL in the snow,

oh how we would have loved to have been able to stay!!!

I was so nervous to see the house; I didn't know what shape it would be in...

At first I didn't think it was all that bad, but upon closer inspection....

Eww.

So the head Chef whisked us away, and stowed me in their real live Pastry Kitchen.

Ahh.

Intimidating.

Yes.

But cool.

So I began the task of putting her back together.

I tore out the broken bars.

(the gingerbread must have swelled against the gumpaste bars,

making them snap, crackle & pop.)

Eww.

I was overwhelmed when faced with the daunting task of putting the "frames" back together.

Ohhhh, dear...

Nice view of the birds, though!

(You know I REALLY like them.)

Marc was snooping a bit when I was feverishly glueing....

but look at the beautiful shots he took:

Huge paddle attachment..

Huge Whisk attachments...

Beautiful but huge dough hooks!!!

After a few hours of tenderlovingcare...

the house was as good as new or better...

and then

whisked away to a locked room

to await the trip to New York.

(I wanted to cry when they took it away from me.... who knows if I'll ever see it again.)

See if it made it (cause I've no idea...)

Check out 

Good Morning America 

tomorrow morning!

(Christmas Eve.)

ehhhhehehehehehe!

Oh, I hope it's ok!

Me trying to get to work this morning!

(and also my first mobile blog post..... Oh technology!  I'm trying to keep up!)

Oh...that's right.

My darling niece brought me and Marc a drawing on Sunday...

a reminder 

of the reason for the 

season...

Oh yeah!

That's why!

Do you see Jesus's pacee or is that just me?

Sweet!

Hastiness and Cheer!!!

I've been having a wee bit of a problem getting into the

true

 (i.e. non-gingerbread)

Christmas sprit

this year.

In fact I have felt a bit like how our tree

started

out

when we first put it up.

Thanks 

to 

my husband's 

magic..It's now straight.

(After many frustrating attempts 

to straighten the tree, my idea was to suspend it 

from one of our ceiling beams,but he stuffed broken clothes 

pins up in the trunk to fill in the crooked hole that the tree

 lot had made.)

Perfect.

So the tree is decorated,

but

to help get me in more of a Christmas spirit...

I've scarfed down

not one

not two...

but

THREE

cans of Moravian Spice Cookies!

Oh, how I must order some more...

It's Christmas in a Cookie, folks!

Thankfully, my niece and nephew baked some gingerbread men

to tide me over.

I've also been looking for fun crafts

to make this Christmas,

and

of course I went to the Queen of Crafts...

(I know it's upside down, but...eh....)

So I decided I would make popcorn garland.

Hey, I've never done that before!

It'll be fun!

No.

No, it's not.

I pricked my finger so many times,

and the popcorn kept breaking off the string.

Not to mention the thread kept getting tangled.

ah well, nevermind.

This is how much I did get finished.

Think I should just throw it away?

Yeah.  Me too.  ;)

But I did find another little something to do.

But I can't tell you what it is yet.

You may just be getting one!

But don't worry...

My knitting needles and crochet hooks are still put away.

At least for the rest of this year....

ToiletPaperCozyAnyone?

"I really like birds."

So.

You know.

I won?  Really?  Wow. 

Hasn't really sunk in yet, I've got to tell ya.

This is my ... oh my gosh oh my goodness I just won ... face!

a big colorful ribbon

(which I have coveted for six years!)

Lot's of people...

well wishers, many questions, and more!

giddiness...

TV interviews... (uh oh.)

What did I say?  

I can't remember. 

Newspaper interviews 

complete with hand gestures...

and then the quotation in the next day's paper saying,

"I really like birds."

Um.  I'm sure I said more than that.  Wasn't that taken out of context?  huh.

Here's a story that I know I told the newspaper interviewers...

The "house" had to be delivered to the ballroom by 8:30 Monday morning.

I was getting dressed while Marc went downstairs at 7:30 to get a cart for the transport mission.

By 8:00 I was getting a little antsy.  Then it hit me!

I will write "My Love" on the envelope!  It will look so wonderful!

(even though I worked for HOURS trying to add the perfect inscription days beforehand.)

So I quickly whipped out my edible paints and took to adding the final touch to my gingerbread.

L-o-v-e

hmmm.

M-y-

ewww.

Uh.  Well.

No! No! nononono!

Crap.

Oh dear, where's my lemon extract so I can take that off!

smudge smudge smudge.

yikes!

paint paint pat pat pat dust dust dust brush blow phew!!!

Don't ever do that again!

And then Marc arrived with the cart at 8:15.

But I still can't believe it...

And all because of two little turtle doves.

I really like birds.

Marc is working on a video of it all...

and I'm hiding under the bed.  

Just until it blows over.

But I'm smiling all the while.

Am I finished yet?

Ok.  I'm tired, and it's not finished yet; But I know you want to see...... don't you?

Have to show my pears first...

Love how they turned out.

Here goes...

Ta daaa!

There.

Night night.

Halloween Weekend Recap...

Marc was just dying to get my niece and nephew up to our house

to make Jack-O-Lanterns...

They were so cute!

This was Laney's:

and this was Charlie's:

Great job, guys!!!

So anyway, it's hard to stay in the Gingerbread spirit

when there are other spirits roaming around, but now that

Halloween is over....

It's back to work.

And I'm soooooo behind.

Please let there be no catastrophes like last year!!!

But I'm a little worried because of this:

What is that you ask?

Well aside from kitchy,

This was a gift from Marc's grandfather a few years back. (I love it!)

When the little lady is out...

the weather is nice and clear.

When the little man is out...

the weather is generally rainy or humid.

And he's been out all weekend.

Oh, humidity sucks for making gingerbread!!!

See:

Warp-a-licious!!!

Thankfully those pieces will not be needed.

Right?

I don't know... I'm flyin' by the seat of my pants.

So anyway, I think I have things under control at the moment...

that is except for the microscopic gingerbread dust that is now ground into the rug...

(Marc insisted upon sanding my gingerbread pieces...heh)

and

also, except for my hair...

Yep, that's a paintbrush and a pin curl clip.

Man, everything just goes to pot when I get engrossed in a project.

Ewww girl, go wash yo hair.

So I can't end the post after that nasty picture

I'll leave you with two more:

Thirsty taking a nap under a blanket:

and a little gingerbread house cuteness...

awwww.