Hot, hot, hot!

We made it to the west coast of Florida. After spending four days in Cape Canaveral, we are now in Fort Myers Beach. The west coast is definitely the way to go. I truly believe you haven't really experienced Florida until you've seen the west coast. There is just something more tropical, more exotic about everything. I haven't gotten around to downloading the pics but I will...

This is by far the warmest Florida Xmas we've experienced yet. Hip, hip, hooray! Just what we were looking for.

There is a fire station right at the end of the campground. Tonight, Santa Claus left in a fire truck, off to deliver toys... he surprised babygirl with super cool gifts. How nice and so very unexpected! We're talking Barbie dolls here... couldn't help but hope that these weren't originally meant for needy children though... This did also complicate things. He's already been to the campground, does babygirl expect him to return tomorrow night too? I think she does. And he will. Somehow. Some way...

Until my next post, I will let you imagine just how wonderful west coast Florida can be... If you can picture white sand and gorgeous palm trees, you won't be surprised! Go ahead, dream on!

Red like a...

I am a big Ricardo fan. I turn to his website whenever I'm looking for a recipe, especially during the Holidays... When hubby's family was here for an early Christmas dinner, I was all excited about trying this original macaroni salad. It's really easy to make and tastes pretty good too. Best of all, it's a great way to add some color to traditional holiday meals. Let's face it, turkey (or pork tenderloin in our case) needs a little pizazz. A wow factor.

Can you guess what gives the macaroni it's festive color?

Come on, play along!

No one at our Christmas table guessed the answer. That would be because I totally forgot to take it out of the fridge.

I only realized my mistake once everyone had gone home, content with their nearly colorless meal. Yup, all that work went to waste.

That meant plenty of macaroni salad for lunches for the kiddos. Only one problem. When I proudly showed them my salad the next morning, it was greeted with, "Yuck! Macaroni isn't supposed to be red!"

So much for wanting to be original huh?

A for effort... at least I get to share it with all of you!

The secret ingredient is...

Beet juice. Which is surprisingly quite good and expensive. Especially if you forget it in the fridge!

O Christmas Tree?

So here's the deal. For the fifth year in a row, we're going South for Xmas. The first three years, we decorated our full-size artificial tree only for the cat to climb halfway up and destroy its festive look one decoration at a time. Last year, I plopped a 3-foot tree on a coffee table and the end result was the same. So... this year, I decided I needed to find an original, sleek, and simple tree for the few gatherings which were to take place in our home prior to our departure. This is what I came up with.

O Christmas tree!




Or not... maybe the exclamation point was going a little overboard there huh?

Biggirl actually told me that she thought it was our best tree yet. Well, not sure about that one, but the good news is that it was cat-proof, but that's not to say he didn't give it his best shot!

Tonight though, Babygirl shared that her teacher had them write about their Christmas tree. I immediately felt a pang of guilt. She informed her teacher that she didn't have a Christmas tree... so, so sad...

I remember literally sitting in front of our Xmas tree as a kid, just admiring all the beauty of the lights and decorations. I feel terrible that she won't have that memory.

But, she will have white sand and golden Christmas Eve sunset memories, lots of them. That must count for something!

Right?

Santa Claus is coming to town...

I loved this song when I was little, and I still do. Babygirl gets frustrated every time she practices this song for the Christmas pageant she won't be singing in since we'll be in sunny Florida by then... she hates that I can't seem to not sing along. Forgive me sweetie!

Luckily her teacher sent the lyrics home because I could not convince her that I had the correct words. According to her, Santa was making a list and "shaking it twice". Why in the world Santa would be shaking his list (or anything else for that matter) is beyond me. Then again, Santa may be shaking in his boots since he can't figure out when or where he is going to deliver babygirl's gifts this year. Does he deliver them early, before we go south for Xmas, or does he visit us in Florida...

I thought I had eliminated Santa's trip to our house or home away from home when I graciously told babygirl the truth about Santa for logistics due to our trip (gasp, I know!). However, she decided that in spite of my down to business speech, she still believed in Santa and wanted to receive a gift from him anyways. Ahem... um, OK, sure... so it seems he may have to join us on our upcoming RVing adventure, at least momentarily.

I guess I should include him on my "do not forget to bring" list which I will be sure to make and check twice!

Pink!

Last weekend was the start of babygirl's room makeover. Unlike myself, she was dying to participate and she did so beautifully... we were quite surprised with her patience, hard work, and perseverance on this project. Funny though how we take for granted that everyone just knows how to paint a wall... it wasn't long before I heard hubby saying "no, no, No!"... Worried, I ran to see what was the matter, expecting a mess to clean up. Babygirl was rubbing her paintbrush on the wall in every direction causing the fibers of the brush to, shall we say... tangle. But, she's a quick learner and once the task explained, she was a real pro! Not once did she even come close to stepping in the pan, an art which I mastered so well in my painting days that I am no longer expected to help out (yeah for me and I promise that's not what I was aiming for)!
Slowly but surely the room turned pink! As pink as its painters' cheeks!





The next day, when we put everything back, it was declared pinkalicious!

It's so cotton candy pink. Bubble gum pink.

Wait... I know what it is,


it's definitely babygirl pink.

Time

You may not believe my post since it has taken me three days to sit down and write it, but I really gained an hour over the weekend... Let me explain.

We all knew that we were supposed to turn back the clocks before going to bed on Saturday night but, somehow, we totally forgot. Sunday morning, babygirl came into our room to check the clock as usual because the TV is not to go on before 8 a.m. on weekends. A little while later, I got up, made our famous Sunday morning pancakes, got dressed, and went for a jog.

I love Sunday morning jogs. Everything is quiet. There is barely any traffic to worry about... and I can extend my run if I'm feeling up to it, and was I ever! Upon returning, I wondered why hubby wasn't watching his usual Sunday morning show, but never did I think I was an hour too fast!

After my shower, I started nagging the girls to get dressed so we could get some homework done... hated doing that since they were playing soooo well together, but heck, I thought it was almost time for lunch by then!

That's when I saw hubby walking around the house changing clocks. I must have looked like someone who had just won the lottery... I was ecstatic! I had just won a whole hour in my day. For the first time in like forever, I was precisely one full hour ahead of schedule. Love it!

So what did I do with my hour once the girls' homework was done?

I cleaned. Sounds boring right? I emptied the kitchen cabinets, washed the shelves, threw things away, reorganized... and that felt good. Sure, it's not a bubble bath, it's not watching a great television show, it's not a good glass of wine, but having the chance to clean something that's been bugging me for a while felt darn good!

Then, I moved on to babygirl's room. We filled 5, yes 5, garbage bags with junk. I mean papers, stickers, catalogues, crafts, and so much more. Ahhhhhhhhhh, it just felt fantastic, liberating!

Next weekend, we will be thinking pink since hubby will be painting her ever so clean room in her chosen "exotic pink"... she even convinced him to paint all four walls... pictures to come! Guess who'll be wishing for an extra hour this weekend???

I hate to admit it but...

I really, really don't like Halloween. Therefore, I am soooo glad it's a thing of the past for another year (other than the dreaded candy management I now face).

Biggirl, who quite ironically dressed up like a baby this year, decided she was too old to be trick or treating from here on in. Of course, I had told her this prior to the dreaded evening but the lure of candy was just too strong. She told me I was wrong. Only to tell me I was correct as she felt just a tad uncomfortable walking down the street wearing her oversized bib and her pj's. Did I say "I told you so"? No. As a mature mother who has recently discovered the satisfaction and joy of natural consequences, I simply smiled. Of course, it is quite possible that my smile said "I told you so" though...

I do however find Halloween adorable for the little ones. Seeing the disbelief in their eyes as they realize that all they have to do to get loads of candy is ring doorbells is priceless. Every little skunk, princess, and superhero (and all those with unidentifiable costumes too) made me smile.

Babygirl put our homemade fairy wings to the test. I am pleased to announce that they survived an evening of trick or treating, glitter and all. Yes, this is me patting myself on the back. She may not have been the only fairy out there, but she was the only one in our neighbourhood with homemade wings! Check them out...



Cool right?

Of course, wearing your coat for trick or treating kind of spoils any costume... it must be so cool to go trick or treating where it's warmer! Halloween in Florida, that would surely make me enjoy it all much more!

So now, anyone care to place a bet on just how long it will take me to throw the Halloween candy in the trash this year? Since I'm in this natural consequences state of mind, I'm thinking a few more days is all it will take. As soon as they start fighting over the sweet stuff, it's outa here!