Bunco madness!

I hosted Bunco at my house last night. It was my first time hosting and I was so nervous. I don't entertain on a regular basis, other than my 8-yr-old daughter's friends which doesn't really count. They are happy with a pizza from Little Caesars and a 2-liter of root beer. I got all stressed out after talking to my sister-in-law(SIL) who has been doing Bunco for years. She told me I absolutely should not buy food from Costco- that makes for a terrible night.
So I fretted and worried about what on earth I would make and what gifts would be "good enough." I took a friend from our group shopping with me, and we got some really great prizes from a cute local store called "Rod Works." I felt much better. Then we did go to Costco to buy food, I found out my group isn't as snobby as my SIL. I ended up getting a big ol' chocolate cake and some lettuce, they just didn't have anything that looked all that yummy, I was shocked. I ended up making Lemon Rosemary Chicken, Garlic Smashed Potatoes, homemade rolls, spinach dip, Little smokies and caramel pecans, and a caesar salad. I also made some Lemon Water to drink and we had various sodas as well. I REALLY did not intend on actually cooking so much of the food, I honestly don't know what happened. I spent almost the entire day yesterday in the kitchen, but it was really worth it in the end.
Once people started coming I just relaxed and really just enjoyed myself. The food turned out great, everyone kept going back for more which never really happens. I was really expecting to have tons of leftovers, I didn't expect others to have abandoned their New Year's Resolutions as quickly as I did too!
It was the loudest night of Bunco I think we have ever had, definitely the loudest I have ever been to. I was laughing so hard! And the very best part, I WON!! I never win. Ever. I'm lucky to get one Bunco all night long, and usually am 20 pts off getting the low score prize. I rolled 6 Buncos. Two of them back to back in the very last two games. Here's my prize:

It's cute, but I am going to return it to get a couple items at the store that I liked better. Shhh, don't tell! That's the really nice thing about hosting, you have the receipts and you know which gift cost the most money!! :)

December Recap II

Ahhh, the rest of the month. I couldn't possibly leave out Christmas!

Here we are assmebling the tree. Julia had been begging all month long to set it up, and finally on December 14th we did. It seems we always get sick the first few weeks in December, so we promised ourselves next year the tree is going up the day after Thanksgiving. After throwing things together so late in the game this year, I think we really will... I hope...



Here it is folks, the Bob Vila gingerbread house. We had a blast decorating it. We have a tradition of doing this on Julia's birthday. I assembled the house before we went to Winger's so it could really set up and then over the next day or so we put all the candy on it. I love the little "rocks" I found for the chimney, front walk, and front of the house. I'm told they tasted delicious as well.



Bob and Kristie came Dec 23rd and Kristie and I immediately went out to go last minute shopping. I hadn't bought myself a single gift yet. Oh, my husband and I have a somewhat unorthodox gift-giving tradition. To avoid being disappointed by what you got and feeling guilty about returning it and/or feeling like a shmuck for getting the wrong gift, and to retain that "oh wow!" surprise feeling, we purchase our own gifts. That way we always get exactly what we want and we get to be surprised by what the other person bought for themself. It works great for us. Anyway, we ran to Kohls. After a mad dash through the store and a joyous time in the dressing room (imagine this last part laced with sarcasm) the hubbies call to tell us to come make their dinner. So we dashed to the check out line only to get the slowest checker on the face of the earth made even worse by a lady demanding price checks, but we make it through run out the door and then, "hey, where did we park? Wasn't the car right here? We got a good spot didn't we? I swear we parked right here? Where is my van???" We walk up and down every aisle looking for my green Mazda and all I can say is, "Why when we are surrounded by Honda Odyssey's and Chryslers would a stupid car thief choose my MPV???" We're getting pretty paranoid by this point, imagining what our husbands will say (hers is a SHERRIFF!!) when suddenly a light goes on, "was there more than one entrance?" We head back inside and remember we came in by the shoes, so we go over that way through the doors and guess what? There's my van right out front like it should have been. We were laughing so hard with relief and were so mortified by our experience, that we vowed not to tell our hubbies the real reason we were soooooooo late.

I have been waiting for big sis to put this on her blog, but she hasn't so here it is, her Ric Rack Purse. I think it is absolutely adoreable and I really want one for myself. Hopefully I will be able to knit it myself before too long. Julia absolutely loves it, it is perfect!!








Christmas Eve -- another tradition we have is opening jammies on
Christmas Eve. So here are Daddy and his girls in their coordinating jammies. Sydni looks thrilled, doesn't she? Daddy didn't buy himself any jammies, shame on him!! I had pink ones to match the girls but we didn't get any photos of us... We also wathed a video of the Christmas story called "Joy to the World" and sang songs and took a moment to remember the Savior and the true reason we all gather together this time of year. It was a nice break from the hustle and bustle. After the kids went to bed it was a mad dash to get presents wrapped and orange rolls baked. Big sis and I were up until 4 am!


It was all worth it Christmas morning though. The kids had a great time, Sydni was more interested in passing out all the red presents than actually opening any, but she did like the toys inside. We had a great time!! We had Christmas dinner at my in-laws. Ja's little sister that is my age came with her hubby and 2 girls and it was wonderful to see them! Gotta love the holidays.

December Recap


First up, Julia's Christmas Dance Recital on the 19th of December. They danced to the Dance of the Chinese Something Or Other song from the "Nutcracker" and they were so cute. Julia is the second girl on the right. The girl standing on her right looking at the camera is Bailey, our neighbor and friend. Her mom usually takes the girls to ballet. It is so much fun to listen to their conversations. Bailey has RA and consequently undergoes a lot of medical testing every month. When Julia had to get her flu shot, Bailey gave her advice about how to handle the "dreaded needle!!" Their latest conversation was about the age of their mothers. Julia was telling Bailey about my upcoming birthday and how I would be "30 (pause) years (pause) old!!!" Then Bailey said her Mom just turned 37 (??) and at her next birthday "I think she's going to turn 90 or something." I love kids!


Next up, the snow storm. We had about a foot of snow fall just in time for Christmas. We love the snow! No one more than Sydni. She and Julia played in the snow even after the sun went down. I literally had to drag them back in the house. Sydni was shrieking and kicking and actually I'm surprised none of the neighbors called the police or rushed out to see what happened. I guess they are used to her screaming since she does it every time I bring her inside.

We were so happy the snow lasted through Christmas so Uncle Bob and Aunt Krisite could have a white Christmas. Right after they left for Idaho, we had a few warm days and it melted. Now it's only a memory, but we're hoping to get a t least one more good storm in before the spring.

Happy Birthday! Julia turned 8 on the 20th of December. She looked all grown up in her outfit that really looked like something I would wear. The 20th was also the last day of school before winter break, so she got to sing in her Christmas program and have a party at school. We took her to one of her favorite resteraunts for dinner, Wingers. Her sister was a little terror and kept wanting to strip and they took the Jell-o off the kids menu, but they still had popcorn and Asphalt Pie so all was right with the world. She had her friend party in the summer (see my first post), so she was stuck with her family that night. Luckily she still likes us! I'll end this post with pictures of her opening some of her presents. Sydni is calling...







From Grandma and Grandpa Her new scriptures from Mom and Dad









From Aunt Angie & Family

To gusset or not to gusset...

When big sis came for Christmas, she started to teach me to knit socks. Unfortunately, we did not make it to the heel gusset. So here are some photos of what I have knit so far, but is it far enough???

I'm really excited about my first pair! I'm hoping it is the first of many, especially since big sis also gave me another hank of beautiful Fearless Fibers sock yarn. I figured I'd be ripping this first pair back so much that green would be a much more appropriate color.

This is all for now, Syds is demanding to have Einsteins on the "uhputer" right this second!