Welcome back Mr. Carrot . . .

One great thing that came to pass from the awful bleak smoggy weather that we *ahem* enjoyed last week?.... we found our snowman's nose. It had been lost for months under the frozen tundra that we lovingly call our front yard. But not anymore... not with the nasty inversion and then the rain (yes, rain in January) that we were surprised with.

Hooray for mr. Carrot and welcome back... we've missed being able to make incredible snowmen buddies with you. We've had tears, and even tantrums when one by one we found your friends... Mr. Hat blown into the neighbor's yard, miss scarlet the scarf half frozen in a bank of snow on the side of the road, the coal black eyes a week after; but your bright shade of pumpkin was no where to be found. I even had my suspicions that a neighbors dog had mistaken you as a chew toy... Now months later after a depressing month of gray, your smiling face-can I even say that?- shows up on our icy grass and we're glad. Again Welcome back, please forgive that we left you out in the elements for so long. We would have looked harder--- but it was so stinkin' cold. I knew you would understand.

If heaven tastes this good, count me in . . .

Holy moly... I just tasted a little bit of heaven this morning and it came in the form of a pummelo. I've never even heard of this crazy citrus fruit before but Costco had some and you know what that means....

It's not as sour as a grapefruit put it'll definitely make you pucker a little more than those little clementine oranges. And if you ask me its pure bliss.

So now I'm wondering... what else have I been missing out on?! Seriously if you know about other foods I'm missing out on you better fess up now. or in nicer terms... would you please leave me a comment of some of your favorite fruits and veggies, cheeses, breads, meats or whatever. I'm in an experimenting type of mood so please please share.

Lady in Red . . . .

Have I told everyone how absolutely amazing my husband is lately, oh yeah, in my last post. Well he did it again. (you can insert a certain Britney Spears song here if you would like--or not)

Guess what showed up on my doorstep yesterday... the one and only RED PUFFER COAT. and if your confused about my excitement, go here. Thanks to all of you dear souls that thought about offering yours to me, but I will no longer be needing it because I am the way proud owner of my very own. And its delicious and warm. and I love it and I especially love the man that gave it to me.

spoiled in the kitchen . . .

It all started off when I got a BOSCH for my first Christmas with my hubbaruusky a.k.a. Greg.

Being the wonderful man that he is, he surprised me with this amazing machine just because he knew how much I loved the one I grew up with. Seriously, what new bride gets the Cadillac of all mixers just a few short months after kissing over the alter? Me, that's who :)

Then came various tools and gizmos that I've picked up throughout the years.... um there's a lot of them. Did you know they make a tool for practically everything that you have to do in the kitchen. Yep. Its true and I have lots of em. Even duplicates or triplicates of some. What---you think having 5 top of the line silicone spatulas is a bit too much, Na. especially when they're heat resistant up to 650 degrees Fahrenheit.

After a couple of years came my pots and pans that I absolutely adore. Not only are they lifetime guaranteed... I got them for 60% off, so I gave myself permission.




Now the reason for the blog entry..... are you ready?

We got ourselves a dandy of a machine that performs over 50 different culinary jobs with ease- and can easily replace 10 kitchen appliances. I even read so on their website :) We bought a Vita-mix machine, except ours didn't come with the fruit and ice. Bummer.

The best part about having my own Vita-mix machine? I don't have to push and shove at the demonstration table to get a sample of the heavenly goodness that can be made with this hefty device. Not that I would really push and shove, or trip and punch for that matter.... but seriously have you tasted the goods that come out of this machine? Yum.

Oh yea, and we've been eating healthier too.

I seriously think a vita-mix jubilee needs to be planned in the Debra Lea household in the near future. good food, games, friends. Now that would be a fun night.

While you were sleeping . . . .

"Early to bed, and early to rise,
makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."
--- Benjamin Franklin, 1758

You see, sleeping is good for you. I just wish someone would let my body in on the secret. Here it is, 3:07 am and I am still wide awake. 5th night in a row that I've been up at least this late. I would scream if my head wasn't throbbing so bad.

Yes, you've got it. This is one of my whiny posts again, hey it's my blog...Sometimes a girl's just gotta whine.

But before I grump too badly, with all of the extra time on my hands I've been able to do a couple things like make these:

and read most of this:

and think about cleaning and organizing my house. But not actually doing it, cuz that would wake up my kids and because of other excuses like that. All of this while most normal people are catching their zzzz's.

Here's where the whining comes in. Since my Migraine stopped I've had horrible headaches. They're constant. Sometimes they're really bad and sometimes I just hide under a blanket and cry because the pain hurts so bad. Everyday I have them. Everyday except on Dec. 1 which was such an amazing event because I seriously had no pain in my body until 7:00pm. What a blessed day.

I'm so tired of all of the throbbing pain in my head and lately behind my eyes, but I am especially sick and tired of :

• being such a grouch around my husband-sorry hon
• having such a short patience meter for my kids-I'm trying to be better
  
• not being able to concentrate on anything for more than a short span of time
  
• not being able to sleep and always being drained of energy
• exercise being an after thought
  
• living on Motrin, (seriously how much is too much to take?)

There you have it. I'm done complaining for today.

Next quest? Finding some nice soothing lullabies . . .
Sweet Dreams

p.s. The tooth fairy did come . . . .

So I realize that I failed to post about the incredible happening that took place in the debra lea household on Christmas Eve. The Tooth fairy did in fact come at the same time as Santa Claus and I guess they had quite a conversation. The result? Kaydee got a letter>>>>>

and since this is such a horrible picture of the letter because its in pencil (apparently she couldn't find a pen that late at night) I'll type what the tooth fairy wrote . It says:

Dear Kaydee,

I met Santa! Thanks to you I was able to talk to him about eating too many cookies on Christmas Eve, it's bad for his teeth. He promised to carry around a toothbrush from now on.
Love,
The Tooth Fairy

and then she left a dollar bill.

Such a happy day Christmas morning was. The note was found and thrilled about way before any of the presents were even open. Well I guess not way before...since the note was on the coffee table and the presents were mere feet away from it, but still. It put a smile on all of our faces first.

Thank you tooth fairy.

The wisdom of my 3 year old . . .

Natalie has an answer for everything, even if she doesn't.

Tonight, since my homemaking skills were exhausted on taking down the last of Christmas and playing Webkinz (hey. don't start...) I was just too stinkin' tired to make my starving family dinner. Boy am I glad that I live within a mile's radius of a jillion restaurants. (No I am not exaggerating, if you are wondering, I've counted them and they are all on speed dial. OK . . . I'm kind of kidding about the speed dial thing.)

Because we are nice parents, Greg and I decided to give our kids three choices of where to gets our nutrition tonight. Kaydee and Nicole answered right away with an appropriate answer. Natalie, on the other hand, didn't say a thing. I asked her again...

Natalie, where would you like to eat tonight?

"Um...... (long pause) . . . . I'm Belle." said in her most sing songy princess voice and with an expression on her face like that answer should be totally sufficient to the question asked.


Hmmm.... if only I could get away with that answer with all of my really hard questions.

Debra, did you get your Visiting Teaching done yet?

I'm Belle

Mom, are you sure we are not lost?
I'm Belle

Ma'am could I please see your license and registration?
Don't worry officer, I'm Belle.

I know. Not so cute when I do it right? Maybe if I could learn to do the head bob and batting of the eye lashes like Natalie does . . .

Christmas 2008 part ii . . . .

Caution . . .

only proceed reading this post if you want to read about our most amazing December happenings mingled with a bunch of photos. Ok, really this super long post is for posterity reasons and it really will be very long and somewhat like every other blog post you've read about Christmas and December 'cept with our lovely faces in the pictures. Ready?

Our Christmas traditions always start off with the making of a gingerbread house. No, I do not home make it....it takes all I have to just get the kit together with a smile on my face.

and if you are wondering where the picture is of the finished product, well, um . . . I forgot to take one.

Later in the month, an absolutely amazing program was put on by Nicole's 3rd grade class. Christmas Around the World was the theme and they practiced for weeks. It was perfect in every way. The pictures however . . . could someone please teach me how to take a decent picture under those fluorescent lights?! Seriously. ugh.


Next were family Christmas parties and celebrations which included lots of singing, new push bells, Nicole wanting to be a lamb for the Nativity, good food, a new couch for my mom and dad, etc. etc.



Christmas morning was splendid and as you can see, I got the before shots... just not the after. We got a ton of video footage though, so all hope is not lost and if you really want to see us all sleepy eyed and smiley we'll invite you over for some good ol' family home videos. I'll even pop some popcorn.

On Nicole's, Kaydee's, and Natalie's list were things like a Nintendo D.S., Ipods, cupcake maker, Tumbles (the dog), a real dog, a train etc. which I talked Santa out of giving to them. The children had a great Christmas though and didn't even miss the above list, mostly. From Santa they each received a scooter and a movie plus Nicole a didj, Kaydee-ponyville, and Nanners-pollypockets. Splendid.

Christmas break was spent with family and friends-- and Greg working ridiculous hours (18-20 hour days...even on Christmas eve) and getting so little sleep that he is still catching up from it all.

Highlights from the break that I didn't take a picture of:

• Game night with our great friends, the Norton's on Christmas Day night. I seriously think we should make it a new tradition.
  
• watching old classic movies while wrapping presents
• Wii night with the Clegg's... six hours of screaming, dancing, and rocking out. Fabulous.
• Gaining a bagillion pounds from all of the delicious food I devoured.
• Snow fort making and hot cocoa.
• Last minute Brunch with good friends.
• Learning the game "oh Heck!"--my new love
• Relaxing.

New Year's Eve was spent at my Sista's. Family, food, games, wii... doesn't get much better than that. and What's New Year's without truely getting into the true spirit of it?... Nothing I tell ya, so we celebrated which in our case apparently means dressing up in our best attire and make a TON of noise. Love it.

So that pretty much wraps up our December.

Whew...

That was a long post....

Thanks for being a trooper and reading every last word that I had to say about our totally terrific December happenings. Even if you didn't.

Christmas 2008 part 1. . .

Kids and Christmas just go together, especially in my house. I guess I shouldn't say especially... I'm sure anyone with kids could claim that their home holds the title of loving Christmas the most.

But secretly, just between you and I.... the Debra Lea household is the one that REALLY loves Christmas time the mostest. ;)

Here are a few glimpses of my favorite sights around our home this Christmas time complete with an advent calendar from Greg's childhood. (His mom even made all of the little ornaments that go with it, I know, she's amazing.)

But my ABSOLUTE favorite thing about this Christmas season. was this:

This little nativity was set up on our entry table and many a time I would walk by it to find the members of the set in a different arrangement. Who, might you ask, would be so precious as to line up the nativity attendees to meet the Christ child? Or encircle them around Him, as in awe? Why my dear Kaydee of course. This sight pulled at my heartstrings I tell ya. Oh I love how her mind works.

And I love how children can remind me about the most important part of Christmas. See, kids and Christmas just go together.