Simple GAB

Now that Christmas has come and all the presents have been unwrapped, it’s time to review that list of presents to see what was worth it, what did not pan out as expected, and what was a surprise favorite.  Maybe that will help any of you thinking of buying some of these goodies in the future!

So here’s the roll call of gifts (links provided for your convenience, and not my gain!):

AJ:

Insignia flat screen HDTV/DVD combo:

Smokin’ hot favorite…bonus being it has an antenna and brings in 7 channels to the room without any cable hookups! Well actually for him 6 channels because he won’t be watching the Worship channel anytime soon.  WORTH IT

Guitar Hero World Tour Band Kit for the Wii:

This one was really a family gift, but AJ is rockin’ out on the bass and hoggin’ the mic! Guess the apple does not fall far from the tree. G-Man is a natural on lead guitar, and Mr B&W can bang those drums.  WORTH IT

Gap Trapper hat:

Well his is actually blue striped…but you get the idea. I think he loves it because it is like one “the Chief” wears.  SURPRISE FAVORITE

Card full of money from Grandma:

Definitely a bigger hit than a box of random stuff from the dollar store or a sweater 3 sizes too small.  When you are far away it is hard to get a pulse on the wants & needs of the grandchildren.  So in this case, having money to help get that new catcher’s mitt is WORTH IT.

Bubba:

John Deere Gator:

Number one item on his list was something from John Deere…I think this was a big surprise, and  as you can see he had fun with it! Who cares that the ground is covered with snow and ice?  We thought he could fill the back up and sand the road for us.

Santa really got a deal on Craigs list. WORTH IT!

LEGO® Road Construction Set:

Legos were another list item, but it is not Lego CITY, so minor disappointment. What were you thinking, Santa?  The box has yet to be opened, so we will see about this one.  This may have to fall under NOT AS EXPECTED.

Wii Fit Plus:  

Ummm not his gift, but he has played it far more than the intended recipient (although she loves it too).

So for him this is definitely a SURPRISE FAVORITE.

Also he got a Trapper Hat, and has been wearing it out and about as well.  His is fleece with faux Sherpa inside.  Another SURPRISE FAVORITE.

Mr. B & W:

Roku HD Digital Video Player:

When he saw  the plain box simply sporting the word ROKU he had no idea what it was, and the picture of popcorn on top made him think he just got some yummy Japanese popcorn…big surprise when he saw what it really was.  Being able to watch Movies and TV shows downloaded from Amazon Video on Demand or streaming  Netflix makes this a great gift. Getting a free $30 in Amazon Video on Demand credits makes it even better! (I am sensing a future review post on this one ) Definitely WORTH IT for me and for him,  a SURPRISE FAVORITE!

There are plenty of other gifts that sort of fell into the middle of the road category…but AJ is away for a few days, so not everything of his  has been thoroughly inspected. I am sure we will soon have another list of Faves & Duds after the tree is gone and the dust settles.

What were the favorites, duds or surprise hits for your family this year?

Other than clothes that did not fit, do you do returns for gifts?

Here’s hoping you and yours have a very Merry Christmas!

Whoah where has all the time gone?  I start counting down to Christmas and next thing you know 2 weeks out has suddenly turned into 2 days out! YIKES!  Today I hit that on Vacation button to my Amazon store and took a deep breath, knowing I did not have to ship another last minute Christmas gift and sweat whether it arrives on time.

Now I think I have all my shopping done, but then again Mr B&W present is the only one not yet in my possession.  Needless to say I am now obsessed with the “track your package” button on Amazon!

How is your shopping going? Are you done?

How about wrapping? Please do not tell me you were done with that weeks ago.  I sort of enjoy the last minute Christmas Eve wrapping where I sip my eggnog (spiked of course) and debate with Mr B&W which gifts were Santa’s and which were ours.  The big guy (meaning Santa   ) cannot get all the credit.

Once the holiday weekend has passed I have a couple reviews and giveaways to post…think shopping and kids food!

Have a wonderful holiday!

As if the 12″ of snow this week was not enough to get us into the Christmas spirit, baking coolies sure sealed the deal.

It all started a few days ago when Bubba wanted to make “Stoplight” cookies.  So we whipped up a batch of dough, rolled it out, cut into circles and sprinkled some red, some yellow and some green. Then lined them up in a row like a stop light before we could eat them.

AJ, being a little grumpy the next day said we should have made Christmas cookies, and said he’d  help make some.  Lucky him, we had saved some dough in the refrigerator!

Fast forward to the next day when we suddenly get dumped on with a foot of snow! Perfect day for making cookies.  Bubba was happy to help, AJ suddenly found that playing FIFA soccer on the Wii was far more exciting.  (ha you think you are getting any cookies now mister?)

Behold the final product, beautifully decorated as only a 5 year old can:

Christmas Ornament Cookies

(adapted from Treasury of Christmas, 3 cookbooks in 1)

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

¾ cup butter, softened

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon orange extract (recipe calls for almond, but the boys don’t like it)

assorted sugars, candies or decors

Place flour & salt in medium bowl; stir to combine. Beat sugar and butter in large bowl with mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, vanilla and extract. Gradually add flour mixture and beat on low until well blended. Divide dough in half, cover and refrigerate 30 minutes or until firm.

Preheat oven to 350° F. Take one portion of dough and roll out onto lightly floured surface to ¼ inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with floured cookie cutters.  Reroll the trimmings and cut out more shapes. Place cookies on ungreased baking sheet.  If using sugars, decorate cookies before baking (if using icing or frosting decorate after baking)  To make cookies into ornaments for the tree, take a drinking straw and cut a hole near top of cookie so that later you can insert a ribbon for hanging.

Bake 10 -12 minutes until edges barely turn a light golden brown. (cook them any longer than that and they will be best used as ornaments & not eaten!) Let stand on cookie sheet 1 minute to cool, then remove to wire rack.

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I will try to post a recipe as we work our way through our holiday baking.  I have a few favorites I make only at this time of year.

Do you have a favorite cookie recipe that you like to make for the holidays?

Well here it is Black Friday and I am sitting home cozy and warm enjoying my hot coffee and a slice of Pumpkin Cranberry bread.

How about you?

Do you brave the crowds for the hot deals?

Is there a must have item on your list?

Do you prefer to sit home at your computer and shop online?

Well it is raining here and I don’t like long lines or crowds, so  despite the begging from the 11 year old to go out shopping, I will sit here and let my fingers do the walking and see what we can find online.

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

Did you get a lot of Trick or Treaters?  Not here….we had 2, yes you read that correctly, just TWO.  We would have had ZERO except Bubba accosted a girl trick or treating at the neighbors and said are you coming over to my house…then asked the 13 year old boy across the street if he was coming over. Fortunately they both obliged and Bubba got the thrill of passing out some candy. Then we waited, and waited, and no one else came…well except Daddy came home and took him out for more trick or treating! Whoo Hoo Dad’s rock.

Here is after the haul:

This year Bubba was so into the Halloween activities. He has had several parties to go to, and has now been dubbed Mr. Social!! We get to the school Halloween dance and he says “I have to go find  my girls”…so he could ask them all to dance!  I cannot wait to see how that plays out in the future.

Thanks to M’s mom for giving us this shot from the dance

A Firefighter & his Princess

Here are a few shots from his school party:

Donuts do not get past this boy!

With so few Trick or Treaters we have plenty of candy left…how about you?

I needed somethig light & fun to get back into my blogging groove…so thanks to Jo-Lynne at Musings of a Housewife I am jumping in on the Children’s Names meme.

1. Do you have any cultural or religious naming traditions?

Not really.

2. Did you or your partner come to the marriage with pre-selected names?

Not at all, guess we are not real dreamers or planners!

3. Did you consider the sound of the first and middle and last names together? Did this make any sad eliminations?

Absolutely! I constantly would say the names out loud, think of what their initials would be, considered any mean nicknames that might arise. The biggie was I spent a bit of  time shouting the names out loud, both  individually and all together,  to see how they sounded when in the future I would be yelling out the door for said child.

4. Did you have veto powers?

Sure, we made individual lists, vetoed the worst of the worst on each others list.

5. Did the baby naming cause arguments?

Not arguments, but interesting discussions.  Especially when Mr B&W lobbied for one name because there was a cool tattoo he could get for it.  (The older ones then felt left out, so that’s not fair! LOL!)

6. Do you think it is easier to name boys or girls?

Well I only have boys, and I found that to be more fun. (I did start girl lists until I found out I was having boys). Oh and one girls name I had way back when would have given her the initials KEG…not so great for a girl!

7. Did you eliminate names because of people from your past or present who you don’t like or because a certain image comes to mind.

Absolutely!  Who wants to be reminded of some dingbat you knew in the 3rd grade or conjure up an image of some weirdo.

8. Did you / would you survey your children to get their thoughts on the name?

Yes,  our last child was a bit of a family effort.  It make for some interesting submissions.

9. Did you tell people the name or possible names before the baby was born or were they “in the vault”?

NO WAY!  I did not want to hear everyone and their brother’s opinion on why a name was good or bad! It is what it is and that’s that.

10. Did you use baby name books?

I think I did with the first, and then perused some online lists later.

Drumroll please…What did you name your kids?

Hah, almost got me…the boys get to use their pseudonyms on here.  What is this world coming to??

Well their initials are G, A  and B and that is where the GAB in my blog names came from.

So if you want to play along go ahead and start your own Children’s Name meme on your blog, and post me a link in the comment section!

Any of you with small children know how much clutter their school and activities can generate.

I love perusing the web looking at all the clever ideas out there for what has now become a new catch phrase…the Command Center.  There are simple options and the oh so beautiful (and pricey) options a la Pottery Barn:

Yes I covet these fabulous modular set ups.

If you need a simple, quick option, try this Family Matters® system from Day Runner®:

It is color coded for each family member, with little clips under for notes and such. It could fit most anywhere, and can be hung on the refrigerator, too.

Our system is far from fancy, but it works for us:

The large bulletin board is where we hang the school calendar, lunch menu, sports schedules, community rec. dept. information/registration sheets, and other assorted to-dos. Also during the school year we will hang up artwork, projects, tests or other accomplishments for the boys.

Below is their dry erase calendar:This gets updated with sports practices/games and all the other social stuff that comes up during the year. We also notate on the dry erase when library books are due.

I am not a fan of refrigerator door clutter, so everything goes here on the bulletin board. Getting the papers up here also keeps the nasty hot-spot at the end of the counter clear!

We also have the coats/shoes/backpacks area, but I will save that for another post!

Do you have a Command Center?

What is your setup like?

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Here are a few other links for inspiration:

Command Center Round-up at I’m an Organizing Junkie (link up your own Command Center post for a giveaway!)

Small Spaces Wall mounted Command Center at Organize Magazine

Elegant French Memo board, a great DIY project from Pecuniarities

From Gaudy Art to Fabulous Chalkboard, a DIY project from Twice Remembered

…as the first day of Kindergarten is finally here!

Of course he has to show off the backpack:

School was GREAT!

Bubba jumped right in to his “homework”. (which really consisted of giving Mom some papers!)

Oh, and remember to always make your mini-man the night before:

Now what’s a mom to do with 3 ½ hours of free time everyday?