.christmas parties: round one.

One of my very favorite aspects of the Christmas season is spending time with family. Both Hubs and I come from large families; he is one of eleven (yes, you read that right, eleven) kids and I am the oldest of six. Thankfully, most of our family members live within a short driving distance, so we get to see lots of those we love.

With all this family, of course, comes lots of parties this time of year. Yesterday, we had the first of several parties to attend. My family was getting together for dinner, cookie decorating, and some renditions of Christmas carols done entirely with colored bells.

Thought I would share pictures of the creative cookie process in action and the... uh... unconventional Christmas treats that resulted (I'll apologize in advance for some of the poor quality... these were taken with my phone's camera, which, obviously, doesn't always take the best pictures).

This was baby sisters's "Bloody Face Angel:"

These are the cookies Hubs and I made. Going clockwise we have: a bloody spearhead (bet you can't guess who did that one), a yellow smiling star, a pink smiling star, some kind of scary evil angel thing in what Hubs called "a disco dress" made of spinkles, two Christmas trees made by yours truly, and in the center, a zombie angel with blue hair, also made by me. On the separate plate is a Rudolph I made from an angel shaped cookie.

Here are a few of the cookies decorated by the kiddies:

.the replacements.

Since the passing of Tut earlier this week, his tank has stood empty and lonely. That is, until today, when Hubs surprised Ladybug (and me) with four little goldfish from Walmart. 

Each cost a whopping 28 cents and, though not as frilly as Tut, who was a fan tail goldfish, Ladybug thinks they are wonderful. She even pretends to feed them, something that is made cuter by the fact that she picked it up all on her own from watching us feed the fish.

You make be thinking that it is too soon to get replacement fish, but I think Tut would want us to move on and be happy with these little fish... as long as 28 cent fish will last.

.the joys of dog ownership.

There are many wonderful surprises to wake up to: breakfast in bed, newly fallen snow outside your window, a hug and kiss from the one you love. There are, however, some particularly nasty things to wake up to.

See exhibit A: one extremely poop covered dog.

Yes, that is what I got to start my morning off with today. Oakley apparently had either not been able to hold it or had felt sick during the night because he was covered from nose to tail with... well, you know. Not to mention his kennel, all of his toys, his food and water dish, and the living room wall had a nice coating as well.

So, I had the wonderful privilege of cleaning up his puppy mess for the better part of an hour and a half this morning. First, I had to lug everything, dog, kennel, and all, out into the very cold, snowy backyard. This was, in theory a good idea, except Oakley kept finding what I can only describe as "poop tidbits" to either sit in or lick up; the former causing more mess and the latter inspiring a shockingly strong gag reflex.

After much scrubbing, most of a can of lysol, and carrying a squirming 50 pound dog wrapped in a towel to the tub for a thorough "de-poop-ification," the job was finally done. Unfortunately, I was unable to salvage Oakleys toys and his food and water dishes. Other causalities included our outdoor rug which Oakley decided to stake out during our outside cleanup effort, causing irreversible poop-damage.

I know what you are thinking: "Gross! Why are you sharing this?!" Well, I will tell you why. I figure if I had to clean up the horror that was my living room all by my lonesome this morning, someone else should at least have to read about it. It's only fair. Really. It's only fair.

UPDATE: Just thought you would all want to know: Oakley had another accident this afternoon that had be cleaned up by yours truly. Pity me and my poor sick doggie!

.pirates cove... here we come.

Just found out this is where we will be having our family reunion this year. Seriously... how cool is this? Can't wait for May!