'Tis the season to be baking ...

Hope things have been kosher with you since my last post. We're doing well here, just enjoying every single second of the Christmas spirit that's swirling around daily, and hoping it doesn't slip past us too soon. Z has been fighting off what we believe to be a nasty cold, sincerely hoping it's not another flare up of his sinuses, like last Christmas. (See: this post from last February.)

As I mentioned, we have been sucking in every second possible of Christmas music, decorations, prepping for the upcoming feast (at our house) and lots of fires in the fireplace. Christmas is in a mere 7 days, and I'm already anxious about it's departure. I cannot put into words how much I love this season, and how happy my heart is during these last months of every year.

One of my favorite ornaments on our tree.

Another one of my favorites.

One of Aaron's favorites.

My best friend's tree at her home.

My parents' tree at their home.

Aaron's creation outside our house.

As well as his tribute to the Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

The fun Christmas tree aisle at Garden Ridge.

Cozy kitty.

Keoki trying to cuddle up with Z by sitting ON the iPhone he was playing on.

Z, trying to be accommodating. Ha.

Aaron's busy season at work happened the last few weeks, so he was out the door by 6:30am each day, not to return until about 9:00pm every night. Now that he's finally done with that phase of his job, he's still feeling the ramifications of such a crazy schedule.

Poor guy sits still for five minutes, and passes out.

I have been busy planning a party for Z's 3rd grade class this coming Wednesday, as well as making a list & checking it twice when it comes to baking supplies. I'm going to be a busy, busy girl the next few days.

One pile of things to make.

Another pile of things to make (for Santa & his elves).

Last pile of things to make.

Whew! Like I said, busy girl. I also made a recipe tonight that my Mom gave me last night (thanks again, Ma!) which turned out DELICIOUS. They are called Amazing Gluten-Free Layer Bars, and that is not a lie - they were, indeed, amazing!

Before.

After.

Yum! I'm not much into giving gifts, so much as I am into giving FOOD. Yes, my neighbors, co-workers, friends, and family get lots of goodies every Christmas, and I'm glad I haven't heard any complaints yet. I, too, love receiving food from friends and neighbors, because honestly, I have everything I need. Ok, aside from this one coffee mug Aaron showed me ...

Seriously?! A camera lens?! Brilliant!

A bigger, travel-mug version. Love!

And I suppose I would be lying if I said I didn't wish this was coming to my house when I see it barreling down I-35 each day:

Hey, a girl can dream, right? But I know, in my heart of hearts, that I am so lucky to have so much when others out there have so little. Something that seems so as simple as a holiday meal is a struggle for many families out there, and I do not take my good fortune for granted. No way. I'm so thankful and grateful to have my family, my friends, our health, each other's laughter, and lots of scrumptious foods surrounding us this year. I hope every one of you has a truly magical holiday, however you choose to spend it. Since I will buried in baking for the next few days, I will catch up with everyone again after Christmas. Until then -- Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and God bless us all ... everyone. (<-- insert Tiny Tim's small, British voice here.)

Love & peace.

Christmas in two weeks? Seriously?

Hello friends. As you may notice, the blog looks different, and consists of a color you all know me to primarily HATE. I was feeling the need for a change, and the disco balls sucked me in. I figured if they happen to drag along some pink in the mean time, so be it. For some reason, it works in my eyes. If I could change the background color and still keep the groovy disco balls, I would, but we're all going to have to just put up with pink, because I ain't getting rid of those disco balls. (Not yet, anyway.)

I haven't written in about six weeks, mostly because of the trouble I had been having with posting pictures recently. The process became not-as-easy-to-do as it once was, so it turned me off from blogging for a bit. You know how much I love to take pictures & post them for the world to see, and having that ability taken away from me left me annoyed. Therefore, I pouted a little and refrained from posting. In addition, I had been toying with the idea of moving my blog to tumblr (another blog hosting site), and had been researching the switch. Either I'm not interweb-savvy enough to figure it out, or it can't be done, but I gathered that I wouldn't be able to merge this blog with a new one on tumblr, so this blog (that has held years of posts) would cease to exist. The thought broke my heart too much to follow through with, so I decided to just stay put, and change the look of my blog - hence the pink disco balls.

So, here we are, back in the saddle. Pictures have been working, for now, so I'm crossing my fingers that things will stay that way ... and let's catch up.

Halloween came & went, and it was a blast - as always. We decorated the house and scoured the neighborhood for candy with Z that night. His costume choice this year? A special forces guy. Yeah, that's right, I have a 9-year old badass wannabe.

My friend (who also happens to be my boss) Amber, decided we should dress up at the office this year. I went as Coach Sue Sylvester from Glee, she was Ron Weasley from Harry Potter, and our leasing manager was a penguin.

Cool sidenote: I'm a Pinterest junkie, like most 30-something women in the world, and I made something that I found on that site. A little treat for Z's class ... witch hat cookies.

So, HA! I can finally wear this badge loud & proud ...

November brought some long-anticipated cooler weather, and bunches of birthdays & anniversaries. My Dad turned 65, and we indulged ourselves on PF Changs to celebrate his achievement. Thanksgiving arrived and we again indulged ourselves in the usual turkey-day fare. It was every bit as scrumptious as it's been every year since I was a kid, maybe even a little more so because we hadn't been eating much meat or gluten in the weeks prior. The very next day was "black Friday" for the rest of the world, but in our little world, it was Aaron's birthday. For the first time in 11 years, he didn't have to be at work on the day after Thanksgiving, and that, in itself, made his entire day. To make things a little sweeter, my family, Ken, and I all pitched in to buy him his dream gift -- a Kindle Fire. He had been drooling over these little marvels of technology for a few months, but he was always on the fence about e-readers. We went ahead and decided FOR him, and nudged him into the future of books. He was ecstatic, and has been spending lots of time exploring his new toy. I have become a widow to the Kindle Fire, but hey, that's ok with me. I love to see him so happy. I'm guessing these Kindle Fires are a hot commodity this Christmas, because it took an act of God to actually get one from Best Buy ... they were hidden quite well, padlocked in a cage, located near the ceiling ...

Next thing I knew, December was here, and what does that mean? I turned another year older. Welcome, 37. I don't feel like I should be getting acquainted with you yet, but hey, not much I can do to stop it. We had a small gathering at our house to celebrate, and Aaron made a recipe out of one of my favorite cookbooks:

(Yes, I'm still bitter about that show ending, and I must still indulge my inner mobster-wife. Long live Carmela!)

I picked out a recipe called Spaghetti Pie, found all the ingredients, then Aaron brought it all to life for us to enjoy. Here's a picture of Aaron's creation, below the picture from the book:

Impressive, no? It was delicious, and enjoyed with crusty bread & butter, as well as lots of laughs. It doesn't get much better, if you ask me.

Most recently, we have erected the giant Lawson Christmas tree, and have been enjoying it thoroughly on a daily basis. This year was the first in a few years that we didn't want to set the thing on fire while trying to put it back together. Decorating it was fun, and full of excitement and Christmas hope, as it should be every year.

(excuse the messy coffee table, por favor)

And that pretty much catches us up. Z is doing great in school, and was recently invited to a summer camp based on his academic performance & testing scores. Soccer is over, and we're enjoying having our Saturdays back, though we haven't done a whole lot with them so far. The cars have behaved themselves for the past few weeks (*knock on wood*), and our jobs are plodding along swimmingly.

Now that I know I can post pictures once again, I vow to blog more regularly. I'm very excited about Christmas coming, I just can't believe it's only 14 days away. Time flies when you're old, er, having fun. Hope all has been well with all of you, and I'll be back ... soon!!

Love & peace.