happy birthday....(to me?)

I was going through boxes of old photos today, found these, and felt it would be appropriate to share (since it is my birthday tomorrow...and these are birthday photos)

the infamous home-made cake (with a giant-candle in the middle)(my mother still apologizes for this cake.
What you can't see is the sad sloping of a very concaved-center.
And pretty weak vanilla frosting.)

Oh well...I loved it.

And what can i say? my parents were poor and resourceful!?







aaaaand, upgrading to the 8th-birthday cake.

(obviously I was pretty psyched about this one)

And hopefully birthday cakes aren't a symbol of my life-progress...because if so: I believe I'm in a bit of a regression:

(notice anything eerily similar to birthday cake #23 and birthday cake #1?)

Merry Christmas

Let me share with you a fool-proof recipe for holiday success:


Two people
+ One dog
+ 20-pound turkey
________________
a very merry christmas

Dear Sarah M. Slagle.

I believe you ordered this:



...and this:


unfortunately I did not.


I wanted a sweater.
A big, fluffy, white, swaddle-up-in-warmness sort of sweater.


(and instead I received your XS-hot-pink lingerie.)



and do you see the scarf I am wearing? (INDOORS?) Yep. XS-hot-pink lingerie does not appeal to me. Ever. And especially not now.



I hope you didn't receive my sweater, and discover its superiority over your hot-pink lingerie.
(because it is superior: trust me)
And once discovering this fact, you'd probably never give it back....

Get ready...(for cuteness)

Piper experienced her first snow this morning.

And Karen and I (like all good puppy-mothers) photodocumented the event:

She was a little bit confused at first about all the fluff....

But, then she got into it....(see that tail?--full speed ahead!)

(*and please don't make fun of her dog-jacket. She's small, and gets cold...and she needs it!!)

You can't really tell...but she is fully airborne in this picture.

Look at that little puppy-tooshy!

All covered in snow!


(she was TOTALLY covered in snow-clumps and crystals when she got back inside...
so we had to give her a hot bath to defrost them all...)


isn't she just the cutest little pumpkin?

(*and like I said about the jacket: I usually am not a fan of dog-apparel...but it is NECESSARY, people: INSULATION!)

Oh, and do you see this weather report? Snow EVERY DAY.....for the ENTIRE WEEK.

we REALLY need to purchase a snow shovel.
ASAP.

Friday Date

Honestly, sometimes the best kinds of friday nights are the ones spent snuggled up on the couch with a steamy mug of cocoa and a large stack of movies.

and that's exactly what's waiting for me when I get home.

(well, the stack isn't exactly waiting there...I have to venture to TWO different redboxes to pick up all my videos (bad planning on my part) but, within the next 4 hours I FULLY intend to be swaddled in pjs and enjoying the first of a long night of movies...)

and all with one of my favorite people in the world:


(*and yes. we will probably look like this too....due to the fact that our living room is like a giant IGLOO....brrr.)

pile on the blankets.

and pour me some cocoa....


hello, weekend.

Let me change your life.

(in just one bite)




introducing.......

Trader Joe's Candy Cane Joe-Joe's

um....hello, just a little bit of heaven-on-earth.

(and do you see the part that says "Real candy cane pieces and rich cocoa in every bite"?...ummm....yeaaah, it's most definitely true. These things leave normal oreos in the dust.)





Oh, and Mrs. Donley, if you're reading this...thankyou for the JoeJoes.

Christmas Miracles

most recent and highly-entertaining assignment at work:
Fix the family-christmas photo.

Obviously grandma is a little picky about her christmas photos....and my boss graciously passed the job along to me this year. (thanks Brian)

So...let me take you through the steps on how to botch/fix your annual christmas-card-photo-shoot:


Step #1:
(assess problems with photo: grandson #5 isn't in the frame?...no problem.)



Step #2:
Clone grandson #5 into frame. (maybe a little fuzzy? ehhh....no one's looking that closely.)



Step #3: Grandma wants a red vest on grandson #5. (sheesh. this little kid causes a lot of trouble)



Step #4: Add a vignette. (to help distract from all the fuzzy/botched cloning happening to grandson #5)



Step #5: Granddaughter #3 looks sedated? No problem...


Step #6: Final product:

- you can see grandson #5
- the reflections in the door are gone
- the bruise on baby Liam's head is gone
- boys now have matching red vests
- granddaughter #3 is perky
- aaaaand, hopefully no one on this card's distribution list has 20/20 vision?!


see....magic does happen at christmastime.