We had a lot of hits this year! My boys... Gaming headphones Steam gift certificates Watches My dd... An easel with paints, brushes, etc. Lots of crafty items like markers and play dough My dh... A new tennis bag Me... An iPad mini!! Only one big miss... Someone bought my 4yo dd a drum set! Yikes!!! I had no idea and you should have seen my face when she opened it. So it is a hit for her but a big fat miss as far as I'm concerned.

LOL!!! I think we must have the same family. My in-laws give us the strangest and somewhat inappropriate gifts! One year my kids got these key chains that were little farm animals and when you squeezed them, this gooey poop came out of their butts. Disgusting. Also, because I taught Spanish for many years, my FIL bought me a t-shirt on his cruise to Mexico that said "Eat Sh!t" in Spanish. He thought it was funny. I could go on and on.... Can you cut off the butt part and keep the face part of the towels?

It went pretty well. It was a bit awkward at first. I could just tell she wanted this to be a dinner reflecting her new diet plan, but she didn't mention the quinoa or the "healthy" scones nobody touched. Somehow I still end up the one feeling a bit guilty. But it was Christmas and desperate times call for desperate measures! :)

This. My dd's birthday is the 26th and we are determined NOT to do that to her. So we now take the tree down the evening of the 25th or the morning of the 26th and commence with the birthday celebration!! We also get three weeks off at Christmas (the whole family) and so we still spend lots of time doing fun things... We just do it with the tree put away.

So dinner was good. We brought two roast chickens, a huge bowl of mashed potatoes, and veggies. We also had brownies and cheesecake and Christmas pudding with custard. :) I felt bad, though, because her quinoa sat pretty much untouched. I'm glad it's done and I'm going to bed. Too much stress over one dinner!

I can't wait!!!!!!!

How very sad. :(

I am perfectly capable of being worked up over both the DD kerfuffle AND the situation in Syria. I don't have to pick one or the other.

No pressure whatsoever. We looked forward to doing Santa Claus with our kids and we have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it! In fact, until I started frequenting this board I did not know anyone personally that was against Santa. It was all new to me!

Tennis, tennis, and more tennis!

Yes we have those items. Anything dairy is expensive but usually available. I use butter, milk and cream cheese in mine. I'm going to make a lot of them since I have a feeling they will be needed if they go up against quinoa. :)

She agreed to let me bring a chicken and some mashed potatoes. I have decided I am bringing a real dessert too and I will just play innocent. ;)

Ok, I sent her an email response asking would she mind if I brought along some ham and potatoes as my kids won't want to eat the fish or quinoa. I hope she doesn't get super offended. :( But my family was dreading Christmas dinner with her menu and I just couldn't bear that. Wish me luck.

My 15.5yo already has a really nice computer so he is getting a really nice microphone for recording the youtube videos he likes to make, a new pair of nice gaming headphones, a gamepad controller for his computer, and Steam credit.

How many books did you read and did you meet or beat your own personal goal? So far 54 but I will probably finish 3 more before the year is over. What are your top 5 (or more) favorite stories? Top 5 least favorites? Favorites were... Beautiful Ruins The Last Camellia The Geography of Bliss Nothing to Envy Unbroken Least favorites... Big, Dead, Place That Old Cape Magic One book you thought you would never read and was pleasantly surprised you liked it? Unbroken Most thrilling unputdownable book? Nothing to Envy Did you come across a story that you enjoyed it so much, you turned around and read it again or plan on rereading it again in 2014? The Geography of Bliss One book you thought you would love, but didn't? Allegiant Which book or books had the greatest impact on you this year? The Geography of Bliss Nothing to Envy Do you have a favorite cover or quote from a story you'd like to share? (Share a shelfie) Nothing to Envy What book would you recommend everyone read? Nothing to Envy What was your most favorite part of the challenge? Did you do any of the mini challenges? Getting a book a week finished. Mini challenges I completed were the dewey decimal system and the author from each continent.

I guess I should mention that we traditionally take turns hosting it but no matter where the dinner is we split the cooking so I do half and she does half. That's why this new menu is even more surprising. She basically said she is going to cook it all so she can make sure it fits her new food standards and could I just bring the beverages? I think the idea of another meal with the traditional foods is a good idea. I know her dh and kids hate this new diet but she does the grocery shopping and the cooking and has decided they should all follow this new healthy diet. Luckily my kids are not picky and will eat what she puts in front of us. I would never ruin our friendship over it but I have to admit that it does feel a bit overbearing. I really miss my family back home right now. :(

For my entire life I have spent Christmas with my extended family and the menu has always been pretty much the same... Delicious comfort foods we really only eat at Christmas. It's mostly the traditional stuff, a Christmas ham, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes and so forth. But Christmas, like thanksgiving, holds special family memories for me and many of them are tied to the meal. Then we moved here five years ago. Suddenly all of our holidays and traditions were upended and we really missed them. In fact, we go to great lengths, including special ordering at a fairly large expense, a turkey for Thanksgiving and a ham for Christmas to try and preserve at least two days per year for our family amidst all the change and newness in our lives. There is another family here that we have become very close with over the last five years. They are our family-away-from-family. We spend our holidays together and we have always had an amazing time. Well, in the last 6 months or so, the wife in this family decided to become a "vegetarianish-healthy eater." That's great. I support her in that. But then today she emailed me about our traditional Christmas menu. This will be our 5th Christmas together as families and we always have the same things. It's tradition. But this year she said she doesn't want ham or chicken or mashed potatoes or pumpkin pie because that is all "unhealthy." So she is going to make fish and quinoa and brussel sprouts and a pie that has no sugar in it. She has relegated me to beverages. My kids, my dh and I are so bummed. This is not at all what we think of when we think of Christmas dinner. We would never in a million years hurt her feelings. So we will go and eat her healthy food but it won't be the same. It's weird because any other day of the year we'd be happy to try her healthy foods but Christmas is emotional for us because we miss our family and traditions from the states so much this time of year and certain foods are part of that tradition. But there is no way I can think of to tell my friend we don't want to eat quinoa for Christmas so I guess we will just live with it. :(

Lilacs. :) We had lilac bushes all over our yard and the smell reminds me of summers in my childhood.

Mine is actually a "selfie" I snapped of dh and I about 6 months ago.

I don't use it all. However, I have a terrible habit of starting my sentences with "So..." I hate it but I can't seem to stop.

It was definitely challenging and I read many books that I normally wouldn't choose. Some were good and some were NOT. Honestly, I think my only challenge for next year is to borrow as many or more books as I buy. I spend way too much money on books. But I can get many of them through the library if I am willing to wait which I generally am not. :) So this year my goal is to be more patient or look for free books on amazon , etc. Any way to get books free or cheap. My dh will be happy!

We have 3 weeks off for Christmas. We will spend one week in Singapore. We are going to the Singapore Zoo, Unjversal Studios, the new aquarium and several other things. Another week will be spent doing all the holiday things plus my dd's birthday is the day after Christmas. And then one week running errands I never seem to have time for and relaxing. I can't wait!

I read that one last year and I really enjoyed it. It was actually much better than the second one.

I AM FINISHED. WOO HOO!!!! I read 52 books. I read a book from each section of the dewey decimal system. I read a book by an author from each continent. I still have a few more books to finish up but I completed all my challenges so I am excited. :) Still Reading: Good News of Great Joy by John Piper The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley Faithful Women and their Extraordinary God by Noel Piper Smart but Scattered Teens: The "Executive Skills" Program for Helping Teens Reach Their Potential by Richard Guare The Collected Writings (So Far) of Rick Wormeli: Crazy Good Stuff I've Learned about Teaching by Rick Wormeli Finished: 52. Maya's Notebook by Isabelle Allende 51. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini 50. Big, Dead Place: Inside the Strange and Menacing World of Antarctica by Nicholas Johnson 49. God is Red: The Secret Story of How Christianity Survived and Flourished in Communist China by Liao Yiwu 48. Allegiant by Veronica Roth 47. The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin 46. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn 45. Stealing Rembrandts: The Untold Stories of Notorious Art Heists by Anthony Amore (American Author, DD class 700) 44. The Gospel's Power and Message by Paul Washer (American author, DD class 200) 43. They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Persuasive Writing by Gerald Graff (American author, DD class 400) 42. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (American author, DD class 800) 41. Mariana by Susanna Kearsley (Canadian author, DD class 800) 40. Man Seeks God: My Flirtations with the Divine by Eric Weiner (American author, DD class 200) 39. When I Don't Desire God: How to Fight for Joy by John Piper (American author, DD class 200) 38. Inferno by Dan Brown (American author, DD class 800) 37. That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo (American author, DD class 800) 36. The God Who is There: Finding Your Place in God's Story by D.A. Carson (Canadian author, DD class 200) 35. Sandstorm by James Rollins (American author, DD class 800) 34. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel (Mexican Author, DD class 800) 33. The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific by J. Maarten Troost (Dutch Author, DD class 900) 32. Bill Bryson's African Diary by Bill Bryson (American author, DD class 900) 31. The Millionaires by Brad Meltzer (American author, DD class 800) 30. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter (American author, DD class 800) 29.The Sherlockian by Graham Moore (American author, DD class 800) 28. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (American authors, DD class 800) 27. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (American author, DD class 900) 26. The Last Camellia by Sarah Jio (American author, DD class 800) 25. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (Ethiopian author, DD class 800) 24. Having Hard Conversations by Jennifer Abrams (American author, DD class 300) 23.The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe (American author, DD class 600) 22. The Infernal Devices #3: The Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare (American author, DD class 800) 21. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (American author, DD class 800) 20. Why Revival Tarries by Leonard Ravenhill (British author, DD class 200) 19. The Infernal Devices #2: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare (American author, DD class 800) 18. The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (American author, DD class 800) 17. God's Big Picture: Tracing the Story-Line of the Bible by Vaughan Roberts (British author, DD class 200) 16.The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag: A Flavia de Luce Mystery by Alan Bradley (Canadian Author, DD Class 800) 15.The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner (American author, DD class 900) 14. Prodigy by Marie Lu (Chinese author, DD class 800) 13. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (American author, DD class 900) 12. The Disappearing Spoon: And Other Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean (American author, DD class 500) 11. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman (American Author, DD class 600) 10. A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World by Paul Miller (American author, DD class 200) 9. Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick (American author, DD class 300) 8. Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald (American author, DD class 100) 7. The Bungalow by Sarah Jio (American author, DD class 800) 6. The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen (American author, DD class 800) 5. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (American author, DD class 800) 4. The Next Story: Life and Faith After the Digital Explosion by Tim Challies (Canadian author, DD class 600) 3. The House at Riverton by Kate Morton (Australian author, DD class 800) 2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (English author, DD class 800) 1. The Dark Monk: A Hangman's Daughter Tale by Oliver Potzsch (German author, DD class 800)

Just got home from seeing it. The were 12 of us that went and we all LOVED it. We did not know how it would end and it was a jaw-dropper but I kind of like it that way...gives me more to look forward to. I thought it was better than the first one. And as far as I'm concerned there can NEVER be too much Legolas!!