I Know...It's Been a LONG Time Since I Blogged

I'm sorry. I've been MIA on my blog. I've been so busy. It's that time of year.
Shopping.
Spending money.
Holiday parties.
Crafting.
Wrapping Presents.
I feel like I haven't slept in the last two weeks.
I'm not one that needs a lot of sleep, but man could I use a good, solid nap.
But...then I'd be cranky, so I'd better not.
This is what we've been up to....

Quick trip to Maine for a snowmobile class. Shopping and lunch in Kennebunkport. Shopping in Newport. I was also introduced to Christmas Tree Shops. We SOOO need those in Arizona! I also missed the snow by 2 days. Aww...Shucks!

Secret Santa continues. We love our Secret Santa. And...everyone else has been having a good year, too!

Decorating the Christmas tree at my parent's house. It's an annual tradition. This year, my parents kept their super tall tree in the box and purchased a beautiful real tree. It's a nice change. The kids made s'mores (in the microwave), drank hot chocolate, ate cookies, and decorated. My mom told stories about every ornament and we laughed about her paper clip hooks on a few of them.

Charlotte is a sitting and rolling machine. Thank goodness. She did have one episode where she landed face-first on our hard as a rock carpet...but, other than that - she's good. She still has no teeth and we are beginning to wonder if she even has any teeth in there at all!

Last week, the Babcock's invited us to a Christmas Light Looking Caravan. We started at the 44th St. house (that's what we call it) and ended up at the Mormon Temple in Mesa. It was a blast. The best house was actually a cul-de-sac street of houses around Extension and Guadalupe. OMG - it was SOOOO awesome.

I love the one above...the kids are running around the driveway of lights. They thought it was simply awesome!

This one person on the awesome block converts their backyard to The Town of Bethlehem. Seriously.

Family pictures. Kaitlyn at Bryan's work took some pictures for us. She is starting up a photography business. Thank you Kaitlyn!!

Shopping. Lots and lots and lots of shopping. We're almost done. It's a miracle.

Birthday party planning. Lil's birthday is 11 days after Christmas. She had a very quick, thrown together 1st birthday party and has never really had one since. Yes, we've had family get togethers (which still end up pretty big), but this year - it's her turn to have a party. So...I'm preparing for a PINK, girl's only, fluffy, pinkalicious party. That reminds me...I really need to get moving on that!

Crafting. I like homemade gifts. Hopefully other people do, too....because I made a lot of stuff this year. Here is a sanitizer I made for Brady's teacher...

Wrapping. Wrapping, wrapping, wrapping until the wee hours of the night. Or morning, depending on how you look at it. Of course, the Cuties gifts are still in hiding from Santa.

Shipping presents. Unfortunately, just about everyone in Bryan's family lives out of state. So, we must ship out all of our presents. This forces me to shop early (well, still late for some people, Ashley and Brett!!) I was literally that crazy lady that flew into the UPS parking lot, cutting people off for a spot, unloading the van (box by box), running into UPS at 5:20pm for a 5:30pm cut off. On the very.last.day. of standard shipping. I made it. That's all that matters.

Getting a new (to us) desk for my "office." Yes...we have replaced the bed with a desk. Thank you Julie Thorn!

The kid desk to the side is Lil's new desk from my Grandma. She LOVES it and thinks it fits perfect next to my desk.

Addressing Christmas cards. I'm late. So, so, so, SOOOO late. But, they're out. Whew! Here is this year's collection of cards we have received. You can barely see the metal wall hanging I connect them all to.

The Majercin Christmas celebration. We tried something different this year. Every single Christmas Eve of my entire life has included the Majercin Christmas celebration. This year...we changed it to the 18th. Why? Well...with the family getting so big - there are lots of other celebrations going on and everyone always struggles to get together at the very same time on Christmas Eve. This year was lovely. Lots of time to spend together. No rushing. As for the White Elephant exchange. Best. Ever. SO Fun!

The picture above shows our White Elephant gifts. Mine - the DVD player (I also got a silver coin that my dad says is awesome.) Bryan's - a scrapbooking kit. I'm pretty sure I'll be seeing that wrapped up for me on Christmas. :)

Today is Sunday. I planned to finish shopping. But, instead I've been crafting. I've been lounging. I've been blogging. I've been watching football. I haven't even showered. I'm still in my jammies. I think I've unconsciously decided it's a lazy day. We deserve it!