Christmas Break

After the first 2 Christmas celebrations this weekend that went incredibly well and six new inches of beautiful snow to make it a lovely white Christmas, I am signing off for my own Christmas holiday.

I am looking forward to Christmas jammies, movies, snuggles and good time spent with my guys.

Merry Christmas and many blessings to you all.

Quick Takes Quick Takes Roly Poly Quick Takes

Disclaimer about linking up with Jen.

1. My house is clean. And not just "sort've clean" but company clean. Which is good. A clean house is a good way to start off Christmas week.

2. I was supposed to get to go to see Saving Mr. Banks tonight with Husband. On a date. With a babysitter. But the only showing after bedtime is 10:10. And I have to see my in-laws tomorrow. I need my rest. So...

3. #Clanunseen Elf Party for the win! I was bummed that I already had plans but I guess I still do. Start Elf at 8:00 Central Time and tweet along with the group. I am SO glad I did this last year. It was kind of a good way to say "Hello" to Cari and Dwija and then both of them came by my blog afterward and then Theme Thursday started and... now it's almost time for the second Twitter Elf Party! Do it!

4. I like smiling, smiling's my favorite. (This is actually true. And an Elf quote. Fun fact.)

5. I am hoping the weather plays along for this next 12 days for all of my holiday events and travels. It doesn't look very hopeful but who knows? I live in the land of the nothing-actually-happened weather warning so it could go either way.

6. I have a serious lack of Christmas cards this year. Every day has been a huge let down. I mean, I guess there's still time. And maybe people are sending them late? But I actually feel a little less cheery without the season greetings and such.

7. Home Alone has been totally ruined for me since I became a mom. No really. My childhood is destroyed. Because there is no Verisimilitude. It does not follow the rules Aristotle set up for us. And even if you can believe that it is possible that the little boy going to Florida was counted in Kevin's place, and they rushed through the airport and didn't notice he was gone then either WHEN they DO notice and call the Police, they would not just say "Tell them to count their kids again." That's all I am saying. He's 8.

Theme Thursday: Dreaming

Alright folks, I going to mix it up a bit for Theme Thursday and I am going to blog ala Pioneer Woman. 

Unlike Ree I happen to like bananas and love banana goodies.

Steak and Shake Banana Shakes? I die a little. Side by side Chocolate Banana? Sinful. Of course I am talking about the yellow-y fake banana shakes not the "real banana shakes" they drag out once a year. I've had 2 of those. The first one was okay. The second one was grey and didn't taste like anything much less banana. Stick to the yellow ones.

And with that little side note on Steak and Shake I'd continue to rattle off banana things but let's just go ahead and say you get it? Mmkay good.

So. Anyway. Earlier today my sole punk (I'm being Ree remember?) climbed up on the kitchen table to the fruit bowl and took a bit out of one of the 3 really ripe bananas that were sitting there. He was VERY pleased with himself in a way only a toddler can be and since he managed to peel all 3 in this table escapade I knew it was time for banana muffins. As fate would have it, I had actually been saving those bananas for that very thing, C just kicked it into high gear I guess.

The recipe I use is a slight adaptation of this charming recipe. I've made it just as it is. They're good. But I like my version better.

Preheat your oven to 350 and gather your ingredients.

• 1.5 C All Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• .5 tsp salt
• 3 large overripe bananas
• 3/4 C sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/3 C melted butter
• splash of vanilla

You will want to get a bowl. I use a Martha Stewart Batter Bowl myself but whatever you've got is great. 

1. Mash the bananas. Mash 'em real good. (Do a little Salt-n-Pepa groove while you're doing that. I won't tell. Count it as cardio too if you want.) 

Right about here you will need to stop to feed your punk(s) macaroni and cheese and a clementine. They might need more milk. That's okay. The bananas can wait. 

Starting over... 

1. Melt the butter. Stovetop. Microwave. It doesn't matter just make it liquid. I know 1/3 C of butter seems irresponsible but you just did some cardio and butter is delicious.
2. Mix the butter, splash of vanilla, egg, sugar into the banana. Get it all together. 
3. Add the salt, baking powder and soda then mix it all up again. If your husband is home ogle his butt. If not just think about it. Ree would. 
4. Fold in the flour. This is when most recipes for muffins scare you about over mixing. Sometimes I under mix because I want them to turn out. So we're taking the word mix out. Just fold all the wet and flour together until you don't see white powder anymore. 
5. Pour into your muffin tin. I use Baker's Joy to spray the living daylights out of the pan but I am sure you can use paper baking cups if that's more your thing. This step is where the batter bowl comes in handy in case you were curious. 
6. Bake for 20-30 minutes. Our oven runs hot. Yours might not. The tops of the muffins will bounce back if touched or stick a toothpick in 'em. Your house is going to smell really really good. Unless you don't like bananas. 
7. Take them out of the tin to cool them. 
8. Eat them. I like butter on my banana bread/muffins. If you do too take a bite of these without the butter just once. The melted butter in the recipe does magic and it already has a great flavor. But then go ahead and butter it anyway. We are being Ree people and she uses butter like there's no tomorrow. 

So that's really just it. You should go make these.

The ultimate in unedited Theme Thursday pictures you guys. Because I am dreaming about Ree's kitchen(s) and her mega million $ book deals and show and everything. Yet I like my life and the fact that my cooling rack is next to my crock pot, a bag of Cuties, the scissors used to get into the bag of Cuties, a pen and the Lead never goes Extinct magnet. That is real life. 

Dreaming is fine. But real life is even better today. Now I'm going to go have a muffin since it is nap time I won't have to share. Linking up with Cari. 

Stay Awake! Be Ready! Paper Towels!

Do you know the song Stay Awake Be Ready?

When I was but a wee tike in Sunday school even (I think I was actually younger than RE age. Hunter was in my class then. Hunter was in my confirmation class years later.) we sang the song for our Christmas program.

Stay awake! Be ready!

You do not know the hour

when the Lord is coming. 

Stay awake! Be ready! 

The Lord is coming soon. 

Alleluia, Alleluia!

The Lord is coming soon!

If there is one song that makes me think of Christmas/Advent it is that song. Even now I will sing it loudly and proudly because even though it is SO simple it is perfect. It encompasses the anticipation of Advent with the childlike impatience we may have.

On some level  I am ready for it to just be Christmas already! I love Christmas. Maybe not as much as I love Easter but I still love Christmas. I am ready to give gifts and enjoy time with my family. I love giving gifts, it's totally one of my main love languages. I am more excited for certain people to open the gifts I picked for them than I am for receiving anything. I mean, not my in-laws, I could give them the best gift ever and I would get no response at all. Everyone else though? Super excited!

On another level I am really enjoying this waiting part. The promise of what's yet to come is exciting.

In totally unrelated note we are on our last roll of paper towels. I love paper plates and paper towels. I know that they cost money but I despise doing the dishes and gosh paper towels are just so useful. I decided that for Lent I would give up paper plates and have a limited amount of paper towels available.

I would sit here and pretend that I could be the person who has those unpaper towels that snap together and go on a roll but you wash them? Yeah. No. I like doing laundry but if I had to do laundry every time I used a paper towel I'd go insane. I could try to not use paper towels so often... but it's not Lent yet so I'm good.

2013 In Review: Five Most Posts

So... Sarah over at Amongst Lovely Things is hosting a best of link up for 2013. Well, I am never one to say no to a link up and this seems like a particularly good one! So, with that I give you my recap of 2013 in "Most" Posts.


1. The post with the most clicks.

It's almost sad that this post of all of my posts had the most clicks. It's not that representative of my blog... but hey I do love The Wet Brush so I stand by it.

Bright Copper Kettles

2. The post with the most comments. 

I am still a little blog and I don't have a whole lot of regular followers or readers. So I especially look forward to Theme Thursday's to post a picture (I have been working REALLY hard to learn to be a better photographer) and hopefully get some comments. I try to comment on other people's blogs often because I know how excited I get when I get one. So 15 comments (I'm not counting my reply) seems small but for me that was a whole lot of smiling one day! Plus if you were ever wondering how I got started blogging and found my way to this little corner of the blog world that is also explained.

Theme Thursday: Black and White (And/Or Brown Paper Packages Tied Up with String)

3. The post with the best picture. 

Alright. This is hard. Because, as I just mentioned I am trying really really hard to take better pictures. I have 3 pictures I am really proud of. If you really care about the runner ups you can see them here and here. But my most favorite picture is from another Theme Thursday post. I swear I do more than linkups! But I just really liked my food styling and the light and everything. It just was a killer shot. 

Theme Thursday: Food

4. The post that was the hardest to write. 

I had a couple of difficult posts this year. But all in all I had a pretty darn good year. I know which 2 posts I was the most worried about writing and posting. But the winner... the winner... oh goodness. Still makes my heart race in case someone just tells me off. 

Bullying

5. The post that is my personal favorite. 

Pretty easy to pick. It isn't the best written post but it recaps the best time I had this year and I hope I can remember all those moments forever. Especially the Hanson concert with my dad. Boy howdy it was so hot and humid it was like swimming through the air and everyone was persistently damp. Then we went to the fair 5 days later and were cold. Crazy. I love it. I love August! 

Catching Up with My Life

And there it is. 2013 in Most Posts! 

5 Gift Ideas

So I know this is late late late but if you're still seeking some gift ideas for people in your life I have a few ideas for you.


1. Books.

I know that is SO easy to say and much harder to execute. I know. But really for the 2 and under crowd books are your best bet. They're going to be overwhelmed with all the newness and excitement. They'll probably want to play with a box or wrapping paper more than anything.

So invest in their future with books. Really, when they're 8 and you want them to want books they might have their heart set on something stupid and the budget can't accommodate both. Put your now budget towards sets of books that you enjoyed when you were young. I was always fond of series, I like my stories to continue I guess.

Ideas: Magic Tree House, Boxcar Children, Lemony Snicket, Little House on the Prairie, The Ramona Books, Judy Blume's Fudge Series.

2. The classic toys. I'm talking your Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys, Legos, Etch-a-sketch and my personal favorite The Magna Doodle.

C just got this exact one. We just threw caution to the wind with that 3+ age thing. (It's because the cord could strangle him. But we supervise him and it's really not long enough.) I like that the pen is attached and that C can scribble all day long and I don't waste paper. Oh and he stays clean. Love it. It's fun all around, even I have enjoyed doodling with it. 

3. For a bigger gift for a group, family or someone special I am a fan of the do something gift. I quite often gift people tickets to a concert or something. This year my BIL's family is getting amusement park tickets from us. Along with awesome 80s sunglasses, sunscreen, a water bottle and a fanny pack. (In turquoise.) A membership to a zoo/museum are always appreciated. At least I would appreciate it. Or a Netflix subscription. You can even buy a few months for people who already have an account! 

If you really don't feel a membership is the right idea and don't want to assume that your recipient is free on a specific night, a TicketMaster gift card works for a lot of different venues including sporting events. If I went the gift card route I would pick a specific event I thought they would like and make the amount work for 2 tickets (or whatever the number would be.) 

4. For the person who is completely un-giftable. Like for instance your father-in-laws new wife who you don't know at all, my go to gift is a grocery store gift card. It is impersonal I grant you but everyone needs groceries. Everyone needs to eat. And sometimes a thoughtful gift card (for something they'd actually buy, like groceries) is the best bet for the hard to buy people. Or people you feel obligated to buy for even though you haven't the faintest idea what to get.

5. And my absolute fall back gift perfect for anyone aged 7+ is Spot It!

This game is so much fun. It's fast. It's travel friendly. I will even say it is a game you can play by yourself just to get good at it. From 2-8 players...5 different mini games. I haven't met anyone who doesn't like this game. And they have different themes: MLB, NHL, Golf, etc. They even have a Jr. edition. For real this will be given to my cousin, and both of Husband's grandmother's this year. That is how versatile the game is. (Plus is is really affordable!)


So there you have it. With just 9 shopping days until Christmas these are my 5 best ideas for you! Linking up with Mary Kate and her awesome gift giving ideas linkup!

Flashback Saturday

My eighth birthday was a wonderful wonderful day. Do you have memories of your birthdays? It's funny I remember that day being so magical and wonderful, yet I can't remember every single detail. This is actually interesting as I can remember some moments of my childhood crystal clear.

My eighth birthday. My first birthday in the "new" house. (It was new at the time but gosh my family has lived there for 19 years now.) I remember two very important details about that day however. It was the day I found out I made a competition kick line at my dance studio. (Tid Bits) And it was the day I got my American Girl Doll.

I had Molly. This was back in the day when there was just Felicity, Samantha, Kirsten, Molly and Addy was still pretty new only a year old or so.

I don't really know why I wanted Molly the most. I didn't even wear glasses yet but I was only months away from that step so maybe excellent foreshadowing? Everyone had Samantha or Kirsten. I mean, we lived in Minnesota so everyone had Kirsten. But I wanted Molly and I got her. The Molly books were the best anyhow. And then during art class in the "clay" unit. I made my own Molly in her Halloween Hula costume. It still lives in my parent's china cabinet. And it is...special. Sculpture was never going to be my talent, let's just say that. Photo evidence here care of my mom.

My clay Hula Dancing Molly. 3rd grad art. 

The back side. Poor sweet hunchbacked hobbling Molly. 

Molly's Dog Bennett He's actually not so bad.

So last night totally on a whim, we watched the Molly movie on Amazon Instant Video. I LOVED it. And it brought all my childhood memories of looking through the catalogs every month and circling things right back. As we were watching I would say things like "You could buy that bed. I never got it." or "I always wanted the Miss Victory costume." The Hula costume was omitted from the movie but I always wanted that too. I never did get anything other than Molly and her books. Truthfully that is okay. Really. I was just so glad to have my doll.

But I went online after watching the movie and lo and behold Molly is being retired on December 31! And all of her outfits are already sold out! While I can get over it and I will, my inner 8 year old is devastated that it is no longer even a possibility to buy any of those coveted outfits. Ah well.