it's xmas eve!!

it's 2:15am, i'm still up, i'm wired, it's christmas eve. how is it here all ready?

today i made sugar cookies, cleaned. then we made a painting for our house and for my mom with the kids' footprints that i turned into reindeer. also made our family ornament with all of our thumbprints on it. we gave them baths, put them to bed. i made a countdown chart for olivia to our disney trip. i have a box for her to open with a few other disney things in it, a bracelet and autograph book and an apron. then she can open the chart: everything is from santa this year except the trip. i'll do pictures later. then i wrapped more presents. been thawing out all the sausage/ground beef and chicken for the food i'm making tomorrow. that took a while.

i moved sally, our elf on a shelf, to her final location of the season. we have a "santa key" that is in a hanging wall plaque. sally's confiscated it. i made a zip line from the ceiling fan to this wall plaque, then another zip line to the garland hanging by the kitchen and a final one to the front door, where she's attempting to deposit this santa key for tomorrow night. :) olivia loves this elf on a shelf business. she blames EVERYTHING on sally. who broke my gingerbread house? sally. who ate all the pizzelle cookies that grandma mich made? sally. silly silly sally.

well it doesn't help that they've had a lord of the rings marathon on tv tonight, and i'm still watching it. i can't believe i still haven't seen the hobbit. i was sitting on the couch earlier laughing and told charlie, if you told me 10 years ago i'd not be at opening night i wouldn't have believed you. but then there is this little amazing bailey boo in my arms here now, and i'll see it eventually.

so tomorrow: my lists. i'm big on lists.

cooking:
lasagna
chicken parm
crack brownies
cranberry breakfast baked thing, kinda a dessert
cranberry upside down cake
choc chip cookies

cleaning:
laundry
dishes
sweep
mop
porch
bathrooms
vacuum
move boxes
move pack and play
wash bailey's xmas outfit

presents to wrap:
zobo
mom's
b's clothes
o's shoes
o's earrings/hairbows
jesse/kayla's
o's mousepad/mouse
o's chart
mom's painting

*make b's handprint ornament*

xmas eve night:
fill stockings
put away sally
present checklist
camera charged/ready with tripod
put out cookies and reindeer food
put out santa key

tomorrow night we're going to church at 5, then we'll eat something for dinner and open up our mommy/daddy presents. we get them an ornament and cute jams. this year i got them matching winter minnie mouse jams, o loves minnie lately and loves matching bailey.

busy busy day. can't wait. thank you God for letting this year end well for me. we've been through a lot, and i had kind of a meltdown at 3am last night staring at pictures of grammy in my room and remembering the last xmas she was at our house. she was talked out of coming last year, and i was so angry at her that i didn't talk to her for a few days. the last xmas here for her was 2010. we got her a fruitcake and she was even able to walk a little bit and not be completely wheelchair bound. she had her smile still, not that distant look she got this last year. she had her crazy moments, but she was my gram. last year i cried when my parents went to pick her up from the nursing home and she refused to come, they came empty handed. i knew that i'd never have another christmas with her here, i just knew. this year she's here, watching us from the bookshelf. life is bittersweet.