Reflecting on 2012 - Well Into 2013

I wasn't sure whether to go ahead and post this, pretending that I didn't know what date it actually is, or keep it all to myself.  But it's my blog, and I'll do what I wanna... so there.  Or, rather, here you go:

My dear friends Jill and Kate have a November get-together every year, and the past few have had themes.  This year was "Lego my Eggo" - waffles and Lego kits, natch.

Have you seen the Lego figures they sell now?  It's a mystery which one you will get, but all of the "costumes" are pretty outrageous, so you can't lose.  They each come with a "prop" to hold.  Favorites of mine were the Lederhosen Guy (complete with a pretzel!) and the Sleepyhead Guy (with a teddybear).

{Lego people, and a cabin, before and after}

{some waffleage and friends}

Then there was a wooly bear:

{which pooped on me right after this was taken}

And my other brother (not by blood, but by how much he is loved by my family) bought a house with his fiancé, so there was a moving day...

{DylandKate - or, Dylan and Kate}

December brought prepping for the holidays.  This year, this included:

Creating a count-down calendar for my sister-in-law.  My sister and I went in together on supplies and gifts, and created it a la you are my fave so that she could punch through the tissue paper to get a gift each day for 12 days prior to their coming over to our house.  She loved it!

{stages of construction, poorly lit final product on left}

Cookie Day!  The whole family got involved!

{sugary fun}

{near the end, people get tired and strange cookies appear - cannibals and sting rays}

Gifts!  From the ever-clever Dylan and Kate, we received a tea wreath!

{fancy!}

And lastly, to end the year, I had my first dog- and house-sitting stint!

{Christmas Maxx and my first Kitchen Aid run!}

So there you have it folks!  I am almost caught up to the present moment (only a month and a half to go!

Annnnddd... I can't figure out why the wreath picture refuses to be centered.  Oh blog.

trick or treat... on my street

we're sticklers for tradition at my house.  though these can be found surrounding just about anything, they occur most around birthdays and holidays.  call it "comfort food" for our to-do list, but these traditions make us feel warm and cozy... even if we're pulling them off at the last minute... 

putting knife to pumpkin in search of art... and then, once again, admitting this whole thang ain't easy and settling for a design much more simplified than the one in your head... yup, we do that.

{manda & the mondo one}

{the end product... all aglow}

in addition to the front stairs, we always put up gordon pumpkin, should we get any trick-or-treaters.

{gordo}

my mom always makes a batch of cupcakes that we take around to our neighbors (reverse trick-or-treating?).  we have quite a stock of themed sprinkles, so the desserts get dressed up too!

{unless they're nude-shocking!}

after traipsing to and chatting with our neighbors, we walk home to enjoy roasted pumpkin innards seeds and our sugary booty...

{yum & yum}

what did you do for halloween?