The De Leon's: December 2012

This is an attempt to do a quick catch up blog before Christmas gets here and I’m too far behind to even bother.

Our post Thanksgiving life can be divided into two distinct parts: pre-neighborhood party and post neighborhood party. We participated in a caroling tour sponsored by our Neighborhood Association. The party spanned 4 houses and at each stop there was food and cocktails, then we would carol down the street to the next house by walking or riding on the hay ride. Each house had a special something. House 1 had Santa, House 2 had live piano music and we showed “The Grinch” on a big screen under the car port and served the kids Grinch Floats (lime sherbet with ginger ale). In total over 100 people came. It was unlike any party we’ve ever had since 1. I had an allotted budget of someone else’s money (woo hoo!) 2. We didn’t know the vast majority of people who attended, but that was fun and we met lots of new folks. 3. Unlike most parties where people trickle in, the entire party showed up at our door at once.

This party took a ton of time to prepare for, and let's be honest - it was as much a home tour as it was a Christmas party. This of course meant I became very competitive and relentless with our decorations. In fact, I decorated so much that I sprained my back and on the day of the party I could hardly walk. Yesterday I had an MRI ran so we can figure out exactly what kind of damage I've done.

So... here what it looked like. I did a candy theme as always and Vin really got into the spirit. I think he loves fake food as much as me.

I have so much fake candy that one day I told him I was baking cookies and he just assumed they were fake until he smelled them and then his eyes got big and he said, "you mean REAL cookies!!??"

Inside the house...

Outside was the real biggie. I’ve done a candyland house most years for about 13 years, since I was in college. Back then I painted paper plates to look like peppermints, but one rain or snow and it’s done for. Then I stepped up to foam plates covered with foil paper, and those look good but they only last one season.

This year I enlisted the help of Erin and her jigsaw and we cut close to 60 circles out of plywood then attached them to a 2x4 with a hook to attach to the shutters. It took forever to cut, glue and wrap them but I think I can get a few seasons out of them.

I also bought Styrofoam lollypops from Ebay for the walkway.

The party took a lot out of us, but it was on December 8^th and so once it was done we got to relax and enjoy the season.

Vin’s school sang at the mall and he had a hip hop show. Yes those are sequins – sooo funny!

Last week we had Drew and Zen over for cookie decorating. I tried something new with the sprinkles and made my own. It was easy and saved me a ton of money. The recipe is ½ cup sugar and 5 drops of food coloring. Mix it and it’s ready.

These are pictures from a Brinker work party. They said it was kid friendly but we were the only ones who brought any. They had a open bar and a jazz quartet and it was a little awkward with the kids, but the photographer loved them and kept taking pictures and they entertained everyone.

Other random cuteness:

Since this is very likely my last post of 2012 let me just say that it’s a wonderful and busy year. It seems we were continuously in and out of Dr.’s appointments and hospitals. In total we had:

A birth via C-section (Teri), a Tonsillectomy (Vincent) and a urinary track surgery (Reese) and of course the latest was Teri’s breast reduction.

I am so grateful for the Dr.’s, our insurance and the healthy recovery of my sweet family. May we all be healthy, wealthy and wise in 2013.