(as my cousins put it) … PUKED Christmas.

Obviously, these homeowners LOVE to decorate. I have a hard time getting the tree up, so I can’t imagine doing this annually. ‘Griswold’s on CRACK’ was my description. Georgia informed me later that they thought the presents in the tree were beautiful.

What do you think?

MK xo
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NOTE: I’ve been having trouble with the comments. If you can’t comment PLEASE let me know at kim (at) mommyknows (dot) com. Thank you!

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Lizzy and I spent the evening making this gingerbread house log cabin.

They have a gingerbread display at school, and of course tomorrow is the deadline. I wouldn’t want to take my time, plan, that would be too easy.

We started with a kit and embellished (and embellished and embellished). I need to remind myself (often) that ‘less is more’. OH WELL!

We built the chimney out of Honey Maid Graham Crackers and white chocolate, the bricks are Nabisco Shreddies and just like last year our roof shingles are Frosted Mini Wheats.

Are you making a gingerbread house this year? If you have … share a photo with us (leave the a link in the comments or email it to me and I’ll share it for you).

MK xo
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If your kids are like mine, their holiday wish-lists and my wish-lists for them are never quite the same.

I wanted to make Georgia a handmade waldorf style baby doll. I showed her many, many photos and tried to talk her into it, but she’s firmly convinced that she wants this doll.

The Little Mommy Walk & Giggle Doll needs tender loving care. Little girls can nurture, play and help the doll take her very first big girl steps. Try to keep up as the Little Mommy Walk & Giggle Doll goes from sitting, to standing, to walking. This doll also loves to play peek-a-boo, drink from her bottle and take her puppy pull toy for a walk.

I remember ‘always’ wanting a Baby Alive and never getting one, so I am putting my love of natural aside and Little Mommy Walk & Giggle will have place under the tree.

For Sam and Lizzy, I’d love to buy them artistic and creative toys lovingly handcrafted in wood that promise to get them using their imaginations and increase brain power. Instead they’ve both listed these on the very tops of their lists:

The new Nintendo DSi is a high-powered hand-held video game system in a sleek, folding design — loaded with powerful features like touch screen control for a unique gaming experience. Snap great photos with the built-in camera, edit and send them to friends, play back your music with Nintendo DSi Sound, or browse the Internet with the Nintendo DSi Browser. From playing games to just playing around, the Nintendo DSi does it all.

Who am I to crush dreams? If the truth be told, I’d like to turn my own DS in for one of these New DSi’s. Anyone who’s ever been on a road trip with kids knows that Nintendo DSi’s save lives. REALLY MommyKnows!

This year, I am making my life easy. I’m going to do the bulk of my Christmas shopping online. I’ll buy the toys above at Toys “R” Us.

Toy Tuesday
On December 8, Bill Me Later is hosting “Toy Tuesday”. Visit www.toytuesday.com to find great deals on the holiday’s most wanted toys and gifts from leading retailers such as Toys “R” Us, Walmart.com, Step 2, Little Tikes, eToys, Drugstore.com, FAO Schwarz, HP, Overstock.com, MacMall, Mercantila and more.

What is Bill Me Later?
Bill Me Later is a quick, easy way to shop without using your credit card. To use Bill Me Later, simply choose Bill Me Later as your payment method at checkout at the merchant’s website, answer a few quick questions, accept the terms and you’re done. Approval only takes a few seconds. Then you’ll receive a bill in the mail (or online if you prefer).

Here is the really great part! Bill Me Later is going to give one of you a $250 Gift Card to Overstock.com a Toy Tuesday participating merchant and a $500 Gift Certificate (merchant to be decided based on the charity and their needs) to a local charity of the winner. That’s $750!

One winner will be chosen from the comments December 4th, 2009 @ 1 p.m. ET. Official Rules

There are five more days of Toy Tuesday GOODNESS and of course five more prizes. Make sure to visit Jodi @ MomsFavoriteStuff for tomorrow’s Toy Tuesday giveaway.

What’s on your kid’s holiday wish-lists? Comment for your chance to win!

MK xo
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Disclosure: I received a $500 gift card for this post promoting Toy Tuesday.

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Thanks for all the emails making sure that I am alive and well! With my memory the way it is, I’m pretty sure I would have forgotten I have a blog if you all hadn’t reminded me.

We had a great holiday filled with grandmas, grandpas, great-grandmas, uncles, aunts, great-aunts, great-uncles, cousins, baking (BAKING), presents, the rockies and even some skiing. Santa was kind, so kind that I am going to have to ‘ship one of the children to an orphanage’ or ‘purge and organize’. It’s sad, because we really, really enjoy Georgia and will miss her.

Speaking of Georgia, this is my favorite holiday photo. Even though I came down with a chill, in early December and have had to be forced out of the house ever since, I did do a bit of skiing and went on a wee winter hike over Christmas, hence the opportunity to take an outdoor photo.

Here’s my Sammy, cuter than a speckled pup in a red-wagon wearing my dad’s crazy hat.

Lastly, here’s our Lizzy aka MISERY GUTS. Honestly, too many late nights, sweets and doting grandma’s turned her into a BEAR over the holidays. Hmmm … maybe she’d do better in the orphanage than Georgia. Hmmm … I’ll have to think on that one.

OH YEAH, I bought YOU a gift in Canmore too, but I’ll tell you about it next time. Kay?

MK xo
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Winners are:

iTunes card: Mom on the Run

Book: Collen from A Madison Mom

Please email me with your addresses :) @ kim (@) mommyknows (dot) com

* * *

Please don’t forget:

I won’t bore you with details about our weather, I will say only this: IT’S FUCKING COLD (sorry but it had to be said), it’s had me thinking about the homeless in our city. I just can’t stand the thought of people living, or worse dying out in the cold (regardless of why or how they got there). Last night I cleaned out my coat closets and took all the old, unused, unnecessary coats, fleece jackets, gloves, neck tubes, scarfs, boots, snowpants, long johns; washed them up and then today I hauled them down to an inner city church that is in URGENT need of outerwear for the homeless.

That gave me the warm fuzzies! When it’s -30c, I’ll take the warm fuzzies any which way I can get them. If your in the Edmonton area don’t leave all those old coats etc. hanging around (pun intended) in your coat closet never to be worn. Head on down to the Mustard Seed and drop them off –> 96 Street & 106A Ave. If you are not in Edmonton, I am sure there is a homeless shelter or equivalent in your area that could use your help (especially with all this unusually cold weather continent wide).

* * *

On a lighter note, the Third Annual Blogger Christmahunukwanzaakah Online Holiday Concert is in full swing over at Neal’s Citizen of the Month. PLEASE, go over and watch the Little Drummer Boy, just thinking about it has me laughing.

* * *

Am I Loosing My Mind?

I have this little blue pencil case like bag, that I keep my injection gear in. Tonight I couldn’t find it! I need it, it has my auto injector and a couple $100 doses of medication. I need to take it. Did I mention I couldn’t find it? I searched, Mr. MK searched … everywhere … we looked some places twice. It’s not the first thing I’ve lost lately. I was frustrated, nearly to tears, but definitely to the point of anger. I finally found it. I’d wrapped it up with (IN) Mr. MK’s Christmas gift!? Hello … MK … are you home? I have absolutely no recollection of doing it or any idea why I’d do it. I only looked in there, because it was one of the things I had touched since misplacing the bag. FREAK!

I’ve also misplaced part of my Grandma’s Christmas gift, my nephews birthday present and a couple of items from Lizzy’s penpals holiday package. I’ve searched high and low, all the likely spots. I re-purchased the gifts, but now I’m thinking I should start looking in the unlikely spots, like the freezer, cereal boxes, toilet tanks. If I am lucky someone will open them up on Christmas morning and I will be able to get them back.

Ummm, just in case I forget –> Merry Christmas Dammit!

MK xo
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I haven’t started decorating the house for Christmas. Mostly because, I’d have to clean it first, and well honestly, I just don’t feel like it.

Georgia is getting pretty excited about the whole Christmas thing this year. She is always asking me to draw her Santas and Rudolphs. I thought I’d give her a treat and deck out the chalkboard wall with her favorites.

Well, in true Georgia fashion, my Santa’s beard wasn’t big enough, and didn’t I know that his suit is ALL red not black (no concern to the fact I was running out of ‘pink’ chalk). My Rudolph didn’t have any legs (she added about 11 of them later), his eyes aren’t brown they are blue. Combine this with pathetic crying for more ‘icing’ (I was saving it to finish the Gingerbread houses), and I was pretty much ready to SNAP!

I kept having flash backs to high school and the SNL Gumby Christmas. It was titled ‘Merry Christmas Dammit‘.

Merry Christmas Dammit –> the MommyKnows version.

How’s your decorating coming along?

MK xo
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Lizzy loves chocolate, well any sweets really. She also likes crafts.

This morning we made some chocolate lollipops from a Wilton kit.

Lizzy loved it — Can’t you tell.

Thanks for all your kind comments and emails. I am actually feeling much better. The doctor actually made me go into the hospital to see him. I have to report ALL symptoms to a study nurse as part of my drug trial. However, by the time the doctor got back to me, I was feeling nearly 100%, I felt like I was wasting his time and mine. Oh well. All’s well that ends well.

All comments and back-links for this post will be entered to win one of two Power Ranger action figures (includes shipping and handling) in my ‘Power Ranger Giveaway’. If you comment and blog about the Giveaway you’ll receive two entries (too easy). I’ll randomly choose two winners on December 1st, 2008 @ 9 p.m. –> make sure to come by and enter often.

MK xo
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We have two winners:

#1: Andrea from ‘The Laughs will go on‘

#2: Outside Voice

All blog posts for the contest were printed and put in a big plastic tupperware bowl. Mr. MK chose winner #1 and Lizzy who should be in bed asleep choose winner #2.

Please email me to claim your prize –> kim (at) mommyknows (dot) com

The folks at Bandai recently sent me Sam a big box of the new Power Ranger Jungle Fury toys to try out. Talk about excited. I took advantage of the situation by making him promise to be good for three whole days, before he could pick one of the three toys to ‘have and to hold’ from this day forward. Really that’s how much he loves Power Rangers.

Of course he wasn’t good for three whole days, but he did try. Just the mention of the Power Rangers could get him walking the straight and narrow pretty darn quick. Oh the power of the parental bribe! Thank you Bandai promotion folks you’ve made at least three of my days easier.

Of course, he chose the biggest and the best of the three toys. The Power Rangers Jungle Fury Jungle Master Megazord (argh … megazord makes me want to say that). Even I have to admit that Megazords are pretty cool. With this particular Megazord, you start with one toy (with a motorized thunder punch – punching is good if you are a megazord battling for the world against evil) and it morphs into three (yes THREE), cool animal zords –> … oh forget it … I’ll just show you instead.

This is the MEGAZORD (argg!)

Then you have to grab him …

And yank on him …

And twist him …

And in no time at all (if you’re a 4 – 9 year old boy), you’ll have three! Antelope Zord, Gorilla Fury Zord and Emperor Penguin Zord (and a penguin launcher!).

It’s very, very popular around here and is now hidden away from Georgia each morning. Yes, that would be the Georgia who likes to scatter the Zords around the house for her lucky brother to scavange around for, when he comes home from school.

Here comes the GOOD Giveaway part –>

I am a good mom (honest) and blogger (really MommyKnows), therefore, I didn’t let my boy have all three toys for himself as Bandai intended. There has to be a limit, right? I thought about giving him the remaining two for Christmas, but that isn’t why the Bandai peeps sent them to me, is it? So I am going to give the other two Ranger toys away to two of you. They’ll make great bribe items or Christmas gifts for you too (or any other holiday you might happen to celebrate).

Jungle Master Bat Ranger (black one) and Rangers Jungle Master Rhino Ranger (white one).

To be eligible to win you must comment on any CURRENT post between now and December, 1st, 2008 @ 9:00 pm MT. You may comment every day. You may double your chances by blogging about the contest on your blog and then coming back here and leaving the url of your post in a comment on a CURRENT post or on this post. I will randomly choose two winners from all the comments.

I will announce the winners as soon as possible after the contest closes (give me an hour or two). You must come back here to see if you have won and claim your prize. You might want to set a reminder to come back here … A LOT of prizes go unclaimed.

Good Luck!

MK xo
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*****

If you have a Power Ranger fan in your house, here is some promo information you may find useful.

Bandai is excited to announce the launch of the Power Rangers “Feel the Fury” Sweepstakes and Movie Theater promotions!

Fans can enter at www.bandai.com/powerrangers/feelthefury/ to win one of three grand prizes, including:
- 1 Grand Prize Winner to receive a 2 minute toy aisle shopping spree worth $1,000
- 2 Winners to a 2 minute toy aisle shopping spree worth $250
- 10 Winners will each receive a Power Rangers Jungle Fury Mega Mission Helmet signed by the Red Ranger
All entries must be received by Dec.12, 2008

Also, look for the Power Rangers at a movie theater near you this Fall!

Visit select movie theaters across the US from October 31st through December 4th to see the Jungle Fury Mega Mission Helmet in action and learn about the Power Rangers “Feel the Fury” Sweepstakes!

In select theaters get a “Power Rangers Fun Pack” with the purchase of a child’s movie ticket for G and PG movies! The “Power Ranger Fun Pack” includes a Power Rangers Temporary Tattoo, Jungle Fury Wish List and Jungle Fury Scratcher that reveals discounts on all your favorite Power Rangers toys!

The Toys, Buzz and “Power Rangers Fun Packs” will be in select movie theaters in Boston, MA; Brownville, TX; Chicago, IL; El Paso, TX, Fort Smith, AK; Honolulu, HI; Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; Minneapolis, MN; New York, NY, Philadelphia, PA; San Antonio, TX; and San Diego, CA.

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