O Tanennbaum...

It's December.

It's cold.

It's raining.

This can only mean one thing....

It's time to go hunt down a Christmas Tree!! As I gathered the necessary supplies to go on such a rough hunting trip, I attempted to get OTHERS interested in displaying some Christmas spirit:

I even tried to show Killer Diller that DP was willing to wear the hat:
Oh well...after a "long and arduous" car drive into the wilds known as "Lucky's Parking Lot", we headed in to claim our kill:Of course, some people made their choice very clear:
Perhaps it was the rain, or the snappy breeze in the cold air, or perhaps it was the smell of food nearby, but whatever the cause...the clear winner was chosen quickly enough:

a mere $4o dollars later (plus $5 for a tip), the tree was "safely" tied to the car for the long, arduous journey home:

There were some tense moments on the road when the strings got taut and the tree appeared to be heading for the side of the hood...but I haven't lost a tree on the freeway yet! Once home, I noticed that someone...I WON'T SAY WHO...was RUDELY staring at us while we unloaded the tree:

or this:
or this:

Soon enough, the tree was safely ensconced in its more "natural" environment:

and just as quickly, I put DP to work untangling the lights:

Ta Da!
Here's what the tree looks like after a few glasses of wine:

Yet another Saturday...yet another kid party!

Yes, it's yet another birthday party in the family. This time a freshly minted 8 year old niece, as seen below:

Ain't she a cutie? I went all out and hand drew the inside of her card:

She seemed impressed until she tossed it aside. When I showed up at the house, after an hour in the pouring rain on I 80, carting along another 8 year old nephew asking countless questions about bridges, tunnels, wishes, Christmas presents, underwear, camping, and bears...we both smelled fresh cake:

Oh dear:

and this was the cake we encountered upon entering:

Apparently, there had been issues with the pans and flour and butter and stickiness and so on. The finished product was great, strawberry cake with vanilla frosting, a kid favorite:

I decided to take some snaps while awaiting party action:

While wandering the house, I encountered the horror of Hannah Montana themed party goods:

The humanity!!! At least we could cover most of it with pizza, as the boys of the party happily did:

Some kids had too much soda. I WON'T say who:

The party girl could wait no longer:

Let the ripping and tearing commence!

Some people were having problems with seating. I WON'T SAY WHO:

And then, of course, I attempt to take a group photo of all cousins present and accounted for:

And I tried again:

and finally gave up:

Ahh, the perfect photo of a kids party and all it entails:

Some balloon foolery while we await cake time. Presenting Mr Ballywho Balloon, Esq:

and his neighbor, Pinkalicious Balloonatis:

and the freak down the street, Baffoony the Balloony:

Between a balloon and a hard...well, another balloon:

Meet the new boyfriend, Baballoony:The always amusing to a6 year old... "static reaction":

and the totally inappropriate but still hilarious...BabyMama:

Meanwhile, the more mature girls were hanging with the new toys:

Off to the side, one young man discovered the joys of Cheetos:

And finally, it was time for cake:

The child is no fool...take care of yourself first, then cut cake for others!