Holiday Home Tour

While I was surfing the internets at work today after I got home and all my chores were done, I came across this:

And I thought to myself "Yay! A Holiday Home Tour! What the perfect excuse to share gratuitous pictures of my home all decked out in it's holiday splendor!"

Standing by for gratuitous?

(Somebody say "go!")

Here's a shot of some of my holiday baking...oh my, don't they look wonderful!!

To add to the holiday baking this year, we have holiday BOOZING!! Cranberry and orange infused vodka. Nothing says loving like a boozy christmas!
And here, one of my favourite christmas decorations stands guard over some more christmas baking....mmmm...gingersnaps!
And why, might you ask, does someone need to stand guard over the holiday baking? THIS is the reason why:
One poodle, fresh from the spa with a very cheezy, but appropriately themed holiday bandanna (his bandannas from the groomer are ALWAYS seasonally themed...for an eighty dollar haircut, they better be!) Said poodle has a propensity for fresh baked goods. That photo? He sat there the ENTIRE TIME I was baking these cookies, waiting for maybe...possibly...just a little bite....please Ma.....? Looks sweet and innocent, doesn't he? Don't trust him for a second - the minute I turn my back he'd be all over the counter like a fat kid on a smartie. And thus:I call it the dog-a-cade. It's like a bear-a-cade, but for dogs (or barricade if you wanna be all correct about it.)

Anywho, now that y'all are nice and hungry, lets move on from baking to decor, shall we?

I've never really been a light up house kind of gal. I know people that have entire SUBDIVISIONS of light up houses. A few years ago, my Mom gave this one to me, and still, meh. But this year? This light up house? With the toddler? MEGA. HIT. Griffin loves looking at it, touching it, and peeking in the windows.

Here, you can peek in the window too...
Wait...Santa is inside...and out? Wow, he really IS magic! (Wait until I have to explain that one away in a few years...)

Steve managed to get away from his old life with a handful of christmas decorations. These dudes showed up at the house around the same time he did, and they're my favourite. They sit perched atop the kitchen cabinets, and their little googly eyes stare down at you, in a "whatchyou talkin' about, Willis?" kind of way.The stockings, hung by the chimney with care haphazardly on the railing. The "G" one I crocheted last year, or maybe even the year before. The other two I bought this year, for 10 bucks. Who the hell has time to crochet these days? And here's this year's beauty, in all her vaulted ceiling glory. She's a bit lopsided, but so am I. (Heck, I think most of us are!)
One of my favourite thing about the holidays is new friends (the snowman mugs I scored at the family christmas) meeting old friends (ah, Guinness...we really should spend more time together.)
And this? This is my BLOGGING instinct kicking in BEFORE the mothering one! Go me! This is a boy who fights sleep so hard, that he refuses to lay in his bed, and crashes on the landing just outside his bedroom door, for the second time in one week. They tell me, whoever the heck "THEY" are, that some day this kid will not want to get out of bed. Pfhhst. I'll believe it when I see it.And lastly, but not leastly: If you ever come to my house, and should be tempted to munch on a candy cane from my tree, DON'T. These candy canes are for DECORATION ONLY. They tasted like ass, about 10 years ago when I first made the mistake of biting into one, and they have been hanging on the tree ever since. So unless you want the lingering taste of 10 year old assy candy in your mouth, leave the CANES ALONE!!

That's it! Hope you've enjoyed your little holiday tour! Now y'all have to be really nice to me for a few days more, or I'm giving those delicious looking cookies to the dog!!

(P.S. This post makes it look a little bit like I have all my shit together, when in fact, my shit is nowhere near together! It's all in the picture taking....you should see the stuff I DIDN'T take pictures of. Maybe we'll do THAT tour tomorrow. Or not.)