Jam and Nephews!

Okay, so the last few days things haven't slowed down at all! I've made two batches of Jalapeno Jelly in prep for Christmas gifts! My eyes were watering from the chopped jalapenos and I resisted at ALL costs rubbing my eyes or face! Lord knows I didn't need to deal with THAT on top of everything else! :)

So I've never been a big(or good) gift giver, so Christmas has always been hard for me. However, this year I am all about giving Jam or Jelly that I've made! :) What is better than something that is homemade and edible! :) So that is what I've been working on for the past few months. I have Apple Butter, Pear Butter, Kiwi Jam and Jalapeno Jelly. I've so enjoyed making all of these things and have tested them out on my guinea pig, I mean husband! :) And he's enjoyed all of them!

As we all know...I LOVE my sister, Alyssa. She has been such an important part of my life and someone that I know I can go to with anything and she'll tell me things like, "you need to keep your legs crossed." And when I ask why...her response is, "Because you have a lucky horse shoe shoved up there and you do NOT want it to fall out!" That is my sister! She's hilarious, yet she is always there when she knows you really need her to be. :) So for Christmas this year I took her two more jars of Apple Butter, which she calls CRACK! And then I said I'd take my nephews for a night and give her some peace and quiet.

So let me just say I've had an ENTIRE bottle of wine tonight! Thank God, Michael got home early tonight from work! I made the boys some pasta...I someone convinced O to have a different type of pasta. Let me tell you a little bit about my nephew O...he is picky when it comes to...well everything! And if he doesn't know what something is...he'll gag! So he wanted bow tie pasta but I didn't have any, I just had some curly pasta and some other fancy shape. I showed him what it looked like and he said he'd give it a try. I boiled it and mixed it with some butter and Parmesan cheese and hoped for the best! He gave me a nasty look as I spooned it into the bowl (oh btw...he doesn't like sauce on his pasta..just cheese....ummm...really?!?!?!) and I told him just to try it. And to his surprise...it tasted JUST LIKE the bow tie pasta.

This is what my sister lives with on a daily basis. A child who is so picky when it comes to food that he'll refuse to eat something because it's not the same shape as a different style of the SAME FOOD! So I was happy to be able to give my sister a bit of a break, even if it was for just one night. Now let me say...the boys ate all their food, and now they are playing PS3 with Michael. And I've called a friend from Hawaii, and have been sitting here drinking wine and enjoying the lights on my Christmas tree! :)

I can NOT wait to crawl into bed tonight, but I also dread getting up early since the boys will undoubtedly be up at the butt crack of dawn! Tomorrow will be a busy day. I need to run to the butcher shop to get the pork crown roast and to the store to get a few other ingredients. I also need to run and grab one of the other stocking stuffers for Mike's stocking. :) For the boys this year, Alyssa suggested we get them ginger bread house kits to make with them, since we all know Grammie Nacho gets them EVERY TOY UNDER THE SUN! ;) Love you Mom! :) So we'll work on those in the morning. I bought a house kit and a gingerbread train kit! It will be fun to work on those with the boys! And by that I mean, it'll be fun to watch Mike work on that with them and leave in the middle of it!

The Dell technician is suppose to come tomorrow afternoon between 3 and 4 to fix my laptop, but I think I'm going to postpone that until next week. We need to get the house in order for Thursday, when Michael's parents come over for Christmas dinner. I'm still super nervous about this dinner and I hope it goes off without a hitch! I don't know why I feel this need to impress them, but none the less...the need is there. I hope this meal turns out to be amazing and tasty! :)

Well, I have a few more sips in this glass of wine. Then it'll be time for Michael to get the air mattress from the garage to blow up for the boys. It's going to be a long couple of days coming up. Lord give me the strength...and the booze to sustain me! **raises wine glass** Cheers all!