We've gotten a bit of snow here. BRRRRRR!

It's been snowing here off and on for weeks. What do you expect for WINTER in the Midwest, right? The most ironic moment however, was when I was creeping along the local roads during rush hour in the most recent snowstorm listening to "Hotel California" on the radio. I had to smile. In that moment, I was more than willing to find a nice warm sunny place where I could check out but never leave.

These cute little mice were gifts from Bonnie, too.
The two on the left were placed on our tree after we put it up.
The two on the right are balancing on the backsplash for the counter in my kitchen.
(Pics of my newly redecorated kitchen coming soon!)

This is the wintery view from my office window. When the sun is out, it can actually be quiet pretty.

If you're looking for "happy," check Marshall Fields. Apparently, they sell happy-ness by the bottle! For men and women!

This is the first year Punkin sat on Santa's lap. She, not all that shyly, walked right up to him, and climbed on his lap. She snuggled into his beard and chest and quietly asked for "Cinderella toys, please."

The picture was snapped and for (something like) $40 we were able to get ONE 8 x 10 and FOUR 3.5 x 5's of the event. All this after waiting for only 20 minutes. (Before 11am on a Tuesday when responsible parents should be at work and not playing hookey)

We were downright pleased with the picture and I turned to my husband and whispered "You know what this means, right? We have to buy some Cinderella toys!"

We pretty much had the rest of our shopping done by then, and I sort of kept forgetting the gift from Santa for Punkin. We're kind of new to this "playing Santa" thing. This is the first year she understands a bit about what's what with this whole Santa deal.

Being relatively new to this, we were pretty niave. We believed we'd be able to find something "Cinderella" at Target or maybe Toys R Us. That is why we went shopping for Cinderella toys the Friday night before Christmas.

(Hey. Knock it off. I can hear you laughing. I told you, we're inexperienced at this.)

Nadda. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. No Cinderella toys to be found. There was Princess this and that, but nothing Cinderella. She's a smart cookie, too, if we had tried to pass something similar off as Cinderella, she's see right through it. We couldn't have her believeing that Santa was a lame-o, now could we?

One look exchanged between the two of us told us that we were headed to (dramatic music here) THE MALL. ON THE FRIDAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS. AFTER WORK. Oh, the joy. Can you just feel the holiday spirit in the air? Strains of "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" drifted cynically through my muddled brain.

Luckily, there was only one destination where we were absolutely sure we would find Cinderella. You guessed it, The Disney Store. Strangely enough, most everyone was too busy waiting in line to get their last minute gift requests in to Santa to be in the Disney Store.

Hubby distracted Punkin outside the store while I slipped in and scooped up a few Cinderella-themed items, dropped $50 in the name of Santa, had the items double-bagged so no little eyes could spot the tell-tale blue and white and pink, and we made a quick get-away. (Well, as quickly as possible on the coldest windchill days of the year when the car is parked in that one empty spot that remained in the lot before crossing the mall perimeter drive and parking at one of the restaurants...)

"Cinderella" was wrapped in the special "Only Santa uses this wrapping paper" paper and tucked beneath the tree the following night. Christmas morning Punkin received a Cinderella purse, a little stationery set with all the Disney princesses pictured on it, a book of paper cutout Disney princesses, and the favorite of all of Santa's gifts... (more dramatic music here) The Cinderella handheld mirror. Yes indeedy. You press a button and Cinderella's image appears at the bottom of the mirror while her recorded voice says things like "Why, you're as pretty as a princess!" "Your hair looks LOVELY!" and "Oh my! Aren't you beautiful?!" (Hubby and I do a pretty good imitation of this mirror now, too.)

Punkin told me today (while she was preparing to take this now prized possession in the car for on the way to school) "Wow. I really like this Mom!" She said it twice, at least.

You have to know that, as a Millenium Mother, I have issues with this mirror. I certainly do not want our daughter to grow up thinking looks matter more than "smarts." I do, however, want her to have better self-esteem than I do. (in fact, I may borrow this mirror when I'm experiencing bad hair days). Keep in mind though, it was the day before the day before Christmas Eve and we were Santas on a mission.

We'll plan better next year. Honest.

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