Sharing Christmas

Megan over at A Day with the Demos had a wonderful idea in inviting people to share Christmas via their blogs. Sadly, I don't have very much decorating skill. So here are a few shots of what we have going on in the Vileation Nation. But if you know what's good for you, you'll visit Megan's site which has links to other sites where people are also "sharing Christmas." People who actually decorate...and decorate well.

Here's the tree...and a toy of Jake's...

"Everybody loves a turkey and some mistletoe..." Or is it "Everybody loves a pug and a Christmas tree?"

We're so excited to have new titles this year...Mom and Dad! Which means new stockings, too...and of course Jacob has his own stocking as well.

Got this fun Advent calendar on sale at Target.

Jake will get a new ornament every year...this year he got a Panda, of course! And where did we get this ornament? Valley View Farms!

Our friend Glen is the coolest. He has given us the special White House ornament both this year and last. Very cool because last year's ornament is "A White House Wedding" and last year was our first Christmas as husband and wife. This year's ornament is "An Old Fashioned Christmas Tree." These ornaments are spectacular, I wish the picture could do them justice. Check out this site to get a better idea of how beautiful these ornaments truly are.

And here is Kevin's special ornament this year. You know he put the "Vile" in "Elvis."

Merry Christmas, everyone! Thanks for sharing the holiday season with us!

Santa Baby

Yep, that's Santa and a baby, alright!

Experiment

I have been experimenting with baking.  Obviously.  The gingerbread boys seem to have club feet.

I say "experimenting" because there is always a high likelihood that none of my end products will be fit for consumption.  That's why we always have a good rotisserie chicken available as backup.  Ha.  Not sure why there's a chicken in the picture. 

But some of the end products have looked decent this year, which I suppose is a start. Hopefully I'll have things actually tasting decent before Christmas arrives.  Because so far nothing has really stood out as a winner.  The sandwich-looking things above were relatively good...cranberry-oatmeal cookies with cream cheese icing in the middle.  Thank you, Rachael Ray.

In completely unrelated news, I paid $18 (tip and everything) for a haircut today.  I don't want to tell you how much cheaper that is than what I normally pay, but suffice it to say that now we can actually heat our house this winter.

I did something else monumental today.  I killed a spider.  With my father's college fraternity paddle.  Just looking at the link for the spider is making me want to run and scream.  A house spider.  Come on.  I've heard of house music, house parties and house keepers...but never a house spider.  

Heckuva day over here in the Vileation Nation.

Check out Jake talking with Luther.  Luther is obviously really blown away by Jake's sparkling conversation.

8 stones lighter...

Luther is officially 8 stones lighter than he was last week at this time.  He had surgery this week to remove the pesky bladder stones that have been making him crazy for some time now. 

We didn't know Luther was preparing to go under the knife...we just thought he was going in to get his teeth cleaned.  For those who don't know, dogs actually get "put to sleep" (the good kind, not the kind where they never come back) to have their teeth cleaned.  Anyway, the doctor said that she would go ahead and take out the stones, too, if we wanted.  Since the poor guy was already going to get anesthesia, we figured he may as well go all the way.

So here he his, recovering at home.

He seems to be recovering very nicely. I guess he should be...he doesn't have any of these things in him anymore:

In other news, Kevin is at the Army/Navy game today...GO ARMY, BEAT NAVY!

Thankful

(thanks for the great bib, Aunt Dog and Uncle Jim!)

We are thankful for so many things...this year we are especially thankful to have seen so many friends and family members throughout the holiday...some of those friends being pumpkin pie, stuffing and lots of butter.

The McHenrys (on location in the Poconos...with the Dailey family who we somehow do NOT have a picture of!! That is the only drawback I can think of to the Pocono Experience...walking away without a souvenir photo of the Daileys)

Hanging out with Grandmom Vile

Playing Scrabble with Pop Pop Vile

Taking it easy with Glen and GG Mom

The Kmiecs (welcome, beautiful Megan!)

The Kruks (so excited to meet the twins!!!)

The Butvilles...with Kevin standing in for Jodi (welcome, sweet Carter!)

Alison and Aunt Evie (congratulations, Ali!!!)