"It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...."

mmm, something, right? Now that Texas has caught up with the rest of the hemisphere and the temperature has dipped below 60, now I can start getting excited about this, our holiest of holidays, Christmas! People have started putting their lights up on their houses and the air smells like fireplaces and ovens baking my favourite treats. I really am a big kid sometimes. Lately though I have tried to be more responsible with some of the adult things that I need to put first. Namely parenting. For example...

Emily's room is usually a mess. Now I'm all for respecting people's personal space because that's how I like to be treated. But her room lately has been the scene of several spot tornadoes. As soon as we get it all picked up, BAM! It's a disaster again. So we tell her she cannot come out until it is cleaned up. And...an hour goes by...so I go in there and:

1)the room is no closer to being picked up then it was when she sent in there
2)Zach has marker all over the back of his neck
3)the WALL has marker all over it! Did the marker match the colour of the paint? Nope.

Then when we asked her how it happened she lied and said it was an accident. You know...it's days like that when I just take a step back and say to myself "Am I doing any of this right?" I know I'm no foremost expert on raising kids like other people, but I pride myself on listening to my kids when they have something to say. Gotta keep those channels open ya know. One bad day does not a kid make. I must remember this.

A while back I mentioned my top five favourite toys. Since I haven't put up my tree yet, thus I don't have any pics of it yet, here are my choices for six-ten:

#10. Sideswipe Machine Wars


I bought this guy in 1994 because, quite frankly, it was one of the only ones I could find. What seperates him from the other molds is that he is made out of metal, not plastic. And yes, those are real rubber tires lol.

#9. Star Wars Destroyer Droid


It was very hard to find this in the store. I think I got it at StarWars.com. One heck of a security system. Force fields plus one trick after another = awesome.

#8. Superman 8"


Nothing more classic then the Man Of Steel preserved perfectly. And I don't mean unopened. I mean the build, the face, the colour scheme...don't change a thing!

#7. Thundercracker from Transformers the Movie


What's cool about this guy is he was upposed to be in the movie (along with a host of other characters) and for some reason wasn't. Sure, it's the exact same mold as Starscream but the colours are much cooler and he may be a must-have for someone down the road.

#6. Neo from The Matrix


Watched this Saturday as it was raining plus 40 degrees plus I had four kids to hang onto. Forgot how truly groundbreaking this was. Could watch it over and over if I had to. But, I don't. Probably for the best.

When I get my tree (with all my wicked cool ornaments) up I will post again. Now that I have a better camera I can really capture its magic. I'm working on a wish list but I'm not sure what I would add to it. Sure I'll think of something though.
What do YOU want for Christmas?