letting go

interrupted hopes

unrealized dreams

the unrealistic expectations I put on others
(mainly my four-year old)

comparisons

guilt

emotional eating

failures

striving for the elusive "inner circle"

being easily frustrated

resentment

jealousy

my fat pants
(they're now just my pants)

insecurity

other people's expectations

These things can stay in 2010. I don't want them coming into the new year with me. 

What about you? What do you need to let go of?

Christmas 2010 in pictures

Christmas Eve

Cookies & Milk for Santa

Reindeer Food for Reindeer (duh)

Stocking

Santa Present #1

Santa Present #2

(Racetrack present was a success in case you were wondering.)

Lunch

Cousins with Yia Yia & Papou

Cousins

Silly cousins

Punkin & Great Grandma H

Punkin & Grandpa H

Success!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas celebration! We certainly did!

dear santa,

Here's a tip:

When a child sits on your lap and tells you what he wants for Christmas, it is not wise to ask detailed questions as follow-up. For instance, if a four-year old boy tells you he wants a race track for Christmas, you should not, under any circumstance, ask him what kind of race track he wants, nor suggest a certain name brand race track.

The following example should never occur:

Santa: What do you want for Christmas?
Punkin: A race track.
Santa: What kind of race track would you like?
Punkin: Uh...
Santa: Would you like a Hot Wheels Race Track?

At this point, you are likely to see a certain mom trying to tell you to shut your big mouth and say something helpful, rather than potentially destructive. Unless, of course, you plan to be sliding down the chimney with said Hot Wheels Race Track in your sack.

For future reference, here are some more appropriate follow-up questions/comments after a child tells you what he or she wants for Christmas. Feel free to steal them:

Have you been a good boy?

Have you been listening to your mommy and daddy?

Make sure you do a good job of trying new foods at dinnertime. 

Got it?

If Punkin wakes up on Christmas morning, rushes down to the tree, rips off the wrapping paper on his non Hot Wheels Race Track and I see even a glimmer of disappointment, I will hunt you down...

Seriously.
~Punkinmama

from our family to yours

We wish you a very Merry Christmas.

 front

(I hope we can all have a bit of the wide-eye wonder of a child this year.)

back

(Seriously, is that drawing not the cutest thing you've ever seen?!)

Wish I could send each of you a card in the mail, but since I don't have all your addresses, I hope you will enjoy our 2010 Christmas Card virtually.

If you are sharing a card on your site, feel free to leave a link in the comments below, I'd love to visit!

For more warm holiday fuzzies, visit the Third Annual Great Bloggy Holiday Card Exchange. 

Jada Toys Battle Machines Review & Giveaway

Radio control cars have come a long way since I was a kid. Of course, A LOT of things have come a long way since then, but let's not dwell on how old I am.

Not only do you get to drive a car around and try to make your brothers trip over it (what?), but now you can actually play together and battle each other with a laser tag battle!

Jada Toys Laser Combat Tag Battle Machines allow two players to drive their cars/trucks around and shoot "laser beams" at each other's vehicle. The first person to score three hits is the winner!

The other cool aspect is that you can also play by yourself and hone your skill to annihilate your competition. Switch one vehicle to "auto pilot" and that vehicle will drive around on its own and you can chase it with your vehicle and try to kill it with three shots.

I received the Chevy Silverado and Ford F-350 trucks from Jada Toys. I'm very impressed with the size and weight of the trucks. They are definitely well made and will last a long time! 

I tried to capture the size of the truck by comparing it to an iPhone, but I still don't think the picture does it justice.

The Battle Machines are meant for kids 6 and up (and adults, obviously). I think that's a good starting age as I know I had some trouble initially figuring out the remote controls. To me, they are "backwards", but after some time, it's an easy adjustment to make. The other thing to keep in mind is that you will need a lot of open space to drive these vehicles. They don't "turn on a dime", so they require a bit of space to not bump into everything. These would be great in the summer out on the driveway and sidewalks (if you have a non-busy street of course).

So, what do you think? Do you know someone who would love to own a pair of these? (The winning pair will be a random selection of the available models, and not necessarily the ones mentioned in this review. The giveaway is being provided by Jada Toys.) 

Just leave a comment below telling me who you would give these to or who you would challenge to a duel if you kept them for yourself!

For an additional entry, follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway, making sure you include a link to this post, and then leave a comment with a link to your tweet.

The giveaway will close December 27th. I will email the winner, so make sure you leave your email address in your comment if you don't link your comment to a blog profile.

While I received the Battle Machines from Jada for this review, the opinions are my own.