Obviously, I have been MIA.

As you know, my kids managed to catch the flu about 5 seconds after Christmas break started. Between managing heathens that yo-yoed from feeling bad, to feeling good enough to try and strangle one another, I already had my hands full. Add a gauntlet of baking, cooking and family gatherings, and I probably bit off more than I could chew…proverbially speaking. Despite these challenges, we still managed to have a wonderful holiday overall. Even if the flu pestered us through a sleepless night…or five.

In the meantime, I baked lots of goodies, like the heathens’ favorite chocolate-brownie cookies:

Gingerbread men:

The new cookies my youngest saw in a magazine, and demanded we try:

Just to be honest, I definitely had some mishaps along the way:

The baking paid off, because we had a beautiful array of desserts:

Yep, my skinny jeans are whimpering…

As I hoped, the table was gorgeous:

The heathens managed to muster up some excitement, despite the fact that their flu seriously dampened their spirits:

 

After all, they got about 200 more Nerf darts…dang it. As for other gifts, we all got some pretty amazing things. I got my husband a ping-pong table, which he has wanted for ages…the dork. But who am I to judge? However, I also got him the coolest dang coffee maker on the planet:

Which has really turned out to be a gift for me too. My Starbucks snobbery just took a hit, because I made myself a cup of hazelnut coffee with this bad boy and fell in love. If you like coffee, I highly encourage you to invest in one of these. My husband was skeptical at first, but was converted into a believer with the first cup. One of MY favorite gifts is this:

Its’ a iPhone dock for the kitchen. When I come in from work, I can hook my iPhone into this to charge, play my music while I cook, and it can run multiple kitchen timers. Also, the remote sticks to the base via magnet, so I can’t lose it in the cooking mayhem. I also got all kinds of wonderful things that you’ll get to see later…I am a little tired right now, and in grave fear that the heathens gave me their flu. Talk about the gift that keeps on giving…

Did you get a super-awesome gift…or have some holiday mishaps of your own? Tell me all about it, because there’s safety in numbers…and spending time at the computer gives me a good excuse to hide far away from the 200 new Nerf darts.

So, share….pretty please??