where do i begin?

at 11:30 today i received a phone call.
after answering, i heard, "this is the child rescue service."
what? CPS? 
"ummm..."
this scared me. i mean, b hasn't been dressed in days. pj's all the way. in fact, as i write this my other two are only in underwear.
it was then I recognized my father in laws voice.
he called to ask it he could scoop up my bambinos for the afternoon.

Silly Papa, of course you can.

a few hours to myself.

shall i:
-finish making returns? boring but necessary.
-attack the kiddos bedrooms with trash bags? boring but necessary.
-attempt to make a dent in the Christmas overflow? even more boring but very gratifying.
-organize?  hmmmm, maybe.
-fold the four baskets of clothes sitting next to me? necessary and boring but can be enhanced while watching a movie. a movie I want to watch.
-make cookies? I've got a craving for peanut butter blossoms. bad idea.
-go to the gym? ha...just noticed cookies came before the gym thought. (L, I need you back.)
-or curl up and read? oh, this is very tempting, not boring and very necessary for the brain. on top of a good book, a new BHG arrived in the mail today.

on the topic of organizing, here are a few things I did to make Christmas a bit more, well, organized.
speaking of my FIL, he thinks I'm nuts. when I mentioned the fact that I coordinate my wrapping paper, he just shook his head at me. i have great theory on the subject. as several of you are in the same situation, I'm hoping you can relate instead of thinking I'm crazy.
we shop for three different families.
we wrap for three different families.
ALL the gifts go under one tree.
my tree.
I love to see all the gifts placed under the lit tree. it brings great pleasure to see them all coordinate. so, for aesthetic reasons, i like them to match.
however, for practical reasons, i like them to coordinate. i pick a paper for each side of the family.

one for my side, one for J's family and one for our family. when the time comes for us to celebrate Christmas with one side of the family, I can simply grab all the gifts that were assigned to them. this also guarantees that no gifts are left behind.

something introduced to me this year but that I will do every year is "code wrapping."
a friend of mine shared this recently when we were out for drinks. brilliant, i tell ya.
she has three kiddos. she and her hubby select 3 code names- basketball players, presidents, saints, whatever you choose.
i choose those color coded dots, typically used for garage sales.
each kiddo was given a color, unannounced to them.
as we wrapped, we applied the given color to each gift.
in the long run, this was especially awesome with a three year old.
nobody knew their color until the moment we started unwrapping.
this prevented shaking, rattling and the guessing game of who got what.

two more tidbits-
i started a filing system of sort for each kiddo. on my closet shelf there are 4 bins.
labeled 1-4,  each being assigned a kiddo plus a bonus.
no, we're not having more children.
however, throughout the year these bins may be filled with school projects, report cards or outstanding papers. they are also an awesome spot for acquiring odds and ends that can beneficial for next years Christmas trinkets (otherwise known as stuffins' for the stockins').
the 4th bin is miscellanous-for things i may grab that can be used for unexpected gift giving or future parties.

and lastly before taking advantage of my alone time...the camera.
ever lost one? i haven't. however, i have acquired one whose owner cannot be located.
i did get a new one for christmas tho. i immediately did this in prevention of losing all photos and the camera itself.

there, i'm done.
now onto reading being productive.
happy friday.
see you next year.