It's all a blur...

or should I say smudge?

Much to my dismay, every single picture taken on my camera this weekend has a smudge in the lower left corner.  I think this happened while I was taking pictures of the girls last week with their gingerbread house.  Darn icing.

But the memories are still salvageable.

Although I am soooo thankful we're getting a new camera soon.  The red and glowing eyes in these pictures were so bad that I didn't even bother to try and doctor them up.

Friday started with a visit from an international celebrity to our MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) group.  She had some *fabulous* giveaways!  But since I neglected to bring my camera, you'll have to see this post for some great pictures (and recipes!).

On Friday evening we headed out to an Ugly Sweater party for a night of debauchery.  Okay, so maybe "debauchery" isn't the right word since it was with the Young Families class from our church (which is hands-down THE BEST group to be a part of!).

I had slaved for hours over a sewing machine trying to make the perfect ugly sweaters (since my last-minute trip to the Salvation Army proved that there must've been more ugly sweater parties going on...).  And when I say "slaved for hours over a sewing machine," what I really mean is that I stapled felt and tinsel to the sweaters.  Yes, I did say stapled.  I didn't want to waste good time and thread on some ugly bally sweaters that were just going to end up in the trash anyway!  So stapling seemed like the easiest, fastest method.

As you can see there were many sweaters much cooler than ours.  Although I'm pretty sure Liz (far right) just dug that one out of her maternity bin.

At the sake of offending anyone, we use the term "ugly" very loosely.  Pretty much any Christmas sweater fits into this category, no matter how cute.  So please don't be horrified if you see one of your own sweaters in these pictures.  We're not saying it's "ugly," just Christmasy!

Even Tate got in on the fun with his one and only Christmas shirt.

Pastor Mike (left) actually wore this seater in high school.  A genuine Z-Cavaricci, folks!  He even wore his LA Gear hightops too!  I think he's hoping that 80's mens' fashions will make a comeback.  Good luck with that...

A party isn't a party without lots of good food, and this party had PLENTY.  I was bummed when I ran out of room on my plate and couldn't sample all of the delicious creations.

I made these Ranch Sausage Stars.  Chad and I love them, and I guess we're not the only ones since they were completely demolished by the time we left (much to Chad's dismay).  They're really great to make if you need an easy yummy appetizer.  So, I've included the recipe.

Oh, and if you've never used wonton wrappers before, they're usually found in the refrigerated fresh produce area.

Ranch Sausage Stars

1 package wonton wrappers (or egg-roll wrappers cut in fourths)

1 pound cooked sausage

1 cup ranch dressing

1 1/2 cups monterey jack shredded cheese

1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese

a little oil

Preheat oven to 350.  Place wonton wrappers in muffin tins (mini muffin tins will work too - I always use 2 regular muffin tins and 1 mini one).  Brush a little oil over the wrappers.  Place in oven for 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, mix the sausage, ranch and cheese in a bowl.  When wrappers come out of the oven, remove them from the tins and place on a cookie sheet.  Put a spoonful of the mixture in each one and put back in the oven for 5 more minutes.  Enjoy!

And lastly, on Saturday we were able to attend the wedding of a good friend.  Actually, it was my high school best friend's brother, but that family was like a second family to me since I spent much of my high school life there when we weren't hanging out at my house.  My parents served as the host and hostess, so we were all really tight.  The best part was that I was able to reunite with my good ol' buddy, Dawn.

Another highlight of the wedding came from my poor little Addie.  She was trying so hard to sit still during the beautiful ceremony when I looked over and saw tears running down her face.  "What's the matter?"  I asked.  "I'm just sooooo bored," she pouted.  I had a really hard time trying not to laugh.  She brought new light to the expression "bored to tears."