Christmas Card Photo Shoot..

Despite the cold fingers and noses, a few slung snowballs, and some icy hats, we managed to get some cute pictures for our Christmas card.
As you can see, I gave up on Merrill, trying to get a family picture...
I had to make coordinating beanies, and a tutu...  last minute I slapped a variety of flowers together so Lynn and Ash could have something extra too..
Don't try to tell me I don't have the Christmas spirit! ;)

Winter Hand Woes...

I LOVE Utah winters!!! I love the snow, the chill to the air, the coziness of being home, cocoa, a good quilt, the adventure of getting home on snow covered roads, not being able to see your neighbors house because the snow is too blindingly thick...
I do not love what the cold, sometimes dry and harsh conditions, and the sickness and then subsequent hand washing, the winter season brings... to my hands..
My chapped hands..
It really sucks.
It seems that every season, after the hunt for the perfect Christmas gift is complete, the hunt for the perfect lotion, moisturizer, or protectant begins.
A couple years ago I found the Gold Bond medicated which seemed to help, but this year, oh no... a different story.
It was the biggest pain EVER while I was crocheting and knitting with soft and luxurious yarns and fibers, and it kept snagging on my chapped fingers (and that is even with three girls taking my skein of yarn and running with it, tangling it up, tying it all in knots while I am working as comparison..). Sewing wasn't as relaxing as it could have been, the same thing would happen. I hate that feeling!
I knew I needed to find a healer when my index finger split on the side, the side I use for everything it seems, and had to live with a "Hello Kitty" band aid and the antiseptic Neosporin on the affected area for almost a week.. try that on for a conversation starter.. "So.. Hello Kitty, eh?.."
I hunted.
I bought.
I tested.
And I tried.
A lot...
I told Mer to just count it as my Christmas and birthday ;) I spent more than I thought.. Burt's Bees is not cheap!
Two winners.. two that helped me the best.
#1- The new Dawn hand renewal dish soap.. I do have a dishwasher, but I was dirty-ing cookie sheets and other "too large for the dishwasher" sized pans just so I could wash something with that soap. I wash my hands with it too.. I have been doing a lot of that with Peyton's "funky poo teething diapers" (and yes, that is an exact term..)..
#2- Vaseline Clinical Therapy lotion... oooohhhh!! It is SOOOO nice! It has even helped with the girls' eczema.. I ran out of their prescription cream.. ooops. I am too cheap to pay to go see a doctor to get the prescription re-filled.. 7-ish bucks for the Vaseline lotion or $85+ to see a doctor and then PAY for the prescription on top of that?! I think not!
I love each of the items pictured for their own qualities and areas of expertise.. none of them have healed my hands the way these two have.. I am ready..
Ahhh... let winter rage on!

Here's my page done for tonight, before tomorrow... Before 1:30 am...
Here's Mer and Ash relaxing today, watching "Open Range"... they are cute...
As much as I love winter, especially Utah winters, I miss this, Lake Powell in Summer... As I was getting Dixon's (Father-in-Law) Christmas gift ready, looking through Lake P. pics, I got a little homesick...
But I am really excited for the snow that is supposed to be coming!
Tonight, at Sam's Club, I did something for the first time... I looked at both the tag and the hanger!