Sunday, December 25, 2011

Christmas 2011

Before

During

During

After

Merry Christmas from Our Family to Yours.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

The Tree

 We put our tree up in December, despite the pleas from my daughters to do it earlier.  We have a fake tree, and I'm not sorry.  I LOVE the smell of the real ones, but the needles.  OH.  The needles.  And the watering.  Really?  I don't need another thing to worry about around here.  I'm sure I have a fire hazard in my house I know nothing about.  And I like it that way.





This is the first year that the girls have really been able to help.  In other years, they sat in their bouncy seat and watched.  Or they were taking a nap.  Or they were fighting about ornaments.  This year was perfect.  They helped.  They sang Christmas songs.  They were excited.  They are officially the perfect age for Christmas.  Magical.






 I let them decorate the tree with any ornaments we have.  Some include ornaments my mom gave me when I left for college.  Ornaments made in the 70's that were crocheted.  Or that had suckers in them.  There are sequined Santa boots and Alpine skis.  There are gold sprayed pine cones and dried oranges from my Martha Stewart wanna-be Christmas.  Cross-stitched reindeer and resin sailboats share a branch.  And then there are my wire ornaments.  Cute, rustic ornaments made from wire that has been twisted into beautiful ornaments.  After the Christmas tree was decorated, the girls continued to play with them.

The above was a reindeer.  Now I call it my reindaschund.  We learned about taking care of other people's things that day.

In the end, we were all happy with the tree we had each contributed to.  Some ornaments the girls have made were hung delicately by me.  The lights and tinsel were hung by my husband.  And the star on top was my favorite.  Made by my husband the first year we had a Christmas tree, almost 20 years ago. A foil wrapped star made of cardboard.  It has since been replaced by an toilet-paper roll angel my daughter made in preschool.  But I will always treasure the star.

In the busyness of this stage in our lives.  One with the bustle of two energetic daughters, I am reminded of our beginning.  Our first tree.  Our hopes of our future marriage and family.  It is nothing like what we dreamed.  But it is what God has ordained for us.  And it is perfect.

(And yes.  That is my vacuum cleaner.  Sorry.)

To see other trees, take a look at MckMama's website.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Name That 80's Star

I'd go with Rainbow Brite
What do you think?

Monday, December 19, 2011

Not Me Monday 12/19/11





Mckmama- Not Me Monday


Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

As for me, well.

I did NOT, for the second time in a row, fail to bring an extra camera battery for my kiddos' Christmas program.  So I did NOT miss both of my girls reciting scripture for the camera.  And I will CERTAINLY NOT beg the person who videotaped the whole thing for a copy.  Because I am a GREAT mom who thinks of everything before we leave.

I did NOT allow my Indian Princess to wear a tiara to the program.  That would be pretentious and I would NEVER allow her to draw attention to herself based on something that gaudy and shiny.  

I also did NOT stand at the back of the sanctuary, and quietly tried to direct my Littlest Girl to pay attention to her teacher.  And to not worry when she didn't get her letter when she thought she was supposed to.  And I did NOT almost run up there when she cut a little boy off to get to her place on the stage.  I would never be that kind of mom.

After the program, which was at 10:00 am, I did NOT let my girls take anything they wanted off the food tables.  My girls did NOT eat five kinds of cookies before lunch.  And I did NOT let them drink egg nog and cider until they were buzzing around the school room like hummingbirds.

And lastly, I did NOT give the preschool teacher a jar of homemade Hot Buttered Rum mix and a single serve bottle of Bacardi.  Because she totally did NOT need that after an amazing Christmas program.

I was NOT proud of the whole group of kids and teachers.  They did NOT do a great job on songs and bells and scripture verses in front of a packed house.  I do NOT love my girls' school and all the people that make it perfect for us.

Friday, December 16, 2011

There's a Fancy Name for That


When the moon and the sun are out at the same time.
I don't remember the name, but the occurrence is daily around here.
It's magical.
As is the frozen fog on the trees.
Not a drop of frozen mist on the street.
The trees were coated with fuzzy fog that lasted for two days.
When they started to melt, the frozen flakes dropped off the trees and onto the ground.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Storybook Island--The Christmas Edition


We like to tell the girls we are going on a surprise, and then, um, surprise them.
This year, our Indian Princess was pretty quick to catch on where we were going when we told them to dress warmly. Because we've done this every year for four years now. It makes my heart big to think of the family traditions we get to create with our girls.

The trip there.
My Indian Princess had a cold, and was wiped out from a long week at school.
She took a little nap.
My Littlest Girl tried her hardest not to be naughty.
How do you think she did?
The girls and I in front of a tricked out gazebo.
Dad in his cool hat. I mean, ultra warm hat.
Did you know if you put the ear flaps down you can't hear?
I'm thinking I may borrow this when the girls are watching the Magic Flute Dora episode for the 15th time.
A train ride.
In the dark.
With 20 degree temps.
Seems logical.
This was the first year she wanted to sit on Santa's lap.
My Littlest Girl wasn't so sure.
We had a fantastic night.
I can't wait to do it again next year.



Monday, December 12, 2011

Not Me Monday 12/12/11

Mckmama- Not Me Monday


Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.


But while you're here, check out what I happened to NOT do this week:

I did NOT lead a workout group at church at 9:00 am in the morning, then play three hours of volleyball that night, only to NOT(really) be able to walk the next day. I am always in shape and because I have a bad back I am always diligent to do strength training.

I did NOT giggle at my Indian Princess when she said her class was playing "Caramel Faithful" at the school Christmas program this week.

I did NOT finally clean my desk off, after three months. Putting everything in piles so I could file it easily. Only to be called away to something, and coming back to my daughter watching TV on my computer. At my desk. With the piles scattered like the leaves in the fall.

I did NOT fall off the wagon within 24 hours when I told myself I would only use the computer when the girls are sleeping. At night. (sigh)

And with that reminder, I am signing off!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Christmas House


I thought it was made from a chocolate cookie.
I was wrong.
Straight up chocolate baking chips.
Melted down into one giant house.

Before:

Before:

Before:

After:
For the first time in their lives, I gave them all access to the candy with no restrictions.
They did really well.
I think they even fell asleep at bedtime.
I don't hear anyone bouncing off the walls...



Saturday, December 10, 2011

Separated at Birth

Does anybody else see the resemblance?



Thursday, December 8, 2011

Relevance

I am using a recipe website to make a hot buttered rum mix.
The ads on the sidebar are:
4 signs of a heart attack
and
Medifast diet plan.
On the other side is an advertisement for Morton's salt.
Huh?

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

5 months?

Do you ever have a week where you can't get enough to eat?
Like your stomach is a bottomless pit and no matter how much you eat you feel like you will never be full?
Like you ate it but then it disappeared?
You try drinking more water or milk or eggnog and hope the food will somehow expand in your stomach, but it doesn't.

And then you look down one day and don't recall being 5 months pregnant.
You try to remember the two pink lines and the morning sickness.
But the whole memory just escapes you.

The high school girls call it a food baby.
I call it my hibernation diet.
(I call it some other things, too, but I don't think you need to hear those.)
Because although I don't believe in evolution, I tend to do this when the weather gets cold.
Unfortunately, based on my prior's years experience,
I will not fall asleep for the next 4 months.
Bummer.


Thursday, December 1, 2011

Today's Activities So Far...

Include my Littlest Girl telling me a story that has elements of Alice in Wonderland, The Little Mermaid, and Noah all wrapped into one neat package. No small feat.

We have moved on to playing baseball using a big rubber ball and an Ariel Barbie as a bat.

Stay tuned for more...