christmas crafting

being pregnant during the christmas season is crazy. when i was pregnant with miller, i remember feeling this way, but he wasn't due until april. being this pregnant during the christmas season is chaos. i am constantly trying to mark things off the hundreds of different lists i have created: gifts, school, baby, etc. in the midst of all this chaos, i have managed to create a few gifts and a few decorations. notice i didn't say finish. i think finish is relative because i don't know that i ever think of anything as finished. to me, everything is a work in progress or a work that can be improved. so, with that in mind, here are the ones i have progressed enough with to post.

"merry & bright" christmas banner

every year i struggle with a way to display my christmas cards. this year, i came up with this and i love it!! it makes me happy! they are strung on the ribbon hanging between the bookcases in the playroom. i can see them from where i sit on the computer, watch tv, craft, etc.

a close up of the clips i used

 my tree collection: a vintage button tree, a vintage paper ribbon tree & a tree made of something that resembles marabou. 

a close-up of the button tree. it was the first one i made and it sits upon a miniature milk glass candlestick (thanks, mom).

and, button magnets. they are addictive. what you see below is my children's teacher gifts. i bought these adorable stands at one of my favorite shops, added the ribbon and made the magnets to hold one of our christmas cards. all you do is come up with your design and hot glue it all to a magnet or whatever else you come up with. they could be paper clips, thumb tacks, pins, barretts, etc. note in the picture my non-type a husband had to line them all up.

aren't they adorable!

fyi, i will be blogging a lot in the next few days to hopefully catch up before christmas day and before the baby arrives!

boys will be boys take 2

the older miller gets, the more i am often astounded by how much testosterone is in his little body already. see, as a girl, there are some things i will never understand, but know he only does because he is male. having a girl first, i sometimes forget i need to heed a warning rather than assume his common sense will step in and intercede for me. two recent examples are below.

one:

what i said was: "sure, you can color your baby Jesus picture on the way home." 

and i frequently say: "we color on . . . " and they answer, "paper!"

what i should have said: " sure, you can color your baby Jesus picture on the way home, but do not, under any circumstances, color your shoe!"

picture taken by iphone

ugh! live and learn. i would just like to thank the wonderful sunday school teachers at our church who so graciously gave my two year old a set of non-washable crayons and a reusable picture of baby Jesus to color on our 30 minute ride home.

two:

picture taken by iphone

what is that, you ask? that is miller's christmas tree. 

and, what is that on the tree? miller's self made ornament. see, we recently bought ornaments to hang on the tree, but miller go upset that i punched holes in them to hang them by. therefore, his tree sat empty until he took it upon himself to make ornaments out of string cheese. that's right, i said string cheese. 

once again, live and learn. next year, i will say, "we cannot use the following foods to decorate with: cheese . . ."

brown paper packages tied up with string

my very precious friend passed this along to me a couple of weeks ago. and while i am very behind on blogging due to the craziness of being this pregnant during "the most wonderful time of the year"(see i told you we were those people), i am supposed to tell you six of my favorite things. 

so, here are six of my favorite things, holiday style.

1. these precious faces. some of you will be seeing a similar version coming soon to a mailbox near you. oh, don't they just make you smile!
2. cupcakes. red velvet cupcakes especially. my sweet, sweet husband showed up with these one day because he knows i have an extreme sweet tooth during my third trimester. they were delicious!
3. hobnail milkglass. or hobnail. or milkglass. i love it all! i grew up in a house of antiques. i was toted to estate sales, garage sales, antique stores and anywhere that may have contained a hidden treasure my entire life. my mother collects milkglass. when i say collect, i mean hordes. she has tons of it. whenever i am looking for something, i just go shopping at her house. this little gem is holding my silver tinsel tree this year. isn't it pretty??
4. christmas cards! oh, how i love this time of the year! first of all, i love getting mail. not bills or bank statements. mail. you know, invitations and thank you notes and announcements and christmas cards. it is a dying art and it makes me sad. seriously, if you live in the south, and you thought you didn't have to send a christmas card anymore, you are wrong! go, now! run, don't walk, to your camera, snap a picture of your children and upload it at the closest digital stand. you owe it to your children. seriously, people!
5. oh, this one makes my heart melt!!!! homemade ornaments, especially with my child's picture in it. as i pulled out each one it made me so happy. as i placed them on my dr. suess tree on the table i worried about little fingers. josh said, "you don't want them to touch them?? they made them." yes, they may have made them. but they are mine. mine. mine. this is the best gift i receive each year and i know one day when everyone is gone to college or with their own families, these will be treasures. along with my christmas cards! 
6. and the reason why we celebrate this season. a babe wrapped in swaddling clothing and lying in a manger. this is not only one of my favorite visions during the season, but my children love the nativity as well. mary, jofef (as miller says) or jofes (as carter used to call him) and baby jesus. it is so fun and exciting to see them love to learn the story. carter knows all the details while miller searches for the wise men each time. i pray their love for their savior continues to grow as they do! 

"But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." Luke 2:19

"And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him." Luke 2:40

what?!?

it has actually become a joke with my blogging buddies when something funny or out of the ordinary occurs, someone will say, "oh, you have to blog about that" or "that's one for the blog!" well, i am the worst at these types of events because i am perpetually behind in blogging. i blame that partially on my husband and the fact that he does not release photos to me until he is pleased with them, and partially on me because i just don't feel like there are enough hours in the day to get done everything i want to get done. so, here are a few stories from the past couple of weeks.

* i know anyone who has ever been visibly preggers understands that it somehow gives anyone the right to comment on your body whether appropriate or not. like the random man in his forties shopping alone at target who recently told me how cute my belly was-inappropriate! or, last week when i was shopping alone at a major dept store and a woman shopping next to me looked up and said, "oh, look honey, it's mary!" no, she didn't know me from the doctor's office, she meant as in the mother of Jesus! once again, inappropriate!

*my children have been on a roll lately. josh and i were discussing a possible present in the fisher price little people nativity we own. i told him i was hesitant because the newer one played music and the star lights up. josh said, "what does it play, away in a manger?" and began to hum in an extremely obnoxious manner. carter perks up from where she is playing and says, "no, daddy, they do it in a pretty voice, like this." and begins to hum herself!

sometimes it pays to be crafty 12.06

on black friday, the only shopping i did was in the name of crafting. at our second stop (my most despised of craft stores), i watched a girl pile a cart full of gingerbread house kits. as most people do when stuck waiting forever during the holiday season, someone ask our new friend about her chosen purchase and she replied this was the cheapest price in the city and she was buying them for several families. since i have always wanted to make one and the price was so great, i thought why not try it this year. carter immediately wanted to make the house and begged each day to put it together. i held her off exactly a week before i told her we would make it that night after school. well, let me just say, before you make a promise to your eager child, it is probably best to read the directions (right, emily). when josh arrived home and took it all out of the box, he discovered you are supposed to put the house together and let it set for 2.5-3 hours before decorating. hmmm, that' s not going to work! so, we decided to put it together after naps on saturday. i collected all the decorating supplies and josh whipped up the icing. we followed the directions to a t. but all we ended up with is this:

the icing would not hold the gingerbread pieces together like it said. no matter how many hands we had contributing, the house would not stick together. we were frustrated and josh wanted to throw the whole thing away. carter looks at us and proclaims, "this is a disaster!" okay, okay, we just needed it to hold together, right? well, i can fix that!

"seriously?", josh says. umm, seriously.

all i have to say is that wilton needs to add this step in their directions. we all know this would alleviate a lot of headaches! so, forget the icing, bust out your glue gun. (emily, i think this information would have fixed all your problems!) and now, the decorations!

when all was said and done, we had an enormous mess and a precious gingerbread house that josh said "looks like it was made by a 4 year old." 

other helpful tips include:

1. while the icing does not work well wet, once dried, it is impossible to remove. so, it will also pass as a non-toxic, child-friendly form of cement (in case you need one!)

2. prompt clean-up is recommended unless you need to refinish your floors. 

3. find additional candy to decorate with as most candy will be consumed by your quick-handed children or dropped on the floor.

next year we will be prepared!

it's the most wonderful time of the year

yes, we are those obnoxious people who sing this song every time we get excited about the christmas season! we have decided to start a few new traditions this year for the holidays. the first was to decorate while we watched the macy's thanksgiving day parade. we have always decorated the day after christmas, but due to our (or shall i say, josh's) very laid back attitude about the fast approaching arrival of baby #3, the day would instead be spent hosting a painting party for both children's bedrooms. so, because i am a crazy christmas decorating nazi, i told josh we had to do it in advance or it would be too late for my liking. as we decorated and watched the parade, we thought, "what a great idea!" so, we decided to make it a tradition.

the first and only ornament to break

the only way josh is included in the photos

concentrating on hanging his ornament

i love that the belly is part of this shot

this little grouping is what carter was working so hard on in the last picture.

she has added to it several times since decorating. i think she would put them all at her level if she could reach them.

the last contribution to the tree and it is always placed on top by josh. carter asked me the other day why we had an angel and meme & papaw had a star. i explained to her that they were both used by God to tell others of the birth of Jesus. i grew up with a star, josh with an angel. we tried for several years to find something we loved and, finally, found this. i think she is beautiful and i love the symbolism of both. so, which one do you top your tree with-an angel or a star?

grateful cooking

ms. emily brought these incredible chocolate pumpkin balls to school around halloween. they were so yummy and she said her little girl helped make them. i thought they would be a great contribution to our thanksgiving and a fun time with daddy, because we all know i don't cook!

well, let's just say that it didn't go as easily as emily said or photographed on her blog. everything was going as planned until it was time to roll the dough into balls. first, josh couldn't get them to cooperate without lots of flour and the kids were sad because that pretty much meant they were out of the cooking process. then, after letting them set for a while in the refrigerator, he attempted to dip them in the melted chocolate, but it still wasn't working very well. so, he used a skewer to dip them, hence the large hole in the top of each one. after much frustration, he ended up partially dipping the last half of the batch and left them in the refrigerator overnight.

so, the next morning as we are packing up to head to my parents' house for thanksgiving, josh is placing the pumpkin balls on a plate and wrapping them up when miller enters the kitchen. he asks josh, "what is that?" josh responds, "pumpkin balls." to which miller says, "pumpkin balls? can we throw them?" 

not sew perfect

here it is, the sewing post. or at least the big kids sewing post. i still have several things i need to do for the baby, but i may run out of time. let me tell you, being pregnant during the holidays makes time move even faster. this has been the shortest pregnancy in history! but, back to the sewing. so, i am a self taught sewer. i learned from using my mom's machine in high school. she is also self taught. we get by and, for me, that is good enough. my kids grow too quickly anyway, so it is not like it has to last forever. bottom line: don't look for perfection. one more thing, i am reminded every time i get out my sewing machine, that i don't like to sew. yes, i like fabric. yes, i like making something with my own hands. and, yes, i like creating something for less than i could have paid for it. but i do not like the frustration of not being prepared-this is inevitable for me and then i have to wait to do what i was all ready to work on. ugh! i don't like the frustration of having to rip out what i just did and do it again-also inevitable with me at least once. and, i don't like the frustration of having little helpers-yes, i love that they want to help, but it is also inevitable that something will get messed up and then the former frustration occurs. so, if you have ever asked why i don't sew more often, this is why!

i made miller two pant sets:

michael miller retro rocket rascals fabric

alexander henry this land is your land fabric

miller loves to look for tennessee on his pants and "let's find where we live!" too cute!

then, i appliqued a few shirts:

a monkey that is a little miniature version of a canvas i made for a friend's baby. 

it is hand embroidered with little button eyes.

a non-traditional colored christmas tree for miller to go with all carter's pink christmas clothing.

and, finally, a little something for carter: an apple  to go with a pair of just ducky pants.

it is also hand embroidered. she helped me piece it all together and was so proud of herself. 

she told my dad that we made it and he thought she was lying. my mom had to check the tag!

preschool theology

every year we have a four year old program the last day before thanksgiving break. this year, that also meant that carter would be in that program. due to a weird schedule this year we were very limited in the number of days we had to learn the songs, so we tried to pick up the slack in our classrooms and use the songs in whatever way we could. one of the songs we chose to do was the doxology. as a child, i grew up singing this song every sunday in church. i loved the way you heard the entire church meld together as the words were sung in prayer to God-no instruments, just voices praising our heavenly Father. so, one of the places we practiced was at chapel time by closing with the doxology. i told the children this song is a prayer to God praising Him for who He is. in my own classroom, we used it as the prayer before lunch as well. before long, the kids picked up on all the words and while not loud, it was definitely sweet to hear them sing the words together. 

well, apparently, all mommy's talk at school followed me home and carter requested to sing the doxology at bedtime instead of praying in our usual manner. we, of course, obliged and miller would follow with a separate prayer as he doesn't know the words. so, every night we pile into carter's twin size bed and try to settle everyone down as they decide who will pray first. carter usually stakes her claim and begins singing at the top of her lungs. 

"praise God from whom all blessings flow,

praise Him all creatures here below,

praise Him above He(it is supposed to be "ye" but she says "he") heaven-al-ly Host,

praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen"

and then, miller whispers "God bless mommy (as he touches me), daddy (as he touches Josh), sister (as he touches carter), (sometimes he will include the baby as he touches my stomach), and ruthie (he shouts because he knows how much it annoys his sister that he prays for her american girl doll)! amen!" 

then, we try to maneuver everyone into the proper bed with the most beloved "friends" of the day and get everyone tucked in before heading out the door. one night, carter was in a particularly feisty mood and declared, "miller, you can't pray that way!" what she meant was that miller couldn't pray for ruthie because she is carter's doll, not his. josh quickly replies, "there is no wrong way to pray carter. you are more liturgical and miller is more charismatic."

"whos" on the grinch

so, i had this whole post planned about what a crazy mother i have become hunting down my daughter's numero uno christmas request which was already on backorder before thanksgiving until a week before d-day when i realized my children are way funnier than i am. so, because i am sure you are curious, yes, i did track down the gift and it arrived today. who doesn't love getting a package in the mail, especially when it will make your little girl's eyes light up on christmas day!!

so, last night, i went for a little visit with my favorite newborn and josh kept the kids who had taken really late naps. i had promised them they could watch shrek the halls and how the grinch stole christmas. fast forward, josh has put the kids down in their room for the night and, as usual, carter yells "daddy?!?" seconds after josh sits down in the living room. the following conversation occurs while josh is sitting in the living room and carter is in their bedroom:

josh: "go to sleep!"

carter: "what are the name of the people on the grinch?"

josh: "whos!"

(pause)

carter: "the people on the grinch?"

(pause)

josh: "whos!"

(pause)

carter: "the people on the grinch??"

josh: "that's what they are called, whos!"

(even longer pause)

carter: "what do they sing?"

josh: "i don't know. go to sleep!"

although every night ends the same way, rarely is the preceding conversation as amusing!

we are . . .

"what are you thankful for?"

carter: "my mommy & daddy, my friends, miller and flower (what she calls her baby sister)"

miller: "mommy, daddy, sister and ruthie (carter's american girl doll)"

a little test run

last friday, our sweet friends welcomed a new member to their precious family. we all went to visit on saturday. the kids were so excited! when i arrived home from shopping with my mom, they were still napping. they woke up asking if it was time to go see baby charlie. so, after picking up a large diet coke from sonic for ms. jennifer, we headed over to meet baby charlie.

look who is so ready to be a big sister again. she held him for almost an hour. i had to steal him away. she was so sad when i took him, but mommy needs the practice too, right?? why do we forget so quickly how tiny they are? i mean, i have had two babies, why do they always look so small? 

as for miller, he was very interested in the baby and in avery's toys. he played with her toys completely content and would come look at the baby and touch the baby and smile at the baby and then go back to the toys. it was all very interesting. how often do you get a small glimpse into how something may or may not play out in your own life? not much longer until we will know the truth. look how sweet that baby is!

by the way, i know, i know, we have been m.i.a. lately, but it is because i have been sewing like a mad woman-post to come-and josh has been so busy there are no pictures. we would like to say things are slowing down, but since it is the holiday season and we have a baby due soon, then probably not.

grateful crafting

yes, i even decorate for "the little holiday that could" as i read another blogger refer to it as. i feel sorry for thanksgiving. it falls between two holidays that people seem to go all out for and it also gets ignored by the giant world of retail. so, i try to give a little love to the holiday that celebrates being thankful. of course, compared to my excitement for fall and absolute love of christmas, it seems almost as sad of an attempt as the rest of the world. 

below is one of my first banners ever. it is also one of my favorite. this banner has existed in some form for 3 years. it began as an attempt to give clout to my daughter's love for collecting leaves and acorns and such. so, i went to hobby lobby and bought several shades of brown cardstock, cut it in quarters and laced it together with a single roll of fall colored ribbon. then, with my old school aleene's craft glue, i created letters from the random nature items we collected on our daily walks. the first year, it read "happy thanksgiving". a little much, i thought. so, we have since changed it up allowing us to use different finds from every year. 

i love the simplicity and greenness of it. very thanksgiving-y, don't you think? i didn't know if it would hold up or not, but several of those letters are the same ones carter and i created three years ago. i just wrap it in tissue paper and store it in a quart size ziploc. oh, how it makes me happy! well, i am off to buy supplies for craft club tonight! wish me happy crafting!

i've been tagged, again!

i was tagged by my friend jennifer. i thought it would be interesting to discover the answer to this one.

here are the rules:

1. choose the 4th picture folder on my computer.

2. choose the 4th picture.

3. explain the picture.

4. tag 4 people to do the same.

seriously, we all have way too many pictures saved in our computer. pictures no one has ever seen, like this one.

this is carter looking through one of the fences at the zoo. this picture was taken in september of 2006. she had just turned 2 about a week earlier. miller was almost 5 months. we took a family trip during labor day weekend. just in case you are curious, it was originally blogged here. i cannot believe they have grown so fast!! miller is older now than she was then!

tag, you're it:

jennifer

kelly

joanna (i determined to make you a blogger! ha!)

emily

how fun! and now that pitiful post will not be staring at me every time i log on to the internet.

if you know me . . .

then you know i am not one to ask for help or even let others know when i am in need. i feel like a burden when others do things for me. but, sometimes it is best when others know your needs, your weaknesses. we have been flying through this pregnancy, so much that we only have seven weeks left to go. seven weeks. we have not done a single thing. in my first and second pregnancies, i would have had a fit if we were completely unprepared at this point. i remember when i was pregnant with miller and things were at a standstill, hurling the double stroller down the hall and telling josh to put it at the curb because i couldn't take anymore. irrational, yes! hormonal, yes! in fact, if you have ever carried a child then you know that your body is not your own and neither is your mind. everyone has had these little episodes where the ugly nasty person you could be all the time raises inside of you and spews out some crazy hormonal pregnant craziness that makes your husband question why he ever married you, much less allowed you to carry his child. 

well, we have not reached that point yet, but we did have a small bump in the road. on sunday afternoon and monday i was having low ligament type pain combined with lower back pain. when i called to see if i should be concerned, they didn't hesitate to say yes and to come in right away. they thought i might be in labor. labor?? are you serious?? i absolutely lost it. i cried the entire way there. we are not ready. she is not ready. several hours, an exam and a stress test later, they said everything looked good, but that didn't mean i couldn't go into labor after i got home. (thanks for the security!) many of you know that my husband has been working like a crazy person. one look at his blog makes you wonder if he ever sleeps much less has a day off. fyi, he doesn't. the last day off he had was this one. and i mean the.last.day.off. so, we ask for your prayers. prayers for a healthy baby. prayers for a 39+ week delivery. prayers for a healthy, sane mommy. prayers for time. time to prepare for our sweet girl. time to play with our precious children and enjoy our family before we become a larger family. the bottom line is this: i know that God's timing is perfect, that he knows what we need best and that regardless of how and when she enters the world, it will be in his perfect plan. 

we thank you. also, there is another more critical situation we know needs your prayers. please read about it here. please pray God will heal elizabeth's skin and her body.

what happens when no one wants to clean up

photo taken with iphone

cleaning up has been a struggle lately. so, today when carter announced they wanted to watch a movie, i said we had to clean up first. i said i would come help as soon as i finished what i was doing. i was approximately 15 feet away and it took me less than a minute before i went to check on them. there they sat on the playroom floor both with a marker coloring on miller's face! "what do you think you are doing?" i asked. carter quickly replied, "miller is a kitty cat." i told her to clean up the markers and miller to go look at himself in the mirror. he came right back crying, "i no want to be a kitty cat." i know, buddy, i know.

i am honestly shocked this has not happened before in this family. carter has made lipstick and nail polish with markers in the past, but never just drawn on her face. i know this is the creativity rearing its ugly head again, but since when is her blank canvas her brother's face!

trick-or-treat!

one thing i love about 4 year olds is their desire to be someone different every day, or several times a day. they can make a costume out of just about anything. carter is no different. she loves to dress up and has tons of costumes and random items to help do just that. so, halloween season is no different. she dressed as wendy for the hope fall fun fest, but she didn't get half the attention her little brother did. it was difficult for people to know what she was without the wig and because i usually had one and josh had the other. bless her heart, she had to be with him for anyone to get her costume. then, at preschool, she dressed as minnie mouse for her class party day. she was minnie mouse last year and told me about a month and a half ago that she was going to be minnie mouse for school. (her friend sophia was also minnie mouse and as soon as i find those pictures, i will tack one on.) so it came as no surprise when on the way home from school friday, she announced she would be belle for neighborhood trick-or-treating. 

belle and the cheeseburger

miller was really unsure about going door to door

a little funny: both kids had discussed the concept of trick-or-treating at school and safety for the night and so on. miller had been shouting "trick-or-treat!" randomly when talking about the upcoming event. so, we head out the door and visit our next door neighbors first because our kids are most familiar with them. as we get to the door, miller becomes very shy and his grip gets even tighter on my finger. when ms. christine brings the candy out to the kids, i ask, "what do you say?" carter responds, "trick-or treat!" and miller says, "may i have some candy?" well, at least he is polite and grammatically correct!

where's the beef?

i know most of you have been waiting with baited breath to know the final answer to this question. it all started with this adorable costume we found in the pottery barn kids catalog. but, seriously, $90 . . . $90. who on earth would pay $90 for a costume for a two year old? not me. (apparently someone because the costume is sold out and a link cannot be found.) but it was the perfect costume for miller and he thought so too. well, after all the different things he had wanted to be, i didn't want to be so hasty. so, i asked him daily what he wanted to be and when the answer became consistent, off i went to determine how in the world to make this costume myself, and with some help from my mom. then, josh joked at dinner one night that carter could be wendy, and she said yes?!? what?!? this is the same child who decided she was going to be ariel in august. and, now, she wants to be wendy?!? now, another costume to make. 

here is carter's wendy dress after i finished painting the stripes at almost 2 am the night before she would wear it.

the pieces before they became the final product.

my little cheeseburger

wendy with her cheeseburger

wendy

hand in hand

the chase

i love this portrait of the evening. as you can see, the rest of the evening, carter's braids rode along in my bag (as viewed in the background). i think her hair looks precious like this, but she will not let me do it ever, except this night. miller received lots of attention and he loves, loves, loves his costume. it really is the perfect costume for him and it was relatively easy to make in the manner i chose to make it. as for carter, this was one of three costumes she wore this season. i think the red wig really made her not want to be wendy but once. who can blame her?

take a minute or two

if you haven't been here in a few days, you NEED to check it out! not only is the work gorgeous, but this particular couple just exude what it means to be in love. you cannot help but be captivated by them!