storytime with santa 12.09

one of our absolute favorite things to do each christmas is visit the enchanted forest the evening they have storytime with santa. the kids wear their christmas pajamas, santa reads a couple of stories, and then it's time for doughnuts and chocolate milk (and peanut butter cookies, but that is a whole other soap box!) after the sugar high is achieved, you can tour the enchanted forest and visit with santa. carter actually asked to go this year because it is one of the things she remembers about christmas last year. i think it is a curse and a blessing that we have reached the age of remembering. but we don't mind this memory! 

miller and his friend, addy, listening to santa read.

not sure if he will win the sleepiness fight!

it is so fun to see the magical trance each child develops as they walk through the forest. it makes me sad that as i get older, i see things for what they are and not what they were meant to be. that is why i love to see things with my children because everything is so miraculous, especially at christmas.

look at that little belly!

miller and avery obsessed with the train

an interesting perspective

waiting for their turn with santa

how sweet is she!

this time it was miller who had to be coaxed into santa's lap, but a candy cane will always do the trick!

a day at the square 12.06

a few weeks ago, josh had several friend shoots at the collierville town square. we thought it might help with some of the kids if ours were out there to help distract and play. it was frigid! it just so happened that santa was in the pavilion and they had free carriage rides. once they found all those distractions, the kids hardly noticed the cold. here are a few of ours that were shot along the way.

carter on the train tracks. i love the way the wind is blowing her hair.

miller's feet. i think josh and i might have a shoe fetish because we are always taking pictures of the kids' feet. but, seriously, how cute??

miller was ecstatic about santa. he ran up there and waited so patiently. well, once we grabbed him and held him still until it was his turn. he didn't even have anything to say, he just wanted to see him.

carter, on the other hand, not so much. we coaxed her up there for the photo op, but notice how tightly she is pinching her brother's arm. i guess he will be her protector even if he is younger.

and, here is carter on the carriage ride with her sweet teacher, ms. jennifer, and her daughter, emma.

a family tradition or two

we have started a couple of new traditions this year. first, we are a family of book lovers. as a teacher, i have tons of books and my children could read all day long. christmas books are no different. last year, i read on another blog (but no idea which one) about wrapping your christmas books and letting the kids open one a night. of course, it was too late to do it then, so we decided to start this year. in case you want to start this one next year, i will tell you how. first, go the day after christmas this year and buy a few new books half price. they get so excited when it is a new one. then, next year, wrap 23 christmas books in one paper and wrap the night before christmas in another paper. then, on christmas day night we will read the christmas story from their children's bible. my children have loved this new tradition. they take turns opening a book each night-they have not fought over it once, they always know whose turn it is, and they allow the other one to help. the only problem is that each night they both want to take the book to bed, but we can usually fix this dilemma by letting the other one pick a book we already opened.

second is this little guy. actually another literary find. this is charlie the elf. he lives at our house from the day after thanksgiving until christmas eve. elf on the shelf was another day after christmas find at the book store last year. the book explains exactly what his job is for the season and what the rules are for him to stay. the first rule is to name him. since our favorite newborn of this time had been born exactly one week before the elf arrived, they decided to name him charlie. here is charlie precariously perched on the art easel. isn't he cute?

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!