'Twas the Week After Christmas

We've been having lots of fun.  We had a couple more days with Rara and Uncle D, which involved a lot of playing games, making puzzles, sitting around in our pj's for more hours than we probably should, and eating.

The kids had fun putting together Bug's new puzzle from his Grandma and Grandpa.  It was a little bit better fit than the 1000 piece puzzle Bean had pulled out the week before which was mostly left to the adults to finish.

The weather has been incredible this month--just right for trying out their new soccer goals Uncle D made them for Christmas.  These kids got soccered up this year--a new ball from another Aunt and Uncle, backyard goals, and Rara signed them up for a 12 week soccer clinic.  (And if you look closely at the picture, you will see they could probably use the clinic.  Yes, they are using two balls, and yes, Bugaboo is playing in rainboots.)

 We made a final trip to Discovery Place before our membership expired at the end of the year--fun as always.

And these three guys got to go ice skating at the seasonal rink in Uptown.  Its a little strange to be ice skating outside when its 60 degrees, but they bundled up anyway and had a good time.

 It was Bugaboo's first time on skates, and I'll admit, when I left Daddy-o with a "Good luck!", I was a little worried about both of them, but from the reports, he didn't whine that much and even had fun.

 Bean has fond memories from her only other experience on the ice, 2 years ago, and while she did have fun, I think she might stop begging me for skating lessons for awhile.

 Those shoes aren't very comfortable and maybe a once a year reminder session will satisfy that desire.  I'd actually be happy to let her try skating lessons if the closest real rink wasn't 45 minutes across town.

And that, mixed in with a couple movies, some attempts to catch up on sleep (in my case, during the movies), and as much time outside as possible, was our week after Christmas.

A Very "Pinny" Christmas

I know I've already mentioned my new love affair with Pinterest on a couple occasions.  I really love having such an easy place to find new ideas, and I have some pretty fun friends, so there are lots of ideas to find.  I was noticing after Christmas that I actually got around to doing a lot of the ideas I'd "pinned" on my Christmas board.  I've already shared some of these pictures this month.

We made wrapping paper, and I found the cute idea of labeling the gifts with monograms.

 Saturday morning pancakes were transformed into reindeer,

 Santa brought us these cute paintchip matchbook notepads,

and I captured the kids' footprints in a cute holiday decoration.  I had tried to do their handprints in clay ornaments for us and the grandparents, but that was a crafting flop, so we went with this memorial instead.

 These wood nativities were probably my favorite project I found this year and I'm planning to make more for next year (as soon as we get the little issue with the saw fixed.)

These paper ornaments were quick and I think look really pretty on the tree.

And then there were the kids' shirts,

 some caramel popcorn,

and the teachers' gifts.

I just realized that while I have a nice collection of fall and Christmas ideas, I need to start spring and summer boards on Pinterest!

Merry Christmas

This month has felt so busy with presents and parties, but the couple days before Christmas we finally got out to do a couple of out Christmasy things we'd been wanting to do.

We went to see the singing bear orchestra,

which this little guy liked,

and went to look at some lights--not quite all the ones we'd originally planned, but considering we have a baby who hates the car when its dark, and that I forgot the directions to the places we were going to, we didn't do too bad.

And before you knew it, it was Christmas Eve and time to put out all the presents.  I always love how the tree looks that night when we finally get the packages out and set up.

And the kids weren't dissappointed the next morning.

 I don't think I've ever seen them so excited about Christmas as they were this year.  I guess they are at the age now where they really get into all of it.  And it was nice to see that they weren't just excited about what they got (although that was big, too), but they were excited to give their gifts out.  They both had been pretty thoughtful, especially with the gifts they got each other. 

Bean gave Bugaboo a bird house with paints in his favorite colors--he's been begging me to buy him one every time we're at the craft store-- and Bug gave Bean a little weaving loom.  They are both so into crafty stuff!

This little Peanut LOVES his present from Santa!  Daddy-o and I are loving it, too.  We can actually fix dinner without him fussing to get up where we are to see what's going on, and he's not covered in dog hair everytime I set him down.  Of course, he may never learn to crawl now, but that's not really a useful skill, right? 

Probably the surprise hit was the Kindle Daddy-o got for me.  Not that he didn't think it would be a hit, but it was a HUGE surprise, and everyone in the family has been enjoying it.  I'm actually looking forward to everyone being back at school and work so I won't have to share so much :)

We had a great Christmas, full of fun times with the family, lots of playing, and even a little time to reflect on our Savior's birth.

It's Christmas Eve!

And we're busy with last minute wrapping, visiting, laundry folding, napping, and eating too many sweets.  So I'll leave you with this car we saw last night while out having some Christmasy fun.

Time is Ticking

Still left on the to do list as of today:

Find an ornament for Peanut's first Christmas
Finish up the last couple gifts
Finish wrapping
Make sure everything is properly tagged
Plan Christmas Eve dinner
Grocery list
Shopping
Bake cinnamon rolls
Make grain-free crackers and scones
Laundry
Quick pick up
Vacuum (the dog is shedding like mad so this is almost a daily occurance)
Mail Christmas Cards!!!!
Go see lights and the singing bears


Good thing there are a couple days left!

Only Four Sleeps Left

And we're busy wrapping gifts,

being goofy (and just a little Christmas crazy),

baking goodies,

practicing our supermans,

holding secret, closed door conferences,

working on puzzles,

pushing the unfinished crafts off until next year,

hoping for a tasty morsel to fall our way,

wishing we had more time to play outside (and dogsitting),

and photographing it all!

(Blogger wasn't cooperating last night, so I'm a little behind with this post.)

On the Eighth Day of Christmas

I know.  Technically, the 12 Days of Christmas start with Christmas day, but we wanted to do the 12  Days for a neighbor--leaving her gifts on her porch each night, knocking and running away.  And it always seems like a lot more fun to build up to Christmas with the fun little surprises.

The kids have been having a blast with the sneaky part of it, although it took until just last night to get one of them to knock on the door.  They prefer to be the ones setting the item down and then start running while Daddy-o or I stick around for the knocking.  But Bug finally braved it and I think he's hooked on the adrenaline rush.

We've been giving gifts that match the number of the day--one mug, two jars with hot cocoa and marshmellows, nativity of three people.  Some have had to be a little more creative.  Today's was a loaf of bread made from 8 ingredients, and for day 10, we're giving her Christmas socks, to keep her 10 toes warm.  We're still debating whether we will stick around the last night to sing a carol.  I think as sneaky as we've tried to be, the neighbor knows exactly who we are, so we might as well actually visit with her for a minute at the end of it all.

Either way, this has been a really fun Christmas activity for all of us--I'm hoping it will become a tradition.

Dear Santa

Santa,

I know I'm really lucky.  My life is good: we're safe, warm, fed.  My family is healthy and relatively happy.  I mean, I get to see this smiling face all day long.  Sometimes all night long, too!  That's actually why I'm writing. 

There aren't too many things I really need, or want.  And my family is always good about surprising me with thoughtful gifts.  But there is one thing they can't give me and that is where you come in.  All I really want for Christmas is a few consecutive hours of sleep from the little guy so I can get the same.  I'm not even asking for a solid 8, which would be unheard of lately, but the 6 or 7 he was doing a couple months ago would be nice.  If I could just sleep from 10-3 one night, I think I'd feel pretty amazing.  I know when we had to keep him up late a couple weeks ago and I went to bed at 11, right after he did, and then he didn't wake up until after 5, I felt like a new person.  But its been a couple weeks and I'm feeling a little rundown again.

So nothing that will take up too much space in the sleigh, or be too heavy and strain the reindeer.  Just a little of that Santa magic for a a night where "not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse",  (and he even looks like a little mouse).  That would make this the best Christmas ever.  Even better than the one where you brought me a guinea pig.

Thank you in advance,

One Tired Mama

What's Cookin'?

The holiday treat making has commenced--cookies, caramel popcorn, and plans for fudge, more cookies, and some breads and pies. But we're still working on the plan for Christmas dinner, and this year will be a little different.  Actually, we don't have a traditional set meal that we always do. In fact, some years, Christmas Eve is our special meal and Christmas day is just lots of snack foods and leftovers.

But this year, because my mom and I both have limits on what we can have, we're trying to plan accordingly and fix a dinner that we can all enjoy.  I felt like I had to skip out on most of Thanksgiving, so this time we're cooking things I CAN have.  Probably a kosher turkey (one of the few not injected with broth, of questionable origin), some cauliflower "mashed potatoes", Pioneer Woman's butternut squash puree with a couple adjustments, green beans with olive oil and slivered almonds, some sort of salad.  And I did find a coconut flour "brownie" recipe that I can have which is pretty good if you think of it as chocolate cake and not so much brownies, so I can have a dessert that night while everyone else is gorging on sweets.

Our one firm tradtion is the cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning.  I will be making those for the family because I can't really imagine Christmas morning without them (I don't think I've had a single Christmas without them since I can remember) and won't make anyone else miss out on that, but I'm pretty excited to get to try these almond flour scones:

Food should be plentiful for everyone, I think, and I can go to sleep with visions of next year's treats dancing in my head.

Hide and Seek

(picture courtesy of kentucky.com)

My shopping is pretty much done (thank you, Amazon!).  I've started wrapping (and love wrapping gifts, so I'm looking forward to spending a couple hours finishing up this week).  I even got a couple gifts this year that I think will be surprising and fun for the receipients, always a challenging task.

Only problem is my mommy-mush brain.  I can't find all the gifts!  Most of them are accounted for, but there is one in particular that I just can not recall.  I have this memory of seeing the return address on the package, and walking in through the garage and then slipping it in somewhere, but that somewhere just won't come to me.  And I actually can't even remember if I'm looking for a box or a padded envelope.  I emailed the company to see if they could clue me in on that fact, but am still waiting for an answer.  My guess is they are busy enough with normal Christmas orders that they don't have time to deal with this pathetic inquiry.

If anyone wants to share their best hiding spots for their Christmas gifts, I'd appreciate it.  Maybe that will jog my memory . . .

Gratitude

Today, I'm grateful for. . .

 Bean getting to go to a school we love, and with friends she has so much fun with,

warm enough December weather that said friends could go play in the backyard for an hour, giving us a little reprieve from the LOUD chaos during a 5 hour playdate,

 my boys.  Daddy-o took half an hour out of his work this afternoon to make cornflake "krispie treat" wreaths with all the kids, and Bug spent the afternoon playing with the girls (who were actually pretty nice to him).

not being stuck watching all the fun from behind a window,

this season when we get to celebrate Christ and Bug gets to dress up as a donkey.