Tis the Season

Tis the season... 3 little words that could possibly lead into so many things.

Tis the season.. to be jolly? To be cranky, to spend money, to make candies, to wear comfy socks, to send Christmas Cards, to attend parties, to go overboard, to over-indulge, to be cold, to drink hot chocolate, to sleep in :) ?!? I could go on, of course. But today, the tune is: Tis the season to make a big steaming pot of White Chili.

Last night we had the first of our Christmas Celebrations with my husbands extended family coming over to celebrate. It was a lot of fun, the girls got to get the feel of opening a couple presents, which they seemed to be fond of. ;)

Now we are watching some Nickelodeon and waiting while the chili simmers... smells great!

Im not a 'crafty' mommy by nature. But i was pretty darn proud of the tutus that I made for the girls last week. I mean, for watching a short Youtube How-To video, I cranked out a couple of cute tutus in no time! Its fun to amaze everyone, including yourself, when you make something adorable.

Its been pretty hard to keep Bella out of the Christmas presents, but so far she has only opened one (which was mine) and hasn't tried since. Cant wait to see her cute little face on Christmas. She will love, not just the presents, but also being with family all day. And also the presents... I mean, she is a kid! :)

Tis the Season... to be sincerely yours,

Mommy

Glad Tidings of Great Joy

Ive been thinking a lot about an article i read today. The article's focus was about how even Christians are so caught up in the commercial side of the season that we have completely forgotten what Christmas is all about.

Now, as a mother, of course I couldn't bear to deny myself of seeing the joy that opening a few presents brings to my daughters. But this year, I have been trying to emphasize the TRUE meaning of Christmas and the reason for the Celebration and gifts. Anyway, I was reading this article about how UN-Christian all the gift giving and recieving is. Of course, this guy is an extremist.... but I do kind of get what he is saying. We are so focused on giving gifts and spending money on extravagant presents, foods, decorations, etc that we barely even take the time to remember what Christmas is all about anymore. I mean, how many of us even read the Christmas story about the baby born of a Virgin and take time to reflect on this Miracle? How many of us go out of our way to say thank you to someone for a fruit cake or a bottle of wine, yet never take the time to thank God for sending his Son to us? Modern conveniences and technologies seem to be putting a wedge between us and the true meaning of Christmas.


I can honestly say, that even though my parents bought us TONS of awesome presents when I was growing up, Im at a loss to remember most of the gifts. What I DO remember is the traditions we had... the singing Christmas carols in the car, the one present we got to open on Christmas Eve, waiting up with the window cracked to hear Santa... my dad reading the Night Before Christmas and the Actual Christmas story from the Bible right before we went to bed. I remember this vividly. As i sit here on a bitterly cold December night, with my feet still freezing from driving around a couple hours ago looking at Christmas lights with the kids.... i realize those are the kind of memories I want my kids to have. Not gifts, but LOVE. Family traditions stemming from the love I have for Christ and for my family. So, even if there are moments i waiver in my Christmas cheer, Im going to smile and sing a Christmas tune, because I am making a commitment to making warm, fuzzy wonderful CHRISTmas memories with my kids. :)

May your home be filled with wonderful traditions and memories,
Merry Christmas



(photo by Matthew Killian)

Thanksgiving Weekend, etc.

Thanksgiving Weekend:

Thursday:
On Thanksgiving Day, we packed up the van and headed south to my parents' house. There we had dinner with my family. Of course, the feast was large. Large enough for us all to gorge ourselves then still go back for pie. To say I LOVE the tradtional Thanksgiving Day cuisine would be like saying I love the beach. I dont just LOVE the beach.... i ADORE the beach.... i dream about it. I basque in thoughts of waves crashing onto the sand, walking along the shoreline at night barefoot while the ocean breeze lifts me to new levels of happiness and pleasure that I never knew existed... So i dont just love the beach, you see. Its my 'happy place.' And Thanksgiving food... its my 'happy food.' Even though i had lost about 4 pounds the week before Thanksgiving and would have loved to keep that off, nothing was going to stop me from cramming myself full of that delicious, calorie-ridden goodness. So i ate, and ate... and ate. Then I had dessert.

After the schmorgusboard we visited for a while, then made our journey back home. And guess what happened on our way home? It started to snow! Now, we were feeling a little Christmas Spirit by this point, with full bellies and our first snow making our hearts content.... so we stopped off for a Christmas Tree. We got the tree inside and in the tree stand, but were too tired by that point to put on any decorations. Especially considering I had to be up at 10:50 and make my way to Wal-Mart to get in line for a few Black Friday Bargains I was certain I needed to get for the girls.

Friday:

I rang in Friday just like hundreds of other people did, hovering over a pallet of Childrens toys so that when the clock struck midnight we could rip the wrap of that pallet and grab that toy that our child would enjoy SO much that we felt the need to lose sleep over it. I got what i wanted and probably did save about 70 dollars or so. I always say 'Ill never do that again,' but I think we all know I probably will.

After going home and sleeping a few more hours, I had to get up. This was the day we were hosting my husband's family for Thanksgiving. So we cleaned for the better part of the day, and we had a lovely evening when they all came over. Since my stomach was still stretched to the size of basketball from the first Thanksgiving Meal we had, I had no problem scarfing down two huge plates.

Saturday:
My husband's great uncle had passed away earlier in the week. I had met him a few times, and though I cant recall ever talking to him much, I was still sad for the family. A family death is always terrible. I would have accompanied my husband, but it was an outdoor service and I didnt have a babysitter for the girls. So we let daddy go with his family and we stayed home. To make the most of a little Saturday 'mommy and me' time I decided we would make some Christmas ornaments to put on the Tree later that night. So we glued and glittered and bejeweled 26 ornaments. We had a good ole time! Thinking ahead (and knowing Bella's affinity for making messes that would make someone cry) I put down a disposable table cloth to make the ornaments on, so when the masterpieces were finished I put up the supplies and rolled away the disaster that was left behind and tossed it in the trash. So, 25 seconds clean-up time made the project all that more fun.

When daddy got home, we were just getting up from a small nap. We got up and around and met my husbands mom and sister at the movie theater to watch "Tangled." It was adorable. I dont know who liked it more, the kids or me. But I suspect I probably did.

Then, it was home for leftovers (duh) and finally getting to decorate that tree and the rest of the house for Christmas. And what Christmas decoration party would be complete without a Christmas movie and some hot chocolate afterwards?

Sunday:

Relaxing. Thats it. A few odds and ends with cleaning and laundry. But mostly... just spending whats left of this long weekend... relaxing.

playing with pics

It seems like the last two posts only include Bella. This is just a coincidence, i promise, not favortism. It just so happens i was experimenting with some photo editing and thats just how it worked out. I did a collage of Sophia also, but made it to large... then it was too small.... then i deleted it.... you get the picture, it wasn't working out very well for me.

I am in the process of teaching myself some new things, using a little photobucket and trying to teach myself some things about editing on my other program... i wont bore you with the details, but i will try to keep the pics coming.

Loving this fall weather!!
:)

mommy and bella

Bella and I spent some time outdoors together today while Daddy and Big Sister were off doing their own thing. I had a great time with my little stinker :) First, I made her mow the lawn.. Then, there was some kissing and tickling and silliness, of course...

and runningand some laziness... and even a nice view.

Outdoor fun and Nakey Babies

The girls and I had an outdoor excursion today. For about an hour (that felt much, much longer since they are fast and i am out of shape) we ventured out into the warm, sunny autumn day. It was gorgeous... one of those days that you dream about on those days that are bitterly cold or unbearably hot. Sophia was having a pretend 'weiner roast,' while Bella petted (tortured?) the dog. There were games of fetch, mostly between the kids while the dog chased blowing leaves. But there was still fetching, at least. There was also much of this.... hands and feet being used as shovels and buckets. They moved piles of dirt around from one side to the other, threw dirt at each other, tried to bury the dog alive...............you get the picture. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words... so the next 3 pictures are 3,000 words worth of how almost every adventure ends with Bella.... a naked child that i have to chase down and carry home in the buff. :) I will definately use these stories to humiliate her someday, so its worth it.

Pumpkin Bread and Puzzle Playtime

Sophie and I, with a little 'help' from Bella, made our first loaf of pumpkin bread. It was actually pretty easy, and it turned out AWESOME!

The recipe was simple, and i just got it off http://www.pumpkinnook.com/

This website has lots of recipes for any and all things pumpkin!

I plan on tackling the pumpkin soup in the next week or two!

I would have taken a picture of the completed masterpiece, and it really looked quite lovely, but i had that baby sliced and served about 5 minutes after it came out of the oven. After an hour and a half of baking, there was NO WAY i could wait for it to cool as they suggest. :) We all LOVED it!

And while we were waiting for the bread to bake i snapped a few playtime pics of the kids. :)

Bella playing with one of her favorite horsies. Just like all the other horsies, this one's name is Spirit. :)

I love the look on Sophia's face here (below), its priceless. And her hair is all a mess, too.. but there is something about the picture i love. I think its probably her striking eyes. Her sweetness just shines through them.

Oct 2 Photos: Allison

Here are a couple of pics from the group of pics i took of my new little niece Allison. I am trying to break into the child photography scene, so im using my own children and now my nieces also as my guinea pigs :)

A few September Pics

These are a few of the pics i snapped of the girls last week. I was really just doing some experimenting with different areas because we take our family pictures every Fall. This fall I will most likely take all of the pics of the girls and them have someone take a few of all four of us with my camera. I LOVE my Canon!! So.. here's a couple from last week.

Bella is obsessed with these 'caterpillars.' She knows right where they are, and grabs one every time we go outside!

Look, I found a perfect Acorn!

2 acres, one patch of mud... and of course she HAS to play in it. Its too fun to resist. I have to admit, it did look tempting.

Apple Orchard

Our fun.. but very short.. trip to the Apple Orchard.

The above pictures were all taken from our trip to Curtis Apple Orchard. They were taken in the first 15 minutes that we were there, because about 20 minutes into the trip Bella vomited all over Brandon, suddenly had a high fever, it was terrible. She threw up in the van on the ride home, too, poor girl. She was so miserable. We all felt awful for her.

All that aside, we enjoyed our 15 minutes of fun! The girls got to take a pony ride and feed the goats (and then wash their hands.) We hope to go back soon and actually get to pick some apples and enjoy a little longer stay, hopefully without as much puke.

One of 'Those Days'

Well, today was certainly 'one of those days.' I am sure almost anyone with kids, especially my fellow mothers, can relate. I was trying to do something that was, to me, very important. To my kids, however, my "work" was the one thing standing in the way of their having my undivided attention. There were more screams, spills, fights, tantrums, snacks, refills, and things mommy just 'HAD' to see than I would have thought was humanly possible.

To say that I handled it with ease and I kept my cool and never let a bead of sweat fall would be a complete lie. I was irritated, I raised my voice, and there were times I about brought the 'whooping hand' out! Hah! That sounds funny, I realize, but it was not funny at the time. Today my four year old was acting like a 2 year old and my 2 year old was acting like a wild animal. It was complete madness, I tell you!

Around 7pm, I put Bella down and went to the bedroom to read Sophia a story and they were both sleeping soundly by 7:15. It was AWESOME! Mom's, I know you feel me.. that moment in the evening when the screams are replaced with sweet, silent slumber. The little mouths that were making demands and tattle-telling are softly closed and still. Its a moment you take to stand above them and thank God for giving you such precious gifts.... then go throw yourself on the couch and thank God for a few minutes to relax and enjoy some quiet and think (.. okay, okay AND watch Keeping Up with The Kardashians that i DVR'd.)

But as I sit here, I guess I feel a little bit guilty. Instead of being irritated that Bella wants to sit on my lap or have 100% of my attention, I guess I really should thank God that she LOVES me so much she WANTS my attention and desires 'mommy time.' And when Sophia cries like a toddler because she cant go to the bathroom, the kitchen or the bedroom without me... really what she is saying is 'I love you mom, and I want your attention and company wherever I go.' I guess the heart-breaking truth is, that there will come a day (much sooner than I like) when they wont ask to sit on my lap, or to walk them to the kitchen for a drink, or to read every book we own to them. Thats the days when I will probably cry tears of regret that I actually got irritated on 'days like these.'

However, if it weren't for the quiet evening after this day, I wouldn't have spent all this time reflecting on my blessings. I have many more besides my children, of course... but they are the ones weighing on my heart tonight.

Now if only I can remember this in the morning when this Circus starts up again... ;)

Bang Bang

This video was taken this July (maybe Aug?) when Sophia shot her gun for the first time.

Labor Day Weekend

From our Friday night 'camping' we did in the back yard. We roasted some hot dogs, made some s'mores and played outside all evening. It was SO fun to get to enjoy a gorgeous evening outside together.

Sophia likes to collect these 'caterpillars'

Bella looking very thoughtful. :) These are all pics i took on my new Canon Camera and i LOVE the way my pics are turning out so far. They have really great detail, and really capture the moment!

Sophia taking a break from the action, its exhausting chasing those little sisters around!

Bella is just so photogenic, its not fair! Its hard to even choose the ones to show with all the adorable ones i have!