Christmas 2014

Well, I think we pulled off Christmas. We got back to our home after a month away on Sunday night. That left us three days to get ready for Christmas. We had no decorations up, no gifts purchased, and hadn't done many of our favorite Christmas activities.

We did have an inexpensive pre-lit tree, so the boys and I set it up first thing on Monday morning. They were very involved and had lots of fun! The ornaments needed a little redistributing, but that's part of the fun of having kids at Christmas! I'm going to remember next time I set this tree up that it shouldn't go in front of a window. It makes the branches look super thin!

I went Christmas shopping every day--once by myself where I got 90% of the shopping done, once with the boys for groceries and one more gift not available at the first place, then a last quick trip for a couple more stocking stuffers. Husbands are so hard to buy for, aren't they?

We've had time for a couple crafts, I wrapped everything, and the boys enjoyed peppermint hot chocolate while watching a Christmas movie. Our Christmas card will be a New Year's card this year, and grandparent gifts will be late, but we'll have a fun Christmas Day!

Wishing you all the best this Christmas, even if you're in a place of grief or sadness (we just lost Gary's dad less than two weeks ago), or if you're in a less-than-abundant time financially (Gary's going to school part time and working part time so we can relate). We're choosing to focus on our blessings and hope you are able to see how God is taking care of you, even in difficult circumstances.

Merry Christmas friends!

Mother's Day 2014

I wanted to state, for the record, that I love being a mom. I used to think parenting would be a lot easier and a lot more fun, but then I had kids. It's hard work! I fail daily. But these three continue to love and trust me, I'm learning some profound and simple truths about parenting from the Bible and trying to apply them to daily living. Meanwhile, I'm understanding God's love for us in a much deeper sense, as the love toward your children is only a small sprinkle of how God loves you.

Anyway, I'm neither eloquent nor verbose, so moving on to a quick recap of my Mother's Day this year, the 7th one since becoming a mom!

We learned years ago to just not go out on Mother's Day. Places are extra crowded, many times there's a set (and expensive) menu, and it's just not relaxing. So we ate breakfast at home, then went to Lowe's where we got a few vegetable plants and flowers for some raised beds around our rental home. It was kind of cold and rainy, and most people were still out at various crowded, overpriced buffets, so Lowe's with my boys was fun!

This was a few weeks ago at the zoo. There are no deer-like creatures at our Lowe's!

I had mentioned to Gary that I wanted a picnic table for our back porch, and this little number was only $89! I love it!

Due to the rainy day, we didn't get the vegetables planted, but it got nice enough to grill and eat outside. Love it!

My three boys are all May babies, each one another Mother's Day gift to me! Since their birthdays are so close together, we usually do something for all of them together. Gary wanted to make a cake and we had a group gift to open from my mom, so we turned our Mother's Day grill-on-the-patio into a birthday celebration too. I don't mind sharing! (Um, and isn't that cake so cute! Good job, Sweetheart!)

Mom got the boys camping equipment! They got battery operated lanterns and their own mess kits, as well as one big tent to share! They are super excited, but so are Gary and I--such a great, practical gift that we plan to put to good use soon! Thanks so much, Grandma Joycie!

Unfortunately, a big nasty storm rolled in as we were finishing supper. Sirens and warnings everywhere, and according to a picture I saw the next day, this was the real deal and not too far away! We moved the party indoors where we thankfully have our bedrooms in the basement. The boys all share a bonus room so it's a large space with just their beds and dressers. Gary pushed the beds together to make room for their tent and the boys completely forgot about the thunder and lightning. They slept there that night and every night this week! 

So, that was Mother's Day 2014! Sweet and simple, just like I like them! Minus the tornadoes... 

Christmas Past

Wow, it feels good to blog again! Somehow it's easier to write more when I write more. Sounds redundant, but whatever it is, it works for me.

So today I wanted to share the rest of our Christmas pictures, you know, for the record. I know no one cares about Christmas anymore, but I want to be able to look back and remember that one Christmas in Lincoln.

Note: The pictures stink. It's true, they do. Whatever excuses I might have, it doesn't really matter. And my apologies in advance to my family for the awful pictures of you, and for hiding behind the camera and ending up not being in any said awful pictures.

(For the rest of the pictures of our Christmas 2013, go here. And here. And here.)

We stayed put at Christmas. We had a little tree and kids big enough to enjoy decorating and getting into crafts and super excited to open presents! We kept Christmas really simple and low-budget. The boys got fun stuff from all their grandparents and two boxes of books from my cousin who had out-grown them. We love books!

My brother, Luke, his wife, Lisa, and their kiddo, Declan, came for Christmas!!! That was an awesome gift to me! Lisa has been my bff since my freshman year of college, and I've only met my nephew once. And of course Luke is super fun too.

Lisa and I got to sneak away for coffee/chats twice! Pure bliss, lemme tell ya, except we were kinda stressed and actually able to open up to each other and ended up crying... You know, just life stuff. And the opening up thing isn't new for us--hello, we've been friends for almost *choke* 20 years! It was just being around a close friend and having the opportunity to really share about stuff. You know? Completely therapeutic and worth much more than a $4 coffee!

Anyway, Luke read and talked to Jonathan for hours at a time! What a trooper! Jonathan reminds me a lot of my brother when we were kids. He wants to know everything about everything, but unlike Luke, Jonathan can really talk your leg off! Jared and Josiah got read to a lot too, and had fun following Declan (age 1) around. The group pictures didn't work out too well, but we also didn't want to fuss about it.

All in all, my memories of Christmas 2013 are good ones! Thanks for taking the trip down memory lane with me. And yay! I have it written down for posterity!

Christmas Chronicles {Instagram}

I lost my Christmas spirit this week, somewhere between expectations and reality. Or maybe it's just perspective.

The month started on a great note. I was super-excited to start decorating, creating memories with the boys and crafting my way through the month. But I under-slept, over-worked, neglected my health and had too many deadlines. My blessings turned into obligations and my opportunities became just another demand for my attention.

Why is it with Christmas, to have a memorable season, to celebrate to the fullest, we expect so much of ourselves? This weekend I'm going to quietly remember the reason we celebrate, soak in the love and wonder of our three little boys, and remember the big picture.

Join me?

Countdown to Christmas

Ok, so this post might not be named correctly if you're hyper-analytical like I am. It's not technically a countdown because I arranged these cute little cards in numerical order from least to greatest. I thought it would be easier to just check the day's date and read that card for a fun activity with my kids.
 

So in that regard it's much more like an Advent Calendar. But it's just for an activity, no scriptures or candies or gifts like so many Advent Calendars include.

Call it what you want to, I had way too much fun making this! It reminded me why I used to scrapbook and made me long for the day when I have a little more free time to spend doing just that.

I knew I wanted to make something like this, but part of the time factor when I actually sat down to put it together on Saturday night was spent figuring out how I wanted it to work and where I would hang it! I love the Advent Calendars that use paper lunch bags, so I found some tags and made some more out of my scrapbooking supplies.

I squirreled away cute ornaments, little craft ideas, glitter glue, gum, playdoh with cookie cutters, etc, planning on putting a clue for the day's activity in the paper bag which we'd take down and open each day.

But then I decided it was just too cute and I couldn't pull it down and rip up more of it each day, even in the name of something fun to do with the boys!

And the question of where to hang it kept coming up... And my crib spring display thingy-ma-bob was looking a little forlorn, even with the burlap banner and snowflakes added to the wreath.

Then I someone went and added cute cards to write the activities on... not sure why, but they're super cute, and I someone spent way too long coordinating them just so...

So my 2-3 hour project turned into 5 hours one night, three hours the next day, another hour or two hanging them...

Sadly, that's all too typical around here. Just ask my husband. No, don't, please!

Did you notice just how cute it all is?! Totally worth the time and effort!

You know that when Christmas is over I'll be storing these together in a box. Cute cards, clothespins, tags, ornaments, embellishments and all. It's actually quite flexible, in that next year I can hang them with the lunch bags if I want, or on a string on the wall, or wherever!

(The two little bunches in the top middle are place holders because my crib springs needed something there.)

The boys are totally thrilled with the little daily activities. These are things I included--on a sticky note so I can mix and match next time, or toss the ideas and do new stuff if I want to and not have to mess up my cute note cards!

• Make coffee filter snowflakes
• Sing carols by the Christmas tree
• Make cinnamon ornaments
• Make cookies and give them to a neighbor
• Enjoy hot chocolate with candy canes
• Decorate paper ornaments with glitter 
• Go to a Christmas concert
• Make an ornament wreath
• Play hide-and-seek with jingle bell ornaments
• Use cookie cutters with play doh

 So there you have it, our Christmas Countdown, or Advent Calendar, or Activity Planner, or Really Cute Christmas Display that took way more time than I planned but I still love it!

How are you looking forward to Christmas every day?

Be Nice

I try not to wax too philosophically here. Eloquence is not my forte.

But this quote keeps coming up. I saw it on Pinterest, I saw (and shared it) on Facebook. My husband even came home telling me a story based on this thought. It rings so true.

It rings true right now as we head into the holiday season. We see things on blogs and Pinterest and Facebook and in magazines and commercials and ads, even in our friend's homes, that seem bigger than they are. Something that makes us think they have it all together, they have the perfect holiday decor/meal/family/home/relationship/whatever.

Guess what? They don't!

This isn't an encouragement to look for the dirty little secret your friend/aunt/neighbor is hiding. It's about extending yourself the same pleasantries and compliments you give to your hostess. Cutting yourself the same slack you give your bff.

It's not about tooting your own horn either. Chances are, you're doing a great job. Your house looks great, your kids are happy, you cooked an amazing meal. And if you didn't have time, if you didn't get a chance, if you're fighting with your kids to get them to wear that color-coordinated family outfit, if you were grouchy at your husband because he went and sat down while you're still stressing about last-minute details, it's ok!

No, it's not good, nor fun, nor how you want to spend a holiday, but it's life. It's real. We've all been there. It will get better, this too shall pass, chances are you won't remember the stress next year when you reflect on Thanksgiving 2013.

I'm just pretty sure you'll enjoy this holiday season a lot more if you're nice to yourself. Compliment yourself. Say something nice about you in the mirror when you prepare to meet your guests. Do something nice for you during a day off. Step back and enjoy your kids in the middle of the chaos.

Be  nice. It's hard to be happy when someone is mean to you all the time. 

Don't be that someone!

Thankful Tree (DIY Art)

Well, maybe it's more like a branch.

Whatever it is, I like it. 

This is not an original idea. We've all seen different versions of thankful trees on blogs or Pinterest. 

For some reason the area behind our house has stacks of branches. On a walk last week I chose a likely victim, not too big, not too branchy. I asked the boys to collect rocks to help the branch stand upright and keep the watering can weighed down.

 

I had some tags on hand, something I found at Walmart in the office supply section. I jotted down a few things I'm thankful for and hung the tags on the tree.

Jonathan was super excited to add a few of his own tags, so I helped him write "mommy" and "daddy" and "my guardian angel". Love that kid!

There are so many ways you could personalize this idea! You could glam it up by using a beautiful vase and spray-painting your branch a bright color, then hanging tags with glitter or by using small Christmas tree ornaments to add a little bling. Mine is a little natural, a little rustic, a little neutral and, since I had the tags already, completely free! 

This might be a stretch, but I'm totally counting this as art. It's architectural, sculptural and organic. Definitely my idea of art! Not to mention I'm wrapping up this series a good 20 days late, so I'll take what I can get!

Day 28. Boom!

Father's Day Sign

I know Father's Day is over, but I just had to share what I made for my husband this year! Before there was Pinterest, I saw this sign and knew I wanted to recreate it.

As far as I can tell, credit belongs to The Handmade Home

I chose to keep my version simple by using a piece of board, my Cricut and black paint.

First I sanded the wood down to make the edges smooth, then I stained it with 'special walnut' stain. You should totally wait for the stain to dry, but I cut out the vinyl letters with my Cricut and started sticking them on while it was still wet. Well, vinyl doesn't stick to wet stain, so I added a little poly to make them stay in place and it worked great. Still, don't do what I did! Have some patience and wait for the stain to get good and dry!  

If you hadn't noticed, I didn't pay too much attention to my inspiration picture and my quote is a little different. Oh well--it still rhymes!

The next step in the process is to smear black paint all over your kids and freak out that they might touch something! No, really, they've done this before and know the concept. Well, except for the one-year-old who was super tight-fisted, except when he tried to lick the paint! His hand print isn't perfect, but that's ok!

I added my kids' names with more vinyl letters, then sealed it all with poly.

Daddy likes his new sign and we have a lasting memento of when our boys were 5, 3 and 1. Aw...

What did you do for your husband on Father's Day? Any great ideas for next year?

Happy Father's Day!

There's nothing better than spending time with Daddy on Father's Day! My boys' Daddy thought we could all do with an outing, so we spent the day at the John Deere Pavilion in Moline.  

The boys all enjoyed climbing in the big tractors!

After exploring all the tractors, we enjoyed a delicious meal at Johnny's Italian Steakhouse next door. By the way, steakhouses are a great place to eat if you're vegetarian!

What did you do to celebrate Father's Day?