What just happened? How can Christmas be over? How many pieces of Nutella French Toast did I eat? Oh dear...

What a blur the past five days have been! Friday my husband brought home a new electric fireplace from Costco.  We have been waiting for weeks for them to restock this item. We were so excited when (on my daily call, yes I have been calling every day for at least two weeks) they told us they were stocked. You know how it is with Costco.... Buy it when you see it, because when its gone, its gone. So hubby rushed down there Friday and bought it. We spent our Friday evening assembling it, like two kids with a new toy.

Then on Saturday our new sofa was delivered, so exciting after waiting 7 weeks. We purchased this sofa about 7 weeks ago from Ashley Furniture and have been waiting somewhat patiently for its arrival. They tell you to make sure that you have your home clear of snow so the delivery men will not get hurt. That has not been a problem because we had yet to receive snow. As dumb luck would have it, Friday we finally got snow. There was no way to clear the snow in time, so this is how you roll when you have furniture delivered right after a snowfall...

During all of this we also realized that we needed to start assembling kids Christmas presents. So a good chunk of Saturday was devoted to Santas Workshop. A Kid Kraft doll house needed to be built and bicycles needed to be adjusted, I knew just the man for the job.

 

This was suppose to be our baking weekend, but with all of this going on my hubby had to abandon me in the kitchen. So I had to fend for myself in the baking of traditional German/Swiss cookies. I think I did pretty good. I completed 4 out of the 5 cookies I set out to make. For the first time ever I made Mailanderli, Zimtsterne, Totenbeinli, and Planta Herzli. All cookies you would find in a traditional German Christmas Market, but this year you can find them in our kitchen!

Monday my good friend and her kiddos came over for a Christmas celebration. We even had enough craft supplies to include them in that days '24 Days of Christmas' project. My kiddos were so tired by the time they left... Come dinner time LeiLei was doing head bobs at the table.

Christmas Eve day the hubby surprised me by taking the day off. We went to our local German Deli to get all of the fixings for our Christmas Eve dinner. I hope we always live near a German Deli because that is quite the tradition in our home. In our home the kiddos open most of their gifts on Christmas Eve. Usually about the time we see they are no longer enthused by each gift yet wanting to open more, we call it quits. The rest of the gifts are opened the next day.

Christmas morning began with a visit by Santa.

We opened a few more presents and then I made Nutella stuffed French Toast. For those of you that have never had it, you need to make it, like now! It is so crazy good... We spent most of the day relaxing and eating. It wasn't until the end of the day that I realized I had not even brushed my hair or put on make up.

So now I sit here on December 26 wondering what just happened? How in the world can Christmas be over? I am not ready to celebrate New Years, or a few days later JayJays birthday. Maybe its the cold medicine talking, Santa also delivered head colds to our family, hurray. I think I am going to stay in Christmas mode until the end of the weekend, Christmas music will continue to be played and Christmas movies will continue to be watched. Maybe by Monday I will be ready to move on, but not today.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas...

I want 'Time' for Christmas

Every year my hubby asks "what do you want for Christmas?" every year I say "nothing". I truly mean it, there is nothing I want. We spent our first 13 Christmases exchanging gifts, many of them were amazing and extravagant and sparkly. Now I am at a point in my life that I don't need all of the 'stuff'. I could not tell you all of the gifts my hubby has given me. I remember some, probably due to the fact that I still have some of them. Many of them I probably do not even have any more and that is silly. Christmas shopping does not come easy for my hubby. So the idea that he would spend all of that time and energy on a gift for me that I dont keep forever seems silly to me. Besides if there is something I want or need he will always run out and get it for me. I know I will be needing a new computer this next year and I know he won't even think twice about going out and getting me a Mac.

 For the past few years we have not exchanged gifts, and I have to tell you it the best feeling. It sure gets rid of one of the biggest 'stresses' of the Christmas season. All I want is time, more time with him, more time for us. Time creates memories and memories you will have forever. If he were to take a week off of work to be at home with us I would be the happiest girl in the world. Two years ago for Valentines Day he surprised me by taking the day off and hanging out with us all day. That meant more to me than any gift he could have wrapped up.

So if you ask me what I want for Christmas, and I say to you "nothing" please believe me. If you still feed the need to buy something please buy a toy for a child in need, or a coat for a homeless person, or a bag of pet food for a no kill animal shelter. That is the best gift you could give me.

The stockings were hung on the mantle with care...

What a weird December we are having, mother nature is definitely not acting herself. There is not a spot of snow to be found. I am even starting to think we might not have a white Christmas. That will be no fun at all. On top of that the wind seems to be a bit of a nuisance this year, so Santa and Chilly have decided to spend the Holidays inside. I think I will take you on a little tour of our home during the Holidays.

I hope you enjoyed a little glimpse of our Christmas decor. It sure takes a lot longer to get all of the decorations up now that we have kids. I have to start the day after Thanksgiving, it takes me all weekend to accomplish the decorating. Between kids wanting to touch everything as I unpack it, to cats batting ornaments around the floor it is an excruciatingly long process. Some day I will be putting Christmas decor out minus the kids and I will be sad. I will not remember how big of a pain it was to put up the decorations with three kids running around my legs. I will only remember the excitement on their faces when we plug in the lights on the tree and on the house. I hope you have all your decorations up, and are able to enjoy the Holidays.

Santa Breakfast for Foster Families, from Barbie Dolls to Disney Princesses, it was spectacular

We had the opportunity to attend a really amazing event on Saturday. We attended the Santa Breakfast for Foster families, put on by our local Junior League. For three years I have called to RSVP only to be told there were no spots left. For years I have heard other Foster families talk about this breakfast, and how large of a production it is. This year we were lucky enough to go. Words nor pictures can do it justice. I took a few pictures but I have to be very careful to protect the privacy of all of the Foster kiddos at the event. I wish I had better pictures to share with you.

The breakfast starts at 9:15 with the arrival of Santa. Everyone is lined up outside the room to witness the arrival of Santa.

 At around 9:45 they open the doors and allow you to go to your table. Walking through the doors almost made me feel like a kid again. Three out of the Four walls inside that room were lined with Christmas trees. This was a large room (large enough to accommodate 500 people for this event), so I would say there were at least 30 Christmas trees. Each tree was not only decorated but had a theme complete with gifts. A good example was the Disney princess tree, it had a Disney princess table with four chairs in front of it, a princess bicycle, Disney movies, princess dolls and so much more, either on the tree or around the tree. Now imagine that with thirty trees. It was spectacular. Before breakfast each child is given a raffle ticket and they get to choose a tree to place that raffle ticket in. During the event the emcee (a local news reporter) raffled off all thirty trees. It was so neat to see the excited winners. The fourth wall was actually a stage where Santa spent his morning. Each child got to go up and sit with Santa and take a picture with him. After your visit with Santa you were ushered to a long table of books, (I am assuming donated by Scholastic Books) and every child got to pick out a book.

 Then you went back to your table to eat your breakfast. Each table was assigned a volunteer who guided you through the activities and made sure the mommys and daddys had continuous coffee, and that the kiddos had continuous hot cocoa. While you were eating breakfast your volunteer brings each child at the table a gift from Santa. Our girls each received two Barbie dolls, and our son received a Fisher Price toy phone.

 Then after breakfast your children are escorted to Santas workshop (without mommy and daddy) where they each get to pick out a gift for mommy or daddy, and then they get to wrap it. JayJay was so excited about this, that when they were done she came running to the table with her gift for mommy and immediately told mommy what was inside. So make mental note... JayJay is not the secret keeper in our family!

By the time we left our kids where pooped. Like I said, words do not do it justice. There were times I would look around the room at all of the commotion and think wow this is craziness. Then I would start to take it all in, this could easily be a 'first' Christmas experience for many of these kids. We had a special kiddo at our table who was eager to win one specific tree because it had gifts on it that he could give to his sister and his mom. Sad, because I realized that he and his sister were not in the same foster home. Every child there was beautiful, every child there deserves so much more than just a Santa Breakfast. A home, a stable home, a forever home.

Jesus is the Reason For Christmas, Everything Else Follows... A New Family Tradition...

It is no secret that I am a Christmas fanatic, I love Christmas, everything about Christmas. I love all of the fun stuff that goes along with Christmas, decorating the house, baking, and watching Christmas movies. Now that I am a mom I want to make sure I prepare my children for 'The Reason For The Season'. It is my responsibility to create loving, kind hearted children. It is also my responsibility to teach them that Christmas is about Jesus, everything else follows.

I saw this wonderful idea on Pinterest that I am going to incorporate into our Christmas tradition. Unfortunately, it will have to wait until next year because it involves a Nativity with moving pieces and I do not have one. You better believe I will be picking one up this year!

Set out your Nativity the day after Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is usually a pretty calm weekend allowing you to take the time to explain the Nativity with your children and how as a family you are going to prepare the Nativity for Jesus arrival. Set out all of the pieces except for baby Jesus, he will be placed in the Nativity on December 25. Next to your Nativity place a jar of straw (pieces of straw, toothpicks, dried and torn corn silks, anything that is small are resembles nature)... It then becomes your families job to create a warm and comfortable bed for Jesus.

Here is the amazing part! Every time you perform a random act of kindness you get to place a piece of straw in the manger. The best part... No one can see you lay down that piece of straw. The idea is for it to happen anonymously. So many lessons to be learned. Experience the pleasure that comes from doing good, and enjoy the act of being kind. Even if there is no one there to see the act of kindness you have done... you are blessing them, and as a result you are blessing Jesus.

After your kiddos go to bed on the 24th of December you will place baby Jesus in his manger. The kids will wake up to a filled manger (and of course presents)...

I would love to hear ways that you incorporate Jesus into your Christmas Traditions.

24 Days of Christmas kicked off with The Polar Express and an appearance from Elfina our Elf on a Shelf

 

We have officially kicked off our 24 Days of Christmas. Just a quick refresher, our 24 Days of Christmas will involve Family Time, Crafts, and Giving. It took me at least two weeks to gather everything we need for all of our activities. Not only gather but prep. My goal was to have everything ready so that the day of the activity I could grab the bag for the day and watch my kids have fun.

Each activity or craft was placed in a Ziploc bag and appropriately labeled. I then placed all of the bags in a basket so I could grab and go. I am looking forward to taking time out of every day to spend time with my kids. Don't get me wrong, I am a stay at home mom so I spend time with my kids every day. Unfortunately that does not mean that I actually 'spend time' with my kids.

Todays activity is making paper Santa hats. Too cute!

 

 

 

Yesterday also kicked off our Elf on a Shelf. Last year a girl Elf arrived at our home and we named her Elfina. Yesterday she made her first appearance on the Christmas Tree, today she was in one of the stockings. Looks like I need to do a quick Pinterest search for Elf ideas. What are some of your Elf ideas?

Have a great day!

I Have OCD... Obsesive Christmas Disorder

Some may call it an illness, a weakness, or just plain crazy...Whatever it is I have it! I was doing pretty good until hubs brought it to my attention (yesterday) that Sirius/XM Radio has already started playing Christmas music 24 hours a day on two different channels. Lets just say I am on a slippery slope with my OCD, Obsesive Christmas Disorder. I might not make it until Thanksgiving! Even with this illness, weakness, craziness I usually try to keep it at bay until the day after Thanksgiving. I don't think I will make it this year, I am already twitching (one of the first signs of this disorder). I know I am not the only one with this Disorder, so let me say this... Free yourself, let the world know you have OCD. Trust me once you get it off your chest you will sleep better at night!

Have a great Friday!!!

24 Days of Christmas... Its a good thing JoAnns Fabrics is having a big sale, I have craft supplies to purchase!

Since I announced that I was going to do the 24 Days of Christmas, I figured I better sit down and come up with my calendar of activities. My 24 days of Christmas will involve crafts, family time, and giving. As our kids get older I look forward to incorporating more giving but since they are pretty young we will be doing more crafts and family time at home. I am really looking forward to being able to spend quality time each day with my kiddos in the month of December. Trust me I am realistic, I know they are not all going to go well, and I know there will be days when I question why I put so much time into preparing all of these activities, but I do think it is a start to a good family tradition.

The only reason I am doing this post a few weeks before the start of December is because the amount of time it takes just to prepare for all of the activities. It took me almost three hours just to come up with my list of activities. I still have to make my shopping list for the craft supplies, do the shopping, and then do all of the prep work for the craft projects. For some people the prep work may not take all that long, but for me I need a two week cushion.

Let me share my 24 Days of Christmas with you...

 

Dec 1.

Family Movie Night / Watch Polar Express

Dec 2.

Crafts / Paper Santa Hats with Cotton Balls

Dec 3.

Crafts / Paper Christmas Trees decorated by Q-Tip painting

Dec 4.

Donate gently loved toys to Goodwill

Dec 5.

Make cookies to take caroling to the neighbors that evening

Dec 6.

Crafts / Make candy canes with pipe cleaners and beads

Dec 7.

Breakfast with Santa

Dec 8.

Crafts / Make a paper chain for our Christmas Tree

Dec 9.

Crafts / Pony Bead Snowflakes

Dec 10.

Crafts / Decorate a paper Christmas Tree

Dec 11.

Purchase 3 Grocery Gift Cards and give them away to 3 strangers

Dec 12.

Crafts / Decorate Paper Mittens

Dec 13.

Family Movie Night / Veggie Tales, The Star of Christmas

Dec 14.

Crafts / Melted Pony Bead Ornaments

Dec 15.

Family Game Night

Dec 16.

Crafts / Popsicle Stick Snowflakes

Dec 17.

Crafts / Make & Decorate a Paper Plate Wreath

Dec 18.

Leave a Note & Gift for the Mail Carrier

Dec 19.

Crafts / Decorate Pine cones in Glitter

Dec 20.

Leave a Note & Gift for the Garbage Collector

Dec 21.

Go Look at Christmas Lights

Dec 22.

Family Baking Day

Dec 23.

Crafts / Make a Reindeer with Foot and Hand Cutouts\

Dec 24.

Pick up our Christmas Eve Meal from the German Deli

(Already a Tradition in our home)

 



 I hope you are all inspired to do 24 Days of Christmas with your family.  I would love to hear about some of the projects and activities you have planned. 

 

30 Days of Thanks / Thankfulness... Have I been living under a rock?

Sometimes I scratch my head, wondering to myself what rock have you been living under? I like to think that I am pretty hip and with it, but occasionally (or more often than I like to admit) I will hear about something that seems like a brand new concept and then I come to find out it has been around for years. For example, apparently I am the last one on the planet to here or take part in the 30 days of Thanks/Thankfulness. So long story short, no need to watch my Facebook timeline for a new "thankful" post every day this month.

Let me tell you the two things I am grateful for.
1) My Savior - He is the reason I have so many things to be thankful for.
2) My husband - He is my partner in life. He makes sure that I continue to be the person that My Savior intended me to be.

O.K. so I may have missed the boat on this one, BUT let me declare I will take part in the 24 Days of Christmas.. Even if it kills me (and it might). I heard about this from a friend and thought it was a great way to connect with your kiddos once every day in the crazy month of December. It will take some planning so I will start working on it now. Basically it is either a craft or an activity that you do with your children each day. It can be anything from making candy cane ornaments out of pipe cleaners and beads to driving around looking at Christmas lights, to helping a neighbor shovel their snow.  I think this will be a lot of fun (as long as I am prepared).

Operation Christmas Child and a Si Robertson quote

The school which our girls attend has adopted Operation Christmas Child through Samaritans Purse as their community outreach project this Christmas. The program provides a shoe box sized gift box to children ages 2 - 14 around the world.

We decided to take home 2 shoe boxes, one for each girl to fill. My girls were very excited when I told them we were going to fill it with toys, and goodies. It took them a moment to process the next part, which was, and then we will put it in the mail so that another child who does not have many toys will receive it for Christmas. Both girls said hurray, and then about 5 seconds later LeiLei turned around and shot me a "What you talkin about Willis" look. It was hard not to laugh. Then I had to go into the pre-school age conversation about how not everyone has lots of goodies like we do. We are very fortunate to have so much, and since we do, we need to make sure we also share.

I checked out their website to make sure it was an organization I wanted our family to give to. Imagine my surprise when on the front page was a photo of Si Robertson. If you read my Duck Dynasty post, you know I am a fan...

“Look here, this is Si Robertson, all right? Hey, Jack, share your love by packing a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child, okay?”

 To find out more about Operation Christ-mas Child visit:
 www.samaritanspurse.org/occ