Handel would be proud

Brooklyn had her first ever school Christmas performance last week.  I'm sure it was quite an ordeal to have hundreds of kids from kindergarten to 12th grade practicing and performing, but it turned out great.  My favorite part was the closing song where the ENTIRE school sang the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah.  Brooklyn had been singing "For thou our God omnipotent reigneth." in the bathtub for weeks (and knowing Brooklyn, she could tell you exactly what that means).

 I spent a good part of the afternoon making Brooklyn a stunning headband 

only to see her on stage in the shiny red Santa hat. Oh well. 

 

 Obviously not everyone has a beautiful singing face.

 Leave it to kindergartners to have a bit of a choreography mix up... 

was it rub my eye? pick my nose? or act like I'm sleeping?

Days 'Til

Inspired by this, a friend and I created these as gifts for a few special people this year.  And since the one I'm giving it to wishes it was Christmas 365 days a year, I'm thinking its the perfect gift.  Get a head start on next year (or make one to count down any special occasion) and make one now!
PS- you don't have to use vinyl letters, just print the letters out out on full sheets of shipping labels and cut them out- but don't sick and restick too many times or the paint will run under the letters making more work for you- found out the hard way...

Peppermint/Chocolate

I have a major thing for peppermint/chocolate.  So obviously this is the perfect season for me. Peppermint Mochas from Starbucks, peppermint brownies, chocolate covered candy canes....you get the idea.  I have great plans to make a peppermint white chocolate cheesecake for Christmas dinner even.  This afternoon I indulged (actually shared with the girls) in one of my faves.  Peppermint chocolate chip milkshake from Chick Fil A.  And since it has been in the 80's this week, it made it all the better.

Gingerbread Fam

 

It started off as a gingerbread man craft (more to come on that later...) and ended up with Brooklyn insisting we make real gingerbread men.  I was afraid she would be disappointed when she realized they taste very different from the sugar cookies she is used to making and decorating.  But when she couldn't stop eating the dough, I knew we had a fan of the spicy sweet gingerness on our hands.  Ellie on the other hand licked off all the frosting and after taking a couple bites said, "Let's make cookies that taste good next time, Mom."  Classic.  Anyway, if you want to try to create your own, here's the recipe ( I just made a 1/2 batch).  The only problem I had was that several of the men lost their heads or  lower torsos because they were so soft, but I think they taste much better soft.  So if you are going to make them for just decorating and not really eating, cook them a bit longer. 

Ornaments: Part 3

 A few years ago I picked up a bunch of frame ornaments for super cheap form Aaron Brothers (I love their sales!).  I love the idea of pictures hanging on the tree (but no so much the pictures that come with the frames- that had been in there since I bought them).  Last year I decided to add another family ornament tradition and place our Christmas card photo in one each year.  Do you know how tricky it is to get 5 people in a 1X2 inch frame?  Anyway, go ahead and take a walk through memory lane...

  

2004

 

2005 

2006

 

2007

 2008

2009

2010

Ornaments: Part 2

As my mom's Christmas tree hot heavier and heavier, she decided to part with some of the ornaments that belonged to us kids. 

I actually made this ornament myself in 5th grade.  I joined the official cross stitching club (hey, it was cooler than it sounded) and we worked on various cross stitching projects at lunch recess.  To be honest, I only joined because it was freezing on the playground at recess and the club got to meet inside the cafeteria and stay nice and cozy. 

This ornament hung on the tree as long as I can remember.  It was given to me for my 4th birthday.  Which means it has seen 31 Christmases come and go.  Practically an antique I tell you.

Ornaments: Part 1

We had a family tradition growing up where my mom would buy us kids a special ornament each year.  She would pick out an ornament that had significance in our life at that time, and she would surprise us with them when we decorated the tree.  Having these special ornaments that we could look back at and remember each year, made the tree decorating experience so much more than putting silver balls on a tree.  So we have carried on this tradition with the girls and hope they find it just as special as I did as the years go by.

 Leighton's first Christmas

 Brooklyn starting school

 Ellie's first ballet class

Sickie

Poor Brooklyn has been really sick for 4 days now.  I feel like she has been sick so much since she started school (already ruining her chances of perfect attendance).  This time she has used every tissue in the house, polished off a bottle of cold medicine, and barely moved off the couch.  She had a ton of work to catch up on today, and as I was looking over her weekly newsletter, I noticed she would have benefited greatly from her health lesson last week- "how to keep from spreading colds".  Too little too late.  So now we are restocked on tissues and bracing ourselves for another round with the rest of the family...

Hostess with the Mostess

Had the annual Women's Christmas brunch this weekend.   I have been known in years gone by to totally stress out about the table I was decorating/hosting.  One year I tried to go cheap by forcing paper white bulbs in various vases I already had. Unfortunately they grew like Jack's beanstalk and bloomed early.  I didn't have time to do anything else so I had to prop them up with sticks and pray the 3 blooms they had wouldn't fall off of the way there.  The whole thing ended up looking like green onions in vases.  Not pretty.  This year I was determined to A. not spend a lot,  B. use everything in my Christmas decor at home after the brunch, and C. not stress out (I left that to Brett who had to watch the girls for 7 hours while I was there).  I'm not really the type to go all out with chair covers, chargers, taper candles and the like. So I decided to go with a anthro-esque look and wrapped Styrofoam cones with various paper, fabrics, yarns, etc.  And I couldn't resist glittering it up a bit with stars, candles and a few rhinestones.  And in the end I spent little, have a new home for the trees on top of the piano, and relaxed and enjoyed myself.

I pray that God, the source of hope, 

will fill you completely with JOY and PEACE 

because you trust in Him.  

Then you will overflow with confident HOPE 

through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 15:13

I love picnik

So you don't have to be a professional photog to get amazing pictures.  Check out what you can do on picnik.com...so cool.- thanks Steph!