Our Advent Calendar

Isn't this adorable? My pictures don't really do it justice, but you get the idea. The kids and I made this from a kit my mother-in-law gave us from Stampin' Up. Love it!

Here's what I've thought of putting in the boxes so far . . .

Bible verses

crazy bandz

healthy treats (we try to limit candy because the kids get it everyhere the go, it seems)

silly instructions - like "Sing Jingle Bells while hopping around the room."

stickers

Any suggestions on what else we could put in the boxes?

Week of Craziness

I fully intended to blog more this week but it got away from me. The days looked like this:

Monday - schooled the kids even though all the public schools are out; we caught up on some work from the fire station day

Tuesday - trip to the dentist; yay for no cavities! Bubba still refuses to lay down on the exam table so it's lucky we have a very understanding dentist.

Wednesday - Giggles turned six!! I said "Happy Birthday!" when I woke her up and she looked at her hands, studied them for a second, and said, "I don't feel like I'm six yet." Later in the day I caught her resting her hand on the top of her head and sadly saying she didn't think she had gotten any taller yet. My funny girl. :)

Thursday - Went to my parent's home for Thanksgiving! Nothing caught on fire this year so that was good. (If you know my family and our Thanksgiving history you know I'm not kidding.) We played a good game of "Apples to Apples" and surprisingly, Spunky won!

Friday - Among other things Ethan and I attempted ONE black Friday sale. I am so not a shopper but it was a children's consignment store and they were giving away whatever you could fit in the provided bag. It was great, but everything was totally random in the set-up and was about 90% clothing. We didn't see much that we needed.

Tonight we went out and got a fresh Christmas tree. I just love the smell that fills the house. When I was little I was allergic to pine needles so I never got a real tree until being an adult. It's a treat!

My biggest joy today? Watching Bubba REALLY get into decorating the tree. He would cradle each ornament in his hands and carefully hang it on the branch. (The same branch for all the ornaments! I had to sneak back later and spread them out. ) He would have trouble once in a while and I'd hear him mutter "Oh man! Oh man!" His therapist used to say that because they say it on Dora the Explorer, and now Bubba has picked it up and says it all the time. We think it's cute. :)

Something To Be Thankful For

While I could fill several pages with what I feel God has blessed us with, the topic that is on my heart today has to do with our baby girl. We didn't share what was going on with many friends or family members because after the drama of the hospital stay on the heels of Bubba's diagnosis, it just seemed like too much. Too much to even talk about.

Calico was born with heart problems. We didn't know anything about it until she was about a week old and had her first pediatric appointment outside of the hospital. The doctor detected a heart murmer and sent us to a pediatric cardiologist. We decided to just assume the best; that it would be an innocent murmer. It turned out that she had two holes in her heart and a constricted valve. The doctor explained that the holes would most likely heal on their own but the constricted valve could possibly mean heart surgery. There was nothing we could do but wait. She assured us that we didn't need to treat our baby any differently.

We had an appointment at three months and six months. At these appointments there wasn't much progress in either direction. Throughout this whole time, I had just felt peace from God. I know that He holds all of my children in His hands. We continued to watch our sweetheart grow big and strong.

Friday was her nine-month appointment. We went through the process that I've gotten accustomed to; taking all of her clothes off, forcing her to lay down while the ultrasound tech took pictures of her heart. This time was particularly hard. She's hit the "stranger danger" stage, so she bawled the entire time. We waited for what seemed like forever in the waiting room, and then the doctor came in and examined her some more. After the exam, she leaned back and told us that Calico's heart is getting better! We don't have to come back to have her checked for two more years!

Thank you, God, for an early Thanksgiving gift.

New Artwork

My cousin Tina is having her first baby next month and she asked me to create some artwork for the baby's room. She wanted pandas, and music, and the color purple. (I had to clarify on the music part; I wondered if she wanted musical instruments or what. She wanted headphones and that type of look.) So anyway, here's what I came up with for one of the smaller pieces. It's pretty simple. I hope she likes it!

p.s. The color is actually bahama purple, but in this photo it looks blue. :)

Trip to the Fire Station!

We had a fantastic field trip to the fire station yesterday! I was lucky enough to only have my three school-age kiddos and no little ones with me. I caught myself tuning out a little bit during the safety demonstration, but then remembered I need to know this stuff too. :)

Our department has the ambulance service in with the fire service so the kids got to see the ambulances too. Correction: they got to climb around in the ambulance as well as the fire truck. (I was impressed that they let the kids be so hands-on with everything.) We all have a new appreciation for what these guys do for our town.

The little neighbor girl I teach told me, "This is the GREATEST field trip ever!"

Bread In Five Minutes

I made bread today. And it was SO good. While looking for my recipe, though, I came across this book and wondered if it delivers. I can't imagine spending so little time on homemade bread; it seems wrong somehow. :) I actually have a recipe that doesn't require any kneading; it's great. So, have any of you tried this and what do you think?

What We've Been Up To This Weekend

Every once in a while our family has a weekend when we REALLY get things done. Like twice a year, maybe. I have to say that my sweet husband did the majority of the projects today and yesterday; it seemed like I was the one changing diapers, running to pick up supplies, feeding the kids, and so on. But together we managed to paint from the bottom of our staircase up and throughout the hallway of the upstairs, paint the pantry and laundry room, and build shelves/organize the school lockers! (And go to church today.)

Ethan really is much more organized than me. I probably could have lived with our pantry being somewhat disorganized, but I SO appreciate that he put everything back neatly (and even made labels for the shelves!)

And yes, the lockers are still maroon. Blah. I must say I am SO very excited to teach the kids this week and know exactly where everything is though!

Gift Idea #1

I wanted to share handmade gift ideas on here but I can't very well post what I'm doing this year, in case family reads it. :) So I've decided to show some gifts I've made in the past. This purse was a fairly easy gift to make with little knitting experience. It's knitted on round needles and lined with fabric on the inside.

More ideas to follow!

Somewhat Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Dip

Thanks to all you ladies who shared ideas on decorating. I will be sure to post pictures when we get around to that room!

Now, a little something for you . . . the kids and I have been enjoying this dip a lot lately. It tastes heavenly on apple slices. This is from the book "Deceptively Delicious".

1/2 cup natural peanut butter

1/2 cup fat free cream cheese

6 tablespoons chocolate syrup

1/4 cup carrot puree

1/2 teaspoon salt

Stir together until smooth!

Decorating Opinions Needed!

I love luxury bedding. We've never had any, but I still love it. I looked online and found this gorgeous set by Calvin Klein . . .




. . . priced at $415.00! So Ethan suggested I sew one for us. Have any of you ever made your own duvet cover? Seems like it would be easy (until I try it, that is!)

Also, when we do eventually get to our bedroom, I'd love to paint the walls a pale gray. What color/colors would look good with gray?

'Tis the Season

If you make any of your Christmas gifts from scratch, then it's definitely time to get crackin'! My attempt this year is to make all of our gifts for family, friends and neighbors. Yes, I'm probably over-compensating for last year, but being stuck in the hospital for so long made me miss decorating, caroling, Christmas parties, Christmas programs, holiday foods, opening presents with the family, and more. So don't be surprised if I get a little nutty.

Our first project this year is one that the kids do. We did it a few years ago and it was so easy and fun. We simply buy a roll of craft paper, make stamps from potatoes, and go at it. My parents used to used comics to wrap presents in, but I enjoy doing this. And isn't it so much more fun to unwrap the gift, rather than simply pull it out of a bag?

For fun I decided to do an internet search for homemade wrapping paper ideas. And I just have to share . . . when I typed in "homemade," the first suggestion the search engine popped up with was . . . (Are you ready for this?) homemade toilet bowl. Bizarre, eh? So, if that sounds like what you need for that "special" someone on your list, I'll hook you up with the link! :)

Simple and Free Fall Decor

I am the one who is always dreaming of a gorgeous table centerpiece (but doesn't like to shop). I had a vision in my head of a long tray holding all kinds of goodies, but remembered I had these three cute plates in my Christmas decor. So I pulled them out, pulled some jars out of the cupboard, and took the kids for a walk. All those fun leaves were just waiting for us to gather up and take home.

Ta-da! Centerpiece done. :)

Blessings

Last Saturday we attended church and braced ourselves for a difficult time with Ryan. He has been going through a phase where he screams bloody murder in his preschool and we get paged out of church. So this time we decided to take him into "big church," which worked for a bit. When he started getting too antsy I walked him over to the preschool class, thinking that maybe I could stay in with him and get him laughing. That ultimately didn't work, but we did have a silver lining in the cloud that night.

We walked into the classroom filled with three and four-year-olds playing with all types of toys. Ryan immediately started slapping himself in the face, screaming and crying. All the kids stopped playing and stared at him like he had an infectious disease. Then from across the room I heard a sweet little voice calling "Ryan! Ryan!" It was the precious little daughter of a friend of mine. She ran over to him and started saying, "Ryan, did you get an owie on your nose? Are you okay? Do you want to play?" I seriously felt tears come to my eyes at her kindness. She didn't see some weird kid with problems; she just saw her buddy.

I am SO thankful for this little angel and her compassion!