Awesome

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Merry Christmas Eve

So here we are on Christmas Eve day.
Going on about 4 hours of sleep but not too tired yet. I'm enjoying listening to Contemporary Christian Music on Pandora, kids playing "nicely". Having consumed a large quantity of coffee this morning I am not too surprised at my energy level. Time to get moving on the rest of the day.


Several hours later; we are all back from running some errands and doing some last minute Christmas shopping! With a dash of hope I put my boy down for a much needed nap and refrain from taking my very much needed nap. I'm counting the hours and minutes until we can put both kids to bed for the night  before I can take their gifts out of the secret hiding place to wrap their presents.
Let the countdown begin!

4.5 hours.....

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Elf on the Shelf: Is it all worth it?

At this moment I am laying on the floor of my now clean carpet to share a beautiful, magical tradition that has started in our house.

The Elf on the Shelf.

Now I was told that this would be a great tool for getting naughty children to fall into line as we near a crazy and hectic holiday season. It is my understanding that this cute, little stuffed elf is supposed to "show up" at the beginning of December and stay until Santa comes on Christmas eve... late.
Every night he magically travels to the North Pole to tell Santa all that kids have been doing. Naughty AND nice. Then he comes back and gets in to some mischief or plays till the kids get up. (Of course this means that mom is supposed to move him around to show what he has been doing)


All this to say: Is it WORTH it? I have been moving the creature. I have been playing along with the magic of it. I have been encouraging the kids to be nice and good so the elf can report good things to Santa. BAH! That's what I think. All that work and the kids have maybe even been worse than usual! This is not the bargain I signed up for when I accepted the ugly little guy into my house. He is not keeping his side of the bargain. He is supposed to be dragging his mischievous little butt up to the North Pole to report to Santa. He is supposed to be achieving something other than being ratty, decidedly UNmagical urchin that sucks up all the beauty around him.

Well, that was most unflattering. I just exposed my darker side of the holidays.
All the things I DO enjoy will overshadow this slight slip-up, I hope.
Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

I'm worn all out! But Remembering the Reason

As I sit here in from of my computer screen I contemplate the meaning of life... not really.

What I am really contemplating is going to bed early(ish). As in now. It's almost ten at night and I have another early morning getting two kids going in the same direction and off to school appropriately dressed with shoes on, including socks; clothes on, including underwear; and teeth AND hair brushed! Whew, it's more work than you can imagine making that happen 5 days a week.

I'm looking forward to Christmas Vacation for that very reason. Yes I'm excited to have family over. Yes I'm enjoying the decorations and the holiday treats. But most of all I'm excited to sleep in a bit. Relax in the mornings. Ahhhh, I'm enjoying the idea now.

Life can get so busy with extra holiday ... stuff, that we often can forget the actual reason for the holidays! Faith. Family. Joy. Peace. Good Music. And of course good (great!) food!

I am ready to relax, but I want to remember why I am able to celebrate this awesome, worldwide holiday. I have complete belief that God sent his son, Jesus to be born of a virgin so that he could be the ultimate blood sacrifice needed to fulfill the covenant laid out between God and Abraham. I believe Jesus died on a cross like a common criminal, was buried, rose again 3 days later and ascended to heaven where He waits for me.

I'm going to take time to remember those things every day.





Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Christmas Preparations and Santa

Christmas is only a week away and I'm not ready for my in-laws to show up! I wish Mary Poppins would show up and snap her fingers for me!
We got up our tree and lights in the windows already and now we just clean and wait. And clean. It's hard with two little ones in the house but hopefully I can get them to help out more than they destroy. Any ideas for that?!
I had my one and only holiday bazaar last weekend and I did well! I sold a lot of my little crocheted guys; my octopi, hedgehogs, bookmarks, fingerless gloves, hats and cards! I even sold a couple picture frames I covered with pretty paper and embellished. Very fun. I'm starting to sell them online again. I'm trying e-bay and a new app I found called Offer Up. It's a bit like Craigslist and it is very easy to post my things. I'll have to keep you posted on how things sell.

What do you do for Christmas and the holidays? Do you go all out to decorate or keep it simple? In town or out? Santa or no? I found a great letter a mom wrote to her kids about the truth about Santa,
Check it out.

amazing way to tell a child the truth about santa. This is awesome beyond words. Who ever wrote this wins at life.

Farewell for today. Have fun getting ready to this all too hectic celebration of Jesus' birth. Remember why we celebrate and enjoy!

Crochet Projects

So here’s the thing.
 I have added crocheting to my talents! I have been doing mostly arigurumi animals, a bib, wristwarmers, some hats and a potholder. The potholder turned out, let’s say, wavy? The hats usually are a bit big. But the animals, well, they turn out darn cute! Here are a couple of things I’ve done so far.



Do you have a favorite? Do you crochet too? Where do you get your ideas? -