Christmas Day 2011

This year for Christmas we were away from family and friends for the first time in my entire 38 years.  And I survived.  It's one of my favorite holidays and I love the traditions we had in California but I also looked forward to starting new ones and bringing the old here to Texas.  We did a little of both and thank God for Skype because it makes the distance bearable, seeing faces and sharing the moments together.

We had a Christmas Eve dinner just the four of us, it was strange and quiet, small and simple.
We attended a Christmas Eve service at our church.
We tracked Santa online, watching his every move.
Caeden had a hard time going to sleep, so did Maisie and then Maleiah.
It rained.  A lot.
The kids were up early and it was magical, like I wanted it to be.  There was awe and a bit of wonder.
There were bikes {we have spent days riding in the afternoon}.
There was glitter glue {I say "was" because it's gone...in one art project}.
There were grandparents on Skype and text messages with pictures being sent.

It was different and good.  This year was a transition year, feeling our way around this new city, figuring it all out.  Next year we will do more, add more and I am looking forward to it.

Lots of this happening today as we prepare for Christmas day:

CJ Elf::Mom Elf::MJ Elf

Hiding in rooms, code knocking so the wrong person doesn't see what is behind those doors.  Sewing last minute projects and baking cookies for church and a special visitor we have been tracking here.  We just decided to go with the magic of Santa and see how far we can take it.  I am all for magic, there is only so much time...let the glitter fall where it may and live it up.

Merry Christmas...

Glitter

It's the week before Christmas and all through the house

Everything sparkles, our noses, the dog and even the couch.

Glitter is everywhere and so are the sprinkles

The lights here in Texas, oh, how they twinkle....

Here is a glimpse of what we have been up to this week!

We made these delicious sugar cookies and took them along for our annual Christmas light tour.  We taped the tickets to the bathroom mirror and told the kids to wash their hands and face after dinner.  They found the tickets and lots of squealing ensued.  So we were off to see some synchronized lights in Katy!  This is one of the houses we saw that night:

We made chocolate covered pretzels for our church Christmas party....very easy and fun for the kids to make.  I made chocolates when I was little with my aunt and cousins and I am so happy to be carrying it on with my own kids.  

We made Sugarplums and gave those to friends this week.  

The kids spent two days around the dining room table making Christmas cards which included the use of glitter.  Either you love it or you hate it.  If you hate it, you send it to Texas with your friend when she moves there.  We love it...especially Maleiah and if you know her, this is no surprise.  We had glitter from our friend Sarah and we had glitter from Grandma Carol...altogether this made for lots of sparkle, everywhere.  

There is still much more to be made.  Cookies, shortbread, pies and gifts.  Pajamas are being sewn {most likely late into Christmas Eve} and the cutest magnetic paper dolls are being made this week too!  I can't wait to show you all!  More to come, SOON!

Kitchen Remodeling

on a small scale....

This used to be a Pottery Barn workbench....then my friend Amanda saved it from a thrift store and created a kitchen for her two children. She passed it on to us for Maleiah and Justin and I remodeled it further. It used to be red and brown, Justin painted it black and white which matches our kitchen perfectly. We didn't really plan it like that but it was the paint we had in the garage. When we brought it in we had a good laugh. :)

I really wanted to think out of the box for adding to it and so I went to the Home Depot and kept my eyes open for inexpensive ways to dress it up.

We used corner moulding pieces for the burners, a pipe for the faucet and we got a package of hot and cold knobs for the sink. My friend already had the bowl for the sink. We added some hooks to the side for pot holders, towels and such. We used wooden knobs for the stove as well and I labeled them: off, lo, med, high.

I am so happy with how it turned out and I think Maleiah will enjoy many years of play with it!

Christmas Morning

Oh, Christmas Tree

Our tree is up and has survived without any catastrophes! Maleiah hasn't even tried touching it much which is a huge relief...I anticipated shattered ornaments.

Last year we talked about cutting a tree down since we miss that so much. However, our house is small and spending money to cut down a miniature tree wasn't something that sounded frugal so we are sticking with our little fake tree. We have put less up this year due to busy fingers but it suits our quest for simplicity. :)

Christmas Music Wednesday

Okay, so I am just randomly thinking of Christmas things to write about...What am I going to write about on Thursday and Friday?

I love Christmas music, I have been playing it since October...I am one of those people. But I don't like that the world outside of my house does the same. It bugs me to go into a store and see and hear Christmas too early. I don't know why.

Anyway...music. These are my childhood favorites...enjoy!

The Roger Whittaker Christmas Album

His Christmas Album

Christmas Album

What are your favorites? Happy listening....

Advent Garland/Chain

There are lots of ways to celebrate Advent or countdown to Christmas and last year was the first year that we did. It was too late to make a Advent tree from matchboxes which I love and we were having some friends over so I decided to do a chain/garland with a mish-mosh of ideas for a family to do. I included scriptures, activities, jokes and Christmas quotes and I hand wrote all the chain pieces and gave the finished garlands away as parting gifts. This year I made a few more and instead of hand writing them I typed it out (big time saver!) and took pictures! It's also a great way to use leftover Christmas scrapbook paper..or a good reason to buy more! :)

Christmas Movie Tuesday

I collect Christmas stuff.

Music. Movies. Snowmen. Children's books.

Each year we always (we have only missed once) watch White Christmas...it's my absolute favorite. We are big fans of Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye is a hoot. Justin saw another Bing movie at Target called Holiday Inn which we had not seen so off to Netflix (don't you love them?) we go and into our mailbox it came.

Holiday Inn (Special Edition)

It was a good one and I am pretty sure it's the same stage set as in White Christmas which made us feel like we were watching the prequel to it. Great singing and dancing and really I had never seen a Fred Astaire movie before. I love old movies. They remind me of simpler times.

Christmas Book Monday

So I am going to post some of the Christmas books we are reading this holiday season each Monday!

A board book for little hands that like to destroy. :)
Merry Christmas, Mouse! (If You Give...)

A sweet story about a boy and his loving father.

The Little Fir Tree

A funny read aloud. :)

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

While You Were Sleeping

I have loved this song since it came out a few years ago but for some reason it holds a new meaning for me during this season.




Oh little town of Bethlehem
Looks like another silent night
Above your deep and dreamless sleep
A giant star lights up the sky
And while you're lying in the dark
There shines an everlasting light
For the King has left His throne
And is sleeping in a manger tonight

Oh Bethlehem, what you have missed while you were sleeping
For God became a man
And stepped into your world today
Oh Bethlehem, you will go down in history
As a city with no room for its King
While you were sleeping
While you were sleeping

Oh little town of Jerusalem
Looks like another silent night
The Father gave His only Son
The Way, the Truth, the Life had come
But there was no room for Him in the world He came to save

Jerusalem, what you have missed while you were sleeping
The Savior of the world is dying on your cross today
Jerusalem, you will go down in history
As a city with no room for its King
While you were sleeping
While you were sleeping

United States of America
Looks like another silent night
As we're sung to sleep by philosophies
That save the trees and kill the children
And while we're lying in the dark
There's a shout heard 'cross the eastern sky
For the Bridegroom has returned
And has carried His bride away in the night

America, what will we miss while we are sleeping
Will Jesus come again
And leave us slumbering where we lay
America, will we go down in history
As a nation with no room for its King
Will we be sleeping
Will we be sleeping

United States of America
Looks like another silent night

Christmas Morning...

Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas!!!

I hope your holiday is sweet!

Christmas Place Cards

I made candy cone place cards this year for our Christmas table. I used scrapbook pap
er that I had bought for other Christmas projects earlier in the month. I cut a 12 x 12 piece of paper in half, diagonally. Then I made a cone shape and taped the seasm together on the inside and the outside (next time I will use double sided tape so there is no tape showing).
I used ribbon to make a handle and tied a small label around the ribbon for the actual place card.
I then placed teh green ones on the snowman plates and the red ones on the white plates at the table.
They were fun to make and I think they would be a great addition to any celebration at any time of year. :)