Bethlehem Breakfast

This year I am continuing a tradition that I started last year with the Joseph and Mary figurines from our nativity scene.  My idea for this actually was inspired my the Elf on the Shelf craze.  I love the idea of adding some mystery and magic to the Christmas season, but the Elf just didn't fit my style.  Keeping the focus off of presents at Christmastime is hard enough as it is.  I mean, from Thanksgiving to Christmas Day, whenever I am out with my kids, any and all adults, even strangers, will ask them "Is Santa coming to your house?  Do you think he will bring you lots of presents?"  And for weeks after Christmas, we get "Did Santa come to your house? What did he bring you?"  The constant reminder of greed can be pretty overwhelming for toddlers.  And last year was pretty rough with B.  He was completely consumed with what he wanted, what he was getting, how many presents he was going to get, etc.  It got pretty annoying, especially when you are trying to teach your children virtues like gratitude, humility, and charity.

On top of that, we have not encouraged belief in Santa Claus with our children.  Now I know this is a very sensitive subject and most parents have VERY strong opinions regarding Santa, so don't misunderstand me.  I have no issues with people who play up the Santa scene with their kids.  I, myself, was a firm believer in the jolly old elf until I was about 10 years old.  But like I said, we want to teach our children to be grateful for what they are given, and show their gratitude to those who gave.  And quite frankly, we just wanted to be honest with them.  Plus, I think the stress of trying to keep my kids from figuring out that I am Santa would send me over the edge.  I am not so great at secret keeping.  So, I set my thoughts on coming up with a similar idea to the Elf on the Shelf without the Santa/present focus.

I seem to vaguely remember searching for a 'religious Elf on the Shelf idea' on Pinterest and coming up with pretty much nothing, but I do think I read something about Mary and Joseph that sparked my idea.  So here it is:  when I set up my nativity scene, I do not put Mary, Joseph, or Baby Jesus in the stable.

Mary and Joseph spend their nights traveling through our house on their way to Bethlehem.  Every morning, they are in a new and different location.  The kids LOVE getting up in the morning and hunting down Mary and Joseph.  Last year, Mary and Joseph were found in all kinds of fun places--on the blade of a ceiling fan, balancing on curtain rods and picture frames, and even on the headboard of B's bed!  But on Christmas morning, Mary and Joseph are in the stable and the baby Jesus in laying in the manger since he was born during the night.  I will never forget when C noticed that they were in the stable last year on Christmas morning!  She was so excited.

So this year Mary and Joseph made their grand debut at what I called a Bethlehem Breakfast.  They were front and center on the breakfast table, and B was thrilled at their arrival.  He had helped me set out the nativity scene last night, and I had conveniently snagged the holy family and stashed them at the top of my closet.  He was pretty surprised when we had opened every box and set out every figurine and still hadn't come across any of them.  In the days and weeks leading up to Christmas I had asked him a few times if he thought Mary and Joseph would be traveling through our house again.  He would give me an exasperated look and say, "Yeah, when you get them down from the attic."  So the fact that they were not where he expected them to be was shocking.  He asked me yesterday, "Mommy, are you trying to trick me?"  Not much gets past that boy!

So anyway, the big arrival was this morning at breakfast.  I used my yard of burlap as a tablecloth, stuck my glass cake plate in the middle of the table, covered it with brown gift filler paper, and put Mary and Joseph right in the middle.  And since I had put up my blue Christmas tree in the kitchen, I used my blue willow plates and grabbed the blue "T" napkins from my stash.  I served cinnamon rolls and sausage--it was a hit.

Mary and Joseph have now traveled to the top of the refrigerator where they are waiting to be found by my kiddos in the morning.

Christmas Gift Guidelines

Since today is Black Friday, I decided to share the guidelines we have in place this year for our kids' Christmas gifts.  Between grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends, my kids get more Christmas gifts than they know what to do with.  And since I try to work on a pretty strict budget when it comes to all of my Christmas giving, I used an idea I saw on Pinterest to shop for the kids.  And like I usually do, I tweaked it to fit my needs and wants.  So here it is:  each of my kids will get 5 gifts from us--something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read, and something to do as a family.

In all honesty, the "something they need" has been the hardest one for me to come up with this year.  But I decided to make the LeapPads that I got the kids yesterday to serve as their "something they need."  It might be a stretch, but what did doesn't need something more educational, right??  (Somebody please tell me you bought that. haha)

The something they want items were pretty easy--what kids won't tell you what they want for Christmas?!  B is getting a much coveted Hot Wheels Angry Birds set, and when we asked C what she wanted, all she would say is "Minnie Mouse."  But good grief, she already have five!  So we found a Minnie Mouse backpack that she can use to store all of her Minnies.  They are each getting a pair of bedroom slippers as their something to wear, and I found each of them a book I thought they would like on Amazon as their something to read.

My plan is the get us tickets to the Imagine It! Children's Museum in Atlanta as our something to do as a family.  I have heard good things about it, I think the kids would love it, and the tickets come in as just under $14 a piece which is extremely affordable if you ask me.

So that's the breakdown of gift giving for us

             

Happy Thanksgiving!

Whew!  Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year, and as usual, this one was a whirlwind.  The Hubs got up early to go hunting, and I was up bright at early with the kiddos to put the turkey in the oven.  One of my most favorite things in the whole world is watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and from the looks of things this year, B has joined me in my love of the parade.  I look forward to watching the parade while smelling the turkey roasting every year, and this year did not disappoint.  The kids and I especially enjoyed seeing Gru and the Minions from our beloved Despicable Me movies.  And the Buzz Lightyear balloon was thrilling as well.

With the Hubs's brother and sister living out of the state and my brother typically going to Virginia to see his wife's family, we usually host a small Thanksgiving at our house with my parents and the Hubs's parents.  We do things potluck style, so I took care of the turkey, made squash casserole, two pecan pies and a Chocolate Derby Pie (a scrumptious Paula Deen creation that is to do for).  My mom made mac and cheese (much to C's delight), corn, dressing, and the most amazing homemade yeast rolls.  My in-laws brought mashed potatoes and pumpkin pies (which is a favorite of the Hubs and the kids as you can see from the pictures).

After lunch and putting the kids down for a nap, the Hubs and I did something we had never done before.  That's right, people--we went to Toys R Us.  When it opened.  For Black Friday Shopping.  I will honest, I was a little nervous and was seriously questioning my sanity.  But the lure of $40 LeapPads for the kids was just too tempting.  When I first noticed the sale ad that peaked my interested, I also saw that there was a one per person limit, and I wanted one for each kid.  I mentioned it to the Hubs thinking he might have a suggestion of who could go with me, but said, "I'll go."  I was so shocked I almost fell out on the floor, but I had to stifle the shock before he realized just how insane the mission was that he was signing up for.  So we left both sets of grandparents at the house with sleeping kids and headed out in the cold to get in line.  To make a long story short, it was not nearly as crazy as I thought it was going to be.  All of the shoppers were courteous and respectful, and we got all of our shopping done for the kids.

We got home just in time to visit for a few minutes with a missionary from our church that we had invited over for Thanksgiving lunch since he was in the country without his family.  He wasn't able to come for lunch, but came later in the afternoon and spent some time with our parents while we were shopping.  We ate left overs for dinner, hugged the grandparents goodbye, and took the kids to see the Christmas lights in our neighborhood.

It was a wonderful day spent with family (and a friend), and it is always nice to stop and take a moment to express how thankful you are for the blessings in your life.  I am thankful everyday for my sweet family and for the One for blessed me with them.  I thank the Lord for them everyday.

First FSU Football Game

The Hubs and I took B to his very first Florida State football game this afternoon, and it was so much fun.  My brother has season tickets, so we were able to go with him and have pretty good seats.  The Hubs and I used to have season tickets back in the early years of marriage before the kids, so it had been a WHILE since we had graced the benches of Doak Campbell Stadium, and I must say, it was good to be 'home.'

We got to the game early and were able to walk around outside the stadium and get some pictures.

Then we entered the stadium to gaze upon Bobby Bowden Field.  It was a lot of fun for B to see his name on the signage around the stadium.  Here he is with Uncle J with the sign for the field in the background.

Now B is quite sensitive to loud noises and had some pretty serious anxiety about the noise level inside the stadium.  Pop offered up his noise cancelling head phones that he uses when he goes to the shooting range.  B felt a lot better knowing he had something to help with the volume.  And we got to be 'those parents' whose kid is wearing ear mufflers.  haha  In spite of his nerves, he enjoyed the opening ceremonies with the band playing, the war chant, the fight song, and Chief Oceola riding Renegade and stabbing the spear in the ground.  He was pretty sold from then on.

Then the game got started, or for B the marathon eating of junk food started.  He enjoyed a large bucket of popcorn and an enormous snow cone--neither of which was he able to actually finish.  And he was also eventually able to ditch the noise cancelling head phones once he adjusted to the volume.

When our Seminoles were up 35 to 7 at the half and it was starting to get cold, we decided to watch the band do the halftime show (a tribute to John Bon Jovi which I LOVED) and then we left.  This is a picture of the band playing Bon Jovi's hit "Livin' On a Prayer" specially for the student section.
 

After we left, we headed to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings where B fell asleep in my lap and we were able to finish watching the game which we won 80-7!!  After dinner, we grabbed a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts which will serve as a delicious breakfast in the morning.  It was a really fun trip, and we are all looking forward to returning for a game next season.  GO NOLES!!!

Catching Fire Date Night

Ever since I found out that the second Hunger Games movie was in he making (which I am pretty sure was over a year ago), I have been itching to see it.  And even though he is not much of a novel reader, the Hubs watched the first Hunger Games movie with me, liked it, and was willing to see the second one with me when it came out.  Well, the day finally arrived.  And tonight was the night!  So, we took advantage of it, and had a date night.  We grabbed dinner at our local pizzeria that is right next to our small movie theater, and then headed down to grab some popcorn and grab a seat.  I was practically bouncing in my seat with excitement . . . and the movie did not disappoint!

 

I absolutely LOVED IT!!!!!!  I would literally go to the theater right now and watch it again.  It so perfectly captured everything in the book and left out very few details.  I will admit that I usually get annoyed when I watch the movie of a book I have read.  The movie always leaves out the details that I loved, but very little was changed from book to movie where Catching Fire is concerned.  Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson were perfect and adorable together as usual, and I fell in love with Finnick Odair all over again during the movie.  If you loved The Hunger Games trilogy, don't walk, RUN to your nearest theater, grab some popcorn or Snowcaps and enjoy!

Tree of Thanks

These days, with Christmas-talk starting as soon as the last "Trick-or-Treat" has been uttered, it is very hard to get kids as young as mine to focus on anything besides what they want for Christmas.  This has especially been the case with B who has had presents on the brain for weeks.  So this was my attempt at encouraging thankfulness and trying to at least put a damper on "I can't wait to get presents" talk!

Every morning at breakfast, I ask the kids to tell me something they are thankful for.  I cut several leaf shapes out of felt and write what the kids say on each leaf.  I let them pick what color they wanted their leaves to be so I can tell who said what by the color.  B picked green, and C picked brown.  In hindsight I wish I had not given those colors as options, but I will get to that in a minute.

My original plan was the put the leaves all over the kitchen, but after a while I ran out of places to put the leaves, and wasn't really wanting to complicate things by making something to hang them with.  So I just stuck them randomly about until the Hubs had a better suggestion.

The Hubs' suggestion was getting one of my Christmas trees down early and putting them on that.  Here is where I wished I had chosen different colors for the leaves.  I knew the green would not show up on a traditional green tree (and the brown wouldn't look great), so I told him to get the white tree that I usually put in C's room.  It doesn't exactly scream "fall" or "Thanksgiving" but I am happy with the finished product.  I grabbed a small plush turkey from the play room and stuck it on as a topper.  I had snagged the yard of burlap during a recent shopping excursion to JoAnn's, so I tucked it under the tree as a skirt.  Then I just laid the fabric leaves on the branches.

I have really enjoyed hearing what the kids are thankful for each morning.  There responses have ranged from sweet and heart-warming like God, Mommy, Daddy, their grandparents, and special friends to totally expected like toys and cookies to random and strange like milkshakes, Angry Birds, roads, and plates.  I can't wait to hear what they have to say the rest of the month!

Gingerbread Men

The book that we read in school this week was The Gingerbread Boy by Paul Galdone.  It is a retelling of the traditional story:  old lady makes gingerbread boy, boy comes to life and runs off, gingerbread boy climbs on fox's back to cross river, fox tricks boy into getting his nose, fox eats boy.  The kids loved the story, and I showed them a couple of YouTube videos of the song ("Run, run as fast as you can . . .") and they loved them too.

So we decided to make our own gingerbread men.  I found a pretty simple recipe from the Food Network and baked up just four of the cute little guys.  I put the rest of the dough in the freezer to save for Christmas.  I did not make the royal icing that is given in the recipe because I was not familiar with dried egg-white powder and wasn't really interested in doing anything complicated with these cookies.  So the kids used M&Ms to decorate them and we enjoyed them after dinner last night. 

before they went into the oven

and after they came out of the oven

I was surprised at how much the kids liked gingerbread cookies.  I am not a huge fan of the flavor, but the kids loved them.  C even enjoyed licking the beater after making the dough.

2nd Annual Backyard Camp Out

Last year the Hubs and B camped out in the backyard once football season was over.  And of course, B loved it!  So it was a must do for the first Friday after football season was over this year as well.  Last night started with tent set up and fire building in the fire pit (that we borrowed from a neighbor for last year's camp out and still haven't returned!!).

Then it was time for roasting hot dogs.

And of course, it's not a camp out without s'mores!!

Then it was bath time for C while the Hubs and B ran to Wal-Mart to get a lantern for the tent.  Then B got his pj's on, grabbed two of his favorite board games Chutes and Ladders and his Mickey Mouse clubhouse game, and he and his daddy retreated to their backyard man cave.  C was not happy about this, but then I bribed her with the chance to get her finger nails painted for the first time, and she was fine.  She's pretty easy to please, that girl.

They spent all night in the tent and had a wonderful time.  And C slept all night in her crib even though B wasn't in his bed which made for a pretty good night for me as well.

From the Mouths of Babes

Since this little blog mostly serves as my journal to document the happenings and happy times of my family, I decided to document a few of the funny things B has said lately.

One Wednesday night after church classes were over, B hit two of the teenagers that were playing with him.  When the Hubs was talking to him about his behavior in the car on the way home, he asked B why he had hit them.  B's response:  "Because I am so frisky like the pokey little puppy."

The next night, the Hubs and I were having a conversation.  B kept trying to tell me something, but the Hubs and I were still having this conversation.  Finally, B said, "Daddy, when I am talking to Mommy, don't uhstract me!"  (I think he meant distract.)

That same night, the Hubs sent B to our bedroom to get his bag that he takes to school which is pretty heavy.  B got to our bedroom doorway with the heavy load and said, "Uh, guy, a little help here?"

One night we were getting ready to read our Bible story with the kids, and B started talking about how he hoped it was the story about how Jesus died on the cross because that is one of his favorites.  It started a discussion about Jesus's death and resurrection, and we asked B why Jesus died on the cross.  When exasperation, he said, "He died on the cross for our sinned."  Stifling my giggles, I asked B if he had any sins.  He nodded his head no, and with a very thoughtful look on his face said, "I have five senses."

He has always been a ham with a hilarious sense of humor--even when he doesn't mean to.  This reminds me of a time when he was about two and just learning to talk.  I am not even sure if CeCe had been born.  He was really crying and melting down about something.  I looked down and him and said, "This is ridiculous.  You need to pull yourself together."  He instantly stopped crying and with a completely serious face, he said, "I am NOT a kuzzle."  (At this time a lot of his words started with k, so he actually meant puzzle.)  I immediately went from being annoyed with him to cracking up!

 

I love this kid!  He constantly has us in stitches!

New Dishwasher

Our dishwasher has been out of commission since June.  That means I have been hand washing dishes (with a pretty bad attitude I will admit) ever since then.  The Hubs and I just weren't sure whether we wanted to repair our current one or pay a little bit more for a completely new one.  Well, with Thanksgiving just around the corner and all the holiday cooking, baking and entertaining that comes with it, I was ready for a decision to be made.  So we decided to just get a new dishwasher which I was beyond thrilled about.  But the box that it came in made the kids completely giddy.  They enjoyed hiding under it and playing in it.

Then the Hubs suggested that they color it which sent them from giddy to gleeful.  They loved drawing, coloring, and decorating the box inside and out.  And B did a nice job writing his numbers 1-10.

While waiting on the Hubs to finish installing the new dishwasher, B grabbed the packing pieces that were used to cushion the dishwasher inside the box and lined them up to serve as a temporary track for his trains.  I love watching the kids get creative with random stuff like this.

 Then they got in the box and the Hubs pulled them around the living room and dumped them out onto the floor.  This game sent them from giddy and gleeful to a frenzied level of excitement that they could barely contain.  (And don't judge the Hubs--he was wearing his workout clothes in both of the pics of him here!)

As many of us remember from our own childhoods, a giant box was one of the best toys in the world.  I have a feeling this box will be in our house for much longer than I would prefer.

What's On the Tank {The Hunger Games Trilogy}

I am CRAZY excited about the newest Hunger Games movie coming out next Friday.  I cannot wait to see it, and the Hubs and promised me a date night to go see it soon!  Now, I read the Hunger Games books last summer, loved them, and was practically standing at the nearest Red Box when the movie came out on DVD.  But with Catching Fire coming out in just 10 days, I have decided to read them again just as a refresher of course.

I read Catching Fire in about a day and a half, and I started on Mockingjay as soon as the library could get it in for me.  I am about halfway through it and have taken a bit of a break due to being really busy this week.  Although the content of the books is disturbing to think about (children killing children), it was quite thought provoking.  And I really loved that the books were practically completely free of any explicit or inappropriate language, and there was very little sexual content and that was mild.  I really, really loved these books.

So what are you reading??

Master Bedroom Gallery Wall

Ever since pretty much forever, I have wanted the perfect item to hang over the bed in our bedroom.  I had always pictured something flowery like a field of poppies or something, but I just never found just the right item.  Well, the other day the Hubs commented that we don't have very many candid shots of our family around the house.  And he is right.  We only had one candid picture framed or displayed in the whole house.  I have several professional photographs and portraits displayed, but nothing candid that I took myself.  So, I was a bit inspired and got busy on my most recent house project.

So I started this project by picking out a frame.  I looked online and had seen some really cute ones, but none of them were quite what I had in mind.  They just didn't fit the style of our bedroom.  And I wasn't wanting to break the bank either.  This project was definitely design on a dime.  So, one day this week, as I was walking through our local Wal-Mart, lo and behold, I find exactly what I was looking for AND they were only $4 a piece!  SCORE!  Then, I went through some of our best pictures and chose four of my faves.  I had them printed at our local Wal-Mart that actually does a pretty terrific job and then scooted on over and grabbed four of those fab frames.  Here is a look at one of the frames and a close up.

Once I got the pictures in the frames, it was time for the hardest part:  actually hanging the pictures on the wall.  I knew how I wanted them to look, but getting them exactly even with each other was not going to be easy.  The way I did it worked, but I am sure there are MUCH better ways of going about this.

I traced the frames onto parchment paper and cut them out.  Then I marked on each piece of parchment where the nail would be.  I taped them to the wall and measured to make sure they were evenly spaced.  Honestly, the tape did not stick all that well to the parchment, but it got the job done.  Then I just put the nail right through the marked place on each piece of parchment and hung the picture.  I only had to adjust one picture that seemed a little off.

And here is the finished product.  I am pleased.

And, like I mentioned earlier, I still have plans for the window treatments in the kitchen.  Fabric and trim have been purchased, and the wood for mounting has been cut to size.  All that is left is fabric cutting and sewing.