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.