Get Me Outta Here!!

If you still believe in Santa Clause, do not read beyond this point.

We don’t “do” the whole Santa thing. It is a personal decision. There is no real super educated or in-depth reason as to why we do not, we just don’t feel like we have to.

I found out the “truth” about Santa when I was around 4. I asked my Mom if he was real and she told me the truth (thanks Mom for not lying- I know it was hard for you). So because I never really grew up believing myself, it was never really an exciting magical thing. Therefore I don’t really see what Lucy could be missing by not believing. I don’t think she is really missing out on anything except for disappointment in the future.

I am not judging you if you choose to believe in Santa. I do not care and it does not matter to me whether or not your children do Santa or not.

Oh, but those poor little kids… what will they think when they find out the truth?! The tears…

HaHa.

I do believe that the true meaning of Christmas is the Birth of Jesus Christ. I do not love the whole commercial aspect of Christmas and I don’t like that Santa is taking the place of the real reason for this Holiday. St. Nicholas was a real person and has a real story, and that Santa Lucy will learn about and hopefully follow.

I really love this Veggie Tales Christmas movie. You should watch it.

Okay, so blah-blah-blah… Here is the real reason for this post.

We visited “Santa” today. I did it. I traumatized my child. I never thought I would do it but there wasn’t a long line and he had a great mustache!

Yeah, I couldn’t make her do it alone. So, I traumatized Eli too. I wonder if his Mom will ever let him come back?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last Minute Christmas Collage

I had an opening on one of my walls. It really needed something. Something Christmas-y.

What do I do? For I did not have anything on hand, nor the money to buy a Christmas brand…

(Rhyming… it’s a Christmas thing. Everyone should always Rhyme during Christmas.)

Actually,  I did have some scraps on hand. So Lucy, Mary and I pulled our scraps, junk and creativity together and made this Christmas collage. Here is a brief “How-to” incase you want to make one. It was really easy, and cheap.

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First, I went looking for an unused frame. I knew I had a couple… I just had to find one that would work.

Next, we pulled out all of our holiday craft paper, wrapping paper, Christmas bags and the like. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to draw or paint anything so I was hoping I would find a scene large enough on one of the things we pulled together to put inside of the frame. I didn’t (darn it).

Light bulb.

Why not put together a collage using all of the pictures we liked?! It would be so easy and unique and colorful. It would bring together all of the things about Christmas we love and enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So we started cutting out details and arranging them on the frame.

 

 

 

 

Then I thought that I would like to incorporate a poem or scripture to remind me what this Holiday is really about. Which really was a good idea because the frame was going to go about our really nice and expensive Nativity (just kidding, it is Fisher Price). Way to pull them both together Janet. Thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So after a few snips and tucks we used our gluesticks and scrapbooking tape to secure all of the elements of our collage. And here you have it. The final product.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t ya just love homemade?!
Tip Junkie handmade projects

Playroom Wall Decal

My next favorite thing about out new playroom is the wall decal. Wall decals are not original these days but I really like them. In our case, it adds a touch of color to an otherwise rather ordinary and awkward space.

The area where we put the decal is a bit awkward for any normal type of art work. It is part of the wall that separates our TV room and the playroom. Because it is a higher traffic area I didn’t want to put framed art because I felt like it would get knocked around a lot but it is a really plain space and felt that something should be put there. When I found this piece of art I immediately knew it would be  perfect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a perfect pop of color right?

Right now the door underneath is just storage but one day I hope to make it a little hide-a-way space for Lucy. I would like to paint it to look like the inside of a tree complete with squirrels and owls.

Who knows when that will happen.

You can get wall decals almost anywhere these days. Just google it.

You can also make your very own customized decal. Check out this tutorial.

I’ve also seen it done with liquid laundry starch. Soak whatever fabric you want (pre-cut into the shape or design you want), stick it to the wall and smooth it out. Voila. It will  also easily peel off without ruining your walls (so I’ve read).

It would have been nice to have been super crafty and done it one of these two ways but I got this decal for free. Why not take the easy road? lol

 

 

 

 

I am not the only one… am I?

*revised due to error with template spacing

I am not the only person that likes to save, organize, sort, color categorize, separate and reuse their gift wrap right?

I am slightly obsessed with doing so. It is one of my greatest achievements. I think I like it so much because it is one of the few things in my life that I can control. And, it saves me a butt load of money.

This is the gift center of my Craft Closet. It makes me happy.

The bags on the left are miscellaneous gift bags. The box of bags on the right are my Christmas bags, tags and bows. They are both organized by size. I hope people start having baby girls because I have more baby gift bags than necessary.

Again, my gift boxes folded and arranged by size.

And lastly, my most favorite. The tissue paper, color categorized. Eeek. There is a blue one out of place. I have to go fix it. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUCY (2) !

You fill my heart with gladness

Take away all my sadness

Ease my troubles, that’s what you do

– Rod Stewart

I hate to quote Rod Stewart here but it seems appropriate when I think about Lucy. I actually am a closet Rod Stewart Fan. My baby sitter in elementary school listened to R.S. all. the. time. so now I know all of his songs by heart.

Anyway, back to the point of this post…

Tomorrow, November 28th, is my baby girls 2nd Birthday. Holy Moley. Can not believe it. I am sure I said that last year when she turned one but here we are again. Another Birthday.

Last year she was still a baby. This year, she is a little girl!!

Today was her Birthday party. Don’t be offended if you weren’t invited… it was just a family party.

 

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Lucy knows her colors and can almost count to ten. She loves pizza, string beans, string cheese, apples, mac & cheese and humus. She LOVES to dance. She loves “flops” (flip flops). She loves watching movies “wat mooovie?”(watch movie?). Elmo is her favorite. We are starting to introduce a few Disney movies.

She is really girly and loves babies and her purse. She enjoys coloring, play dough, stuffed animals (sleeping with ALL of them) and her cousins.

My favorite things this second year of Lucy’s life would be hearing her sing along with all of her songs in the car, hearing all of her new words and sentences (like hearing her say “I love you”, “pweeeze” & “wat dis” (watch this)). Also seeing her interact with her toys and using her imagination is really fun.

Now, don’t get me wrong, of course I think she is amazing and beautiful and smart and funny, but there is also a lot of challenges that have come along.

Being diligent with our disciplining methods is really challenging. You want to give up and give in so many times just to keep her from crying or freaking out. I can see how so many children get really bratty… I think it is because this is such a pivotal age and it is so easy to give them what they want just to keep them happy. Not giving in has been really hard but it has also been one of our greatest accomplishments.

She is not perfect, and neither are we.

We fought for a whole week at every nap time and bed time about her binky and I did not give in, no matter how much she cried or whined. And, now, she doesn’t even ask. She knows that binky time is bed time. This little victory encourages me whenever we are trying to train her in other ways that seem to be very challenging. That, and her becoming pickier at meal time has been the most difficult part of this year.

To you Lucy, Happy Birthday my love. I could not have made you better if I made you myself. That means, if I got to hand pick everything about you… you have turned out way better than I could have ever imagined. God knew what I needed and what I wanted because you are perfect to me in every way. Even when you are grumpy. Which actually really gets on my nerves. But even your attitude teaches me something about myself. And what I learn about myself helps me grow into a better wife and mother.

I love you.

 =)

Free Thanksgiving Printable!

Yesterday at our “Playschool Preschool” (a.k.a. Homeschool Preschool Co-op) we had our Thanksgiving party. We read books, did a turkey dance, made a craft and had a delicious Thanksgiving Feast!

As our craft we colored and assembled a turkey and wrote the things we were thankful for on each of the turkey’s feathers. As you can imagine, asking little children what they are thankful for is pretty amusing. Apparently the only thing Lucy is thankful for this year is her cousin Mae. I had to help her remember the other things I knew she was thankful for so that her poor little turkey had more than one feather.

 

Here is the link to the craft we did. It’s free! I love this website. They have lots of great activities for children… all free!!

Remember the Thanksgiving Tree we did last year?  I never did post the finish project but we will be doing it again next week and hopefully I’ll remember this time.

What are you Thankful for this Thanksgiving?!

if i died tomorrow…

 If I died tomorrow I would have a very long list of “things I want to do before I die”.

I  have a completely irrational fear of death. I guess it isn’t really irrational because it really could happen at any second, but I actually think I am going to die at any second. Is that weird? I have a huge fear of death. I know I should not be afraid because Heaven is a FAR GREATER place then earth, but obviously, I fear and am deeply saddened by the things I will miss out on if I die. Mostly milestones and events related to Lucy. I can’t imagine not being here for them. I know that if I am dead I will not know the difference, but I allow that thought to make me anxious far too often.

And a word to anyone that might like to take my place as Ryan’s wife after I die, I already promised him that I would haunt him and whoever he takes as his wife. Just so you know…

Now as many of you do probably have some mental note of things you would like to do or accomplish before your death… I have a nice list. And, for someone who is probably going to die soon (from natural causes I hope), I have not checked very many things off that list.

So, Lord, if you would like to keep me around a little longer so that I can accomplish at least half of these items, that would be great!

  •  Go to Paris. I would be nice if I didn’t have to fly. I don’t like flying.
  • Own my own restaurant or create the menu for an existing restaurant.
  • See Lucy and any other children we have get married.
  • Go to New York and be on the Today Show.
  • See my sister graduate college, be successful and live on her own.
  • Own a home on at least three acres of land with a big country porch, a mud room from a Pottery Barn catalog & a Theater Style basement.
  • Teach High School History.
  • Kiss Ryan Price before graduating High School.
  • Get married.
  • Have four children.
  • Be an outcast on American Idol.
  • Buy an outfit from White House Black Market and have somewhere to wear it.
  • Learn how to sew.
  • Go to Disney World.
  • Do a standing back tuck without a spotter.  (I almost accomplished this at one time… I think that ship has sailed.)
  •  Help my Mom start a Bakery.
  • Take Ryan to Vegas and Sponsor him in a poker tournament.
  • Dye my hair and then be able to dye it back to my natural color.
  • Plan someones wedding.
  • Help one person every single day.

 

On a side note. Though I do have a serious fear and concern that I am going to die before I “live”, I have already been blessed in my life. If I do not wake up tomorrow, I know that everyone I know and love will be taken care of. It does no good to worry about tomorrow. Live today as if it is your last.

Naturally I hope that I am missed but I hope that people would see my life as an example of God’s love and kindness. I hope that my life; my past, my present, my struggles and my blessings would be used to help others.

And, pease make sure Ryan doesn’t dress Lucy like a dweeb!