It's that time of year!

A hodgepodge of the holiday! So here is a little bit of what the holidays look like at our house. I like to decorate pretty simply. We definitely don't go crazy but I add a little bit more each year and still have a few more ideas up my sleeve this year.

Above is the ornament wreath that is so popular around the blogoshpere. Along with snow candles. I saw this simple idea at the inspired room. It is epsom salt placed in the bottom of jars/candle holders to look like snow. I love the simplicity of this & have them all over the house.

In the bedroom I added a little Christmas bling to the candles by covering them in mod podge and rolling them in epsom salt.

And here is Alex and Eli's contribution to the decor. Definitely can't leave them out! They made this shape craft that I found at "No Time For Flashcards" (of course). This was a great craft b/c it focuses on shapes and it taught them "trapezoid" which was a new one for them. :)

We put these up in the kitchen window!

Don't Forget WFMW @ "We are ThAT Family".

The Photo Shoot of 2009

The one where we froze out butts off! OK lets just say that I didn't plan well. Sunday night I realized that we didn't have a picture of the four of us recently meaning if we didn't get it done before Thursday it would not get done due to Jareds surgery. He was less than thrilled pre-surgery I didn't want to attempt to try it post. Therefore Tuesday was the big day and my dear friend Stephanie was my accomplice in getting "just one decent picture" (those were my exact words, I was being realistic). :) She did a great job but the boys couldn't have been less cooperative. Here are the results.

We ended up using this one cropped to our top half and with the caption "May your Christmas be more merry than Alex & Eli are in this picture". :)

Love this one!

Outtake!

Adorable!

So there you have it. I'd like to think of it as a tutorial on what NOT to do when taking Christmas photos. Don't 1) wait until the last minute 2) pick a 20 degrees day etc. etc. etc.

Thanks Stephanie. You did a great job! :)

Simply Saturday

I haven't done a "simply Saturday" post in a while and I thought it would do me good today. I am thankful to have Jared, Alex and Eli all home safe and sound and in their rooms. Jared's surgery went quite well and he is recovering nicely. The boys are out of sorts because it has been a crazy week and they miss having their Daddy throw them around the house. But right now I have a quiet house which I thoroughly enjoy and although I have to clean it after a very chaotic morning I am thankful for our home. It is a simple thing but not one to be taken lightly especially since it has been freezing out lately.

What simple things are you thankful for this Saturday? Leave a comment and let me know, it will do you good, I promise!

What they are capable of:

I thought I would take a moment and share what my two year olds are capapble of in the amount of time it takes to make mac & cheese. Yep, in the amount of time it took me to boil water, cook noodles, add butter and milk, this is what Eli did.

"I'm confused she seems annoyed and yet she is taking a picture of it?"

I am proud to say that when I asked him if he did it, he clearly said "yes". I guess I am glad that he didn't lie. Thankfully it is washable crayon.

Speaking of what people are capable of I have to take a minute and brag about my husband. I always ask him what he did at work and he continually amazes me with his answers. You see he not only teaches HS social studies, which, in itself is a very noble task but he does maintenance at the church which allows me to stay home with the bubbas, thank you LORD! Anyways, he fixes roofs, digs trenches (something to do with plumbing), fixes play grounds, builds entertainment centers, etc., etc., etc., like I said AMAZING. So what is my point? My point is this week Jared and I had a first together. We completed a curtain. My idea, his handiwork. TADA! We bought a drop cloth and used it to cover our 4 dining room chairs and make this curtain. The grand total for material being $13. We have lived here for 6 years this winter and have never covered the window on our side door until now. I like how it turned out. Thanks, honey!

I have a pic where he is looking at the camera but he was sort of shooting daggers at me with his eyes so I chose the nice one of him working. :)

Ooh and last but not least here is my latest thrift store find for $4.

and VOILA!

I think I will keep the pictures seasonal.

Click on over and get more ideas at Works for Me Wednesday!

Trimming the Tree: Part 2/The Outtakes

This is what happens when your two year old gets a hold of your camera and you don't care because it gives you a bit of peace while you decorate the tree.

As you can tell it was pointed in the wrong direction (towards him) the entire time he was shooting. I was a bit concerned that the flash may cause some permanent eye damage but he seems fine. :) This is 4 of about 20 pictures that he took with my camera not to mention the fact that my nieces camera has several of these also.

This is what happens when two year old boys discover Christmas lights.

Lots of fascination and blurry pictures from all the shaking.

Another funny outtake that is not pictured was when Amanda started walking away from the tree with a string of lights attached to her. It was comical to say the least. Thankfully, we realized it was happening soon enough to save the tree. :)

So all was well despite the fact that Eli through 4 tantrums in around 3 hours which was a first. He decided not to nap on this particular day and WE ALL paid for it. Amanda may never have children as a result of his behavior but the important thing was we all survived hurricane ELI!!!

Fa La La La La La La La LA!

Trimming the Tree: Part One

Amanda, our niece, wanted to help us pick out the tree and decorate. We were all for it and had a great time. She and I attempted to get some good pictures at the tree nursery but they were in vain. This is the best we did because the boys were all about running as fast as they could through the trees. She voted with Jared on which tree we should get AND what we should get on our pizza but I've decided I STILL love her. And I must admit that in the end I love the size of our tree.

Eli helping Daddy with the tree stand.

Amanda, Alex and Eli

A not so great picture of the final product. I promise it is prettier in person.

As I mentioned this is part one. The next post will show you the real chaos that was involved in trimming a tree with two year old twin boys! :)

Lessons from a 2 yr. old

Any parent knows that you are in for quite an education when those sweet little babies are born. Mine teach me daily. An ongoing theme for us is patience. I have taught the boys, when they start to lose their patience or ask me 3 million times to do something after I have said "wait, please" an equal amount of times, to sing a song that I learned as a child. Jared knew it too and we used to jokingly sing it to each other. Therefore when we had children it was a natural transition to teach them. It says: "Have patience, have patience. Don't be in such a hurry. When you get impatient you only start to worry. Remember, remember that God is patient TOO and think of all the times when others have to wait for you." Sadly enough Eli has sung it to me a couple of times. Yeah, my little Holy Spirit. ;)



So, as I said, ONGOING lesson. Today I heard him playing during nap and of course they can play with their "bed toys" (aka quiet stuff). I went in and he had gotten out of bed to grab a container of his little people. He was caught in the act but quickly changed his expression of "busted" to a BIG, wide smile and said "Here Mommy" and held his two little arms out handing me the bin as if he was helping me out SO much. I took it and he said "You're welcome, Mama". Ok, I have to admit I really just want to grab him and squeeze him every time he says "Mama" to me but instead I calmly explained that he is not to get out of bed and that it is time to rest. Score one for me because by this point in the day my patience is wearing REALLY thin.


I realized a couple of months ago that this was a "trigger" time for me, right before nap and bed at night. It was then that I began thinking, usually after I had lost my cool, that if I had just been patient for 5 more minutes (sometimes even less) things would have been very different and I wouldn't have to feel horrible for being grouchy to them right before bed. 5 more minutes. It seems measly but sometimes is just takes a second to feel overwhelmed and it is definitely something I work on regularly.


In my Bible reading last week I came across the story of Esau who sold his birthright for some soup. I can so relate to this guy. He was hungry! I've read and heard this story several times but this time that stood out to me. My New Living Bible study notes say: Esau acted on impulse, satisfying his immediate desires without pausing to consider the long-range consequences of what he was about to do. " It goes on to say: "We might feel such great pressure in one area that nothing else seems to matter and we lose our perspective. Getting through that short pressure-filled moment is often the most difficult part of overcoming temptation."


That moment when I am about to lose my patience with Jared or the boys. That moment when I don't feel like exercising when I know it is best for my health. That moment when I just. want. some. soup. (o.k. unlike Esau mine would be a 2nd brownie or another slice of pizza) but know that I should give it a rest. They are all short term decisions that have a lasting consequence. I am trying to be more mindful of this. So that is what "works for me". Think of Esau!

Who could possibly run out of patience with these sweet faces?

Me!

Head over to "We are that family" for more tips!