Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Christmas Eve...We're Ready Santa!

Christmas Eve morning, we finished working on the "gingerbread village."  Next year, I may go with the single house.  Putting the little tiny houses together turned out to be a little more challenging than I had anticipated when I saw the sale sign that day after Thanksgiving at Michael's.  We made the icing included in the box (several days earlier)with full intentions of it being a one-evening-project.  Well...it just didn't work out (without going into too much detail). After all, this post is supposed to be about Christmas Eve.  So, we used some store-bought cake icing(found it to me much easier). We skipped the piping bag and just used a handy spatula to spread that pretty white sugar on! (I admire the baker who takes great pride in piping beautiful, smooth, straight lines).  I don't have this talent! So, for day 2 of our village crafting...

 Savannah is into it!!

She wanted to place gumdrops all the way around...This is her own custom design.  =)

Later that same night after a great evening with my in-laws, we came home, read our last book from the Christmas book bin, The Christmas Star, the story of Christ's birth.  We placed pretzels on Santa's plate, filled a mug with milk, gave him a napkin, and even a chair to sit in! It's off to bed!  
Did not get a picture of Savannah, but it took her the longest to fall asleep. Finally, late into the night, Santa came!

The first thing Savannah wanted to check on Christmas morning was to see if Santa ate all of his pretzels! =)  She ate his crumbs...then checked out the presents.  What a special morning.  We enjoyed our children, played with them, then sat down to a breakfast together. 
So blessed to call these people my family. I love each one of them  so very much.  At this Christmastime and always, I count my many blessings.  

JOY to you and yours!  

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

A little fun in the kitchen

 On Christmas Eve, we pulled a little chair into the kitchen and let Savannah and Noah help make goodies.  So, pull up a chair and get in on our little fun in the kitchen...

Making "date balls"...don't turn up your nose until you try them! They're a memory from my childhood and I love them!!! And thankfully, so do my kids. =)


 My sweet little Noah. =)

 Now, for some chocolate dipped pretzel sticks! This was their choice to leave on Santa's plate later that night!!



So much I could have been doing (maybe you saw all the dishes in my sink above) but this is what warms my heart...and the rest just doesn't matter sometimes.  


Next post....Christmas Eve! "We're ready for you Santa"

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Snow!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow and snow and SNOW!!! I know I haven't yet blogged about Christmas festivities, but I had to post the pictures of our beautiful North Carolina snow.  What a way to celebrate Christmas 2010.  I said to Dolan this morning while the snow was falling, "One of the reasons I love snow is that it makes you slow down!" Isn't this true?  When it snows enough to keep everyone home, together, spending cherished time...forgetting everything else on the "to do" list and making memories that will be talked about years from now.  
 Noah's first snow...that he can actually play in! (He was 6 months old during last year's snow).  
Savannah did not want to make a snowman, just dig and throw the snow.  They played for about 45 minutes and were ready to come in.  We drank hot cocoa with marshmallows, then daddy gave them a warm bath.  They settled down for a nap and so did Daddy, Mommy, and Levi.  


We hope you enjoyed the snow as much as we did and maybe had the chance to slow down a little.  

~Father, thank you for showing us yet another amazing part of your creation today.  I couldn't take my eyes away from the window. It was a true work of art. 

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Levi is 2 months old!

Our little Levi is 2 months old today.  He's growing so so fast. His smile is contagious to us all and he's such a good baby.  He's already out of his newborn clothes and into 3 months.  He has graduated from the bassinet to a "port-a-crib" (thanks to my dad and jeanna for loaning it to us!) Still sleeping in our room, though...and will be for a while until Noah is ready for the toddler bed.  We can't think about that transition right now. Levi is eating about every 3 hours and has gone as much as 5 hours straight through during the night! Wahoo!!! =)  That makes for one happy mama.  
Today, our sweet babysitter, Courtney stayed with Savannah and Noah for me to go shopping for a bit...with Levi.  It was nice to have some time with just him.  I fed him in the car in complete silence (something he's not very accustomed to...referring to the silence part...he gets fed in the car quite a bit!)I could talk to him solely and give him my undivided attention without fear of one of the others feeling jealous.  I was delighted to spend an afternoon with Levi on his 2 month birthday.  We love you little one!

Friday, December 17, 2010

12 days of Christmas Books!!

Thanks to my brother-in-law's mother for sending me the idea, we have implemented yet another wonderful Christmas tradition!  
Another great way to count down the days until Christmas....wrap Christmas themed books (we wrapped 12 because we don't have 25) totaling the number of days you're counting down.  Each night, have the children unwrap one book and read it together as a family. Savannah was so excited when she saw the Christmas book bin! She likes to do "eenie, meenie, miny, mo" so we did that to determine who picked on the first night.  It was Savannah! We read together the book she chose.  Here is a picture...a little blurry, but I think it captures the feeling of the moment.  You just can't have a peaceful, uneventful story time with a 3, 17 month, and 8 week old!  But we were together and we were starting a tradition that I hope will bring an extra sparkle to our children's eyes year after year as we bring out the Christmas book bin.
The next night was Noah's turn.  We decided to read at the table right after dinner and it worked out great! It also helped that Noah chose a shorter book. =) The Velveteen Rabbit



 My hope is that books will always bring a special excitement and joy to our children not just at Christmas, but always.  But, isn't Christmas a wonderful time to celebrate them just a little more? We think so.  


Thanks, Mrs. Vicky for passing this along!

A tree for Noah and Levi

Noah had the privilege of decorating this very cool silver tree for his and Levi's room...even though Levi does not actually live in there just yet.  The picture below captures the only ornament he placed on the tree.  The remaining pictures show a little bit of fun he had while sitting on the table!


 Pulling on the tree...


 Engaging Savannah in the fun...


He wasn't quite sure what to do with the ornaments and just wanted to throw them around the table.  =) Oh well, he had fun!  We headed to his room to set it up and plug it in and he loved it!!
He likes for us to leave it on at night.  It's so sweet to go in his bedroom after he has fallen asleep and watch him lay so peacefully in the glow of his little tree.  Merry Christmas Noah and Levi! We hope your first tree will be around for a long time! 

Sunday, December 12, 2010

A Visit With Santa!

Yesterday, we set out to have a visit with Santa.  Savannah was so excited and couldn't wait! When we arrived at the Berkeley Mall and ventured towards Santa himself, Savannah talked and talked while holding my hand about how she was going to talk to him and sit on his lap. She hoped she would get to see his sleigh and of course, Rudolph.  =)When we reached him, she walked right along the roped path and right up to his chair (thankfully, no one was waiting)and began to talk to him and tell him what our plans were for the rest of the day.  She climbed up in his lap and sat for a moment until we brought Noah and Levi over.  Then, he kindly asked Savannah to sit beside him in HIS chair!! She liked that.  We placed Levi in his lap next hoping Noah might feel a little more at ease, considering he was gripping my arm in a "don't put me down" sort of way.  We got him to sit on his knee.  There were a few tears, but with daddy and mommy distracting, and with the help of the workers who provided props just for this scenario....we got this picture! 
And we're very pleased!  
Have you been to visit Santa?  Share your  experience with us.  

Friday, December 10, 2010

Is tomorrow Christmas???

This is a question I was getting regularly.  So, to help Savannah see how many days until Christmas...we decided to make a countdown chain using leftover strips of paper we used at one of our "Christmas in Action" projects at church.
Each day, Savannah takes one link off and saves it in a cup on her shelf.  We count the remaining links so she knows how many more days until CHRISTMAS!!
To join in on the festivities, Noah thought it would be fitting to draw on himself with a RED marker! =)

I'm lovin that grin... =)
I'll be posting another soon (to count down the 12 days until Christmas)that my brother-in-law's mother sent me.  Looking forward to that one!  Please share your ideas for counting down!!


Thursday, December 9, 2010

More decorating...well, if you want to call it that.

The night we decorated our tree, Noah was too tired to be a participant. =(  So, after he went to bed... we put in "Frosty the Snowman" (Dolan and I used to watch "Miracle on 34th Street" but Savannah much prefers a film of the animated sort.)  Maybe next year she'll be in to the classic we're so fond of!! On to our decorating...

 Levi laid awake for a while watching the glimmer of lights and his sister running back and forth.  It wasn't long though, and all the excitement put him in a sweet slumber.  Savannah was not putting decorations on the tree, but rather lining them up on the kitchen table, the end table, and around the bottom of the tree.  She had the most fun for about an hour carrying on in this way.  When it was finally time for her to go to bed, we asked her to at least put one ornament on the tree.  =)  
It was a great night...just being together as a family doing something that brings joy to us all.  More to come...check back tomorrow to see one way we are counting down the days until Christmas.  
Until then, good night. 



Wednesday, December 8, 2010

A tradition has begun...

Christmas...the very word brings a smile to my face.  And oh the joy of watching a child react to the carols and lights, the sweets and treats, and traditions...those old and those just beginning.  For our family, we have begun a tradition of letting the children decorate their own small tree for their room.  This year, Savannah is old enough to do this herself.  So, with great excitement, here she is fixing up her tree.  

 She enjoyed pulling out "her" ornaments...those given to her over the past couple of years from mommy and daddy, and others. This picture shows her sweet expression as she finds her "jack in the box" ornament from mommy and daddy in 2008.  It actually winds and a gingerbread man pops out!  I love how genuinely excited she is over something as simple as an ornament.  Joy is in the small stuff!



Savannah's tree...just as she wanted it.  =)  You can't really see it in the picture, but over to the left, there is a poor stem with approximately 5 ornaments dangling from it. Again...just as she wanted it.  
I thought for sure that night she would want to leave her tree lit as she fell asleep...no.  She wants them turned off every night when we kiss her goodnight.  Funny girl...that Savannah.  

A great beginning to a tradition we hope will continue with all 3 for a long time.  Check back for Noah and Levi's tree as well as more posts from Christmas time in our nest.  


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