Friday, December 31, 2010

2010 A Look Back

January




February



March



April


May



June




July



August




September




October




November



December


Thursday, December 23, 2010

Magic

"When is he coming, momma?"

"On Friday, sweetie."

"I can't wait for Friday. Santa's coming on Friday."

"Tee! Tee!"

"Yes baby, that's our tree. Isn't it pretty?"

"Pee tee. Tee!"

"Momma, I can't wait for Santa to come. He's going to bring me some new markers and a horse puzzle"

"That's wonderful, Bunny. But you know part of Christmas is giving presents to people you love."

"Oh I know momma. I made a card for Ama and Baca. And one for my cousins. Do you think I should make a card for Santa?"

"I'm sure Santa would love a card, sweetie."

Bunny runs up stairs to make a card for Santa.

"Nanta! Tee! Pee tee!"

"Yes Lion, Santa is coming and will leave presents under our pretty tree."

"Nanta! Tee! Ju! Momma ju!"

"Oh you want juice baby?"

"Ju! Ju!"

Lion then chucks a car across the living room and runs to the kitchen to get some juice.

Mommy looks at the tree and the stockings and smiles. This is a very special year. The first year we will all experience the magic of Christmas together.

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday filled with markers, horse puzzles, juice and lots of magic as you open presents under your tee!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

A Lion In Winter

A lot of things have been going on with our family but I've been too whatever to blog about them. So I thought it would be a good time to update you on a few things Lion with a side of Bunny thrown in for good measure.

When we last saw Lion, he looked something like this:

He's just so cute and adorable.

But then I got a bright idea to do this:




So then he looked like this:


He's still cute and adorable but now he looks like a little kid instead of a baby.

And if that wasn't enough, we got this for him:

A big boy bed! Now he's totally not a baby.

And then there was his first snow:




Um, yeah. He totally loved it.

His other favorite thing (other than throwing things and destroying things):



Hanging out with his awesome sister.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Holiday Craftiness and a Giveaway







Thanks to Scotch(R) Double Sided Tape for sponsoring my writing about crafts. Add your comment below to be entered for a chance to win free sample rolls to help with your upcoming holiday needs. 10 lucky commenters will be chosen at random on Monday December 6.

This holiday season, I've been searching for a way to get the kids more involved / invested in our family traditions. They are all over traditions that involve ripping open presents and eating copious amounts of candy but the rest of it is just window dressing to them.

At this point Lion is too young to understand things that don't involve destruction of property or copious amounts of candy. Bunny, on the other hand, is eager to learn and get involved. I figured the perfect way to peak her interest (other than candy) was to do some holiday crafts.

The first craft up on the list was a kid friendly menorah for Hanukkah. We have a lovely menorah that Frink has had forever, but I figured we probably shouldn't let the kids (especially Lion) get too close to the flames. I really don't need or want my house to start on fire.



So the menorah needed to be flameless. I thought about having her draw one and add a new candle every night. But I really wanted something we could use year after year, so I decided on felt. I attached the menorah with Scotch (R) double sided tape. The candles and flames each have a small bit of velcro on the back so they are easily moveable and reusable.



So after Daddy said the prayers and lit his menorah, Bunny was able to add the candles and flames to hers. Lion then proceeded to take all of the flames off and tried to throw them away but he was coaxed back with promise of gelt and our beautiful felt menorah glowed once more.



Please learn more about Scotch(R) Double Sided Tape and other Scotch(R) Products, and join the conversation on the Scotch(R) Brand Facebook Page and via Twitter . I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

Ready or Not

I live in Wisconsin. I've lived here for my entire life (save a few months here and there spent in Illinois and Europe). I have braved 40 winters and am ready to tackle my 41st.

I complain endlessly about winter: It's too cold. There's too much snow. There's not enough snow. Boo hoo boo hoo etc.

But in reality it's a fact of life you need to deal with. It happens every year whether you are ready or not.

This year I'm not quite ready. It's a miracle that we made it through November without any snow and it was a blessing for me because I wasn't ready AT ALL.

Did my kids have mittens and hats? Um I think so. I'm pretty sure I saw some around here. But maybe that was last year, I don't know.

Did my kids have snow pants. Lion did, I'm sure of that because a friend gave us a pair. Bunny had some hanging in her closet. Except they were 3T and she's almost 5.

Did my kids have boots. In a word, no.

Its supposed to snow today. According to the forecasters we can get anywhere from 2 to 8 inches. Do you know when I bought all of the above mentioned winter stuff for my kids? YESTERDAY.

But I was ready for the snow a head of time. Not like last year when I bought Bunny's boots during the first snowfall and I had to make her wear her rain boots to the store.

No this year I was prepared before the snow fell and it felt good. Until this morning when I went to the car to take Bunny to school and noticed frost on my windows. Holy carp! Frost in winter! Who knew?1? I didn't have a scrapie thingie in my car. And I didn't have time to let the defrost kick in. I had to get her to school, so I had to think fast. And I'm pretty sure I came up with the perfect solution in a pinch: a plastic toy sand shovel!

Like I said I'm totally ready for winter.