seriously.december 30

Scene: Crying Meredith. Guilty-looking Claire.

Meredith: Claire just bit me!

Claire: I didn't bite her...I was just hugging her with my teeth!

Seriously....it gets better.

Me: Claire, we don't bite people. You know that. You need to apologize.

Claire: Meredith, I'm sorry for hugging you with my teeth.

I laughed out loud. Seriously.

MerryChristmas!

...enjoy your Christmas holiday!

loving.the.season

Oh, how we love Christmas! My mom started a tradition with my kids a few years ago. She brought the little tree pictured above over with tiny nativity ornaments and little stars. They discuss the nativity story as they hang the ornaments and eat cookies and drink hot chocolate afterward! So adorable, and the kids look forward to it every year!

This year, Grandma brought over a new tree with some special ornaments...is this adorable or what? It adds so much to the corner of the kitchen! Thanks mom :)

So, after we decorated the tiny tree and the new tree, it was time to eat cookies and frozen grapes....

And drink hot chocolate (in the special Christmas mugs, of course)....

It was so much fun! Thank you mom for a fun day with the girls. They enjoyed it so much, and they can't wait for you to bring the hot chocolate mugs back for Christmas Eve! Yay for fun traditions at Christmas! What fun traditions do you guys have at Christmas?

elifut

Claire is learning to read in school, so she is naturally trying to write words while sounding them out. Tonight I went back to her room to give her a kiss. She was writing a word in her new notebook.

She said, "Is this how you spell elephant?" It was spelled e-l-i-f-u-t.

I said, "Did you sound that out? That's pretty close!" And I wrote elephant below her elifut and told her how the "ph" makes a "f" sound (which she found very silly...and I would agree).

Anyway, I was a proud mama.

crayon.roll

You guys, I have completely fallen in love with sewing. This is one of my favorite new projects. It was pretty easy and didn't take up too much time. I think I started the project in the afternoon (probably after lunch). And I was finished by dinner. And, I still was doing mom things now and then :) as always. I'm guessing that I'll be able to do the next one in an hour or so from start to finish.

I made it for my new niece who is coming home from China in January! We can't wait to meet her! The material matches her bedding.

There is supposed to be one more crayon in the roll (all the way on the right), but I sewed the opening a little too small. Next time, I'm shooting for 16 crayons!

first.hunt

Josh took Claire hunting for the first time a few weeks ago. She was so excited! He had purchased a tent blind so that he could take her. Unfortunately, they didn't see any deer, but Claire informed me that they did see one bird and maybe a squirrel. I asked her later that day what she enjoyed most about their hunt. She said, "I just loved wearing that face paint!"

question.of.the.day

Setup: Claire and Meredith are looking at the newspaper ads and discussing the pictures. Meredith spots an ad that has a product with both Dora the Explorer and Blue (from Blue's Clues) on the front of the box.

Meredith: Look Claire! Dora and Blue on the same box!

Claire: Yeah, they are both on the same box!! Mom, look...Dora and Blue are on the same box!!

Me (not being nearly as excited as everyone else): I see that.

Claire (as excited as if I had told her that there were pigs flying overhead): I didn't know that they knew each other, did you?!!

:)

happy.birthday.aunt.jill

It's my big sister's birthday today!!! Happy Birthday Aunt Jill!

Jill and me on vacation in Oregon in '05:

Oregon again with Claire and Meredith while we were visiting a lighthouse (and watching whales!):

The two of us at Jill's wedding in '05:

o.Christmas.tree

We ventured out last night to get our Christmas tree! It is usually one of my favorite days of December because it means that our house gets a once-over seasonal update for a few weeks. So fun.

Claire and Meredith (of course) were present. Amelia didn't make this particular photo shoot, but she was there last night.

Josh was there, too...someone had to strap it to the top of the van:

Of course, I was there (someone had to take the pictures):

And Josh chose the tree among the several options:

Doesn't this look like fun? It actually was....last year. This year, unfortunately, we took the easy road out and paid $13.99 for our pre-cut tree at a big box store. And there are no pictures of the outing because I didn't have the camera. I think Josh has it stashed in his truck from his hunting trip over the weekend. Honey, if you're reading this, I would like my camera back so that I can post current pictures on our blog :)

Our tree will be entering the house tonight and will be adorned with (hopefully intact from the move) decorations and beauty. Unfortunately, the ugly little Christmas Panda was "misplaced" a year or two ago by Josh. If anyone has seen it, please let me know. Our tree just doesn't have the same feel without it. I mean, what is a tree without ugly decorations on the back of it where no one can see them?

seriously.december 7

I was at Target the other day, and I saw this wall hanging. I was trying to figure out why someone would want to hang the word "flu" on their wall. I seriously stared at it for like 2 minutes trying to figure out what a dandelion and the flu had in common.

Oh....the one behind it said "fly". I laughed out loud.

Seriously.

totally.back

Yay for my computer-genius Brian! He has once again rescued me from the despair of crashing computers. I'm making him and Kristi some food...good food....great food.

And speaking of food. Two of my favorite people (who love food) are celebrating a birthday today. Happy 29th Jenn and Jess! Enjoy your day :)

seriously.december 2

My computer is "almost dead". That's what Brian says. I think it is dead.

I am at the library with my three children for story time (and for checking emails and blogging). What can I say...there's a first time for everything.

Seriously.

I just said last week that I was going to blog more...not so much now. :( Brian says it will be fixed soon. I'll update you when I can!