Christmas Adventures 2013

This Christmas was an adventure, that's for sure. It started Saturday, the 22, as I drove to visit my mom and brother and younger brother who came up from Arizona and I hadn't seen since Brooke was 15 months old.  While I was driving on the freeway I felt my little dodge neon make a huge lurch. I knew immediately that something was wrong with the car and decided to keep driving and get as close to my mom's house as possible. As I was getting off the exit to her house, my car died. I was able to get it off to the side of the road and then it would go no more. The plan was for me to spend Saturday and Sunday at my mom's house and visiting with my family. Instead, I had to call Blake and he came with his truck and trailer to load the neon and take us home. I was able to visit with my family Saturday afternoon and into the evening, but we headed home after dinner Saturday night. That made for a LONG day for me and the kids!

Sunday the 23 on the way out the door to church, I went to close the garage door and accidentally slammed it on Brooke's finger. It bled. A LOT. Brooke screamed. A LOT. And now I get a guilty, "Mom, make sure not to slam my finger in the door again" every time we go anywhere.

Monday the 24 we invited some of our friends to have dinner with us at Blake's parents house. It was fun, but Brooke was so excited for Christmas and to play with our friend's little boy that 1) she was a holy terror, melting down at the littlest things and 2) she threw up. By the end of the night Blake and I were so fed up with Brooke's behavior we almost didn't have Christmas the next morning. I seriously thought we should post pone it until Saturday or something when Brooke was acting better. Then Blake and I calmed down and decided we weren't that mean.

My cuties on Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning was actually very relaxing and fun. We didn't have an agenda or any plans. I was going to stay up late and make a breakfast casserole to chill in the fridge overnight, but after the drama (plus I had cooked all day in preparations for Christmas Eve dinner), I bagged that idea and we settled on our usual breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and hot chocolate. I don't know why I get so worked up about things being "perfect" when "normal and ordinary" make our family just as happy.

Santa Came

 The days after Christmas:

And on Saturday the 29, Blake and I got the best Christmas present of all...a new car! Our poor neon that we drove faithfully for 10 years has kicked the bucket. We needed to upgrade to bigger, more family-suited car anyway. We decided on a Chevrolet Equinox and love it so far. And thanks to the unexpected timing of needing a new car at the end of the year when dealers are anxious to clear their lots, we got a steal of a deal!

obviously this isn't our actual car,
but it's black and looks just like it

Yay for more storage and not being smooshed anymore!

New Years Eve was spent eating Chinese food, playing Candyland with Brooke, putting the kids to bed at 8, folding laundry, having a New Year's toast of sparkling cider down by the fire at 8:30, and being in bed by 9. 

HAPPY 2013!

My Favorite 4 Year Old

Our little Miss Brooke turned 4 on December 17th! It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating her 3rd birthday, but alas, here we are again! Brooke has really grown up this past year. It's amazing to watch videos from last year and hear how much her vocabulary and talking has improved. And I was just saying to Blake the other day, I feel like those things we've been working SO HARD on the past 2 years are FINALLY clicking: like using manners (thank you, no thank you, please, you're welcome, excuse me), using words and asking for help instead of screaming and getting frustrated (this still happens but WAY less than it used to), and ideas like cleaning up, and consequences linked to actions (good or bad) are finally starting to click for Brooke. YAY! 

Brooke enjoying Grinch Treats from our movie night

like father like daughter: watching a movie together

a family portrait: Brooke is on the left, then dad in light pink in the middle, then me holding porter on the left

I always say that Brooke is the best Christmas present I ever got, and it's true! I love this little girl so much! The morning of her birthday, she came and snuggled with me in bed. Then we went downstairs, where the night before I had decorated with crepe paper and balloons, when Brooke turned on the lights and saw everything she said, "This is wonderful!" She was so excited to finally be 4 years old.

I decided this year Brooke was old enough for a real birthday party with a few friends.

every time I see pictures of my dining room, I think I really need to buy something to hang on that naked wall

Thanks to my friend Kali for giving me the crown craft idea. It was a huge hit, and the girls took like 30 minutes doing, so it was perfect! While they were crafting, I played Disney Princess songs on my pandora radio station. It was so cute to hear the girls sing along to some of the songs.

Opening gifts: walkie talkies, Cinderella and Ariel dolls, and a set of sparkly nail polish and lip gloss

Video of the cute princesses singing Happy Birthday

The Princesses

Watching a Princess Movie

 We also played "pin the crown on the princess", had a dancing princess "cake-walk" for prizes, and I read two princess stories.

After Brooke's friend party was over, we waited for dad to get home from work and Honey and Pinch to come over for a dinner of Spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread.

Mr. P enjoying his spaghetti dinner

If I look like I have a crazy look in my eye in this picture, it's because I do. After corralling 5 three&four year olds all afternoon, I was done!

In Blake's family they have a tradition called "Heavy Heavy Hangover". You say this poem and then hit the person on the head with a present and then the birthday person has to wish the gift-giver something. 

One plus to having a birthday so close to Christmas is finding gifts at great prices. This normally expensive doctor kit was a fantastic price. The show "Doc McStuffins" is a favorite at our house. Now Brooke looks the part and has all the doctor tools she needs :) She's already been giving Porter check ups.

Happy Birthday Brooke! 

Holiday Happenings...

I know I look scary in this pic, but isn't Porter adorable? He loves his baths...and I think just being naked in general.

 Brooke showing us her owie finger (by flipping us off)

 My cuties all dressed up in their Christmas clothes:

 We have been doing some really fun things with Brooke this year. She is SO EXCITED for Christmas and is always so enthusiastic about any activity we do. Her excited has rubbed off and I think Blake and I are feeling the holiday spirit more than ever too.

I orginally bought a gingerbread house kit for our family to put together. Those things are like $10 each and I decided I'd rather each of us make our own houses and returned it to the store.

A couple of years ago Brooke made a graham cracker house with her sitter H. and I learned this trick of hot gluing the house to the plate, and then gluing the house framework together. Then you don't have to worry about the house sliding around or it falling apart.

 Then, I went to the dollar store for our candy. I also found this awesome gingerbread icing recipe: 1lb powdered sugar, 3 egg whites, 1/2 tsp cream of tarter. Mix 5-7 minutes, adding more sugar if needed. The frosting was perfect!

 We had tons of fun putting our houses together.

 Blake's frosting bag malfunctioned and he ended up with icing all over

 Brooke's house: she keeps asking to eat it.

 Mine:

Last night our advent activity was to watch The Grinch and have Grinch treats. I made Grinch cookies (chocolate chip cookies with green food coloring) and Grinch floats (lime sherbet and 7-up)

photo courtesy of Pinterest

For our next movie night, we are going to watch "The Polar Express" and have a hot chocolate bar. I am going to make a crockpot hot-chocolate recipe I found online and then have different kinds marshmallows, candy canes to stir it with, whipped cream...we're keeping our bar pretty simple, but you could find lots of fun things include in your hot chocolate bar.

photo courtesy of Pinterest

10 Months

10 month milestones:

• probably weighs 19 or 20 lbs
• no teeth
• still loving the army crawl, but has gotten very fast at it
• can get back into a sitting position from the army crawl
• is so much happier now that he is mobile!
• eats tons of table food--we really don't limit him too much
• takes 2 naps and sleeps in until 6:30-6:45 most mornings (hallelujah!)
• loves to wrestle with dad (seriously, he does)
• is very vocal and LOUD doing it too: grunting, screeching, laughing, pouting, screaming 

Here is another backyard photoshoot. The owl hat was made by my friend Tiffany. Isn't it cute? I also picked up his handsome little peacoat for a $1 at a garage sale this summer. 

and this photo my friends, is a miracle shot. I was using my FILM DSL camera. I knew the previous shots I had taken were not great. I had only one shot left. I patiently waited for Porter to eat leaves, crawl around, be distracted by a dog barking etc... and then I took my shot and prayed for it to turn out. And I did not edit any of these photos. His eyes really are that blue.

Love you bud! You are mommy's sweet boy!

Christmas Cheer

***head over to my design blog for a fun, free printable to make your spirits bright!****

The holidays are in full swing at our house! Brooke asks every day if it's Christmas yet. I too am really excited for Christmas this year. It definitely gets better the older Brooke gets. Blake and I have also been trying to do teach Christmas the real reason we celebrate. Thanks to some great youtube videos about the nativity and a scripture a day advent calendar, we are succeeding (I think). This past Wednesday Santa came to our local library. My sitter L. braved saving us a spot in line with 5 kids in tow until I could meet her when I got off work. We were number 106. Brooke was very patient and was so happy when she finally got to meet the big guy.

Brooke asked for a new barbie dress and barbie shoes

Porter was just curious

 Also, with a new baby to celebrate with us this year, means some fun new decorations. I looked high and low for a baby's first Christmas ornament. I am very picky (like VERY) and after sifting through dozens of ornaments on different websites, I settled on this one. It has pics of Porter as a newborn, 3 mo, 6mo, 9mo, & his most recent pic.

 Then came the stocking search. Again, due to my pickiness it took me forever to choose. I don't want to be buying stockings every other year, so am looking for ones that will carry my kids through their adolescent years without looking too babyish. I found this one and loved it, but now realize that it doesn't really match the rest of our stockings and is by far bigger than Brooke's! When I went back to order a stocking for Brooke that was also monogrammed and was a similar style to Porter's they were all sold out. So that is top priority next year. I am also thinking about getting monogrammed ones for Blake and I. Should they say our names though or Mom and Dad?

 I have several nativities that I display throughout the house. This one is on my ladder shelf and is at a height that Brooke can reach, so it often gets played with. It makes me smile whenever I see the people rearranged.

 And finally, I made this NOEL sign at a craft day I had with some friends last Saturday. I love how it turned out.

Has anyone had any toy stresses this year? I am kicking myself that I didn't buy this doll accessory I really wanted to get for Brooke before Thanksgiving. Then, it was reasonably priced but I was holding out for a better deal. I went to look again and not only has the price shot through the roof, but most major relailors like amazon are sold out of it! ahhhh!!!