Christmas 2011

We had a great Christmas this year. The kids helped me make cookies this year and did it all with exception of making the dough and icing. They absolutely LOVE projects like that! I only made the sugar cookies and chex mix this year out of need to not have so much in the house (I end up eating most of it, so I feel like I get to make the executive decision on that one)!

It was a very compressed few days of celebrating. We kicked it off going to our Christmas Eve service and then coming home and spreading reindeer food outside and setting cookies our for Santa. The kids really understood the concept of Santa this year, which made it fun. Once the kids were up in the morning, we all came downstairs to see what Santa brought. I then made breakfast and then we opened presents to each other Everyone got each person in the house presents this year. It's important to me for the kids to understand the art of giving, not just receiving.

We then went to Decatur for the rest of the day to celebrate with my family. Debbie's family was there too and it's been awhile since my side of the family has had a house full of people on Christmas! Lots of great food, people, and the kids were absolutely spoiled in gifts.

We went to Dan's mom's house the next day and celebrated with most of Dan's family. It was just immediate family and Debbie actually got to spend quite a bit of time sitting and enjoying the kids. It was such a nice day. We brought the kids pjs with us and left close to bed time so they could go to sleep in the car and go right to bed. It worked out perfectly!

After Christmas, the kids and I made the gingerbread train. It was harder than I anticipated, but it was fun to do. I'm thinking that food crafts just aren't my thing :)

Christmas 2011

Jacob's 4th Birthday Party

Jacob celebrated his 4th birthday in November with his first ever friend party. In order to keep it under control as far as numbers go, he invited a select group of friends from Rogy's. The problem is that he is so social, his close group of friends was 14! I was amazed that eight came and we ended up with a total of 12 kids including Jacob and Bailey and two of their cousins.

At the time, his favorite show was Jake and the Neverland Pirates, so a pirate theme it was! I worked on prepping for his party about two months prior and collected a million items for the party. The Internet is a beautiful thing and I got so many great ideas from other people who have been through the same party.

I had a craft/snack table set up for the kids when they arrived in order to help transition the kids as well as allow for late arrivals. The kids got eye patches, necklaces, pirate tattoos, and made spotting scopes. The kids LOVED it all and I made a rookie mistake by cutting this time short in order to move on to the next activity. I created a minute-by-minute schedule and I was bound and determined to stick to it!!

The next activity was a cannonball game set up in the basement. I divided the kids into two teams and had them try and sink the other's ship (bucket decorated as a ship) with their cannonballs. The losing team had to walk a plank that I made. I thought this game would be a hit.... nope. The game was probably too over their heads and they were more excited about playing with the other toys.

Next, the kids went on a treasure hunt that started inside, went outside, and then ended back inside. I made treasure maps with picture clues and told them which one was the first location. At each location, a picture of the next location was attached. Near the end, they found an empty treasure box with a note that Captain Hook stole their treasure and they had to follow his clues to where it was hidden. The final location was a toy box with a treasure box filled with treasure for each kid. This game was a HUGE HIT!!

The kids ate cupcakes next and then watched Jacob open his gifts. We actually had about 15 minutes to spare and the kids had a good time running around and playing. A few of the parents stayed to help and I was grateful for our family members who were able to help out too. It was definitely a team effort.

I made dinner for family afterwards and then Jacob opened family presents in a much calmer setting.

I was completely exhausted, but the party went really well and Jacob has a great time. I'm not sure I have it in me to do this each year for both kids, but we'll see.

Jacob's Pirate Party

Cake Fail

I decided that I wanted to make Jacob's birthday cake instead of get a store-bought one.... again. I did a lot of research and found one that I thought was doable. I wanted to make a treasure box that was four layers high. It looked easy! I made a practice cake two weeks prior and planned on using it for my dad's birthday cake. Hey, it's family and they don't judge! It was the worst thing I have ever done. I didn't know whether to cry or laugh and I did both. I was able to partially salvage part for my dad's cake and tried to make it work. Again, it's just family. The hilarious part is that my three aunts were in town (as a surprise) to visit my grandparents and so it had a bigger audience than anticipated. Truthfully, we all needed a laugh at the time during my grandma's failing health.

Well, it was a lesson learned and I will not make another cake anytime soon.

Busy Times

I received an e-mail from one of my friends the other day asking if everything is alright, because she was concerned since I haven't blogged in awhile. I decided that I better post an update so everyone knows that we're all fine, just a bit overwhelmed. When I last blogged in November, I mentioned that we had a busy month and were looking forward to a quieter December. Were we ever wrong!

December began with the passing of my grandma, who was so incredibly special to me and to so many others. It was a hard time, especially for my grandpa, whose health is continuing to decline. Christmas always presents lots of things that keep us busy and our contractor began work the week before Christmas on finishing our basement. We completed work on our house last week and still have lots of other minor home projects to tackle as well as settling into our new basement. In the midst of all of this chaos, I have been the busiest I have ever been with work since November and there are no signs of it slowing down anytime soon.

The main reason I have let the blog go is because every spare second I have had has gone towards either the house or long hours with work. I have about five blogs started that I began at the end of December, but just haven't had time to finish. As soon as I can catch a break, hopefully sooner rather than later, I'll publish a flurry of posts going all the way back to November events!!

Hope everyone is doing well and I hope to get back to blogging soon!!!

My Love/Hate Relationshiop with November

I can write this now that the month is nearly over. November has turned into our craziest month of the year. Most people start their stress in December, but mine eases considerably as soon as Thanksgiving weekend is over! I have lots of blogs in my head that need to be created and posted, but this one will have to do for now while I catch my breath.

November always kicks off right after Halloween and the time that we take our annual family pictures. We started November by celebrating my dad's birthday in Decatur at which all of his sisters were there to celebrate. It was a nice surprise! My grandparents recently moved into an assisted living facility as they are unable to live independently anymore. It is a really nice place and it was great being able to see all of my aunts. I volunteered to bring the cake since I was making Jacob's practice birthday cake the night before. Well, I'll talk more in another blog about this, but it turned out HORRIBLY! I tried to fix it for my dad's party, but it just got worse. Dan convinced me that it still tasted good, and since it was just family, what did it matter? Well, everyone got a kick out of it and my tears over it turned to laughter too.

The next weekend Dan and I got away for the first time since before kids. We celebrated our 11th anniversary on 11-11-11, so how could we not do something special?!! We ventured over to Peoria for the night and did some shopping, ate a nice dinner, and went to a comedy club where Kevin Pollack was performing. We had a good time! We are so grateful for my Dad and Debbie taking the kids for us!! We desperately needed the time away and it was nice :)

Jacob turned 4 a few days later and then we had his first friend and family party that weekend. I underestimated the time and energy those take! I'll share more on that later, but it was a lot of fun and went well.

The next week we celebrated Thanksgiving three days in a row with family and the weekend ended with me being sick, yet having to work a TON just to get caught up on a deadline I had. We somehow managed to get the house all decked out with Christmas decorations and lights too, which was a priority for me to get done. The kids LOVE them!

On top of everything else we both have been crazy busy with work and have also been tackling home projects (more on that later). I'm leaving out a lot of other miscellaneous things that we have had going on, but you get the drift.

After proofing this, I realize this comes across as whiny. As stressful as November is and as exhausted as it makes me, each event was filled love, laughter, family, friends, and great memories. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Looking back, each year gets busier than the last, so I guess it strengthens you for what's ahead :)

Outtakes

I hear a lot that we have cute pictures of the kids. Well, it's because I only pick out the good ones to share! There are LOTS that get deleted. I have no idea how people managed having any decent pictures of little kids before digital cameras! Anyways, I save a few outtakes of our photo shoot to share with you :)

Halloween Weekend

We squeezed a couple of Halloween activities into the weekend before Halloween. We made cut-out pumpkin cookies and the kids actually cut them out themselves and decorated most of them. We passed them out to their teachers along with homemade cards. We also carved pumpkins and used patterns for the first time. I feel like they turned out well and I am anxious to try out new designs next year!

The kids loved trick-or-treating this year and they went around the neighborhood with our neighbors, the Tuppers. Jacob kept pace with the other kids, but Bailey lagged some. She's just in her own world sometimes! The kids got quite a bit of candy and it should keep them motivated to eat their dinners for awhile!!