Christmas at Our House

Well, the tree is finally up! YES, I am just now getting around to it! If there is one thing you should know about me, it is that I am a terrible procrastinator. There, I said it. I feel better now, and we can move on.

Actually, this year Brient asked me if I would wait an extra week after Thanksgiving to put up the decorations, because then he can enjoy them for just long enough without being sick of them. I know, I know! I can hear all of you out there telling me, "We have ours up BEFORE Thanksgiving and don't take it down until sometime well into January!" Yeah well, we are not that kind of family. If they stay out too long, we all get a little crazy, because it's all over the place and I'm just ready for order to be back in my home. So I graciously went with his suggestion and waited an extra week.

So this past Monday, we pulled everything out of the closet, brought it into the living room, and went to work. It was so great watching ALL FOUR of my kids helping with the tree! The baby is now three, so she is really old enough to help AND enjoy everything.

They wouldn't let me put the tree up myself, because all four of them wanted to have a part in putting in the branches. 

 

I started putting garland around the tree, but Little Sister jumped in and took over. Then the other two got in on the wrapping of the tree, and I was completely out of the loop. 

Each year, my job is to pass out the ornaments and their job is to decorate the tree. I pass them out, because I keep all of my ornaments in a big box and they get a little tangled up. Plus, I don't really want any fighting over who gets to put what on the tree. It's just easier that way. They loaded the tree with all their ornaments that we have made together over the last several years. If you look closely at my tree, you might see a handful of store bought ornaments, but most were made by my kids.

That girl loves her brother! 

And here is our finished tree. Absolutely beautiful! And all done by them!

Britches had a great time going all over the house adding Christmas touches here and there.

While we were decorating the tree, Baby Girl kept sneaking in the living room grabbing ornaments and heading to her room. I finally went to see what she was doing. She told me she was decorating her room! Very lovely!

And Britches and Little Sister made the last gingerbread house to add to the decorations. 

Our house is finally decorated for Christmas. I had a plan to help the kids so that it would look really nice. You know, ornaments perfectly spaced on the tree and things put in just the right place. But then I remembered, this is about them! So I just backed up and let them decorate however they wanted, and I just took the pictures. And it was fun! And they love it! And I couldn't be happier about our Christmas decorations this year!

Britches' Art

For quite some time now, my Britches girl has shown an interest in art. When she was younger, she liked more of the "arts and crafts" type thing, but lately, she has really been getting into painting. For over a year now, I have heard her talking about different artists that she watches on PBS, like Donna Dewberry and Bob Ross, but to be quite honest, I never really pay that much attention, because art is not my thing. So I listen politely to her, and show her that I care about what interests her, but then I go about my business and forget all about it. Anyway...

She has started painting some very nice pictures on regular copy paper. Nothing that would sell for money, but a good attempt none the less. I suggested to her that she might want to try painting on canvas, because her copy paper would get too wet and tear after she had put a lot of work into it. That was especially a problem when she would try to paint with watercolors. So we went to Wal-Mart and bought her some small canvases that had no wood frame on them. They were just a piece of cardboard, or wood, or whatever they use, wrapped in canvas. She wanted the small ones, because she wasn't too sure she could fill a big canvas. Well, she used all three of those that came in that pack, and then she went back to painting on copy paper.

I told her I'd be happy to take her back to the store to let her buy more canvases, if she wanted. Yes, she buys her own things, because she has this "thing" about someone buying ANYTHING for her. It's amazing that the kid will even let me buy her food and clothes. It's unreal how upset she gets when someone tries to buy something for her, instead of her buying it with her own money. I have never in my life seen a kid like that - ever. Anyway, she said she would like to go get a few more canvases from the craft store, so she could practice her painting on something that would last a little better than just plain paper. So off to Michaels we went.

It just so happened that they had a special on a 7-pack of canvases when we went. They were $14 for the pack, which made each canvas only $2 a piece. These were the larger ones, too, and this made them cheaper than we got the small ones before. So she decided to go with the 7-pack. She picked up a few paint brushes she had seen Bob Ross use that she felt she needed, and off we went.

The next day, she woke up just itching to paint on her new canvas. So after the little ones went to take a nap, and I knew all her painting would be safe, I gave her some free time to create. I left her alone for about and hour and a half. When I walked out of the room, she had just begun putting some blue paint on the top of the canvas. An hour and a half later, this is what I came back to find.

Needless to say, I was very impressed with her work. Especially considering the fact that this girl has never had an art lesson in her life, but has only watched those shows on PBS and learned from them, and checked out books from the local library and learned from those.

One day, if the time gets right, I may sign her up for professional art lessons. But for now, she has free private tutors via our local public broadcasting station, and they seem to be teaching her pretty well.

Back to the Manger

OK, so I know I'm a little behind on this post, but, hey, better late than never, right?! Back in about September, all the kids at church started practicing for the yearly Christmas musical. And when the big day arrived, they were all THRILLED - thrilled to get to perform for everyone, and thrilled that they didn't have to sing that musical one more time! HA! But seriously, they all did a great job!

And for my kiddos, this was the first year they actually had important parts. Britches is so stinkin' shy, I all but had to MAKE her do the part they needed her for. But Little Man, well, he was another story. When he was assigned his part, he ran around telling EVERYONE that he was one of the MAIN people in the play. That was sort of true. And Little Sister, she's my girl! She is a ham, and LOVED having everyone see her on stage singing. She did great, and was very disappointed that, after the musical, she wouldn't get to sing the songs anymore. (It's not like I don't have the CD, and it's not like she doesn't have them MEMORIZED! She can sing them any time she wants!) Anyway...

Here are all of my kiddos, including my kids from children's church!

For a 4 year old, Little Sister did the most amazing job learning and doing all the motions to all the songs! She really got into the musical. She is such a ham.

My sweet Britches Girl is the most shy kid EVER! She was mortified when we told her she had to be in the play and actually have a real part! But you never would have know she was scared, because she sang her little heart out and did the motions beautifully. We borrowed that adorable skirt from my mom's wonderful boss, Ms. Joy. It belongs to her granddaughter. We were very thankful she loaned it to us, because, even though I am very capable of sewing a poodle skirt, I really did not have the time. 

And there's my Little Man. He was so proud of his part, and had the lines memorized on the first day. I was so proud of him!

I was so proud of all the kids for all the very hard work they put into this Christmas musical. I was also thankful for Stephanie, Rena, and Jamie, who all worked tirelessly teaching it all to the kids. Those ladies are probably still singing those songs in their dreams. 

It's Christmas Time

Last week, I finally gave in and let the kids pull out the Christmas tree. I was waiting as late as possible, because I knew Baby Girl was going to LOVE the ornaments and be taking them off the tree constantly. So I was trying to postpone that as long as possible. But the kids couldn't wait any longer! So out it came.

Britches and Little Man set up the tree, while Little Sister and I made a batch of no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies! We decided that we would need a reward cookie when we finished decorating the tree! The two older ones were just finishing up as Little Sister and I dropped the last of the cookies. Now it was time for the fun part!

I pulled out my box of ornaments, and began to hand them out. Britches, Little Man, and Little Sister all went straight to work. But Baby Girl just sort of watched for awhile.

After watching for a while, Baby Girl finally realized that there was something in that box, so she started checking it out.

And she started putting on some of the ornaments, just like her big brother and sisters. 

Each time she put an ornament on the tree, she would turn to her daddy and say, "Clap, daddy. YAY!" and start clapping and cheering for herself! 

Baby Girl picked two limbs to hang all of her ornaments on. Those two limbs looked very beautiful when she was finished!

Both of my little ones had such a good time decorating the tree! If you notice, Baby Girl's shirt is on backwards. She dressed herself. My two year old thinks she is just as big as the rest of them! 

When the tree was done, Britches got in some snuggle time with daddy! Then we all went to try out those cookies that Little Sister and I made! We needed a reward for all that hard work decorating our tree. 

Here is the recipe, in case you need to make your own no-bake reward cookies! 

 

CHOCOLATE OATMEAL NO-BAKE COOKIES

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

1 stick butter

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla

3 cups quick-cooking oatmeal

1/2 cup peanut butter

 

Combine sugar, cocoa, butter and milk in a saucepan. On medium heat, bring to a boil for one full minute.Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter (optional), vanilla and oatmeal.
Drop by spoonful onto wax paper. Let cool for at least 30 minutes.

I hope you have had a chance to put up your tree and get festive. Here in the Deep South, it's a little hard to get in the Christmas spirit when it's still warm outside on most days. But decorating the house, playing some Christmas music, and making some yummy cookies sure does get you headed in the right direction! Merry Christmas to you all!

Pumpkin Patch 2010

Today, after church, several families piled into vehicles and headed for lunch at a local pizza restaurant. Brient and I took the kids, and we all enjoyed some good food and good conversation with other parents with kids our kids ages. And after everyone was finished, we headed over to our local pumpkin patch to watch the kids explore, take some pictures, and, of course, bring home some prize pumpkins. Here are some pictures of all the fun we had!

Here's my littlest one playing in the hay maze. She really liked it, except that the hay got stuck on her diaper, and then her legs started itching!

Little Sister and Miss A have been friends for awhile now, and I have pictures of them last year in about the same place. The sweet little girl in green is a friend of Miss A, and Little Sister enjoyed playing with her, too, today!

 My sweet little ones.

Baby Girl is getting so big, and she had so much fun playing today!

Two sweeties!!

My Britches Girl is getting so tall and turning into such a lady. I love it!! And I love that, even though she is growing up, she still enjoys fun, "kid" things!!

These 2 sisters love each other! Baby Girl usually chooses her big sister over me! But I love that they are close, and I hope they stay that way!

As soon as we walked into the Pumpkin Patch, Baby Girl yelled out, "Punkin'!", let go of my hand, and starting running to check out all the punkins!  She picked up pretty much every little punkin she found!

My Little Man is getting tall, too, and very handsome. He is such a sweet guy, and I just love watching him grow up. 

My sweet beauty! I just love her energy and happy spirit! She is always smiling, and makes everyone around her smile!

 Two little trouble makers....

We have made it to the pumpkin patch every year since Britches was 2 and Little Man was 1. I have many, MANY pictures of them in amongst the pumpkins, each year getting a little bigger. It was a really fun day, and I'm glad we were able to go with some good friends from church to share the excitement!