Christmas Eve Eve

I can't believe there's only two days till Christmas! Its crazy how fast this month went! I love the weeks leading up to Christmas day. The decorations, warm glow of the tree and surrounding villages and the kids being so excited they could burst! I love the hustle and bustle of the malls and seeing Santa all set up. For me there is just a peace this time of year and I am lucky its that way as I realize its not for many others.

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Today we are going to the mall to finish secret Santa shopping, grocery shopping later and stocking  shopping. I'm sure its going to be nuts out there but it needs to be done!

Tomorrow is a very busy day as well. I will be up early to make it to the local farmers market that has homemade pies,  breads, cakes etc. Then home to make some things for Christmas morning and  Christmas dinner. Also I will be preparing the hors d'oeuvres for tomorrow afternoon that we have while opening our Secret Santa gifts. After we are off to church then back to the house for Chinese food and relaxing while watching It's A Wonderful Life. All wrapping is pretty much done so now to put together the stockings and food for the big day! I can't wait!!!

Happy Christmas Eve Eve!!!

Deck the Halls With Christmas Balls

This years theme for decorating seemed to be Christmas balls. From wreaths to garlands, it's just a great way to do some traditional decorating! I think I went a little crazy with them but it was fun and looks so pretty!

The family room is decorated with a large wreath over the fireplace. I got the wreath at a rummage sale for $3, bought the balls at Walmart, and made it all for under $35. I threw some extras on the mantle to make it come together a bit more and I made a smaller ball wreath for the middle window.

The mantle is decorated with various textures and colors along with nutcrackers. I also have two nutcrackers standing on either side of the fireplace. I stood them on some decorative boxes to give them a little more height.

The Christmas ball theme continues with the garland going up the stairs. I made this two years ago and also incorporated some ribbon around it to give it more flare and visibility. It looks so pretty especially when lit up. I hate to take it down at the end of the season!

In the dining room I decorated the china closet with garland; this time it has pine cones, Christmas balls, and ribbon with lights.

The plates are Avon that my mom collected through the 70's and me in the 1990's  The middle one is from 1973! 

The porch is decorated with an old sleigh decorated with greens, pine cones, berries, balls, and a big bow, compliments of my teenage daughter who makes them for me.

Lastly, the front door has a huge wreath also decorated with Christmas balls and various other things. It matches the wreaths that are on the windows outside of the house.

So Christmas balls was my theme this year for decorating. Next is the rest of the house and the other decorations some new some old. 

What was your decorating theme this year?

Dreaming of a White Christmas

Happy December 17th

A little more than one week left till the big day. I am a bit depressed as I look forward to the classic Pennsylvania Christmases with cold temperatures and sometimes even snow! I know Christmas is more than that, but when you grew up with cold temps on Christmas its just hard to get in the spirit when we have colder Easters than that!  This year, YUK, they are predicting temps in the 60's. This to me is a nightmare!!! 

  

Speaking of snow, one of my most memorable Christmas growing up was a cold and snowy one. It started on Christmas eve and by morning it had snowed over a foot! Our family had going caroling with the neighborhood in the blowing a drifting snow, literally!  I don't remember my exact age but i'm thinking I was around 7. I remember getting home and getting ready for bed and being scared that Santa wouldn't be able to make it through all the snow. My wonderful older brothers had put that in my head and boy did it stick! That night my parents went to the annual neighborhood Christmas shindig. I was awoken by a loud thump thump thump late late that night and just knew it was Santa. I found out years later that it was my dad carrying pressents down the steps and fell after having one to many drinks! LOL Nevertheless, the next morning Santa did come, he somehow had made it through the snow!



I don't know what it was about caroling but it seemed every time we did went it snowed! Another year when the kids were all young we decided to go with a couple of neighbors on Christmas Eve after dinner. It started snowing just as we began and by the time we were done it was really coming down and the kids were miserable and, well us too! My parents were suppose to come over the next morning but we decided to get them that night so Jim made the 15 min trip that took 2 hours!

There is just something about Christmas and snow that go together so well for me. Maybe its the great memories or me just being a hopeless romantic!

Despite the forecast, I will still be "Dreaming of the White Christmas!" 

And

maybe even some sugar plums

 

The lost days of Christmas past

Getting ready for Christmas this year has been so crazy. So much to do and so little time to do it. Decorating for Christmas is taking forever this year for some reason. (Maybe i'm getting old)

My daughter Savanna just turned 22 on Dec. 13. At the time she was born, Jessica was 5, Cory 3, Kaylee 2. She was the best Christmas gift we ever received!

The house was super chaotic that Christmas but it was also  magical.

 I remember attending Cory's Christian preschool concert two days after Savanna was born where he sang so sweetly. I can still picture his little face while he did the hand motions of the song, wearing his adorable Christmas sweater and matching pants. He was very protective of his new baby sister telling people not to touch her and guarding her against his wild two year old sister.



Jessica, a kindergartner, make homemade cards and gifts for everyone she knew and could spell and write like a 5th grader! She was so thoughtful to everyone but was very serious about Santa Claus and following all the rules and early to bed on Christmas Eve or he would pass by your house. She would get frustrated with the siblings as they were a bit young to understand that concept!



Kaylee, was a talking spitfire at Christmas. She was busy at work coloring Christmas pictures and helping me with ever aspect of caring for newborn Savanna. She could and would let it be known what she wanted for Christmas and her feelings about everything. She gave the new baby tons and tons of kisses and hugs! She also was Barney the dinosaur obsessed and got one that year for
Christmas.



My mom and dad would always come over on Christmas morning and watch the kids open their gifts and have breakfast with us. They enjoyed seeing the kids faces as much as we did and now I realize just how much it meant to them to be there! What I wouldn't give to have them here again!





As I look back on those Christmases I realize as hectic as they were they were some of the best Christmases. As all the kids knew the true meaning of Christmas and at the same time also believed without a doubt in Santa. There is just something magical about four little children believing in Santa under one roof. Its amazing what they hear and see through their imaginations! And their faces on Christmas morning when they see Santa has come and that he even ate the cookies they left. Seeing them run around the house searching for clues that the fat man in the red suit was really there!!!


As time passed and those four got older, Taylor and Mitchell came along. It has been fun watching them all play along with the Santa fun. Mitchell, who has just turned 12 still wants to believe but is on the fence. Its cute hearing his older sister or brother talking with him about it. I'm sure in the next year or two Mitchell will be the one playing along with Jaxson as he will be wide eyed on Christmas morning.


 I guess as time goes by I have learned that we need to appreciate everyday as we are making new memories and that someday they will become ours or someones good old days!

Christmas 2009

Decorating for Christmas (The Trees)

Decorating the trees

Decorating is in full swing at my house and has been a full time job week. I started pulling things out the end of last week and I'm still not done! The trees are up and decorated so that's a huge thing done. New wreaths had to be made this year so that was a big chore but I enjoy doing it!

This year I decided to use white lights on the trees which had the house in an uproar. The kids don't like to change traditions much especially at Christmastime. I also decided to not use the Christmas angel this year, instead I used a big bow. This was not revealed to anyone except for Taylor who is the bow maker. When it was complete and up I sent the family a snap chat and surprisingly didn't hear to much negativity. I like to switch thing up and try new decorating ideas especially when I get the inspiration to do it!  I reminded them its just the lights and tree top its not the end of the world!




The big tree in the house is in the main family room (we have a family room on the main floor and a family room on the second floor also) This one has ALL the kids decorations from preschool to date that they have made. It also has my grandma's, moms and ones we have collected over the years! Its a mix match collection. I also use beads that my mom use to use. Its a mix of new and old.

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My other tree is in the foyer and is a Snoopy Tree. It has all the Snoopy ornaments I have collected since I was a kid. It also has various other ones also and of course my moms beads. 

Next is more house decorating that I will share tomorrow! 

Who can you trust?

Liar Liar Pants of Fire!

I wish I could say that I had no experience with mean girls, high school drama, or parents who think their kids are perfect, but unfortunately I do! I thought if I raised my kids to be confident leaders and
nice kids they would be fine!  WRONG!!! What I didn't take into consideration is that not all parents are us and not all kids are ours! Don't get me wrong, I realize all to well that no matter how we raise our kids, they will make wrong decisions and mistakes and thats just life! We are going to be better parents than them! I found out very fast how wrong I was. Jessica being born first was as stubborn and strong willed as us, which was a real challenge! Then Cory came along and blew the NO GUN for boys rule out of the water when he was making guns out of anything and everything. LOL

I thought if kids did wrong that all parents would acknowledge that and punis h accordingly.

WRONG again! See not all parents can see that their little darlings are not the little darlings they think they are. They can lie to their face and through their teeth while batting there beautiful brown eyes and throwing their supposed best friend under the bus during it all! Sickening! I have witnessed this first hand and its crazy! 

I have NEVER believed or claimed my kids are perfect and don't pretend that they are. 

You would not believe parents I have met through raising my kids!!! Parents who will lie for there kids, parents who will lie for your kids and parents who think their kids never do wrong or blame your kid for all bad decisions! I have dealt with all!

I will start with the time a parent lied to me when my child was spending the night at her house!

She was in ninth grade and was going through a testing time. She was going to spend the night at a friends who I knew for some time and also knew her mom but she was the mom who was trying very hard to be good friends with her daughter. We all know the type, and this my friends can get you in BIG trouble as a parent!!! So anyway, she went over there house around 6pm. I always like to talk with the parent to make sure they are aware of my rules and that we are all on the same page. She was not available when I dropped my daughter off so I called her around 8 . She assured me they had just gotten a movie and were in for the night. As we were talking I heard the voices of boys and girls as well. I explained that my daughter wasn't allow to go anywhere other than her house and that I didn't feel comfortable with them walking several blocks to McDonald's as my daughter had hinted. She assured me they were staying in and we hung up. After getting off the phone I had one of those strong motherly instincts that came over me that told me I was being lied to. I told my husband that I was taking a ride past the house to make sure all looked normal. As I drove to her house my instinct got stronger that I was being lied to and pretty much expected something. As I slowly approached the house I saw lots of kids piled into a small car and my daughter was just getting in and had closed the door. Before they pulled away I stepped out of my car as they rolled down the window and I said, "Get out of the car and get your stuff you are going home!". You should have seen the faces when they saw me, it were priceless! I proceeded to the girls house as the car drove away. I followed my daughter in and questioned the mom. Of course she lied and said they were just going to the McDonalds down the road, which she still wasn't suppose to do, but I knew better. There were seven kids piled in a five passenger car dressed to kill and five were BOYS! Come to find out they were headed to a high school party.



Needless to say, my daughter was punished for a LONG time and I learned that I can't always
believe other parents or trust them with my kids. Also that kids will lie to you point blank.

Next time I have an even better story of a parent whose kid does NO wrong ever!!! Wow, she must be the perfect parent! LOL

My favorite Christmas Present As a child

As December is now upon us I can't help but remember Christmas as a kid and how magical it always was. My parents did their very best to make it special for us four kids!

As a child growing up in the 70's, we had some pretty cool toys. Big wheels, six million dollar men stuff, stretch Arm strong, snoopy toothbrushes, baby dolls that peed, Evel Knievel stunt motorcycles, electric racetracks, etc.

My friend Shane and I always got similar gifts. I think Santa either knew we were good friends or our moms shopped together. One year I got Baby Tender Loves little brother and she got Baby Joey, both anatomically correct dolls! The same year I got Snoopy, Charlie Brown and Linus finger puppets, she got Woodstock, Lucy and Sally!

I don't have one present I remember as being my favorite but here is my top five.

Baby Alive This doll was a little girls dream. It was a mechanical doll that actually came with food that it ate while its mouth made real eating motions. It proceeded to poop as well. It also drank and peed and if I remember correctly cried also.




Barbie dream townhouse  I have to be honest I spotted this two weeks before Christmas in one of my nighttime spying adventures. I pretended to take the dog out and with a flashlight looked in the back of my parents station wagon after they got home from and shopping trip. (I was horrible and noisy even then!) It was awesome seeing the huge box it came in and knowing it was mine! The hardest part is not understanding when on Christmas morning it said it was from Santa! Shane got the same doll that year as well.




Snoopy phone  What preteen wouldn't have wanted their own telephone in their room in the late 70's! It was awesome and having a Snoopy one was even better!



Milton This was the first electronic talking game that could be played with one or two people playing against eachother. It was so cool and I thought I was hot stuff being the first of my friends to have a talking game like that. The creepy part about the game was the creepy voice it had and it always said when you turned it on, " Hello, you turn me on!"



Fisher Price Mcdonalds Playset   This really sounds like no big deal, but it was so cool to a 6 year old kid.Where else than a Mcdonalds playset can you purchase a happy meal several times a day. It even came with a mini playground and square little people which I had never seen. I played with this one for hours upon hours, what an imagination I must have had!




WOW, to be a kid again at Christmas. There is nothing like the magic of it all. Our kids didn't get many toys through the year, but when Christmas came, I tried to make the same wonderful magic and memories that I had.

Like I always say to my husband...Your only a kid once, especially at Christmas!!!

What was your favorite gift as a kid, I would love to hear?