If you give a mom a shower

before 9am, she might decide to dry her hair. And if she decides to dry her hair, she might decide to put on make up. And if she decides to put on make up, she might decide to wear eye shadow. And if she decides to wear eye shadow, she might decide to wear leggings and boots. And if she wears leggings and boots, she might feel empowered to take her three littles to the mall. And if she takes her three littles to the mall, she might decide to go to Macys. And if she decides to go to Macys, she might let the smallest of the three littles get out of her stroller.And if she lets the smallest of the three littles get out of her stroller, she might let them mail their letters to Santa.

And if the three littles mail their letters to Santa, they might tell their mother they don't need to sit on his lap now because they wrote him a letter.And if the three littles prefer to write letters rather than sit on the big guys lap, their mother might think that is good enough for her.

Because the mother will get warm fuzzies that she has three wonderful littles that bring her the magic of Christmas.

And all because a mom had a shower before 9am.

It's the Most Busiest Time......of the Year

Just a few photos from here and there and some updates on what we have been up to.

December is Owen's month to provide play dough for his classmates so we choose green and put lots of glitter in it. This was a lot of fun for me as well. We kept stirring and stirring and I was thinking there is no way this stuff is going to form into a ball and dry up for play dough and then right before my eyes it just happened. Very interesting science, if you ask me.

He got his cast off last Friday and now has this boot. It velcros across the top and he has to wear it night and day except for bathing. And thank goodness he gets to bathe now. Getting his dead weight body in and out of the tub with a trash bag over his leg ranks up there with my top 10 things I never want to do again.

He gets around really well with it but has a really nasty blister/callous like thing on his heel where he has been compensating his walking over the past month. It will go away in time. Just looks really nasty.

Ethan is tracked out now and I am enjoying having him home with me. We did a little shopping this morning after Eliza's doctor appointment. She had two shots this morning and is almost caught up on all of them where I have been delaying and only getting 2 at a time. Her next visit she should be up to date, which makes her doctor very happy.

Speaking of the misses, she is doing well. Still getting over a cold and runny nose, but is sleepy nicely.

We are pulling out all the Christmas dresses and trying to wear them every chance we get. I know she is going to out grow them before I know it.

She is also very interested in my shoes.

I had these out the other night trying them on because Chris's company Christmas party is coming up this weekend and I wanted to see how they looked with my dress.

She loves to get a hold of my shoes or jewelry and play.

And finally, these little ones have come to stay with us until Christmas. Santa sent them complete with letters to the boys saying their names are Chip and Jingles and they are here to watch the boys for Santa until Christmas. Can't really say the boys are behaving any better though. They are currently wearing their hero capes and beating on the walls in the bathroom saying they are getting the bad guys.

As for the elves, they have been creating their own mischief. One night they were hanging from the boys ceiling fans, one night they ate one of Ethan's donuts and last night one of them made his way into the refrigerator and was hanging onto the orange juice when the door was opened this morning. The night we came home from Cam's house our tree had fallen over!!!! The boys both yelled "IT WAS THOSE ELVES!" I don't know what it was, but it scared Owen to death. He insisted that I remove his elf from his bedroom that night for fear it would come alive and do something. Whatever works kid, just stay in your bed. :-)

Christmas Card 2010 - Finally!

I have finally decided on a Christmas card for this year and I am so excited to order them. They are from Shutterfly and love their designs. I have looked at many other sites trying to find something that I like better and I keep coming back to Shutterfly. I have come up with at least 5 different designs (possibly more!) trying to decide on "the one" and I finally have it. At least I think do. I have been known to change my mind at the last minute. :-) The thing is, they have sooooo many designs to choose from that aren't just the same ole design different formatting or colors, they are completely unique. So this has been tough to say the least. Here are a few that I like though.

I love the funky colors.

The monogramming.

And I love that you can choose more than one photo.

They have cards that are religious

as well as holiday cards.

The past several years I have ordered calendars for family members as Christmas gifts (and yes, you will be getting another one this year as soon as I can get some photos for December to add). Everyone always raves about the calendars and cannot wait to turn to the next month to see who is the star. Chris started doing this for me the first Christmas we had Ethan. Everyone wanted to know where he ordered it from and over the years it has grown into the default gift for all our family members.

So go check them out and see if you can guess which card you will be receiving this year.

**Shutterfly is sponsoring this post by offering 50 free Christmas cards. However, my opinions are still my own**

Decorating

We went out this afternoon to pick out a Christmas tree. Chris and I have always had an artificial tree but this year we decided to try something different.

Yes, that is Owen hobbling along.

Chris picked the perfect tree. Just looking on as it is being trimmed.They had a machine that they put the tree on that shook the daylights out of it. I suppose to get the loose needles and any bugs off of it???

Ahhh......classic.

Everyonewanted to

**help**

She loves her baby dolls and blankies.

All done.

I wish I could figure out how to use my camera in the dark so you could see how pretty the lights look twinkling. But alas, my camera is too advanced for me and when I try this is what I get.

Here is our basket of Christmas books, puzzles and a couple of boxes full of a little people nativity set and a santa and sleigh set.

These are always favorites of the boys to pull out each year. And as a side note, Eliza is terrified of this snowman to the left; not sure why but she turns her head to the side and backs away from it if one of us has it.

Most all of my Christmas decorations are hand me downs. The nativity and the Santa on the top shelf were my mothers, the candy house on the middle shelf - my mothers, the blue glass block at the bottom was given to Chris and I from Grandpa Lewis. He made us 2 or 3 more but they have broken over the years. The little Christmas tree in the middle was Chris's as a child (or at least I think as a child - I know it was his and not mine) and the cloth tree to the right was, you guessed it, my mothers. Ah, and the candy dish on the second shelf - my mothers. :-)

And these are a few of my favorite ornaments. My mother painted this one and the ones below in 1976, I think. Her name and date are inscribed on the backs of them. Shocking that they have stayed intact all these years.The brown bear is my favorite.

Thanksgiving: Prep and Execution

We started yesterday evening prepping for our feast today.Ethan was very excited about making turkeys out of pine cones. We had been collecting the pine cones this week after school as we walked through the park.

I found the idea from another blog that I enjoy reading.

Next on the agenda was prepping our turkey. I bought a breast since I was sure we couldn't eat a whole turkey and found a recipe for a brine here.

I tweaked it slightly since we were only doing a breast.

And baby loved helping.

It was by far the best thing I could have done for the turkey. It was so incredibly juicy and flavorful. I feel like I have just been introduced to the secret of a good turkey.

After we put the turkey in the refrigerator to bathe over night we decided to plug and unplug the Christmas lights over and over.Talk about wild......we know how to cut loose over here. Watch out!

And then this morning, our Thanksgiving really got started.

So what was on our menu: Turkey, Cornbread Dressing (Courtesy of Grandma Dottie), Cranberry Sauce, Sweet Potato Casserole (Courtesy of Aunt Jan), Green Beans (Courtesy of Grandpa Lewis), Mashed Potatoes, Gravy and Rolls.

Turns out when I throw all the low cholesterol, low fat stuff out the window - I am a really good cook. I rocked this Thanksgiving. Everything tasted awesome. Chris even said "do you know why I wanted to have lunch instead of dinner?" I, of course, said no. He replied "so I can eat it all again for dinner." And those of you who know Chris, know he hates leftovers if that tells you anything.Before we started eating, Ethan said "I think we should all say something we are thankful for." He was thankful for mommy making his Thanksgiving dinner. Owen, well he was just thankful for mommy. I am doing something right. I just know it. Stay the course, mama.

And to top that off, he asked me if he could say his own blessing without the "God is Great" bit. It was perfect. For dessert, I made a pecan pie with whiskey maple cream sauce that will make you want to slap your mama. Whatever that means. It was a-mazing! The sauce is what put it over the top. I think I could have just ate the sauce by itself. Chris said I should make this and try it on lots of different things - mainly cheesecake. :-) I was thinking bread pudding would be good.
It wasn't long after we sat down to eat that baby started fading on us. Chris put the little to bed and we finished a wonderful meal together. Wonderful indeed.

I plan on printing out each and every recipe and keeping them together because there isn't one thing that I will change. My children are happy. My husband is upstairs puttering in "his room" and I am getting ready to look at all the black friday ads. To say I am thankful just doesn't quite explain it. A better description would be to close your eyes, take a deep breath, feel the tears of joy just beneath the surface - exhale and know God is Good. God is so Good.

Happy Thanksgiving!