All Lit Up!

Since we returned from MN, we've been busy getting ready for Christmas around here.  Thought I'd share a bit of our holiday home with you!

Our stockings, all hand-sewn by my mom, are hung by the chimney with care.

 I love our Willow Tree nativity set, which I received over the course of a couple of wedding showers from my mom.  I get a good feeling in my heart when I retrieve this set from the boxes each year.

 To the top of the fridge, I added this cute tree-with-candle that I received from a Secret Santa a couple years back, and this sparkly gold Noel sign that I bought for pennies last year after Christmas at Wally-World.

 On our entry table, I have a ceramic Santa and holly leaf with cinnamon sticks.  Both items were painted by Steve's Grandma Brittain.

 For years this little tree was set up in our kitchen or some other part of the house, but this year, it's Sara's playroom tree.  She chose Batman ornaments, and also picked out some purple snowflakes at Target a couple weeks ago.

 While we were in MN last weekend, my mom gave us this reusable advent calendar.  Each day has its own ornament, which is a small book that tells part of the Christmas story.  I look forward to when Sara is old enough to understand and appreciate the Christmas story.

Sara helped decorate the tree this year. 

 If you've ever decorated a Christmas tree with a toddler, you know that they don't totally get the whole hook-it-on-a-branch concept. We continue to find ornaments gently resting upon branches.

 Sara took her job very seriously, though, and placed multiple ornaments on the tree over the course of the evening.  She was quick to either approve or reject a number of ornaments.

 For the first time EVER, we have a tree skirt!  This excites me so much.  I bought it after Christmas last year on clearance at Target.  It is green with big green, sparkly sequence on it. Love it!  Makes our tree feel so official.

 Steve has been bitten by the Griswold bug, and he went heavy-duty on the lights. We always use colored lights, just like we did as kids. To me, they are classic, fun, and festive.

This year, instead of just lining the roof as we usually do, Steve outlined the front door arch and the front windows.  He also added lights to all the bushes.  It's a lot of lights on a little house, but if you know me at all, you know I couldn't be happier about it. Steve is now on the hunt for some sort of yard display.  Hmmmmm.

   Since all those lights have to plug-in to a timer somewhere, this work of art is dangling next to our front door.  It occurred to me to also post a "Watch out for the cord" sign, but I figure anyone who can't see all those cords shouldn't be coming to our door anyway.

Hope your decorating is going well.  I know it's a lot of work and a lot of hype, but I don't care ... it's totally worth it!

Proof: Tutu & Train Set

Another Great MN Getaway

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving in MN with my family.  Pictures will tell most of the story in this post.

If you remember, on our last trip to MN, my mom pulled out the teepee that my sister and I played in as kids.  When we arrived last Wednesday, it was set up for Sara, and she ran straight to it.  She spent a good portion of the weekend playing with various items in her teepee.  Grandpa Todd got in it a few times, too, but not quite as easily as Sara did.

 On Thanksgiving, we had fourteen people over for dinner.  It was fun to celebrate with a big crowd, including my Grandma Lou, my cousin Emily, my aunt Jane, friends Larry and Linda, and neighbors Wes and Lucille.  It was sort of an eclectic group, which made the day entertaining, exciting, and one for which to be thankful.  Sara was so glad to see her Auntie again.

 My mom will probably scold me for posting this picture, but I think it's cute.  She was frantically getting the last of the Thanksgiving dinner on the table (though she was not nearly as frazzled as she's pretending to be here).  The food was excellent, of course.

This is a picture my mom took of Sara on Thanksgiving.  I have no idea what the face means.  We could probably have a good caption contest.  Anyway, it made me laugh, so I had to post.  (If you're wondering, Sara did wear the same smocked dress last year.  It was long on her then, but paired perfectly with some leggings this year.)

 Todd carved the turkey with skill.  Looking at these pictures now makes me hungry...

 On Black Friday, my mom, Todd, and I headed out to find some deals.  However, we went about three to four hours after most stores opened and of course didn't have luck finding any of the hot items we wanted.  I wasn't too disappointed ... I saved a lot of money!  Later in the day, we went to an indoor park and Sara went nuts.  She wore herself (and her daddy) out running, climbing, and sliding.

 Melissa, Todd, and Mom made excellent spectators at the park.  I love these three. Not sure where Grandma Lou was hiding when I took this picture.

 After the park, we went to a nearby mall where Sara and I took a ride on the holiday train.  Sara was in heaven.

  During our visit, we also had an early birthday party for Sara.  She received a piano, a train set, and a princess outfit.  All items were a big hit.  It takes a special girl to love a train set and a princess outfit at the same time and place.

 Sara's party also included pizza and her first-ever (but certainly not last) viewing of the Griswolds in Christmas Vacation.  My family always watches this movie right after Thanksgiving to kick off the Christmas season.  And we always laugh so hard, as if we're hearing every joke for the first time.  Seriously, who doesn't love the Griswolds?

 As always, Sara spent plenty of time behind the drums with Grandpa Todd.  She's getting pretty good!  She asked multiple times throughout the weekend to go downstairs to play "dums", and of course Grandpa Todd never said no.

We got home yesterday evening after two uneventful flights.  We were expecting huge crowds, problematic security lines, pat-downs, you name it.  However, on the way there and back, we had pleasant experiences and made it home without anyone seeing us naked through a special machine.  That's saying something. 

Now we're looking forward to December.  We have many fun things in store in the coming weeks, none more important than Sara's 2nd birthday!  Plenty of posts to come about birthday, holiday, and the rest of our life in between.

Thankful

I can't believe we've made it to Thanksgiving 2010!  Over the summer, as my principal and I were working tirelessly in an attempt to be at least mostly ready to go when the doors opened for students, we had many a conversation about how great it would feel to get to this point.  It does, indeed.  Tomorrow is the last day of our very short week, and I am ever so thankful ... for the break, for the season, and for the stamina that amazingly enough has carried me this far.  Truly, I'm so thankful for my job, and not just because I have one (though for that I am very thankful), but because I have a job I really, really wanted, and one that I just love.  I still pinch myself on the mornings I'm awake enough to do so when I drive into the parking lot at school.

Tonight I'm also thankful for our upcoming MN trip.  We're headed north for Turkey Day.  It's been since August, which feels like forever, and I just can't wait to step foot back on the homeland.  I'm so thankful we can go and enjoy a long weekend with family.  I'm also thankful that, for the very last time, Sara qualifies as an airplane lap-sitter, and therefore didn't require the purchase of a third ticket.  (That said, I'll be thankful when she gets her own seat, space, etc., etc.)

I'm thankful that Desperate Housewives in on hiatus for a few weeks.  I almost can't take the ridiculous drama anymore.  That's saying something.  I'm thankful for DSW's clearance section.  It's amazing.  I'm thankful that I've gotten most of my Christmas shopping done and most of the decorations up around the house.  I'm also thankful that I won't be the one who has to climb the ladder to hang the outside lights (Why would I start now?  Steve's practically got it down to a science).  I'm thankful that Target takes 5 cents off my bill for every reusable bag I bring with me and use on a shopping trip.  It's not much, but it's enough incentive to make me do my part (and save a few nickels here and there).  I'm thankful that my college girlfriends voted on a Chicago trip for January.  I'm already planning my outfits.  I'm thankful for the girls' weekend I just had with Sara when Steve was visiting friends in Des Moines.  We shopped, we baked, we watched Charlie Brown Thanksgiving ... precious moments.  I am so, so thankful that Christmas Carols are back on the radio.  I know they irritate some, but definitely not me.  I'm thankful that, while Sara didn't completely enjoy having Christmas pictures taken, she looked happy in at least three or four.  I'm thankful that I don't have to put this one on the card:

I'm thankful those pants don't feel as tight as they look (and when I'm in a normal position, they don't look that tight, either.  Thankfully.).  Yikes.

I'm thankful for so many things in my life - the trivial, the mundane, and the truly important.  Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

In Case You're Keeping Score

Last night when Sara decided she was done with dinner, she grabbed a handful of her food and threw it all over the floor.  Steve and I were both immediately on her case.  We took her out of her chair and told her she'd need to clean up her mess.  Simple lesson, right?  Not so much.  Tears ensued.  Sobbing, in fact.  Sara absolutely could not believe that she was going to be reduced to picking food up off the floor.  She cried, begged, and pleaded to be picked up and removed from the scene of the crime.  It was finally decided that if she refused to pick up her mess, she would need to go to bed.  Steve went and put her in bed, and then a few minutes later went back to ask if she was ready to clean up her mess.  She wasn't. 

A short while later, Steve went and had another chat with Sara.  This time, apparently, she was ready to face her consequence.  Standing in the kitchen, I saw Sara come running from her room straight to the mess at her chair.  She began rapidly picking up bits of her meal and walking them to the trash can.  She did so with spunk; there was no reluctance in her performance whatsoever.  Oh, my word.  I was filled with unequivocal and immeasurable pride.  I thought my heart would absolutely burst.

About this same time, as Sara was in the throes of dutifully cleaning her mess, I noticed Steve walk over to the box of donut holes that I purchased in an unforgivable moment of weakness at the grocery store over the weekend.  Sara was not far behind him.  He looked over at me and said, "I might have used a bargaining tool."

Kid = 1 ... Parents = 0

Homework

This weekend, Sara had her first homework assignment. She was sent home from school with a blank turkey, and the directions were to decorate it creatively -- no crayons or markers. Arts and crafts materials do not abound in our home, but I did manage to pull together a few items for use on this assignment: penne noodles, macaroni noodles, party confetti, and an array of old buttons that I always keep but never use.

 Sara enjoyed working on her homework project.  In fact, when her turkey was finished, she used up the rest of her supplies on a blank piece of paper.

 In action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0wSS5xr-d0

And the final product:

Growing up, I remember spending lots of time working on some sort of craft project with my mom and sister, especially during the long summer days.  I'm so excited for Sara to share the arts & crafts love.  With any luck (it won't take much) her talent in this area will outweigh mine!

Play Day