This is my favorite time of year. I thought I'd share some of my favorite Christmassy things. - Glade candles in Glistening Snow. There's something about this smell that I just love. It smells like fresh, clean, sweet pine needles.
- those oyster cracker snacks with the ranch/dill seasoning. Was that specific or what?!? I need to make some of these tonight.
- food from Swiss Colony. Beef logs, crackers and spreadable cheese.....this was such an integral part of my childhood Christmas Eves.
- those cheap $1.00 Advent calendars from the grocery store. You know, the cardboard ones with the bad, waxy chocolate...I just love opening a little door every day and exclaiming "It's a train!" or "It's a candy cane!" and then throwing the chocolate away. Because it's really bad. So bad.
- the soft peppermint candy. I like them best in stick form, but somehow that's getting hard to find.
- old fashioned Christmas music. Bing Crosby, Gene Autry, etc. I love the old-fashioned sound of it. It reminds me of the big huge record player that my grandma used to play Christmas records on.
- vintage glass ornaments. man, I love them. I always keep an eye out for them at thrift stores..I hope to someday have an entire tree filled with these kind of ornaments
- Christmas coloring books. Seriously! I love coloring! I like the cheap $1.00 coloring books from Walgreens. I could color Santa Claus all day.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!
Gayle over at www.planetmfiles.com gave us this wonderful little award (Our First!) So exciting! Thank you Gayle!
Gayle's blog is fabulous as well. Go check it out.
And to share the love I will give the award to:
Leah at www.betweenstupidandclever.com . (She just announced that she's pregnant and I'm stoked. I've known her forever and have always known she'd be a great mama)
I thought I was doing well this Christmas. All of the kids presents were bought and I even wrapped them all. Normally I'm wrapping on Christmas Eve and cursing myself for my procrastination. So..I thought all was good. Then I remembered I have tons of nieces and nephews and never bought anything for them. um. Oops! So there goes my peaceful restful feeling.
The last couple of crafting attempts with the kids ended in toddler tantrums and giant messes. That's what I get for saying that they were working together harmoniously. Karma. I only have one craft scheduled for this weekend. I need the relaxation. I really really do.
I also didn't make any presents this year. Not a one. Remember when I said I was going to do a lot of crafting? Well...I didn't. But I'm OK with that. (Remember Stewart Smalley? " I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and dog-gonnit...people like me")
Where are you with your holiday plans? Are your cards all sent out? (I still have M and E's card sitting here at my elbow...I'm out of stamps), Presents all wrapped? Bought? Thought of?
So I'm having trouble adding a link to our links page...but I wanted to share this one. Every few days it's updated with a new series of pictures. They are always stunning.
http://boston.com/bigpicture/
Check out this post by blogger Chookooloonks: http://www.chookooloonks.com/blog/2008/12/8/through-the-viewfinder-spread-happy.html
I completely believe that happiness is contagious...just as contagious as a bad mood. But who would want to go around making people feel grumpy when it's way easier (and nicer) to spread the cheer?
So...I'll bite. I know that I could use a ton of cheering up and I'm more than happy to try to cheer up anyone who wonders onto our little corner of cyberspace. (Even if they did get here by googling "Miley is a Dirty Girl")
Here are a few things in my life that make me happy:
*We have been busy Christmas crafting on the weekends and my children have been sitting together and crafting side by side while sharing items...and they are getting along! Maybe they are getting older, maybe they are feeling the spirit of Christmas, maybe I...I don't know. But whatever it is...I'm loving it. And I'm not going to stop the crafting after Christmas...now that I know it won't be as big a headache as I've always imagined.
*Music always makes me happy. Whether I've discovered a new song by a new band or if I've rediscovered an old love.
*This morning my boys were cuddled together in one bed and my girls were cuddled together in another bed. How friggin sweet is that?
*I love my hair. Is that too vain? Is me loving the color of my hair wrong to put on a list of things that make me happy? I don't care. Because it does. I love it.
*It makes me happy that I can find myself looking at things in nature with as much fascination as my children. That I'm constantly surrounded by beauty...and that all I have to do is look. (No...I'm not talking about my hair)
So now it's your turn. What is making you happy? Leave a comment with me and also a comment at the original post. Let's spread the joy all through out the internet.
I've had such terrible luck lately posting links here. Our links page is currently a bunch of carp. Half of the links take you nowhere. I think it's my fault. I think. Maybe? (ooh! I just figured out what's wrong. It will take some time but I'll fix them!!!)
I'm going to try again though...I just came across this perfect site!
One Pretty Thing: http://www.oneprettything.com/
I'm so in love with it. Pictures and links and categories and crafts and all things that I love! What kills me is that M has had it on her reader for I don't know how long and hasn't clued me in on it. Hhmph.
Seeing crafts on the internet at Christmas times really helps boost my already over inflated Christmas Spirit. I'm sure I'll be dying my hair green and red before the week is over...
I'm always looking for fun things to make with the kids during the entire month of December. We like to load our tree up with as many home-made goodies as possible. I just came across this great origami wreath tutorial: http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/2445510/35722764
and think we will have a lot of fun with these. I will probably be doing the construction but they can go hog wild with glitter and glue and stickers. And since they look so simple (and so cheap!) I can make tons of them and they can decorate one for every member of the family!
I want to hear your family crafting ideas. Do you have a favorite craft? Do you have a website that you either run or love that has great ideas?
Even though my mind is completely full of holiday related thoughts and plans I have had the chance to run across non-holiday related web sites. Today I found this great site: http://www.momshots.com/
From her About page:
"I have spent a lot of time looking up information online and realized that I couldn’t find any one place that met all of my needs. Momshots was born out of inspiration one morning at the gym. I started thinking about how there should be a one stop place that discussed all the in’s and out’s of learning how to better photograph of my kids. I want to learn this art of photography and I want to share what I learn with anyone else who might be looking for similar knowledge. "
How perfect is that? You all know how much I love when people share their knowledge of their craft (Especially when that craft happens to be photography)
She also has this awesome list of Quick Tips on her side bar.... All of which I live by when photographing children (#5 and #6 especially! If you're trying too hard you're not going to be all that happy with results)....This hint here, for example "3.) Be aware of the background." Makes me smile...the first photography tip I ever received...from my mother! It's so true. The cutest picture can be mucked up by trash or messy beds or some very strange off-color graffiti.
I'm not going to completely bypass Thanksgiving and skip straight to Christmas. No way. It is, after all, my second favorite holiday!
Here are a few things I am thankful for...
My husband...he's taught me all about True Love and patience.
My children...they've taught me more about patience...but I'm thankful for every thing they do and are.
My mother and my sister...for being the strongest women I know....even when they think they're not
My sister-in-law...who has raised some awesome teenagers who are the best Role Models I could ask for for my children.
My niece and nephews-for being as awesome as they are.
My MIL...for her generosity.
E & M...Oh my goodness. I couldn't ask for better friends.
Chocolate and coffee and TV and Netflix and video games and L'Oreal and my crappy ipod and all of the other material things that make up my days...
Oh, goodness. I just read D's update and now I'm feeling all Christmassy and I need to jump in with my own list....
Things I Love About Christmas - Decorating My Grandpa's Tree. It used to be decorating grandma and grandpa's tree, but this is the second Christmas since grandma died. This tradition started when I was three years old. Grandma thought it would be fun for me to come over and decorate her tree. Well, the tradition stuck. Once my brother was born, he joined me, and this will be Year 28 of decorating the tree! We pick a time, and then my brother J and I go over to the house where Grandpa has set up the artificial tree and strung the lights on it. We haul out the christmas ornament box..they have been stored in the same red and green corrugated cardboard box since I was three. The ornaments are stored in layers, wrapped in paper towels and tissue paper. Grandpa turns on the Christmas music and J and I sing along as we go through layers and layers of ornaments and hang them on the tree. We try to put certain ones right in front the bulbs, some always go towards the top of the tree, and there is one special ornament that we fought over as children. It's a heavy purple shimmery orb that is made of volcanic ash. It always has a place of honor on the tree, and when I was six and J was three, Grandma had to start putting a note in the ornament box that said who hung it the year before. It brought tears to my eyes last year when I pulled the paper with her handwriting on it out of the box. After the tree is decorated we always order pizza and eat fresh-baked cookies (which, I might add, Grandpa has done a bang-up job of learning to do the cookie baking that Grandma used to do.) I don't foresee myself giving up this tradition as long as my Grandpa lives. It's peaceful and fun and lovely and one of the best days of the year.
- Cutting Down Our Christmas Tree. As much as I love my old Christmas traditions, I love my new ones too. This will be the third Christmas that T and I have been together. For the past two years, we have driven to a small Christmas Tree farm over the river in Wisconsin. We bring a saw, spend about an hour walking around looking at trees, smelling the trees, and taking goofy pictures. When we finally choose one, we cut it down and drag it on a tarp back to the truck. Then we stop somewhere for hot apple cider (there may or may not be whiskey in this cider) before we go home and put the tree up.
- Christmas Music. In my parent's house growing up, we did not listen to Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving. Ever. Period. The anticipation every year was so exciting! It also killed me a little each year, though, so now that I am an adult I have been known to break out the Christmas music as early as October. I love it all. OK, except that one about the boy and his shoes. I hate that one. A lot. There is a song that my grandma used to have on a record album from 1978..it's called "C'Mon Ring Those Bells", and I'd have to say it's my all-time favorite. I also love the entire Amy Grant Christmas Album, and all the old-fashioned stuff from Bing and Frank. I have been known to stay in a crowded store for an extra 15 minutes just to listen to a little more Christmas music. -
Family. I see almost all the members of my extended family during the Christmas season. It gets hectic, but I wouldn't change it for anything. I see my Uncle B and his kids on the day after Thanksgiving. We all get together at Grandpa's house and play games and eat. On Christmas Eve I see T's family. On Christmas Day I see my parents, my brother and his wife, my nieces, both grandparents, and all my aunts, uncles and cousins.
- Food. This is probably going to be the longest part of this list! Maybe I will try to contain myself. I could discuss Holiday Food for hours. The day after Thanksgiving officially starts The Christmas Season, and for me it kicks off that day with Uncle B's chicken wings. They are so good. They are teriyaki. Not too sweet, not too salty, not too greasy....just perfect. I also love Walgreens brand sugar cookies with sprinkles. They only come out around Christmas and they are wonderful. They used to come in a tub but I think now they are sold in a regular cardboard and cellophane package. I like to buy apple cider and heat it on the stove. On Christmas Eve when I was growing up, we would have Grandma and Grandpa over after church. We would have a buffet-style dinner and it would always involve hot lil' smoky weiners, and things from Swiss Colony. Crackers, cheese, sausage, hot mustard, tortes....Christmas isn't Christmas without Swiss Colony, you know. I plan to continue the Swiss Colony thing this year, even though now we see T's parents on Christmas Eve instead of mine. Christmas breakfast is spent at Grandpa's house. Canadian bacon and cheesy potatoes and orange frosty shakes and green frosted cinnamon rolls. Then by lunchtime we are over at my grandma's house and she has a platter of fruits and cheeses and perfectly salted beef sticks. I think for the rest of my life when I see a platter of sectioned oranges or sliced colby-jack cheese, I'll think of my grandma.
- Smells. I love Christmas candles and air fresheners and potpourri. I love the candy-cane shaped pens that Walgreens sells that have peppermint-scented ink. I love the brisk, cold air on Christmas morning. I love the smell of coffee on Christmas morning. I love the smell of baking cookies.
- Church on Christmas Eve. I like to go to the midnight service. It's quiet, and the music is beautiful. I love singing "Joy To The World" with 75 other people. I love sitting next to my parents in the dark, candlelit service and listening to The Christmas Story. I love holding a candle and singing "Silent Night". I love the peacefullness of it all.
- Christmas Decorations. Holy moly I'm a freak for it. I will buy anything, if it has a Christmas theme. Candles, candle holders, garland, salt and pepper shakers, platters, cheese knives (I have never used a cheese knife in my life) figuirines that I don't have room for, socks, nightlights, napkin rings (I have never used cloth napkins), whatever. When I get old I'm going to be The Crazy Old Christmas Lady. Upon my demise my kids will have to deal with storage garages filled with Christmas decorations.
- The Actual Christmas Story. I think it's nice. I like the story of when Baby Jesus was born.
I could probably go on for another few hours, but I'll spare you and stop. For now. Happy Holidays!
