And no, it doesn't get old. We giggle to ourselves every single year. :o)
Friday, January 21, 2011
Scariest Santa's Workshop Ever
I just figured out how to download pictures from Jeff's iphone (can you tell I'm practically technologically illiterate?), and so, finally, here's a picture of the Santa with glowing eyes. Unfortunately Jeff was on the wrong side of the tractor to get a picture of the demonic elves, but trust me, it was freaky.
I'm glad our kids are too young to catch on to the irony of the song "Santa's Coming to Town," talking about watching kids while they sleep, etc., while sitting captive in the Santa's Worshop from hell, but it makes Jeff and I practically hysterical.
And no, it doesn't get old. We giggle to ourselves every single year. :o)
And no, it doesn't get old. We giggle to ourselves every single year. :o)
Thursday, January 20, 2011
And the Awesome-ness continues...
I have been trying to figure out what to do about the books that are perpetually strewn about the floor of our mini-van for as long as I can remember, but I never got any farther than screeching, "There has got to be something out there that can hold books in the car!" each time that I would finally pick them up after I got tired of the kids stepping on them on the way out of the door.
I was prepared to spend some serious bucks to give my car a feeling other than "untidy library", but before I got that far, thankfully, I found instructions on some gal's blog (http://lovelypraiseworthy.blogspot.com/2010/02/tutorial-car-seat-book-holder.html) on how to make your own book holder with multiple pockets, etc. You can check out the real version if mine doesn't make any sense to you.
Anyway, I am not a sewing person, per se...like, following a pattern, but I'm pretty good at figuring out how to fix something that I have into something else (ie, halloween costumes). Also, I can pretty much only sew straight seams, so I thought this was something I could handle.
It didn't just take me 1/2 an hour of free time, like she suggests, but it was fairly easy, and took part of the afternoon. And it works, which was the point of the whole thing. I also didn't just happen to have an extra pieced quilt and batting lying around (what kind of supermom is this chick anyway?) so I used 4 old placemats that I'd had forever, but never used because there were only 4 of them, and we need 6 of everything.
I sewed two of the placemats together to make the back, and then folded up the bottom edge to make the bottom pocket. I then used the other two placemats to make the top pockets. I basically sewed one horizontal edge of each placemat to the back, folded it up, pinned it in place, and then sewed the whole thing (using a very close zig-zag stitch) on each side (vertical edges) from top to bottom. I sewed some extra grosgrain ribbon that I had in my sewing supplies to each corner, and I was good to go.
Sorry if that doesn't make sense, but like I said, I don't really sew. Of course, the upshot of that is that if I can figure this out, you can totally figure this out!!
So here it is, installed in the car, holding books and everything. And it seems to be working well. I have to remind the kids to pick the books up (what else is new?), but they actually do it, and, so far, there's no using books as stepping stones. So...yay!
I was prepared to spend some serious bucks to give my car a feeling other than "untidy library", but before I got that far, thankfully, I found instructions on some gal's blog (http://lovelypraiseworthy.blogspot.com/2010/02/tutorial-car-seat-book-holder.html) on how to make your own book holder with multiple pockets, etc. You can check out the real version if mine doesn't make any sense to you.
Anyway, I am not a sewing person, per se...like, following a pattern, but I'm pretty good at figuring out how to fix something that I have into something else (ie, halloween costumes). Also, I can pretty much only sew straight seams, so I thought this was something I could handle.
It didn't just take me 1/2 an hour of free time, like she suggests, but it was fairly easy, and took part of the afternoon. And it works, which was the point of the whole thing. I also didn't just happen to have an extra pieced quilt and batting lying around (what kind of supermom is this chick anyway?) so I used 4 old placemats that I'd had forever, but never used because there were only 4 of them, and we need 6 of everything.
Sorry if that doesn't make sense, but like I said, I don't really sew. Of course, the upshot of that is that if I can figure this out, you can totally figure this out!!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Is That the End?
Monday was spent recovering a little more from the aforementioned illnesses, and then Tuesday we went to a FANTASTIC exhibit at the art museum of one my most favorite artists in the whole world, Norman Rockwell. I love his eye, how he tells a whole story with just one image that is packed with details, and how there is always hope and finding the goodness in people.
I could write a whole lot more about his art, and how wonderful it was to see the originals of some of my favorites, and how the only problem is that a ton of other people thought it was wonderful too, so it was pretty packed, but I’ll stop there (and probably do another post about it).
We also went to the Raleigh farmer’s market restaurant for lunch, which was Eastern NC barbecue (the noun, not the verb) for most of us. Afterwards we went to the pavilion and got a few treats, like apple cider, an “ugly” sweet potato (seriously, that’s what they call it), and some homemade jam.
On Wednesday we took the grown-ups out to a great Mexican place that Jeff and I love, but, again, a whole lot of other people had the same great idea, unfortunately, so the service was extremely slow. After dinner we went to the temple and did sealings, which was such a treat, to be in the temple with my sister, her husband, and my parents.
On Thursday the Georgian delegates had to leave in order to get back for various army things, but it was great to have a couple more days with the folks. We saw Tangled (really cute!), my mom and I went shopping, and then Mom and Dad took care of the kids for a few hours so Jeff and I could go out and have some couple time. It was heavenly!
On New Years' Eve we played "flashlight-hide-and-go-seek-in-the-dark" with the kids. Then, after the little ones were in bed, the grown-ups watched a movie ("Oceans" that that I had gotten Jeff for Christmas), and went to bed way before midnight. Because, hey, it's midnight somewhere, right? :o)
New Years Day we cleaned the house from top to bottom (thank you, thank you, thank you, Mom and Dad!!), and then took the kids bowling. That's one of our family's fun things to do, and always a favorite when Grandma and Grandpa visit.
Jeff got a high score of 186, while I think I tied with Kelcey for last with 71. The sad part is that I was really trying for that score, while Kelcey just rolled it down the lane underhanded. But we all had fun, which is the important thing.
Mom and Dad had to leave Sunday after church, but they got see Jeff conduct Sacrament Meeting for the first time, which was neat. And he did a fantastic job, of course. :o) We always miss them when they leave, but we love it when they come, so it’s an ok trade-off.
Well, that's it. No more Holiday stuff, but I think I feel ok about it, even though our house feels a little bare and empty. It's kind of nice to pare down after all the sumptuousness of the holidays. Plus the kids are tracked out, so I have that crazyness to deal with. Anyway, it was wonderful, and the kids are already looking forward to next year!
We also went to the Raleigh farmer’s market restaurant for lunch, which was Eastern NC barbecue (the noun, not the verb) for most of us. Afterwards we went to the pavilion and got a few treats, like apple cider, an “ugly” sweet potato (seriously, that’s what they call it), and some homemade jam.
On Wednesday we took the grown-ups out to a great Mexican place that Jeff and I love, but, again, a whole lot of other people had the same great idea, unfortunately, so the service was extremely slow. After dinner we went to the temple and did sealings, which was such a treat, to be in the temple with my sister, her husband, and my parents.
On Thursday the Georgian delegates had to leave in order to get back for various army things, but it was great to have a couple more days with the folks. We saw Tangled (really cute!), my mom and I went shopping, and then Mom and Dad took care of the kids for a few hours so Jeff and I could go out and have some couple time. It was heavenly!
On New Years' Eve we played "flashlight-hide-and-go-seek-in-the-dark" with the kids. Then, after the little ones were in bed, the grown-ups watched a movie ("Oceans" that that I had gotten Jeff for Christmas), and went to bed way before midnight. Because, hey, it's midnight somewhere, right? :o)
New Years Day we cleaned the house from top to bottom (thank you, thank you, thank you, Mom and Dad!!), and then took the kids bowling. That's one of our family's fun things to do, and always a favorite when Grandma and Grandpa visit.
Mom and Dad had to leave Sunday after church, but they got see Jeff conduct Sacrament Meeting for the first time, which was neat. And he did a fantastic job, of course. :o) We always miss them when they leave, but we love it when they come, so it’s an ok trade-off.
Well, that's it. No more Holiday stuff, but I think I feel ok about it, even though our house feels a little bare and empty. It's kind of nice to pare down after all the sumptuousness of the holidays. Plus the kids are tracked out, so I have that crazyness to deal with. Anyway, it was wonderful, and the kids are already looking forward to next year!
Friday, January 7, 2011
Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!
We certainly got a White Christmas this year, which couldn't have been more perfect. Ok, technically, it snowed on Christmas night, through the day after (or "Boxing Day" to you Canadians, eh?), but the snow started Christmas afternoon, so I'm calling it.
The timing couldn't have been more perfect, actually. We woke up to a true winter wonderland Sunday morning, with almost 8 inches of snow (quite rare for good old NC). Church was canceled, of course, because people in the south have a very strange prejudice against snowplows and the tax money needed to pay for them, so we had our own church at home, complete with Sacrament Meeting (Jeff had gotten permission from the Bishop), simultaneous Sunday School and Primary, and combined Priesthood/Relief Society.
Sacrament Meeting was actually really great. I loved seeing Jeff and Dave bless the sacrament and pass it to all of us, making me very appreciative and thankful, all over again, for the priesthood and the privilege of having worthy priesthood holders in my home. Jarom was our youth speaker, and he read most of Luke 2, and then bore his testimony about the Savior, with only a little help. Jeff gave the same Christmas themed talk that he had given the week before in our ward, and we sang lots of Christmas songs.
My mom was a good sport and taught Primary while I taught Sunday School, since I had already prepared the lesson, and it was a really great one that week, all about prophecies of Christ's second coming from the old testament, which I thought was very appropriate. I was just bummed that I wouldn't be able to teach it to my regular class.
My favorite scripture was from Zechariah 12:10 and 13:6, and the prophecy that the Jews will see Christ at his Second Coming in all His glory, the Messiah that they have looked for, and they will see the wounds in His hands, and ask Him what they are, and He will tell them that He was "pierced" in "the house of my friends." Then they will realize who He is, and what they have done, and they will experience complete bitterness for what they have lost. I think that is something that we all must be careful of, that we don't miss our own opportunities to recognize the Savior and invite him to be part of our lives, to ensure that we never have that kind of bitterness.
My dad taught the Plan of Salvation from Gospel Principles for the 3rd hour, which was a great return to basics for us and a real "hello!" introduction to LDS theology for Malick. But he really was a sweetheart about the whole thing, even dressing up in his suit for the meetings.
After the whole thing was over we realized that we ended up having an actual 3 hour block, which was pretty cool. Each meeting was such a spiritual feast, and I really enjoyed the insights that everyone shared, and their individual perspectives that brought such unique offerings to the table. And since there weren't as many people, I could make as many comments as I wanted, which I usually don't let myself do. I swear, I'm such a loudmouth. :o)
After lunch we really enjoyed the snow, sending the men and the kids out to play. Malick was very excited because not only was it the first time that he had seen snow, it was likely one of the only times that he would see snow in his whole life, since he is only in Georgia for 4 months, and his country, The Gambia, is right next to the equator. We checked the weather there, and the day that it snowed, it was 94 degrees in his capital city.
Well, they had as much fun as they possibly could, having a snowball fight, sledding, and making a classic snowman. I had rain boots for the kids that worked fine, especially with several layers, and a couple of pairs of socks, but all the men had to wear what our neighbor, Julian McKimmon, used to call, "Alabama snow boots," which are just plastic bags tied around your shoes. As a native Alabaman, we figured he knew what he was talking about. They stayed out for several hours, and when everyone came in we all enjoyed hot chocolate and wassail (Malick's favorite).
It was a perfect day.
The timing couldn't have been more perfect, actually. We woke up to a true winter wonderland Sunday morning, with almost 8 inches of snow (quite rare for good old NC). Church was canceled, of course, because people in the south have a very strange prejudice against snowplows and the tax money needed to pay for them, so we had our own church at home, complete with Sacrament Meeting (Jeff had gotten permission from the Bishop), simultaneous Sunday School and Primary, and combined Priesthood/Relief Society.
Sacrament Meeting was actually really great. I loved seeing Jeff and Dave bless the sacrament and pass it to all of us, making me very appreciative and thankful, all over again, for the priesthood and the privilege of having worthy priesthood holders in my home. Jarom was our youth speaker, and he read most of Luke 2, and then bore his testimony about the Savior, with only a little help. Jeff gave the same Christmas themed talk that he had given the week before in our ward, and we sang lots of Christmas songs.
My mom was a good sport and taught Primary while I taught Sunday School, since I had already prepared the lesson, and it was a really great one that week, all about prophecies of Christ's second coming from the old testament, which I thought was very appropriate. I was just bummed that I wouldn't be able to teach it to my regular class.
My favorite scripture was from Zechariah 12:10 and 13:6, and the prophecy that the Jews will see Christ at his Second Coming in all His glory, the Messiah that they have looked for, and they will see the wounds in His hands, and ask Him what they are, and He will tell them that He was "pierced" in "the house of my friends." Then they will realize who He is, and what they have done, and they will experience complete bitterness for what they have lost. I think that is something that we all must be careful of, that we don't miss our own opportunities to recognize the Savior and invite him to be part of our lives, to ensure that we never have that kind of bitterness.
My dad taught the Plan of Salvation from Gospel Principles for the 3rd hour, which was a great return to basics for us and a real "hello!" introduction to LDS theology for Malick. But he really was a sweetheart about the whole thing, even dressing up in his suit for the meetings.
After the whole thing was over we realized that we ended up having an actual 3 hour block, which was pretty cool. Each meeting was such a spiritual feast, and I really enjoyed the insights that everyone shared, and their individual perspectives that brought such unique offerings to the table. And since there weren't as many people, I could make as many comments as I wanted, which I usually don't let myself do. I swear, I'm such a loudmouth. :o)
Well, they had as much fun as they possibly could, having a snowball fight, sledding, and making a classic snowman. I had rain boots for the kids that worked fine, especially with several layers, and a couple of pairs of socks, but all the men had to wear what our neighbor, Julian McKimmon, used to call, "Alabama snow boots," which are just plastic bags tied around your shoes. As a native Alabaman, we figured he knew what he was talking about. They stayed out for several hours, and when everyone came in we all enjoyed hot chocolate and wassail (Malick's favorite).
It was a perfect day.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
More Holiday Fun
Christmas got into full gear once everyone started to arrive. "Everyone" is my sister Sue and her husband Dave, and their friend, Malick, followed by my parents a few days later. Dave is in the National Guard, and is in Officer Training Camp down in Fort Benning, GA, so we were lucky enough for them to drive up and spend Christmas at our house.
Malick is also in OTC (see how good I am with the lingo? But actually, not at all. I'm really half guessing, and Susannah is going to have to correct me) and is an international officer from The Republic of the Gambia, referred to "the Gambia" for short.
Not being from here, he didn't have anywhere to go for Christmas, and so he would have had to spend the whole two weeks of leave by himself on the base. Not exactly full of the Christmas cheer, you might say. Dave and Sue, in their generous spirit, wanted to do something about that, so they called up and asked if he could come with them, and we were glad of the opportunity.
They arrived Tuesday night, and we didn't do a whole lot the first couple of days, mostly just hung out and watched movies, particularly our perennial favorite, "A Christmas Story." The season's just not complete without hearing, "I triple-dog-dare ya!"
[Sidebar: for some reason we haven't watched any of the Christmas movies that Jeff and I usually make a point to watch, like "White Christmas," or "Miracle on 34th Street," because Jeff has been so busy with Bishopric stuff, and helping the Bishop with tithing settlement, but somehow we were able to find the time to watch that classic holiday movie, "Better off Dead." --It is too a holiday movie! Don't you remember him unwrapping TV dinners Christmas morning? Ahh, good times, good times.]
Anyway, Malick was a good sport about all of it. The girls glommed on to him within 5 minutes of his arrival, and were constantly asking for an airplane ride, or sitting on his lap while we watched a movie, or whatever. He is Muslim, so most of what we were doing was fairly new to him, but he seemed to enjoy it. We didn't curtail any of our family traditions, but always gave him the option to participate, and he usually did.
When my parents got there Thursday afternoon we started the activities off with a bang, frosting the sugar cookies that Sue and Dave had mixed together while I was picking Mom and Dad up at the airport, and ending with a re-enactment of the Joseph Smith story in honor of his birthday on the 23rd, just before bedtime. Like I said, we didn't hold back. :o)
For Christmas eve day we decided that most of us would get sick, so my mom, Sue, and Jarom, all had high fevers, sore throats, and hacking coughs, while the rest of us all had running noses, regular coughs, and enough green snot to start selling it on ebay, if there ever was a market for that kind of thing.
Everyone was able to pretty much pull it together with the help of medication, except for poor Jarom who tried very hard to be festive, but spent most of the special Christmas Eve dinner (Irish seafood chowder. . .YUM!!) with his head down, and couldn't stay awake for the reading of the Christmas story and singing Christmas hymns.
I personally had a wonderful time, and got teary-eyed several times as I looked around and saw my family gathered around the piano, singing, just as I had hoped when we first bought the house.
Christmas Eve wasn't actually that stressful, mostly because Jeff and I have finally clued in, and wrapped our presents the week before. So all we really had to do was get the presents from the attic, and fill the stockings. With everyone's stuff around the tree, as you can see, our cup runneth over. :o)
Christmas morning was fun, as always, and took a little longer than usual, mostly because we had so many more people, which was great, especially because our kids had to wait for other people to open their gifts, and couldn't just rip into stuff without thinking. Well, there was some ripping, but they had to wait to do it.
We had our traditional Christmas breakfast of sweet rolls, grapefruit, and hot chocolate, made even yummier by the presence of "Angelina's", hot chocolate from Paris, France, courtesy of my mother from her last trip to visit Sue there. It is very rich, and very wonderful, and made Christmas very special.
Christmas dinner was yummy too, very traditional, giving Malick his first taste of American turkey. Note how poor Jarom is practically unconscious, even though we're having some of his absolute favorite things to eat.
The rest of Christmas day was very low-key, just playing with new toys, chatting, and doing a puzzle from "Santa," another one of our family traditions. All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas, and it was wonderful to have everyone here.
Next up. . .SNOW!!
Not being from here, he didn't have anywhere to go for Christmas, and so he would have had to spend the whole two weeks of leave by himself on the base. Not exactly full of the Christmas cheer, you might say. Dave and Sue, in their generous spirit, wanted to do something about that, so they called up and asked if he could come with them, and we were glad of the opportunity.
They arrived Tuesday night, and we didn't do a whole lot the first couple of days, mostly just hung out and watched movies, particularly our perennial favorite, "A Christmas Story." The season's just not complete without hearing, "I triple-dog-dare ya!"
[Sidebar: for some reason we haven't watched any of the Christmas movies that Jeff and I usually make a point to watch, like "White Christmas," or "Miracle on 34th Street," because Jeff has been so busy with Bishopric stuff, and helping the Bishop with tithing settlement, but somehow we were able to find the time to watch that classic holiday movie, "Better off Dead." --It is too a holiday movie! Don't you remember him unwrapping TV dinners Christmas morning? Ahh, good times, good times.]
Anyway, Malick was a good sport about all of it. The girls glommed on to him within 5 minutes of his arrival, and were constantly asking for an airplane ride, or sitting on his lap while we watched a movie, or whatever. He is Muslim, so most of what we were doing was fairly new to him, but he seemed to enjoy it. We didn't curtail any of our family traditions, but always gave him the option to participate, and he usually did.
When my parents got there Thursday afternoon we started the activities off with a bang, frosting the sugar cookies that Sue and Dave had mixed together while I was picking Mom and Dad up at the airport, and ending with a re-enactment of the Joseph Smith story in honor of his birthday on the 23rd, just before bedtime. Like I said, we didn't hold back. :o)
Everyone was able to pretty much pull it together with the help of medication, except for poor Jarom who tried very hard to be festive, but spent most of the special Christmas Eve dinner (Irish seafood chowder. . .YUM!!) with his head down, and couldn't stay awake for the reading of the Christmas story and singing Christmas hymns.
Christmas morning was fun, as always, and took a little longer than usual, mostly because we had so many more people, which was great, especially because our kids had to wait for other people to open their gifts, and couldn't just rip into stuff without thinking. Well, there was some ripping, but they had to wait to do it.
We had our traditional Christmas breakfast of sweet rolls, grapefruit, and hot chocolate, made even yummier by the presence of "Angelina's", hot chocolate from Paris, France, courtesy of my mother from her last trip to visit Sue there. It is very rich, and very wonderful, and made Christmas very special.
The rest of Christmas day was very low-key, just playing with new toys, chatting, and doing a puzzle from "Santa," another one of our family traditions. All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas, and it was wonderful to have everyone here.
Next up. . .SNOW!!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Holiday Stuff
We tried not to do a whole, whole lot this Christmas, but we did manage to squeeze in our Ward Christmas Party (they do a breakfast instead of dinner--genius!) where Kelcey was an angel in the Nativity, had our annual "Grown-ups Only" Christmas party, which was a ton of fun, took a quick trip to the mall to talk to Santa,
saw the Nutcracker
and went to "Lights on the Neuse," a really great farm where you take a hayride through the woods and look at all their light displays.
I wanted to post a picture of the first stop on the tour: Santa's Workshop from Hell, complete with demonic elves, a Santa with glowing eyes (I kid you not!) and the overwhelming smell of diesel exhaust (aka, fire and brimstone) due to the tractor being parked in a barn for several minutes while we contemplated our eventual demise, all to the tune of, "He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake. . ." I'm telling you, freakiest Christmas thing ever.
But it's all part of the experience, right? And the rest of it is actually quite cute, and not weird at all.
However, pictures of this holiday extravaganza will not be forthcoming because I forgot the camera in the car, I was too cold to go get it, and all we had was Jeff's iphone--which, while it seems to be almost magic, somehow can not capture how freaky it all is.
So that's the report of our activities up until everyone got here, but I will wait to post about all that fantastic fun-ness.
saw the Nutcracker
and went to "Lights on the Neuse," a really great farm where you take a hayride through the woods and look at all their light displays.
I wanted to post a picture of the first stop on the tour: Santa's Workshop from Hell, complete with demonic elves, a Santa with glowing eyes (I kid you not!) and the overwhelming smell of diesel exhaust (aka, fire and brimstone) due to the tractor being parked in a barn for several minutes while we contemplated our eventual demise, all to the tune of, "He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake. . ." I'm telling you, freakiest Christmas thing ever.
But it's all part of the experience, right? And the rest of it is actually quite cute, and not weird at all.
However, pictures of this holiday extravaganza will not be forthcoming because I forgot the camera in the car, I was too cold to go get it, and all we had was Jeff's iphone--which, while it seems to be almost magic, somehow can not capture how freaky it all is.
So that's the report of our activities up until everyone got here, but I will wait to post about all that fantastic fun-ness.
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