Trying to catch up a bit

I am terribly behind with no hopes of catching up. I was looking so forward to Shimelle's journaling and photo prompts. Now I have 8 or so emails that I still need to read and I'm feeling overwhelmed.  I'm wondering if I should just not even try to read those emails and pick up with tomorrow's or if I should read them in order and get to them when I get to them.

Wednesday I made 4 more ornaments for myself. I love them! I should make them as gifts, but I'm having a hard time parting with them. Is that selfish or what?  I did make those penguin ones though- all the same thing. I kept one for myself and gave the rest away.

 

The photo prompts for Wednesday and Thursday were to photograph something with a red background and using the rule of thirds.

 

 

This is one of my favorite decorations! I made this several years ago before the kids were born. A bunch of ladies from church got together and made clay angels.  Well #1 I'm not too fond of angels and #2 I can't seem to do anything the same as anyone else. I was so proud of it then and am still proud of it today. I think the angels were intended to be placed at the top of a tree, but my Santa is very heavy.  I'm assuming the angels were too heavy as well. I wonder how many of those ladies still have their angel.

 

 

 

I took 2 more pictures trying to find just the right thing to photograph with a red background.  I've been enjoying some hot chocolate during this cold season.  You know in some of the hot chocolate packets they have those little marshmallows?  I love those things. They've gotten smart and now sell them separately.  Which is MUCH better! One because they always melted before you could enjoy them when you put the milk in the mix.  And also now I can put them in my hot chocolate mix which is much better than the mixes they make anyway.

 

And this was my last attempt. I just thought this looked nice. I still love and collect snowmen.  I didn't put all of them out this year. I only put a few out.  I'm just a little nervous to put my big breakable ones out with my un-Lucky kitty. She enjoys knocking things off shelves.

 

Thursday besides getting hurt, Greg received complimentary tickets to a private viewing of Saving Mr. Banks. From the doctor's office I took the kids to McDonalds for some dinner before meeting at the theater. The boys LOVE to climb on the outside of the playground.  I let them, I don't see how it could hurt the playground.  I understand it is a liability to McDonalds, if the child falls and gets hurt.  However, I am not the type of person to sue if it is truly our fault. I don't allow them to do it if there are small children running around.

 

So there was a conversation at McDonalds.  It went like this:

 

Ashley to Mason: there are signs everywhere that say do not climb on outside equipment.
Mason: I don't speaky sign language.

Now back to the movie. WOW!  This is probably a movie you will want to see. Check out the preview here.

 

 

 

All three of my kids liked it as well, even though parts were emotional. It comes out in theaters on Dec. 20. (Mom- I know you don't go to the theater often anymore, but this one is worth seeing.)

 

 

 

Here are the iheartfaces photos prompts:

 

Day 3- boots

 

Day 4- 9:00

 

Day 5- Elves

 

(Drawn by Ashley)

 

Day 6- Fun

I made hot chocolate mixes for my students.  Wilton makes markers where the ink is edible.  Oh so fun!!! So I drew snowman faces on the marshmallows.

 





 

And packaged them in jars like this.  This is so not my original idea.  I found it on Pinterest of course.  I suppose I should link to the original. Here is where I found it. And I used Alton Brown's hot chocolate recipe. The recipe says to use 1/2 cocoa mix and 1/2 milk.  I think that is way too rich!  I think 1/4 cup cocoa mix to 3/4 cup milk works well.  It still might be a little rich.

 

And Ashley made a few anime ones.

 



Then on Friday in class we made gingerbread houses. 

 

It was extremely MESSY!

 

One thing I didn't mention in my last post was that my kids had such terrible anxieties over what happened during the day that they couldn't fall asleep.  They were up til 2:30 AM and woke up between 5 and 6:00 AM.  Ashley was so scared she slept on the floor in the boys room and asked Aussie to sleep next to her and hold her hand.  I stayed up ALL night. I had so many things I needed to complete for school.

 

One of the things I had to do was finish making the penguin hats for the performance Friday evening.  I'm not sure if I mentioned on here that all those cute little hats I made, more than half of them were too small.  I had made the hats earlier in the week but still needed to add the faces to them, which of course I put off to the last minute.

 

I was pretty much a zombie by Friday afternoon.  I got really nervous that I wouldn't be able to make it home safely.  The program was scheduled for 7 PM and I had no time to go home in between school and the program.  Greg had a weekend job and I couldn't count on him to drive us home.  The weather started looking bad- to Nashvillians.  Seriously, it was nothing but I started praying that they cancel the program.  I am SO THANKFUL they did cancel it.  They will reschedule it in January.  I needed to go home.  I prayed all the way home, cold air blowing in my face, music loud, talking to my kids, everything possible to stay awake.  I got home safely and promptly fell asleep on the couch.

 

And that doesn't catch me up all the way, but enough for now.

just a little needle.....OUCH!

I need to catch up but tonight is not the night to do it. Hopefully I will have time to get caught up tomorrow.

Let me tell you what happened to me on Thursday. Thursday I had a list a mile long to complete for the last day of school and performance. The last week before winter break is the worst week.  There are always papers due on top of other homework, gifts for teachers and friends, gifts for my students, preparing for my class, and preparing for any party or performances they have.  It is stressful!

So Thursday around 2:30, I was running around trying to get things completed. I had just printed off one of the kid's papers and was heading back to the kitchen with my computer in my hands.  I felt a sharp pain in my foot.  Something must have gotten in my shoe. I put my foot down again to try to sit down and sure enough something very sharp was in my foot. With my hands full and standing on one foot, I started yelling, "help, I need HELP!"  The kids came running.  I handed off the computer and sat down on the stairs. A needle had gone through my tennis shoe and into my foot at an angle.  It wasn't the sharp side either, it was the bigger side with the eye.

 I tried to pull it out, but I couldn't get it out.  I couldn't get my shoe off.  And every time I tried to pull it out I felt faint.  The kids asked if they should call Dad.  I said, No!  I needed help right then.  I told them to go to our neighbor's house and ask for help.  I thought our neighbors across the street were out of town.  We had been getting their mail and newspapers and I hadn't heard that they came back yet.  So they ran next door and got a college student.  Unfortunately, he didn't quite know what to do. But I feeling a bit faint  told him to stay with me. In the meantime, Greg calls to check on us.  I'm starting to panic a bit.  Anyway, Greg is trying to talk to me on the phone, suggesting we cut off the shoe.  I was afraid if we did that the needle would snap and make it harder for me to get it out of my foot. So Greg leaves work and starts heading home.  This particular week has been very hard on Greg at work.

Just then I saw our neighbors across the street come home.  I sent the college boy over to get him.  He came over and tried to get it out with tweezers.  It wasn't coming out.  So he said he needed to go back to his house and get pliers. But he tried one more time and he got it.  He told me I needed to get a tetanus shot.

The kids were scared!  I had them get me rubbing alcohol, wet washcloth and a Band-Aid.  They thought I was going to have to go to the hospital.  They did well assisting me.  But it took a toll on them. Afterall, I take care of them, they are not supposed to take care of me.

I called the doctor's office and asked if I needed a tetanus shot.  I hadn't had one since I been going to him in over 18 years.  So I asked them when they closed.  They said 4:00.  I had about an hour at that point to get there.

  I called Greg who was still on his way home.  Apparently, rush hour had already begun and he was having a hard time getting to me.  I told him that the office closed at 4:00 and he told me I had to leave right then to get there in time.  I didn't hear one very important detail! I yelled to the kids, we have to go NOW!  They are running around trying to get shoes on, coats on, etc.  We get out the door.  I got behind a school bus, then when I finally made it to the interstate everyone was going very slow!  I looked ahead and there was a police car.  No one dared to pass the police car.  I followed him ALL THE WAY to my exit. Then once I got off the exit I hit nearly every stop light.  While on the way, Greg calls. "Do you have the kids?" "Yes, of course I have the kids!" He went HOME! He meant for me to leave the kids at home and he would be there shortly. (That would be the detail I missed hearing.) Anyway, I pulled into the doctor's parking lot a few minutes after 4:00, but I went into the office anyway.  They were ready for me.

The shot...I was expecting the shot to hurt.  It didn't.  It was very much like a flu shot.  She told me it might hurt a bit afterwards.  Ok, but it really didn't hurt the rest of the day or even the next day. But today! DANG! I feel like someone punched me really hard in the arm! Mason leaned on me and rested his head on my arm and I had to tell him to stop it hurt so bad. My entire shoulder is very tense.  I tried to decorate today but it was quite painful.

My foot...it hurt worse yesterday more than it did when it happened.  Today it didn't hurt so bad until the evening. I think the more active I am is when it hurts.

OK so that is the major drama that happened. I did have some fun over the last few days as well.  I will have to share that with you later.  I need to go to bed- Church in the morning.  Greg already told me we shouldn't go to class because the roads are supposed to be bad.  So we have an extra hour to sleep.

Valued Ornaments/ Packages

 Have you ever noticed many people put their favorite ornaments at the top of the tree?  As I watched Ashley and Mason decorate the tree in the family room I watched as they handled certain ornaments with care.  Their voices got softer and they knew just where their special ornament would go.  I was surprised to see what was their most precious ornament.  They are the Baby's First Christmas ornaments, one pink and two blue from when they were born in 2002.  I noticed they are hung in order of birth.

 

I doubt they remember that Christmas and yet these ornaments represent life, their life. I'm sure there are much more beautiful ornaments but I love the fact that these in particular hang at the top of our Christmas tree. It tells me that they feel valued.

 

What was it like for you growing up anticipating Christmas morning? I vaguely remember making paper chains. Each day I would take one chain off. It was a good visual of just how many more days to go. I also remember how difficult it was to fall asleep Christmas Eve and waking up at 3 or 4 in the morning to open stockings.  I think I only saw my Mom one time.  Then I snuck back  upstairs and tried to wait until she went to bed. Nowadays, we do a gazillion things to count down the days to Christmas. Our family has two different methods.  One is a Christmas advent calendar.  I made it several years ago.  We put one day up at a time. And an advent box with 24 drawers, where you open one drawer a day to see the activity planned for the day.  Both are still packed away. Maybe I'll have a chance to look for them tomorrow.  But the kids haven't forgotten.  Everyday they ask what is the activity planned for today. Today (Day 3) I didn't really have an activity, nor did I have the energy to think up one.  So today became Chick Fil A night. (Convenient huh? Since every Tuesday night is CFA night.)

Today was kind of exciting at first though. The delivery men came THREE times today.
It was exciting to open each package to see what arrived.  I locked myself in my room and went through the contents of the boxes.

 

One of the boxes contained what I am calling my birthday present. it is a 3 inch reversible foam mattress pad.  Apparently one side is cooler than the other, but I don't know which side it is. 

 

 

Anyway, I'm not sure if I'll like it, but so far so good.  I took about a 45 minute nap this evening and my body didn't hurt afterwards.  So here's hoping that this is the solution to my sleeping problem!

 

Today Ashley had a dress rehearsal for the co-op play. The play, in which I made all of those hats.  Guess what?  More than half of them were too small!  I was so frustrated!  Anyway, I have begun to make 10 more.  I only have the basic structure of the hats done.  Tomorrow I will put the eyes and beaks on.

 

 

Apparently, I had a migraine tonight.  I'm not positive it was actually a migraine but it was a bad headache.  I've never had a headache where all the lights are turned off, doors closed and when I close my eyes it seems like there was more light coming in than when my eyes were open. 

 

Greg was a huge help again tonight, as nothing seemed to go as planned today, I got very little done.  I told him I had to lay down and then when I got up I would do the dishes.  When I got up he had done the dishes.  Then I went to read to Mason and Greg said he would do it.  It was VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!!!!

 

Here is Day 2- photo prompt Furry Faces

 

 

Aussie can't fall asleep.  I'm afraid I am not much comfort to him tonight.  He has anxieties. All he can think about is how we grow older and one day we will no longer be here and that we will never be able to have those days back as a child.  I just don't know what to tell him.  My brain is not working very clearly tonight.  I'm off to bed. Hopefully, he can fall asleep sooner rather than later.

 

Good night!

Playdate, crafts and what not

I'm pretty tired tonight, but I need just those few minutes of pure quiet time. My day consists of non-stop noise. The TV is always on, kids playing computer games, kids talking, kids laughing, kids fighting, kids, kids, kids.  Don't get me wrong I love my kids, but I NEED this time to energize myself.  Now tonight I don't feel like I have much energy left in me, but the quiet is so welcomed!

I know my Christmas manifesto is to have controlled busyness.  THAT is what I want, not necessarily what I get.  Today was one of those busy days from beginning to end. I did certainly enjoy most of it.

Day 2- Advent Calendar- Playdate at Chloe's house

 

 

Chloe is Ashley's friend from Girl Scouts and Aussie's new girl friend.  She invited us over to her house to play.  The kids have a great time playing there.  What was really nice today is that my friend Amy showed up.  Caroline, Amy and I (the grown-ups) had a great time chit chatting while the kids played.  We talked about what our next art project will be.  I told them I was interested in making this:

I think I have the supplies, so tomorrow this might be my project.  But as I showed this to them, Caroline showed me her husband's necklace.  I LOVE it!  I might try to make these as well:

 

Chloe got a new kitten. He is adorable! What a good kitty to look right at the camera.

 

 

When we got home the kids had to work on their paper.  Greg was a HUGE help tonight.  I have been dreading this, but Greg really helped them get a good start on it.  So each of them have an outline. Tomorrow and Wednesday they write the paper.

While Greg helped the kids I got started on my next project.  This project was "kind of" out of necessity.  Ashley is in a school musical where most of the characters are penguins.  I received an email several weeks ago telling me that I was responsible for my daughter's costume.  The email couldn't have come at a worse time. We were in the midst of Les Miserables and a ton and I mean a ton of things we had to get done.  I felt as though my cup was overflowing!

 

Anyway, you don't tell ME that I'm responsible for a costume and expect me not to do a good job on it.  My friend, Raquel is a lawyer and my friend, Beth is a writer. Their children are in the play. Do I expect them to have a handmade costume? No. But I am a crafter. That's what I do. Darned if I'm going to send my daughter up on stage with a black sweat suit with a piece of white cloth as the belly for a penguin. Really?  I'm incapable of this.  Now to my defense I did not get the memo that this was acceptable.  The email I got just said I was responsible.  It was sent out around Halloween, so I assumed other people would purchase penguin costumes at after Halloween sales.  I believe I assumed wrong, which brings me to today's craft.

First let me show you Ashley in her costume. She is supposed to be a puffy penguin. We may need to add pillows up under her costume, but I thought this looked puffy enough.

 

 

 

 

Oh my goodness aren't these feet the cutest? 

 

Anyway, I just couldn't bare to watch her up on stage being the only true penguin with everyone else wearing black sweat suits.  She would LOVE to be the center of attention.  However, much to her chagrin I volunteered to make everyone hats. Not the entire costume- just the hats.  At least they will all look somewhat uniform.  So tonight I made EIGHTEEN penguin hats.  They are not made very well but they will at least last for Friday's performance.

 

Did I tell Greg I had to make them? NO! He would have thought I was crazy! I am crazy!

 

Now onto more fun things.  My Mom sent me a list from iheartfaces.com:

 

 

 I thought I might incorporate this into my December Daily.  Since I read it late, I have only done Dec. 1.  I'll try to catch up tomorrow.  Here is my picture for day 1.

Actually the picture above of the cute kitten could be Day 2's entry.  However, I'll probably try to get one of my own cats tomorrow.

 

I had more to say, but now I am double decker dog tired!

I must sleeeeep!

 

Catch ya tomorrow!

 

Christmas Manifesto/ Wish lists

I finished my Christmas manifesto.  I copied Shimelle's and then changed it a bit to fit me.

 

 

I also wanted to share the kids Christmas lists this year. I worked on this page over the weekend at Doris' house.

I'll highlight what I got or am getting (that I know of).

Mason's:

Yu-Gi-Oh cards

Build-a-Bears

Nerf guns and bullets

money

Something large so I can brag about my box

Breakfast WARNING 5:00 AM waking up

Minecraft stuff

Keep going with TBC

 

Aussie's:

Build-A-Bears! :D

----- hknowstore.com cubes -----
ShengShou 2x2x2
Purple Pocket Cube
5x5x5 Pillowed Cube - Black
Cut-corner spring 3x3x2 - Black
1x1x4! :D
1 random cube!
Dipyramid black body - new on the list
--------------------------------
Turbo Builders Club for ROBLOX - Lifetime! :D
Isometric - for the iPod!
Porygon Toys! c:
Any kind of Ninja Warrior obstacle in the front or back yard? c:
XFinity update - Disney XD, TNick, Nick2, etc.
Google
Wipeout - Create & Crash!
iTunes Giftcard.
Minecraft Plush - HappyToyMachine.com
French Fries! :D
----- 51morefun.com -----
MoZhi Flying Shuttle
MoZhi Watch Tower
YJ Fisher Cube - Green
WitEden 3x3x9a Cube - Blue
-------------------------
Aerobar - Mint & Chocholate!

 

Ashley's

Barbie stuff

American Girl Stuff

Minecraft stuff/ Minecraft creature that makes blow up noise

Barbie Spa thing

Barbie food

American Girl food

Build A Bears

Minecraft original doll character

clothes

earrings

Pokémon stuffed animals

iPod case

three BFF necklace/bracelet

laptop (*bought for family not just her)

American Girl McKenna movie

Anything tiger

a kitten

Art stuff

Specific Sharpie

Art desk

Mommy-made stuffed animal

Justice suitcase

Wuggy (Ashley's word for a hug)

Password Journal

Ashley necklace

Sewing machine

Sewing lessons

Nerf gun bullets

a pet horse

Build A Bear stuff

Monster High Tiger girl

Movies to watch for the drive

Legos

Tummy Stuffers

 

 

 

Decorating the tree

I am journaling through this December again.  I enjoyed it immensely last year.  Today's writing prompt is to write a manifesto.  This is one of the harder prompts for me.  As I look at the pictures I took today, I do know a few things I will include in it.  I find it very important not only to have fun but to emphasize that this is the time Christians have chosen to celebrate Jesus' birth.

 

 

 

  I showed you a craft that I made for my class yesterday, but here is another I finished making today.

These are magnets. I chose the picture because of the nativity scene and my desire to share with others, celebrating the birth of our Lord.

  

My manifesto will also include crafting.  This time of year I REALLY like to craft.

 

 

And speaking of crafting I've started my December Daily scrapbook.  Here is a sneak peek at the cover:

 

Another thing that will be in my manifesto is controlled busyness. I love to be busy in December, having an activity everyday. I say controlled because it needs to be fun. I need to control it, not it controlling me.

 

So...

Day 1 in the Advent calendar- Decorate

We didn't decorate the whole house (yet).  But Ashley, Mason and I did put up and decorated the tree in the family room.

 

 

Mason put up a few ornaments.

 Ashley did most of the decorating.  She asked me if I wanted to help.  I told her that I get to put up my OWN tree in the Living Room and I'll decorate that one by myself.

 

It's done.  It's leaning, but I don't know how to fix that.  The kids love the colored lights, but I like the white ones, hence the altered photograph. :)

 

At church this morning they had two Christmas trees set up. I took the photo op and got my kids picture in front of the trees.

This week is crazy trying to get ready for the last day of school Friday. Say a little prayer for us, the kids have to write an essay over a book we've been reading. The book was a bit difficult for me to read, so I'm anticipating this being a very difficult process.

Thanksgiving 2013

 

And

What I am not thankful for:

 

Still it was a wonderful day. I made a roasted chicken, green beans, my grandma's corn pudding, Sister Schubert rolls, cranberry sauce and Greg made dumplings.

I spent the evening singing and reading.  The boys played games on the computer in my room. And Greg and Ashley watched a horror movie, in which I hid in the boys room with the door closed and music on to drown out the scary noises.

Surprisingly I didn't go out Thursday night to do Black Friday shopping.  I really wanted to, but Greg and I made a decision to purchase 2 big gifts, which I won't say just in case kids are reading this.  This used up all of our spending money.  So I actually was bummed and felt cheated out of my shopping experience.  I'm hoping what we bought will truly be a good purchase.

I did go out a bit today and picked up a few things. Out of the 5 places that I went, I got "Rock Star" parking places and I didn't even need to drive around to get them. I spent the evening wrapping them. And I also made some ornaments for my Kindergarten class and my kids' teachers.

 

While I was shopping Greg took the kids to the park and got this great picture!

 It's that SEASON again, when I start crafting and blogging and staying up way way way too late!

I hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving!