Almost Wordless Wednesday

The family Christmas card, courtesy of Shutterfly. I cannot say enough great things about the high quality of these cards! Amazing quality.

Of course, mine were free, but they would have cost around $80. The quality is amazing...did I mention that already? There were tons of ways to personalize the inside and I chose to use another picture of the girls and a little tid-bit about each one of us. I also informed everyone of our upcoming move and added our family email address to help people keep in touch.

The ribbon wreath for Maggie's room. When she saw it she said, "It's beauty-ful!!".

Ellie wanted to wear Maggie's tutu last night before bed.
I love that she smiles on command now!

It IS Christmas!

After dropping Maggie off at preschool yesterday, I decided to spend the entire 3+ hours while she was at preschool hanging out and messing around with Ellie. First stop was the credit union and then shopping for Big Daddy.

I managed to hear "Last Christmas" three times and NOT ONE time was by the original artist, WHAM!. (Two Taylor Swift's and one unknown...btw, Taylor Swift's version is my FAVORITE) This morning I'm listening to "Hard Candy Christmas" by Dolly Parton and "Merry Christmas, Darling" by The Carpenters. These three songs happen to be my FAVORITE secular Christmas songs.

In other news, we are not able to skype with Big Daddy like we had hoped. The internet connection at the hotel sucks. We are all disappointed...beyond words. Big Daddy is literally sick without his girls. He misses Maggie & Ellie so much. And of course, they miss him just as much. I think Big Daddy and I can handle being away from each other for any pre-determined amount of time, but adding the kids into the mix makes it rather unbearable.

On a brighter note, we have some new (used) house prospects. We have never lived in a pre-owned house, but we're open to it at this point. We also have a showing scheduled for our house this weekend. Another highlight of Big Daddy's absence is that the master bathroom has stayed completely clean for 24+ hours.

Feel free to pray for our houses (current and future) and the homesick hearts (Big Ddaddy, Maggie, Ellie and yours truly).
It seems that home really is where the heart is.

I have big plans for tonight's free time! I'm making a non-Christmas ribbon wreath for Maggie's room. Pictures will hopefully be up tomorrow.

Christmas At Our House

We love our really tall front door, but it was extremely hard to put garland up without a ladder or a helper. I used a kitchen chair with a princess stool in it-very dangerous, but it worked! If something happens and the garland falls, I'm not putting it back up!

Big Daddy bought me a new wreath for the front door. It just happens to be like my Aunt Lisa's, but with a different bow. I sort of love it and may have went outside a few times in the cold just to look at it. I'm going to change the bow after Christmas and maybe add a red bird and nest to make it a little more winter-y. This is the first pre-made wreath I've ever had.

The ribbon wreath in the foyer makes me smile. It's so sweet and cute and I can't wait to make more.

I put our glass nativity (minus the Wise Men that lost their heads in 2007, courtesy of toddler Maggie) and our crystal cross bell on the table. The table looks sweet and cozy at night with the snow covered tree lit up.

And here's the tree and the mantle. I love our mantle even without decorations. I filled the apothecary-ish jars; one with red glass ornaments and the other with scented pine cones and fake snow. There's also a Little People Nativity Scene and a singing snowman that sounds like Harry Connick, Jr. that hang out around the fireplace.

Here's a close-up of the mantle( before the pine cones and fake snow). Maggie and Ellie have their stockings up and I bought glittered "M" and "E" stocking charms so that Santa can tell which ones needs coal.

A Long Weekend of Thankful Things

We started out our Thanksgiving holiday on Wednesday. Big Daddy had finished all of his work obligations and decided to take Maggie & Cousin Callie to see "Tangled"in 3D. I had planned on taking Maggie this week, but we decided it would make a nice Daddy-daughter date. Big Daddy actually said that it was one of the best movies he had seen in a long time and that I should take Maggie to see it again. I liked the idea of it until I saw the movie price on the ticket stubs...yikes!

The movie was so wonderful that Big Daddy took the girls for ice cream afterward and was late to his little going away party. It was very little and not much of a party, but we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and enjoyed sitting by the fire with my parents and my sister and her family. I bought some nitrate free, all beef hot dogs that were awesome. (They had that little bit of crispness on the outside without having to be blackened...oh my!) We were also able to use the dead tree that fell on our property the week before as fire wood.

We enjoyed the fire so much that Big Daddy added a few logs and we went back out after the girls were asleep...and we had watched a documentary on PBS about the official White House photographers, past and present. Fascinating, really.

We went to my mom and dad's for Thanksgiving as always. These two sat at the Princess table as always.

This picture shows two of my favorite things! 1) Maggie was hungry and actually asked if she could eat. This doesn't happen very often, but she was so hungry for lunch on Thursday. 2) A certain someone now smiles on command for the camera. (Unless you're trying to get a picture for the family Christmas card.)
I love this face!
Ellie missed her nap on Thursday and fell asleep at 6:30 during the two mile drive home from my mom and dad's house. She slept until 6:30 the next morning. I had asked my aunt to take some pictures of us as a family, but I felt a little like a fat cow after lunch. We decided to take a few test shots on Thursday night (of Maggie in her 3D glasses) to get the lighting right and then let Maggie have the camera. She was practically a professional because Callie had been taking pictures all day with her mom's camera and had given Maggie photography lessons. Maggie actually said, "You don't have to tell me what to do because I've been with Callie all day. Now which button do I push?". She managed to cover the flash half of the time, but did an amazing job. I'm pretty sure that the picture I had to use of us will be a little blurry, but that's okay.

It took me forever to pick a card and then get everything just right, but I managed to use the Shutterfly offer and order our cards on Thursday night. I can't wait to get them!!

My mom asked Maggie to come over on Friday to help her with Christmas decorations and of course, Maggie went. Big Daddy and I spent a little quality time with Ellie and went shopping and out to lunch. T.arget was surprisingly not busy. I managed to get one of the things on my list for $5 off and pick up little gifst for my parents at a discount. We had lunch at McAlister's (which was hard to do without Maggie since that's one of her favorite restaurants, with Panera being the other one) and enjoyed each other's company. Big Daddy and I both had the Holiday Panini and Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup, which is fast becoming our favorite! We rounded out the day with naps for me and Ellie and then having dinner (leftovers) at my parents. Maggie had a sleepover with my mom, so we picked her up Saturday morning for more family fun!

Our long weekend definitely revolved around family. We were with the people we are thankful for and doing some of the things that we enjoy most.

A few things I plan to share this week:

• I finally made my ribbon wreath and will be sharing the finished product!! Of course, I did it completely different from that! I used a 10 inch straw wreath and four different polka dotted ribbons. I forgot to buy ribbon to wrap the wreath, but found just enough from last Christmas that also coordinated. I didn't realize that she used a sewing machine until after I had planned my craft, but I just made loops and then pinned my loops to the wreath. Since I used a smaller wreath I also made smaller loops. I adore the finished product and will probably be making a non-Christmas themed wreath in the very near future. I'm going to pay attention and go t o Hobby Lobby when ribbon is half off! I'm thinking about a black/white/pink one for Maggie's room, among other things. I was able to do the entire thing during Saturday's nap!!
  
• I also be sharing the pictures of our Christmas decorations...first "my" stuff and then Maggie and Ellie's little trees. Ellie's is sweet and adorable and Maggie's is a little...flashy and busy, but it's all her.
• The daily drama. I'll be a single parent from Sunday when I leave for Church until Saturday morning. Big Daddy starts his new job on Monday, but has an exam scheduled here the following Monday. I'm thankful that his first time away will be short because Maggie is already having a hard time with how things are going to be. Ellie is clueless for now, but she has recently become quite attached to her Daddy.
• My Christmas Wish List. I do this every single year in my head and I think it's a lot of fun to record it for the future. Big Daddy and I aren't big gift-givers, but it's fun to wish for things. I think he may get me a gift on his own this year...something to add to the gift that I picked out on Friday.
• I'll also be sharing the family Christmas card!

Happy...Holiday

I have never had my Christmas tree up before Thanksgiving, but this year I do.

Big Daddy and I were trying to think of all of the things that we need to do before he starts his new job and it just made sense for us to put the tree up early this year. He'll also get to enjoy it a little bit before he leaves.

Maggie and Ellie love the decorations. The tree has been up for less than 24 hours and I think every ornament has been moved at least twice...and not by me. That's life with a four year old and an (almost) 18 month old.Just look at what Ellie's holding!! Poor Maggie has said "Ellie, keep your hands to yourself" at least a hundred times today!

Maggie put all of her BIG ornaments on her little tree tonight and informed me that her ornament from two years ago was "just so ugly". She couldn't understand why she would have picked it out! My thoughts exactly. She wanted white lights and then changed her mind and decided to do multi-colored lights again.

Ellie has her own tree this year! It's white with white lights and (so far) has baby gingerbread men on it. I'm going to shop for a few more ornaments between now and Christmas, but it looks sweet right now. It's nice to decorate it and know that she can't complain yet!

I completely forgot about buying Ellie a tree after Christmas last year, so we had an extra little tree. I decided to put it on the table in the foyer and I think it looks sweet and winter-y.

Our house should be on the market by the end of the week. As much as I hate to leave it, I do not want to be away from Big Daddy any longer than I have to. We are (literally) praying that things go well and that a nice offer comes in a little quicker than we are estimating.

I picked out our Christmas cards today. Of course, I had a hard time picking out a card (and didn't use any of my original picks) and then spent an hour trying to get some sort of picture of Maggie & Ellie for a Christmas photo gift. Hopefully, Auntie Lisa will be able to get a suitable picture of me and Big Daddy together and also one of our little family. I'll try to share the finished product a little later.

I would appreciate your prayers for our Church friend, Zach. He is having more surgery on his brain tomorrow morning. I cannot imagine a four year old going through two brain surgeries in one week. Hopefully, the doctors have all of the information that they need to help with his seizures.

Home...Away From Home

We made it to and from Georgia with both kids and our sanity!! Big Daddy timed the exact amount of time that we were driving and we are pleased to say that it only took about 5 hours...if you do not count stopping for dinner or lunch (depending on our travel day).

As I've said before, we aren't real big on letting the kids watch tv, so we do not own a portable DVD player like every other parent you know. Maggie & Ellie entertained themselves pretty well. I made a trip to the Library for new books and we sang songs and listened to music and looked at all of the sights.

We were happy to arrive at the Georgia Welcome Center.I think they were tired and hungry at this point!!


It was nice to get our first glimpse of part of the Atlanta skyline at night.

Maggie & Ellie both love hotels. Maggie wasted no time getting her office set up.

On Saturday we did lots of looking at the area. We drove and drove and looked and looked at houses. Big Daddy also made arrangements to pick up my new lap top at the local B.est Buy. We had a busy day, but didn't see a single house that we were even close to liking. We really think we're going to enjoy living in the town that we've picked and we're looking forward to occasionally visiting the big city of Atlanta.


Maggie fell asleep about two hours from home and slept really well. She managed to keep her pants on which can't be said for the trip to Georgia. (She likes to get comfy!)

Ellie demanded three things in the car: a paci, her baby and a blanket.

Something To Get Excited About

I have a lot of (not fun) things on my mind these days, but also a lot of things that I'm excited about. Because I like lists, here are some of the things that I'm excited about.

• Ellie carries around a baby doll almost all the time. She sleeps with one too and her favorite is a tiny $3 baby from T.arget.
• We are going to check out our future hometown very soon. (Not excited about driving six + hours with two kids to get there!)
  
• Big Daddy is so concerned about having to take the laptop with him to Georgia that he's buying me a new laptop today. He knows that it's hard for me to get upstairs to the desktop and since we'll be communicating a lot by email and S.kype, the kitchen is the best place for the computer to be.
• Sweet Christmas commercials are out in full force. I teared up at a F.olger's commercial this morning.
• All of our relocation stuff is (slowly) coming together. It's hard for me not to be in complete control, but I'm looking forward to watching the movers pack up all of our stuff when the time comes.
• Maggie loves her favorite (twin) friends, Hanna and Abby. I call them "favorite" because it signifies how special they are without sounding so exclusive.
• I have never been one to iron and my motto could be "throw it in the dryer and maybe the wrinkles will fall out". Big Daddy's new job requires him to dress nice. I do a pretty good job at ironing, although I'm slow. Big Daddy and I both love starch and it's one of my favorite fragrances.
• Today was our free day and I have stayed in my pajama shirt, black yoga-ish pants, black sweater coat and socks all day. This never happens because we always have somewhere to go.
  
• The house is clean all over.
  

And the winner is...

Debbie!!

(The winner was chosen using Random.org.)

Debbie said:

I would love a black and decker smartbrew 12 cup coffee maker.

November 10, 2010 11:09 AM

She is a woman after my own heart!!

Debbie, I'll email you as soon as the kids are down for nap!

Thanks so much for entering! I think we'll be doing this again sometime!

The Secret is Out

(I have no idea why this is underlined and I don't really care!)


We were finally able to tell Big Daddy's parent's that we are moving to Georgia. They reacted sort of as we expected. I think they thought that they could change our minds by bringing up some of the silliest (mind blowing really) little details about moving. I could tell some of the things they were saying were making Big Daddy feel bad, so I had to speak up for us. (I started taking up for us and our children and not putting up with quite as much lip from them once I became a mom.) Sometimes I think it's too much to ask for a little support and a lot less negativity from them.

On the way home Big Daddy and I had a nice chat about how we are doing with all of this. A lot of people think that it's easy for us to leave. Like we won't miss our families. Like we have some super ability to just turn off our emotions and our worries and sell our house and move our daughters and setup camp somewhere else. Like we haven't thought of the biggest and tiniest details of all of this. That makes us feel sort of bad.

We have also talked (endlessly really) about minivans. I like to call it, "The Great Minivan Debate of 2010". We thought we had our minds made up, but then we took our other option for a test drive and now we are torn. We do not take things lightly, I guess.

Maggie would like "a silver one with sliding doors".

I would like to adopt the salesman at the Honda place to be our travel companion.

He's young,energetic, adorable and our kids love him. I think he would be nice to have on long car trips because Ellie really enjoyed looking at him and being tickled by him. And I think he'd load my groceries and maybe wash the van when it gets dirty.

And on another note: Happy Birthday to my big sister! Also known as "Auntie Charles" to Maggie & Ellie. (Her name isn't Charles, but I've called her that for years)

Don't forget to enter the CSNStores Giveaway. It ends tomorrow at noon (EST)!!

I don't know how she does it?

I'll be honest...I get this comment (compliment?) a lot. I guess I make crazy look easy.

People would say it about me when Ellie was itty-bitty and being worn in the sling and I was busy doing something other than holding her. Like getting groceries, pushing kids on bikes, drinking coffee, sweeping and mopping, holding Maggie's hand or holding someone elses's baby. It just helps me get things done and it's easier, more practical and tons more comfortable than actually holding her...even now.

Lots of people are amazed that I'm moving to Georgia and will be able to survive without my parents two miles away. I'm amazed too.

If you knew me in real life before I was married you would have thought I would have figured out a way to build a house smack in the middle of the yard between my parents' and my sister's houses. Instead, I moved an hour away and after a couple of (tough and homesick) years made Sanford my home. Then fast forward nine years and we made a move back to my hometown and built a house two miles from my family. Living near my family and buying this house were the only two things we felt sure were positive changes. After 18 months here, they have remained the most positive things and you can add our church to that list too. We haven't really enjoyed the area, but we weren't exactly hoping to move. Sometimes opportunities come up and you think that they may be best for your long term goals.

When things seem so overwhelming I try to focus on the positive things, but it is not always easy. I am at peace with moving because I have prayed through sleepless nights and worried until I can't worry anymore.

Things have happened that have put it all in perspective and let me know that the world is not big enough to keep me from my family.

When I went to pick Ellie up in the nursery after Awana on Wednesday, one of the ladies (Lisa) told me she had gotten hurt. I told her it wasn't a big deal as I was getting Ellie's things together and asked Ellie (who was playing like a wild child) if she had a boo boo. Then Lisa said it wasn't that kind of boo boo and told me that she'd been bitten by another child. I've been around long enough to know that bites happen. I still didn't really have a reaction and just told Lisa that it was okay. I could tell that she had been worried and was relieved that I wasn't mad or upset. She said that all of the ladies had been trying to decide who had to tell me. Lisa had spent the past hour worrying about how I might react because another child had taken a little bite of Ellie's forehead while they were hugging. They said what made it even worse for them is that Ellie is always so sweet and polite. (They always say that she's "polite" which cracks me up because I know how loud she can squeal when she doesn't want to share with her sister!) The little teeth marks were gone by the next afternoon and Ellie didn't seem to mind at all.

As we were all leaving the nursery, Lisa's son came in and I complimented him on his new mohawk. The one that he had been asking for...for months. He doesn't know that his mom finally let him have a mohawk because he has to have half of his head shaved before his brain surgery on Wednesday.

Seeing his sweet face that was so proud of that mohawk was one more reminder that moving and having bite marks on your baby's head isn't that big of a deal at all.

Please pray for Zach. His surgery is scheduled for Wednesday morning.