O Cupcake!

We had Christmas dinner with our neighbors, The Prescotts.  They invited us to come and join their extended family for some turkey gumbo.  My friend's dad is from New Orleans and made it from scratch.  YUMMO! I made a cupcake wreath for dessert.  It wasn't hard, but it did take a lot of time.  I got the recipe/idea from the book Hello, Cupcake!

It really did make a pretty wreath and it was also tasty.  It would make a great centerpiece too.

Leaves up close.

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Pageant Week

This week has been very busy with Jon in finals (a slew of papers and other assignments) and the boys final week of preschool.  I made 3 costumes, 2 angel costumes and one donkey costume.  I also baked 80 cookies.  Whew! I'm glad this week is over.  Nothing was very difficult, it just took time.  I also got on a kick from this website and have been devoting a little more time to "home organization".  I haven't been able to incorporate much into the cleaning way of Flylady--mostly because I haven't had more than 5 or 10 minutes to look in the site.  Just keeping my sink clean, putting away freshly washed dishes and doing one project at a time is all I can handle right now.  

The pageants went very well.  When we asked the boys what character they wanted to be in the pageants I was hoping they would say shepherds because we have all that garb already.  But no.  Isaac wanted to be a donkey and Ewan wanted to be Gabriel the Angel.  I had to figure out how to make some presentable costumes and quick!  I found a Christian homeschooling website that gave me some pretty good guidelines on how to make a donkey costume and got the angel costume from FamilyFun.com.  

We were a little nervous about Ewan's choice to be an angel.  Usually girls choose to be angels and it isn't considered very "masculine".  He was very specific that he wanted to be Gabriel and I was trying t o figure out how to make his outfit more boyish than girlie.  I got the idea of a sword and making the costume with little frill.  For Ewan's costume I got a king sized pillow case and cut holes for the head and arms.  I sewed a trim along the bottom and added wings made from cardboard.  I added a belt that also worked as his sword holder and wola Gabriel was born.  He looked GREAT!  

Don't you love the sword?

Gabriel, the warrior.

I also made a second angel costume for our friend's daughter.  Hers was more frilly and fun to make.

Isaac's costume was pretty easy.  I just safety pinned some black fringe on a gray shirt and sweat pants.  Then I made a little hat out of fleece with some felt ears.  I added some fringe to that too.  It took about an hour and a half to make.  

Singing Away in a Manger

Isaac was THE donkey that brought Mary to Bethleham.

Mary, Joseph, and the donkey waiting to make their appearance.

Pre-show pics.

Don't you love how Isaac's donkey ears are all lopsided?  I am no seamstress but, hey, it worked!

The pageant was a participation pageant so there was no big performance. All the kids got to pick their characters and Ewan's teacher went through the Christmas story while the children answered questions and "played" their part. Then they sang a few songs or recited poetry. Isaac's pageant was yesterday. His class combined with the other 4 year old class and the 3 year old class. Ewan's was today and his pre-K class was combined with the kindergarteners. There were a few laughs--as always with children on the stage and it was fun to watch. I don't know what it is about kids singing about Jesus but I get teary every time. when Isaac's class was singing away in a manger I had tears streaming down my cheeks. Maybe it is their simple faith but whatever it is, it touches my heart.

Enjoy the pictures!

You can read about our cookie baking experience here.

Knitting Projects

I learned how to knit back in March last year.  It has been slow going but I am learning.  At first I thought someone invented it to torture others but now I am enjoying it.  Finishing a project feels like a true accomplishment.  Being a stay at home mom, I don't really feel like I ever finish anything--there are always diapers to change, laundry to do, meals to plan, meals to cook, people to dress, stuff to clean, counters to wipe, pick up toys, you get the idea.  Knitting is something I can pick up and put down and when I finish a project it is done.  I love that feeling of finality.  So here is what I've been working on....

Ewan's scarf is red. I ran out of yarn so it is a little short for my taste but he doesn't seem to mind.  Ewan's favorite color is red and he has been asking me for a few months to make him a scarf.  I am proud to say that project took me about one week to do.  Slow for my other knitting friends who are super fast.  I was happy though!  As soon as I finished Ewan's scarf and gave it to him, Isaac chimed in and said, "But mo--om, I want a scarf too!"  As if I were depriving him of something terrible.  So we went and picked out some yarn that had GREEN in it because that is HIS favorite color.  Isaac's yarn is really cool and if he doesn't wear it I'm going to steal it.

These are baby leg warmers I'm working on.  The dark blue one on top is almost done.  I am going to make that pair a little longer than my first pair (which is the lighter blue ones on the bottom.  I still need to sew one together but it is finished.  I'm doing the dark blue pair on top in the round which is a new skill for me.  The bottom pair was done on straight needles and was easier but I really stink at sewing them together in a back stitch.

Here is one of the baby legs over a glass so you can see how it looks in progress.

And here is the sewn finished one on Grahammy.  He has tree trunks for thighs so it doesn't seem to stay up very well.  I think my next pair will have to be a little wider for him.

I like the way they look though!

You're Under Arrest

Give a kid an electrical clamp and watch him pretend it is handcuffs......

Christmas Trees and The South

I went to a friend's house last week for my weekly small group Bible study and couldn't help but admire her Christmas tree.  It was at least 7 feet tall, so green, and perfect with its tree limb fluffiness.  It was so pretty I thought at first it was a fake tree.  Then I smelled that lovely odor a fresh tree has.  Absolutely beautiful.  

Somehow tree shopping and prices came up.  Okay folks from the south...do you know how much her beautiful, tall, perfect tree was?

$40.  That's right.  4-0 Bucks.  That's it.  

And not only that, but there are some places where you can get big, beautiful trees like that for CHEAPER--like $25 or $30 bucks.  

I had NO idea.  Down in TX a tree like that would easily cost $150!  

I'm not saying it is worth moving up here for but if you love Real Christmas Trees, this is the place to be!

Our Little Language-Master

Isaac has always been a very verbal child. He's not always the most talkative one in our house (he has stiff competition for that title), but thinks and processes words a lot! (Don't tell Ewan, but Isaac reads better than he does, even though Ewan is over 1-yr older.) When he was just 18-months old (or less?), he used to speak to us in 3 or 4 word phrases. Anyway, in the last 12 hours or so, he's had two verbal high-marks that I wanted to share:

1. Last night, we were reading an old, "X-men" comic book I have (one of 4 comic books that survived my childhood). He looked at the cover and new that it was about the X-Men, but practiced reading the title anyway. "X...Men," he said very slowly. I praised him for his reading, but I was also pretty sure that he was just pretending to read (which is fine) since he knew that's what the title was supposed to say. So, I challenged him, "Isaac, what does that word say?"
He started sounding it out (with me pointing to each letter to help him focus, and learnt o look from left to right): "kuh, lll, aaa, sss, iiii, k... Classic!" "RIGHT!" I exclaimed. I was SO proud. That's a big word for a 4-yr-old to figure out on his own.

2. Just now, Amelia was taking a shower and let Isaac watch some Sesame Street. I came down from studying to check on him. "Watchya watching, son?" I querried. Isaac excitedly replied: "Dad a predi-ga-ment is a when you have a problem." "A predicament?" I clarified, shocked that he might actually be saying this big word. "Yah, a predicament [this time correcting his pronunciation], a predicament is when you have a problem but when you get out of it you don't have a problem anymore..." "Yah, that's right. I got it. Thanks for telling me!" I replied with a grin...

I just had to scribble this out for you all. My son is SO smart!! (All my sons are smart, of course, but I wanted to especially delight in Isaac right now.)

I wonder how he will exhibit this trait in the future? It'll be fun to see!

Getting Used To It

I think I am getting used to the cold.  After several days of cold, crispy windchills and temps into the single digits and teens the we got a "warm front" and it was 50 outside. 50 felt WARM.  I didn't need a coat at all.  I got a little sweaty in my jacket.  

50 felt WARM?  Wow!  I never thought I would say that!  

Even 45 feels pleasant after so many weeks of the temps not getting out of the 30s very often.

I really never thought I would say that!

Funny Quotes at Church Today

Isaac: We decided to move closer to the front during the service today because they were having the Christmas Pageant and the boys wanted to see a little better.  As we were walking, Isaac loudly pronounced, "I have BOOGERS in my ears!"

During Kids Chapel:  Jon was working with the kids and was giving them a training session.  He asked them if stomping on the floors was the correct way to walk through the church.  As Jon demostrated the stomping on the wood floors another child (not one of ours) pronounced loudly, "STOP that stomping!  It makes my privates hurt!"  

Ewan: Jon was telling Ewan that maybe he could be in a pageant at church next year because he'll be in Kindergarten.  Ewan looked at Jon and Jon continued, "You'll be six."  Ewan glared at Jon and exclaimed, "I'll be six-one hundred.  I won't be in a pageant."  We have no idea what that means.  It was funny, but maybe you had to be there. 

Hillbilly Baby

I love a baby in overalls.  Especially a baby in overalls without a shirt on.  

The big news is that Graham started walking right before his 15th month.  That means that ALL three boys started walking in their 14th month.  Weird.

Could those eyes BE any bluer?

I've had these overalls since Ewan was a baby!  I'll post one of him in these down below.

Git 'er done!

Playing chase.

Ewan in the same overalls drinking a smoothie.

Transformers Fort

So what do you do on a Sunday afternoon when the other children are sleeping?  You make a good guy and a bad guy fort for your Transformers with the oldest child!

Good Guy Fort--Ewan said the guy on the inside is the computer guy.  Everyone else is protectin the fort.

Bad Guy Fort