Merry Christmas a little late

I've been slacking on my blog again. I kinda felt like I didn't really have anything post worthy to share. Christmas has come and gone (mostly--one last family party tonight) and, as much as I was dreading Christmas morning, it turned out to be an enjoyable time with the kids. It was more relaxed than I thought it would be (ok, I was more relaxed) and the kids liked their gifts (I was scared they wouldn't).

Thanks to everyone who sent cards. I love getting the updates and photo cards so I can see how everyone has changed. My goal for next year is to make our cards so I need to remember to prepare way ahead of time. If you know me then you know that is one of my weaknesses. ;o)

Here are a few pictures from Christmas Eve with my parents and Christmas Day.


Here's Miss Lauren with her itty bitty Sesame Street back pack. She liked it so much she wore it the whole time we were there and on the way home.


This is Todd with his Pokemon quilt my mom made him. She made all the kids quilts with matching pillow cases. He doesn't look very excited, but he really liked it.


Here's Zack with his quilt. You can't really tell what the print is, but it has all different sports stuff on it. This one was my favorite.

Matt's quilt is Spiderman. He was so proud of it. The quilt is hiding his big grin.

And last, all the kids with the scarves I made them.

Lauren has a quilt, too, but I didn't get a picture of hers for some reason. It's a super cute hot air balloon print.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends. Best wishes for a Happy New Year!

Scattergories

Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following. They have to be real places, names, things.. nothing made up! You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

WHAT IS YOUR NAME: Miranda
BOY NAME: Mason
4 LETTER WORD: Mate
GIRL NAME: Madison
OCCUPATION: Meter Maid (2 points!)
A COLOR: Magenta
SOMETHING YOU WEAR: Mittens
BEVERAGE: Mountain Dew
FOOD: Mashed potatoes
SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM: Makeup
A PLACE : Miami
REASON FOR BEING LATE: Making out?
SOMETHING YOU SHOUT: Matthew, get out of the pantry!

Present to myself

I finally recovered my kitchen chairs. I've had this dining set for about 11 years (2 years BC---before children) and I now know that you should never have cloth covered chairs with little ones in the house. Didn't take me long to figure that one out. They've definitely been through it all.

Here's a before picture. You can't tell now, but the material used to be a really pretty green and white plaid. The rips on the side of the seat are from the booster seat straps the kids used when they outgrew the high chair. This isn't the worst one either. I'm a little embarrassed to post these because of how yucky the chairs are.

Here's another before shot. GROSS! I can't believe I'm putting this on here.

Ahhhh . . . so much better! I'm thinking I might get some plastic to cover this material to protect it so it will last longer. A while back I covered a chair with a plastic table cloth just to see how it would hold up. It didn't. The table cloth wasn't very durable and it didn't help having little fingers poking holes or tearing it either. I have enough material left over that I might go really crazy and make a matching table runner. Watch out! Miranda with a sewing machine! ;o)

Gingerbread Cookie Ornament

First off, I don't recommend this project. It didn't turn out very well for us. I ended up trashing them, but I figured I'd post what we did today. Couldn't let all my work go to waste. ;o) If someone else can figure out how to make it work better, let me know.

Supplies: corrugated cardboard, sequins, scissors, Elmer's glue, gingerbread man cookie cutter, cinnamon, pencil, thin ribbon, & rickrack

Step 1. Trace around the cookie cutter on the cardboard and cut out.

Step 2. Cover the cut-out with glue and sprinkle with cinnamon. Let glue dry completely, then shake off the excess cinnamon. I used a small paint brush to spread the glue evenly over the cut-out. That might be where I went wrong. Maybe I spread the glue too thin? (I have no idea why the picture turned out sideways.)


Step 3. Decorate with rickrack on the arms and legs to look like icing. Use sequins to make eyes and buttons. The directions I have suggested cutting a little piece of rickrack for the mouth, but we didn't make it that far. Cut a 5 in. strip of ribbon. Glue the two ends to the back of the head of the gingerbread man to make a hanger for the ornament.

That's it. Seems simple enough, but the cinnamon kept coming off. And I had a hard time with the glue not wanting to stick to the cinnamon, which made it hard to try to glue the sequins and rickrack on. I'm usually pretty good with crafts. I have no idea what happened with this one.

Anyone else want to give it a go?

Giveaway

I got this from Brooke's blog and thought I'd give it a try. I believe Mindy is Brooke's sister-in-law. Is that right? She's very crafty and holds giveaways from time to time. I thought this one was too cute.


Here is the latest Giveaway from Mindy… Anyone can enter to win… Go to her blog and leave a comment about your favorite Santa Memory. (I hope it works. I'm not very computer savvy.)

Kids' Music Recital

A friend from church teaches a basic music class once a week for 3-5 year olds. This past Saturday was their recital. The kids sang songs about the different seasons---Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Autumn Time, Pumpkin Pumpkin on the Ground, Once There Was a Snowman, & Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Oh, and Do As I'm Doing with the audience. It was so cute. They did a good job. The funny part was that we could hardly get Matt to practice during class. He wanted to play with toys or sit in my lap the whole time. But at the recital, he was the ham.

Zack the Red-Nosed Reindeer!

This instrument is called a Boom Whacker. Each one is a different length and plays a different note when you hit it against something. The kids were supposed to be hitting it against the tip of their shoe, but Matt decided to hit himself in the head(yes, through the entire song).

This is the aftermath of Lauren getting out her own rhythm sticks and hitting big brother in the head with them. Of course this was right in the middle of the recital. That's me behind Matt going to retrieve the sticks from Lauren. I was supposed to be helping out on stage as crowd control, or 'kid control'. Apparently I wasn't doing a good enough job. ;o)

Here they are playing the jingly instruments and singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Again, Matt is hitting the instrument against his head.

This one is Wheels on the Bus. Toni, the kids' teacher, was trying to get the kids to sing loudly so everyone could hear them. About half-way through the program, Matt & the little girl next to him started going back and forth, "I sang that one the loudest! No, I sang it the loudest!". Even started sticking their tongues out at each other. This kept on until the next song started. LOL!

Here's a video of the kids singing Rudolph. This is the only song we got on video. I wish we'd recorded the whole thing. The screaming/singing you hear is Matt. He's on the left in the red coat with the black and red scarf. Listen for the finale. Too funny! :o)

Getting To Know You

I got this from my sister. I would love to see what you will write on yours! 1. Do you like blue cheese? No 2. Have you ever smoked heroin? No 3. Do you own a gun? Do my husband's guns count? 4. What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? No flavor, I usually get a lemon-berry slush. 5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments?Depends on what kind of appt. 6. What do you think of hot dogs? Not my favorite food but I'll eat them if I have to. 7. Favorite Christmas movie? A Christmas Story and The Santa Clause movies. 8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Milk or Juice 9. Can you do push-ups? Nope 10. Age? 32 11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? Silver earrings my mom bought me for Christmas last year. 12. Favorite hobby? Reading 13. Favorite Actor: Hugh Jackman & Christian Bale (I can't pick just one!) 14. Do you have A.D.D.? No . . . oh look, a kitty! 15. What's one trait you hate about yourself? No comment. 16. Middle name? Michelle 17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment... 1. I need to get off here and work on Scout stuff. 2. I probably should start supper soon. 3. Where is the dog? 18. Name 3 things you bought yesterday/today? Diapers, toilet paper, & paper towels. 19. 3 drinks you regularly drink? Diet Dr. Pepper, water, & milk 20. 3 Current worries?~ 1. finances 2. finances 3. finances 21. Current Love right now? Love that I finally have my van back. 22. Favorite place to be? Home 23. How did you bring in the New Year? At my parents' with fireworks. 24. Where would you like to go? Italy 25. Name three people who will complete this. They've probably already done it. 26. Do you own slippers? Yes 27. What shirt are you wearing? Kindergarten field trip shirt 28. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Never tried it 29. Can you whistle? nope 30. Favorite color? Lavender 31. Would you be a pirate? Maybe if Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp were on the ship with me. ;o) 32. What songs do you sing in the shower? Depends on my mood. 33. Favorite girl's name? Lauren 34. Favorite boy's name? Todd, Zackery, & Matthew 35. What is in your pocket? $1.18 in change. 36. Last thing that made you laugh? Uncle Red chasing Matt around trying to kick him because Matt kicked him first. (My kids are so nice.) 37. Best bed sheets as a child? Don't remember. 38. Worst injury you've ever had? Fell out of a moving car, fractured my wrist & chipped my skull. 39. Do you love where you live? Not really. 40. How many TVs do you have in your house? One 41. Who is your loudest friend? Maggie. 42. How many dogs do you have? One 43. Does someone have a crush on you? Not that I know of, unless you count my husband. 44. What is your favorite book(S)? Anne of Green Gables, Harry Potter series, Twilight series. 45. Where were you born? Alabama 46. What is your favorite candy? Peanut M&M's. 47. Favorite Sports Team? Don't really care for sports, but if I have to pick one it's U of Alabama. 48. What songs do you want played at your funeral? No idea. 49. What are you doing at 12 A.M.? Hopefully sleeping. 50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? What time is it?

Our Family Christmas Photos

Ok, since Ian has been harassing me for not updating my blog lately, I figured I'd go ahead and post our Christmas shots. But first, here are two super cute ones of Miss Lauren.

This is one of my favorites of her. I followed her all over my parents' yard trying to get some pictures of her, but she kept running from me.

This must be her best side.

Here's our 1st attempt at our family Christmas picture. Pay close attention to Matt in each photo. I have no idea what he's doing, but he's very busy in each shot.

Here's the 2nd attempt. Now what is he doing? Looks like he's trying to take flight and, I think Zack fell asleep.

Here' s the final one and probably the best of the three. I still have no idea what that child is doing. LOL!

Christmas Cards

If you'd like to receive a Christmas card from us please email me your address. I'm planning to work on them this week so I can send them out by Saturday, hopefully, if life doesn't get in the way.

My email address is: randas2boys@yahoo.com (yes, I know it's a little outdated) ;o)

If you'd like to send us a card, just let me know when you email me and I'll send you our home address by email.

Happy Holidays!

Sick kiddies----again.

We made it through the Thanksgiving holiday ok. I would've shared some pictures of our dinner with my parents and the kids at the pow wow the next day, but dummy me forgot the camera both days.

The weekend started with Matt & Zack sick. They both had nasty coughs(still do) and Matt had a fever to go along with it. Zack woke up one night wheezing and coughing so badly that he threw up (sorry TMI). Thankfully no more fever for Matt and they both seem to be on the mend, except for that lingering cough.

Lauren started getting sick shortly after the other two. She had a low grade temp for a couple of days, threw up once, and now she has the nasty cough. I took her to the dr. today because I was worried she had another ear infection with the way she's been acting. Her ears are fine, thank goodness, but the dr. thinks she may have strep. Oh, and she's started running fever again today. We will find out Friday if it's definitely strep and we may end up having to treat everyone else, too.

On top of all of this, we have Scouts tonight. I would cancel but we're taking a field trip to the police dept. and then going out for supper. The boys have really been looking forward to it. They collected teddy bears to donate to the police dept. for the officers to carry in their cars to give out to children who have been in accidents or some other traumatic incident. They also get to take a tour of the police dept. I know we'll have fun, I just wish I didn't have to worry about sick babies at the same time.

Here's a funny picture I wanted to share of Lauren in the crate with Brownie. I promise I had nothing to do with it. She did this all on her own. Is it legal to use this as a form of time out? ;o)