Christmas Traditions

Ever since I became a mom I have been thinking about Christmas traditions. Everyone grows up with the traditions of their own families. Then marriage happens and traditions tend to bend and meld a little bit.

I had plenty of traditions growing up.

The season started with a visit to what is now Macy's 8th Floor Santa Land. As a kid, it was Dayton's 8th Floor Auditorium, and it was fantastic. Every year there was a new theme, Cinderella being my favorite. Dayton's became Marshall Fields, became Macy's and now, it is the 8th Floor Santa Land. The 8th Floor auditorium at Macy's in Minneapolis is converted into Santa's workshop. You can see the elves waking up for breakfast, feeding the reindeer. Some elves are the teachers at flight school, teaching reindeer to fly using hot air balloons. After getting through the entire story, there was a place to take a picture with Santa, and then the bakery. Oh, the bakery was so delicious.

Another favorite tradition we had was packing some treats and driving around looking at the Christmas lights. There are more than a few houses around my area that go all out with the Christmas lights. It's such a treat!

My husband also had traditions growing up. Now, we get to make memories with our own children and build traditions. Kid is old enough now, to get excited about Christmas and the Christmas season. He has been wearing Christmas jammies since Black Friday.

I'm excited to start traditions with my little man (and lady, too). Again, Kid is old enough to "get it."

I am holding on to the Macy's 8th Floor Santa Land tradition. Our plan is go early on Black Friday. So many people are busy shopping that the lines are nearly non-existent.

Cookie decorating. This year, we met at my parents house to decorate sugar cookies and have some lunch. It was so fun to get all of the cousins together. Kid has a cousin that is a few weeks younger-oh, goodness, watching those two "decorate" cookies was quite the sight.

Cookie making: this tradition comes from my husband's family. Each year, they all get together for a baking day. We make lefse, sugar cookies, spritz cookies, chocolate dipped pretzels, among many, many others. Kid (and the little chica) will probably enjoy snacking on all of those sweets on baking day!

Tree decorating/movie night. I love decorating the tree. We typically make appetizers and watch a Disney movie while decorating. Unfortunately, Disney movies are still a little too scary for the little ones, so we had to watch the Curious George Christmas movie this year. Eventually, we will watch the Disney movies again, but for now the toddler-friendly movies it is. But, oh. the joy on my sweet boy's face when we brought out our tree (yep, a fake one!). The next day, he asked if we could pack the tree in his backpack for daycare.

Oh, my heart.

What holiday traditions do you have in your family?

Christmas Art

I know, I know. Christmas has come and gone. Most people post their Christmas tutorials before Christmas, not after. But here I am. A few days after Christmas and wanting to show y'all our Christmas art. I made these just a few days before Christmas (can you tell I'm a last minute person?).

This post, from Jessica Lynn Writes, was my inspiration. I wanted to change things up a little bit, so I came up with a few of my own sayings. I loved the way hers turned out, so I headed over to PicMonkey to make my own.

Wait a minute. Those aren't Christmas! Nope, those are the year-round sayings.

I hosted a truffle making party the weekend before Christmas and wanted to make the house a little more festive than it was. At that time, I only had an undecorated Christmas tree up and a few Department 56 houses. No stockings, no Christmas cards, no ornaments. It needed to get festive up in here.

I hung the ornaments (on the top 2/3rds of the tree) in a toddler-proof fashion. I took down our living room art and hung the stockings. And I designed some artwork for the dining room frames. Christmas inspired, no less.

These three beauties hang in our dining room until it's time to pack away all of the Christmas stuff. The "Merry Christmas" one is printed larger than the others and hangs in the middle. It's framed with a chunky black frame. The other two are a few inches smaller and are framed in white.

I think they're pretty neat!

**Shameless plug: let me know if you're interested in purchasing the digital file.

I'm thinking of going all Etsy style.**

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Ahh, we made it through the holidays with only some minor issues. Sleep issues. The Kid is not sleeping, and it is making his mama quite sad (okay, mostly tired).

I've always been a lover of Christmas cookies, but I never seem to pull it all together to do some serious cooking baking. I made progress this year, though, and made some peanut butter blossoms (my favorite Christmas cookie).

Let me just say that you need to use Hershey's kisses for these cookies. They have the best flavor. Yum, yum, yum. I ended up making four dozen cookies (whoa!) and we polished them off in just a few days. I did bring some to my parents' house for our Christmas Day celebration, so that helped quite a bit!

**While I do believe that Hershey's kisses are the only kisses appropriate for baking purposes,

I did receive these kisses free of charge from Influenster.**

Scarf Swap!

I decided to join Jessica's scarf swap this year and am SO pleased with the results! First of all, I met an amazing blogger. Second of all, I got a scarf. In the mail. For FREE.

I've always been horrible at picking accessories out for myself. I just don't know how to do it. I have a semi-healthy collection of scarves, but they're all solid colored. Nothing fancy, nothing fun. It was time for a change. So, when I read about the scarf swap over at Jessica Lynn Writes I knew I had to join in!

I signed right up and soon was paired with Sierra, over at Tervo Times. What a wonderful partner to have! She is great and I highly suggest you pop over to her blog and check her out! She is an Air Force wife and mama to two living in Texas. I have enjoyed getting to know her through emails and her blog!

And! She did such a wonderful job of filling a Scarf Swap box for me. Plus, who doesn't like getting snail mail, right? I mean, a letter is one thing. But an entire package!? Filled with goodies? Just for me? That I didn't buy on Amazon... Awesomeness.

First and foremost, the scarf.

Isn't it a beauty?! I was telling Sierra that it wasn't something I would normally choose for myself, which is why I love it so much! I love the details of the overlay and the two colors. Beautiful.

In addition to the scarf, there were goodies! Yummy toffees, a Starbucks card (yes!), and a small Christmastime activity to complete with Kid. Okay, so I didn't take a picture of the Starbucks card, because it went straight to my purse!

Sierra, again, a big giant thank you to you!

Everyone else, be sure to join in on the scarf swap next year!

2013! Already!?

I cannot believe that 2013 is already here! I've decided to do a recap of the year so that I may see it in 10 years and remember...

In January, I realized that I had to get my butt in gear to student teach in the fall. I was moving through my licensure and master's program at quite the leisurely pace. While the program claims to take just 18 months (not true), I was finishing up year four. Most of my classmates were finishing year three...quite a bit more time than 18 months!

In February, my husband and I celebrated our first Valentine's Day as a married pair.  Truth be told, we don't really celebrate Valentine's Day. Instead, we started some plans for our first "real" vegetable garden. And we had great plans...that produced about a million delicious tomatoes. We also made a major change to our home by tearing down an entire wall. And what a change it has been! Our upstairs is so much more inviting and wonderful.

In March, I turned 28. We also locked ourselves out of our house one morning, calling for a new front door. The new front door is delightful, even if it makes our entryway a little darker than it was before. My husband did a fabulous job replacing the door (and it wouldn't be the last time).

In April, we found ourselves parents to Fletch and Floyd, two bearded dragons. While I frantically wanted to rid our house of them, my husband took a liking and we kept them both for quite some time. Floyd stuck around for a few months, until he got aggressive and chomped on the foot of Fletcher. He was donated to a local reptilian society. They work to find homes for surrendered pets. Fletch was around for even longer; his "stump" healing beautifully. Eventually, we realized that a reptile during pregnancy was not the best idea. Although I was not yet pregnant, I knew I wanted to be soon. Fletch was given to a former student of mine, and I still get updates about him.

In May, we became parents to Finn. Our beloved little Brittany is such a wonderful guy. He loves to hunt in our backyard...birds, squirrels, mice. You name it, he will find it! We have started to bring baby stuff into the house so that Finn can get used to having a human brother.

In June we hung out around the house and found ourselves in a wonderful summer routine. With both my husband and I workin as teachers, June is a favorite month around our house!

In July, we traveled. And my beautiful niece turned two. What a joy that little girl has been. So lively, so creative, so amazing. When she was born, I found myself shocked at how much I could love that little thing. I cannot even imagine what it will feel like to love my own.

In August, I ran my first 5K. It's one of those things that was horrible while running, but such a wonderful feeling after the finish line. I cannot wait to train for and run another one. My husband and I are going to choose one in September or October of next year to run. I am quite excited.

In September, we heard the best news we could have heard. Afte taking three pregnancy tests, I finally believed what the little lines were telling me. My husband and had created a life that would be joining us in May. Now that is an amazing feeling.

In October, we saw our little peanut for the first time. There wasn't much to see...just a sac. But in reality, a life. We also went to the annual Halloween party with my husband's relatives. It was my first year without making our costumes. We didn't even dress up! I had great plans, but the exhaustion of early pregnancy got the best of me.

In November, we announced to family and friends that we were expecting a baby in May. My sister announced the same thing a week later. That's right. Two babies. Due about a week apart.

December was a whirlwind. A month that always seems to fly by so quickly. In our second Christmas season as a married couple, we found a routine that we think may work for us as far as Christmas gatherings go (there are quite a few when both families live within 20 minutes!). We also announced that our little babe is indeed a boy. And much like November, my sister announced the same thing a mere week later. Two baby boys.

In all, the year was fabulous. There was plenty newness and plenty change. Of course, this is only the beginning!

Therapy for All!

I need to learn to squeeze more things into life.  Here's the thing. I love to make, to create things. To me, it is soothing. I had such a productive weekend. Putting up and decorating the Christmas tree, adding Christmas decorations to our house, making stockings and pillows. It was wonderful and I loved every minute of it.

But now, the work week is back. My evenings are filled with making dinner, which in and of itself is a creation, but my culinary skills are still at the recipe-following (to a T) stage. Eventually, I would like to get beyond that point so that cooking does become a creation. I'm not there, yet. The laundry piles up in the basement and the dishes pile up in the sink, even though we have a dishwasher (thank you in-laws for the wonderful dishwasher last Christmas!).

I need to make the time to crochet at night. Or paint, or sew. If only for five minutes. Maybe sewing, painting, creating is my therapy. Therapy or not, I love it and need it in my life.

Everyone needs a little therapy, anyway.

Rookie Mistake

I had some left over fabric from my stocking adventure. I also had some pillow forms lying around from when Mr. Husband's grandmother passed away. I had no zippers, so I searched for a tutorial on how to make an envelope pillow... Seemed easy enough.

Excitement got the best of me. I forgot to put the fabric with the right sides facing each other. Sewing away I went, with the right side of one fabric facing the wrong side of the other piece. Dang it!

I flipped it out and put the pillow form in anyway, in hopes of having the correct size (I did). So the pillow could have been a success.

So instead, I cut a Christmas tree out of on side of the pillow, glued it to a cross-stitch napkin, stuck it in a hoop and hung it on the way.

At least all was not lost from my rookie mistake!

Christmas Stockings!

My favorite wedding present is by far the sewing machine I got from my aunt. I love it, and just completed my third project.

My first project was a quilt for my newest (and only) nephew. Mr. Husband's grandmother started the quilt, but passed away before it was finished. I took the honor of finishing the quilt. While it turned out nicely, I still have a lot of practicing to do. Quilting is not yet a strong suit of mine.

Project number two was our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Halloween costumes. They turned out beautifully! I used store bought green sweatsuits and craft felt for the turtle bellies. Target happened to have green saucer sleds out the day before Halloween. I purchased two of those, added straps and had an instant turtle shell. The costumes were fabulous!

Number three, though, is by far my most successful project. The Christmas stockings! Mr. Husband and I don't have a fireplace, but Christmas decorations cannot be complete without stockings. I made my way to JoAnn and got four Christmas prints (on sale, to boot!). I printed this pattern and got right to work. The stockings are so adorable. As soon as my camera battery charges, I will get pictures up!