The Birth Of A New Tradition

I love traditions! We just started a new one. It was birthed out of a decorating inspiration but turned into a neat idea to somewhat separate the beginning of Christmas from the end of Christmas, namely Epiphany.

I have a friend who did a gold and royal blue tree this year and it was so pretty. I thought that next year I'd like to do a tree with blue lights and homemade snowflakes. I still may but ....moving on...

Our tree died out early this year. I saw it coming. I had really wanted to do an artificial tree but Rick loves the fresh ones. I truly, truly understand, but with our desire to leave it up so long (from the end of November to the 6th of January or a few days longer) it just is not possible to have a tree that looks cozy and beautiful that long. I waited hoping I could find a clearance deal and I did. I love this tree. IT has frosted snowy tips that just thrill me for some reason.

Anyway, the purchase and need to switch of the trees led to a conglomeration of creative thinking on my part. Why not do the blue and gold for an Epiphany tree? These colors always make me think of the wise men anyway with their royalty and the blue sky, and the star, and the gold they brought, etc. By changing the tree we can make Epiphany more of a special ending to the 12 days of Christmas as well. So, It just so happened that Walmart had a ton of royal blue balls on clearance this year and I found some stars clearanced off at Pier 1. I also found an amazing new lit up star on clearance. We had one that was lovely but did not light up. We took the ornaments down and are boxing them up. I think next year I will not make the transition until the week before Epiphany so we can enjoy the ornaments longer. I went ahead and did this now to avoid having to redecorate three times. Whew! Many women would not even want to do this job twice but I love decorating and changing color schemes. There are so many different ones to enjoy you know!

I just think its beautiful. Now to find a copy of "The Fourth Wiseman"!

Christmas/Birthday Pictures

The first picture of the morning was an attempt at avoiding flash. I don't like the blur but I love the natural lighting. But, I had to give in and get a good one with flash. Christmas couch huddle 2009!

Stocking time! Emma is trying to show her chocolate rocks (they seriously look like pebbles) but Caedmon is blocking her face accidental to show his Littlest Pet Shop. The girls have some and he really wanted a few so Rick and I tried to find some boyish ones. This one is a fish and a frog.

Yearly tradition of a chocolate orange for everyone. Except mommy, she just wants nibbles from sharing hearts.:)

The biggest boxes they had ever seen! See previous blog post for more info if you like.

Excitement!

Caedmon with his special gift of the Batman Castle. I love the strain in his neck in the picture as it reminds me of his exclamations!

A very special Christmas wish from Emma came to be.....

Mommy and daddy found her the shell she wanted to hear the ocean with!

Yeah Grandma and Grandpa for Sponge Bob Lego's!

Yeah too for the tether ball! Very happy girls (they just went out the door to play as I write).

At the special candy store in town mommy found candy Lego's. So you can build and eat them!

Trying out he new scooter. It's so hard to find one with a high enough bar for him....poor kid.

Victoria on her new bike. Thank you daddy for such quick assembly!

Biker girls.

After we were sure they had got enough exercise with their outdoor toys we let them have the present from Granny. This is hilarious.....before calm:

Ripping and cheering...

Laughing and flailing about with glee!

Somehow caught in motion dashing off to run and tell their friend about the Wii! This cracks me up.





Happy Birthday Victoria!

Her favorite gift from her Aunt and Uncle of a horse jewelry box. It's so lovely and plays a Nutcracker song.

Reading a heartfelt (and tear jerking) card from Nana.

Again, tried no flash to catch some real light...oh, well. It's still pretty.

There was a character named Harry and he did another movie that some 12 year old really wanted. :) Victoria is a huge Harry Potter fan.

Perfume from Nana in a very pretty bottle

A Wii dance pad and game from mommy and daddy. Unfortunately the pad needs to be returned but it was a clearance at Ross so I guess I should have just tested it first. Sometimes frugal does not work out for ya. We hope to get her a new one tomorrow so she can start boogie-ing!

And that's the day in pictures.....thanks for stopin by.:)

Merry Christmas! How Our Day Went

I'm evidently a very bad blogger now as I did not wish my readers a Merry Christmas! I do hope you all had a wonderful day with your family celebrating our savior's birth. I was so busy enjoying mine I forgot about the computer except for a status update or two on my FB.

We had a blessed day. We were awakened by Emma coming up to our bed and saying "It's 7:30, why isn't anybody up yet!?". Victoria and Caed were both sleeping in and I guess she had had enough of laying in her bed patiently. We got up and turned on the heat (brrr, it was cold!) and Rick made coffee. The children were in awe at the two biggest boxes they had seen in their lives sitting in front of the entertainment center. Indeed, they were the biggest Rick and I had ever wrapped. Mommy sat trying to erase a bunch of unneeded pictures so we could use the camera because we forgot to get a new chip! Rick read the Christmas story from the bible and then handed out the stockings.
After stockings they got to open the main gift. The girls finally got new bikes. They have never had new bikes so Rick and I worked very hard to make that happen this year. Our focus was on gifts to get them moving. Caedmon has had a pretty new bike for a while now so he got a combo big gift of a Spiderman scooter and the Fisher Price Imaginex Batman Castle he has drooled over for three years! He was very excited too. Grandma and Grandpa got them the tetherball they really had been wanting (there is a pole at the back of our complex) so they spent many fun hours outside in the later morning and early afternoon. The day turned out to be gorgeous. I think it must have got up to 65 degrees. Though I would trade it for snow any day, it was a good day for outside gifts.
We purposefully waited to give them their gift from my grandma because it was a Wii! Instead of separating the money she sends for Christmas and mine and the girls birthdays, we pulled it all together to make this happen. For near 13 years Rick and I have not purchased any game system or our children. They used my old Nintendo to play the retro stuff but that was it. We never liked kids parking themselves for hours of doing nothing. The Wii we felt was a perfect compromise since it involved movement. My mom gave me birthday money and I am so excited that I got to purchase the Wii Fit system. In the new year I will be learning Yoga! I tried it out on my friends system a few months ago and thought it was amazing! We are all very excited. The girls screamed out loud when they opened the box, and then they took off running down the road (Emma in her socks) to tell their neighbor friend (who got a Wii that morning for Christmas) that they got one too! It was very fun. Caedmon did not run down with them though, he actually ran back to his bedroom to work on his Sponge Bob Lego's from Grandma and Grandpa O. that he loved. He really did not get what the Wii really was. Now he loves it and is very good at boxing and knocking the guy out. He makes the "push! push!" punching sounds while he plays despite the fact that the game makes the hitting sound effects for you. The girls are thoroughly annoyed by this but Rick and I thought it was so cute.
My dear husband got me some real roller skates! I've wanted some for years. I'm an old school girl and don't like roller blades. I'm really looking forward to getting out there while the kids are biking and trying to catch up with them. I use to be able to spin and skate backwards. Give me some Roxette in my headphones and I'll be a happy girl!:)
It was just a good day of hanging out and spending time together. We did not go anywhere at all all day long. It was great.
In the evening my mom and brother came by and it was time to celebrate Victoria's birthday. I will be doing a "What I Like About You" post for her soon. She is now 12! Amazing. We had brownies and candy cane ice cream (I have yet to have any as I was so tired of food by then). Nana gave her two new dresses , some great funky nail polish and a cotton candy perfume spray, Grandma and Grandpa sent a movie and a book called "Better Than Beauty: A Guide To Charm". I better not read that one, I'll be way to aware of my lack of charm...LOL! They also got her some lights for her new bike. Rick and I got her a Wii dance pad and game but the pad did not work so we have a return to make. Grrr. The dance games are great exercise! She is anxious to try them out. I think her favorite present though was from her Aunt Joan and Uncle John. It was a horse jewelry box with her name engraved on the front.
We ended the day watching The Nativity movie. I forget how much I love that movie. Despite the inaccuracy of the timing of the wise men coming, it's just such a good telling of the story. I enjoy ending the day with the real meaning of the day.
Before I go though, I would like to highly recommend the Veggie Tales Saint Nicolas movie. We personally have always told our kids who the real Santa was and what he did. I think the attention to him for who he really was through this little movie is so great though. I am absolutely sure that Saint Nicolas, were he here, would be appalled that we have idolized him and more than that let him take the spotlight Christ deserves at Christmas especially in the hearts of the little children. I know that is an unpopular view to take but I think we need to honor the man properly and remember what he did without adding the fiction elements turning him into something he himself would be ashamed of.
I hope to share our few pictures soon!
Blessings to you all and enjoy the celebration as it continues! Epiphany is still to come!

What I Like About You!

Yesterday was Emma Bear's birthday. Emma Bear got the name Emma Bear from her sweet Pediatrician the day she was born and had to be put under the lights because she and mommy had opposing blood types. He was so taken with her and started calling her that. How did he know it would fit so well? He is still one of my favorite people. She is so much like a cute, sweet little bear.

I wanted to do a post on what I like about Emma and then later, I'd like to get an interview on record for her like I did for Caed's birthday a few years ago.

I like that Emma speaks her mind. Sometimes it's scary how well she speaks her mind. However, in a world where I get so frustrated trying to figure out what people REALLY think (because most people hide what they really think or did you notice?), it's refreshing to have someone who is an open book. I'm much like this but Emma has me beat. When her reaction is negative you have to look out though because many a time she will make this face where she frowns, cocks her head and says something like "that's just weird!". I nearly always love it personally but I have to say I've been in places and moments where I've wished she could have told me later what she really thought:). Still, I love Emma's honesty. It's a rare quality and even if she needs to work on her propriety, I appreciate that she does not try to hide her thoughts like some do.

I like that Emma is self-motivated. This girl can plow though that which she wants to accomplish like nothing I've ever seen before. I kid you not, twice in the last week I've had to say "no, you cannot do your homework until your chores are done!" or "Emma, it's your birthday party in ten minutes, please don't worry about your homework right now!" Emma gets her homework packet on Friday after the last one was due on Thursday. Now, most kids would be thinking "yeah, is Friday! I have till NEXT Thursday to get this one in so I don't have to touch it over the weekend!" Nope, not Emma. Emma pulls it out and starts working on it WHILE WE ARE WALKING HOME FROM SCHOOL ON FRIDAY! It drives me nuts! I want to chill FOR her! Anyway....she is a bulldozer still. When she was a baby we called her that because she never let anything stand in her way she crashed right through obstacles never complaining that they were there either.

I like that Emma has a gentle heart. Despite her tough yet beautiful exterior, Emma has a very sensitive heart. When my dad was dying she was so absorbed with quiet thoughts about Heaven. She processed it all internally and came out one day and told us she had been praying and asked Jesus if she could go to heaven someday. After he had passed Emma was so healing to my mom because somehow she always knew when Nana was having a very rough time and she would just go over and very quietly put her arm around her and lay her head on her chest to comfort her. Which of course would make my mom's tears just flow but it was such a blessing to her to hear Emma's quiet way of saying "I know Nana, I'm so sorry, I miss him too". Sometimes she would verbally get out the last part but Emma does not verbally express much and usually she did not talk much about it.

Emma is a gentle encourager as well. She will tell her siblings when they have done a good job one something and make sure they know they've done well.

I like that Emma is adventurous. Emma's name means "universal; all embracing"....and boy is she that. Emma is fearless to a scary point. Someday I wonder what she will take off and do. If the Lord lays on her heart to be a missionary, I know I won't see her much because she could do it. She always has to have something going on around her. She feeds on activity and social stimulation. When she is home sick from school she nearly looses her mind the minute she feels good enough to be up because no one is around at all. The go-getter has to have something to go and get all the time but when the getting needs to be got, she's gettin' it!

I like that Emma is motivated to hide God's word in her heart. The challenge of Awana is another stimulant in her. She is very self motivated about getting those verses memorized and I'm so thankful she loves to do that.

So, needless to say Emma.....we like ya....we like ya a lot!