The Calm Before the Storm...

Don't ever understimate...

the amount of fun to be had...

blowing out a candle...

or baking muffins...

with your momma.



And, for the record, White Death Numero Dos is due to hit tonight around midnight.  In a BIG way.  Like, five plus inches (which is big in the midwest).  I am supposed to have a sub tomorrow, but I didn't even write plans because I am pretty sure we're going to be off.  {Now that I've actually verbalized that and written it down, don't you know that the storm is going to take a dramatic turn and not hit us.  You just watch!}

Furthermore, so funny you should all make such sweet comments about my headwarmer hairband...

Quite possibly, you should stop back by around 9pm tonight.  I'm just sayin'...  :)

Hint...  Hint...

Trot for Tripp Thanks

Sorry this is so late!! I've been fighting with my computer for 2 days.  It's saying my hard drive is full and that I can't upload anymore pictures.  I only have 20,000 on here:) Ugh. Anyway, I promise to keep working on posting the pictures from this past weekend! 

Tripp's fundraiser was amazing.  It was a huge success.  I want to say thank you again to everyone who came out to show us support.  It was overwhelming to see that many people from the community all gather together for Tripp.  There were over 500 people who registered to run or walk for Tripp.  Can you believe that??  And we had over 65 sponsors for the Trot.  That's amazing.  A BIG thank you to all of the companies and individuals who sponsored this amazing event.  

But my biggest Thank You goes to my sweet friend Dianne Cothern.  Without her, none of this would have happened.  She rallied the community together and she spread more awareness about Tripp and EB in 5 weeks than we could in do in 18 months.  Because of her, we have a tremendous amount of money in our fund for Tripp, and I can sleep a little better at night knowing that if we could maybe do this once a year, it would be enough to carry us through Tripp's finances.  Thank you seems kind of lame for all you've done for our family, Dianne.  So I just want you to know that we are forever grateful to you and Johnny for putting your lives on hold to do something so amazing for our family.  Not only did Dianne put together this whole event, she went to the radio station twice to promote it, she got in touch with the local news station about doing a story on Tripp and the race, and spent these 5 weeks doing a lot of thoughtful things that people don't know about.  We love you, Dianne.

So not only did Tripp get all of these people gathered in one place for him, but he also got a REALLY cool gift.  Dianne somehow got in touch with Garrett Hartley, the kicker for our New Orleans Saints.  She gave him the blog address and asked for a football for Tripp.  She said the ball came to her within a week with all the player's autographs.  I thought that was the coolest gift he could have received and we will cherish it always:)  He thought it was pretty cool, too!

Tripp didn't make the fundraiser.  I know there were a lot of people who were disappointed and wanted to meet him, but I know you understand.  The constant steroids that he is on make his immune system so low, and with all of his open sores... I just can't risk him getting an infection.  There's always risk, even at home, but taking him out makes it a bigger risk.  Not to mention the fact that he can't open his eyes outside unless it's dark, or the fact that he might FREAK out if he couldn't find his rocking chair when it was time to rock rock.  I could go on and on.  But I really wanted him to be able to see all the wonderful people who came out to support him- even though he wouldn't understand.  I know one day he will know how many people are reaching out to us.  And he will be as touched as I am.  

So please be patient with me on the pictures... I'm working on putting all of my pictures on an external hard drive and saving them to discs.  But I will have a lot of trouble deleting pictures from the computer no matter what:(  I'll have the Trot for Tripp pics up as a page link on my sidebar soon!  

But I will give you a few pictures as a preview:)

All the runners lining up. 

Me and Dianne.  

Tripp with his new football!

Love, 

Redeeming Christmas: Future Tense

In my last post, I told you all about the things we've done to make Christmas more meaningful and Christ-centered. Now I want to tell you about some of our plans for future Christmases and a few things we will be doing for the first time this year. If there is one thing I've learned in all of this, change does not happen over night. In order for it to be a lasting transition, you have to take one step at a time or you get worn out and overwhelmed and don't carry on despite the best of intentions!

1. Make gifts for the kids. Although we make things for other family members, we have yet to create and give a homemade gift to one of the kids (I did make tutus like I mentioned in a previous post but that was for their birthdays so it doesn't count!). I had plans to do just that this year but with the introduction of homeschooling into our home, the past 3 months have been a whirlwind of busyness and I just never found the time to get things underway! Thankfully, the ideas I had are ones that will be just as good for the girls next year so this suggestion is being put back on the shelf for now. To be honest, I'm not sure that this is in any way a money saver. In fact, I personally would tend to spend more on supplies in the long run. It's the love and thought thats put into making something for your child, as well as the uniqueness of the item, that appeals to me!

2. Gifts of charity. This is something we are planning on doing this year. I won't say exactly what as I am sure that there are family members reading but basically, its the perfect thing to give to someone who has everything - something to someone who has nothing! Here are some examples: Gifts of Compassion and Advent Conspriacy. I'm sure there are lots of other options out there but those are 2 of my favorites. The Advent Conspiracy promo video is fantastic at putting things in perspective and says all that I could ever want to say about giving in this way at Christmas:



3. Taking from that video - the idea of giving presence. I think it is a beautiful concept and one that will hit home more with your kids than simply giving money to a good cause. Its spending time with people or helping out in ways that mean you are right in there, getting your hands dirty. For example, I take the girls to the seniors home that my Mom works at for a vist every year. We bake cookies or bring candy to share. The people at the home are so overjoyed to see children. It is so adorable to see the expressions on their faces when the kids enter the room. I will also add that this is very intimidating for kids so I don't push anything. If they want to be in my arms the whole time, thats ok. But usually by the end Piper is bouncing around like her usual self and its a good lesson in being around people that are different from you.

Other ideas that I would like to someday try:

-go to the SPCA to drop off needed supplies and spend some time with the animals. I think its important to cultivate kindness to animals in your kids especially when you have none at home. Plus this is something very much at their level. Snuggling a kitty or petting a dog is very do-able (not to mention enjoyable) for a 3 and 1 year old!

-help out at a soup kitchen in the community. I realize this is something that will have to wait until they are a tad bit older but I can't wait. I think showing your kids that there is need locally and that they can help can be impacting on their young lives. Have you ever taken your child to something like this? If so, I'd like to hear about your experience and any advice you have to offer!

-go carolling and collect for the food bank. My kids will rarely sing for me let alone a neighbor so this too will have to wait. I like that it involves an old tradition with the results of helping out your community! An alternative for younger children could be taking a special trip to the grocery store and letting them help pick out items to put in the food bank bin at the store.

Any other ideas in this department? I'd love to hear about them!

Another goal of mine is to be concerned about giving 'presence' all the time, not just Christmas. I know far too often I get wrapped up in our busy lives and forget about the needs of those around us!

4. Teach the kids to give their own things. Now at first sight, this one may seem cruel. Ask the children to give up their own precious toys?! Well, if you're like me, every year before Christmas I do a bit of a 'clean out' in their rooms. Of course, everything goes to good will and they never miss it! Then recently I had a friend come over with her kids. They gave my girls each a present, ones from their own stash of things at home. I thought it was an awesome idea. Isn't that really the true way to give? Something of your very own? Something that may cost you something? I think its a wonderful life lesson. Not that I'd ever force my daughters to give away their prized possessions...I don't think thats a lesson most people are ready for let alone a 3 year old...but I do think if you make it fun by letting them pick the item, wrap it up and give it, it might just be a worthwhile activity!

Thats all I've got on the subject for this year! I'm sure some of you are breathing a sigh of relief but hopefully I have presented some things worth adding to your family's traditions! In conclucion, I'd like to recommend a book that I've found very useful in the challenge of creating new traditions for my family: "Treasuring God in our Traditions" by Noel Piper.

Christmas Card 2010 Preview!

How much do I LOVE Shutterfly?!

Let me count the ways...

1.  50 FREE cards valued at - get this - $120!!!!  LOVE!

2.  Adorable card design.

3.  An additional $25 giftcard for writing this post!!
4.  They were a breeze to work with when I realized I put TWO 's' at the end of our last name AFTER I'd placed the order! 

THANK YOU, SHUTTERFLY!!!!

{First Grade} Grinch Activities!

So, I know it is totally late to be posting this, but, if nothing else, it can give you some ideas for next year :)

Initially, I planned to do The Grinch over two days...however, tomorrow is officially a *SNOW DAY* so I'm going to have to combine my activities into 1 day.  I am incorporating these activities into my literacy curriculum, so many things relate to our particular reading series {Treasures}, but could probably be generalized to what most 1st graders are doing around this time of year.

1st Grade Grinch Activities & Literacy Centers

• Wear a cute Grinch tee which can be purchased at Walmart for $7.  I found mine in the seasonal apparel, and was inspired by Cara :)
• Read The Grinch and complete a variety of fun Grinchy-themed charts and activities that can be found at The First Grade Parade.
• Download Deanna Jump's Grinch Unit!  {Loaded with cute activities!}
• Make a couple bottles of Grinch Glue or Who Glue (whichever name suits your fancy!).  I made it green using food coloring, but it would be fun in all colors.  I plan to let my students use this at a center to write their spelling words/high frequency words.  {Next year, I'm going to make cute labels.  This year = no time!}

• Incorporate these activities into weekly literacy centers...
• The Grinch Who Stole Words Literacy Center {Click HERE and HERE for downloads}

• Who Stew Literacy Center {Click HERE and HERE and HERE for downloads}



* * * * *

My plan is to finish the week studying reindeer, so even though I don't have everything ready to go, here is one activity we will be doing (adapted from somewhere on the internet!  I don't remember where!).  My students are going to apply for positions as reindeer.  I made my own application for them to fill out and they'll make antlers to complete the look.  The students will write, cut, and paste, but I made a model so you could get an idea of what it will look like completed.  {Download application HERE}

I hope these are helpful or can be adapted to fit your needs!  Let me know if you have any trouble with the links. 

***PLEASE NOTE - I just noticed that the words look "off" in the google doc.  Make sure you go to "file"  on the lefthand side of the google doc page and click on Print(PDF) to see it clearly!***

Weekend Holiday FUN!

Just a picture of The Cutest Boy Ever

What a fantastic weekend!  And I believe - am hoping, am praying - that it's going to turn into a 3-day weekend.  I have been clinging to every word the weatherman has uttered over the past 72 hours praying that white death does, in fact, dump 3-4 inches of snow overnight tonight.  As of right now, the storm has begun and it's flurrying furiously outside :)

We went downtown yesterday with B's parents and Becks had the most wonderful time.  We started off the day at Starbucks and Becks had a hot chocolate and I managed to avoid the 800 cal EggNog Latte in exchange for a skinny Peppermint Mocha instead ;)

These mini-hot cocoas are the best!  The perfect size for little ones!

Becks and his Papa M playing peekaboo.

Next, we went to see the trains and Beck, among other 2-year-olds, had a difficult time understanding that they had to wait in line 100 people deep to see the display.  When we finally made it to the viewing platform, he was in awe.  He would have watched for an hour if we'd let him. 

Next, it was off to the ice rink to see the skaters.  Becks really wanted to get on the ice, so B snuck him on for a minute or two sans skates.

We finished up the day with Becks' first official visit to see Santa at Macy's.  I truly believed he would NOT go sit in his lap.  However, he proved me entirely wrong and walked up to him with open arms.  He told Santa he wanted a tennis racket.  I was snapping pictures and - of all things - crying!  It was just such a moment.  I can't believe how big he is. 

This one melts my heart.  They're in deep discussion here.

Today, after church, Becks and I went Walmarting and were gifted Shrek ears {a promotional event for the release of Shrek 3}!  We wore them throughout the store and then had to snap a pic at home.

And, just so it's documented, here's my little B playing pretend with Alex, the misfit toy weiner dog who's missing his front two legs.  Please note that Alex has bandaids on each of his ears, right where Beckham put them.  Further, he is wearing mismatched jammies because we need clean clothes something desperate around these parts.  {Snowday = Laundry Day}

{PS.  Come back tonight for my First Grade Grinch Activities for the week!}

Redeeming Christmas

Long before our first daughter was born, Matt and I knew we wanted to do Christmas a little bit differently. We were not very fond of the materialism/consumerism that our culture glorifies at this time of year and talked often of what traditions we could put in place with our own family to put the emphasis on more important things than on spending money, getting lots of things and surviving the stress.

Being a stay-at-home mom has really been the greatest catalyst for us taking all our ideals and turning them into reality. As a one income family, we don't have a ton of money to spend even if we wanted to. Instead we have gotten creative and learned to enjoy the whole season for other reasons than shopping and presents.

Now don't get the wrong picture. I am not some heroic, self sacrificing Canadian who easily says goodbye to the Christams rush. Nope, not me. I LOVE to shop and spend money and go all out. Like really love it! So this has not been the smoothest of transitions in my life. I am actually so thankful for the lack of finances so that as I gradually shift my focus, there is less temptation to slip back into my old materialistic ways.

Here are a few of the things we have worked to implement in our own little family in order to start making an effort to redeem Christmas:

1. For Matt's and my gift to each other we often buy something that is on our big purchase list but that we truly need. That way we are getting something we really needed to buy anyway but get the extra enjoyment of calling it a Christmas gift!

2. The kids get 3 gifts each from us. I remember before I had kids a co-worker of mine saying, "If Jesus only got 3 gifts, why should our kids get anymore?!". It was more of a funny comment than a serious reason for doing it but she really did put it into practice and I really respected that. So now with our own kids, we do the same thing. For our first Christmas as parents, I felt like that was going to be impossible! But in the end, I love that we do this! It makes me take the time to really research toys and think about what would truly be the best gifts for my kids. That way the gifts that we give are truly thoughtful. Not only that but we also enjoy the added benefit of our home not overflowing with toys once Christmas has all been said and done.

Here is a good post at Live Renewed on the 3 gifts concept.

3. I am only beginning to embrace this next suggestion: second hand gifts. On a general basis, I love second hand shopping. I am always thrilled to find something I wanted or needed at a second hand store or yard sale for a fraction of the cost! But for some reason, I feel its wrong to second hand shop for Christams gifts! Well, that is changing! This year I have a Dora house with the figurines that I got for $5 from our neighbor's yard sale in the summer. I've saved it and am giving it to Taitum, our household's newest Dora fan! I also found some great books at the library that were being sold for 25 cents! One is going to be Tait's book gift and the rest, which are smaller, will become stocking stuffers! And I feel GOOD about it! Over time I hope to do more of this. It will probably mean shopping well in advance so I can find things I'm looking for as gifts but in the end, I'd say its totally worth the effort!

4. We try to make gifts for our extended family as much as we can. For example, last year we did up baskets for all the grandparents in which everything was made by Piper (Taitum was a newborn at the time but I'm sure she'll be a happy participant this year!). We included Hot Cocoa Cones, a picture frame that Piper made with a picture of herself in it, a foam snowflake tree ornament with Taitum's pic on one side and handprint on the other, baking that Piper and I had done together, coffee mugs that Piper drew pictures on (this did not work very well...I bought some markers at Michael's that were supposed to be for that very purpose but they didn't work so well. I ended up only including the mugs in one basket since they had turned out OK but for the rest, let Piper pick mugs out at the Dollar Store!), candy canes with chocolate molds that we made using Wilton Frosty Friends Candy Cane Molds and a album of all the pics from Taitum's 2 month photoshoot!

Considering that our parents and grandparents are ever so hard to buy anything for this was the perfect solution! Not only that but we had a wonderful time making everything and I think it may have meant that much more to them that we put the thought and effort into it! This year I am just so excited to come up with new ideas of things that the girls and I (Matt helps when he can, too!) can create and give to those we love the most!

5. We put very little emphasis on Santa. Believe it or not, our reasoning for this is not simply 'religious'. That said, it does have a lot to do with the fact that we are Christians. For us, Jesus is WAY better than Santa. He is the one that we strive to point our kids to ALL year long. But no, we don't ascribe to the notion that because Santa and Satan contain the same letters, that he must be evil. In fact, we include Santa stories in our Christmas chatter the same way we do with talk of Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella the rest of the year. For our kids, he is just that - a make-believe story. We refuse to lie to them about anything including Saint Nick.

That aside, we also feel that Santa promotes the materialism of Christmas. Sit on his lap and tell him what you want, write a letter and tell him everything you'd like to see under the tree Christmas morning or call into the radio so you can make it clear to him what you wish to recieve...thats just not the kind of kids I want to raise and those are not the values I wish to instill. I hope that as a family we can grow into people that at Christmas time (and the rest of the year, too!) are instead asking 'How can I help?', "What can I do to bring hope?' and 'In what ways can I give?' So is Santa bad? Nope. He is a fictional Christmastime story about generosity and giving. And that is basically the beginning and end of the Santa issue for us. 

Interested on the subject of Christian's and Santa? Here's a good article: What We Tell Our Kids About Santa ~ Mark Driscoll

These are the things that we have already begun to put into action at Christmas time. Like I've said before, this is one of my most favorite seasons but I don't think that every holiday has to be forever done the same way because its the way you've always done it. I think its a worthwhile endevour to assess what you do and why you do it. Then change the things that are pointless, or worse, dangerous! Hold to and build the traditions that have meaning and point to Jesus.

Next, I hope to share with you some of the changes our family aspires to this Christmas and in the future.

How have you changed things in your Christmas traditions? What new things have you started to do every year? I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas!

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.

"Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"

                                                                          -Dr.Seuss