2012 Christmas Tour of Homes

Today I'm linking up Kelly’s KornerShow Us Your Life:  2012 Christmas Tour of Homes AND
The Mrs. & the Momma's:  All Things Holiday Link Up Party

Welcome to our home!

By far the most festive part of our home is the living room.  

I still think I need a taller tree.  I have one picked out at Hobby Lobby.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can get a great deal after Christmas.  :)

I bought our cowboy tree-topper at a Christmas specialty stores years ago...half off of course!

 I bought this little stocking garland at World Market.  It's been a fun addition to our Christmas countdowns.  Everyday I give the little cowboys a treat from the stocking.  Most days its a small candy or trinket but I have placed a few Christmas activity cards in the stockings.  We've made frosted Christmas trees, watched a Christmas movie, etc.  I found a lot of great ideas off this pin.

My favorite item is always our nativity set.  This cowboy nativity is in the dining room - out of baby's reach.  I found it at Steinmart years ago.  The little cowboys really get a kick out of it!

The nativity set below came from Mardel.  I got it when Keeler was a baby.  We keep it down low and the little cowboys love to play with it.  Kallahan typically has is all over the place.  The little angel on the top lights up and sings Away in the Manger.  Just the sweetest!

I keep our dining table set with my Christmas dishes all month long.  I just LOVE my dishes and seriously smile every time I walk by.  Wouldn't you?!  My mom gave them to me as a Christmas gift a couple years ago.  She got them at Kohls.  

Best. Gift. Ever!

This year I took an idea off Pinterest for our Christmas card display.  I ran ribbon down the front of our kitchen cabinet doors and  attached the cards with clothespins. It's working great but I am going to have to start another cabinet.  This is a great problem to have - I love receiving Christmas cards!!

I found my new garland (above entertainment center prior picture) and this wreath at out local holiday bazaar.  I've always loved berry decor.  

 I have two of these vases on my mantel.  They've been around for years - I would never eat the candies, ha!  But they always look so cute.  

I didn't get around to taking pictures of everything in the house.  I had to get to work...boo.  But both the little cowboys have trees in their bedrooms, we have one in the basement and like above - I have little Christmas items throughout the house.  

I hope you have enjoyed our tour.  Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas.  

Baby Games

Every time my babies enter a new phase of babyhood, I declare that stage to be my favorite. With that disclaimer..... the ages of 6-12 months are absolutely my FAVORITE! At this age, babies are still little and cuddly and dependent but they are so very curious about their world and finding great pleasure in their new-found abilities.

Ryan is such a joy right now. He is so curious and mobile, yet he is very chill and easy going. He loves to watch his brother. There is no mistaking the pure joy and happiness that Ryan feels whenever his brother gives him attention. Jacob "whooshes" into the room and suddenly, Ryan is spastically kicking his legs and giggling uncontrollably. Seeing the love that these brothers have for each other is a joy that I could never have even imagined.

I may be partial, but I feel that Ryan also has a very special love that he saves just for me. Now that Ryan crawls, he has discovered that he can chase me around the house. The second I put him down and walk into another room, I hear the "smack-smack" of Ryan's belly flopping around on the floor like a seal across an iceberg as he moves around the house to find me. Sometimes he'll get up on his knees but he prefer to arm crawl. It's absolutely hysterical to see him flopping and floundering around the room like a fish out of water. But he makes it work and gets where he means to get.

Lately, when I'm rushing from room to room tidying things up or putting away stacks of laundry, Ryan crawls around right after me. Poor little guy, by the time he gets to me, I am already walking out the door and on to the next room. So, I walk into Jacob's room to put his legos on his bookshelf. I hear Ryan's belly and hands "smack-smacking" against the floor as he scoots my way. I stop and wait until he rounds the corner. The second he sees me, his face turns from pure concentration to hysterical joy. He face light up and he giggles hysterically. It makes me feel so loved. He acts like I'm the absolute best thing in the entire world.

So, I move onto the next room and hear Ryan flopping around after me. I enter the room and wait once more. Ryan rounds the corner, pokes his head in and, once again, has a spastic attack of joy when he sees me. Then it's onto the next room. This game never gets old, for me or Ryan. You would think that day after day of playing this game it would suddenly hit him, "Yeah, my mommy's in there. No big deal." But no, he continues to act totally surprised and freakishly over-joyed every time.

It's the equivalent of me walking into my room to discover John Hamm laying across my bed, wearing nothing but a mankini, covered in chocolate sauce, and scandalously licking a strawberry. Yes, I'd be very shocked (also very excited) to find such a sight. John Hamm covered in chocolate licking a strawberry is to me how I am to Ryan (ok, that sounds weird, but you get it, right?).  

Christmas Program and Pajama Party

We've had a fun and busy week.  

On Wednesday night Keeler was in our church Christmas program.  

 He sang Twinkle Twinkle Christmas Star with the other preschoolers.  These little ones are also in my preschool Sunday school class so it was very special to watch. :) 

Yesterday Keeler had a pajama party at preschool.  

*Fake smiles like his mommy!*

He looked so comfy with his cowboy pajamas, house slippers, blanket and pillow.  He said they watched a Santa movie and ate popcorn.  He thought it was so funny that a couple of his classmates feel asleep.  I bet their teacher didn't mind, ha!

I’m really looking forward to the weekend but we still have a lot going on.  We have my company Christmas party on Saturday evening.  Since I am the coordinator it's not as much fun and still some work.  Tyler's uncle and aunt are going to watch the little cowboys.  It will go well because they are great with them! :)

Candy Sushi

A little side project in the midst of Christmas crafting.

The girls' Papa was having a sushi birthday party.

We thought candy sushi would be a fitting gift!

Weekend Visitors

My parents came up this past weekend to visit and brought my sister’s youngest, Samuel.  We had a great weekend…noisy but great!  Saturday morning Keeler and Samuel went with my dad (aka Pa Diddy) to eat breakfast and then headed out to the farm.  Is sounds like the little boys had a great time and even got to ride horses!  My mom and I kept it low-key.  We took our time getting ready, watched RHOM and then headed out shopping.  Our shopping was nothing too exciting but we had fun and then stopped into Subway for a quick lunch.  When the cowboys got back into town, Tyler and my dad went and picked up firewood.  The cold has settled in southwest Kansas so it’s finally feeling like December.  The guys kept the fireplace going all weekend,  which I love!  

I also love that my parents make such a great effort at visiting us when we can't make it their way.  It's so important to me that my little cowboys have a great relationship with their grandparents.  I cherish the time I got to spend with my grandmother SO MUCH and I want that for our boys.  This time of year really pulls at my heart...I miss my grandmother.  Growing up I only had one living grandparent and she was amazing.  We had such a special bond.  It will be 3 years since she passed this Christmastime.

This is picture is from the last Christmas we got to celebrate with her.  She's the one in the red sweater and her sister is holding baby Keeler.  

Embrace the Camera
I am so glad that Grandmother got to meet Keeler.  She loved all the kids so much.  She was interested in every detail of everyone's life up until they very end of her life.  Kallahan didn't get the chance to meet her but I will make sure he knows all about her.  This weekend he spent a lot a time crawling up into Pa Diddy's lap and loving on him.  He's just the cutest!

On Saturday evening we made frosted Christmas trees with the big boys.  I was so impressed at how well they did and by the lack of mess!  Samuel really concentrated on making sure his was completely frosted.  Kallahan thought they were pretty tasty too! :)

My mom showed up with a great surprise gift...a Christmas train!  After mommy finally figured out how to put it together the boys had a blast.  Keeler's sharing and taking turns skills were tested but they ended up doing okay.  The boys played well all weekend.    

To top things off, we got to see um, Santa Clause.  However this counterfeit didn't even fool our 4-year-olds.  It was still fun and we explained he was a helper and could report to Santa.  Keeler and Samuel weren't too impressed but I found it very funny.  Look at him!!  #sloppysanta

 We hated to see my parents leave but only a couple weeks and then we will be back together to celebrate Christmas!!

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Romans 12:12

New Breed Of Dads

I'm having one of those periods of time where the pendulum of work/life balance is swinging more heavily towards work. I've been noticing little things that I'm neglecting with the kids. Luckily, due to my new work arrangement, these things are mostly little. But they still bother me.

For example, I've been picking up the kids a little later than usual due to some high demand assignments at work. When we get home, I'm almost too exhausted to resist Jacob's demands for more background TV. I'm too tired to fight battles over vegetables. I only half-heartedly listen to Jacob's long, drawn out stories. I lack the patience to remind him nicely not to throw the ball around the living room, jump on furniture, or throw stuff at his brother. And, I often decide to tackle a sink full of dirty dishes (we freaking don't have a dishwasher- can you believe it?!) instead of getting on the floor to play with Ryan.

Basically, I see plenty of areas where a more selfless and energetic me (or any supermom, for that matter) would respond to the kids more patiently and more enthusiastically than I do. It makes me feel a bit deflated. I promise myself that I will do better. But then Jacob dumps a boxful of Cheerios on his train table or bounces a ball off Ryan's face and my good intentions quickly fly out the window. I yell. Jacob whines. Ryan cries. In an effort to back me up, my husband joins the yelling . And just like that, we've turned into everyone's favorite neighbors.

I know all that craziness is (mostly) just part of a temporary life imbalance due to an upcoming trial. I know that if I really got desperate at home, I could scale things back at work. But that's not easy for me to do for a surprising reason: I simply don't want to. At least, not right now.

I'm having a hard time leaving work at work. I'm having a hard time not over-promising. And I'm having a hard time leaving the office at my normal time. All because I absolutely love all of my assignments, cases, and projects. This is not a bad problem to have.

At work, I've been doing a lot of motion writing, which is the kind of challenge that I love the most. Which is weird because during school, I always had the hardest time writing persuasive essays. I think my young self would be very surprised that my older self nearly implodes from excitement each time a partner asks me to write a motion.

So....even when the life versus work balance is hard and tipped, things aren't that bad for me. I'm still having a great time. I can thank an incredible boss and an incredible job for that. Really, it's the kids that get the brunt of my exhaustion. But luckily, my husband and I are a pretty good team of working parents. Whenever I seem to lose steam on this whole parenting thing, my husband is able to jump in and fill in the parenting holes. I'm able to do the same when it's his turn for a daddy melt-down.

All I can say is thank GOD for the progressive men of my generation. My dad is awesome and I love him. BUT I cannot remember him ever changing a diaper or washing a single dirty dish. Honestly, if my husband wasn't so involved in every aspect of parenting, there is no way I would be able to do this whole working mom thing. Some might say that it's sad and bothersome that we don't automatically expect fathers to do half the work. I'm not trying to make a profound statement or to even be politically correct. All I'm saying is that my husband is awesome. We make a good team. And I'm very thankful. Because things could have been a lot harder if we weren't on the same page.

It’s all in the details.

It’s raining tonight.  I can’t help but wish it were snow, since a) it’s December and b) I’m a teacher.  Mostly because I’m a teacher though, and we work hard for our Snow Days. 

A pot of water is boiling on the stove for homemade macaroni and cheese.   I use the term homemade loosely, since I’m following the recipe on the back of the Velveeta cheese box,  and I’m pretty sure Velveeta is the furthest thing from homemade possible.  Also, Becks is running around in his underwear, chasing the dog with some laser gun.  The dog is wearing a bandana around her neck, and the whole scene is hilarious. 

I also built a rather intricate dragon from Legos tonight, which took no less than an hour.  Do kids actually build these things?

Oh, and there’s Christmas music playing in the background.  And a scented candle lit. 

B busy is folding laundry.  God bless him. 

These are the details from my life in the past hour.  Because, guess why?

Because we’re a waiting family.  And I’m going to have to keep awful busy while we’re waiting. 

We’ve only been waiting since Wednesday, but that doesn’t mean that it already doesn’t seem like eternity.  Especially when we’ve technically been a waiting family for a year and half.  However, I can’t help but think that after months and months and months of negative tests, that that test is now {metaphorically}  positive.  It brings me hope.

So, we wait.  Some of us will chase dogs in our underwear  (not me).  Some of us will do laundry (definitely not me).  And, some of us will write and make processed foods.

Happy Sunday.

PS. The mac-n-cheese was super yummy. Fake cheese or not :)