This
month has lasted forever but in a good
way! I feel like I've really gotten to be present with my kids and we
have
done a lot together! I'm so grateful were able to fit in almost
everything we wanted to do before Christmas. We had fun hibernating at
home for most of the month. We had friends over a few times. We
did lots of crafts. We also made and painted salt
dough ornaments, baked several batches of cookies, decorated candy
graham cracker houses,
and re-decorated the entire Christmas tree not once but twice! (Madeline
pulled it over once and then we
decided to buy a new one that was on clearance at Target) Beatrice (4)
had a Christmas performance on December 16th at pre-school. Ricky's
parents were able to drive out for it. Lastly, we took a leap of faith
by calling a contractor to give us a quote on finishing our basement and
adding a massive two story sun room and patio to our house. We still
want to move rather desperately but we cannot find anything that fits.
The quote came back and it's in the works as a maybe. One huge change we
have had lately is that we got rid of all our chickens and ducks. We
don't have time for them. We are working on re-homing our goats but have
not been successful yet. We are downsizing because we have too much to
do and just can't keep up.
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Waiting for the hard butter soften. She was so cute waiting.
What ever shall a bored girl do when the butter
is not already pre softened? |
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December was a great month! I can't
possibly find the time to write everything I'd like, but I need to
highlight some things that important to me while I can though.
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Snicker-doodles for daddy! His very favorite. |
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Thanks for the tree knock down, Madeline. |
I have (and love) a small white kitschy Christmas
tree, but I was becoming nostalgic for a green tree this year. When I
mentioned it the kids were
all excited! We have had a vintage
white one for years. I had it on a rotating tree stand and it wasn't a
good fit. To be honest, the whole thing was getting annoying because it
kept leaning in the poorly fitted stand, and we just wanted a change. We
decided we would buy a new tree at the end of the year when they went
on sale. While doing last minute shopping though, I noticed Target had
them 50% off the week of Christmas! I knew instantly Ricky would LOVE
this tree. It was love at first sight for me. It is so classic and
beautiful looking. It has white lights which he likes. Its tall, slender
and classy. Its branches are thick and the color is rich, it is
slightly varied at the tips in both color and texture. I bought it and
had it all decorated when he came home that evening
and he LOVED it. His reaction was great!!
He loved it! Of course pictures don't do it justice, but oh well. Sharing anyway.
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Oh,
I'm not giving up on my vintage white tree. I'll just love it in
another room. It's loud and bright, like I like my decor. lol Madeline
kept stripping it of ornaments, too. You can see the bottom is missing
lots --and there she is happy to plunk more off as I take a picture. |
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Up close pic: I'm excited because our new tree just sparkles! |
In
addition to festive December things, I de-cluttered the basement,
halfway cleaned out the garage, and gave away a ton of clothes. I really
have been
so busy this past year juggling kids (Madeline especially since she's a
handful), so it felt really good to have so much momentum in such a busy
holiday month. I guess in a
way I felt back to my normal self. I know I've been accomplishing a lot
just by raising and caring for my baby, but there were (and are) also
lots of
things left undone that I wanted to get back to! Everything just fell
into place his month -but I also worked really, really hard at it! The
younger kids are doing Reading Eggs and Teaching Textbooks on the
computer to fill in school gaps with me being so busy.
The Decade Dames
Part of this belongs in its own post for fall, but we all know I'll never get around to that!
In
October I joined a group of women who dress in pin-up style fashion and
other period or vintage wear. One day I saw a local group share a photo
on social media that caught my eye. They were called The Decade Dames.
They were posing with a local
police officer and with his police car as a "support your local police"
photo shoot. The Dames were all in 50's dresses and hair. I was like WOAH, WAIT! WHAT? Where and who
are these gals? They are my people! I dress like this! Well, I
tracked them down. They were in fact taking
applications for more vintage loving Dames to join them in having fun,
dressing up, supporting each other, and also being a positive influence
within the community, including anything from charity/service projects
to
going to car shows, nursing homes, and any other local events. The sky
is the limit!
I know, Right!?
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Hair style practice before even finding out about the Decade Dames! |
So I just nervously showed up at the meeting and
they welcomed me. It was super fun! Just founded in June 2017, they have
a very fun and full calendar of events, service projects, and community
presence in the county we live in.
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Picture of me on my way to the first Dames meeting in October!
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The Dames were featured in a county wide community paper in October.
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Is this fun or what?? |
Wreaths Across America: My First Decade Dames Event
Every December Wreaths Across America takes place in
over 1200
cemeteries across our nation. Volunteers place Christmas wreaths at the
resting place of veterans. This is a family event, which was perfect for
my first event! My younger kids were especially excited to meet
"Mommy's new fancy friends." That's what Bea calls them, my fancy
friends. I don't go very many places alone, so it's been a big deal that
I have a once a month meeting I go to. (Mom is going someplace: WHAT?!
WHY?! LOL!)
We walked at least two miles at
Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery placing our assigned six wreaths at
the headstones of veterans, thanking them each aloud by name so they are not forgotten. We were offered
four wreaths to place but I said we could do six! The day turned out great. It was a
beautiful, peaceful, and sunny 60 degree December day. I was blessed to share it with my
family, as well as with my Decade Dame sisters who lead the group in this
fundraising
effort for the wreaths. The kids were excellent. It was very sweet
that they were a part of this as well. I cannot believe they did so well
because we walked so much! Seeing all those wreaths laid
is really a beautiful sight.
Thank
goodness I had Ricky to navigate the large map for us. (He's really
good at figuring things out in general...he's an analyst, so...) Prior
to the event I suggested that I could go with some kids and leave him
home with others if it seemed too crazy to take everyone. He just kinda
looked at me like: Nope. He affectionately said, "I'm not having
you go alone." This is mostly because I have a simply terrible time
finding my way around things like this and he would never see me again!
Haha! I was so thankful he wanted to do this as a family and that he is
always eager to navigate for me no matter what we are doing! We had to
walk really far across nearly the entire cemetery. (The whole grounds
are 296 acres, so we didn't actually walk all that, but boy oh boy we
did walk A LOT!) We also had to walk up a big hill, down a big hill,
across a huge uphill gravel/dirt wash, then down and up a hill AGAIN.
Once we got to our furthermost wreath assignment laid we could hit all
of our other wreath assignments as we walked back towards our van. We
didn't have to cross the wash again. Ricky mapped it out perfectly for
us. It was so adventurous and fun for the kids! At one point Everett was
up the wash and accompanying hill while I was down below far away, but I
could see him a bit. He saw me and started howling towards me,
"Awooooooo!" I howled back at him loudly for fun. Sebastian, who was
near Everett, joined in and howled as well. Suddenly four deer came
flying out of the woods like crazy. I could see Everett turn around as
he ran towards his dad high tailing it out of there. It scared him good.
It was very surprising for all of us and we all had a good long laugh
over it!
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My family! |
Christmas Eve Eve
I
always want us to get our wrapping done before Christmas Eve. We never
do! EVER! We are always up until 2 or 3am wrapping tons of gifts. Its
utterly exhausting! Well this year I was determined! This will happen! And it did! Yay yay yay, I mean seriously! YAY!!!
On Christmas Eve's Eve I was wrapping presents and having a cold adult beverage in
the union suit PJ's I wear only a couple times every year. My kids
always laugh at me when I get these out. I usually put them on and run
through the house dancing and singing because I'm a goofball. Last night
I suddenly realized I've had these for 25 years! 25 years in a row I've
worn these pajamas at least once each December. In the past I've worn
them to grocery stores and school just for fun, to family parties, under
snow suits, and to bedtime. Who could have known these pre-internet
smiley face pajamas from the 90's would now be called Emojis! Lol!
️Traditions are so fun, and they are the heart of holidays. I have also
stayed true to myself by expanding my wardrobe over the years to
include Santa suit pajamas, elf pajamas, an elf dress, and finally a baking themed
gingerbread house dress.
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Rockin' 25 year old pajamas! |
We were blessed with snow just in time for Christmas.
It's the biggest snow fall we've had in nearly two years at only two
inches! We missed snow and it was a beautiful and welcome surprise!
I
wanted a picture outside today wearing my gingerbread dress in the
snowscape! Bea darted out with me for a picture with me as well!
Christmas Eve
On Christmas Eve we made an appetizer tree
that turned out to be super cute and fun. The base is a Styrofoam cone
wrapped in plastic wrap to keep it clean and reusable. The toothpick
sticks I got have stars at the end of them, but any would do. We used
cheese, salami, grapes, two kinds of olives, apples, tiny pickles, and
cheese. It was a big hit! We will do it again!
A
tradition I started long ago, and the kids beg for every year, are
Santa pancakes (or waffles, we did frozen waffles this year). Strawberry
hat, chocolate chip eyes, whipped cream beard. They just love
assembling these!
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A yellow pepper for reindeer and cookies for Santa |
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Merry Christmas! |