Our Christmas...

A little peak at our Christmas Eve and Day through pictures...

Seriously I could take pictures of my kids all day long if they would let me.

My heart exploded when I saw this picture I snagged on my phone.

Oh Bean your little facial expression get me every time.

The table set at my parents house.

The meal I wait for ALL year long. Sour orange pork, black beans & rice, with homemade cranberry sauce.

Bean and my grandmothers dog {Wyland} got matching Christmas Eve jammers, BAHAHAHA!

Digging into their stockings.

She kept saying when she opened this "He knew! He knew! Santa knew!" I loved every second the fat guy got credit...

Her own camera, love how much she loved it.

Then there is this kid, he cracks me up. Lots of cars and trains made his day.

Hope you all had the most Merriest of Christmases!

finding my place.

I feel like I am living Ground Hogs Day.

You know the movie where Bill Murray wakes up over and over to the same day.

"Phil?! Phil Conor?!"

Thats me.

Waking and doing.

Doing the same things day in and day out.

So while I sit and fold my fifth load of laundry or stand at the sink for the third time that day, my mind starts wondering...

Is this me.

Is this what I am supposed to be doing?

One thing I know for a fact that I am meant to be, is a Mom.

It centers me.

But.

And I truly hate saying this and feeling this way.

There are days where my heart longs for something else.

Dear sweet baby Jesus, I wish they were it and I could move on with the school drop offs, diaper changing, cleaning, and fight negotiations, and feel like I did it.

I did what I was meant to do.

But I am afraid.

I am afraid of resentment.

I am afraid of regret.

I am afraid of the what ifs.

I am afraid of not loving myself.

My kids give me more then I could have ever imagined.

But somehow there is always a feeling of something missing.

Is that something the "real" me?

Will next week I wake up to a new day, of this feeling gone?

Maybe.

It seems to move like the seasons through me.

Always changing.

I know this single post will not bring answers.

But putting it out there maybe it will stir some to the surface.

But in the meantime, I am a back to making enough memories for my kids to last a lifetime.

It was necessary...

There other day I had had it.

The consistent whining.

Having to ask not once, not twice, not even three times, but more like 5 or 6 times to do something.

The lack of general courtesy and manners had reached it all time high.

Lenny was watching my frustration.

And the next morning we woke up to this hanging over our kitchen table.

Listen I get that the shelf Elf is fun, cute and likes to get into funny things.

But he has a J.O.B.

And that morning he had my back.

Tis the season to dangle the fear of no gifts over your kids head.

No shame.

Happy Wednesday.

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Thank you for the prayers for my family.

Please keep them coming, as we need them.

My MIL had surgery on Saturday to remove {a thank God, not cancerous} brain tumor.

But now we are on the long road to recovery.

So the extra prayers are WELCOME and APPRECIATED!

The Blankie Cape {DIY}

This Christmas I decided to participate in a little gift exchange for my kiddies.

It was world wide, so its pretty exciting.

The budget was $10 a gift.

We were paired up with two boys.

One 2 and one 5.

So my mind raced to come up with a handmade goodie

{that was not a requirement, but for me always make it that much more special}.

Then I thought what little kid
superhero wouldn't like a cape, but not just a cape but a blankie cape!

What you will need to make 2 capes-

- 1 yrd a minkie fabric {which is normally $14.99 I got for 50% off}

- 2 yrd regular fabric washed for shrinkage {which was $4.99 a yrd on sale for 50% off}

- some ribbon {about 6 in}

- fabric paint and paint brush

- card stock

For my pattern I took Buggies cape and shaped it with pins into a smaller version. And then I traced it on wrapping paper and cut out for my pattern. You can easily freehand the shape, my pattern was 24 ins across at the widest point, 27 inches from the tip of the neck to the bottom and the neck was 8 ins at its widest point.

Then I cut the pattern out of the fabric and the minkie.

Taking a piece of card stock I made a letter template. Then traced it with an invisible pen.

Then painted with the fabric paint. You could use freeze paper to make a stencil or if you are super cool you can use a silhouette machine, which I clearly am not.

Once the letter is dried I added a little lighting bolt.

Before pinning the fabric inside out together, add a small piece of ribbon to one of the neck strips.

Then pin the fabric, and sewed. When you sew the ribbon part, lift it bit so it makes a loop before sewing both sides down, this is where the other neck piece will go through to hold the cape on. Leaving a small opening to pull the cape through the hole so its right side out. Then sew the hole up.

Now you will have a blankie cape!

The ribbon loop acts as the perfect way to hold the cape on, but easily pulled off.

My little model loved it.

{and yes she was dressed as strawberry shortcake, we went with it..}

It clearly will help the little kid superhero leap from a single bound...

Or twirl through their enemies...

And when they are done saving the city, they can snuggle up for some rest before the next villain comes to town...

***I apologize for the lack of pics during the pinning and sewing process, please feel free to ask any questions you may have!"***

On a serious side note:

Please send prayers and healthy thoughts our way, we need all we can get as our family

deals with a serious health concern. Thank you so much!

A house full of magic.

Wednesday after school something BIG happened.

One of those milestones, that for sure is sealing the fact that my little Buggie is growing up.

She lost her first tooth!!!

I may or may not have aided in the losing of the tooth by feeding her an apple.

I may or may not have done this because I wanted her to loose it at home.

I may or may not have been a little jealous if this were to have happen at school and I was not there to witness it.

Then Wednesday night she tucked her tooth under her pillow and went to sleep.

And when she woke she found this...

Lenny our scout Elf and the Tooth Fairy had a hot chocolate date.

The Tooth Fairy even left behind a little bit of pixie dust with bum prints.

You should have heard the giggles from my little girl.

These moments are what I cherish, making my daughters childhood memories filled with wonder and magic.

And guess what the tooth next to it is super loose too!

I keep telling her she will get to sing "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth."

Hum wonder what Lenny and the Tooth Fairy will get into next time she visits?!

Projects of Christmas Past

Just a look back on a few things I have done over the past two years...

Peppermint Marshmallows Stirs. {perfect gift topper}

Gift wrapping caddy

Doily Basket

Felt words to add a little Christmas flare.

Painted Ornaments

Happy crafting...

We play with our food.

I realized it has been awhile since I have shared on the blog any of the lunches I have made for the kids.

I think because I share on IG and Twitter, I forget.

Any who, there is a few plates as of late...

Yes this is made from pancakes. I will do a tutorial on it soon.

Hope these bring you some food fun inspiration!

Oh not only are our lunches fun, but we usually dress up for them too :)

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Hey come visit me over on Anderson Crew today, I am sharing how to make these cuties.