Mirth Monday - Some Winter Break Advice

It's the Monday after Christmas. All you Moms out there are probably wondering about now how you're going to make it till the first day of school.

So I've brought you a little advice from a few retro friends of mine. Sage women, one and all.

Take notes.....


























[repurposedrivenlife.com]










































[Allposters.com]














[Google.com]



























I couldn't find one that said "Vote for Anne by clicking on this darling brown button!", but I'm sure there's gotta be one out there. I just didn't have time to search for it because I had to go rescue the cat from the chandelier.

So Sad.

We have entered a new era as a family: this was the first year I went to bed on Christmas Eve without putting out a plate of cookies for Santa. Not once did we sign on to check NORAD to track Santa.

All my believers (well, the girls, anyway) have turned into Beliebers.

Didn't stop me completely, though. I still filled stockings. I still wrote "from Santa" on their main gifts. Old habits die hard.

And any sadness dissipated this morning. Children drunk with anticipation waking us up before daybreak, jubilant children rushing to the couch to see what had come in the night. Looks of disbelief mingled with joy as stockings were dissected, wrappings torn asunder. Then the quiet peace that settled over the house as new clothes and playthings were examined and tried, shared and played.
















































































































I think I'll follow Cindy Lou's lead and go take a nap.....

It's Christmas Eve

Yes, it's Christmas Eve. The day before Christmas.

We're in pretty good shape: shopping done, homemade gifts done, almost all of it wrapped. A certain family member of the husband persuasion has not yet begun wrapping, but he always has willing and able helpers of the daughter persuasion to get him out of a pinch.

I'll deliver a couple cookie trays to neighbors today, and tonight we'll drive out to the Herr's Factory to see the lights and we'll set up our manger, but mostly it'll be a nice, quiet, Christmas Evey sort of day.

Did I hear someone mention church? Ashamed to admit it, but we don't go to church at Christmas anymore. For years we did the Christmas Eve candlelit mass, but I've finally thrown in the religious towel. It seemed we either had to get there a half hour early in order to get a seat, or get there on time to a SRO crowd of antsy Catholics. End result was the same: everyone was miserable because either we were there what seemed like two hours, or we were standing. I know, I know, small price to pay considering the sacrifice He made for us. What can I say, I'm a wimp when it comes to whiny children who are high on Santa. I lack that kind of fortitude.

So now my nod to the spiritual aspect of Christmas is the living nativity. Round my parts, these abound. In fact there are so many to choose from that I can take my pick and select the one most convenient to me.

Last few years this has meant the operation over at Beulah Baptist. First of all, Beulah? C'mon. That's my car's name, so that's one reason to love them right there. Second, they're one of the closest. Less than ten minute's drive.

But the biggie? It's a drive-thru nativity. Yes, that's right, the glory of the birth of our Savior in drive-thru convenience.

It's nice. As you drive around the parking lot, you see the shepherds watching their flocks, a market place in Bethlehem, the tax collector's office, and of course, the stable with Mary, Joseph and the baby. It's lovely.

The only way they could improve things would be to maybe offer some food as part of their drive-thru service. Admire the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, grab your Diet Coke and be on your way.



"Would you like some fries with that?"



















Wishing you all a very wonderful and peaceful and holy Christmas Eve. Wishing also to get myself back up out of this abyss on TMB. 23!!! Ick. Please click to vote? Consider it your Christmas gift to me. No shopping, no wrapping required. Thanks!
And merry Christmas.....




Image courtesy blogs.roanoke.com


[Theresa, sorry for the rehash!]

A Tip For Tuesday

Some easy-peasy diy gifts for the hopelessly uncrafty:


Flat-iron holder made out of a potholder.














Tote bags made out of old t-shirts.















Custom t-shirts drawn with a bleach pen.




















I am really short on time right now, so can't list the instructions. But they're all on my Pinterest boards, so just click the button on my sidebar that says 'Follow Me On Pinterest'and it'll take you right there. Otherwise, bear with me and I'll get them to you later this week.

I've made some of the totes from t-shirts. Also made some scarves. I'll see if I can put those up later. Real cute. Very simple, and they're no-sew, so how awesome is that?



Know what's even simpler? Yep, you guessed it. Just clicking this button to vote for me. Thanks!

Our Family Tree (Skirt)

This is another Christmas idea I got years ago, and again I quote Family Fun as my maybe source.

It is our tree skirt for our Christmas tree.

I don't have the instructions for it, but it was pretty easy no-sew project. You just cut out a tree skirt shape out of any heavy fabric you like (I used a green velvety-type). It's basically a great big donut with a slit cut from edge to center. If you need to, just use your existing skirt as a pattern.

Then you turn the edges under and glue them with some tacky glue or hot glue. Glue on some rick-rack for trim, if you'd like.

Then pick some fabric paint that will contrast nicely with the material you used. Pour some onto a paper plate and coat each family members hands, one set at a time, and help them press their hands onto the fabric in pairs around the edges. You can go back later and touch up empty spots with a paintbrush if needed.

Have each person in the family write their name on a piece of tracing paper. Cut out each name so it's a workable, stand-alone square piece of paper. Then on the back of each name, squeeze some good old-fashioned Elmer's glue on the letters, tracing each letter just as the child wrote it. Press this onto the tree skirt just above or just beneath their handprints, pull up the paper, and sprinkle with glitter so you've covered all the glue-letters. Repeat with each person's name.

Finally, write out the year on the skirt with the glue, and sprinkle glitter over that, as well.

Pretty simple, and yet this is maybe the one thing I'd run back into the house for if my house was burning down.


Here is a picture of ours. Pay no attention to the dog and cat hair.















(Names blacked out)

Ours has the year 2001, because that was the year I made it, but then when Bella joined our family in 2003, I added that year. James and Julie's handprints were added six years later, but I still have to go back and write in their names and the year. I'll get to it. No really, I will.


Let me know if any of you end up making this, and show me a picture!












Helping me rise in the ranks on TMB is a no-sew project, too. No-sew, no-glue, couldn't be easier. Just click this button. Thanks!

Wordless Wednesday

No hiking, sawing, hauling, hoisting, binding or trimming needed to improve my ranking on TMB. Just a click of this little brown button.
Thank you!





Thanks for the new followers!

Mirth Monday - You'd Better Watch Out....

Thanks to:
mentalfloss.com

Merry Holidays

I took my receipt from the cashier, white-knuckle-gripped the bar on the shopping cart, cast my eyes downward and muttered Merry Christmas under my breath as I sprinted out of the store.

Why?

Because I had this inner battle just before I opened my mouth: should I say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays? I know that Happy Holidays is the PC way to go. Uttering the phrase Merry Christmas to someone used to make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but nowadays I feel more like I've just delivered an insult than a friendly greeting.

Again, why?

I could comfortably wish the same cashier a happy Valentine's Day, even if I was unaware of her relationship status. St. Patrick's Day? I've wished a happy one to every culture and ethnic group under the sun.

Why then do the words Merry Christmas get so stuck on my tongue?

My questioning is purely hypothetical; I know perfectly well why. We've been brainwashed to believe that the merest hint of anything religionesque is to be stricken from our vocabulary. Now, fear not if your religion is in the minority. If fewer than 50% of the population worships alongside you, you may proudly decorate, sing, and greet others in the manner befitting your respective holiday. Your office manager will hasten to display your religious icons on the receptionist's desk, even while stowing away the two foot plastic Christmas tree in the stock closet with the extra TP and lightbulbs. But if you're Christian? Best to keep your household decorations pared down to some white lights and evergreen branches. Candy canes are iffy, but if you're feeling brazen, I say go for it. No reindeer, no Santas, and God forbid, no lawn mangers. Strike the word "Christmas" from the link with ___cards, ___parties, ___pageants, ___cookies and replace with the more anemic "holiday" and you're politically golden.

Well, call me a rebel if you will, but I'm not drinking that Kool-Aid. While I absolutely 100% believe it is wrong for the majority to force its religious views and practices on those who don't share their beliefs, I also think it is equally wrong to villify those of us who wish to publicly celebrate our religious holidays, just because ours is a majority view. If it is right to not just tolerate but welcome the celebrations of others, it is right to allow the celebrations of the majority, as well.

How can we hope for tolerance and acceptance of all cultures and religions if we try to sweep a selective few under the rug and pretend they don't exist?

As for me, I hope to learn about your religion, your culture, or at least enjoy the ways in which you celebrate what is important to you. I hope you extend the same courtesy to me.

Merry Christmas.......



















Nothing politically incorrect about voting for me. Even the button to click is a nice, neutral brown.





Cartoon courtesy: savagechickens.com

A Tip For Tuesday - Advent Stockings

A number of years ago I came across an idea somewhere (Family Fun, maybe?) of a fun way to count down the days till Christmas.

We had done the advent chains, where you start with 24 paper chains and you rip one off each day so the kids (the little ones, especially) can see how many days are left till the big day. Some people write a bible verse on each chain, or an idea of an activity to do, some just leave them blank.

We also do advent calendars, as this is something I remember from my childhood. Somehow, my kids seem to get just as much thrill out of something as simple as looking for the daily number and opening the flap as I did when I was little.

But my favorite Christmas countdown, and it seems to be my kids' favorite as well, is our advent stockings.

















I'm still planning on throwing a length of Christmas greenery along the hooks to dress it up a bit, but you get the idea.


Pretty simple to do, and the kids get soooo excited to find out what's in each stocking.

I just went out and bought 12 pairs of red and white socks from Wal-Mart, but you could do this for free just by using socks from your unmatched socks basket.

What? Doesn't everybody have a basket full of scores of unmatched socks???

Find some wallspace where you can hang this. I happen to have a long mirror with hooks on it that I use, but you can get some of those 3M hooks that come off the wall when you're done. Those things are all kids of awesome.

Run a string through the holes of 24 clothespins, and mark the clothespins from 24 down to 1, with 24 to the left and 1 all the way at the end on the right.


















Then have some fun figuring out what to fill the stockings with. If you haven't figured it out yet, this works just like an old-fashioned advent calendar: on Dec 1st, your kids get to see what's in the stocking hung by the "24" clothespin. Dec 2nd they open the "23" stocking and so on down the line till they've opened the "1" stocking on Christmas Eve.

The beauty of this is that you can go really cheap or really elaborate, whatever floats your boat (and your budget).

A few ideas along the range of free to pricey:

*print out some Christmas activity pages, such as word-searches, crosswords, coloring pages,
*cut out strips of red and green construction paper and put those in the stocking for the kids to make a Christmas chain,
*cut out a little Christmas tree from green paper and write "Today we find (or decorate) our Christmas tree!",
*put a Christmas cookie cutter in the stocking to let them know today's the day they'll get to help make Christmas cookies,
*put a little baggie of birdseed in the stocking with a note that instructs them how to make peanut-butter-and-birdseed-pinecone-feeders for the birds,
*candy canes,
*Christmas pencils,
*gum,
*Christmassy hair accessories,
*jingle bells and some ribbon for the kids to make necklaces with,
*surprise them with breakfast out on the way to school one day (perhaps you could write it out on a star cut-out),
*cute Christmas socks.

You're only limited by your imagination.

Each day, another sock comes down, so they'll have the visual before them of how many days remain till Christmas.

If you can't trust the kids to not peek (and really, if you can, I don't like you very much), then just fill one at a time before you go on to bed each night.

The kids have been asking me for weeks when we can start the advent stockings.

Maybe I'll need to make advent stockings leading up to the advent stockings.

Kidding....






Would't it be awesome if each day leading up to Christmas, I climbed one higher in the TMB ranking? Keep clicking, people, keep clicking!


And if I added one new follower each day? Don't forget to add yourself if you haven't already. Thanks, people!