Favorite Link Friday - Christmas Edition

Christmas is my favorite time of the year, so of course, all month long I'm doing Favorite Link Friday Christmas style. Crafts, pictures, and projects galore. I am so excited it's finally here. I promise I won't be depressed when it's over.

*Martha Stewart has done this project in previous years, but I may just try a few with my kids. I have alot of leftover felt and I think these might be fun for them to give to their friends.

*Here is another great and easy advent project if you haven't done one already.

*Christmas cookies from around the world

*For the reader in the family. This looks fun

*Great Christmas ornaments for cheap!

*My new favorite Christmas Jammie's for the girls

*Our nativity. The girls love playing with this.

Have a great Thanksgiving weekend getting ready for Christmas. It's coming up quick.

Thankfulness

It's the week of Thanksgiving and I always love to remind myself of those things/people that I am thankful for. Here are the top 10 in no particular order.

1. My girls. I love having two girls. It is truly a delight and a joy to be with them, watch them grow, and listen to their silly little antics.
2. For health. We are all healthy. No major illness or disease. I feel very fortunate to, at this moment, be free from any physical pain in my family.
3. A home. Whenever it rains I always stop to give thanks to the Lord for a roof over our heads. I am thankful our heat works and my family is warm.
4. My husband. He is a support, help, and encourager. He knows all my crazy quirks and works right along with them. He is patient with me and kind in his words.
5. My friends. I have no idea where I would be without my friends. They are my sounding board, my encouragement, and they spur me on to be a better person and friend. I am so blessed to have so many in all sorts of places.
6. A small job that I love. I love cooking for the family I currently cook for. We are a great fit. It is truly a joy for me to go into their home every other week and cook for them. I enjoy the time I take to prepare, plan, shop, and of course, cook. The extra cash is a bonus as well :)
7. My extended family. (mom, dad, sister, brother, etc...) They have helped to shape me, teach me, guide me, and are always a welcome site when we return home for the holiday's.
8. That Christmas is coming. It's my favorite time of the year and we are going to enjoy some decorating before head to Nana's.
9. Creativity. I feel like the Lord has blessed me with a creative spirit. This comes out not only in crafts but discipline, decorating, deals, and everyday situations.
   
10. My relationship with the Lord. I am learning about what it means to serve God and be in a relationship as the daughter of the one true God. I know that without Him all the above would not be possible. All thanks and glory be to God.

Happy Thanksgiving week! Enjoy your families, friends, and the spirit of the season.

Go pizza guy!

It's time to set out the Christmas decor. I know Thanksgiving hasn't even arrived, but we leave for a couple days and I want to come back to a house with a few Christmas trimmings.

Tonight we broke out the girls nativity set. While putting it together we were listening to a Christmas hymn. (I cannot remember the name of this song right now, but I know I know it). The chorus is, "Glory to God, Glory to God, Glory to God in the highest".

Eloise was singing softly to herself and I thought she had picked up on the words. I asked her what she thought the song was saying. She replied, "Go pizza guy, go pizza guy, go pizza guy in the highest". I can see how she might have been confused.

Favorite Link Friday

The tradition has been started. It's Friday and it's time to have a lookey-loo around the internet. Here's my favorite's of the week.

**My friend Jodi made these and she says they weren't too time consuming. What a fun project with kids?

**I am loving these clothes. I have yet to purchase them b/c I'm a little too scared to buy clothes online, but there are a few coats that I think would make a great addition to the winter wardrobe.

**10 most popular casseroles. I have never had any of these, but I've heard those Southerner's like their casseroles - and I mean no disrespect.

**If you are taking your family Christmas photo, here are some good tips.

**Activity ideas. I'm looking forward to doing the pudding paint soon. Eloise picked out Pistachio.

**Great Thanksgiving Activity that would be pretty easy to put together and incorporate a trip to the park. I think I might look for a place that has leaves pre-cut.

Enjoy!

the mermaid...finally!!

Eloise has been BEGGING me to make her into a mermaid. Literally falling on the floor begging me.

Sometime around Halloween she saw someone in a mermaid costume. A few weeks later after we had arrived home from errands she took off all her clothes and said, "mama, make me into a mermaid". Dumbfounded, I told her I couldn't but I would search for a costume. To which her response has been to ask everyday if we can go to Target and find a mermaid costume.

The unfortunate part is that it was the week after Halloween and all the costumes had been picked over. The only ones left were the regular priced costumes at $20. I'm not spending $20 for an obsession that may go away in 3 days.

Three days came and went and the obsession still lives. I mustered up some creativity and headed to the fabric store. I was determined to make a mermaid skirt.

After several hours, patterns, stuck fingers, a very small sewing machine, and several, "when can I be a mermaid?" questions later, I have arrived with a mermaid.

Here are the things I know about this mermaid:

• There's a very good chance it will fall apart after 5 or so wears
• It was intended to be a skirt, but it is now a dress
• It is not nearly as cute and crafty as Cutzi's costumes for Halloween
  
• She will not be wearing this out of the house b/c she looks a little sketchy and see-thru
  
• She is one happy 3 yr old that can finally become a mermaid and now the question is, "When can I go swim at Mrs. Davis's pool?"

Introducing our sweet little mermaid (with mermaid puppet)

If she ever comes to me and either tells me I don't love her or that I never do anything for her, I will cite this. I get huge parenting points for this one.

Our new favorite outing

Costco!

Who knew Costco had it all for kids. Samples, carts that sit kids side-by-side, and lots of bright twinkling Christmas decorations. It's fabulous!

The best part...I only walked out with a yogurt and a Diet Coke. No $100 bill for 5 things in my cart. No over-sized box of trash bags (although this will be coming soon), no Odwalla Superfood (my favorite), and no secret little treats like hummus and pita chips. I sauntered past all the other over-sized, filled-to-the-brim carts in the check out line with nothing but two little girls dressed in leotard's and tu-tu's.

Thank you Costco.

Favorite Link Friday

Welcome to the first Favorite Link Friday. I'm always e-mailing my friend's link's throughout the week, so why not post it for all to see. Here are my favorite links of the week. Enjoy!

**Easy-peesy pumpkin cake. These would be great as muffins. The frosting looks delicious.

**I absolutely LOVE this idea. I would give anything for someone to whip this up at my house.

**My friend Katie and I have been praying together every Monday evening. She is 30 and single. I appreciated this article so much. I don't much label or lump single adults together, but I don't think I'm always that attentive.

**Crafty Idea of the week: being Thankful

**Isn't this the cutest little website you've ever seen? And what a great name, Shabby Apple.

**Um, yes. I was thinking the same thing yesterday.

If you have a favorite of the week, please share. It's always fun to get ideas online.

Advent

I'm attempting to make my own Advent calendar this year. Pottery barn has been a big inspiration with these two options. With that said, I thought I had the perfect plan until I came across this.
Isn't that the sweetest looking advent calendar ever? I'm fairly certain it would cost more to buy cute little baby socks rather than the felt I got for free from my mom, but nonetheless, it's adorable. I'm resisting the urge to run to Old Navy by searching online for other cute homemade ideas.

Conspiracy Theory

For two weeks I've been complaining to Dave that there is something wrong with our coffee. I made a switch to Dunkin' Donuts b/c I kept hearing how great it was. For the record, not my favorite. I'll stick with Starbucks.

After this coffee switch I was feeling exhausted. I was certain they had switched Regular with Decaf. There had to be a mistake here. I was dragging all day long and I had headaches. You would think that this would tell someone they have a problem with their dependency on coffee, but I wasn't going to go down without a fight. I love my coffee.

What did I do? Drank more coffee, tried other brands, and took naps. Nothing worked.

Last Wednesday I was at a friend's house and I was so tired I couldn't even think. I had a horrible migraine and I could barely drive. This was much more than coffee.

Conversation when I arrived home:
me: I'm so tired. I just don't know what's going on.
Dave: Maybe you're pregnant
me: I'm not pregnant

1/2 hour later:
me: this is weird, I'm calling Ellie (my midwife)
Dave: maybe you're pregnant
me: I'm not pregnant

After phone call with Ellie:
me: My Iron is low. Makes complete sense. I've been tired, had headaches, and exhausted. This is the way I felt during both my pregnancies and post birth.
Dave: So you're pregnant
me: I'M NOT PREGNANT!!! MY IRON IS LOW!!!

I'm really not pregnant and I feel 100 times better now that I'm taking my iron pills.
Apparently Dave is ready for a 3rd baby.

favorite quote of the week

Dave was resting on the couch. Eloise crawled up, gave him a hug and said, "Oh. I need to get some snuggles from my little boy".

Deals gone bad

Frugal was a motto my mother lived by. We only shopped sales and she always spent cash for everything. That all changed when she got a Macy's credit card to get better deals on the sales when she used her card. Don't worry, they still pay it off every month and despite her Macy's credit love, she is still motivated by a good sale.

I inherited this frugal gene. And now I've taken it to a whole new level. Couponing and Walgreen deals. You should know that I was forced into it by these two ladies. They came over, forced me to cut coupons and took me to Walgreen's. There my eyes were opened. I could get household goods for FREE!

Despite the success, there has been a HUGE failure. Maybe failure isn't the word. Screwed might be more appropriate, albeit slightly offensive. None the less, it describes perfectly my deal breaking event.

Dreams of catalina's** danced in my head. I would have load's to spend at Fred Meyer. The family and I spent a Saturday afternoon running to 5 different Fred Meyer's purchasing horrible smelling Glade Plug-In warmers. The girls were following Dave looking for the "Glibulmumble" at every Fred Meyer. They tip-toed, rode in 'beep-beep' cars and helped me accumulate my many Catalina's. It was a family day to remember.

With a few coupons left in my wallet I anticipated the final loot I would take home. There at Fred Meyer they had 10 Glade Plug-In's left. I had hit the mother-load.

My confident coupon hands loaded up the cart and checked out. After the cashier took some of my Catalina's to pay for these horrific, repulsive, money making trinkets, one Catalina printed. ONE! What? There was supposed to be 10! My heart started to beat, my palms got sweaty and my kids started melting down. What? My money, my family Saturday, my extra groceries. I couldn't think, I had to get out of there. Where was Angela? Was there a way? Could those Catalina's possibly grace my hands again. No. I had been utterly screwed.

You see, Glade, being the smart company that they are, caught onto our money making scheme (scheme is not a good word, nothing here was illegal or wrong, we just figured out a way to make money off their product). They had revised the deal to print only ONE Catalina. Had I gone home to read my blogs I would have noted this.

My pride is a lot bruised. I just don't know if I can clip another coupon. These ladies here may have some inspiration for me. They've just started this new site to help ladies like me. I'm hoping I can find a flicker of hope there to jump back on the horse and start saving some more money.

**Edit: The short of it. I used Catalina's (a coupon off towards your next purchase) to purchase the 'motherload'. I lost the ones I had built up AND the ones I thought would generate out of the last purchase. So I would have had a total of $48! I came away with $8.

the look

The girls and I were at Target (of course) today. I was picking up a few items for a woman who just had a baby at our church. In the baby section there were discounted blankets. I have this weird obsession about getting Lily hooked on another blanket. Her current 'love' is a nasty green blanket I got out of a formula backpack from my pediatrician. The blankets were almost the same weight and only $2.75. I can handle fueling my freakish blanket anxiety for $2.75.

I gave Lily the blanket and she immediately got the 'death grip'--the one where you have pry the item out of their hands bringing forth an instant rage of angry emotion. Those are fun.

We were standing in the checkout line and it was time to put Lily's blanket on the belt. I was thinking more rational about my blanket anxiety and figured it was okay that she keep the nasty green blanket. My plan was to give the blanket to the cashier.

The death grip began. At this point I caved. We were going home with the blanket, but how was I to get it to the cashier without the rage beginning? It didn't matter at this point, the rage had started and was about to hit top volume.

At that same moment a woman walked by me with her oh-so-patient 1 yr old sitting in the cart. I got the 'look'. You know, the 'look'. It says, "Why can't you control your child?"

She didn't. Yes, she did!

I'm sorry my child is upset about a blanket and affecting your peaceful trip to Target. Just wait, you'll have a day when your kid acts like this too.

I followed her out to her car which happened to be next to mine. Then I followed her out of the parking lot. Should the girls and I follow her home and throw dirty diapers on her lawn? No, I'm too non-confrontational for that.

Who does she think she is in her cute outfit and with her obedient child? So I've got my sweats on and my hair isn't done. You've got a brand new Jetta, well I've got the mini. Minivan that is and it ROCKS!

I may not have perfectly obedient kids all the time but I think their pretty compliant most of the time. So the next time you want to give the look, think twice, you never know the day, situation, child, or extra circumstances in that moms life. I can handle old ladies giving me the look, but fellow moms? Come on now.