Christmas festivities 2011

 Merry Christmas!  This year, we flew to Kansas City so Doug could  go pheasant hunting with his dad,  we could attend the Putthoff family Christmas (last time we went Mary was 6 months old), to be Godparents and witnesses to our beautiful niece's baptism, and of course, to celebrate Christmas.    There was lots of food, lots of laughter and lots of family.    I learned that you can tell a 4 yr old and a 2 yr old that they can open 2 presents on Christmas morning and then they have to wait patiently the rest of the day until their cousins come to open the rest...and they do.   I learned that kids can make friends in a heartbeat, simply by playing.  I'm envious.  I learned that family is what's important.  Not money, not "things", but the love and craziness of family.

We had an amazingly relaxing Christmas...at least until 4:30-ish when the Shultes arrived.  I thought it was amusing to look around and see Brian and Doug on the computer, Carrie and baby Willa napping, Dad and I on our phones...and this was just the living room.  Upstairs, both Mary and Adam were napping in our bed and Mom was, well, in the sewing room, either handwriting individual Christmas cards or watching t.v. or checking the computer.     

Baby Willa got her Christmas bath and Godmother, Kendra just had to get a picture.  Not to shabby for the phone camera.  That is one beautiful little girl.

After nap, we took the kids to the playground at the elementary school near the house.  It was a beautiful day to kick a ball.

Merry Christmas!  

Kinda funny that Doug's the only one looking (and smiling) at the camera.  

The Putthoff Christmas 2011

One of the nice things about being in KC for Christmas is that we were able to attend the Putthoff family Christmas in Appleton City yesterday.  It was great to see so many relatives in one place.

Mary was so excited about her cousins Carli and Gus.  The two girls immediately started on an activity book.  I overheard Mary saying," Carli, you're so smart.  It's because you go to school everyday, right?"

 There was snacking.  (Doug with Aunt Jane)

 And talking...  (Bev, Natalie, Laura and Rita)

We saw ducks...in the back of a truck? 

 And more ducks,

and ducking under tables.

 Of course, there were presents and some super excited little kids.

 And there was just some good 'ole socializing.

 Joy-  Playing with a slimy goop that makes a "flatulence" sound.  

 Happy kids with their Papa.

 I love that they get along so well...at least at this age.

Mary had a great time running around with cousins Drew and Nate before we left.  When we got in the car, Mary said, "I really liked playing with them.  It makes it so much easier when they speak the same language.  It's hard to understand people when they don't speak your language."  How true.

 And finally, you know it was a successful day when Mary falls asleep in the car on the way home and Adam falls asleep on the floor in the hallway.

A day packed with excitement!

I can't believe my baby is 2 years old already.  It seems like just yesterday I was waddling around the neighborhood telling him his lease was up and it was time to greet the world.  That night, he decided to listen and came charging out and hasn't quit moving since.  Doug's out of town and so we decided we'll have a small family party with cake on Sunday, but since today is his actual birth day, I couldn't ignore it.  The kids and I had a great day.  Too bad Doug missed it, but to be honest, I don't know if he would have had the energy to keep up with us.  ;)

The day started off with a breakfast smiley face of sausage and french toast and LOTS of syrup.  YUM!

We then headed to the Children's Museum and let Adam pick where he wanted to explore.  Is it any surprise that we spent the majority of our time in the train section?  Mary was extremely patient even though she wanted to go to other areas.  

 We did have a fun time in the bubble room.  Mary's getting really good pulling the rope at just the right speed to be enclosed in a bubble.

 Adam liked it, but would always try to touch it and of course, it would pop.

 After a quick lunch and NO nap for either of them (Mary said they were just too excited about Adam's birthday), we headed to Chuck E. Cheese for some good ole fun and games...

 ...and can't forget the pizza!

 We walked away with some super cheap toys and some extremely happy children (and mommy, since I didn't have to cook).  Since today needed to be extra special and we didn't have a cake, we made a quick stop at the local DQ for a mini Blizzard.  It was so good, I couldn't get a non-blurry shot.  Oh well, you can tell he loved it.

 And just because I didn't want the wonderful day to end (and I wanted to make sure they'll go to bed early and fast), we stopped at the house down the street that actually has a sign:  Please park your car and walk through.  So we did.  It was amazing.  They even had Christmas music playing through speakers.  We were the only ones there at first, so I just let the kids run.  By the way, this is Doug's dream home.  It has a 2 car attached garage and a 3 car detached garage.  I swear the garages look bigger than the house...but the house is quite impressive too.  I guess when you have that much money, you need something to spend it on.  

 Mary said this is the only picture I'm going to get of her and Santa this year.  She's flat out told me she will not sit in his lap.  Thankfully, she wasn't scared of a doll.

Happy Birthday, Adam! You bring so much joy to our family.  We love you!

Ornament Art

When we first got married, we had no Christmas ornaments.  We spent the first few years collecting new and fun ornaments from places we travelled and lived.  For some reason, a large majority of those are breakable and once you have kids, you realize just how impractical that really is (at least when they're this young). Adam thinks every ball is meant to be thrown and Mary likes to touch and play with every single one.  I swear, I pick up and replace at least 4 of them a day.  Having a "Charlie Brown" tree is bad enough.  Having one with just a handful of ornaments is even worse.  This year, I decided that the kids and I would make some Gingerbread ornaments.  I originally thought making popcorn garland would be fun, but then I had visions of walking into the living room and finding Adam eating off the tree.  I got onto my new favorite website pinterest.com and looked up gingerbread ornaments (yes, I've never made them before).  Did you know that most of the recipes called for real gingerbread cookies?  Umm, how do you keep your kids from eating them off the tree?  Do they really last from year to year?  Once I again, I had nightmares of Adam eating them, but they would be stale and moldy and I kept picturing the emergency room visit and the projectile vomiting...not sure if it came from him or me.  Anyway, I finally found a salt dough recipe that couldn't have been easier.

1/2 cup salt

1/2 cup warm water

1 cup flour 

Of course, the wonderful "gingerbread" smell wouldn't be in this, so I added a bunch of cinnamon and a couple dashes of nutmeg.  I even used extra cinnamon sprinkled on the counter to keep the dough from sticking.  Perfect!

Mary had a great time helping me roll out and cut festive shapes.  Adam thought we were making real cookies and couldn't wait to try it.  Bless his heart (one of my favorite southern phrases), he spit it out quite quickly once he realized it tasted like salt.

Make sure you poke a hole in them before cooking them.  I used a toothpick.  Bake at 250 degrees for 2 hours, or until hard.  They don't expand, so you can actually fit more on the cookie sheet if you want.

They ended up having a cool pale brown, speckly color (and they smell wonderful), but I thought it would be even better if they were painted.  I still have lots of paint leftover from the alphabet project.

And if you're wondering what to do with the leftover dough, I rolled it up and had Mary make a hand print.  Darn, it turned out so well, I think I need to make another batch so Adam can do one too.  :)  They're really light as a feather, hard as a rock and salty as...well, salt dough.  I can't wait to string them up and get them on the tree.  This recipe made 27 small ornaments a one handprint.  And yes, I did catch Adam trying to eat one earlier...he was unsuccessful.  Whew!  

Don't be surprised if you find one of these attached to your Christmas present this year.

 When Mama's feeling sick, we first do this:

Then we do this:

 Then this:

 And finally, this:

And, yes, Mama feels a little better.

The Shelfless Elf

We don't have The Elf on the Shelf.  I'm not 100% sure what it is, but I've read reviews online.  We can wait another year or two before jumping on that bandwagon.  However, Mary's been exceptionally good this past week with Adam getting croup while on vacation and having her beach/swim time cut short.  We also had a brief period of potty accidents which was totally out of character for her and I'm happy to announce that we've been pee free for a few weeks.  Yea!  Last night, Mary mentioned to Doug that she would like some Christmas pajamas.  Adam has 4 or 5 pair and she has none.  Today, one of Santa's elves brought Mary a special treat.  The cards go in order from left to right.  The first one was found stuck to her back.  Wow!  That elf was sneaky.  This is what it said:

The Elf has come to leave you a treat.

You've been a great big sister and he thinks that's neat.

But just leaving you a gift is much too lame.

So in order to get it, you must play a game.

Where do you wash your hands?

Upstairs, downstairs...look for the next clue, if you can!

 Mary immediately ran upstairs to her bathroom and found the second card taped to her sink.  This is what it said:

You've found this clue!

Good for you!

If you want another card of black,

Go check the place where you go for a snack.

This one was found on the inside of the pantry door.  That sneaky Elf.  ;)

The final card said:

This is your last and final clue.

Go to the room Grammy and Grandpa stayed and there you will find a special treat just for YOU!

Sometimes I think she has more fun opening the presents.  She was so excited to find a present with her name on it laying on the bed in the guest room.  What do you know!  The Elf brought her a new pair of fuzzy, cuddly snowman Christmas pajamas!  That was one happy girl!

CRAFTY!

My BIG (in more ways than just size) art project for the kids playroom is finally complete.  They have a big blank wall I didn't know what to do with or how to decorate.  I chose not to paint the room, since 1) it's really big and 2) I had no idea what color to paint it.  Besides, I'm envisioning my little angels "accidentally" writing on the walls with markers, crayons, paint, etc sometime while we're living here.  Maybe one day, I'll get bored and decided to paint it.  For now, it's #86 on the "to-do list".  So, back to the blank wall.  I was looking on Etsy.com and came across this incredible wooden alphabet.  I fell in love.  This is so cool and perfect for the wall.  Then, I looked at the price- $175 for unpainted letters ($225 painted), $24.95 for shipping and 8-9 weeks before it would even be shipped!

It's cool, but not that cool.  We have a Michaels Arts and Crafts store down the street from us and they always have great coupons in the newspaper.  I looked there and found 9" wooden letters (the largest they have).  I originally wanted to try to recreate the same Etsy look for less, but due to the size selection of the other letters at Michaels, I thought it wouldn't work.  I decided to just do the whole alphabet in 9" and paint them all different colors.  I had a 40% off 1 full priced item coupon.  Being the thrifty lady that I am, I decided I could go buy each letter one coupon at a time.  Each time I purchased a letter, I received another coupon for the following week.  A coupon from the paper, a coupon with my receipt and getting on the e-mail listings added another coupon per week.  Before I knew it, I had enough for each day of the week!  Saving money was actually quite fun and challenging.  Painting them was really relaxing and one of the things I looked forward to each day.  Instead of just hanging them on the wall, I decided to create outlines like the kids use at school for learning to write.  A 2 roll pack of black electrical tape from the dollar store helped bring it to life.  Doug said my lines are crooked.  They are.  Maybe one day when I've finished all 85 items on our to-do list and I've #86 painted the room, I'll take down the tape and actually measure it out and paint some nice straight lines.  But for now, I smile every time I walk into the playroom and see Adam pointing at a letter and yelling it out to me.

The Breakdown:
THE ETSY PROJECT
$175 unpainted, $225 painted
$24.95 shipping
8-9 weeks before shipping, @ 1 week through the postal service, so we'll say 10 weeks to get the finished (or mostly finished) project.
Total=$199.95 /$249.95
THE KENDRA PROJECT
$10.70 for a paint set that included 36 different colors.
$63.45 for all the letters
$47.69 total savings with a random assortment of 40% and 50% off coupons.  I didn't pay full price for a single item!
$1 for the tape
6weeks 5 days from start to finish.
Total=$75.15
**I waited 3 weeks for my final letter- X.  Our Michaels had no idea when they would receive a new shipment.  On our trip to South Carolina for Thanksgiving, I happened to spy a Michaels.  On my birthday, no less, I not only found my letter X, but a fellow customer gave me a 50% off coupon she couldn't use and since it was a competitors coupon, Michaels increased the percentage 10%!  I walked away with my final letter and my cheapest letter.  Happy birthday to me.  Hmm, now what's the next project?

Back To Reality

Well, vacation time is coming to an end. Tomorrow we pack up and make the 5-6 hr drive home. It was a great trip aside from Adam getting croup and our emergency room visit Thanksgiving day. It was great getting to see so many friends and family and a really special treat for the kids to see both sets of grandparents at the same time.

I Spy With my 2 Little Eyes...

We are having a great time relaxing at the beach and enjoying the view.

Taking pictures is what I do.

We explored and played and swam, no lie.

This is what I saw with my 2 little eyes...

We saw these gorgeous clouds and sunset our first night.

Adam saw the ocean from the balcony

We saw Papa and Mary time...

 

 and Adam and Daddy time.

 We saw how the ocean can relax a person.

 We saw ourselves through the eyes of a 4 yr old.  (I think we look pretty darn good).

 We saw Carrie and Brian take Willa on her first beach trip.  (And Carrie tossing her shoe to Brian.)

We saw (and laughed) at people pushing (trying to push) strollers on the beach.

We saw Brian give in to temptation and run "Baywatch Style" into the water.

And we saw another beautiful sunset.  Ahh, this is vacation.

 * The day wasn't as perfect as it looked, due to Adam cutting his 2 yr molars and running a fever.  He just wasn't his normal hyper self, but the positive side was that he was cuddly.