We’ve been enjoying the holidays with Jay’s annual corporate party, soccer playoffs, shopping, wrapping and getting little goodies packaged up for those important people that bless our lives during the year.
Over the weekend the kids helped me get their classroom treats labeled, washi taped, stuffed and stapled. I stalked the Bath & Body Works after holiday store clearance in early-mid January and picked up enough pocket hand sanitizers…..ahem, Santa-tizers…..for both their classes. They were 75% off and came up to 44¢ a piece. That is a super small price to pay to help do my part in the germ-y hands department. 😉
I grabbed the little favor bags at Target over the summer for 70% off and the washi tape is from Dollar Tree. I just printed off a little message on a clear Avery address label, added a mini candy cane and DONE!
I will most definitely be visiting B&BW in the new year for next years’ supply.
Can’t go wrong for under 60¢ per classmate!
*****
I hope you’re decking the halls, setting up nativity scenes, sipping peppermint hot cocoa, ice skating under the stars & white twinkly lights, getting frustrated when your kids waste all the Scotch tape and there isn’t any to be found when you need it {just me?}, cruising the streets to see the Christmas lights and just enjoying sitting on your couch staring at your tree!
I don’t know about you, but the minute I drop the 120+ Christmas cards into the big blue mailbox at the post office drive-thru I can breathe a sigh of relief. I like to get them out fairly early so they aren’t hanging over my head too far into the season. But, getting them out early means that you have to have your picture and your card in the works before Thanksgiving! We usually just include the kids in our Christmas card photos because honestly, who wants to see a couple of tired, 40-something parents?!?
This year, on Thanksgiving weekend, we headed to nearby Mentryville on a Sunday afternoon and Jay snapped a few pics. I was, of course, determined to get “THE picture” that day so I could get on with the Christmas cards. I had already scoured Shutterfly, Costco, Walgreens, you-name-it for a template that I liked. I found one on the Target site that I loved which coordinated with the paper that I chose for our annual letter. Score!
For me, coordinating the kids’ outfits is the hardest thing about photos. Do we want formal or casual? Plaid or stripes? Traditional red & green? As I was wandering through Target one day {not unusual, of course} I noticed that the Levi’s dENiZEN jeans that fit Holden so well were temporarily marked 40% off. I immediately grabbed the camo pair that I had been eyeing for full price in the last size 6 and knew that I was going to work these into the holiday photo somehow. Then minutes later I visited the girls’ clothing section and found this lonely camo shirt {from the Disney D-Signed line} hanging on the clearance rack for 50% off ~ about 10 bucks. Done.
I knew Elliott would wear her favorite Old Navy skinnies, but now I was on the lookout for a top for Holden. I quickly ducked into Crazy 8 on Black Friday and found a green and blue checkered plaid button up and fun graphic tee for Holden {both for under $10!!} Done. I like to layer the short sleeved tee on top of the button up…the saleslady looked at me funny when I told her that’s what I was going to do, but I think it looks darling….er, cool.
He needed some shoes so I popped into Children’s Place and found the little brown boots that I thought would be good church shoes since he always seems to wear either his beat up tennies or flip flops to mass. Black Friday deal on the boots ~ $9 and change! Done.
I didn’t order enough of the above card and Jay needed extras for his co-workers so I reordered 25 more cards with this simple chalkboard design…
That’s our Christmas card story for Twenty Thirteen.
Until next year….
*****
We hope your holidays are merry & bright and filled with family, friends, laughter and good cheer!
Many blessings to you and yours in 2014 and always.
Daily I find myself penciling things into my planner from now until the end of he year…yes, I am old skool and still write stuff down on a calendar!
With each reminder, time and date that I enter, I become more and more aware of how fast the holidays come and go. Each year I try to do better at being more organized and less stressed.
Unfortunately they only had two and unfortunately they’re only sold online, but I snatched them up and thought I could fill them with homemade infused vodka for Christmas.
I love the festive color. Going to pour it into these decanters & mason jars and pair it with a nice hot cocoa mix for a couple friends and neighbors to help with burning the holiday midnight oil.
Also going to add a recipe for this holiday martini…
Candy Cane Snowtini
{via}
Substitute “parts” for “ounces,” and this will make 1 cocktail.
2 parts Candy Cane Vodka
1 part simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water, boiled until sugar dissolves)
1/2 part heavy cream
ice
mini candy cane to hang off the rim of your martini glass
In a cocktail shaker filled with ice (or leak-proof water bottle, if you’re resourceful like me), mix Candy Cane Vodka, simple syrup and cream together. Shake vigorously for about 30 seconds.
*****
I tell you, after Halloween it’s all downhill to December 31st.
Well, we’re already over half way into January and Twenty 13 has been great so far! I usually have a little bit of a hard time after the holidays and January, February and March are not my most favorite months. No offense if your birthday falls in these months…Holden’s birthday happens to be late February and I wouldn’t have it any other way, of course.
But if you really think about it, February has the Superbowl, Valentine’s Day and my little guys birthday, so there is lots to look forward to and we most certainly need January to prepare!
I always LOVE hitting the after Christmas sales at Target and everywhere for that matter. In the past I have overbought stuff just because it’s cheap and this year I really tried to reign in and be really particular with the goodies that I picked up. I am cheap and waited until the 90% off sign went up at Target ~ yes, things are picked over, but that makes it easier because it’s already been narrowed down for me! I picked up some sparkly pink and aqua tissue paper that I can certainly use for birthdays throughout the year for cents and found some adorable stuffed ornaments that aren’t Christmas-y at all that I can tie on packages year round ~ my new addiction!
{little Matryoshka from World Market ~ 50 cents}
{scooter from Target ~ 39 cents}
I am obsessed with cheap brown shipping/packaging paper & grosgrain ribbon {both from Dollar Tree} wrapping with a little attachment and the receiver’s name using my new alphabet stamps, a gift from my mama for Christmas.
*****
I popped into World Market on Wednesday and all their holiday stuff was 90% off. Yes, there wasn’t much of it, but that was good because there wasn’t much for me to buy! Ha!
I could NOT pass up these little felt hedge hog baskets for Holden’s animal/safari party…
{World Market ~ 80 cents}
I also spotted this woodland creature paper that I plan on using as a backdrop for a little photo booth at Elliott’s “Glamping Sleepover” for her 8th birthday in May…
{World Market ~ 50 cents}
*****
Then, on Wednesday afternoon while Elliott was at Religious Ed class, Holden and I went to Rite Aid for some dish soap. Of course, I had to survey the after Christmas pile and found some cute shoelaces with the stocking stuffers marked down 75%…
{Rite Aid ~ 25 cents a pair}
They had 5 pairs that were non-Christmas ~ hearts, stars and rainbow zebra print. Initially I grabbed those for a few of her friends as Valentine’s Day treats. They had several Christmas pairs, too, that I ended up going back for and will use later this year for their friends {the Christmas ones had more options for boys, too}. Sure I’ve seen these fun shoelaces at the dollar stores, but if I can get 4 times the amount for the same price, I’m on it!
I was on Pinterest scoping out non-candy Valentine’s treats and there are TONS of cute ones so I will have to come up with something for the whole class, but I thought the laces were too cute for her to hand out to a few of her “besties”.
*****
So, with that, I will say that the year has started out well and I am not wallowing in the sadness of the post-Christmas crash as I usually do.
But all this creativity has certainly gotten in the way of me being more active and that’s not OK. I got in about 3 miles yesterday and plan to get out this weekend and log some more miles before the month is over.
Well, the last of our December weekend commitments have taken place and now I need to focus on baking, wrapping, delivering and enjoying.
Elliott had her Winter dance recital yesterday afternoon and we went to see The Nutcracker last night. This was our second year attending and I can tell that it would be something that I’d be so sad to miss each year. I love starting new traditions….thanks again Gramma for starting this special holiday habit!
{post recital}
Elliott did a jazz/hip hop number to a spunky Jingle Bells tune. Gramma and I were the backstage mamas for the show and had 20 6-9 year olds to account for. Fortunately they are a little more self sufficient than the 4-6 year olds we attended to last year! Our girls danced 22nd so there was a lot of waiting around before they hit the stage. They did so well, though, and Elliott already has her trophy sitting proudly up on her desk surrounded by the others.
{just a walkway was between us and the stage!}
Yesterday was Elliott’s special day and this morning we got to see Holden and his fellow 5 year old Sunday School friends sing “Soon and Very Soon” this morning at the end of mass. So precious….
He presented us with a special ornament for the tree after class. We were thrilled to have his sweet shepherd face on our ornament this year since last year there was a mix up with the packages and we got some other little boy’s ornament and were never able to get our hands on his.
{these are the ornaments that I will cherish forever}
After church we went to take this boy to get a haircut! It had been six months since his mop had seen scissors…
Just in time for Santa’s visit in about a week.
I have been looking forward to baking this week, but it’s a short week as far as school is concerned as the kids’ last day is Wednesday! There are two class parties, one Religious Ed party, teacher gifts and school staff gifts I need to get ready so I decided to get a start on the baked goods this afternoon. I pinned these Oreo lumps of coal and whipped up a batch this afternoon. Easiest things ever….I will definitely be making another batch with some peppermint Jo Jo’s from Trader Joe’s tomorrow! I bagged up about 5 pieces per person which I think is plenty to go along with the peppermint sugar cookie bars I plan to make tomorrow.
{one package Oreos, 5 cups mini marshmallows, 4 tbsp. butter…process the whole package of Oreos into a fine powder. melt the butter and marshmallows in a sauce pan until blended. mix the marshmallow mixture into the Oreo mixture and spread into an 8X8 dish lined with parchment and sprayed with Pam. let sit for 10-20 minutes before cutting}
It’s also Gaudete Sunday ~ the third Sunday of advent…
{rejoice!}
While our three candles were burning bright, I tried another Pinterest recipe, Lasagna Soup. The weather cooperated and it was the perfect night for this soup…
{stir the ricotta/parmesan mixture and basil into the soup for out-of-this-world flavor!}
I will definitely be making this again for Christmas Eve with some crusty bread on the side for dipping.
*****
I hope that you had a beautiful weekend doing all things holiday. I definitely stared at Elliott and Holden a lot and thanked God for giving them to us and bringing them home safely each day.
Prayers for Newtown and our broken world going up again tonight…..
I hated taking down the stockings from the fireplace after Christmas.
While I was out scouring the sales on holiday goodness, I thought about finding some red {or pink. or white.} stockings and transforming them into Valentine’s Day stockings.
I picked up a sparkly “E” ornament at Kohl’s and an equally, if not more sparkly, “H” pin at Target since I knew I wanted to include the kiddos’ initials.
While picking up some more paint chips at Home Depot, I spotted these felt stockings for 2 bucks a piece. I LOVED the scalloped detail on them, but needed the embroidered snowflakes to melt away. Enter Joann’s and a few Valentiney quarter yards of fabric and the flakes disappeared!
I adore the way they turned out…
Several red & pink hued paint chips and some twine and you have your V-day bunting…
I wasn’t very good with advent over the holidays so it’s my goal to make up for it and have a little something special tucked in these stockings from February 1st to the 14th ~ I also wanted to find a little Valentine Fairy of sorts and have her move around the house like our Elf on the Shelf, Ferb. They have been asking about him lately…..
Checking {the big P} for some ideas for fun classmate goodies.
*****
Having a couple stockings and a wreath still gracing our mantel makes the absence of the holidays a little sweeter!
{Thank you to the random woman in Toon Town that offered to take our picture for this here Christmas card!}
*****
Santa has come and gone.
Gifts have been wrapped and unwrapped.
Elliott has been face timing me all afternoon on her new iPod Touch.
Holden has mastered his Batman Lego Wii game.
Turkey is out of the brine and on the Weber.
Side dishes are prepped and ready to go in the oven.
Paula Deen’s old fashioned sweet potato pie is cooling on the counter.
It’s sunny and 70* here today ~ the kids both dressed themselves in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt.
Another typical, yet oh so special, Christmas Day.
I am already {sad} that the season is coming to a close…looking forward to 2012, though, and all that it has to offer.
Twelve months to mold into whatever we want them to be.
There will be busy days and lazy days, laughter and tears, ups and downs, meeting new friends and spending time with the {old} ones, trying to remember to live each day to the fullest and with conviction & purpose.
THANK YOU to all who come here daily, weekly or monthly and flop around with me. I truly appreciate each and every one of you!
It’s been 5 days since I’ve posted! Every day I plan on sitting down and doing so, but it just hasn’t happened.
My days have been filled with the following…
driving around to four stores looking for gingerbread syrup for some martinis…then it dawned on me that I could have just walked into Starbucks and possibly begged them to buy a {tall} gingerbread syrup. Then I visited every CVS in town tracking down some calendars. I tell you, once I get something in my head, there’s no stopping me.
making more of these with Caramel Kisses {delicious, but don’t press the m&m down too hard or you will have oozing caramel which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just not as tidy for packaging them up nice and neat} and the Hugs {milk chocolate inside white chocolate with stripes ~ those turned out super cute! {you can see the salted caramel ones to the right ——-> under my Instagrams}
Our little ballerina partook in her fourth recital and Gramma and I had the {pleasure} of working backstage. Keeping track of a dozen tutu’d 4-6 year olds is no joke. This paranoid mom was doing a head count every 10 seconds when I wasn’t filling cups with goldfish or providing water refills, that is. I {think} I may prefer sitting in the audience cheering on my girl rather than stressing backstage and applying lipstick touch ups at the last minute, but she’d been wanting me to be a stage mom for some time and I most certainly didn’t want to let my little lady down. Thanks again, Gramma, for being on potty duty!
Also, thank you to Gramma for starting a beautiful new holiday tradition and treating to front row seats at our local production of The Nutcracker. I was amazed at all the beautiful young dancers….my goodness. My girl decided to wear her costume straight from her recital to the ballet ~ swapping her ballet slippers for some boots and adding in one {Fancy Nancy} coat…
Holden sang a very simplified version of {Soon And Very Soon} in church on Sunday ~ You Tube to come!
I hosted a little Merry Mama gift wrapping to-do where several gals came over armed with rolls of paper, rolls of tape, bags of gifts and lots of chit chat. This was where my gingerbread martinis were supposed to make an appearance, but honestly my girls were so busy wrapping they didn’t even notice! I served the Winter White Wine sangria, artichoke dip, cranberry meatballs and Christmas pasta salad {2 packages Buitoni spinach tortellini, one box small shells, 4 small tomatoes [chopped] and a whole bottle of Bernstein’s Light Fantastic Cheese Fantastico ~ cook both pastas [separately] according to package directions, add chopped tomatoes and then stir in the bottle of dressing…can be made the night before} along with my beloved Hershey pretzel snaps and See’s molasses chips for a little sweet somethin’.
My little Pinterest find came together for treats for Elliott’s classmates:
{I picked up a bulk bag at CVS and divided them up into cello bags, but later found them prepackaged in a box of 24 at Smart And Final which is the route that I will go for Holden next year}
I also literally threw together a frame and some glitter clothespins to hold thoughtful gift cards from the kids to E’s teacher ~ one Goodwill frame, a can of black gloss Rustoleum, some twine, a glue gun, some clothespins {thanks for lookin’ out, Lisa!} and a rainbow of glitter…
These frames are also perfect for displaying Christmas cards during the holidays or birthday invitations throughout the year. Just get yourself a frame and discard the graphic and glass, spray paint it if need-be, use your glue gun to string twine across the frame every 4 inches or so by pulling it tight and securing it with hot glue onto the back of the frame. Easy. For the clothespins, just brush some Elmer’s glue onto the pin with a foam brush, sprinkle on your glitter over a bowl, shake off excess and let dry. Easy.
*****
And that is where I’ve been, friends! I’ve missed you and hope to post more regularly now that the kids are both out of school and we’ll be having some LAZY mornings days while they’re on break.
