Tag Archives: winter

Fabric {My "Crafty" Side}, Faith, Family, Feathered Nest, Friends, Fun

Picking Up Where We Left Off

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Well, this morning I got up and packed 2 little lunch boxes after having 3 and a half weeks off! Again, I found myself feverishly roaming the aisles of Vons and Ralphs over the weekend searching for lunch box worthy items that my kids will eat and that are not complete junk.

We made it up and to school on time in the freeezing So Cal temps and it feels good to start back into our weekly school routine. No more late to bed and late to rise. No more jammies ’til noon.

Our Winter Break was wonderful and even though it was almost a month long, it flew by. I was thumbing through my camera roll this morning while sipping my coffee and couldn’t help but smile.

Our break was full of…

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{package shipping}

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{advent candle lighting}

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{cookie baking}

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{manger viewing}

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{blessing bag delivering}

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{sno-cone slurping}

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{gallery wall hanging}

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{In-N-Out lunching}

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{fro-yo play dating}

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{Vegas date night laughing}

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{Lolo & Lola enjoying}

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{pearly white polishing}

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{prayer bead making and reconciliation preparing}

*****

Twenty-Thirteen is already proving to be a busy one…the pages on my new Much Ado About You planner already have glitter gel penned commitments into the month of May! I love having big things on the calendar to look forward to, but at the same time I like quiet, family weekends where we work around the house and go on outings to Hollywood, LA or Santa Monica.

Right now I’m enjoying preparing for Holden’s 6th birthday party. How can it be? I recall printing the invites and gathering goodies for his 1st birthday celebration like it was yesterday……

Here is a hint to this year’s theme {because you KNOW there is a theme, right?}…

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I’m so excited. Elliott’s 1st birthday was jungle/safari themed so I am loving coming up with similar {wild} ideas, but for an older crowd this time ~ kind of bittersweet because this is the last big party for Holden. From here on out, the birthday festivities will be much lower key and include just a few friends.

Still with a theme, of course.

Happy Monday, all!

XO

Faith, Family

Crunch Time

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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!

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{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.

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{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.

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{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…

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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.

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{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…

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{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…

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{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…..

Have a blessed week, friends!

XOXO

Family

Up On The Housetop

We were up bright and early today for Elliott’s holiday dance recital.

They have 3 shows throughout the day and why do we always get the early one at 9am?

This time I did things differently and didn’t stress…we used the foam rollers and I put them in her hair before she went to bed last night and I skipped the mascara because we already determined that 5-year olds and mascara don’t mix.

She did a tap number to “Up On The Housetop”. I won’t bore you with a gazillion and one pics, but here is a cute one of her on stage:

Last night at the dress rehearsal her teacher, Miss Sandra, told me “she’s a natural”. Awwwww….yes, I am a proud mama!

{Plus look at the precision here…she’s right on count with the leader girl! OK, done bragging!}

The whole show was DARLING. The 3-year olds are too much….I almost pee in my pants from laughter because they really are too precious ~ each one doin’ their own thing.

Jay and I agreed that our fave {aside of UOTH, of course} was the lyrical piece….Jay will admit that he loves to watch lyrical. When I am glued to So You Think You Can Dance, I always joke with him, “Here’s a lyrical routine.”

Is 40 too old to learn lyrical? Maybe that can be my goal for 2011.

Hmmmmm. That wouldn’t be pretty.

Maybe I should just stick to half marathons.

Getting back to our superstar…here she is receiving her trophy from Miss Erin:

And here she is with a special guest:

Our tiny dancer:

{Please pardon the Starbucks trash}

We’re so proud of you, Elliott!

We sure think you can dance!

XOXO