Remember When

This one is for Christopher!!! I was wrapping presents the other night (my very least favorite part of Christmas. I HATE wrapping and I really suck at it) and used up several rolls of wrap. And it made me remember when me, my brother, and sister were young. For some insane reason my parents would leave Christopher in charge. Usually this was fine, but not at Christmas time. He saved the core from the middle of the wrapping paper and would make Shellie and I sit on the couch. If we got up or tried to move at all he would beat us with these. And let me tell you, they made these a lot sturdier way back when. When my parents returned home he would pretend that everything had been just fine and they would leave him in charge next time, too! They must not have believed Shellie and my stories. Oh well. We survived!!

Christmas Fun

It has been awhile since I last posted. We have been taking it easy. Here is what we have been up to. One night we drove around and looked at Christmas lights. Santa and Mrs. Clause were outside at one house and they were handing out candy canes to the kids.

Edible Snowflakes

We found this fun recipe in the December issue of The Friend Magazine. (For more info on the LDS church or this wonderful magazine for children click here.) You just warm a flour tortilla up in the microwave, fold it in half three times, cut with scissors, and fry it in a little vegetable oil. Then we sprinkled them with powdered sugar and sprinkles. They made a quick and yummy bedtime snack!

Baby Update

We have had so many people call to express concern for us. Here is what is happening: Thanksgiving Day was when I started having some problems. Friday morning I went to the ER. They put me on bed rest, but I didn't take it too seriously. Yesterday morning I went back to the doctor and they had me go to the hospital for another ultrasound. The baby does have a heart beat, but it is beating too slow. They said it should be beating at 100 beats per minute, and it was only at 66 beats per minute. Also, he is too small. The doctors said to pray for a miracle and that is what we are doing! I am getting lots of rest, and honestly, it is so boring sitting around doing nothing that I think I may go crazy! I have to go back to the doctor tomorrow for some more blood work and back next Tuesday for another ultrasound. We would appreciate your continued prayers in our behalf. Thank you so much for your concern, prayers, and offers to help!

Randolph the Reindeer

Every year after Thanksgiving my Mom comes up with a craft for us girls to do together. She usually does the majority of the project, too! This is what we made this year. Isn't he cute?!

Horse Cake

I made this cake for my Dad's Birthday last week. I found the idea at Family Fun's website. Gotta love Family Fun!

Letters To Santa

I saw this over at The Creative Homemaker. When you write your letters to Santa this year, take them to any Macy's store. They will deliver all letters to the North Pole, PLUS, for every letter they receive, they will donate $1 to the Make-a-Wish Foundation!

My Nativity Collection

I LOVE Nativity Sets!!!

O Christmas Tree

We set up our Christmas tree this evening. Each year I get all of us an ornament that represents something special we did that year. This year I got our ornaments in Disneyland, plus I got Keith a little wakeboarder since he got his boat this year. The kids got so excited looking at ornaments from past years. It is our special heirloom tree!

Fish in a Bag Soap

I saw these over at Little Birdie Secrets (if you haven't been over there, you gotta check 'em out!) and thought they would make cute Christmas gifts for Jaxson to give the kids in his class. It's a fun craft that little ones can help with!

WINNERS!!!

I am very excited to announce the winners of the Charity Raffles, but first I just want to say THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart, to all of you for your support. Thank you to Crystal and Mom for the items to raffle and thank you to all of you who purchased tickets and to those of you that joined the swap. I wish I could give all of you a prize. All of the proceeds will go to The Children's Cardiomyopathy Foundation. They use the donations they receive to fund research, to help raise awareness for this rare disease, support families learning to live with pediatric cardiomyopathy, and patient education. Awesome! And now the news you have all been waiting for!!

The winners are:

For the Scentsy Pack: BARB
For the Nativity: GINA

Congratulations to you both! I must also thank my handsome assistant with the never-ending support he gives me and for drawing our winners tonight!

A Day Off

Jaxson has been feeling very grumpy lately and I figured that he was acting that way because he isn't getting what he needs from me. I try to spend good, quality time with my children each day, but hey, I'm human and sometimes life gets the best of me. So I called his school today and told them he wouldn't be there. I did, however, check with the office first on the attendance policy. Apparently, they aren't too worried with how many days a kindergarten child misses. So we went to Seagull Book and found some great Christmas stories (awesome prices! if you love books go check them out), and then we went to McDonald's for a Happy Meal. Then we built towers out of Dixie Cups. This is a very cheap way to spend an afternoon! And we spent a lot of time reading stories. I must say that he has behaved better today than he has in a LONG time. We had the best day together! I guess when kids act up what they usually need most is love! I love you, Buddy!

Nativity Blocks and Scrabble Tile Pendants

These are two of the crafts we did today. The Scrabble Tiles were a huge hit. There is a great tutorial over at Make and Takes.

Christmas Crafternoon

Today was the big craft party. We had lots of fun and yummy treats!

Teacher Gifts

I made up this little card set for Jaxson to give his kindergarten teacher for Christmas. There are two each of three designs. Then I tied the whole thing up with a coordinating pen and ribbon.