Morning of Crafts and Cookies

Yesterday morning the girls and I spent our time together making a couple Christmas crafts, and some cookies.

While the cookies were baking, we worked on making snowmen.  Or snow women, however, Hadley specifically told me hers is a snowman because she was going to dance with him. 

We made some faces on our guys.

Then we glued cotton balls on him to give him a "snowy" feel.

Some of us wanted to keep coloring.

We also made reindeer.  I took a paper towel roll and cut it in two, then cut out some of the cardboard for legs. The girls colored them so they had faces and hooves, and then we went outside to look for antlers (small sticks).
No, I absolutely did not come up with this idea on my own. 

I don't know when the day will come when the girls decide I'm the worst craftsgal ever but right now, as far as they're concerned, I'm Martha Stewart.  So I'm enjoying it while I can.

The cookies turned out to be a mild disaster.  I told the girls we were going to decorate them, but apparently decorate means "eat."  I put a platter of cookies on the table, walked away to get the frosting and sprinkles, and Harper had helped herself to three by the time I got back.

 Don't mind if I do.

I'm so happy!

Frosting?  Best. Invention. Ever.

Merry Christmas to me.

Hadley liked them, too.

One Giant Step for Callie

This is a picture taken from our car yesterday.  I drove one of Hadley's preschool classmates home from school.  This little girl and Hadley seem to be good buddies.  We hear about her a lot at home.  The other day, Hadley made her an "everything" card.  I'm not sure what that is, but we sent it to school with Hadley so she could give it to her.

The ride was pretty uneventful.  Nothing stressful or crazy or anything like that happened.  But I wanted to take a picture of it because it was a moment where I felt complete happiness that I get to be a mom.  You can see how happy the girls are in the picture, and maybe that's part of it.  The conversation on the ride home was so funny.  First, Hadley was yelling at her friend as though she was across the street.  I think since she couldn't completely turn around, Hadley figured she needed to talk really loudly so she would hear her.  Second, it was like trying to follow a ball in a pin ball game.  Hadley and her friend were talking about what shows they liked to watch.  Hadley's friend said a show called "Maggie" was her favorite.  Hadley says, "There's a Maggie at Children's Worship at my church!"  Harper wanted to get in on this too and for the duration of the ride would ask, "Do you like my Dora shoes?"

I just got to sit back and listen to it.  Maybe that's where part of the happiness came from: the fact that I wasn't the one who had to follow these trains of thought and try and contribute to a conversation that I have no clue what it's about.  I love spending time with my girls, but it can be really tiring breaking up fights, or playing a game when the rules constantly change, or constantly reminding one of them to make sure the toilet paper goes in the toilet.

But I think the other part of my happiness came from being an invisible spectator into an experience of my children's lives.  I got to see for a few minutes, what they can do without me guiding them.  I got to listen to my children's beautiful voices without concern for what comes next.

I like to make sure things are in order.  I like routines and schedules.  I probably like these things too much, but it's the way I manage my life.  There is joy for me in a well thought out plan, and where my children are involved, my need for order multiplies.  But I can't plan for moments like this, just like I can't plan for moments when the three of us take a late night trip to the ER because of a busted lip.  I don't think knowing that will make me any less passionate about being organized.  But being in the car with three little girls yesterday was a nice reminder of what grace is all about.  I don't like to sound trite or hallmark-y, but looking at this picture and thinking back on this small portion of our day together I see God's grace.  It's kind of like He tapped me on the shoulder while I was driving and said, "Hey!  HEY!  You don't have to do anything but drive right now.  And how hysterical is the stuff that's going on in the back seat?"

A Fine Birthday

So far, I'm a fan of 35.  I would "like" it if it had a Facebook page.  Sure, I've only been 35 for 22 hours, but I think me and 35 are going to get along just fine.

Over the weekend, I enjoyed several surprises.  The first was a lovely massage at the Red Door Salon.  I'm a fan of the massage.  I'm also a fan of coming home afterword, to find several brand new outfits to choose from for an evening out with my husband.  I chose something a little sparkly.

Jesse and I went here for dinner:

Two important things to know about this restaurant:  1)It's delicious. 2)The White House is just a bit to the left of this picture.

Jesse and I enjoyed the "Theatre Menu" because we went here next:

That would be the Symphony at the Kennedy Center.  It was a marvelous evening.

But that was on Saturday, and since my birthday was on a Monday, I had myself another little birthday party with the Hs. 

We made angels.

(Note that the tree gets decorated as this post continues).

Hadley was so pleased with her angel that she wanted to be an angel, too.  So I did the best with what the good Lord gave me and came up with this:

I don't know if you've ever watched The Cosby Show, but there is an episode where a soon-to-be father is talking to Heathcliff, and he's telling him how he's going to be a terrible father because he can't play sports.  Then Raven comes on (you know, Denise's daughter?) and starts shooting baskets.  She's about three and gets nowhere near the hoop.  The soon-to-be-father character shoots with her and he hits the rim.  She is so impressed.

I think of that scene every time I do something like the above angel wings and Hadley and Harper think they're fantastic.  They wore these almost all day. 

In case you didn't catch that, Hadley is saying, "Don't worry, you're baby will be born soon."  This is her version of what Gabriel says.  I think Mary would've appreciated those words as well.

The other thing we did yesterday was decorate the Christmas tree.  We got an ornament from the Kennedy Center for each of the girls.

We are all things ballerina and princess these days.

I think the tree turned out quite nice. 

We even have an angel.

It's scary, right? It's like the scariest angel ever.  Look at the bottom of it.  What happened?  Why is it all torn?  And is it even smiling?  I guess I wouldn't be either because I would be too concerned about whether I had wings or hands.  And if they're hands, why don't I have arms?  What the @$#% am I supposed to do with this body?
Anyway, this year it's been fun to go through birthdays, and holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas because the girls get really into it.  We all had a nice time over the weekend, and I was glad to celebrate with my family.

Here are two videos from yesterday as well.  They don't really have anything to do with the theme of this post, but I think they're pretty funny so I'm throwin' them in.  They are both of the girls reading Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes.  I was sneaking up on Hadley in the first one because I wasn't sure if she'd keep reading once she knew I was recording her, so that's why you don't see her at first.

And the second one is of Harper doing pretty much the same thing.

While You Were Out

Dear Jesse-

The first thing Hadley said when she woke up this morning is, "Daddy's coming home today!"  I told her that was right and that we were going to pick you up at the airport.  She wanted to know why you couldn't just land "on the blacktop."  So we had a long conversation about where planes can and cannot land. 

Your absense was noticed this week, not just by me, but by the girls as well.  Harper was quite confused when she woke up in the middle of the night, and it was me who came in to calm her back down.  She heard my voice and jerked her head up and looked at me like, "You aren't the one who usually comes in to do this.  Where's Daddy?"  And Hadley had several tips for me about how to give her and Harper correct baths. 

But we had ourselves some fun this week while you were talking hurricanes in Miami.  We did some decorating for Christmas.

Hadley is very excited about Santa Claus.  Despite our efforts to not make him into a big deal, he has stolen her heart, and she is smitten.  She is studying all the books on Santa and what he does.  She has decided we need to have milk and cookies for him.  We need a tree in the MIDDLE of the living room, and our fireplace should be easily accessible for him to enter and leave.  Hadley has also insisted we sing several rounds of "Santa Claus is coming to town" every day.  I don't understand why this song does not absolutely freak her out.  "He sees you when you're sleeping.  He knows when you're awake."  I get the willies singing it. 

We are reading the Christmas story books, too, but Hadley's comment on Jesus is this: "When does Jesus not be a baby anymore?  When is Jesus a big boy?"    I think I'll let you deal with the Jesus vs. Santa thing.  I took care of the Herod issue.

I am happy to report that there were no trips to the ER this time around.  And actually, we were all healthy for the first time, too.  Usually when you go on a trip somebody gets sick, but the only thing that needs fixing is our kitchen light.

It burned out on Wednesday, and I can't change it.  I'm a woman of many skills, Jesse, but I can't change a light bulb.  I believe it's my only flaw.

It seems winter has arrived in DC, so I thought it would be appropriate to get some winter gear for the girls. You know how we are having a problem with Harper only wanting to wear her pink shoes?  And do you remember suggesting that I take her to the shoe store and let her pick out her own shoes?  Well, here's the pair she picked out:

She also helped herself to that purse she's holding.  It wasn't pretty when I told her that I wasn't going to buy it for her.  I won't lie.

Mostly we stayed in for dinner, but by Thursday I was tired, so we went to Panera and had grilled cheese and yogurt for dinner.  Very well rounded.

I think it's clear from the pictures we had a good time and did all right for ourselves.  However, as you can see from the next pictures, nothing is as good as having you home.

P.S. GIVEAWAY WINNER is Rachel!  Thank you for all who left a comment!  I know I said that I was going to pick who the winner was, but after I read them I couldn't decide, so I went to a website called random.org and plugged in a little equation and it decided it for me. So congratulations, Rachel!  I'll give you the details in an email.

What? Another Giveaway? Get out!

Did you know today is Cyber Monday?  I didn't.  Is that new?  I mean, I'm thinking it wasn't around in say, 1992.  But was it around last year?  I need to do some research.

But wouldn't it be more fun to do another giveaway?  I think so, and since it's allegedly Cyber Monday, how about we talk about CSN stores.  I think you can find just about anything on this site.  It's got really cute cookware, purses, kids' toys and crafts, even children's luggage!  I also noticed they're having all kinds of sales right now, so I'm just sayin' if you were participating in Cyber Monday, you might want to check it out.
Or, if you were feeling a little freaked out about turning 35 in 7 days, perhaps you'd want to buy yourself a "you don't have as much grey hair as you think you do" present. 

I'm just throwing ideas around.

Anyway, how about a $35 gift certificate to this website?  Wouldn't that be splendid?  I have one for ya!  Would you like it?  Then keep reading.

Callie's getting creative again, folks.  No, I'm not baking brownies, and I'm not going to try and make a mobile for one of Hadley's friends.  But this time of year brings out the Martha in me, and I want to make creative gifts for people.  So here's what I came up with:  Hadley colors or draws about 456 pictures a day.  I can't keep track of them all.  I save a few in a scrapbook, but the rest I have been collecting to giveaway as Christmas presents.

I thought Hadley would enjoy being part of the giving part of Christmas, so I rolled up several of her masterpieces, and tied yarn around them, and told her she would be giving them to some of her friends and family.  We made little cards to attach to them with the family member's, teacher, or friend's name on it.  Then I asked Hadley to tell me one thing that she wants to say to this person, and I wrote it down.  After that she signed her name to the card.

This proved to be quite a successful activity.  First, because it was really easy for someone who likes creative projects, but doesn't always seem to be able to follow through.  Second, it was cheap!  I had all the materials, and really, Hadley did the hard work.  And third, Hadley loved telling me what she wanted to say to each person she was giving a picture to.  After awhile she said, "Mom, I think they are really going to like these notes!"  She really enjoyed trying to come up with something to say to each person, and I loved what she came up with (I would share some of what she said, but I don't want to ruin it for the people who are getting them and might read this blog).

Creative. Easy. Free.  That's what we're thinking about here, people.  So tell me.  What is the most creative gift you gave? Did it involve your kids?  Are you planning on creating a gift this season?  Did you get a gift that you thought was handmade and you loved? 

For a chance to win the gift certificate, leave a comment on this post with an idea you have for giving creative gifts. If you're a blogger, and you want to write your own post with a picture of what you did, let me know in the comment, and link my post to your blog.  I'll pick the one I like the best.  That's right, guys.  It's not going to be random ths time.  Ol' Callie's the judge.

How about we keep the contest open until Thursday, December 2?  That sounds good to me.  I'll announce the winner on Friday.

And the Winner Is.....

Thanks to everyone who left a comment, or followed me on Twitter or this blog!  The winner of my first giveaway is Wendy!  Shoot me an email, and I'll send one of Sarah's adorable Coffee Hugs your way.  For those of you haven't checked her shop out, these things are so cute.  I just ordered three for Christmas presents, but I may have to reconsider keeping them for myself because how cute would it be to match your Coffee Hug to your outfit?  The styles these days are all about accessories, right?

At any rate, I'd like to thank Sarah for helping me out with this project.  I can't think of anyone better I'd like to show products off for. 

Moving forward.  Oh boy, are we moving forward, folks.  Here's a picture of what the girls and I did yesterday afternoon:

We walked to Dunkin' Donuts to have a treat.  I suppose that isn't really out of the ordinary considering my love of donuts, however, the reason we went to double D's is because for three nights now Hadley has slept without her beloved OG.  ("OG" is a pacifier, not "original gangster" as some might assume.)
I know!

This was not something that was planned.  Quite honestly, I was thinking Hadley would have it for several more years, maybe graduate from high school with it.  We'd been telling her she would have to get rid of it, but then bedtime comes and neither one of us is in the mood to follow through with it.

Except that Saturday Hadley dropped it in the toilet.  And that was the last one.  Talk about cold turkey.

Do you remember that scene in Mr. Mom where Micheal Keaton tells his son he has to get rid of his blanket?  We kind of lived that Saturday night. 

So yeah, I took her out for donuts yesterday afternoon because by jove, I'm proud of her.  I know she's four.  I know speech pathologists everywhere are banging their heads on their desks, or parenting experts are screaming "SPOILED" into their Twitter accounts.  But we all have our faults. For years, I slept in my parents bedroom because I was convinced someone whose name rhymes with Teddy Freuger was going to come get me and turn me into something that resembles pasta sauce.  But look at me now!  I turned out juuuuuuussst fine. 

Harper still uses a pacifier.  I don't think getting rid of it will go over as well as it did with Hadley.  It's just a hunch I have.  That's OK, though.  We'll deal with it when that one falls into the toilet, too.

I keep this little log to remember stuff like this, and also so that Hadley and Harper can remember too.  I don't whether Hadley will remember her first night without an OG, but what I would like to remember was that evening after she'd calmed down a bit, she and I were lying on the bed talking for a bit.  She had this look on her face that I imagine resembled what I looked like before I gave birth.  There are just some things we all have to do by ourselves, and going to sleep without an OG is one of them.  But Hadley did it, and she doesn't seem worse for the wear.  I hope that, like I felt before I gave birth, despite being afraid, she could take this next step because she feels supported by me and Jesse.  I hope she knows that we think she can do anything, even the scary stuff.  That's what my family does for me, and that's what I want to do for Hadley.

Yes, I believe I did just compare giving birth to getting rid of a pacifier.  Just wait until I write the post about teaching the girls how to pluck their eyebrows.

Thankful in 2010

Does anyone else do this?  You are getting ready for an event, say, Thanksgiving, and you think about what you were doing last year at this time?  I do this all the time.  It relaxes me for some reason. 

So last year, I was really sick.  Oh my goodness, I was so sick.  The only thing that kept my head up was that I was furiously reading through the Twilight series and I couldn't be bothered with painful earaches or fevers or whatever because I was wrapped up in a story about a vampire and a werewolf for Pete's sake. 

Anyway, I think about being sick, and the Twilight series, and my cousin and her family coming to visit that weekend.  Even though I wasn't feeling well, it was a fun weekend.  I think my favorite memory was hanging out at the hotel Tara and Pete were staying in, and ordering pizza.  My girls and their boys were running around like crazies outside the hotel room, and the four adults got to sit, eat pizza, and have a beer.  I remember we laughed a lot.

So I think about that, and then I look at this post.  Then I go ahead and think about what I'm thankful for this year. 

I'm thankful that Hadley and Harper spend more and more time playing together.  It is so fun watching them learn how to communicate with each other.  They do a lot of coloring and reading books together.  This is one of their favorite afternoon activities:

They're having a "Booknic."  I put down a blanket and they get a bunch of books to read.  And of course, a snack.  You can't read books without having a snack. While we're on the subject of reading, I'm thankful I get to review Story Time for Me books.  Hadley enjoys playing on the computer when we let her, so I thought she'd like reading these stories from their website.  Turns out, Harper likes them, too.

They are reading a story called Fern Meets Some Animals.  This program is very easy to navigate.  The girls loved listening to the story, and I liked that it focuses on telling the story.  The options at the bottom of the screen make it easy for Hadley to turn pages if she needs to, and while there is a little animation while telling the story, there is an option to turn that off.  I appreicated that.  But what the girls liked was reading a book about animals.  And when an elephant came into the story, they were mesmerized.  Here they are trying to sound like an elephant:

If you want to check these stories out, you can click here and get two free stories.   I'd say it's worth a look especially if you want to see if your kids will try and sound like an elephant. 

I'm pretty thankful that I got this published.  And it made the cover, as a matter of fact.  (No, that's not Hadley on the cover.  Just her name.) 

While I'm bragging about myself, I may as well say that I'm thankful that over the weekend on Twitter, this post got retweeted with the plug, "the most adorable DC mama blogger ever."  Not too shabby, huh?  Thanks Bethany, for the plug!  (Click the link to find some of her writing.  She's all over DC writing about fun stuff.  And she got in Christian Science Monitor).

I'm thankful for a lot this year.  I'm thankful for preschool, and ballet lessons, the library, and all the parks we have around our area.  I'm thankful for our babysitter, who, I believe is probably the best babysitter in the world.  I'm thankful that I have a husband who lets me take his computer to Starbucks so I can pretend to write really important things on it.  All these things are good because they allow me to be a better mom.  Which is good because what I am most thankful for is my children.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.