Staycation

We were supposed to go to Minnesota this Christmas.  But do you see that boy on the right in a sling?  A couple days before we were supposed to leave, we heard him scream and knew something was very wrong.  He's a tough kid.  But when he rounded the corner with his left wrist hanging, we knew it was time for yet another trip to the ER.  Graham's break was worse than Asher's, and so when it came time to travel, he wasn't comfortable enough.  So we stayed.  As a bribe, we treated them to a fun night at a hotel here in town.

We walked through downtown, saw Santa, ate at Five Guys, browsed Barnes and Noble, and took some pictures.

The tree downtown is HUGE, driven by truck all the way from the Northeast.

We headed back to the hotel and let the boys play with their Kindles (Christmas gifts thanks to Papa and Tandy).  See me in the mirror taking the picture :)

The silence was golden.

I love him when he sits like this.

Our friends came to visit us in the lobby.  It was very festive.  There's a Starbucks in the lobby, and lots of fun people were milling around because an NFL team was staying there that night.

Remember Riley.  They still have a sweet relationship.

And an extra bonus, the next morning, Samuel got to meet a certain famous person...

Drew Brees (quarterback for the Saints)

And got his autograph.  The perfect ending to a perfect overnight staycation.

His Perch

Nathan spends a lot of his day sitting on top of our island.  It starts at breakfast.  While I'm making it, he asks to get up there, and then he eats his breakfast up by me, and has his own little cup of coffee with milk.  Sometimes, he just sits up there for no particular reason.

I think if he were my first child, I would disapprove of this kind of a thing.  But I am treasuring how he wants to be with me.  I know all my boys love me, but as they get older, they want to be physically near you less.  I think, with all that happened this last month, I'm wanting him to stay little forever.  

I'm treasuring his smallness more than with the other boys.  His chubby hands, and little boy voice.

He's my buddy.  If he wants to lay on the counter to be close to where I am... well, that's just fine by me.

Yarn-Wrapped Ornaments

 We made these ornaments last week.  I just had to share it with you because it was also the cheapest, easiest, and one of the prettiest craft we've ever done.  I love a bargain.  Even when it comes to crafting.  I spent $4 on yarn at Michaels and cut out the shapes from old cereal boxes.  We ended up making about 10 ornaments, but we had enough yarn left to make about 20 more.  The only other thing you need is a glue gun.

My inspiration was from here.  The directions are on that blog too.  They show you how to make star shaped ornaments.  We chose to do the first letter of their names.

It's a relaxing craft.  I had to assist the kids somewhat, especially with the edges.  They need a little extra glue.  I had them work on them one at a time.

But for the most part, you just stand and wrap.

So proud of his creation.

You can even do it with a broken arm.

Asher chose the manly gray yarn.

Graham chose gray too.

I did Nathan's.  But he was cheering me along from his perch up on the kitchen counter.

Now they're added to our tree... an ornament and a memory.

Hope everyone is enjoying this Christmas weekend with their families.  I wrote this post while watching Princess Bride with our family.  The boys didn't want to watch it at first because they thought it was a "girl movie."  But then they loved it!  It brought back all those junior high memories of watching that movie over and over and over again.  Time is flying.  Graham is about to hit his teenage years.  I'm so thankful for these years of LIFE to celebrate... thankful to God for the gift of these years with all of these boys ;)

Putting Up Christmas 2012

The kids loved decorating the tree last year, and wanted to do it the same way this year.  It's sweet that they remembered.

They wanted to make cookies again.

These two were my fearless helpers.

Our ornaments, for the most part, are very hodge podge.  But as they pulled them out, they talked about their favorites.

The Baylor ornament is always a fav.

The ones they dig for right away are their baby ornaments.  They always laugh because Asher was such a fat baby.

Nathan was such a cry cry.

But look at his sweet face now.

We talk about how Joseph was perfect and never cried.

And how Samuel had a full head of black hair.

And how Graham was very easy and independent as a baby.

I let them put the ornaments on.  This year I didn't even fix them after they were done.  It was good enough.

Asher looking very Christmasy in his green cast and red shirt.

We uncovered our tiny hot cocoa mugs when I unpacked.  We used these all the time in Minnesota after sledding.  They were so excited to use them again.  

The excitement on their little faces.

Our line up :)

Yum!  Cookies and cocoa with whipped cream and marshmallows.

Each year, they get older (and I guess that means I'm getting older too).  I'm especially sentimental about Nathan being such a big boy this year.  These moments are so sweet.  He's four this year, but I wish he were still a little baby, even if he was a cry cry.  I'm treasuring time with my guys this Christmas :)

A Little Christmas Crafting

We did some crafting the other day.  

Inspiration here.

Here we are prepping.

Basically you put tape on a canvas (which were 40% off at Michaels when I bought them).  And paint the rest of the canvas.  Then remove the tape.  So easy.

I did the tape for Nathan's.  The rest of the boys did theirs themselves.

My very dear friend, Tarrah, was in town.  She took a break from her 4 kids to come be with me and help with my 5.  That's a good friend.  She also made some delicious snickerdoodles while we were crafting.  We had Christmas music playing and cookies baking.  It was lovely.

My four year old did just fine.  The best part is you can't mess it up this craft.  Do your kids have meltdowns when they make a mistake with something permanent like paint?  Mine do, and I love this craft because of that.

Tarrah assisted him.  I loved having a friend in town.  Many hands make light work :)

I let everyone make whatever they wanted, as long as it was Christmasy.

Asher was disappointed because he wanted to do something Texas Rangers.  Life is full of heart aches, and this is one he had to live with.

They picked their own colors.

What in the world?

Nathan's tree.  

Asher's artsy crafty Merry Christmas.

Samuel's tree, modern style

Joseph's tree (I liked his the best, but don't tell the other kids I said that).

I'm a little too cool for this photo sesh.

Or a little too crazy.

Graham's candy cane.

Deciding where to put them around the house.

I landed on putting them up as stairway art.

Now go to Michaels and get some craft supplies.  You'll love this one!