The Album of Christmas Pasts

A few years ago, my mother-in-law told me about a scrapbook she'd seen for sale.  It was a Christmas album, and it was set up so that each Christmas, you would complete a new page, answering the same questions and adding a picture each year.

I thought, "Well, I could make one of those," and then of course, never actually made one.  But this year, I finally got my act together (all it took was realizing that I couldn't even remember what we gave Jack for his first Christmas to light a fire under me and get me started - I can't cook, I don't like to clean, and I'm not always nice, but by golly am I on top of it when it comes to recording memories) and made my Christmas album.

I am going to share with you what I did because GOSH DARN IT, it's cute.  Also, I think it's a great way to record those little memories that so easily slip away.

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Berry Wreath Centerpiece Tutorial

Last week, I was asked by Driscoll's berries to come up with a holiday-themed berry craft to be posted on Life with Levi (where I am a product review contributor), and entered in their Holiday Berry Craft competition.

I'm not particularly crafty (and I didn't even realize one could make crafts with berries - they're an interesting medium, to be sure), but I was game for the challenge - so I said yes, and got to work dreaming up an amazing and unique berry craft.  And I think I did, indeed, come up with a winner (even if only in my eyes).  

You can read more about the contest and how I came up with the idea (nothing earth-shattering) over at Life with Levi.  

It was so easy and turned out so cute, I'm going to use this space to put together a tutorial for you (I even thought to take pictures as I was working on it, so this should be super simple to follow).

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Shoes

Keeping it simple this week!

This is Claire's new fascination/obsession.  Shoes.  Not just mine, but her own, her Dad's, her brother's - all of them.

I can't say I blame her.

Swingin'

Happy Tuesday, everyone.

May you find as much joy in the ordinary as Claire does (pink boots not required but certainly can't hurt, either)!

2012 Christmas Gift Guide

Charles is really good at giving gifts (to me).  Past gifts have included a surprise trip to NYC, a Coach purse, and a horse.  And no, we're not rich...not even close!  But he plans these things and just makes them happen (maybe someday I can get him to tell the story of what he had to sell to buy me that Coach purse...it's kind of funny).

Meet Seamus.  I had known him for years, but became "my" horse in 2005 as my Anniversary/Birthday/Christmas present that year.

I'm more like, "Hey, what do you want for Christmas?  A new golf club?  OK, go buy it," and that's that.

But when it comes to other people - like my kids and relatives - I stress out and hem and haw over finding the perfect gift and then read all the reviews on Amazon before finally buying it and then anxiously wrap it up and hand it over, just hoping it will be exactly what they didn't even realize they'd been wanting.

So, I'm hoping to help you out a bit this year.  Here is a list of some of my favorite unique gifts that I've given (and a few I've received, too).  I guess you could call this my Official 2012 Gift Guide!


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A Lesson in Giving

Every year at Christmas, I think about all the things I *should* be doing for other people.

I think about the volunteer hours I should put in somewhere, the barely-used toys I should drop off at the Children's Home, and the charities I should be writing checks to.

And then...Christmas comes and goes, and during the course of a whirlwind month we've spent all our money on the kids and replacing the plastic Christmas tree the cat peed on last year, and all our time has been sucked into the vacuum that is Daily Existence, and I somehow have gone through another holiday season without acting on even one of the things I had wholly intended on doing - call me The Queen of Good Intentions, I guess.

Am I the only one who feels guilty at Christmas?  I love Christmas.  I LOVE IT.  But...I always have this nagging feeling in my heart as I sit around the fire all cozy and warm, bundled up in my new pj's and polishing off another round of holiday leftovers while the kids claw through all of their new toys at my feet.  I always feel like I didn't do enough for others, like I have too much, like I've overlooked something.  It's kind of depressing, to be honest...and the only way I can make myself feel better is to tell myself to enjoy what I have and to make "helping others" a priority in the New Year.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

It wasn't always this way, though.
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Monday, Monday

We are all sick...either recovering from it, still in the throes, or coming down with it.

Yesterday (Monday), I would say I was operating at 50%...sick, but not so miserable I couldn't function.  Just sick enough to suffer from reduced brain power, intense head pain from the congestion, and a hacking cough.  Standard fare for a mid-Fall cold, I'd say.  

But it seemed like this has been going on forever, and I was SICK of being SICK.  So, I decided to soldier forward and take my kids grocery shopping (whaaaat??).  Yep.  I took them to Central Market.  

And you know what?  It was kind of awesome.

The kids were *so* excited about the Christmas decorations.  I picked out zucchini while discussing what reindeer eat with Jack (carrots and horse treats, in case you were wondering).  We chose pancake mix (gingerbread!) while talking about Santa.  We oohed and aahed over the Christmas trees hanging from the ceiling and the giant candy canes towering over the frozen foods.  

Unfortunately, Jack's enthusiasm and good behavior waned as the day wore on.  By the time I decided to take them to th park (a park we've never been to, nonetheless), he was pretty grumpy.  I mostly managed to keep it together (it's not easy being patient and kind when you feel like crap and have a whiny kid screaming at you in public because you slipped out of his line of sight for two seconds to scoop up your overly-ambitious toddler who thought she could totally climb to the top of the big play structure), and I am proud to say the day ended on a good note.  

The kids loved the "Pirate Park" (it has a pirate ship fort-like play thing, awesome!).

If you follow me on Instagram you've seen these (if you don't, come find me - snoringmannexttome).  Here are some of my favorite pictures from our afternoon at the park (and can I just say THANK YOU to Texas for having such gorgeous weather this month?).

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Bridesmaids

We just got back from a whirlwind trip to California, in which I watched one of my very best friends ever walk down the aisle and marry the man of her dreams.  It was a lot of fun.  She and I have had a lot of great times together...a wedding kind of takes the cake though, don't you think?

Me (ready to partaaaay, it appears!) and Sara.  She probably won't like this picture but OMG almost every picture I have of us together includes at least one drunk person.  At least I know we are both sober in this picture.

One of my bridesmaids duties (actually, the only duty thanks to a fabulous wedding planner and laid-back bride and the fact that I live several states away) was to give a speech.  I am mostly okay with public speaking, but I need to have a plan - I can't just get up there and wing it.  And so, I wrote out a little speech that, following a glass or two three of wine, went quite well.


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Bored in Dallas?

My kids are sick (again!).

We've been stuck in the house for TWO WHOLE DAYS now...that is a long time with little ones!  I am itching to get out and do something (as soon as the fevers are gone and I'm no longer spending most of my day wiping copious amounts of yellow sludge from my kids' faces, that is).

In the honor of getting outside and doing things, I'm going to share with you a few of my favorite Dallas activities (and of course, link you to articles I've already written about them for Today's Mama...because today, that's just how I roll).

A crappy picture of the Dallas skyline, as seen from the ferris wheel at the State Fair of Texas.

In no particular order, here are 5 Fun Things to Do in Dallas:


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Halloween - How it Went Down Last Year

This has been a busy, busy month.

A little over a week ago, I was sitting in bed scrambling to get blog posts written that I could schedule for publishing while we were away on our cruise.  And here I am again, the night before we leave for California this time, trying to be all responsible and act like I mean business and write a few posts that I can, again, schedule to publish while I'm gone.

But I'm tired (waaaaah....).

And so, instead of firing up the brain cells, I'm going to leave you with the blog post I wrote exactly a year ago:  Halloween Scrooge No More.

Because this time last year, I was kinda feeling lame about the way I just skipped over Halloween and didn't put any effort whatsoever into decorating the house/picking out costumes/carving pumpkins.  The only thing I did well last year was polish off the chocolate bars Jack brought home from trick-or-treating.

So far, I've done a little better this year.  I spent some time (time = $$$) on costumes and even made a very cute Halloween banner for our house.  Turns out we'll be traveling on Halloween, but the plan is to carve pumpkins with the kids' cousins in California.

A huge improvement over last year, to be sure (although, Jack did ask me why our house doesn't have as many decorations as the one down the street...).

How do you do Halloween?