Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Christmas light mystery and a Christmas craft

The Christmas Light Mystery


Notice that my almost 3 year old has a paci in her mouth. Yes, it is way past time to get rid of it. I have a short list of excuses on why. Nonetheless, we have set our own deadline for December 9th. Annette's third birthday. We will be rid of it. She knows it's coming. She's been warned. May this momma be tough enough to out-win the upcoming battles.

Now, notice the tree.

Isaac pulled the big Christmas tree out of storage on Sunday afternoon. My mom gave us this one a couple of years ago when she decided to put up a smaller tree in her own house. It is supposed to be pre-lit. But somehow, over the years, it has become un-pre-lit. Or more simply... not lit.

It's several years old. I should just buy a new one, or get a real live one. But to save money and re-use what we already have, we just keep using this one.

Which means I have to add my own lights, which I could handle. HOWEVER... last year I bought 4 sets of white lights to string on it, and something so bazaar happened. I checked the lights first to see if they would work. They all worked. Then, after stringing ALL 4 sets of the lights, each string of light stopped working at about the halfway mark! So, after all the stringing work, my tree was still only halfway lit. Talk about frustrating. So, last year, I just gave up and had a halfway lit tree. 

This year I bought new boxes of lights. I tested them to make sure they worked. About 20 minutes into stringing all 500+ lights IT DID IT AGAIN!!  Half of the lights on each strand went out. So frustrating. I told Isaac, I'm guessing it must be the outlet.  He says, "Sorry". Not sure he grasped my full frustration:)

 What could it be? Maybe too much power from our oldold house's electrical gadgets??? Absolutely weird light luck??
I don't know, but I'm hoping I can come up with a solution. I'm stuck with all these strands of lights that only half way work. I do not feel like buying anymore. I guess I could try the tree in a different location with a different outlet. 

 I refuse to hang the ornaments until the lights are up, so the tree is just sitting there, sad.... halfway lit.... and undecorated.


And a Christmas Craft

So yesterday, the kids and I made our own unfaulty Christmas trees using mini cupcake liners I had from a past baking project. I've seen lots of different versions of this idea on good ole Pinterest.




I folded the first few.
Annette figured out pretty quickly how to fold and glue them on her own.



I helped her arrange them. This was a good activity for us to talk about the words Biggest and Bigger. She called them the Daddy, Mommy, and Baby tree.

 She cut out the stems all on her own.


I let Charlie explore with the cupcake liners, but he lost interest and moved on to the markers pretty quickly.

Here are Annette's Cupcake Christmas trees!

I cut out the starts from foil and she glued those on to finish the project.


Perfectly imperfect.

I'm sure we will do this same project again this season, because it was so easy and less messy than most of my other project ideas.
Plus, I think it would look great with a variety of cupcake liners, but we only had the red this time.  We might add sequins or pom poms to the next version as well.


I'm hoping I'll have pictures of a non-paper, fully lit tree before my next post. Somehow, someway:)


Saturday, November 26, 2011

Thanksgiving 2011

Our Thanksgiving started on Wednesday night at my cousin Sydney's house. We roasted hot dogs and made smores on the fire, listened to the guitar, and had a wonderful time being around my dad's side of the family.









We asked Annette to smile. Ha.

We got home, took baths, and rested up for two more big Thanksgiving days.


Isaac made omelettes for us to start the day out right.



Thanksgiving day we went to my Uncle Frank's house for a big late lunch. This is my big brother, Chris. Go see him at The Big Orange where he's one of the managers :) We just went there for the first time the other day, and it was WAY good.



He is so easy to photograph. Just too cute. Really :)
 However, that hair of his grows so fast, I can't make hair appointments fast enough. I need to find a cut that he can wear long and shaggy-like so I'm not constantly having his hair cut.
Have I mentioned that my daughter loves my sister??? It's a fact.





Lots and lots of cousins and nieces and nephews and aunts and uncles and siblings and so much family it's like you're in a constant state of hugging.  Lucky us:)



Isaac started up a batting-cage of sorts. Mr. Fun.

Unlodging the ball.

She will be 3 in just a couple of weeks. And she can't wait either.




Next up, a  RAW VEGAN GLUTEN-FREE meal at Nonnie and Doc's house. Isaac's mom is always up for fun and new ideas, so she ordered some food from a special chef in the area. She knew we would enjoy a 'lighter' meal after a big lunch, and before the big feast the following day. There are some pics of the food on down the page.




Connie's sister, Kathleen, and her husband Dick got to be a part of the fun.




Chalie and Cruz are growing a pretty strong boyish bond these days:)


This was a totally vegan, gluten-free, RAW, cake. We are guessing it was made from soybeans?? Interesting :)




This was the "pasta". Everyone's favorite part of the meal. Zucchini shredded super-duper finely. It was uncooked and served cool. With a delicious marinara type sauce. With nut crumbles in place of Parmesan. We also had soup, that had not been cooked. It was basically veggies with miso and warm water from the tap. You put the ingredients into your bowl yourself, and then mixed it up with the warm water. Very, very interesting. There was also a raw pizza (crust was kind of nutty) and a salad.
It was fun to try something so different. The cook's email address is wonderfullyraw@gmail.com , if your're interested.


The following day we ate Isaac's family Thanksgiving meal.







We all talked about what were most thankful for this year. Which is one of my favorite traditions. So grateful to God for:

-the hope I have in God
-my wonderful husband
-my precious kids
-our parents and siblings
- our family
-my husband's job
-the chance to stay home with my babies
-our house, in a place that we love
-our dear, dear friends
-our health
-my sister's health
- two working cars
-a budget to have date nights
- babysitters:)


the list could go on and on and on and on and on.....

and I love this holiday that's dedicated to sharing how truly THANKFUL and grateful we all can be.


Saturday, November 19, 2011

Caption re-Cap

Cousins









That girl! Crazy faces always.







Skatium













 


 
Indian corn craft
 
 




30th Birthday Party



 

Pep rally that we just happened upon while we were strolling through mall
















mesmerized






Lazy Saturday morning





Razorback day






Woo Pigs!:)




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