Kids' Picks: Nick Jr. Book Club

Since Timothy started Kindergarten, 2 things have happened:

• His ability to read increases every day!
• His desire to read increases every day!
  

We ordered the Nick Jr. Book Club from Scholastic several years ago (as I know tons of people did since I've seen those little backpacks everywhere). I don't think we finished the series, but we do have around 10 of them.

About a week ago, Timothy slept in so late one morning that Dan had to go wake him up. Timothy was asleep with these books all around him! He had pulled each one of them off his shelf and read them for who knows how long. Dan asked him how he was able to do it, and Timothy answered nonchalantly, "I have my nightlight".

For more Kids' Picks, go to 5 Minutes for Books.

Early Christmas Present

This is the kind of Christmas wish that makes you glad it was answered:

Letter to Santa leads to man's molestation arrest

2008 Virtual Tour of Homes

I've been in Texas since I wrote last, and have lots of fun stuff to blog about! While I'm writing those posts, I thought I would take you on a Christmas tour of my home! I must start with the stockings because Tip Junkie was kind enough to answer my question: "Do you have some creative ideas for hanging stockings without a mantle?" She found several solutions (thank you, Tip Junkie!), and I decided on this one:

In case you're wondering why I only have 2, I just never got around to buying more as the family has grown! So for at least one more year only the kids have them.

"Mommy and Daddy's" Nativity:

"Samantha and Timothy's" Nativity:

This Christmas tic-tac-toe set is a child favorite...

These are my 2 "new" things this year...

I actually already had this small tree, the Christmas balls, and the tree topper, but I've never put them together like this. The simplicity is very much "me". Dan brought the tree skirt (it's actually a table runner) back from Dubai last year, and I think it's such a nice complement to this tree topper that I'm going to make it a Christmas item!

This is our advent calendar purchased at Target this year. Each square can hold 2 pieces of candy or 2 small ornaments. The kids have enjoyed this thoroughly. I give them the choice of hanging their ornament on the little tree (pictured above) or the main tree. Timothy always picks the small tree, and Samantha always picks the tall tree.

To help you get in the Christmas spirit, head on over to Tip Junkie's Virtual Tour of Homes-Holiday Edition.

Tip Junkie Shoutout!

I have to give some bloggy love to Laurie, the Tip Junkie. Her blog's purpose is to find and share tips and creative ideas. These tips are both practical and aesthetically appealing. So when I was trying to figure out the best way to hang my stockings without a mantle, I wrote her and asked! Well, being the amazing Tip Junkie that she is, she answered my question with a post on her site!! And she found some wonderful solutions. So head on over to Tip Junkie to see some options for hanging stockings without a mantle, and then explore everything her blog has to offer! And in a few days I'll show you what I have decided to do!

WW: Veggie Tales Birthday Cake

A few words with this wordless...Such a happy little girl! Before we even lit the candles she had pulled Larry from the cake and started licking his feet! She saw no reason to use a fork.

I asked if she was ready to open presents, and she said, "No, I want to play with my ship." This drove Timothy crazy, since he wanted to play with one of her presents. She went to bed without opening them! First thing this morning, Timothy asked, "Are you ready to open your presents NOW?" She said, "Yeah!!" like it was a brand new conversation! My step mom made this adorable tutu, and Samantha didn't want to take the leotard off! How many days will it take to open Christmas presents?

Click on over to 5 Minutes for Mom to enjoy more Wordless Wednesday!

Children's Classics: Christmas Books

I know it's obvious, but I love children's books! I'm going to start with two Dutton Children's Books:

Christmas Magic, written and illustrated by Michael Garland. It's a very sweet story of a little girl, Emily, who builds a snow-woman. With a little Christmas magic, some wild things start happening (like the stockings making a kick-line!)

The Friendly Beasts, Traditional Christmas Carol. I am such a sucker for a rhyming book! Each 4-line stanza is written by a different animal in the Christmas story. Here is the sheep's description:

"I," said the sheep with the curly horn,
"I gave Him my wool, for His blanket warm.
He wore my coat on Christmas morn."
"I," said the sheep with the curly horn.

Twelve Lizards Leaping: A New Twelve Days of Christmas, written by Jan Romero Stevens, illustrated by Christine Mau, and published by Rising Moon. This is the traditional song, with Southwest themed items. For example, "Five Turquoise Rings" instead of "Five Golden Rings".

Let me wrap up with the books that connect Christmas to Easter:

As I've already written here, Christmas Night, Fair and Bright is a MUST!!!

J is for Jesus, written by Crystal Bowman and illustrated by Claudine Gevry, was published by zonderkidz. (Click here for free educator resources.) With rhyme, this books explains how the candy cane came to be and what it's shape and color stand for. Since our kids see so many candy canes at Christmas time, you can use this to reinforce the gospel message.

The Tale of Three Trees, retold by Angela Elwell Hunt, illustrated by Tim Jonke, and published by Lion Children's Books. I realize this isn't even a Christmas book really, but the second tree is used for the manger. Every home library should include this wonderful book, and since we already had the board book version on hand we just pulled it for Christmas!

For more Christmas Children's Classics, head on over to 5 Minutes for Books!

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!

Samantha, today on December 8th, you turn 3, and I love that...

you have been calling yourself 4 yrs old for almost 9 months, confusing and amusing many!

you can take a tomato and pickle from your kitchen and name them Bob and Larry. And then care for them like they are the actual actors in the movies. I love that Larry's mom is a green bell pepper and Larry's dad is a cabbage. And that you are creative enough for a french fry to be Junior.

you talk to Timothy as your equal, convinced you can do anything he can do.

you adore him, and cry often "I want Tim [no o] thy". (You dropped "Bubba" months ago)

you are a daddy's girl, but still want me when you don't feel good (or Daddy says no).

you appreciate girly things ("That's pretty"), but will play with a car any day!

I have had 3 amazing years with you where you teach me patience (or is that try my patience?), show me that circumstances don't have to be obstacles, and remind me to snuggle.

I love you, Samantha!

And now that you're 3 I'm going to TRY to stop calling you Baby Girl!

Timothy got 3rd Place!!!

This morning was Timothy's karate tournament. Our philosophy to combat Timothy's OBSESSION with winning is...give him every possible chance to learn how to be a good loser. So we signed that boy up for this tournament, assuming he would lose. Everyone would get a participant trophy, but the top 4 would receive bigger trophies and Timothy was convinced he was getting one. We were preparing for the worst, but lo and behold...

He won!!!

3rd out of 16!!!

Talk about an excited little boy!

Vicki's Online Tea Party Shoppe

A friend of mine has just started an online Tea Party business. She sells everything from china to the hats! I've been to a tea at her house, and I can tell you that it's the real deal!

If you are on the lookout this Christmas for quality "tea" products, you must go over to Vicki's Online Shoppe and look around!

The Bathroom Door Letter

Our MOPS Speaker this week shared this, and I thought anyone can relate!! How many times have you wanted to say this...

Please do not stand here and talk, whine or ask questions.

Wait until I get out.

Yes, it is locked. I want it that way. It is not broken, and I am not trapped.

I know I have left it unlocked and even open at times, since you were born, because I was afraid some horrible tragedy might occur while I was in there, but it’s been 8 years and I want some PRIVACY.

Do not ask me how long I will be. I will come out when I am done.

Do not bring the phone to the bathroom door.

Do not go running back to the phone yelling “She’s in the BATHROOM!”

Do not begin to fight as soon as I go in.

Do not stick your little fingers under the door and wiggle them. This was funny when you were two.

Do not slide pennies, LEGOs, or notes under the door. Even when you were two this got a little tiresome.

If you have followed me down the hall talking, and are still talking as you face this closed door, please turn around, walk away, and wait for me in another room. I will be glad to listen to you when I am done.

And yes, I still love you.

Mom

WW & SEW: Decorating the Tree

For more great photos go to Wordless Wednesday or Special Exposure Wednesday!

Org Junkie's Round-Up: Laundry Room Edition!

Disclaimer: No one was harmed in the organizing of this laundry room!

My laundry room has a wonderful set of shelves that I have not maximized at all. When I'm in a mad dash to clean the living room, I basically throw everything on those shelves. My goal for this month was to make them practical for all family members.

BEFORE:


AFTER:

And now for the close up. These are the 3 shelves that concerned me the most. The top shelf is for storing all those bulk items I need throughout the house. The 2nd shelf is to house all the office supplies & tools I need. Thankfully, I already had these drawers (again, not being utilized), so I didn't have to spend any money. The 3rd shelf is for all the kids games/puzzles. I can't tell you how many games of Lucky Ducks and Uno I've played since I organized the laundry room!

I labeled each drawer very specifically, so I won't forget!!

The bottom shelf I've left open for craft supplies (I still need to bring them from another room), and the box on the floor is for clothes the kids have outgrown. I'm ashamed to say that I've had the box there for a while. ALL THREE BAGS right there are full of clothes that were overflowing from this box. It was a nightmare, but thankfully it's all organized. Now to get those clothes out of my house once and for all!!!

I've needed a "lone sock" bag for a while, and I finally put one right above the dryer. It's already full of unmatched socks!!

And you would think I picked this cute baseball bag because of the Red "Sox", but I really just picked it because it was one of the many things cluttering up my shelves!

I was so excited to organize those little drawers that I thought I could leave 2 clean pieces on the dryer, organize the drawers, AND drink a DP. This is what happens when you get cocky:

Thanks again, Org Junkie! My family owes you (especially my son, who is LOVING the game shelf). For more organized laundry rooms, head over to I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Classics Bookclub: A Christmas Carol

We meet Scrooge as a cruel, self-centered man who sees no point in helping the needy. Many hateful things he says in the first chapter come back to "haunt" him later on as the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come usher him through time. The first of the 3 spirits takes him to the past where we see snippets of Scrooge's painful childhood. Even though we saw enough to understand he was slowly being hardened, I definitely was left wanting more (what happened right before and what happened after??). I'm sure Dickens planned it that way!

From scene to scene (shadow to shadow) I kept thinking how afraid he was...of trusting people, of hoping, of enjoying the moment, and of financial stability. These fears had been cultivated as a young child, but as he grew they grew. And so when his affections eventually turned towards a "fair young girl", he had to make a choice: fear or love. Sadly, he rejected love and accepted the fearful path of greed that made him lonely and bitter.

That could have been the end of the story, as scrooge observes with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Instead, his friend Marley intervenes, not wanting Scrooge to suffer the same consequences as he did. (Side note: I think most people have a "if I'm going down, you're coming with me" mentality, so this was a refreshing change). Scrooge must boldly and painfully observe the actions of his life AND the painful repercussions those actions have on those around them. He must also observe how very little everyone thinks of him. I would not want to go through that myself!

But of course Scrooge has no choice. And by taking an honest look at his sin and pain, the fear has nothing else to do but vanish. Sacrificing love swallows him and becomes his overwhelming motivation. He learns that by caring about others and focusing on their needs, his needs get met. Perfect love casts out fear.

Dickens words paint a picture, and here are some of my favorite quotes...

"Old Marley was as dead as a door–nail. Mind! I don’t mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door–nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin–nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country’s done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door–nail."

In light of next month's Classic selection, I loved this: "If we were not perfectly convinced that Hamlet's Father died before the play began, there would be nothing more remarkable in his taking a stroll at night, in an easterly wind, upon his own ramparts, than there would be in any other middle-aged gentleman rashly turning out after dark in a breezy spot--say Saint Paul's Churchyard for instance--literally to astonish his son's weak mind."

"The fog and frost so hung about the black old gateway of the house, that it seemed as if the Genius of the Weather sat in mournful meditation on the threshold."

"I made it [the chain] link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is it's pattern strange to you?"

"Why did I walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men to a poor abode? Were there no poor homes to which its light would have conducted me!"

"The Spirit must have heard him thinking..."

"There was an eager, greedy, restless motion in the eye, which showed the passion that had taken root, and where the shadow of the growing tree would fall."

"You fear the world too much..."

"That they [the shadows] are what they are, do not blame me!"

"And that nothing between a baby and a rhinoceros would have astonished him very much."

"...for it is always the person not in the predicament who knows what ought to have been done in it, and would unquestionably have done it too..."

"...for it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when it's might Founder was a child himself."

"Really, for a man who had been out of practice for so many years, it was a splendid laugh, a most illustrious laugh. The father of a long, long line of brilliant laughs!"

"God bless Us, Every One!"

For more perspective on A Christmas Carol, head over to 5 Minutes for Books.