Christmas Traditions.

When you meet me, the first thing you'll find out is I'll cook you or bake you just about anything. No matter what.

You sad? Here, have some cookies.

You happy? Here, have some brownies.

You hungry? Here, have a burrito.

I'm good like that.

One thing you'll learn about me is that I love Christmas. I love it. LOVE it. I can't emphasize that point enough. I'm giddy for homemade Christmas tree ornaments. I adore decorating the house. Oh, Christmas movies? Forget about it. Those, I'll watch all year. 

Christmas is my holiday.

Every year, the day after Thanksgiving (as long as I'm not terribly busy) the decorations come up and Christmas throws up its metaphorical goods all over my house while my tv spews "JOY TO THE WORLD" as Clark Griswold lit up his house dedicated to the Griswold Family Christmas.

It's a tradition.

Every family has their own. We're still a rather new family. We're still working on our traditions.

But one tradition I will NOT understand is the whole Elf On The Shelf thing.

That little cartoon elf? The one on the book? That thing's cute, huh? Adorable, even.

The one in the box? Um..yeah. No. Not happening. Someone PLEASE tell me I'm not the only one.

That thing is going to use its magic to kill me off in the middle of the night.

The info on the official Elf on the Shelf website states:

The Elf Tradition

Have you ever wondered how Santa knows who is naughty and who is nice? The Elf on the Shelf®: A Christmas Tradition is the very special tool that helps Santa know who to put on the Naughty and Nice list. This interactive holiday hide-and-seek tradition is perfect for children and families of all ages.

The tradition begins when Santa sends his scout elves out to Elf Adoption Centers. Waiting for their families to bring them home, these patient elves hibernate until their family reads The Elf on the Shelf, gives their elf a very special name, and registers their adoption online. Once named, each scout elf will receive its Christmas magic and become a part of the family’s Christmas each and every year.

Excellent listeners and even better observers, these scout elves are the eyes and ears of Santa Claus. Although they cannot be touched, or else they may lose their magic, the elf will always listen and relay messages back to Santa. Taking in all the day-to-day activities around the house, no good deed goes unnoticed; these scout elves take their job seriously.

Each night, after the family goes to bed, the scout elf uses his magical Christmas powers to fly back to the North Pole. Once there, the elf will make his or her daily report to Santa and visit with elf friends where they will tell stories about their beloved families, play with the reindeer, and of course, sneak some of Mrs. Claus’ cookies!

Before the family awakes each morning, their special scout elf will fly back to their home from the North Pole. However, since these elves like to play games, don’t expect to find them in the same spot!  While some like to hide in the freezer (probably because it reminds them of the North Pole) and others prefer to sit on the fireplace mantle or hang from the chandelier, these elves love to play hide-and-seek with their families.

On Christmas Eve, the scout elf will listen for Santa’s bell and then fly back to the North Pole until the next season, wishing every girl and each boy a Christmas of peace and a year full of joy. Join the tradition and adopt your own Elf on the Shelf now!

Cool story, bro.

So this elf, you buy it, name it, read the book. It watches your kids to report back to the Big Guy on if they've been good or not. The concept alone is great. Good job, creators. 

But then this part about the elf moving? Traveling? Likes playing games? One thing is screaming out to me.

Seriously, this movie gave me nightmares for a solid week.

Now, I'm not going to lie. I've been tempted to get one for one solid reason:

I LOVE seeing the photos of the "mischief" that my friends are posting on Facebook.

Some of their creativity has me rolling. It's excellent. I can imagine the looks on the kids' faces. It would be epic.

But that doll...that..no. It's not a doll. It's a possessed form of plastic, polyester fluffing, and good intention.

It really bums me out, though, because I try to be that mom. You know which one I'm talking about. The one that volunteers for everything school related. The one that goes on 0 hours of sleep a night to make sure everything is just perfect. The one that bakes cookies and goodies from scratch. I try for that. I AIM for that. 

If that elf wasn't so creepy, it'd be in my house.

I never got to really celebrate Christmas with the whole "Santa" thing when I was younger. And as I got older, I was kind of bitter about it. It was like I was robbed of something magical as a kid. I never got to experience the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny, either. Oh, sure. I got money for losing teeth. I got gifts on Christmas. I got an Easter basket full of goodies. I didn't miss any of that. But, man, the spirit of it all? I never had it. I WANT my kids to have that. Even if it means eating a dozen cookies and finishing off a glass of milk on Christmas Eve. I DESPERATELY want them to grow with the stories of magic and wonderment and, once they're parents, to be able to enjoy those moments with their kids. 

Screw it. I'm just going to crochet a little toy figurine that was mailed here from Santa. I mean, that's a good compromise, right?

Better than looking into the eyes of that soul-less being thing that's for sale at Target for $30.

Surprises, Birthdays, and a KittyKat

This past...week? weekend? weekend prior?...was busy. It was full of fun, friends, and a few beers. 

It started with a car trip to the St. Louis area for a surprise (late) birthday party for one of Kyle's aunts, Lisa.

I love her. She's such an amazing person with talent in so many things. She deserved this.

Everyone came, including my sister-in-law and mother-in-law. That was another part of the surprise. Lisa had no idea they were flying in from Washington!

Many props to Liz and Jordan, Lisa's daughters. They arranged the whole thing.

Albeit, the waiting plan changed. Gabe about ruined it with his babbling. We were in the garage for about 20 minutes or so. It was all worth it.

We stayed the night at Liz's house and left the next day to go see my Kia. :)

Kia, being the amazing person that she was, made Selena a birthday cake! How amazing is she?!

Selena was so excited. She had no idea!

The cake was deeeelicious. I could go for another piece. Or 5.

Selena had a great birthday. She didn't know Aunt Amanda and Grandma Barbie were flying in for Lisa's party. It made her birthday all that much better.

I can't believe she's 6 already. Where did the time go?! :(

Oh yeah. That baby?  THAT'S MY KITTYKAT! :D I FINALLY got to see the little gorgeous bundle!

She made her Aunt Rachel go a bit camera happy. All in all, she was a great sport.

I got to snuggle on her and love on her and changed 3 diapers (yeah, bragging about that).

Kyle says no more babies.

Gabey says "Don't want one."

And THAT, my friends, is the blanket that would never be finished. Looks great with her, if I do say so myself.

All in all, it's been a lot of running around. Trying to get back into the swing of things hasn't been all that easy, to say the least. We'll all get there, though.

Crafts + Life Update

I'm just going to go ahead and post the pictures of the craft stuff first.

Like, my new coffee mug cozy that I free-crocheted. Not perfect, but it does its job.

And some more resin rings because I get to wear them all the time. /sarcasm

And that's the end of my crafts.

Life...is tough right now, to say the least.

We have bills. A lot of bills. A majority of our things have been shut off. In fact, I'm posting this over someone's unsecured WiFi connection.

Our vehicle isn't working right and we have the repair estimated at about $250 or so.

The kids are growing and need clothes.

To say that shit has hit the fan is an understatement.

So I probably won't be posting much. This WiFi isn't all that stable. Hopefully, I'll end up with the ability to get back on track to blogging, but I'm not sure how that'll pan out.

You'll always be my baby.

In the sunlight or the rain, brightest nights or darkest days,

I'll always feel the same way.

Whatever road you may be on, know you're never too far gone.

My love is there wherever you may be.

Just remember that you'll always be my baby.

Yeah. I may be tearing up. My kids are starting kindergarten.

KINDERGARTEN.

SCHOOL.

No.

Coffee Talk: Starting School

I'm a little shocked that it's time.

It's time.

Time? Time for what?

These two little beauties are starting kindergarten.

WOAH. Stop time. Just stop. STOP.

Because just a few days ago, they were itty bitties.

And then next up, there's...

...and then...

..and from the looks of it, Gabey's meaning serious business.

When did my babies turn into kids? :(

SAHM Hustler.

I love making myself sound "gangsta".

Mostly because when I do it, all I can picture is the Korean mom from The Hot Chick that's just trying to meet them "hafwai". I don't have the thick Korean accent, but my mom does. That movie is just so awesome. I have a deep love for Rob Schneider.

The other part to that is I really, REALLY wish I was still young and "cool" and "hip". Because I'm old now. I can't get away with saying things like "Erryday I'm shufflin'" and look normal. That makes me sad. I miss my youth.

Anywho.

Take this picture into your mind.
This family ranges from 4-6 people in a household. 2-4 of those people are children ages 5, 5, (almost) 4, and (almost) 2. There are clothes that need to be bought, food that needs to be bought, bills that need to be paid, etc. There's so much money that goes into it. SO MUCH. The husband is the only one that works. The job is one that pays, but no where near the amount that is necessary to really live. Cuts need to be made.

It's tough when you start off as a young family, in an economy that's been taking downfall after downfall, but you do your best. Not for you, for your kids.

I know a lot of people, whether young or old, are having money issues. We make a lot of compromises in things, and that includes me making things. So I'm going to give you an idea of things we do.

1. Hand-me-down clothes. We have 4 girls and one boy, so the girls get a lot of hand-me-downs. I keep the clothes in good condition. Also, I keep an eye out on Craigslist, Freecycle, and Facebook groups, as well as checking out Goodwill and The Salvation Army. Sometimes you can find some GREAT stuff for better prices. The oldest and youngest do get more new clothes than the middle kids, but the middle kids get new stuff, too. I also sell the clothes that no one else will be able to use for a few bucks here and there to get them new clothes.

2. I make our dinners. All of them. From scratch. We rarely eat out, and while that kind of sucks for the husband and myself, it works for all of us. I'm able to incorporate the kids in learning measurements and help aid their counting when they help me, and I'm also able to introduce things with nutritional value a lot easier than if we were to go out. Sometimes it's pretty tough to come up with meals that works for everyone, but we use the "you get what you get" rule in this house. It works for us.

3. Any repairs on the house that can be done ourselves, we do ourselves. We also get furniture at cheap prices and fix it up ourselves to serve fully functional. Most of the stuff in our home was bought used. We can have new stuff once the kids are older and money's better, but at the end of the day it's all material.

4. For entertainment, I use a lot of crafts for the kids or get them outside playing. We go to the park or nature conservation center. We opt for free sources of entertainment.

5. I make my coffee at home. This makes the most sense because, well, I'm the only one in the house that drinks it.

6. I take my own photos of the kids. With our income taxes, we splurged to get me a good camera while weighing the pros and cons. We found that me taking the photos vs. having a professional photographer take them would be a lot cheaper. And so far, it's worked for us. I get exactly what I want as far as the photos go, plus I get them doing the things I love seeing them do. It doesn't matter if it's a bad day, because I can wait. It's unscheduled and random. I love it.

7. "Date" nights happen at home. We have a lot of DVDs (I'm talking 300+) that came from the $5 bin at Wal-Mart. We also have Netflix instant streaming. Netflix is rather unimportant, so we could do without it, but the husband and I will stay in and watch a movie with popcorn. This cuts back on the money we'd spend at a movie theater ($20+ for ONE movie? Get outta here.) and dinner, not to mention gas in the SUV.

8. For home decor, I make everything. I wish I was kidding, but I'm really not. We don't have a lot of things right now, but it's a work in progress. Occasionally, I'll get something on clearance, but typically I do it al.

9. CLEARANCE CLEARANCE CLEARANCE. I can't stress that enough. Look for major sales on anything and everything. There's a good chance you'll find something you need. That's a GREAT place to get party supplies.

10. I make our laundry soap. Trust me, this saves a bundle. I also use an HE washer and it's safe. The only difference between regular laundry detergent and HE detergent is the amount of suds - no lie.

I'm sure there's more things that I do. I'll add them as I think of them.

Impromptu Birthdays.

This sounds so bad, but we were SO unprepared for Riah's birthday. We weren't expecting the girls to be here this soon, but due to some unfortunate circumstances with their father's family, they came yesterday. We got to celebrate Riah's birthday with her, and as exhausting as it was, I LOVED it.

We let her do her presents first, because I made the cuppycakes from scratch and needed time.
She got this wicked sprinkler seal that came with a beach ball. And a bubble machine. And she was full of jumps and shouts of excitement.

And then she saw her cuppycakes. And that was a whole new level of excitement.

We sang her "happy birthday", she blew out her candles, and then the kids went to town.

Kyle and I had to get into the fun.

And then the girls had a sleepover of sorts. We laid their pillow pets and blankets in the living room and popped in Tinkerbell. They loved every minute of the "sleepover" aspect, except for Gabe crashing the party.

Not too shabby for having less than 24 hours to prepare, right?