Merry Christmas!

I want to wish everyone a very joyous and prosperous Christmas!

 

May your heart be filled with the spirit, generosity and kindness of the season.

I want to wish all my friends, family, readers and fellow bloggers a very joyous and prosperous Christmas! May the sun shine bright, your love be strong and your spirit filled with the generosity and kindness of the season.

(Recycled) Christmas Crafts!

Burned out Christmas lights

Well, here we are a few days from Christmas and I *almost* got all the things on my "to do" crafting list accomplished. However, I didn't get to share them for a few reasons (I really wanted to, I'm so happy with what we've accomplished). First and foremost being married to a photographer has it's benefits... It also has it's pitfalls. Namely, December is a really popular month for people wanting pictures. So although my stuff is a priority people who pay with more than cookies and kisses take the front seat. Then, my dear husband, threw his back out and was laid up for a good many days.

Milk carton villages!

But I did take a few "during the process" snaps that I'll share and who knows, maybe I can make proper tutorials before next Christmas!

 Snowflakes from old letterhead!

The burned out Christmas lights I had from the hanging of our outdoor lights and all the rage right now is to make them pretty by dousing them with glitter. I did 8 bulbs, 5 of which I added magnets too and are now adorning our refrigerator!  The main issue I have, as pretty as they are, is the glitter shed! I looked for from Diamond Glaze but it's only available at a few stores in my area and I wasn't going to drive 1/2 an hour to find some. They look great and absolutely pop against my white fridge.

We also built a milk carton village. It is absolutely my favourite thing we did this year! We have five houses in our village and they are adorable. We added flame-less candles and they have been twinkling the night away since early December.

Snowflakes - who doesn't love them? Even though we are under snow here for typically six months of the year, it's fun and simple to make paper snowflakes. TroubleMaker is a pro with his scissors and with a simple square folded, it's a breeze for him to make unique and creative snow flakes.

So this is what we've been up to this month - what have you been doing to make Christmas fun and crafty?

The Little Philanthropist

I've got many reasons to be proud of my son (doesn't every mother?) but sometimes, if it's possible, he makes me more proud than usual. Before I get there, though, let me rewind the clock a bit...

A few weeks before last Christmas, we saw a television commercial for an aid agency that helped children in Africa. He turned and said to his father and I "Mommy, why don't they go to the store and buy food?". We explained to him that they didn't have money to buy food. With out missing a beat, he declared that we needed to help them get food. He didn't judge, he didn't say "get a job", he took it at face value and knew, deep in his heart, that the only thing to do was help another human being.

Help he has... With the help of his friends, he raised 19 kilograms of food at his 4th birthday party. His generosity continued through the year but with the Christmas season approaching again, his desire to help out came to the forefront.

He expressed his concern about helping out other kids this Christmas. We explained to him that not every family who wishes to celebrate Christmas could celebrate. We asked how he'd feel if he woke Christmas morning only to realize Mommy and Daddy couldn't afford to get him a present. He decided he had to help a family in need. We planned a Christmas dinner and decided to donate toys for a kid his age to the local Santa's Anonymous.

Today, we delivered our dinner to our local Food Bank and dropped the toys in the bin at the shopping centre. Just a fun fact; today, his donation weighed more than he did!

So yes, I am proud, enormously proud of him. Proud because he gets it, proud he understands he is part of the community, the province, the country, the world. Proud that he understands that it is his social responsibility to help out his fellow human beings. Proud that he understands that he can't have everything he wants. Proud that at his core, he is four years old and although he knows it is important to help, he's not above temper tantrums, stalling at bedtime and shoulder rides to bed.

This is my Merry Christmas and seeing the world through his eyes makes it the merriest one yet.

Our food bank was so happy to see a young friend, they tweeted his donation.

Bad Mommy... Happy birthday to the Wonder Schnauzer!

I realized as I was putting TroubleMaker to bed that December 13th passed with out a thought.

What does this mean? It means I forgot my first baby boy's 13th birthday. His GOLDEN birthday. I suck in an epic way.

The only relief is that baby boy #1 won't know I forgot and as per TroubleMaker's suggestion, we shall party tomorrow!

Happy birthday, Cortaillod High River Maximilian Finnegan! I love you (even if I forgot your birthday)!

Menu Plan Monday - December 17 to 28, 2012

Brennan's Christmas Picture (Blackstone Images)

Trying to get ahead of the game with planning the next couple of weeks so I only have to do a small shop right before Christmas... I don't like the crowds so I'm happier being home right around Christmas. I also don't like that it's so close to Christmas. I really, really like the lead up to Christmas and realizing that I can plan my menus up to and past Christmas day makes me a little sad.

December 17 to 23
Monday (17) - Chicken and Mushroom Linguine
Tuesday (18) - Burrito Bake
Wednesday (19) - KD and fish sticks
Thursday (20) - Chicken Caesar Wraps
Friday (21) - Assorted sub sandwiches
Saturday (22) - Crock pot BBQ meatballs, baked potatoes, corn on the cob
Sunday (23) - Pizza





December 24 to 28
Monday (24) - Mom's Ham, Gramma's buns, cheese platter
Tuesday (25) - Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, veggies
Wednesday (26) - left over buffet!
Thursday (27) Maple glazed pork roast, baked mashed potatoes
Friday (28) - Perogies and ham sausage

Linking up with the Org Junkie's Menu Plan Monday! Thanks for stopping by and Happy Christmas!

Currently - December 12, 2012

This week, Brennan is currently...

Reading... Curious George's Christmas Countdown

Listening to... Holiday's Rule!

Hating... His eye drops for pink eye 

Laughing... At the new episodes of Curious George on PBS!

Ignoring... Me, when I tell him it's time for eye drops!

Brennan's mom is currently...

Reading... Kate Morton's The Secret Keeper
Listening to... Holiday's Rule!
Hating... Giving Brennan his eye drops!
Laughing... At being the healthiest person in our house!
Ignoring... The pile of stuff I have to do yet before Christmas!

Linking up with...

Optimism is for someone else!

Typically, I'm a happy, glass always full kind of person. Certainly, I get "down" and have off days but for the most part, I'm sunshine and rainbows...

Mostly, today, I'm not. I'm all angry eyes, death ray stares, F bomb dropping, punching Tickle Me Elmo in the face, flipping off little old ladies and drive through the puddle to splash the kid on crutches kind of not happy.

Is it stress? Is it hormones? Is it pain? I don't know but I'm not a very happy camper which means no one with in 20 feet of me is happy either.

This too shall pass... I hope... I miss my unicorn.