Merry Christmas!

Its been a busy December so far, but is is a wonderful kind of busy.

I love this time of year.

I haven't posted much this month, and I am not sure how much I will post in the coming weeks.

There are cookies to bake with my kiddo, egg nog that needs drinking, a cozy fire that needs appreciating, and classic Christmas movies to watch with my hubs.

There is packing to do for a trip I am so excited about I can hardly stand it.

So many memories to make.

We are relishing this season as a family,
taking as many moments as we can to thank God for all He has given, for the gift of His Son, and looking for opportunities to show others His love.

From our family to yours:

We wish you a very Merry Christmas and may God bless you richly in the New Year!

They Slept In Happily Ever After

Only if you count 6:35 a.m. as sleeping in.

And we do.

To say that Daylight Savings threw Kendry for a loop would be an understatement. We fully expected the first week after the time change to be difficult, but even after that first week he continued to wake earlier and earlier.

As a friend of mine so aptly put it: 

the concept of Daylight Savings was obviously not proposed by a mother.

At its worst Kendry woke at 3:45 a.m. two weeks ago.

Gah!

And because it doesn't get light until 7 a.m. now, the poor kiddo can't tell the difference between the darkness at 6:45 a.m. and the darkness at 3:45 a.m.

Light sleeper that I am, I pretty much know the second Kendry wakes up.

The sound effects go something like this:

1. Light thumps as he crawls out of his bed.

2. The clicking sound of his bedroom light being turned on.

3. The unmistakable rattle of his doorknob jostling as he opens the door.

(This knob rattles so much I am about ready to knock it out with a hammer and kiss it goodbye. Seriously.)

4. The pitter-patter of little feet across the hard floor between his room and ours.

5. Softer, padded footsteps as he crosses the carpet to my side of the bed.

(Why is it always MY side? Like Daddy is off duty or something?!)

6. And finally, the sound of another human being staring at you while you sleep pretend to sleep.
With his face a mere foot away from yours.

You know the sound I'm talking about.
Its eery.

Naturally, we usher Kendry back to bed and tell him its not time to get up yet, at which point he proceeds to doze off for 15 minutes (if we're lucky), and then come marching back into our bedroom again, certain it must be time to get up now.

Repeat this process a few more times between 3:45 a.m. and 6:00 a.m.

Thumps.   Click!   Rattle rattle.   Pitter-patter.   Eery stare.

Usually around the fifth cycle we scream "Uncle!" and padlock the kiddo's door shut with him inside.

Not really.

But don't think the thought hasn't crossed my mind.


No, at some point we conclude that it is simply going to be that kind of a day and, ever so reluctantly, we get up.

And, if you're genius parents like we are, you pour your morning coffee, plant your kiddo in front of some 5:30 a.m. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, ponder how many other sleep-deprived parents are doing the exact same thing at that very moment because why else would Mickey be on at 5:30 a.m. unless there are kiddos awake to watch it...

...then log on to Amazon and order this clever little contraption:

Teach Me Time Talking Alarm Clock and Nightlight

How genius is this?
This clock glows a really light yellow throughout the night, a sort of nightlight if you will.
When it hits the preset time (aka: the very earliest time Mommy and Daddy will allow the kiddo out of bed) the light yellow switches into a bright green.*

"It is now okay to leave your room, Kendry."

It doesn't really say that, but thats what I envision my kiddo saying to himself when he sees the green.

We have it set for 6:35 a.m.
A much better alternative to 3:45 a.m., don't you think?

Three of the last four days Kendry has succeeeded in staying in his room until getting the "green light" to come out.

And that is how peace has been restored to our mornings.

Except now the pattern goes like this:

Thumps.   Click!   Rattle rattle.   Pitter-patter.   Eery stare.

"Mom! My clock is green! Come see!"

Shouting before 6:45 a.m.?

Oh well.
You can't win 'em all.

*In case you can't tell by the product name, this clock is also designed to help your older kiddo learn to tell time.

Wordless Wednesday

HO!   HO!   HO!

Ten on Tuesday

{1}

Sorry for being MIA lately.

We have had so much fun simply enjoying this time of year that I haven't stopped long enough to blog about any of it.

Hopefully this post will update you on a few of our goings on.

{2}

Thanksgiving at the Gimlin House was fantabulous!
The food was dee-lish, the company wonderful, and the kiddos mischievous (more on that later).
There was no Black Friday shopping for us; we were too busy hightailing it up to Quincy to spend the rest of the holiday weekend with our friends and chillin' at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Like I said, fantabulous!

{3}

Last weekend the three of us ran in the Santa 5k Fun Run in Clarkston.

We love getting outside and doing active things as a family.

For the second half of the race Kendry was begging for me to let him out of the BOB so he could run too.

Maybe next year.

{4}
Happy birthday to my big sister, Jaimee!
See you in a few weeks, sis!

{5}

After two weeks of Kendry waking by 5am (yawn!), we spent $30 on a kiddo alarm clock which will arrive in the mail this week. Then the other night at bedtime we told him firmly "you stay in bed until mommy and daddy come to get you."

He slept until 7am the next two mornings, and since then he hasn't been up earlier than 6:30am.

Apparently we weren't giving our kiddo enough credit for his ability to follow basic instructions.

Next up: instructing him on how to do his own laundry.

{6}

Hooray for finally making my own Christmas tree skirt!

This has seriously been years in the making - or rather, I thought about doing it for years and finally got around to it this month.

Here is the tutorial I used.

Ruffles, ruffles, ruffles, ruffles...
(Think Meg Ryan in Sleepless in Seattle singing: "Horses, horses, horses, horses...")

I already had the canvas drop cloth ($7) and all the fabric (old linen curtains that I machine-washed when I should have dry cleaned  -oops!-  and a little burlap), so this project was a bargain.

Just cut and hot glue...and hot glue...and hot glue.

I'm not gonna lie, this one took some time to assemble.

But I love it!

 

{7}

Next week Kendry will participate in his very first Christmas program. We can't wait to see if he will be the kiddo covering his face with his hands so the audience won't see him, or the kiddo screaming the songs two inches from the microphone.

I'm hoping for the latter.


 

{8}

The paper chain countdown for our plane trip to Alaska is getting shorter and shorter...

Kendry loves ripping another link off each day and counting the remaining links.

Then he proceeds to jump around and shout "We're going on the airplane!"

Excited much?

 

{9}

Sappy Christmas novels and Hallmark movies (and commercials) make my world go round.

{10}

This Week's Blessing:
The hubs put up our Christmas lights and even added more this year.
Plus, he made me three of these 'trees' with our wire tomato stands:


source

Our house looks so festive!

Here With Us

This time of year our local Christian radio station mixes Christmas songs into their regular music.
Every time they play this song I am moved to tears.


"Heaven's love reaching down to save the world..."


Thank you, Father, for the gift of Your Son, our Savior.

Here With Us

~Joy Williams~

It's still a mystery to me
That the hands of God could be so small,

How tiny fingers reaching in the night

Were the very hands that measured the sky

Hallelujah, hallelujah

Heaven's love reaching down to save the world

Hallelujah, hallelujah

Son of God, Servant King,

You're here with us

You're here with us

It's still a mystery to me, oh,

How His infant eyes have seen the dawn of time

How His ears have heard an angel's symphony,

But still Mary had to rock her Savior to sleep

Hallelujah, hallelujah

Heaven's love reaching down to save the world

Hallelujah, hallelujah

Son of God, Servant King

Here with us

You're here with us

Jesus the Christ, born in Bethlehem

A baby born to save, to save the souls of man

Hallelujah, hallelujah

Heaven's love reaching down to save the world

Hallelujah, hallelujah

Son of God, Servant King

You're here with us

You're here with us