Joy to the World

I've never really been "busy" during the holiday season, but this year turned out different.

Christmas concerts - in which I was roped into playing and not just being a parent - x4

Family Christmas celebrations - which are not yet finished - x4

Friends and family over to eat and hang out - x2

Special Christmastime music performances - x3

Shopping - which I actually finished last week - go me

Forcing child to make Christmas present (this was by far my personal favorite)

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Yesterday was our anniversary - #7 - the year of copper and wool... he got me jewelry and i got him a book. :) haha

But seriously, a little shout out to Steve and his wonderfulness and how much I love him. aww.

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Today it's a cappucino pot roast (hope it tastes good) and tomorrow it's homemade pizza. Yum.

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Looking for a Christmas Eve candlelight service that isn't too late so Rose can go too... who knew it would be so hard!

Christmas Miracles

I like to overuse this phrase during this time of year (apparently)...

today's Christmas miracle was going to B&N and then the mall with both girls, and no one (including me) having fits...

Life was in some ways a lot easier when I could strap them both into a stroller and just go. Today, we used the umbrella stroller, which even Rose is a little too big for, and went for it. Actually got quite a bit done.

A Christmas Miracle.

Willow Tells the Christmas Story

The scene: Willow is "reading" from her children's bible to Rose

Willow would "read" a "section" from the bible, and then she would tell Rose to sing, so Rose would sing some Christmas song (Steve doesn't remember what it was)

(you know, they always do these things when I'm not around)

The Christmas Story

**as told by Willow to Rose...and conveyed from Steve to me**

There was a woman named Mary, and an angel disappeared.

Mary was pregnant, but she wasn't married.

So she went to Bess-a-hem and had the baby.

A Visit With Paka and Grammy

We just spent a few days w/ Paka and Grammy... lots of fun was had.

here we are posing for the camera

saturday morning we went to a pancake breakfast at the fire station... the girls got to have their picture taken w/ Santa... at first Rose was scared...but after she adjusted, she went right up w/ Mrs. Claus to sit on his lap for the picture. very cute. if i figure out the scanning, i'll share at some point.

back to Thursday night, Willow and I had a violin concert, so Paka and Grammy had special time w/ Rose...all went well... and both Paka and Rose survived. :)

we also went to see 'Princess the Frog' - Rose's first movie in a theatre... a good, but very typical disney movie...really creepy bad guy, a parent dies, etc... but i don't think it's any worse than any other disney movie...

so a busy but fun few days w/ the grandparents.

today, we tried a new church - a vineyard not too far from us - and it was a much better experience than that other place we went. they've been around for a few years, but are small. the people were very friendly, and the girls enjoyed their class. the things that stuck out to us as "needing tweaking" if you will...are things that i can have more grace for b/c they're growing and small... reminded me a lot of BRV - order of service, etc... so yeah, i'm rambling, but it was a good first experience. we'll see. i'm ready to get plugged in and meet people and have more community.

Community Now!

one last note...after all this time of punishing myself with exercise...i have finally gone down a pant size...in one brand, and one style...but still, i will take that and run with it. WOOHOO! now i weigh what i did after willow was born. haha. oh well...good thing i'm starting to like that exercise stuff... (what did i just say???)

Less Stress

I realize that I haven't really blogged anything "worthwhile" in a long time... just "here's what's happening in life" kind of stuff...

hmm.

I guess there's a reason for that. haha!

I suppose one thing is that I've stopped biting my nails...which to me might indicate that I don't feel stressed anymore...or at least not as much...

so there's your deep stuff...

Our search for a church got off to a poo start. That's right. a poo start. We'll try again next week...surely there is one for us in this area that we won't have to drive a long way for...

I got to see my maid of honor this weekend - it's been like 3 years - and it was so wonderful to see her. *sniff*

my beloved sweet flower is really putting me through the ringer - she can be so sensitive and sweet...and then like 2 seconds later we're asking "where's the pea soup?" (of course a reference to the exorcist)...(and no, i don't actually think my child is demon possessed...but boy can she scream)

the other little blessing is doing well...but is really learning the maneuvers of being passive aggressive. hooray! i called my mom to vent about our violin practice time...and my mom's response (again) was..."well, she can't be as bad as you were"...to which i said "mom, she is. i may have thrown my violin across the room, but she purposefully "dropped" hers thus popping out the bridge"...it's that same underlying attitude, she just expresses it differently.

i think my next culinary quest might be to make tamales...but they're involved...so for the skidmore family dinner, i plan on just buying them.... but i really want to try my hand at them. doesn't look hard, just time consuming.

my last thought... i was getting very frustrated that target and walmart did not seem to have any non-blonde barbies... (hello...other hair colors? other ethnicities? anyone?)... but apparently toys r us is the place to go for that... they're not quite as cheap, but at least they carry them. i'll spare you the full force of my rant on multi-cultural toys today...

Pictures

The first Christmas concert of the season...

posing at Granny's house...

Settled and Cooking

* roasted my first turkey today - turned out delicious... nice to try it without the stress of a "holiday" meal... stuffed it w/ onions and garlic...rubbed the outside w/ olive oil, lawry's seasoned salt, and poultry seasoning

* house is officially done... will take pictures soon. hooray!!!

*steve's job situation: he's got a long-term sub position thru the end of the semester (possibly longer)

* rose is talking so much - but is so frustrated when she's not understood - must remember "this too shall pass"...hopefully...

* christmas countdown starts tomorrow...our daily activities will include: reading from the bible and talking about the nativity set... looking for the christmas elves who hid during the night...checking the advent calendar (it's the kind w/ doors) for treats from the christmas elves...willow is excited...VERY excited... but rose probably has no idea :)

* next on my plate... how to use kale, green onion, lots of turkey..not necessarily all at the same time... we'll see what i come up with.