Peace Out

Not that I blog consistently these days anyway, but I did want to let my avid readers know that I will not be posting again until after the new year. I'm sick, I'm tired, and I have an over-extender personality that just won't quit. It's my own doing.

But before I go.... :-)

I do want to throw some thoughts out about the holidays and having children. This year has been filled with uncertainty for me mostly in regards to Lila. How much does she understand? How do I instill a giving heart while indulging in my own secret love of Santa? How do I not let the commercialization of Christmas take over?

I read a blog in the past couple of weeks about how this family was bringing the Christ back to Christmas. Santa left the premises and all things Christmas were centered around the spiritual and giving nature that Christmas was intended to be. I wish I could remember the blog so I could accurately quote some of it. It was very well written. Anyway, the mom of this large family (or rather the parents I guess) decided to make this change while some of their children had already spent years of their lives leaving cookies out and throwing carrots in the yard. They were trying to undo years of what they had started in the first place. I applaud their efforts, but struggle with the validity of what they are trying to do and how much their kids will resent them for making such a big switch concerning such a big thing...something they themselves had originally made into a big thing.

Now I'm babbling. All of this is to say that I feel like there has to be a clear and solid balance. Someone has to have mastered it and I need that someone to step forward. In thinking about my own childhood I can tell you three things: 1) I knew Christmas was Jesus' birthday 2) I got more gifts from Santa than I could even begin to count 3) I got a lot more than I gave. In no way would I ever fault my parents for how they did things. I would say parenting these days involves a great deal more over thinking that it ever did when we were growing up. But, that's not to say that I don't want to think about things and really decide how it should go now before Lila starts to fully remember how it's been. Does that make sense?

She's two and a half so Jesus to her is someone in a storybook. Sometimes he's a baby and sometimes he's a man. He's also the main part of one of her favorite songs. That's the extent of it. Santa is a big jolly (albeit scary in person) man that will one day bring her presents. This part, above all of course, is on her mind daily. We took some toys to be donated but naturally she does not understand the "kids who have no toys" situation. We went to the dollar aisle and I let her pick out gifts for everyone in our family. She loved wrapping them and talking about who is getting what. We have made gifts together for neighbors, friends, and even daddy. But, at the end of the day she is still too young to understand a whole lot.

Therefore, I'm thinking ahead. What will I do differently next year? What will I do the same? How on Earth can I make Christmas about Christ and giving when I love the magic of Santa, elves, and reindeer? I mean, I am uber excited about having an elf on the shelf! If you've successfully done it or know someone who has please give me a shout. Because once Christmas is over chances are good I won't take/make the time to get a good grasp until around Thanksgiving next year.

Love you all and I hope this holiday leaves you feeling fat, happy, and blessed!

Pins and videos

First, a pin or two...

...the pin:

Our version...

The Snow White figurine came from our advent stocking calendar. She was less than pleased once the jar was sealed. In fact, she got downright mad about it and wanted Snow White to be evacuated immediately. I had decided that this would become a Christmas tradition. We will make a snow globe every year. Note to self: use a figurine that does not belong to my kids.

The pin...

...my version. However, since the pin was just a google image I didn't have a tutorial. I used fabric glue (which you can see in some places). This means I have no idea how it will look after washing. But it looks pretty darn cute right now :-)

I am not feeling too great and I need to get some sleep. So, I am going to leave you with some videos because who doesn't love videos of silly kids? I do want to say welcome to the world Cole (Trickle) Alexander! We love you more than you could ever know sweet baby.

Reason number 86 why my child is weird:

The next five videos are of Evie (Lila's in there a little too). This is probably overkill but she cracks me up. The last two really showcase the voice she has found.











And these two are just fun hanging out videos. Happy Friday ya'll!

How was your weekend?

Many, many times on this blog I have stated that I believe single parenthood is for saints and angels. Those of you who do it simply amaze me. Seth was in town this weekend, but he had a lot going on. In no way am I complaining. How could I? Not only does he do SO much for me, but he's raising money for charity by running longer than anyone should ever contemplate running. If I did complain that makes me kind of a raging you know what right? It's cool though. I was good with it because we had fun things planned. That is until the Christmas tree fell over (twice), the vacuum cleaner died, and Lila got pink eye (in both eyes). All of this was discovered within the first hour that I woke up on Saturday.

As I said, I'm not lodging a complaint here or trying to make you feel sorry for me. I just thoroughly enjoy those comedy of errors type stories you know? My thinking is, you might enjoy them too. In which case, it's only fair that I share it with you.

Sometime last week we decorated the biggest, fattest tree that we could find at Home Depot. When we saw it there we chuckled and put it down. But my heart knew we were going back to it. Every year we get a tree that will logically fit well in our house. It's usually smaller than I want it to be. I usually get home and enjoy our tree. But in the back of my mind I'm always wishing we had been a little more adventurous. Enter the big fat tree of 2011. It was cold, Lila was with us, and in an instant I knew it was game face time. I told Seth I wanted the big fat tree. He chuckled and agreed. I asked him if we were crazy and he said something like, "this is what we do right?". So we did it.

When we got home with it and let it begin to settle it became comical. We sat here randomly glancing at each other and giggling at our monstrous tree in our average, low ceilings house. That was Wednesday. Thursday night we decorated it. It wasn't until Saturday morning (or rather Friday in the middle of the night) that it fell. Seth got up super early to eat something before his EIGHTEEN MILE run and found it at which point he stood it back up and went back to bed. When he got up for real to go run I was getting up too and there it was on the floor again. I frantically tried to pick up pieces and vacuum before Lila woke up wanting to help. Then the vacuum decided it's job no longer consisted of sucking things up. Mind you, at this point Evie is losing her mind because she hates the sound of the vacuum (yes it runs...just doesn't do anything else). Lila is crawling out of bed looking like a train wreck. If a toddler could look hungover that's how she looked.

I immediately started getting us all ready for breakfast with Santa at Lila's school. It wasn't until I was actually getting Lila ready that I saw the green nasties in her eyes. I had noticed the dark circles already but just assumed she didn't get enough sleep due to her aversion to going to bed. My neighbor kindly brought over her vacuum and informed me Lila probably had pink eye. I have zero experience with pink eye. I mean, I'm aware it pretty much jumps on you from thirty feet away if someone has it. Other than that I didn't really know what it looked like.

Being the good parent that I am, we went to the pediatrician instead of breakfast with Santa. I wish I had taken a picture of my children all decked out in Christmas garb at the pediatrician's office. Oddly, we weren't the only ones missing a special breakfast. The place was crazy and there was a very large family of decked out kids and a tired mom that didn't look that different from us.

Needless to say, the pink eye is going away. The vacuum may be fixable. The tree has a new, wider, metal stand. All is well with the Burrow household. I love our tree. I'm sitting her smiling just glancing at it and I haven't even put the ornaments back on it yet!

Pinterest is blowing up my blog!

Here are a few of my feelings (phrases stolen from others of course) about Pinterest....

courtesy of Somewhere in the Middle

It's pretty interesting to me how quickly a website can become a major obsession for so many. Twitter, Facebook, and now Pinterest (it's getting to that point I promise) to name a few. For people like me who like to make things, cook things, and generally be creative Pinterest is the definition of overwhelming.

One thing I can say that I have done and seem to continue to do is use ideas for the girls. If I was still teaching I'm pretty sure Pinterest would make my head explode. But when you're just talking about two toddlers it's incredibly manageable. Two year olds simply can and cannot do a specific set of things. The field is narrowed dramatically therefore leaving me with a reasonable number of options.

If you recall I said weeks ago that Fridays would be the day I illustrated how something I pinned came to life. And I think I stuck to that for one, maybe two, Fridays. Today we will play catch up. Nothing like Christmas to bring out the get it done spirit!

SIDE NOTE - What I also love about Pinterest is that when you do complete something it doesn't have to be exact, perfect, or really anywhere near what the other person did. It's about inspiration.

Did you know you can order online from Hobby Lobby? I didn't...until I went searching for places online to order felt off of a bolt instead of in small sheets. I hate going to Joann's. It's not close and with two kids I just can't be bothered. Felt is SUPER cheap. When I pinned this I knew I would do it simply for that reason. The actual doing part of this was somewhat of a happy accident. I had grand plans of cutting out ornaments the night before. But that didn't happen. So I sat on the floor in the den and cut out the tree. We hung the tree in the playroom and went back to the den. I traced the ornaments on the template and then realized that was a pain. I then began asking each little chickie what color and shape she wanted. I would quickly cut it out, hand it to her, and send her on the treck (because my house is so big) to the playroom to "hang" it on the tree. That gave me barely enough time to make the next ornament for whichever little one was still standing there. It was a bit chaotic and quick, but they LOVED it. We got to doing letters for their names and it was like I was Santa himself with each ornament. Due to the nature of the activity I only got a picture of the end result...

The pin...

The pin in action (sorry for the horrible picture quality)...

After that worked out so well I decided to keep it up! This activity involves two pins!!! I know. I'm such an over achiever. I'm telling you though. I wouldn't be doing this stuff if it wasn't easy.

I've been thinking a lot about teaching the spirit of Christmas and how difficult that can be with a two year old. To her Christmas is presents. To any toddler it really is just that. They understand the immense excitement and joy of getting gifts. They don't understand that it's a special day about Jesus and that giving is as amazing as receiving. My goal is to at least start with the giving part at this age. I want her to feel as fulfilled by giving as she does by receiving.

That being said, we made gifts today! I saw this pin...

...and while it would be perfect for Father's day it works for any day I think. Unfortunately I was running very low on finger paints. It's a good thing there are a million pins about making your own. I used this one...

There were major tweaks to this one, but it turned out perfectly in the end. The girls picked their hand color and then painted for AN HOUR. Longest continuous activity in my house to date. And, two pins in one. Bam!!!

Carson doesn't usually love finger painting or getting messy. I guess the actual two year old (happy birthday sweet girl!) is coming out in her. She went to town!!!

We actually ended up putting them in frames and wrapping them. The girls liked wrapping just as much as painting. Lila literally fell all over herself to give Seth his gift. She was so proud and so excited. I just love when things I try to do work out so well!

But...you can't win 'em all.
I found this little treat and immediately thought it was risky but so cute...

Lila LOVES puzzles and things similar to this. She also loves M&Ms (Seth's doing). Match made in heaven right? Ok, maybe not ideal for more than once in a blue moon. It uses quite a lot of M&Ms. But, I also wanted to see how she would do with some self control practice. I printed the template, got the M&Ms, and while Evie was napping we gave it a go. The ones you see below are as far as she got. This was not due to the expected desire to eat them all. I hate to say I have imparted a bit of perfectionism on her. It has taken me a while to even sometimes get over it when things don't go as I think they should. She would lay an M&M on the paper and they would wiggle and slide some when she would put the next one down. So she'd grab them and start over. She got frustrated and just started playing with them and organizing them on the blanket. I tried to talk her through it. Then she got so caught up in playing with them in a different way that I just let it go. Maybe she was thinking outside of the box anyway!

As if you haven't already gotten bored with this blog post, I have more!!! I tried to make a wreath. It turned out ok (hear that perfectionism seeping out). I used two pins again which seems more exciting than the actual wreath being made.

And here's how mine ended up...

It's kind of skinny and kind not round. But, it's done and will do :-) 

Ok, I'm tapping out. Sorry for the deluge of nonsense. But I can't promise there isn't more coming...