Our Christmas Stocking Tradition

I LOVE our stockings and thought it would be fun to share our tradition.  

I like the idea of them being similar, but not the exact same.  I do like uniqueness.  So when Adam was a baby we bought a bunch (I think 6, 2 each of red, blue, and green) of plain stockings.  If I remember right they were from Target.  I used iron on letters to put Mom, Dad, Adam, and later on Noelle on them.  (I can't wait to make Lily's next year!!)  Every year we each make a trip to JoAnn's or Michael's to pick out charms that signify the year for each of us.  It's always fun and the kids look forward to it.  Justin, Adam, and I each have 8 charms/decoration sets now and Noelle has 5.

Since we don't have a fireplace or even a wall shelf this is how we hang them.

Charlotte's - the word "mother", heart lock and key, sewing scissors, fairy, dog, snowflakes, pink "baby" circle, and giraffe.

Justin's - the word "father", gears, grad cap, giraffe, castle, dragon, dog, and an "Adam" birth certificate (the rectangle thing you can't make out well).

Adam's - birth certificate, hand print, bat glove ball set, turtle, baseball glove, and I think the other three are all dragons.

Noelle's - pink and white striped onepiece, elephant, giraffe, teddy bear, and cat with heart paw prints.

Justin, Noelle, and I all chose a Giraffe charm for our trip to the Maryland Zoo where we got to spend a ton of time feeding and petting the Giraffes.  Adam chose a turtle this year since he really like them.

Sewing like crazy

I have been sewing and crafting like crazy this last month.  Here's what I have made so far:

Bean Bags:  These are made using two 5"x5" pieces of quilting fabric (for strength and durability) and 2/3 cup dried beans.  Noelle's bags are different on the two sides, but still have a matching bag.  So there are 5 sets.  Adam's have the same fabric on both sides of each 5 sets.

Noelle's

Adam's

My nephew, Ethan, asked for a Super Mario Mushroom Pillow for Christmas.  Justin made the pattern and cut it out.  He also hand stitched the 'shine' of the eyes onto the black and the eyes onto the cream face.  (I am not big on hand stitching/sewing anything, I much prefer my machine.)  I did all the rest of the sewing.  The 4 white circles are a soft felt and the rest is regular cotton.  The only issue I ran into was getting the circles onto the curved sides, that was challenging.  It should be machine washable if necessary, but since it will be stuffed I wouldn't recommend it.  I think it came out to be about 1 1/2ft x 1 1/2 ft.  Since this had to be shipped with other gifts to New Jersey my MIL Michele agreed to stuff it and finish sewing the seam left open in order to do so.  Thanks again Michele!!

Fleece hats:  Again, Justin made the patterns and did all of the cutting.  He also hand stitched the eyes on Totoro.  These are mostly fleece with some felt embellishment (teeth, eyes, horns), they are also lined with fleece.  They are VERY warm!  The One Eyed Monster is for my nephew Ethan and Totoro is for my niece Mary.

This was supposed to be a horse, but when I got it all sewn it looked more like Totoro.  So there you go.

 Bookmarks:  I cross-stitched a Tinkerbell bookmark for Noelle and Finished the back in a purple cotton left over from her baby bedding.  I have not finished Adam's yet, but his is a Pirate and will be finished with a red bandanna backing (leftover from King's Day).  I have also made, and have several left to make, quite a few other bookmarks made from good quality quilting fabric.  No pictures yet though since they are surprises.

Okay, so this one wasn't sewn and only took about 5 minutes.  I thought of it all by myself and really like how it turned out though, so I wanted to share.  I used some green twine/thread rope stuff I found at Archiver's along with 10 red mini clothes pins to make this Christmas Card Clothesline for the cards we have received.  I tied each clothespin onto the rope through the hole in the spring so that they would stay equal distances apart. The clothespins are approx. 6 inches apart and there is 12 inches of extra at each end.

I have since added a few cards and it is more filled out and looks great!

Justin really wants to make some more fleece hats, but I need a little break from my sewing machine one I finish up a few more bookmarks.  I do have a few projects that have to get done before about mid-January though.  I really want to make Noelle a t-shirt for her Birthday again.  She was really into Mickey Mouse last year so I sewed a Mickey patch onto a red t-shirt and wrote her name by it.  She LOVES the shirt and still wears it every week.  I need to figure out what she would like this year though.  I also have a few projects I would like to make for Lily.  I want to make her a onesie with her name and, hopefully, a lily on it.  I also really want to make at least one of these dresses and a couple of these changing pads for when we are not at home.

Wish me luck getting the rest of my projects done!!

December Fun

We started December off big with a visit with Santa at the Cordova house.  The kids always love this and it is a nice relaxing night for everyone.  We had 6 kids this year, but only the older 4 were willing to visit with Santa and tell him what they wanted.  A HUGE thanks to the Westminster Fire Department for this wonderful program!!

Adam whispered xbox in Santa's ear.  Good luck buddy, good luck!

Noelle insisted on giving Santa cookies.

Her requests - a new Wii (ours is currently not turning on) and a new truck for Grandpa Ron.  I assumed my Dad was telling her to ask for that.  Nope, she thought of it all by herself.  LOL!

We had LOTS of snow at the very beginning of the month.  The kids constantly wanted to be outside playing and sledding in the backyard.

Justin decided that Shadow needed a scarf just like himself and the kids.

Adam had a pack meeting toward the beginning of the month as well.  Noelle went to stay with a babysitter by herself so that I could attend.  The older boys put on a variety of puppet shows and all the boys were given their latest badges, belt loops, and pins.

He was very proud of all his achievements!!

He received belt loops/pins for Reading and Writing, Computers, and Art, two arrow points, a popcorn badge, and his Bobcat deal which he has earned 2 beads for so far.  Each bead represents 3 things they have earned so far.

Noelle had a Holiday Program with her daycare.  It was held at a local high school and was super cute.  I decided the occasion called for something more than her normal jeans and t-shirt with her face obscured by her hair look.  She actually let me do her hair and dress her up with no problem, I was very surprised.  Pictures of the actual program were really hard to get, ad lighting, but I was able to take video of all four songs her class performed.  I haven't had the time yet to edit them.  Hopefully over Christmas I can get to that.

She looked so sweet!!

With Grandpa Ron.

Hi! We're still here!

Between working FT and being pregnant I am just having a hard time keeping up.  My entire life gets posted to FB, but since this takes more effort it is harder to get to.

GD - I was diagnosed with gestation diabetes on the Monday before Thanksgiving.  HUGE bummer.  My 1 hour number was 244 and they want you under 140.  Of course, I have very little self control when presented with free donuts.  I had 2 before the test, oops!  The doctor refuses to let me take the 3 hour test, she says she wouldn't trust it since my original number was so high.  I have HUGE doubts that I really have GD,  but am willing to eat better for Lily.

Thanksgiving - We had a nice relaxing day at home.  Justin's brother Derrick, sister Jenna, and her bf Grant joined us for dinner.  It was very low key and easy.  All the food was delicious and I even got a little cupcake sized pumpkin pie!!

It was a gorgeous day so the kids spent a couple hours doing this:

Uncle Derrick started teaching Adam about skateboarding: 

Can't forget the great food:

On Friday we went to lunch with my Step-mom Sheri and visited The Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster.  We had lots of fun looking at all the insects and butterflies.  Noelle liked the starfish, but Adam said he liked the butterflies best.  I left the camera at home so all the pictures were taken on our phones.  Sorry for any blurry images.

Justin and both of the kids held Rosie the Tarantula.  I pulled the "I'm pregnant" card.

They have a hands on kids play area that was also fun:

The zip line was a HUGE hit:

Who wants to get me a pair of these?  I look AWESOME!!  (Please ignore the grumpy guy in the background, doesn't he know you are supposed to be having fun!)

My little butterflies.  LOL!!

At some point we decorated the tree, I don't recall when, but it was later than normal.  We also made a trip to Hallmark for ornaments.  We each get to pick 1 every year.  I have a series that I get but everyone else just randomly picks what they like.

My wonderful friend Michelle took the time to take family pictures of us as well.  Once I get the Christmas cards sent out I'll share the pictures.

That takes care of the rest of November.  Since early December will also be picture heavy I'll make a new post for it.

What Noelle is Thankful For

Today was Noelle's Thanksgiving feast at school.  Justin was able to work from home in order to join her for the festivities.  It sounds like they both really enjoyed it, despite Noelle not wanting Justin to leave afterwards.

This was on the wall in her classroom:

Yes, it really does say, "I am thankful for having a clean Dad."  LOL!  I'm not sure how she came about that idea and what Dad she has encountered that isn't very clean.  I have no clue what the "dishes" part is all about.  Hmm...

On My Mind

Too much!!  That's what's on my mind.


1- I checked the Department of Child Care Services website today and noticed my complaint is filed as "founded" with a severity of 2 (serious), which means "Gross violation of ratios or serious physical injury have been reported."  I'm satisfied with that and it's time to move on.


2- You might be interested to know that I suck at communicating with my husband.  And since he doesn't take criticism well I end up keeping things to myself in order to avoid a fight.  I'm a great communicator with friends and the parent's of children I care for.  Just not when it comes to my husband (or parents).  I often have to find other ways to relieve the tension I feel and hold in regarding problems with Justin.  Writing it out works for me.


I'm having some frustration with my husband's handling of our children.  There, I said it.  I've always been thankful for a partner that is truly a parent with me instead of acting like a babysitter, and I still am.  I love that I am free to work in the evenings and on the weekends, go out with friends, whatever, with out worrying that he will forget to feed the kids or some other stupid thing.  (Yes, I've actually heard of this happening.)  


My (his) problem is a combination of him expecting WAY TOO MUCH and having very little patience lately.  I work so hard to keep a calm voice and have patience with the kids, I admit it freely.  It is easy with other peoples kids, but not my own.   It seems that Justin is constantly yelling/raising his voice now.  If  I can hear him loud and clear downstairs when he is in a nearly closed bathroom with a child upstairs, that's too loud!  You can't expect a child to listen when spoken to calmly if you start by yelling.  And he knows this!! The other part of that is just that he expects too much.  Noelle, at almost 5 years, is held to the same standards as her 7 1/2 year old brother.  Not cool.  I expect a lot from my kids, yes, but I try hard to be reasonable and age appropriate with it.  Adam has always been great at following directions and being responsible, but has been slacking off lately.  I'd say he is acting like a normal 7 year old, attitude and behavior wise.  (We're working on it.)  Justin is REALLY struggling with this.  Lastly, Justin has been frustrated himself by how much everyone is arguing with him.  I finally had to turn it back on him and ask him to consider if HE is the problem there.  I'm not actually having a problem with the Justin or the kids arguing with me.  So it seems to me he needs to look a little closer at his own actions in regards to all of us.  Okay, I got it out, I feel better now!  :)


3- So you know how I mentioned that I accepted the offer to stay with my current Nanny family after Little Girl is born?  Now we have to figure out salary for when I come back from Maternity leave.  Suffice it to say that we came to the table with very different thoughts on what I should be paid.  


Some background.  I work M-Th approx 34 hours a week at my employer's house.  Aside from my regular childcare duties I also do the baby's dishes and laundry, sweep, mop, vacuum, wipe down counters, dust, and 2-3 times a week I cook meals for the parent's dinner.  I am left with a recipe and all ingredients needed to prepare the meal during one of the baby's naps.  Oh, I also home make the baby food veggies.  


I am already very underpaid at under $13 an hour.  So after looking back at previous contracts I came up with a dollar amount for a new salary that would still allow me to "afford" to work.  (Hey, both daycare and B/A care are expensive!  I have to take home SOME money to make it worth my while.)  Turns out my employers were looking at it as a true Nanny share, not child bring along, in which case they would pay me $7.50 an hour.  They realize that's really low and are willing to go higher, but I gather they were thinking $9-10 an hour.  That pay would barely even cover my outgoing childcare costs I have to pay in order to go to work.  I was able to talk to the owner of the Nanny agency I usually work through (this position was through care.com, not Colorado Nanny) today.  She gave me some hints and ideas to think about and talk with the family about when they come back to me after discussing it themselves.  Wish me luck!!


I think that's it!  It feels really good to write it out and empty my head a little.

Adam's first encounter with Manga

A couple weeks ago I took the kids to the library to get their own cards.  Adam needed one as a requirement for something in Cub Scouts.  I had them each chose and check out their own books.  Adam chose a book about Sea Turtles and Pokemon Adventures Vol. 7.  He told me the book cover was backwards but I didn't really pay any attention, just gave him a quick, "Yup, it reads a little differently."  A few evenings later I glanced over while he was reading it and noticed he was 10 or so pages in to the book, BUT that he was reading it wrong.  This book is a true graphic novel written in Manga form.  It reads from left to right starting from the "back" of the book.  I asked him where he started reading and then if it was making any sense.  Of course he started at the "front" and was reading in the normal left to right fashion.  And no, it wasn't making any sense.  Justin and I had a pretty good laugh before we taught him how to read the book properly.  We flipped that poor 7 year old's world all around.  From the day our children start looking at books, writing, reading, etc, we teach them that everything is ALWAYS left to right.  Um, that's until you're old enough to read a comic book in Manga form.  I'll be curious to see if he picks another volume in the series next time we exchange books.

A Drawing by Noelle

I love this drawing that came home from daycare with Noelle recently.  She has progressed so much this school year!  For anyone who can't figure out what it says:  Momi DAD Noelle AlleN.  It's funny to me that she NEVER writes lowercase A's, no matter where in the word the "A" shows up.  It seems she has been doing the same thing with "N", even though we have shown her how to make the lowercase letters.  I'm not too sure we have actually worked on lowercase "D" though.

Over the summer I was very concerned that she didn't know her ABC's , much less the phonics part of it.  Now she knows the majority of the letters by sight and can write them, plus she knows most of the phonics.  She can even read a little!!  I'm so proud of her!