Thursday Tidbits: Gingerbread Fun!

With so much going on during the holidays we hadn't got to decorate our gingerbread house until Christmas Day.

I hadn't planned on even buying a gingerbread house kit because last years attempt went horribly awry. The walls and roof kept collapsing, there was much frustration and a few choice words on my part and we ended up throwing in the towel and just eating the pieces as they were. However, while shopping at Giant Tiger a few weeks ago with the munchkins I saw that they had gingerbread houses marked down from ten bucks to two dollars in the clearance bin. The best part? They were "PRE-ASSEMBELLED" houses, with all the fixings to decorate it included. (Second best part? A free pair of New Year's margarita-shaped, glittery eyeglasses with purchase!) It came with a bag of gum drops, a bag of colored candy beads, two bags of white frosting, and some candy canes. The house itself was already put together so all we had to do was decorate it. I figured it would be a fun little activity for the kids to do together. I kept putting off actually doing it because I was either to exhausted to bother or I just didn't want to deal with frosting everywhere and the sugar-induced craziness that followed.

Finally, on the afternoon of Christmas Day the kids asked me if they could decorate it. Since the holidays were almost over and the house was already a mess from that mornings festivities, I didn't really have any excuse for saying no. I sat them down at the coffee table with aprons on to protect their new clothes that they insisted on wearing. Chanel had not only her new clothes on but also her new coat from Old Navy that she absolutely refused to take off. I figured icing couldn't be too hard to wash off and was for the most part right, although I learned the hard way that once icing has hardened it is not so easy to get it off of a microfibre sofa. I armed them each with a small bag of icing and some candies and let them go to town.                           

An untimely demise...

 Coder had a blast decorating it and had the most adorable look of concentration on his face the entire time. He had his tongue sticking out of the corner of his oh-so-serious little face, trying to line the candies up just so. Nelly, on the other hand, couldn't have cared less. She was concentrating purely on ingesting the decor. All in all, I would say that the gingerbread house was a success. There were no tears and barely any fighting (except when Nelly would eat a candy that Coder had just painstakingly applied) and the end result was totally cute. We displayed it proudly on the kitchen counter for all of one day until Nelly decided she wanted to relocate it and dropped it trying to pull it off of the counter. There were tears for a minute or so until they realized the could eat the candy now. It was a fun activity that kept them for the most part entertained for half hour or so and it was sweet to be able to display their handiwork, but I think I will skip the gingerbread house next year. It is a little to annoying for my liking, what with the candies repeatedly falling off and trying to get them to decorate with them not eat them. I think next year we'll do gingerbread men instead. Less room for error that way. So what kinds of activities did you do with your children this holiday season?

A Very Merry Christmas 2011

Phew! Another Christmas has come and gone.


I feel like the past year has just flew by so quickly. This Christmas was a great one and I am sure my kids will agree! I won't lie, I am a little sad that it is over. There is just something so magical about the holidays. Everyone just seems a bit more cheerful. With all the Christmas lights and the choruses of "Merry Christmas" from passerbys and neighbors, it is such a joyful time of year. Now that it is over I am a bit bummed, although we still get to relax and spend time together as a family for another couple weeks. Coder doesn't go back to school until the tenth of January and I must say I am thrilled. Because hubby leaves for work at 7am and I do not have my drivers liscence (I wrote my test once...and failed by one measly point...but thats another post) that means that I have the ever-so-fun task of bundling up Nelly and walking Coder to and from school each day. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE walking, just not in minus 30 degrees celcius (that is -22 F in case you were wondering). I feel bad waking up the baby and dragging her out into the cold every morning..but it is my only option at the moment. We are too close for Coder to be a bus student yet just far enough to be freezing by the time we get there. So yes, I am  beyond phsyched to have a two week hiatus from freezin my ass off twice daily.

Anywho, back to Christmas...We spent a lot of time with our families, drove around oohing and ahing over Christmas light displays, built a snowman, feasted on turkey dinner, decorated a gingerbread house, and of course opened a TON of gifts. On Christmas Eve day we spent the afternoon at hubby's grandmothers house with all of his family (his two sisters and their hubbys and children...six kids in total not counting mine)...The kids had a blast playing with their cousins while the adults sat around listening to Christmas music, talking and laughing at the kids antics.

Chanel enjoying some appetisers

The kids playing downstairs

After supper most of the party moved to hubby's mother's house where the festivities continued until almost 8pm.When we finally got home on Christmas Eve the kids were thrilled to find a note from Mrs.Clause on the bed along with a new pair of jammies for each of them.

I forgot to take a pic of the note but it basically said that Santa had left for his journey so they should put on their new jammies and get to bed...And not to forget to leave out milk and cookies. That was the most excited they have ever been to go to sleep. Well not so much Nelly, she didn't totally get it yet, but she was thrilled to put on her new jammies. Before bedtime we allowed them each to open one small gift. Chanel was thrilled with hers...Coder, on the other hand, was not. He opened a small one which happened to be a dollarstore toy four-wheeler and lets just say he was less then impressed. "I don't want this one" he whined as tears ensued. It was from Nana, who had also given them bigger gifts and tickets to Crystal Palace, but he didn't know that yet) I was so ticked off at his rude behavior that could have throttled him. After a breif lecture on why it isn't nice to say you don't like a gift and how some kids get nothing for Christmas and how it hurts peoples feeling, etc it was off to bed.

Kids in their new jammies

 At five in the morning Coder woke up bugging to open his gifts...I told him it was still nighttime and he had to go back to sleep for a little longer...Needless to say this elicited whines and cries on his part, thus waking up Nelly briefly. Thankfully, they both fell back asleep until almost 9pm (Thank god because mommy was pooped). I'm pretty sure that Christmas morning was just as much fun for me as it was the kids. I was so excited to see their little faces light up. Hubby and I woke up to choruses of "Mommy! Daddy! Wake up!!! Santa came!! He ate the cookies!!" I dragged myself out of bed and stumbled down the hall to see. Sure enough the milk and cookies were gone, as was the carrot left for Rudolph. There was also a rather charming letter from Santa.

Needless to say, the kids were awestruck. There was a crapload of gifts and they wasted no time tearing into them. I had to help Nelly because after she opened each gift she wanted to play with it, so it took a while to open all of hers..This did not fair well with Coder seeing as he tore through his in record time and then proceeded to try opening everyone elses. They both got tons of stuff, and the the hubs and I got some nice stuff as well, including a new pot and pan set, a knife block and knife set, an awesome red slowcooker that matches my other red pots and pans and much more.

Before the chaos ensued...

After all the gifts are open

I was running around like a crazy person trying to clean up wrapping paper and boxes, thinking about where the hell I was going to put all this new stuff. Then I recieved a call from my mom and her fiancee saying to come over for turkey dinner and that they had a bunch MORE presents for us and the kids. 'Oh dear god, now I'm going to have ten times as much toys to clean up. After all the gifts were opened and each was played with we all curled up for a nap until around lunchtime. Then we got up and played some more until it was time to go to "'Nother Nanny's." (The kids call hubbys mom and step-dad 'Nanny and Papi' and my mom and step-dad 'Nother Nanny and Gampy'...as in the other nanny and grampie.)

Ready to go in her new clothes...

 When we got to nother nanny and gampys there were a bunch more gifts for all of use from them, my sister and my grandmother. The kids got a bunch more toys including about a million Lego's...the REALLY small ones...I am not kidding like a HUGE storage bin FULL...I swear my mom did that on purpose to torture me. I got some really cute stuff to including some new perfume and an adorable hat and mitton set from Aeropostale (from my sister), a Tommy Hilfiger hoodie, a super cute Clinique makeup bag and makeup (from my grandmother), a 50$ Giant Tiger gift card (from my mom) and hubby got an MMA track jacket from my mom and an H & M hoodie from my sister. We got other stuff too but I am too lazy to list it all.

More gifts at "nother Nanny and Gampy's"  house...

One of Nelly's faves...Vtech Zebra 3in1 scooter/ride-on toy

After the second round of present opening we sat down for a delicious turkey dinner with mashed potatos, homemade stuffing and gravy. It was honestly one of the best meals I have ever tasted courtesy of "Gampy." He's one of the best cooks I know. We talked and laughed while the guys had a beer (Hubby was limited to one because he was driving us home later). A few hours later turkey burnout had set in and all I wanted to do was crawl under my covers. We drove the long drive home, carried two sleeping kids into the house, brought all the gifts inside and climbed into bed. Lucky for me I got to sleep in a bit because the kids were so preoocupied with all their new toys the next morning that they left me alone for a while. Unlucky for me I awoke to what looked like a tornado had crashed through my home.

Boxing Day morning...they only LOOK innocent

 The last few days were full of fun and laughs and memories that I will always cherish, and while I am sad to see 2011 come to a close, I am also excited for the future. Who knows what 2012 will bring..I am sure there will be struggles and challenges but I also know there will be triumphs and milestones and overcoming obstacles. I am looking forward to a clean slate and the chance to start fresh in the New Year. A chance to both grow as a person and also watch my kids grow even more. What did you do for the holidays? What do you look forward to in 2012?

Simple Pinecone Door Decor

With Christmas just mere days away I couldn't help but notice that my house was lacking as far as decorations go. 

Sure I had lights up and the tree but that is pretty much it. I was feeling pretty festive and was brainstorming easy ways to add some finishing touches to the house. As I pawed through my ornament box (courtesy of my mother-in-law) I came across some adorable faux acorn ornaments. I knew I wanted to use them for something but I wasn't quite sure what. Then I remembered a cute idea I had seen a while back. Don't ask me where I saw it because I honestly have no sweet clue. The pine cone craft I had seen had them hanging at different lengths with the ends gathered and tied in a knot, so it was a bunch of pine cones hanging from ribbon. I decided to try my own variation of the craft and instead hang them one at a time at different lengths. I apologize for the crappy photo quality. I have once again had to resort to using my sons Vtech kids camera until I can pick up some better batteries. This camera really doesn't do it justice. It looks so much beter and more vibrant in real life. The ribbon is a bright red and the tops of the cones have green leaves and red bows, but you can't really tell from the pictures. It is an easy way to add some sparkle to your door and is a welcome change from the standard green wreath. For more inspiration I managed to find a how-to for the exact same craft as the one that inspired me. You can check that out HERE                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

All you need for this insanely simple project is:

• four pine cones  (Or as many as you wish.You can also use either real or fake pine cones, you can pick fake ones up at your local dollar or craft store for a couple bucks).
• Ribbon (Again the color and width are up to you).
• Scissors
• Thumbtack or tape (Whichever you prefer to hang the ribbons. I used tape myself cuz the tacks were to hard to push into the top of the door).

Step 1) Cut a strand of ribbon for each ornament. Leave a couple extra inches past how long you want it to be so you can hang it over the door.



Step 2) Tie one end of each strand of ribbon to the top of each pine cone. (This was easy for me because these cones already had loops at the top of them but you could also glue the ribbon in place with a glue gun).

Step 3) Arrange them over the top of the door so that they hang down the front of the door. Play around with the spacing and different lengths until you are satisfied then either pin or tape them in place on the back of the door at the top.

**If you are feeling particularly ambitious there are many other variations to this craft and ways to further embellish it. You can dip the pine cones in glitter, spray paint them, add flowers, beaded strands, lace. The possibilities are endless. Feel free to put your own creative spin on it. This craft is going to be added to my Christmas lineup for the coming years but I am definitely going to gussy it up even further next time with glitter and some different color ribbons. This would also be adorable as a fall/autumn craft or you could change up the ribbons to fit almost any holiday (Pale yellow, blue and pink with white glitter cones for Easter, green ribbons with green glitter cones for Saint.Patty's, orange and black for Halloween, etc). Please share your own twists that you added!!


Enjoy your new simple and frugal decoration!!

Sunday Snapshots: How NOT to Supervise a Toddler.

With all the hustle, bustle of preparing for the holidays, I admit I probably haven't been giving my children the same amount of supervision I normally do.

That is not to say that I ignore them or leave them to fend for themselves. It is just that I will be so consumed in a project that I don't check in on them as often as I should I usually do.   Usually their giggles and shrieks assure me that they are, indeed, alive and well. It is the silence that terrifies me. So imagine my suspicion when in the middle of trying to fill out, address and stamp my ten thousand Christmas cards I become aware of the eerie silence that has cloaked my usually deafening home. I got up and began cautiously checking each room, shouting for Nelly, with no response. My heart begins to sink with dread as all kind of horrible scenarios run through my mind. What if she got outside? What if she is hurt and unconscious? What if she was abducted by aliens? Suddenly, I heard some shuffling around from the kitchen...What the? I turned the corner and paused right before the kitchen entryway, bracing myself for the very worst. I stepped around the threshold and came face to face with this:

If only I can get this goddam nail polish open...

Wait, shhh...Did you hear that?

Oh shit...I mean...Hi Mommy! Just tidying things up for you.

Apparently, Nelly decided that she was due for a manicure. I had a few of my favorite nail polishes on top of the stove. Well, she must have opened the oven door, and used it as a step to hoist herself up onto the top of the range. I watched her for a second as she struggled to open the nail polish, until she finally turned around with a looked on her face that clearly said "BUSTED." Thankfully, my oven and burners are next to impossible for me to turn on, let alone a two year old. You have to screw around with the timer for like five minutes, jiggle the dial, kick it three times and shout at least four profanities before the oven will work. Don't even get me started on my schizophrenic burners. I took her down and gave her a stern talking to: (*In meanest baby-talk voice* "Nooo, Neh-wee-poo, dat's badddd durl...It will burn da wittle babyyy...You no touch dat, oh-tay?" She looked at me like I had lost my mind and toddled off. Thankfully, we haven't had a repeat of her little adventure...yet. I am sure we will though, now that she knows she can use the oven door as a stepstool. If I am being totally honest I must admit that I hesitated before posting this. I was worried that all the other blogging moms would chastise me for being a shitty mom who lets her baby play on top of the stove. But then i decided fuck it, shit happens. (Pardon my french) I don't have eyes in the back of my head and cannot keeps tabs on both kids and get everything done i need to at the same time. And if there are any moms out there who can do so, well then I secretly think you're full of shit applaud you.

**There is a Christmas gift post in the works that consists of the gifts I bought my rugrats, and what I think some of the top toys of 2011 are. I am sharing this because I figure if you are anything like me then you are one nosy S.O.B and want to know what every other mom is doing, buying, wearing, cooking etc. I mostly enjoy these types of posts because I can then steal all these fantastic mom's ideas and claim them as my own, wowing my family and friends with my ingenuity in the progress:D Although I cannot guarantee a specific day, it will be posted this week for sure.**