On the First Day of Christmas ...

Our first Christmas celebration was with Jeff's family on Christmas Eve. Between the three brothers there are seven children, so it was definitely noisy and fun. Kaity and her cousin Joel are best buddies, and then we were all looking forward to seeing the two babies interact.  If only we'd known Selah would try to taste Jackson's head.

Anyway, here's the good stuff:

Jeff and Joe with their adorable babies.

Nannie, Kaity and Sarah looking over the new calendar.

Jeff with our only niece, Sarah, and Selah,

Kisses for Uncle Jason!

The ones who started it all ...

Hello, Aunt Paige!

Promises, Promises

I promise I'll officially post soon! Jeff bought me a new laptop for Christmas and I have to get my camera loaded on here so I can upload pictures. We had a wonderful Christmas and I'm really looking forward to getting our memories on here.

Seven? He May Not Make It To Six-and-a-half!

So, Kaity is asking Joe questions about his make believe future family. He decides he's having 7 kids and what their genders, ages, etc. are. Joe nonchalantly describes his youngest as, "Six days old. My wife's still a little bulge-y." Then he gestures his hand out in front his stomach!

Not five minutes later, I hear this:
"I'm sorry to say this, Mommy, but you're the villain ... the dastardly Mommy who makes us do work all the time." I consider that a compliment!

Homeschool Christmas Party

Yesterday was our homeschool group's annual Christmas party. It always involves brunch, crafts for the kids, and a book exchange. It was a lot of fun as usual and certainly brightened up a week of miserable weather!

The kids loved making these mosaics. Joe's is a horse he named Epona.

Kaity painting her plate of fingerprint penguins.  Such a cute craft!

Selah with our friend Miriam.

Joe and Andrew

Sherri holding Selah and looking on while her son Brandon reads to Joe.

Shark Baby Strikes Again!

There was another vicious attack today by Shark Baby ...

Note the look of sheer terror as Shark Baby zeroes in on her next victim.

You can almost hear the shrieks of agony!

OH, the carnage! Look away!

A rare glimpse directly into the terrifying visage of the beast! No wonder the populous is afraid to leave their homes.

Save yourself! Run whilst you still can!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Christmas Traditions, Part 2

Another Christmas tradition in our house has always been the advent calendar. When I was a child, it was delicious German chocolates in a little cardboard house. Stuart and I eagerly awaited our turns to open the tiny perforated doors that held the chocolatey treasures. When I established the tradition in my own home after Kaity was born, I twisted it a bit ...

We have twenty-four stockings that each hold a special treat! I made these stockings from infant socks and decorated them with ribbon, buttons, beads, pom-pons, and jingle bells. It was really easy and a lot of fun to get to be creative with each one. We've used them for about 8 years now, and the kids look forward to bringing them out every year.

This year the kids are excited to be able to rotate every third day, since they have a new little sister. The big kids get candy cane flavored Hershey kisses and Hershey kisses with caramel centers. Selah gets little plastic-wrapped bundles of Gerber Graduates Puffs. We all get a special treat every day in the form of a few verses from Scripture about the advent of Christ. I've tried different versions of this for several years, and I'm using one this year from Focus on the Family. Jeff usually reads the verses while we listen.

He May Not Make It To Seven

As Joe and Kaity were decorating the tree, Joe brought an ornament over to me and said, "Mommy, I really like this one!" I told him my first-grade teacher had given it to me when I was just his age. Eyes wide, he replied with complete sincerity, "Whoa! It's old!"

Pittard Family Christmas Pictures

My friend Chrissy took all these pictures in about twenty minutes this Saturday! I was totally motivated to get this done so I could order my free Christmas cards. Hopefully they'll get to me in time to send out BEFORE Christmas. We shall see ...

Christmas Traditions, Part 1

Since our marriage, and especially since we had children, Jeff and I have established several traditions for Christmas in our family. One of those is buying the kids an ornament for the tree each year. I love the idea that when they move out of the house to a home of their own, they'll have plenty of childhood Christmas memories to take with them. The first ornament is always one of their first shoes ...

Joe's and Selah's first shoes.

And after that, I try to get them something that coordinates with something that happened that year. Some of Kaity's ornaments are a ballerina, a pink glittery ball, an artist's pallet, her initial, and an angel named Grace. Some of Joe's are a dump truck, his initial, a train, a ball with his handprint, and a nutcracker. This year, they chose their own ornaments, a first! Selah's was her shoe, of course, but Kaity and Joe were shopping with me when they found the perfect ones for this year.

This was Kaity's first year playing soccer, and Joe's second. They both loved the experience and hope to do it again next year.

Christmas Cards

With Love Chartreuse Christmas 5x7 folded card

Turn your pictures into personalized Christmas cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Bathroom Reader

Need a great Christmas gift for someone? Try Uncle John's Bathroom Reader!

Bathroom reading ...

... it's not just for babies anymore! She "read" this book -- "Oh, The Places You'll Go" (hee-hee-snort) while I changed her diaper.

The Golden Rule: Selectively Applied

The other day, Joe was wearing a long-sleeved shirt. He was constantly tucking his arms away out of the sleeves and slapping his sister with the empty flaps. Kaity had enough and administered her own brand of justice in the situation. When he came to Jeff and me to tattle, we both laughed and told him he got what he deserved. Then I grabbed the camera:

The rest of the story is that the next day, Kaity had on a long-sleeved shirt and began slapping her brother with the sleeves! Joe immediately turned on her and announced, "Hey! Do unto others as you would have them do to you!"

Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On

Arrest These Merry Gentlemen!

Kaity and Joe participated in our church's children's choir Christmas pageant on Sunday night. Joe was a part of the choir and Kaity had a speaking role - Cub, the reporter. It was a cute little presentation and both kids did a great job. Joe's behavior was exceptional and Kaity delivered her lines perfectly! We're so proud of them both.

Homemade Cleaners

Just FYI, I've updated the Homemade Cleaners page on the blog, under the dishwasher detergent.

Fashion Shoot

I bought Selah a pair of shoes a few months ago, thinking she'd grow into them, but here we are three months later and I just gave up and exchanged them for a smaller size. They are the most adorable shoes I ever seen! The brand is Robeez. Here are some example of the sweetness:

 



But here are Selah's, plus her little fashion shoot:

Apparently being a high-fashion model is exhausting!

**I am so naturally cheap that I feel the need to add a disclaimer ... due to a wonderfully odd set of circumstances, I paid $7.50 for these shoes, and not the full $21 or more retail price! Just had to share. :)