Whew. December 31st. The end of the year. How did that happen already? To be honest, I typically feel a little (okay, more than a little) melancholy at this time of year. I think the build up to Christmas is sooooo exciting, and then all the festivities come crashing to a sudden halt. . . and there's the aftermath to deal with: finding homes for new toys/gadgets/etc., decorations to take down (I detest this job!), and the house is always in need of a big old cleaning blitz.
And I just don't feel like it.
I love the Christmas tree with its soft flickering lights, the coziness that the holiday decor adds to our home, and am just not quite ready to let it go. I am also not ready to let go of these lazy vacation days (well, somewhat lazy, now that we're done with Christmas celebrations - but let's face it, it's kind of hard to be lazy at this stage of life with small kids). As I've said before, I do love my job most of the time, but, man is it hard to go back after vacations.
Even though my days are not as lazy as I'd like (someone is always hungry/needing something), and I haven't gotten to do much of my typical favorite vacation activities (shopping, movie watching, reading, dining out with friends), I have enjoyed being home with our kiddos. It's definitely not relaxing, but it is sooooo good to spend extra time with them. Though E still isn't sleeping great at night (but is doing wayyyyy better than she was prior to cutting teeth), both my kids are great at sleeping in and love to snuggle. Most mornings we all end up in the big bed snoozing till at least 9. Heaven, I tell you. There is just nothing better than being snuggled up together all warm and cozy and holding their sweet little selves close. B loves to hold hands in his sleep, and E buries her soft sweet head into my neck. It's pure bliss, and I try to soak in every moment.
So these vacation days are ticking by . . . and I am bummed out by the thought of having to "undecorate" the house. Puts me in a funk (just ask Billy). To make myself feel better, I have been kind of creating a list of fun things to look forward to doing in 2013. (That, and a list of fun things to do on Wednesday - my last day off and the only day of my break that the kids' daycare is open - I am hoping for a morning of shopping (kid/hubby free!) to check out sales, lunch and a movie matinee with a friend, and a relaxing last evening at home).
So here's The 2013 happy/bucket list - I am sure I will add to it, but here are a few things I've been thinking about to look forward to:
• Take the kids sledding when it's a little warmer (E got a new sled and we have to use it!)
• E's first b-day party (this is actually quite sad for me - can not believe she's almost a whole year old already!) But I love to plan for a party and am excited to pick a "theme" and get everything ready for her big day.
• Exercise. Yep, just that. I have gotten out of any sort of routine or habit (it's likely quite obvious), and plan to change that.
• Valentines' Day festivities - not sure what yet, but B is old enough to get excited about holidays and so I want to do something fun. I also want to do some decorating - last year I did more seasonal decorating (on top of Christmas decor) and it was fun. I have a few pinterest ideas that I am tossing around . . .
• Pinterest party - speaking of pinterest, I want to have a pinterest party.
• Favorite things party - this is another gathering idea I saw on the interwebs and would like to do.
• Entertain - in addition to having the above parties, Billy and I both agree that we need to be better about inviting people over - not necessarily for a fancy dinner party, but just to host casual game/movie nights. I love to have people over , but we sometimes tend to just hibernate in our cozy space - esp in the winter time, but want to connect more with others. We have found this to be harder with kiddos.
• Landscape/yard work - we want to pull out an overgrown/dead bush and plant something new, and have more work to do to tidy up some of the bed around the house. Also want to divide/transplant more hosta to the part of the yard where grass won't grow, and to over seed/fill in the bare spots where grass will grow. I must be getting old, because I really am starting to enjoy this sort of yard work, and look forward to trips to the greenhouse in the spring to purchase colorful flowers to plant.
Well, I hear Little Miss waking up from her nap - so maybe this list will just be a winter/spring version, and I'll have to come up with some summer/fall ideas later. For now I will snuggle with my little one and work on Mt. Laundry until Billy gets home . . . then he and I plan to ring in the new year with a date night - dinner and a movie (we'll probably actually be home and in bed by midnight - he's got to work tomorrow morning, and I hear that our babysitter gave us a 10pm curfew). :)
Happy New Year, and I hope 2013 is the best yet!
12.31.2012
12.26.2012
Highlight reel: Christmas 2012
What a whirlwind of FUN! We cram a LOT into a 48 hour period at Christmastime, but it's so good to be able to spend the holidays with our families.
They say a picture is worth a 1,000 words, so this post should be worth about a short novel (give or take). :)
Christmas Eve at Grandpa and Grandma Miller's - breakfast . . .
. . . then (to Braden's delight!), presents! He knew this big one was for him, and had been waiting for days to open it!
After the Miller fam celebration, we went home and Elise napped while we assemble the TRAIN! B was soooo very excited . . .
After lunch (in an attempt to wear B out so that he'd nap), Billy and Braden headed out for a sled ride.
Christmas Eve evening we gathered at (Great) Grandma Boese's for our traditional soup supper and gift exchange
We wrapped up the day by reading the Christmas story, telling our elf Rugby goodbye, and putting out milk and cookies (and carrots for the reindeer)
Santa came! (We had not put out any gifts prior to Christmas morning due to Miss E's affection for tearing any and all paper that she can get her hands on - so Braden's face when he saw the presents under the tree on Christmas morning was priceless!)
Here's how you do this, Elise . . .
This is fun!
Finally some girlie stuff to play with!
Breakfast Christmas morning . . .
We spent the middle of our Christmas day at the Miller family gathering at Dennis and Sally's. We enjoyed a yummy lunch of all the traditional favorites, including Mom's chocolate torte for dessert. B was a fan!
He was also a fan of playing in the big box!
Miller family great grands (second cousins) . . . (and why, yes, I am holding Braden in his place on the couch - he was not diggin pictures this year ) :0
The whole Miller gang (plus a couple extras) - 2012
We ended our day and concluded the fun with Christmas at the Hartsock's. The kids were pros and unwrapping gifts by this point . . .
12.24.2012
Merry, Merry, Merry!
The past couple of days have been filled with holiday preparations!
We made goodie plates to take to neighbors . . .
. . . and attempted to take a picture of the kiddos in their Christmas duds on Sunday morning (didn't go quite as planned - here's what we ended up with) . . .
We also stopped (finally!) to visit Santa yesterday. Braden wrote a letter to give to him, since he has a track record of getting very shy when seeing the big guy. I had it all planned - we specifically went to visit Santa at Sycamore Mall, because in the past it's typically much less busy there (no waiting in a forever long line!), and they've also allowed visitors to take photos without having to purchase. Well, this year they changed things up on me . . . we still didn't have to wait long in line, but they wouldn't allow us to take a picture with our own camera - you had to buy pictures. I knew B would not take a good pic (he never wants to sit on Santa's lap), but I wanted to record Elise's first visit with Santa. However, I didn't want to buy just a pic of E and not B (that didn't seem right), but also didn't want to spend money on TWO Santa pics that may or may not turn out well. SO - we ended up taking a family picture with Santa (per the photographer's idea), which ended up being a great way to have both kids in the photo (Braden was ok with it since he got to sit with Daddy). It's not the best picture ever, but it turned out kind of cute. . .
Of course Braden was much more willing to smile when playing in the car toys at the mall after the Santa visit . . .
So now, here we go! It's Christmas Eve, and most all the preparations are complete, and excitement is in the air. We've actually already had one family gathering this morning, are are resting up for the next one tonight. Though I love all of the gatherings (and it certainly wouldn't seem like Christmas without getting together with family), sometimes in the rush to be here and then there I sort of feel like there's not time to enjoy all the festivities, or to focus on the real meaning of Christmas.
This year I am intentionally trying to slow down (starting today!), and soak it all in. (In fact right now E is napping, and the boys and I are curled up watching a Christmas movie and enjoying a fire in the fireplace.) I am excited to bake a birthday cake for Jesus later this afternoon with Braden (we thought that would be a very tangible (and yummy!) way for help him remember what all of the celebrating is really about), and I'm also looking forward to reading the Christmas story together as a family tonight before bedtime. We have done this in past years, but I think this year B will really "get it." And then of course we'll set out cookies and milk for Santa and tell our elf Rugby goodbye too. :)
Merry Christmas!
12.21.2012
lately {December style!}
I've got a bunch of random pictures of various December happenings to blog about, but it's been so busy around here that I haven't had a chance. Now that vacation has officially begun (actually it started a day early due to yesterday's snow storm!), I am trying to get caught up before we enter the whirlwind of Christmas events.
So - in no particular order, here's a peek at what we've been up to . . .
On Wednesday night our first snow fall/storm of the year blew in. We haven't had snow in 290+ days, so Braden was soooooo excited. While we got much less than the predicted 8-10 inches, we got sleet first, so it's pretty icy out there. Too bad it was also soooooooo cold and windy that I didn't let him spend much time playing outside. He was very pumped to get to help Daddy shovel when Billy got home from work.
Unfortunately, it seems we've lost B's snow shevel, so he had to use his garden shovel. :) Perhaps Santa will bring a new one!
Last Sunday evening we held the annual Miller family (my immediate fam) cookie bake (which really only entails frosting of cutout cookies that Mom has already baked).
Braden tried his hand at frosting this year . . .
(as well as some frosting lickin')
Elise wanted to be in on the action, so she sat with us at the table and snacked on cheerios . . . which was ok for a while, but she soon demanded to try a taste of cookie too (and of course loved it!). Little Miss is doing a pretty good job with "solid" foods, and much prefers whatever we are eating to her baby food.
Dad always decorates ONE cookie each year - this year it was a (somewhat sad!) snowman. :)
We've made a few tasty treats at home, too. One night the advent stocking activity was to make a gingerbread house. I simplified that job this year by purchasing a kit (which I highly recommend - the house is preassembled, and it comes with all the frosting/candies that you need to decorate! It is quick, easy, and very cute, and probably is just as cost effective as buying all the supplies).
Looking good!
Our elf, Rugby, has been showing up in some fun places. I am glad we started this tradition, and can see the kids really getting into it in a couple of years - B already loves it. Rugby's currently just hanging around in the entryway . . .
It took me a while this year, but once I got my baking/treat making groove on, it has been hard to stop. So far we've made dipped PB Ritz, Oreo bon bons, dipped pretzels, Chocolate mint cookies, PB star cookies, chocolate crinkles, and spritz. I think I still want to make a batch of snickerdoodles.
Braden has really enjoyed all of the extra baking going on (and the tasting!). The other night when I was making the spritz, Billy asked if I was almost done in the kitchen. He was dealing with a fussy Elise (teething - one tooth popped through on 12/12, and I noticed a second one this morning!), and was ready for me to take a turn with Miss E. I said that I would take a break from baking and would clean up later. Braden then piped up, "I'm going to take a break from lickin' this frosting, too!"
Elise generally likes to be in on the action when we're in the kitchen -- but sometimes she's not the most helpful little "helper" to have around - she's learned how to get into cupboards and drawers and loves to find treasures to play with.
I'll wrap up this mega post with a cute shot of my cuties. Our daycare provider gave the kids their presents on Wednesday, so we let them open those gifts early (even Elise was a big fan of the unwrapping process!). Both got a new pair of cozy PJs and a book, and Braden decided they HAD to wear their new jammies to bed that night - so here are B & E in their new jammies.
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