Christmas Wrap Up

I got quite a few Christmas orders for paintings, so that kept me pretty busy this year.  Next year, I will know not to wait ‘til the last minute to get down to work!

As usual, despite my best intentions, the boys get way too many presents.  I’m pretty sure the days of Santa Claus at our house are numbered, so I’m going to enjoy it while I can.  I’ve told them that if they don’t believe in Santa, the number of presents is greatly reduced, so they may believe until they are 35!

Santa lost is sense and got Parker an air soft gun.  However, I’m fairly certain that Parker likes the fact that he actually owns an air soft gun more than he likes the gun itself.  Jack was very happy to add to his nutcracker collection with a vampire and a skeleton.

We are ready to move on to 2012 now.  The boys and I are going to get healthy!  (They are not aware of that I have made this resolution for them.)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Pictures

Tracy and I took the kids to get pictures taken.  It was quite an undertaking—first to find coordinating outfits that didn’t look too overly matchy-matchy and second, to get five kids to cooperate.

I took some photos before we left for the session.  I actually got some Christmas card worthy shots!  These are not the ones that will go on the card, but you get the idea.

Gotta love the self-timer!  I am so sad that this one is grainy!  Why does that always happen!?  My favorite picture always ends up being the lowest quality one!

I can’t wait to see how the professional photos turn out!

My Christmas Binder

I am not an organized person by most standards.  However, in some areas of my life, I HAVE to be organized and Christmas is one of them.  I used to be the person who was shopping on Christmas Eve and staying up until 2:00 am wrapping gifts, then getting up at the crack of dawn to clean and rush around before guests came over.  I would spend the last two weeks before Christmas in panic mode and not enjoy the holiday at all. 

I already knew about FlyLady and I tried it, but I couldn’t keep up with her system, but a few years ago I started using her Holiday guide and it literally changed my Christmas from a panic-fest to a joyful holiday!  It’s a pretty simple concept.  Just keep your Christmas craziness in a binder!  I’ve tweaked mine to work best for me.  This is not rocket science and I’m sure there are lots of much more organized people than me that have a better system, but I’m thinking the key for me is SIMPLE.

I made a Christmas binder.  I just used an ugly old binder that I had laying around.  The front pocket has a notepad where I write down lists or things to do.

Next I have my calendars.  I start with November.  I’m showing you this year’s and last year’s.  This year I actually printed a calendar—last year I drew it! I put EVERYTHING onto the calendar even if it isn’t Christmas related. 

I have a page for cinnamon rolls and cookies.  I bake Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon rolls for friends so I figure out who the lucky souls are that year.  It helps me keep straight how many pans I need to buy, etc.  Our school does a cookie walk for the teachers, so I figure out what cookies I’m going to make too.  Then I make a shopping list on that little notepad in the front pocket.  When I go shopping, I just grab the list.  I shop throughout November and December so I don’t get baking shopping shock syndrome!  I also make a menu for Christmas dinner.  I just write down what I’m making—not what everyone else is bringing, but that would be helpful info too.  Same deal, I make a shopping list for this too.  After Christmas, I  make a few notes about what worked or what I need to change.

I’m usually a room mom, so I keep all my Christmas party info in here too. 

Of course I keep a Christmas gift list.  If I were smart,  I would write out a budget and keep track of what I actually spent.  I also have a “Don’t Forget” page.  This is this year’s and it will be added to as things pop into my head.  I put all my little “ideas” that I want to do or those extra little things that sometimes get forgotten during this busy time.

Finally, I printed off FlyLady’s Control Journal and put it in the binder.  I re-read it a lot.  It keeps my thought process straight and keeps me motivated. 

I really swear by this method.  All it really does is force me to think about what needs to be done in advance which is a huge for me.  I know that for the last two Christmas’, I have been in bed by 10:00 on Christmas Eve with everything ready to go the next morning and that is a gift in itself!

Halloween 2011

We just didn’t get into the pumpkin carving much this year.  Jack insisted on carving his own.  Scared me, but I let him do it.  He did a pretty good job too!  I don’t think I got a picture of the end result.  OOPS!

Jack is a Haunted Skeleton and Parker is Ghost from Call of Duty.  How sweet!?  The days of cute costumes are long gone around here!  We totally threw Parker’s costume together.  I painted the ski mask, Nerf vest, my plaid scarf, my boots, and I did have to buy elbow and knee pads. 

This is the whole trick-or-treat crew. 

Long time, no see

Seriously!? Has it been since July since I blogged? Oops! Here are some of my excuses:

- Between Facebook and Pinterest, blogging has definitely taken a back seat. However, I despise "new" Facebook, so I find myself visiting there less and less.

- I am the co-president of my son's school Community Club (our version of PTA) and it is extremely time consuming.

- I have been subbing more.

- I have been painting more.

- I have been tackling new home improvement projects.

- I'm lazy.

- My kids are on the computer all the time so I never have a chance to be!

I promise to do better! Really!

Odds and Ends

- I’ve noticed that since I quit doing WIWW and even looking at the posts by others, I have not made a single clothing purchase.  When I would see cute stuff that other people had, I wanted it for myself.  That temptation is gone.  It also helps to not set foot in Target or Forever 21.

- I never wear jeans or pants in summer (unless it drops below 70 degrees).  When I see women in jeans—especially skinnies during summer, I cringe.  I mean here in my neck of the woods where it has been 90+ degrees with heat indexes well over 100 everyday for 2 weeks. 

- I also never wear long sleeves in summer—or any sleeves most of the time.  Just my own personal summer rule.

- I hurt my back a month ago and it still hurts.  Not happy about that.

- We took a mini vacation to Green Bay to visit friends.  It was very pretty up there in Wisconsin.

- That 7 hour trip KILLED my back.

- School starts in 3 weeks. Sob.

- School starts in 3 weeks.  Hurray.

- I have accomplished nothing this summer except a really good tan and spending a lot of quality time with my two favorite people!

4th of July…2011

We spent our 4th of July at the lake just hanging out.  It was a gorgeous day and we all had a great time.

The boys fished.

And tubed.

And I got tan.

And they swam.

And they acted like they liked each other.

And they practiced the fine art of sunflower seed spitting.

And then we watched fireworks from the boat.  Truly a lovely summer day!

Some work but mostly play

Since summer vacation started I’ve done a few paintings and projects, but if we aren’t at a baseball game or practice, we spend most of our time just hanging out.  That is what summer is for!

Living in Cicada Hell

If you are like us and living in the midst of cicada hell, you have my sympathy.  If you are not, you are very, very lucky.  Here in Central Illinois, we have our once-every-thirteen-years visit from the cicadas.  They are disgusting creatures.  There are billions and billions of them.  They are huge—about 1 inch long and extremely ugly.  They don’t bite or sting (thank God!) but they are terribly loud  and they fly right into you.  They come out of the ground, mature, mate, lay eggs and die.  Then their rotting carcasses start to stink.  Yuck.  Just yuck.  Mowing the yard is a little step into hell for me.  They are attracted to the hum of the mower and they just go crazy.  I walked around my yard and took some pictures.

These are the shells.  They come out of the ground and shed their exoskeleton.  There are piles of them everywhere.