Nighty, Night

Elsha's nap time is fairly consistent.  She eats lunch then happily goes down for a nap.

EXCEPT for Mondays and Wednesdays.

She sure sleeps funny.  That can't be comfortable for her arm!

Why Mondays and Wednesdays??

Xander goes to school twice a week. 
You guessed it; on Mondays' and Wednesdays.

The bus picks Xander up between 10:45 & 11:00 at our house.  Elsha says her "Bye's" and waves from the window or door until the bus pulls away.  She then heads to her room and asks for her "Kiki" (Binki).  She sleeps the entire time Xander is at school.  If she happens to wake up before he gets home she calls out "Xa" over and over wandering the house looking for her big brother.

They eat lunch shortly after Xander's return and can be found snuggling on the couch when both are done with their food.

I am constantly amazed at the love these two show for each other.

Reading Time

James gets a couple of magazines a month that feature the latest and greatest in construction equipment and cars. Technically James is the recipient but he has to fight Xander for first dibs. Whenever we get a new magazine Xander grabs it and settles in for a good long look.  You might think he likes all magazines, but nope - he doesn't touch my Better Homes & Gardens.

He reads it for the articles though... Honest.

Career Path Ramblings...

Since I was young I have always loved looking at house plans. I remember the Homes section in our newspaper would feature different floor plans from time to time and I'd cut them out. I still have them somewhere, I'm sure. I would draw out my ideal home, picturesque creek and all. Some of them were pretty detailed. Pages and pages of custom floor plans filled my notebooks.  I would even explore the unfinished homes in my growing neighborhood as a youngster and imagine how they'd look when finished and what I'd do diffferently.

It wasn't until after I graduated with my Bachelors in Information Systems Security that a friend asked me why I didn't go to school to be an Architect. I didn’t have an answer for her. To be honest, it never even crossed my mind and I don’t have a clue why. I have regretted my choice in my degree ever since and have felt like I passed over something I’d be great at. But so goes life – right?? Some paths are taken and some are passed. I’m okay with that. I am very happy where I am right now. That’s what is important.

Today James called me out of the blue and asked me if I wanted to go back to school.

“Let me think, NO!”

He went on to explain that he knows that I am drawn to (pun intended) architecture both because I’ve talked to him about it and he notices my constant comments on people’s homes, remodeling projects, buildings that are beautiful, buildings that are just out of place etc. etc. etc. Maybe, he says, after the kids are in school I can also go back and get a degree in Architecture. With our construction business it would come in handy – we could be a design and build kind of company. One-stop shopping for customers, in a way.

Now it’s got me thinking…

Insert my Dad saying “Does it hurt?” or “Explains the smoke” here.

Right now I’m a MOM, with capital letters. It is the most important job I have, have ever had, and will ever have. I would never want to do anything that will diminish my ability to be the best mom ever to my sweet children… BUT, I also know that when they are both in school if things remain the same there will be two outcomes.
1. I will get my daily chores done and just have lazy days (not a very healthy option)

2. I will craft, decorate, and shop ourselves into the poor house (not a very financially wise option)

So maybe, just maybe it’s a good idea.  Something to think about any how.

Thanks for listening to me ramble!

Little Helper

James decided to pull out some plans to review tonight BEFORE the kids went to bed.

Brave, brave man!

Elsha and her extensive knowledge of letters and numbers *yup she knows them all* decided to help by pointing out each one.  She was such a big help!

Here she is showing off all her pride and happiness for all the "help" she provided and the "time" she saved.

(speaking of help & time she's currently on my lap trying to show me each letter on the keyboard.  Please ignore any extra letters that might be in this post. I'm not sure if I've caught all her little entries)

Grandma's Visit

Great Grandma visited this week and brought me lots of fun stuff to use while crafting. 

Elsha is such a ham for cameras now.  I don't know when it started really but she can't just simply smile - she has to squint and grin as big as possible.  Not complaining, actually I LOVE IT!

If you're wondering why I haven't done many posts this year this little kid right here is the reason:

(yup that's their messy faces & my messy floor - I'm just keepin' it real!)

He sees the camera and instantly want to take it.  James found my old camera and now he uses it so hopefully I'll be able to get more pictures of the kids now.  I already can tell you that all pictures of Xander from here on out will have him holding his camera.  As soon as he hears the lens on my camera he promptly runs to find his.  Ah well - I'll take what I can get at this point.  He gets pretty good pictures most of the time so I'm excited to see what he does when we head to the zoo this spring.

Fool Proof Plan

Want to know the trick to getting your husband to cook more often???

Here's Shanon's three part plan:

Step 1

While chopping & cutting be sure to nick your self on a fairly regular basis.

Step 2

Burn yourself whenever possible - not bad burns of course but just enough that you say OUCH and run to the sink.  I guess it would be fairly easy to fake if you don't already have the tendency.

Step 3

This step alone can provide immediate results.

Singe your hair over the stove.  Don't ask how to do this, I still don't understand how I did it myself! It's only happened once (today) but the results were fantastic.  I was immediately shooed out of the kitchen.

That's how my day's going... how's yours??

Christmas Fun

We had a Merry, Merry Christmas and hope all of you did as well.

Notice the lack of ornaments on the bottom half of the tree.  No, I didn't get tired of decorating when I hit the mid point.  I got tired of the CONSTANT fight with Elsha to leave the ornaments alone.  After several broken bulbs and handmade goodies I decided our tree would be quite bare this year.

Elsha took a while to get into opening the presents.  I think her favortie part was getting the wrapping paper off and excitedly telling us she found a "BOX" as loud as she could. 

We lost Jaxson for a moment under this gift.   No worries though, he was able to conquer the "BOX" much to Elsha's delight.

Here's Elsha in all her Christmas Finery.  She pranced around with every accessory she got for a good part of the morning.

Jaxson helped make James' famous cheesecake.  He did an excellent job - it was delicious!

Where's pictures of Xander???  Well you see, he still thinks of my camera as his so everytime he saw it pointed in his direction he wanted it for himself.  We got lots of pictures of his favorite toys, christmas ornaments, the back of my head, and self portrats.  We even got a whole series of his feet as he tried to get a picture of himself jumping up and down!  He did hand over the camera so I could get a picture of him at one point - but all the settings had been changed so it turned out completely fuzzy and he reclaimed the camera before I could get it fixed to take another shot.  I think we know what Xander's getting for Christmas next year, if I can wait that long to get my camera back!

Remembering WHY We Celebrate...

Years and years ago (probably about 15 years, goodness) my family received a wonderful gift from our Home Teachers. It is amazing that such a small gesture on their part created a tradition in my home that I have continued to this day.


We were given a small White Stocking and the following poem:

'Twas the night before Christmas as I walked through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

 

The presents had been wrapped and placed under the tree

I paused, tired, excited and then giggled with glee.

 

The stockings were hanging and were beautifully filled

No one had been forgotten, the the credit card was billed.

 

As I looked at the scene with the stockings on the ledge,

I noticed one was empty, the one on the edge.

 

Where's the Spirit of Christmas - What have I done?

The children's stockings are all full, except for this one.

 

It was the stocking intended for the child of Bethlehem.

The White Stocking for Jesus that was hung up by them.

 

Of all the people at Christmas, that might be forgotten,

How could I not remember the Father's Only Begotten?

 

Only He had been left out of the festivities.

As we planned and prepared all, for our families.

 

As I pondered, I realized this just was not right!

It was His birth that was being celebrated, after this night.

 

I resolved then and there to remember the Lord,

And quickly made changes that were easy to afford.

 

I hung the White Stocking in a special place in our home.

And corrected the atmosphere to provide a more spiritual tone.

 

On Christmas morning I gathered the family together

And each of us wrote on a special piece of paper,

 

We gave Jesus a gift which we placed in the stocking.

A sincere change of heart, not there for the mocking.

 

The White Stocking hung in our home as a symbol for us

Of the true meaning of Christmas - the Savior, The Lord Jesus.

 

So take your White Stocking and hang it with pride.

Remember the Savior, put his gift inside.

 

Every year my family gathers to share our own personal gift to Christ. It is more than a resolution for yourself, it is a promise to our Savior. What will your gift to Christ be this year?