Christmas Recap 2012 & DPP 24-26

Oh my goodness where to start!? Our Christmas was amazing! Very low key and simply... exactly what we needed.

I'll start with my DPP's

Day 24... Monday. This was a day filled with anxious "is Christmas here yet"'s all.day.long. Their excitement made me excited. We were watching the radar to see if the weatherman predicted a storm coming our way Christmas morning would come to pass, and the kids really wanted Daddy to be home. They were pleasantly surprised when we walked in the door (after tears of hearing he couldn't come home early) VERY EARLY to get the Christmas day festivities started. Tradition is they receive their Christmas Pj's Christmas Eve night and get to open one gift from under the tree. Since Daddy came home early we decided to let them have their Pj's early in the evening just to set the mood. They were a huge hit! :)

Day 25... Tuesday. Santa came. Santa conqured. Santa delivered. Christmas was awesome! The spent all day playing with legos that daddy graciously put together... all day! Lots of laughter and play (that thankfully still continues) :) God saw fit to bless up not only with a storm that knocked out power at 2am and brought all of the kids into our room on the floor. The power thankfully was on when we woke up but he also brought with it... SNOW!!! For the second time in our lives... we had a white Christmas!

It was absolutely magical and the most perfect icing on an already amazing day!

We closed out the day with a beautiful blanket of snow and woke up to it all still there. Yay for freezing temps! Before I even got a "good morning, mom" I was being handed sweaters and socks for gloves as the kids raced outside to play in the snow before the sun could appear. (Thankfully even today there is still some patches around.) :) Not much to do much with but it's pretty to look at just the same.

Day 26... Wednesday. 

Note socks on the hands... My youngest called them snow hands. :) I love him!! We can't find our gloves anywhere so this was the best we could do. :) Totally worked! 

So as it melts away it's just cementing in one of our best Christmas' ever. The peace. The hope. The family time. The pure joy that ran rapid all day long. The true meaning. The birthday cake for baby Jesus. The whole day will forever be stamped on our hearts. These days in the script... stunning. 

DPP - Day 23

Tonight consisted of tape, scissors, writings names and a couple bows. Better late than never right? ;)

DPP - Day 21 - 22

Day 21 ... Friday.

Today was a lazy day around the house. We finished up the last 2 tests before Christmas break and then spent the day cuddling together watching Christmas movies on Hallmark. Holidays in Handcuffs. One of my favorites. :)

Day 22... Saturday.

Here was a big night. During the day nothing too special just errands and grocery shopping. Saturday night though was full of magic. We printed out tickets from Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler. Got the kids in their PJ's and they had no idea what was going on. Strung lights around the floor board of the van, blew our wooden train whistle, and handed out the mugs of hot chocolate. Fully loaded with blankets and stuffed animals we loaded up in our own "Polar Express", punched tickets and all, and headed off to see some Christmas lights around the cities. The laughter and magic that filled the van is something I will never forget. The kids were so excited and loved every second. We sang Christmas carols. We detoured. We stopped and rushed to stay on time. We even went down a hill that was just like the one in the movie, yelled, and then yelled CARIBOU!? At the bottom of the hill. :) It was awesome and they all said they couldn't wait for next year. So glad we did it!

DPP - Day 20

Today was chilly. Thanks to the wind. Stories pouring in of all the snow falling almost everywhere but here. The kids are missing it feel like Winter and seeing the snow. I pray it snows here like it did a couple years ago. Their little hearts need it. So, today we finished cutting out snowflakes out of coffee filters and taped them to our windows. My heart sours hearing even my littlest guy say, "Mommy, look its snowing outside on our windows." I wish I would have done this sooner this month. Thankfully it's not technically winter yet so maybe we can keep them up for a while. :) They are on our front and back windows.

DPP - Day 19

Today we relished in the fact of nice overcast weather out. It was in the 70's, breezy, and overcast. It was beautiful. Today we did our little bit of school work and went outside to... be kids.

Laughter. Memories. Fun. 

Much more important then trying to squeeze in a different study. 

Soaking in childhood. 

And playing in a big pile of leaves!! 

Pure Bliss...

Catch Up... Again. DPP Day 14 - 18

So, I totally stink at a photo a day meme. Well, I at least totally stink about getting said picture up here and posted. Sheesh! Best laid plans huh. I have photos. They are just on my phone. Helpful huh? I have managed at least one day of picking up the big camera. What can I do to make it stick to my hands at all times?

I wish I knew.

This month has flown by and truthfully has been a roller coaster of emotions. We have done some of what I wanted  us to enjoy this season and lot of not getting to what I wanted to us to enjoy this season.

How does that happen?

So let's see I again am a week behind. Ugh.

Let's catch up... again.

Day 14... Friday. Solemn this day was. I like so many momma's sat holding my babies closer. Oh how my heart breaks for all of them. This day my middle son wasn't feeling all that hot and we did a lot of extra cuddling while Sister and I cut out snowflakes from coffee filters, and we listened to the Nutcracker on Story Nory. We also started our family campout movie night earlier than normal for extra snuggle time.

Day 15...  Saturday. This day was laid back for us. We enjoyed a hometown breakfast at a great little establishment in our town. We finished up shopping for my nephew and then headed to a store my daughter has been patiently waiting to visit for years. Oh my heart burst with excitement as she looked at around at it all. Being the only girl in the family makes me want so badly to give her the little girl dreams and loves she still holds so close. While at the mall we enjoyed a free magic show that was in the courtyard. It was a great day.

Day 16... Sunday. The littlest guy and I weren't feeling the greatest so we stayed home from church. We got to enjoy worship and the message still thanks to technology and my heart melted during all the singing when he raised his hands and said, "Dance with me, Mommy!" We did just that. We danced all over the kitchen and living room. I'll never forget his giggles and arms around my neck. Awe. After we were done dancing we finished making cookies for our Small Group meeting that evening. Last one of the year. Once everyone else came back from church we make gingerbread and sugar cookie cutouts. It was a total blast. The kids also, very late in the game, finally wrote out their letters to Santa too.

The stationary we used for the letters can be found here by Clickabug... LOVE them! I actually have been sitting on these for a couple years now. So glad we finally got to use them. 

Day 17... Monday. We got a jump start on our last week of school for the year. I'm sad we didn't actually end up with the entire month of like we hoped, but it was nice to know the times we had to not do school because of the move and that we had time to make it up before January was helpful. The kids were good sports about it. I finished up my mom's Christmas present and enjoyed watching my two handsome explorers throw on their capes and keep an eye out for danger. Sister was feeling under the weather here so she got to veg on the couch and watch Tinkerbell movies all day. She was grateful her brothers helped guard off anything new coming in. *wink*

After they were done defending the day they flew away to check for other danger near and far... that is their "we are flying" pose below. *I love them!*

Day 18th... Tuesday. A really laid back kind of day. The big project didn't start until after Hubby got home and was able to move a cabinet he got from work into the school room for me. Of course, like any self respecting mom I started the daunting task of starting to organize it all. At 8pm. Don't you start getting accomplished then too? Heehee. I have more to do but it'll be so nice once it's organized and hopefully a good portion done before we start back up. Oh and finished up our first semester Reading Curriculum. Once the New Year starts I really need to type out how our curriculum is all working out. I also have been struggling knowing back home has beautiful white flakes falling right now and we had a 70+ degree day. Boo!! Heehee I know trivial.

DPP - Day 13

Today we worked on some school work and catching up in our Art curriculum. (Confessions of a Homeschoolers World's Greatest Artists study) We sadly haven't gotten far we are only in Van Gogh right now thanks to the craziness of life and the move. But we love this study. Today's lesson was to study Van Gogh's paintings and pick one to try and copy.

My Kindergartener picked his "Garden of the Poets" painting. He used crayons because I am unsure where our paints and brushes are at currently.


My fourth grader picked his "Olive Tree" painting and she used oil pastels to complete her copy.

I love how much fun they have with it. :)

DPP - Day 12

Day 12 brought with it lots of fun. Dancing in the living room, coloring while I read Christmas stories, baking Christmas ornaments, and hot chocolate with marshmallows. It was a GREAT day!! (I know more than one picture but they all sang Day 12 to me. I couldn't choose just one.)

DPP Catch up day... Day 7 - Day 11

Oh. A chance to sit down at the computer. Nice.

So... where was I? ;) Day 6? Goodness I am behind. :(

Let's see...

Day 7...Friday... We had a stressful week last week and this particular day made it all better. Not only did this little cutie fall asleep in my lap (which rarely happens) but we also go the honor of seeing some friends from back home that were in town. My heart was super full this day!

Day 8... Was Saturday... It was peaceful day at home thrown in a Christmas photo shoot for an old neighbor of ours. I shot their maternity pics, newborn and 3 yr pics, and now was a go at some Christmas ones. We didn't go anywhere but my living room and I would have LOVED to have done some things differently, but I guess that is the joys of learning huh? All in all it went well I would say. I hope they are happy with the work though. 

Day 9... Sunday. Oh I love this day. It means fellowship. We have church and this particular Sunday we were leading a new members table in a class our church offers. I love doing those tables. You get to meet new faces and pour out the love this church has for Christ on them. It's amazing! We also have our weekly Small Group. What a blessing this group of wonderful hearts has been for us. Oh we love them and our time together! This week it was our turn to provide dinner. It was hit. So grateful. It's hard to prepare someone everyone might like.

Brownie cookie bits for dessert (brownies from a mix and cookie part from scratch) and Cheesy Biscuit Bean 'n Beef Casserole for dinner. I love budget friendly too!!

Day 10... Monday. Yesterday a cold front rolled through our southern state and left the most pitiful amount of white stuff behind. Other cities south of us accumulated more than we did but the kids loved the hopeful sign that white stuff could fall from this big blue sky of ours now. It was nice to have the cooler weather around to help it feel like winter really is right around the corner! :) ... See lame huh!? heehee

Day 11... Tuesday... TODAY!! YAY!!

Today has been a laid back school day here. We are close to being caught up and once that happens we will be able to enjoy the rest of the month off! :) We can not wait let me tell you!! Today though I wrote out more Christmas Cards... yep we are handwriting each one per person. I love doing that each year, but my hand today is asking me to double check that statement. ;) Still a handful more to write.

I also made some homemade bread (thank you Pinterest) because we were out of bread here. It was a huge hit! Now I need some more flour and maybe we can start making it more frequently = no more store bought. It was super easy to make. :)

DPP - Day 6

Today I am sharing a picture of what life with boys for me entails. Stuck items in places they don't belong and the tools that finally got it dislodged from this hiding place. Life with boys is not for the faint of heart. My patience is tried daily and I fail even more. They are teaching me to be on my knees a lot because without God I would never make it as a mother of boys.

A little hard to start the gas fireplace with that little guy in there. Oi. 

DPP - Day 5

Here I am again not posting on the right day. Still no big camera picked up but thank goodness for the technology of cell phones huh? Must.Pick.Up.My.Canon.Today. Must!

Yesterday consisted of waking up late, Blueberry Pancakes, school work, coloring, and concluded with seeing Santa at Bass Pro and dinner at Uncle Bucks. It was good day.

Today should be consisting of cleaning and school work. We have friends coming over for a little bit tomorrow and Saturday. I can not believe it is Thursday already. Where as this week gone!?

DPP - Day 4

Today was another cell phone pic day. We hit the post office, picked up pictures at Walgreens, and hit the library. Once home we accomplished no school except my daughter completed her research on Anne Frank and printed pics for her poster board. Then we watched The Diary of Anne Frank. It was one of those "this is more important" kind of homeschool days. :) I loved it. I can't wait to sit and listen to her present Anne to Daddy.

DPP - Day 3

(Yes posted on Day 4... Day 4 will be posted by the end of the day.)

I didn't pick up my big camera at all on Day 3. We jumped into our "catch up week" full swing yesterday so the day consisted of school, our Bible time was watching The Nativity Story (since we were fresh off walking through the live nativity the night before), laundry, cooking, cleaning... you know the normal day. The only things I snapped a picture of was my hang up pile and our dinner. Haha... all in a days work right!? So, that is my picture today... A summery of what Day 3 held for me. I guess it should've included a new coat of nail polish huh? Momma needs a vacation. ;)

Here is to hoping Day 4 will be more interesting... ;)

December Photo Project - Day 2

Today is a blustery... 81 degrees out.

Seriously!? It's December!!

So, we took a walk to our little pond and enjoyed being outside. When we came back home my 5 yr old was playing outside where he came back inside and said, "It's peaceful out here." I'd say my day is complete. Not finished though. We are about to head out the door to live nativity. We tried to walk through it last night but it was a long wait before we even got to the door for the 45 min presentation. So tonight we will try again.

I did take some pictures though day. :) Yay day 2! I am choosing this one because it really shows just how peaceful and carefree our day has been.

December Photo Project 2012 - Day One.

It's DECEMBER!!! Woohoo!!!

A couple years ago I tried doing this awesome project a photo a day in December. Yeah I blew it. I could never do Project 365... although I'd love to.

Anyway, this year I am determined to accomplish it!! Me and 300+ other bloggers, photog lovers, and peeps all over the world. I want to do it. So here we go...

Day one

Today we did so much. It was filled with smiles and fun. We had Pancakes with Santa, came home and put lights on the house, decorated our trees, made peppermint bark, watched Miracle on 34th Street. went to a light parade, and attempted to walk through a live nativity but it was late and the line wait was longer than they were to be open for. So, we will try them again before it's too late. We got home late and laid the kids down and here I am desperately needing to get sleep before church tomorrow. I didn't want Day 1 to pass me by.

Today's pic... out of a ton... is the tree in our living room. Straight from the camera (only watermarked) thanking Pinterest and the viral picture of the glowing Christmas tree from last year as inspiration to grab my tripod and open up my lens. My results.

Canon Rebel xTi

50mm

f/1.8

1/20

ISO 1600

Thank you, Janet, for reminding me of this awesome challenge!! I can't wait to see what December holds to snap away at! 

If you'd like to join or link up click the DPP icon on my sidebar and let me know. I'd LOVE to see your captures of this wonderful Christmas season!