Twas The Night before Christmas

The Night before Christmas for MOMs

'Twas was the night before Christmas, when all thru the abode,
only one creature was stirring, and she was cleaning the commode.
The children were finally sleeping, all snug in their beds,
while visions of Nintendo 64 and Barbie, flipped through their heads.

The dad was snoring in front of the TV,
with a half-constructed bicycle on his knee.
So only the mom heard the reindeer hooves clatter,
which made her sigh, "Now what's the matter?"

With toilet bowl brush still clutched in her hand,
she descended the stairs, and saw the old man.
He was covered with ashes and soot, which fell with a shrug.
"Oh great," muttered the mom, "Now I have to clean the rug."

"Ho-ho-ho!" cried Santa, "I'm glad you're awake."
"Your gift was especially difficult to make."
"Thanks, Santa, but all I want is some time alone."
"Exactly!" he chuckled, "I've made you a clone."

"A clone?" she asked, "What good is that?
Run along, Santa, I've no time for chit-chat."

The mother's twin. Same hair, same eyes,
same double chin. "She'll cook, she'll dust, "
she'll mop every mess.
You'll relax, take it easy, watch The Young & the Restless."

"Fantastic!" the mom cheered.
"My dream come true! "I'll shop. I'll read., I'll sleep a whole night through! "

From the room above, the youngest began to fret.
"Mommy?! I scared... and I 'm wet."

The clone replied, "I'm coming, sweetheart."
"Hey," the mom smiled, "She knows her part."
The clone changed the small one, and hummed a tune,
as she bundled the child, in a blanket cocoon.

"You the best mommy ever. " I really love you."
The clone smiled and sighed, "I love you, too."
The mom frowned and said, "Sorry, Santa, no deal. "
That's my child's love, she's trying to steal."

Smiling wisely Santa said, "To me it is clear, "
Only one loving mother, is needed here."

The mom kissed her child, and tucked her into bed.
"Thank you, Santa, " for clearing my head.
I sometimes forget, it won't be very long,
when they'll be too old, for my cradle-song."

The clock on the mantle began to chime.
Santa whispered to the clone, "It works every time."
With the clone by his side Santa said,
"Goodnight. Merry Christmas, Mom, You'll be all right.

Author unknown

Playing in the pantry

Bo loves to stand and play in the pantry. I think it's because the lower shelf is just his size! I try to keep boxes and things that are safe for him to pull down. He'd stay there all day if I let him.

Working really hard to get the wipes container where he wants it!

Oh Christmas Tree

Saturday morning we headed out to find a Christmas tree. We knew from searching last year just to go to the Home Depot close to our house. The Christmas tree places were all so expensive and honestly the trees weren't even that good.

So after running errands we made the stop to pick out a tree. When we got there they hardly had anything, we were really disappointed, but we saw there was a huge truck behind the lot and we had a feeling it was full of trees so we decided after Bo's nap we would come back. Before we left we ventured inside to look around because I can't go to any store without just "looking", even Home Depot! After we had been inside a while we came out and noticed they were unloading the truck so we thought we'd wait a few minutes just to see. Next thing we knew they were unloading 6-7ft Noble Fir Trees, which is exactly what I wanted! We opened one up and I thought it was absolutely beautiful. I kept thinking it looked larger than 6-7, I think it's more 7-8, but we had them cut the trunk so it came down some. Put it this way Jarrod is 6'5 and it was at least a foot taller than him. So what do you do when you have almost an 8ft tree and you're in your Honda Accord...you tie it to the top of course (oh how Jarrod loved me for this one). Thank goodness I have a wonderful, loving, and very patient husband!!!

They are NOT plugged in and I know we weren't doing good jobs as parents, BUT it kept him out of the tree! We'll start electrical lessons tomorrow.

The star is crooked, but we had to bend the very top branch so the star would fit!

Trying to get him to sit still for a picture..yea right??

Hence the reindeer

HHMMMmm...that looks like a fun ball to play with (I later had to move it)

Bo's 1st Stocking

I got this in a few weeks ago and have been meaning to post it for a while. Isn't this adorable? The reindeer is a brown corduroy material, such a little boy stocking! Now Santa just has to get busy with things to fill it with!

Chocolate Mounds

Growing up my mom made Chocolate Mound Cookies every year at Christmas. They were my absolute favorite!! I started the tradition last year and plan to continue for many years to come. They are super easy and super delicious so I thought I'd share the recipe with everyone. I will be making these soon to share with our friends!

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise
4 squares (1 oz. ea.) unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup confectioners sugar or granulated sugar

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°. In small bowl, combine flour and baking powder; set aside.

2. In large bowl, with electric mixer, beat eggs, granulated sugar, Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise, chocolate and vanilla 2 minutes. Beat in flour mixture until blended, it can get kind of hard to stir. Shape dough by level tablespoonfuls into balls, then roll in confectioners sugar.

3. On ungreased baking sheets, arrange balls, 2 inches apart.

4. Bake 12 minutes or until tops crack. Immediately transfer cookies to wire rack and cool completely. Store in tightly covered container.

The Reason for the Season

I thought I'd pass along something I found on another blog that I visit often. With all of the hustle and bustle that comes along with the holidays it's easy to loose sight of the true meaning behind the season. She posted some great ways to get the kiddos involved whether it's reading and explaining scripture to them, making an Advent Wreath, other craft ideas, etc... Bo is a little young for these things, but I know many of you have older children so I hope you enjoy some of these ideas!

Have Fun & Enjoy!
http://www.sermons4kids.com/advent_calendar_manger_scene.pdf

a list of Bible verses for each day
http://www.christiancrafters.com/adventwreath.htm

this is a cute color page of an advent wreath
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/xmas/mpaperadvent.htm

Christmas Blessings!

First Thanksgiving

This past week we have been one busy family! Jarrod's parents, Grandma Sherry and PaPa Lee came to Austin to spend Thanksgiving with us. We had such a wonderful visit. I think we had something going on just about every day.

The day before Thanksgiving we decided to check out Dinoland, which was a wonderful exhibit here in Austin. They had 30 life size dinosaurs downtown at Zilker Park. Thanksgiving day we stayed around the house watching football and eating all day! I survived hosting my first Thanksgiving. We had all of the traditional items like turkey, cornbread dressing, gravy, cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, squash casserole, green bean casserole, and my favorite...baked macaroni and cheese and Bo ate it ALL. To finish it off I made a Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie!! Friday morning we woke up early and headed down to San Antonio to take Jarrod's parents to the Alamo and Riverwalk. It was a fun road trip and Bo did fabulous!

Saturday morning we woke up again and headed downtown to the Children giving to Children Parade. It is an annual parade here in Austin benefiting "Blue Santa" which is put on by the police department. They collect toys for children here in Austin who would normally be without. Everyone takes a toy and towards the end they stop the parade and collect the toys from everyone. It's such a great way to get into the Christmas spirit and teach children about giving.

It was such a fun and relaxing holiday for everyone! Hope all of you had a wonderful holiday as well!