FFF-Holiday Favorites

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

A few favorite christmas shots. We had a lot of fun baking this year. Bee Bop got to help and looks like I'll be doing a little more of this she loved every minute of it. I love how her face is dusted with flour and you can tell she is concentrating really hard.I just love the look on her face here. She looks quite mischevious having her christmas pancakes.

Lily has the most divine set of long fingers. It is one of the first things my mom noticed in her referral picture. She has some piano playing hands. Her Grandma and Grandpa got her this keyboard. A pianist in the making perhaps.

And lastly this post could not go without mentioning some new years resolutions. I'm not big on resolutions but have decided to make some broad ones for the year. If I put them here I should stick to them right ?!! Some silly some serious......
I will be getting a new IPhone this month. I have spent many months without one I vow not to drop this one in any body of water. Especially the toilet!
I will concentrate on being a more consistent parent when it comes to discipline.
I will try to be more forgiving of others and myself
I will remember that the children I work with are only 6. When they are bouncing and off task they are acting just perfectly their age.
I will continue my new scrap booking hobby and finish Lilyana's lifebook.
I will take a photography class and learn to use my camera.
Lastly I will save save save!!!

Christmas Eve & Christmas Day

Just a little Christmas Scrap.

We had a wonderful couple of days.

Hope you did too.

I really do LOVE Christmas.

It is sometimes stressful, but in the end, it was all love, fun, and family!

My brother has always loved christmas. He is still just as enthralled. He shares the same amount of excitement as each one of the children in our family. He used to wake me up before the sun rose and you could feel the excitement coming from him like electricity. At the point he woke me up he already opened his stocking and counted each of our presents to make sure Santa remembered that we needed equal shares. Our house was always frigid because our only heat came from a wood stove. So we would creep downstairs and sit teeth chattering, bundled in layers and shake each of our gifts and try to guess what could be inside. It is one of my favorite childhood memories. The above picture of my brother and dad laughing brought this vivid memory back. In Troy's stocking he got some trick gum that gave an actual electric shock. It was the hit of the evening as the men in the family took turns shocking eachother. I will have to say that it was true proof that women are smarter. We each declined the gum, while the boys did it multiple times.

I would like you to notice the many wardrobe changes of Lily. She decided to sleep in that purple dress, cause if you wear jammies, you might be asked to take off the tights. Santa brought her some jammie shorts he found. She will only wear shorts as jammies. They are quite hard to find this time of year. Santa had to use some christmas magic. And lastly the day would not be complete without wearing your wedding dress as least once.

When Lily really wants something and she isn't sure if she can have it she whispers it in my ear. She says Mommy I have a secret.....so after all the presents were open and our breakfast was eaten she whispered in my ear. Mommy can Santa come back again. Needless to say the man with the scary beard was a hit. Her favorite christmas gifts were the set of matchbox cars and the baby doll that came complete with highchair, stroller, and playpen.

This next picture is for Hannah she suggested this little bear set (and Santa took her up on the idea) and there has never been a better spot for a teeny tiny bear family.

Christmas Tamales

Today my mom came over and we made tamales. We have done it each year since Peter and I made the decision of which country to adopt from. They are still a work in progress. Each year they get a little better, a little tastier. My recipe has scratches and scrawls all over it as I perfect the craft. My favorite note is that you must boil the serano peppers outside on the BBQ so that the whole house does not have constricted airways. This is the first year we have had a pint size helper. She was very excited about making tamales and even more excited about eating them tomorrow.
A public service annoncement to anyone who will be eating the said tamales and have read my facebook posts about her fever. None of her tamales made their way to the pot. Please don't tell her that though.

Advent Calendar

This year I found this advent calendar at Target. Not the advent calendar of my dreams but perfect for my little conductor. Each day in December we have discovered a chocolate kiss inside. Join us on our morning ritual.Looking for the treat. Where is it again Mommy.
Ah ha I found you!

Thats the stuff christmas is made of.

Mmmmm, Mmmmmm good!

Gingerbread Houses

Meg and I made gingerbread houses with our first graders. We do this project every year and are left with more candy than anyone could ever need. Gumdrop gallore! So Meg had the brilliant idea of putting some of that candy to good use. We went to Meg's and made houses with Jake and Sofia. The kids ate a little pizza and then ate candy gallore. There was a lot of bouncing!! It was a lot of fun hopefully a tradition in the making.

Lily and Sofia posed perfectly for this picture. But first I forgot to take the lense cap off, then I forgot to turn the camera on and well this is what you get when you are too slow.

FFF Out takes

Christmas pictures are always fun. I posted a few weeks ago about our picture taking adventures. Here are some out takes.







Here is the finished product. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all my bloggy buddies.

First Movie

Today Nonnie Papa and I took Lily to her very first movie. She took it on as she takes on most new experiences she was apprehensive. When we got to the parking lot she told me she wanted to go home and go to bed. She stuck her lower lip out and would not say hello to my parents. Below is her apprehensive look, BUT then we were introduced to treats and the apprehension seemed to fade away. She picked out her own outfit. Yesterday I went to Target and found some adorable pajamas and two perfect christmas shirts and happened to also buy some tights. The tights were the hit and had to be worn today.

Thats my silly girl!
Apprehension is leaving maybe that mommy lady isn't dragging me to a torturous place.

Lily enjoyed the movie, we saw The Princess and the Frog. She told me at one point she was thirsty. I went to get her water. Then she told me she needed a treat. I said she already had treats. Nonnie suggested a hot dog (cause that is what Nonnie's are for.) So I said, hey Lily you want to come with me and get a hot dog. She said umm, no you go, I am busy watching a movie! She has me in stitches sometimes.

Odds and ends

Last Saturday Lily woke up and told me she was getting married next Saturday. I said really who are you going to marry. She said matter of factly, you mommy, like duh. Then she told me she had her dress all picked out. So here she is in her wedding finery it is even white. She also told me I should have invited her when Daddy and I were married. I told her next time we most definetly would.

Every year Lily gets a hallmark ornament for christmas. The first two I picked out for her. She was still in Guatemala when I picked out her cat.


Then I picked out the ornament of hope when she had been home only a few short months. It says hope in several different languages.

Last year she took charge of the ornament picking. Was there any doubt what it would be.

This year I took her to Hallmark before we had our tree up and she tried to pick Thomas again. So we left to come back after we had confirmation that Thomas was for surely in our possession. This is the ornament she picked out and it speaks to my girls year just perfectly.

Lastly all last year I hunted this christmas village to no avail. A train goes around the village with Santa and his sack of toys. So this year when I saw it I knew it must be mine. I put it in my cart and then felt much guilt as the money left my wallet as it was more than I wanted to spend. But this is where I find my girl quite often and it was well worth every penny.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

FFF- Traditions

We are just starting to figure out our holiday traditions. This is one tradition that has stood the test of time in our family. Lily is not a fan of Santa. She talks a lot about him and sitting on his lap and what she is going to tell him she wants. But, when push comes to shove this is as close as she will get to the man with the scary beard. It is tradition that we can look down at him from the second floor balcony of the mall. When we walk past him on the first floor she holds on tight to my leg. We went through a phase in September where she watched the Santa Clause movies over and over again. I thought perhaps we were gearing up to be brave, but not this year. Who knows maybe next but this is one precious picture of the two of them even if he is stuffed.