Hey ladies! I hope you are all enjoying holiday time so far! Shea just finished his last week at school and I have been enjoying break (although busy with gatherings, holiday projects, and church stuff!) from school. I am so glad that after this week of christmas and family craziness I will have a whole week before school starts and Jeremy will have 3 days off during that time and no Christmas stuff to be preparing or working on.
I am really looking forward to Christmas this year -the kids are so excited and it was so much fun making and gathering things for them to make it special. We decorated the house a little more than last year and Hailey has such a good concept of what is going on, it is so fun.
Anyway, I just thought I would update with a few pics from the last few weeks and see what I remember ha ha.
We 5 new chickens a week or two ago. Our old landlord was giving them away, so we went down and picked out 5. We got two pretty brown ones that lay blue eggs, a big dark one that lays a chocolate egg, and two white fluffy little chickens called silkies. They are adorable and almost look more like a poodle. BUT the other day I went out, and one was gone and a trail of feathers went into the woods. Some sort of animal broke into the run and carried it off. I was so sad, because I love those little white ones! Papa came over and secured the run, so hopefully we won't have that problem any more. I really don't want to lose another silky - the kids love to hold it.
SNOW - this is back from when it snowed after Thanksgiving. Hailey did not like the snow. Shea enjoyed it more than her but he is not very impressed in this picture. I loved having the white background for a few days even though it was cold!
Hailey was playing peek-a-boo in her santa hat yesterday. She has been wearing this little dress that was a hand-me-down from her cousin and I love seeing her in it. She calls it her "doggy party dress" and she is a princess in it, according to her.
Last Sunday we had a birthday party in the afternoon and then we rushed back for the Indianola children's party. It was so fun this year! They did a great job planning it and Shea had several classmates there and his teacher, so he had a blast. Hailey was scared of Santa and Shea now believes Santa is real because he knew his name. Afterward, Shea went on a hayride through our neighborhood and had fun for about 5 minutes before he got too cold and bored.
The other day the kids were just so HYPER...I think a big part of it is the weather, because we haven't been outside as much. So I randomly said, "lets make some angels with glitter!" Glitter works every time. They had a super fun time and afterward mellowed out for their afternoon rest. Mom win. Hailey is twirling in the top most right picture below. She is ALWAYS twirling. I love it.
Some of our Christmas decorations. I made a garland for our banister out of lights, scented pinecones and tree clippings. I love the smell as I walk up the stairs. Our little christmas village is in our window this year, with a new lego snowman addition we got Shea as an advent gift. I finally updated some picture frames and re-did our photo wall. I love having new and old pictures there (and the blank space was driving me crazy before!) . Our cozy living room! We got two new rugs (one isn't pictured, but is a cozy shag like rug in front of the fire place - the kids love to snuggle on it with our big cushions and read books and play) and the big red one. One a lady we know was going to throw out (I think because it sheds a little) and the red one Jeremy's parents just had lying around at the church so they let us have it. We just need to get a pad for it. Anyway, I love how much cozier and brighter it feels now in here.
1. Hailey's new stocking. I pulled out the stockings and she goes "where is mine? Mine is PINK!". Well, last year when I made hers she didn't have an opinion, so I went ahead and made this pink oen for her. She is thrilled and calls the pink fringe at the top a "tutu". 2, Shea's artwall and our avent "wreath". We haven't lit any of the candles because we have been gone every Sunday of advent so far, but we plan on doing something special on Chrismas eve. 3. our other fuzzy rug. 4. Our seasonal chalkboard. Shea put some creations on my candle pillars, ha. And 5. Jeremy's dad found this wood holder at the recycling center and it has been SO nice to have! Usually we can only stack a little wood inside and it is always really messy. Now we can stack quite a bit and I don't have to go outside during the day to keep the fire going.
And these were some pictures I took of the kids. I only got Hailey to do it by putting up pink paper in the background. I love the first picture of Shea, too.
Yesterday, we had my side of the family's Christmas. We did it at my sister's house in Renton. My youngest brother, Matt, and his girlfriend were not there because she was having brain surgery in Arizona (she is doing well and they are flying home today!), and my other brother decided he didn't want to be a part of the family Christmas this year. It was short and sweet and a little overwhelming, but the kids did great and it was nice seeing their cousins. We had to rush back because Shea was in the kids play at our church in the evening and it ended up being a late night as we stayed to watch the end of the football game (READ: Jeremy watched the game with his brothers while I supervised the sugar hyped cousins for a couple of hours).
This first picture is actually from the Kingston Ferry terminal - they have a huge light display there this year, so we made some cocoa and took a walk around the other night. The kids had so much fun.
This was the best picture we could get of the cousins on my side of the family. Hailey didn't want anything to do with it.
This is Shea as an orphan in the play last night. I made 14 of those newsboy caps, holy sewing! I'm so glad we had netflix to watch while I sewed. My new machine got a TON of use this month.
Anyway. Today we are relaxing a little. The kids are playing with their new toys and I am sitting in my workout clothes so I will work out eventually, ha ha. I have lost almost 5 lbs in the last 4 weeks! I haven't been able to lose the last bit of weight since Hailey until now, so I am feeling really good and Jeremy makes comments about how skinny I look every day. I don't think I probably look that much different to most people, but its enough that my pants and clothes fit comfortably and I feel good, so thats all that matters to me! I have been doing Jillian Michaels workouts almost every day and eating smaller lunches, hardly any sugar, and no snacks after our early dinner. I got really motiovated because we went and all weighed ourselves at the old scale at the indianola store and I weighed like 2 lbs MORE than Jeremy (he is short, so its easy to do, but still, I had gained weight and I freaked out). Mostly I'm just happy because I was really moody and discouraged for a while, and since this last month I have been energetic and feeling way more positive about things.
The house is a bit messy right now so I am hoping to start getting things cleaned up and ready for Christmas. Last night, Jeremy and I were up commiserating over getting through Christmas with his family. It is insanely overwhelming and I always forget about how bad it is until right before and then I start freaking out a little bit. Ah well. I am trying to be a good sport this year (again) and hoping for change eventually.
This is a long post. I guess that is what happens when I write a little bit every day for a few days. MERRY CHRISTMAS!
