Being a momma and lovin' it!: 2014

Monday, December 29, 2014

Merry Christmas

Since I had no budget for Christmas presents, I asked the kids if I could make them a quilt. They all agreed and put in their requests. I've finished all but Ben's dragon one. So, in two weeks I've made six quilts, plus a taggie toy (for Samuel), using only the fabric I have. I was pretty excited, since I'm no seamstress and I'm still learning how to sew! I figured this would be great practice!

Cecilia's flower quilt

Samuel's taggie toy

This is Emma's. She requested a regular quilt and I had bought this quilt topper for $5 this summer!

Josh's car

Leah's butterfly

Kira's owl

Four of my kiddos with their blankets

And I whipped one up for my sister using her wedding colors!

It's been a great week with lots of blessings and family time!

Holiday Funfetti pancakes and eggs for brunch!

He loved his pancake!

He fell asleep from all of the excitement!
Two of my sisters came into town that afternoon and we had IHOP for dinner. It was so yummy that I'm still desperately wanting more! They had pumpkin cheesecake, raspberry white chocolate and caramel bonbon. Seriously delicious! $5 for 4 pancakes is a little pricey though. I can buy the raspberry and white chocolate chips and make my own (a lot of them) for about the same price. I've tried making pumpkin pancakes before and they were okay, but not great.
We made divinity on Saturday! I made regular, pecan, and butter mint. It turned out pretty well! The kids were super excited! It was just like I remembered as a kiddo! I'm trying very hard to make new traditions with my kiddos (and bring back some old traditions)! Good times! Yesterday was the Foreman Christmas/Bill's birthday Celebration, so we had yummy food, plus King Cake! It was great! We all got presents and that was super fun too! I really love spending time with my family!

My sweet little men with their Mamaw!

Sam helping Samuel!

Most of the crew

He really wanted to roll around in the wrapping paper! So, I let him. For about a minute.

Now we have New Year's coming up and then back to work on Friday. I'm going to enjoy time with my kiddos until then!

Sunday, December 21, 2014

The boys had fun!

This week was CRAZY!!! I stayed up until 3 in the morning on Wednesday Night/Thursday morning. I made a ton of bows, 3 jean purses, 2 tutus, like 80 gingerbread cookies, and 12 cupcakes. Kira had to bring treats for all of the 5th graders (gingerbread cookies). It was the first time I followed the recipe exactly, since I actually had sorghum! I usually don't follow recipes exactly, since I rarely have all of the ingredients I need. Then I also had to make cupcakes for Emma, since she was a Bullpup on Thursday. Being a Bullpup is HUGE at our school! The kiddo gets to bring in tons of stuff to put in a display case for the day. They get to do the morning announcements (Emma did amazing), and they get to pick 2 friends to sit with them and their family at lunch. I had no money, so I got creative and just made cupcakes for us to share at the table. It worked great! It was awesome being able to send my kids over to a fellow teacher's classroom, so I was able to eat with my kiddos and meet two of her friends (that I hear SO much about)! I also had to make the kiddos classroom gifts, so I did that too. The younger kiddos were a huge hit, but not Kira's class. Oh well, you win some, you lose some! It snowed, so we had to leave early too! I was very grateful to make it through the day! I skipped out on my meeting and took a little nap instead. It was much needed! Friday was our last day before break, so we finished up our crafts, had our party, ate snacks, and packed up a kiddo that's moving over break. Good times! All of my kiddos were pretty happy with the present they ended up with! Phew!
Last weekend we saw Elsa, so this weekend was the Holiday Express Train (also free :)). We headed to the Union Station and waited in the short line (I love being a member, but still a good 30-45 minutes wait) to see the train! We skipped the Santa line, and just saw the train! It was pretty cool! It was very decorated with cool Santa and train stuff. Cecilia and Josh had a hard time going from car to car, because it was high up and the floor was see through. I was carrying Samuel and trying to take pictures. (My left arm should be sore today, but it's not.) Then when you get to the end they give you a bag full of stuff! It had a coloring book, crayons, whistle, teddy bear, puzzle, small frisbee, candy cane, organic gummy bears, and a chocolate. After they were off, a guy handed them a light up whistle. My kids were super excited about all of their stuff! Then we went in and did Science City in about an hour, so we could make it to Christmas on time. There were lots of new exhibits, so it was super fun! We'll have to go again sometime this next couple weeks, so we can take our time!
We headed to Grammie's house and had a Christmas dinner, sang songs, made Gingerbread houses, opened presents, and read a Christmas story. Then Kira and I headed to Old Navy. They had coats on sale in store, and I had $20 in rewards from buying school clothes. So, I got Kira and Cecilia coats (neither one had a coat, but was borrowing one from someone else), Leah a pair of jeans-since she's now in a new size, and Kira a pair of fleece pants. All for under $32! I love Old Navy! Then we went to Walmart to buy presents with the gift card my mom gave us. Lots of shopping and I'm glad that's over! I really do like the homemade Christmas, even if I am exhausted!