Quite a Christmas Day!

Christmas Day was quite the day, indeed!   The weather, for this part of the country, was extremely odd; it rained the entire day.  Much of the day was a heavy rain and, in town, streets were flooding!  I'm not certain how much rain we actually got (I took the rain gauge down after the last freezing rain), but the local newspaper noted 1.12".

And, at some point and time during the day, Santa was going to come!  I think I was more excited than anyone else!

The boys got up and played with their new toys and devices.

Connor was still fixated with the virtual reality glasses.  He found a zombie game that was rather intriguing, albeit a tad glitchy.

Ramsey puttered around, playing with new Star Wars toys and a Minecraft pick axe that converts into a sword.  I was shocked that he knew he could "mine" (er - whack the floor) where the carpet is, but not on the hardwood!

 Santa, apparently behind schedule due to the inclement weather, still hadn't arrived, so we decided we needed some sugar cookies (I think this was actually Daddy's idea).   The boys and I started the project.  

Nana Karen came upstairs after a peaceful morning of sleeping in.

The cookie cutters (especially the candy cane) had a dual purpose according to Ramsey; they turned into guns!  Shocker.

At one point during the cutting of the cookies, Ramsey started to stick his foot in the rolled-out dough!  I guess I must have confused him with all of the previous salt dough projects.  Needless to say, the "foot cookies" didn't make it into the oven!

Once the cookies came out of the oven and were ready to ice, Ramsey was a good helper - TOO GOOD of a helper.  He wanted to take bites out of all of the cookies!  He got bites from two cookies (almost three) before I got him re-routed and back to helping with the sprinkles.

 Here's what a mouthful of cookie while saying "cheese" looks like:

While Ramsey and I were finishing the cookies, Connor held back on the couch and conceded that he was "much more suited for eating the cookies than frosting them".  Well put, young man.

Then, Daddy had to go to town to "run an errand".  Santa Claus showed up shortly thereafter!  FINALLY!!!  Yay!

 Ramsey had a strange intuition that "something was up".  At 45 seconds into the clip, he says "Take off!  Take off!  Da Da!".   Hmm.   Clever little boy?   How did he know?!?!   He didn't like Santa's suit, beard, etc.  Perhaps we'll have to make sure Daddy is home when Santa comes next year and keep the spirit of Santa alive.

Daddy "came home" again.  Good thing too, as the rain was just starting to freeze and the wind was starting to whip ferociously.   Ice Storm, here we come.

Santa had brought Ramsey more Star Wars action figures, a Star Wars sticker book, and a Star Wars book with short stories.  Connor got a flash drive in the shape of a thumb (get it, "thumb drive"?! ha!), some toothpaste, caramels, and a boatload of gum.  Mommy got her favorite perfume. Daddy got a tack light flashlight and deodorant.  I guess we were all pretty good this year!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve at Home

Christmas Eve Day fell on a Saturday this year, so there wasn't any "rushing home from work" to consider.  There was no real need to rush at all, frankly.   That was very nice indeed!

And, over the years, it's been tradition to simplify the day by just making pizzas for supper (not even homemade - *gasp*!) and opening presents with leisure, enjoying each other's company.

The day was filled with a lot of picture-taking (I realized LATE IN THE DAY that my lens was el-smudged-O!!), sipping cappuccino, watching football, and hanging out.

When Uncle Lance arrived, he brought his favorite tradition; tiger meat.   Connor hadn't remembered trying tiger meat before (we had convinced him last time AND this time that it was meat from real tigers -  hehe), so he dug right into it with Lance.  They managed to eat about a pound of it, with crackers.

 Riggs and Ramsey had to be part of the crowd, so Ramsey brought in his new favorite toys; halved Christmas paper rolls (aka "light sabers").   His brand new favorite phrase on Christmas Eve is "I will fight you!", whereby he'd hand one saber to one of us and then we'd battle him.

 Uncle Lance is beloved by Ramsey.  Ramsey kept climbing onto his lap and giving him kisses.  He clung to him for quite a while.  I thought it was very sweet, as he doesn't get to see Uncle Lance too much, though it's been more often as of late.  :-)

As we watched our football and drank our coffees and such, the boys waited to open presents....

and waited some more....

 Finally, Nana Karen got anxious for present time and Ramsey got the first gift; a Little People farm play set.

 Connor proceeded to read off the names and then Ramsey would hand the presents to people.  They were a good team!

 The present-opening lasted for a few hours.  

Afterwards, as I was baking pizzas, and everyone else was visiting and hanging out, Connor had fun trying out his new virtual reality glasses.

 And we had to get a picture of him looking ultra cool in his new leather biker jacket and pilot shades.  Connor doesn't openly "flaunt it" too often, but when he put on the jacket and the shades, he was strutting.  He's such a card!   

We all got loads of wonderful gifts.  But, of course, the best part was being together as a family.

  At Ramsey's bed time, we put out Star Wars cookies (on his Star Wars plate of course) for Santa.

But, Ramsey didn't leave them there long.  He thought Riggs would get to them first and eat them, so one by one, he placed them on the side table.  He ate a few in the process.

Time for bed.  Time to read stories about Santa Claus, who would be coming to see him soon.  Time to say our prayers and tell Jesus "Happy Birthday" just a little bit early.

We are very blessed indeed.  

He Just Can't Help It!

Finally... after waiting three years, Ramsey is excited and eager for Christmas!  He is interested in the ornaments (namely taking them off and giving them to us or playing with them!), the lights, the garland, stories about Santa Claus, and presents.  Yes, he has been excited about the presents!  May I reiterate.... FINALLYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!

The excitement allured us into opening a few presents early.  Ramsey didn't care who they were for, he just wanted the presents to be opened and he was going to be the helper.   So, on a few different evenings, we opened up a present.

Daddy got two tack light lanterns.

Ramsey got a Star Wars Storm Trooper with a walker.

We're looking forward to a wonderful Christmas this year.  Connor will be with us for both Christmas and New Years (to celebrate two Christmases - one here and one at Nana and Bumpa's!), plus Nana Karen and Uncle Lance will be here on Christmas Eve.  

In our nightly prayers, we're teaching Ramsey what Christmas is truly about; the birth of Jesus.  At Age 2, it's difficult to explain who Jesus is (other than saying he is God's, our creator's, son) or the extent of the reasons why we celebrate, but that will come in time.  

For now, it's just so very special to have a loving family and friends and to give thanks for our many blessings.

Homemade Gifts and Goodies for Christmas

As per usual, I had been brainstorming (for months!) about what to make as handmade treats for friends and family this year.    Pinterest was a daily go-to for me and it created an overzealous monster with far too many ideas!

As per usual, I made a lot of Christmas candy (Rocky Road fudge, pecan and coconut caramels, and English toffee) and sent them out.

To get Ramsey involved in a project, we made salt dough and "Better Than Salt Dough" (though, in the end, we found it actually wasn't any better!) to create Christmas ornaments for the grandparents and friends.  It proved to be a huge mess (Ramsey and I both needed baths immediately afterwards!), but it was a fun sensory and bonding project for both of us.

 Ramsey thought that rolling out the dough was pretty awesome!  I was impressed how well he used the rolling pin.  Perhaps he will become a pastry chef someday!?!

 Cutting out the shapes was fun too!

Along with the shapes, we were going to get impressions of Ramsey's hand prints.  Ramsey took it upon himself to go one step further and stick his feet in the dough to make footprints!

Here are a few of the ornaments we made, prior to being painted.  This is one small batch from the Better-Than-Salt dough.  Ramsey stuck his finger in all of them, numerous times, finding it quite amusing!  He certainly left his mark.

Here's a pic of the painted and finished footprints with a decoupaged poem on the back.   These were presents for the grandparents.   I was amazed at how huge his feet are!

 We made two larger batches of salt dough, whereas we made more footprints, but also made angel ornaments.  

 Ramsey made the cuts for the ornaments and helped me imprint them with an angel rubber stamp.  Then, they baked to harden, were sanded to alleviate rough edges, were "glitter-fied", decoupaged with various angel verses on the back, then finalized with a sparkly ribbon to hang them.

With my little helper merely "watching" this time (while gaming and playing with toys on the kitchen floor), I created all-natural and organic Peppermint and antioxidant body scrubs, natural foaming hand soaps, and dozens of natural Lavender bud and lemon bubbling bath bombs.   Very... complicated... and time-consuming butterfly cupcake bath bombs.   Ok, maybe just more tedious and time-consuming than complicated.

I boxed them all up into cute little individual cupcake boxes, then tied a gift tag onto them, and off they went, to friends, family, and Eric's female co-workers (or the male coworkers' wives).

As fun as they turned out, next time, I think I'll stick to straight-up bath bombs, nixing the Royal icing, glitter, add-ons, and specialty boxes.  :-)   There's something to be said for "keeping it simple"!  And, me keeping my sanity.  :-)

Decorating for Christmas

There aren't many things, er "hobbies" per se, that I love as much as decorating for Christmas!   The morning after Thanksgiving, I was all about digging out and dragging every holiday box upstairs and starting the process.

Eric worked that day and we didn't have Connor for the Thanksgiving holiday, so it was just Ramsey, Riggs, and me.... going bananas.... making sure that nearly every nook and cranny was slathered in red poinsettias or covered in something that either glittered, twinkled, or glowed.

Ramsey was a curious little boy throughout the process, scavenging through every box and bringing me new-found treasures constantly.   We were quite busy during the day, but did take time to hang out on the couch a little, watch some holiday TV shows, and drink hot mochas (milk for Ramsicle).

I had found a cute little craft pin on Pinterest this year and decided to try it.  I purchased some glass ornaments from Hobby Lobby, then decoupaged vintage-style Christmas sheet music onto them (ripping them into smaller pieces before randomly applying them).  

To spruce them up a bit, I found Victorian angels, Santas, and nativity scenes online, printed them, cut them out, then decoupaged them over the musical notes.  The final topper was to add glitter!   

I used twine, tied with a bow, to use as hangers.

I was pleased with how they turned out.  Eric had questioned them, mid-process, but  later conceded.  :-)

I had purchased some "angel lights" (mini LED lights) to string through the garland on the fireplace.  Leaving them on 24/7 proved to be futile, as they only lasted 3 days.  I ordered a massive pack of new batteries for future endeavors and will consider turning them off at night.

Christmas is always a busy time of the year, but one that I cherish.  We reflect on the blessings that we have, remember "the reason for the season", and enjoy our family to the fullest.

Merry Christmas!

To Embarrass Ramsey When He's a Teenager

This is a post mostly to embarrass my youngest beloved when he's older.  I happen to think it's adorable though.  
Sidenote:  In the pic, he dropped one of his Star Wars guys (rewards for "going") in the potty chair.  Guess who had to fish it out?!?!?!?!

We are going through the trials and tribulations of potty-training.   Since Ramsey was born, I had the notion that he would be potty-trained by Age 2.  Oh, what a funny (er, ludicrous!) idea that was.  Every child is different and this particular child isn't going to do ANYTHING until he's darn good and ready!   (After all, he just started sleeping through the night by himself in September!)

Nice "deer in headlights" look!

His "readiness" was told to me when he would no longer scream bloody murder when I tried to put him on the potty chair.  So, we've been working on this slowly for a month; diligently for the last week and a half or two.    I have read many "how to potty-train your child in a weekend" articles.  Um. Well.  Ya... No.  It's not happening and not for lack of trying!   Again, this child is different.  :-)   Stubborn little guy!

And, he doesn't like his big boy underwear (even though they're awesome Paw Patrol) and shrieks at the sight of a pull-up (even with Star Wars stickers stuck on them).   I guess we're stuck with diapers a little while longer.   The countdown has begun.  :-)

Love you, Doodlebug.   It's your Mommy's duty to embarrass you sometimes.  :-)

Excited for Star Wars!

It's not a secret that the most tiny of Duvens is a major lover of Star Wars.  Since he was little, he goes nuts when he hears any kind of Star Wars music, especially the tune during the opening credits.
I finally got it on video! (I am usually too late or he "gets shy" and stops when the camera comes out.)

Wait a few seconds for him to get going.  It amazes me that this child doesn't give himself a headache!

Sidenote:
This was before his haircut.  :-)  He still had hair to swing.