"Snips and snails and puppy dog tails, that's what little boys are made of!"
Surrounded by my sweet boys (hubby Eric, sons Connor and Ramsey, and our dog, Jango), I thought this a rather befitting name for my crew's blog. To our cherished friends and family, happy viewing! We love you!
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.
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. :-)
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.
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. :-)
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.
Well.... I am ashamed to admit that, even though I had a house full of family on Thanksgiving Day, I only got two pictures!
Here's Ramsey, early that morning, being my little Sous Chef in the kitchen, though not doing much chef'ing, just gaming!
And, I created this post for the future... for when I say to myself "What happened on Thanksgiving that year? What did we do?!?!" Oh ya, it was at our house... but, like a bonehead, I didn't get pictures of everyone. *groan* Sorry family.
The house was indeed full (in such a good way!) and we had a wonderful time visiting, stuffing our tummies, playing outside in the new snow (great for snowballs!), and enjoying the afternoon. Attendees: Eric, Kara, Ramsey, Riggs; Vicki & Bernie; Uncle Cory; Uncle Lance; Momma/Nana Karen.
At the end of the day, after everyone had left, it was purely a "vegetation night", merely lounging around, watching TV.... and Ramsey and me taking a few weird selfies.
The next day and over the weekend, we put up the Christmas Tree and decorations. Fun!! Another thing we missed on Thanksgiving was finding "A Christmas Story" to watch! What the heck!?!
I'm now obsessed with chalk paint! I want to paint nearly every piece of furniture in the house!
I also have some remorse about spending DAYS sanding, priming, and painting Ramsey's two bedroom dressers with gloss paint. It took one coat of primer and FOUR COATS of red! I was hugely pregnant at the time and it was COLD out in the garage when I was painting (with no-VOC paint of course to be safe for baby-in-the-oven). One coat, perhaps a sand to distress, and one coat of wax would have been all I needed if I had known about chalk paint. It would have saved me a boatload of hours too. *Sigh* Well, better late than never, right?!
So, back on topic.... Vicki and Bernie had given us an old high-boy dresser a few years ago. I'd often thought of painting it black to coordinate with the furniture in our bedroom, but, remembering the story above, I decided it was just fine the way it was and I had better things to do with my days. :-) After I finished the bench project for the entry way, I decided it was "time".
Last night at 5:00, I removed the drawer handles from the high boy, removed the drawers (leaving the clothes intact), and started throwing on the chalk paint (literally throwing it on... you don't have to be pristine with chalk paint!). I let that dry for a few minutes and made supper for everyone. I then took the handles and rubbed on some antique gold tube paint with a rag and then went back to sand/distress the dresser. Note: This dresser didn't even need a touch-up coat since none of the wood was unfinished! I wiped on a coat of wax and put the handles back on. VOILA! Before it was even Ramsey's bed time, I had that whole darn thing DONE!
Here are the before and afters (the pics aren't great... the lighting in that room isn't super bright):
For an $8.99 eight ounce jar of chalk paint (that I actually only used half of), plus the soft wax and gold rub that I already had, and a total of maybe 2 hours of actual work time, this is the outcome:
I am all about quick results and immediate satisfaction, so this project exceeded my expectations.
I have two side tables in the living room that I am dying to paint now. But first, the fainting bench that we had in the entry way originally is going to get a makeover. I had moved it into our bedroom, at the foot of our bed. Its red velvet fabric is going to be chalk-painted with a light blue-gray and the wood will be black (and a wee bit distressed.... maybe) to coordinate.
Thereafter... well, my Mom has a TON of stuff that I would love to get my hands on!!! I'm dying to paint something of hers with Peacock Blue, French Blue, or Lemon Yellow. This obsession may become a serious illness! ha
