Online Christmas shopping

Since we've been iced in I did a little online shopping. I've been having the hardest time figuring out what to get Olivia this year. I'm happy to say I solved the problem.

We got her this adorable baby doll wooden high chair. It had great reviews, and it's the same brand as her kitchen. I can't wait to get it!

We also got her this table & chairs set. We had a set I was going to revamp, but once I got it out of the attic I noticed it was just trash. I really wanted this for both kids to eat at, color, do hw etc. Olivia will have to share it with her big bro. One of the many great reviews said her tall 8 year old can still sit comfortably. I was glad to hear that considering Carson is a tall 5 1/2 year old.

Olivia is going to love playing with her new tea set at her new table with her baby doll in her new wooden high chair. Eek! I'm excited!!

I originally wanted a tricycle that had a baby doll carrier in the front for her big Santa gift. After several toys r us trips looking for it I couldn't get it. The Allen manager worked so hard trying to find me one. When he couldn't he offered me to go look back in the wheels section to find something she would like, and he would give me the online discount price. Olivia kept playing with this big wheel, it plays music, and has a cell phone. She was so cute dancing and talking in her barbie big wheel. So, I took it up to the front and the manager did even better than what he originally said. He gave it to me for $30 which made it a great deal, because I had a $14 store credit. If you go to the Allen toys r us give manager Rudy a shout out! Olivia is now finished except for a few more stocking stuffers.

Carson has been begging me for an umbrella. I got him this one to match his lightning McQueen rain boots.

He wanted a Mickey iPod case. It was so hard to find one that will actually protect his iPod. All the other Mickey ones were the hard plastic that break when it drops.

I also got him a pair of red headphones from the 5 below store, and some phonics writing, and word search books for his stocking. Since he got a dirt bike he's not going to have much to open this year. I love the convienence of online shopping, how did we ever live without it? What is Santa bringing your kids?

Icemageddon 2013

We had a big ice storm hit last night. I'm not going to lie I was excited to be getting a day off from our school routine. I have been so exhausted all week and living off of caffeine. I had been working so hard on my table and chairs, then hosting Thanksgiving I really never got a "Thanksgiving break."

Olivia and I slept in then we made some orange rolls for breakfast.

We spent most of the morning playing, and watching some Christmas shows.

After lunch I took the kids outside to play in the ice.

They had such a good time. While we were outside playing Ryan came home from work and started cutting down a tree that was near our power line. He was afraid it would get too heavy and we would lose power.

Carson picked some icicle's

 

 

Aren't they cute?

After dinner we had movie night. We watched Planes, and The Croods. We hope all of you are staying warm during this nasty, cold weather.

 

 

 



tooth fairy visits the St. John's

Carson lost his first tooth last night. He kept telling me he had a loose tooth, but I didn't believe it until I wiggled it myself.

It was a pretty big deal last night. I remember when I would lose my teeth I would have to call my whole family. I've had a tooth obsession since I was 4.

He went out to the car to get his ipod and came back in saying his tooth fell out. It was barely hanging on when he told me it was loose. I told him if he ate an apple it would probably come out. I was surprised when it didn't. I gave up a good honeycrisp apple to a tooth that didn't come out.

 Putting his tooth pillow under his pillow for the tooth fairy.

Sweetie Pie was trying to steal his tooth money.

Last night I posted on my fb page that my husband was a cheap tooth fairy. He only wanted to give Carson $1 for his first tooth. I talked to my friends and they all left their kids $5 for their first tooth. That's more along what I was thinking. What can you really buy with a dollar these days anyway? He has another loose tooth, but he won't be getting $5 for the next one. I told him the tooth fairy gives more for the first tooth.

I found this template/printable on pinterest to give him as a record of his teeth. It was so hard finding a cute boy template. Everything was so girly. I was disappointed when my lap top wouldn't turn on, and my printer wouldn't allow me to print from my big computer. So, he still doesn't have his certificate. I'm also a bad tooth fairy,  I totally forgot to take the tooth out of his pillow. I thought he'd be so excited about getting the money he wouldn't notice the tooth was still in there. I was wrong. I had to tell him the tooth fairy was so busy last night, because there was a big ice storm coming. She will have to get it next time. Luckily he didn't ask anymore questions. I will do better next time, and not do it at 1 A.M.

 



Letters from Santa & a photo shoot

I thought it would be fun to start A letter from Santa tradition along with our Elf on the Shelf. I found a template on Pinterest for the note card. Download here. I placed the note in the mailbox, so when I asked Carson to check the mail he would see it.

He was so excited to go check the mail. I rarely let him because our street is just too busy.

Who could it be from?

 

Once he heard it was from Santa Claus his face lit up. It was so cute.

She's not too sure what it's all about yet, but she's still excited.



 

And....

Here's a picture I took just for fun in our backyard.



 

Sweetie Pie our Elfette

Last year I bought The Elf on the Shelf thinking Carson would be more into it. He was really still too young to care or grasp it. His teacher bought one for her classroom, so he is really into it. I forgot to get it out last night, but he wasn't going to let me forget tonight.

When I bought the Elf I didn't realize there was a girl and a boy elf. I just grabbed one and it happened to be a elfette. Last year he said he wanted to name it Jackie Boadeux. He names everything that. I never wrote it down in the book because I thought he could think of something better. He decided to call her Sweetie Pie.

Here is what Sweetie Pie got into tonight. I realize we're technically missing two more "reindeer" and a Rudolph, but it wouldn't stand up as well as just six.

I can't wait to see what Carson thinks when he gets up in the morning. This elf thing is cute, but sure is a lot of work.

No more sand paper, ever!!!

I had this crazy idea to redo my dining table and chairs a week before thanksgiving. 

My in laws bought this table 30 years ago. It's a great table just was looking a little out of date. 

So, I thought it would be fun and no big deal to sand the seats, and the table top. 

Not so much. I absolutely despise sanding anything. 

Starting the staining process. With staining you have to wipe as you go. Well once I would wipe it down you could not tell I stained anything. I got a little nervous. I went to Home Depot and talked to a helpful guy, and he said since I was working with water based products I could leave it on and not wipe it.

And it worked like a champ. You just have to make sure your brush strokes were even.

I did the chairs first and saved the table for last. I did two chairs at a time. I got two chairs with stain on them then went back to sanding. It gave me a nice break, and kept me constantly working. When it was time to polyurethane I would put a coat on then start painting on the chairs that were finished. My house was an absolute disaster. I sanded in the living room, stained in the kitchen, and painted in the entry hall. I'm so glad my kids are independent. They really just played and knew they weren't allowed to touch all the materials.

For the table I took the leaf out and did that separate. I was able to use my electric sander for a lot of the table. Thank the good lord. This would have taken a good 2-3 days by hand. I didn't have that kind of time. That electric sander makes a HUGE mess. Wow!

I used annie sloan chalk paint to paint the chairs and pedestal. I like that there was no need for sanding prior to painting. My sil has used this paint a few times, so I decided to try it out. I bought a quart of it and it was enough to paint the table and chairs with 2-3 coats. I still have some left over. It's awesome. Definitely worth the price.

I started on a Tuesday night and finished late Monday night. I'm happy with how it turned out, and all the sanding was totally worth it. I just need to apply the wax coat on the paint to keep the chairs from chipping, getting dirty.

Thanksgiving & 4 generations

This year I hosted thanksgiving. What a chore! My grand-dad was in town, so I wanted to spend it with my family. My mom lives in an apartment with little space to host, and my aunts house isn't all that kid friendly, so I offered. I went for the casual hosting style. You know the paper plates, and tin foil trays kind of serving. Ha! I had enough dishes to do, and I wasn't about to go out and buy plates, chargers, and all that fancy coordinating serveware for one day. It's not about the decor anyway. I enjoyed having all of my family over. I just wish I would have stopped to take more pictures. My little brother likes playing on my camera and he ended up getting a few cute ones. 

My little nephew, Cam. He is such a handsome little guy.

Olivia and my cousin, Connor. My kids adore Connor. He's such a sweet kid.

My super hero. I loved having him home this week.

She never leaves Cam's side. She loves babies.

This was the first time Olivia got to meet grand-dad. My grand-dad used to live with my parents until about 4 years ago then he moved back to Florida.

We had to get a 4 generations picture while my g-dad was in town. We tried taking it outside, but my flash wasn't coming on, so we had to go with this cheesy 90's pose. :/ Carson looks thrilled doesn't he? Ha!

I am so sad I didn't get a picture of the four of us. We take one every year. At least I got a picture with my true love.

I'm so thankful everyday for life's blessings. Hope you all had a great turkey day.