Saturday, November 26, 2011

Elf on the Shelf

 Last year I really wanted to do the Elf on the Shelf with Major but we never did. So this year, I told Josh that I really, really wanted to do it. So on Friday we went and got our elf whom Major named Transformer Elf. We read the book and Maj was so excited! He woke up this morning and couldn't wait to find Transformer. We searched the house and with a little coaching Transformer Elf was found. Major's super happy excited face turned into tears very quickly once he saw where Transformer was and that there were no toys from Santa. I had to explain to him that Transformer was gonna be here for a few weeks to let Santa know how he behaves. His response was "Ugh, hurry up Jesus' birthday, I NEED to open presents"! Haha poor kid.

 Silly ole Transformer found his way to the farm on his first night at our house.

I meant to take a picture of Major this morning once Transformer was found, but I was distracted by the early time and the tears.

Transformer found a new hiding place for the day which was on the counter and kept a good eye on Major all day. Major did great. He looked at him, talked to him, but never touched him, which of course is a strict rule of Santa's. 
THEN
We watched the Elf on the Shelf movie tonight and that stinky ole kid Taylor Mctuttle got Major's wheels turning about touching the elf. So of course when Maj went downstairs to "pee" he knocked the elf off his little tree. We made Major feel really bad about it so before bed he said he wanted to write a letter (like in the movie) apologizing. Poor kid.  Anyway, Here is Major's letter and how he will find Transformer in the morning...

I just wrote word for word what Major said then he wrote his name and drew a picture of Transformer himself.  This sort of makes me happy and sad at the same time. Sweet little stinker.
 Poor Transformer had to get some band-aids because of his tough fall.
I will do my best to try to remember to do a picture of Major in the morning. I think it would be so fun to see his face once he finds this guy! 

If any of you do Elf on the Shelf, what do you do with him during the day? Does he stay in the same spot or sneaky sneaky move throughout the day? I'm curious about that. This is so much fun! I have a list of things for him to do or places for him to hide. Super fun! 


Saturday, November 19, 2011

Christmas Decorating

I am a total fall girl. It is easily my favorite time of the year. I love the weather, the smells, the activities, the food, just all of it! Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday too so I am getting really excited about all that yummy food I will get to enjoy this week. With that said, the weekend after Thanksgiving (also known as my birthday) we have always put our Christmas tree up. I remember doing it as a kid and when Josh and I got married, we continued the tradition. We play Christmas music and let Major pull out the ornaments,we decorate the tree then the house. Well, thanks to Pinterest, I now have a million fun projects in the works for Christmas.  As much as I love Thanksgiving, I love Christmas too. I love sharing the birth of Jesus with my baby, I love that family is together, I love the magical feeling of this holiday. My absolute favorite Christmas songs, that play pretty much on constant repeat are Christmas Like a Child and Joseph's Lullaby both by Mercy Me.  Joesph's Lullaby just about makes me cry every time I hear it.
I will always hold off til after Thanksgiving to decorate for Christmas, with that said, I do already have a lot of inspiration gathered on Pinterest and in my head :)
 These stockings are in the works already. Mine will have a burlap rosette and the boys will have buttons on theirs. I love the simplicity of them. 
Source Cozy.Cottage.Cute
 I thought this was really sweet too. I don't know that we can hang them off our kitchen chairs, but I may try some variation. 
Source: Cozy.Cottage.Cute
This wreath, actually the idea of this wreath, I am loving so much. We have a huge mirror hanging in our dining room and I think a Christmas wreath hanging in front of it will be the perfect compliment.
Source: Cozy.Cottage.Cute
 I am loving these lanterns right now too. We saw some at Hobby Lobby the other day that I may go back and get. The options for them are endless and they are just adorable. 
Source: SouthernLiving.com
 And this little tree canvas...Seriously, how cute is this? Major and I will be doing this craft soon as well. I love it to pieces. 
Source: houzz.com
I always love to put ornaments in jars and things so naturally I love this idea too. And in those Mason jars, how amazing would some cinnamon sticks smell next to a vanilla candle? Yum!
Source: I don't know :(
I made a Christmas wreath similar to this last year and can't wait to pull it out and hang it this year! 
Source: Pinterest

I forget year to year what I have or what I've made so I am excited to get things out next week and to make a list for new crafts. Yay for the holidays!

Friday, November 18, 2011

McD's Breakfast

Well, this morning I realized I didn't have any breakfast food and Major and I had to get out the door early, so I thought....opportunity! I pulled into McD's for a parfait and a tea this am and paid for the order behind me. When I got to the window, I asked if the gentleman behind me had placed his order and she said he was doing that now, so I told her that I wanted to pay for his meal. She said very surprised: "really?" Then she asked if I knew him and when I said no she looked at me like I was crazy. I told her thanks and to please ask him to pay it forward. I hope he was appreciative this morning and that he enjoyed his breakfast. It felt nice to do something nice for someone who was completely unsuspecting.:)

I do wish that people weren't surprised by people doing good deeds for each other. I wish that it was the norm and everyone was thoughtful and considerate to one another. That's a land of fairy-tales I guess, but still, can you imagine a world where everyone's first reaction was to care for those around them? I'm going to try really hard to be more contentious of  this because not only do I want people to be more considerate of each other, I want Major to grow up knowing how nice it feels to do nice things for other people.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Fail, Craft, Blog

Once again I am a total blogger and promise keeper loser. I really did try hard to do something extra nice everyday, but alas, my selfish and busy life (and my broken computer) distracted me so I haven't done as well as planned. Here are a few of the things I had left on my list to do.
1. Leave a treat in the mailbox for the mailman. How cool will it be for him to open the mailbox and see a treat just for him? I'd be excited :)
2. Next time I see a vending machine, I am gonna leave exact change on there for someone to have a "free treat". That too, I think, would be awesome! To just walk up to a coke or snack machine and having the change for a snack taped to it, would be a great little pick me up.
3. We don't go through drive thrus very often, but I may make a point to do that in the next day or two and buy the car behind me's meal or whatever they are ordering. My luck it will be the Duggar's ordering dinner for 30, but still how excited would you be to get to the window and the guy say "that car in front of you already paid". Super awesome!
Anyway, I will complete, at the very least, those things before Thanksgiving.

In crafting news: I am planning on making something for the general store at Lannom Farms to sell for their Christmas season. I am still undecided about what I want to make. I thought about wreaths, bc that appeals to the masses, but I dunno. Ideas?
I have been chipping away at my pinterest list. I made an adorable little bag tonight.
and HERE was the inspiration. It was found on Pinterest of course. Up next are handmade stockings and hooded towels. Speaking of, why don't they make hooded towels for kids? I know you can find them some places like PBK for a million dollars each, but why can't you buy a soft and cozy hoodie towel at Target for your kiddo who is too big for the thin, baby ones? Boo. Good thing Mama is crafty because Major is about to have a whole new stack of yummy, cozy hoodie towel goodness. 

If you are still reading this random randomness, then bless you. :) I will try to be better at keeping up with the things I say I am gonna do. Until the next random blog, see y'all.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

The Happy Day Project - day 2

Dang whatta blog loser. I haven't been keeping up with blogging my happy day projects. Recap day 1 here. Maybe I shouldn't say day 1 or 2 because actually it has been like week 1, but anyway. For my second project, I hand made a card and sent it to my dad. It just had a simple little note on the back telling him I am thankful for him. Hopefully it will bring a smile to his face.

I am in the process of what I am gonna do for day 3 (project 3, whatever) so stay tuned.

On another note, my crafty juices are flowing, dang pinterest.  I've made several Christmas presents, but have a whole lot more to do. I basically sewed all day Friday and a big part of today too. Poor Major. He played well mostly alone today and allowed me to 'work' in my craft room. Mama fail. I need 2 of me. We did manage to get the house picked up and the laundry done together though and played superheros, so maybe it wasn't a total Mama fail kind of day. 

Anyway,  stay tuned for some new crafts and thoughtful deed numero 3, hopefully all posted tomorrow.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

The Happy Day Project - day 1

Over the past few weeks, I have been thinking more about how I can be more thoughtful of others. I have sort of been convicted in a way about the need to want to bring some sunshine into someone else's life. Maybe it's just the season, but regardless, I'd like to know that at least once a day I am doing something to make someone's day better.  I was researching some ideas beyond my scope of thinking about what I could do. I had a lot of good ideas, read a lot of good ideas but when I checked one of the blogs I follow I knew this was what I was looking for on the immediate front anyway. I've kinda altered it in a way that is better suited for where and how we live. It  is called the Happy Day Project and it's aim is to bring extra sunshine and smiles to people this week I am going to extend it and try to do something nice for someone everyday for the rest of the month. 

There are so many bad, ugly and stressful things in this life and as I get older, I am learning that the time I would spend on those things could be used so positively in another way. My hope in doing the Happy Day Project is to bring a smile and a little sunshine to someone's day.

So here goes Day 1 for us: Bring  a treat to a neighbor.
We are blessed with really awesome neighbors. Mr. Don and Mrs. Susie are so sweet to us. They always lend us anything we need, watch our home if we are out of town, they let Major play with their dogs and ride his bike on their driveway. They are just good, there for you kind of people. We think a lot of them and are glad to have them as our neighbors.
 Just a little mason jar filled with chocolate chip cookies, a ribbon and a hand-made tag
The little pennant banner tag that read on the back: We are thankful for good neighbors. Enjoy!

I hope they enjoy their little jar of cookies! They sure do smell yummy!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Birthday Boy

Good Night 3 year old:
Good Morning 4 year old:

On Friday November 4th, our monster man turned 4! I am really excited for him to be 4; I'm looking forward to all the fun things this year will bring, too. So far, the past few days have been much better than the last few days of him being 3, so hopefully the terrible threes have left us and the fab fours are among us! I'm hoping so anyway. A sweet mama friend told me that no matter what, enjoy this moment, don't be sad about him not being little and don't be sad about him growing into a big boy either. Be glad in this moment that I have with him. I have been praying for God to help me slow down and enjoy all my moments with him.

So onto his Birth Day: Maj woke up about the time that Josh came home from work so we opened presents and let him decide what he wanted to do that day. He decided for the 3rd year in a row to go to pump it up. We had a really fun time all together as a family. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. We just ran errands and got things ready for his monster party the next day. Of course though, we took the time to say a special prayer for him and for his birth family and the sacrifice they made 4 years ago.

His fav thing from us was the least expensive thing we got! Love that he loves it.
My Iron Man super hero
Fun at pump it up

 The two best things that have ever happened to me:
Haha! Weeeeee!
Happy Birthday Major
Paaaarrrrrtttttaaaaayyyyy Day: Major was pretty undecided this year on a party theme, he said superheros then said no after a few weeks so I was looking on etsy for party ideas and came across an invitation that read: Eek, Roar, Our Little Monster is turning 4....It was so perfect for him, so I asked him if he wanted a monster party and he said YES! Then said he wanted it at the pumpkin patch. So with the help of Cathy Lannom and Lannom Farms, we were able to have a really fun Monster/Mud/Farm party! Major loved it and I'm pretty sure all the other kids did too. I don't know how thrilled all the moms were leaving with muddy, jacked up on sugar kids, but it sure was fun. Here are some pictures from his super fun party day.

Sweets :)
 Cake and Cupcakes

 Monsters say: NomNomNom!!!
 YeHaw, I'm 4!!!
 Buddies

 He said this was his favorite part of his party



Happy birthday my little love. You mean the world to me and I am so happy, grateful and honored to be called your Mama. 

Friday, November 4, 2011

Happy Birthday Big Boy

Happy 4th Birthday Wild Man! How in the world are you already 4? To say this year has been a challenge would be an understatement. Every ounce of your personality is a challenge! You are so full of life, full of energy and excitement! I love that about you! I love that everything you do, you do full throttle, whether it's good or bad. My prayer for you is that you learn to use that energy and drive to become the best you that you can be.  You are an amazing little boy. You make Daddy and I so happy and so proud to be your parents. We love watching you learn, grow and explore. We love watching you succeed at big boy things. We love answering the 500 questions you ask everyday because that means you are healthy, learning and growing. When your little hand is in mine, I am reminded that God has blessed us so much more than we could have deserved. You being in our lives is a dream come true and something that we do not take for granted. We are humbled and grateful for the opportunity to be called your Mama and Daddy. Thank you for being our precious baby boy and for being the joy in our lives. Happy Birthday Major-man! We love you so much.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Halloween

Major changed his mind about his costume several times this year. He finally settled on Captain America and looked really 'super' adorable. Josh was on shift so we went over to my sister-in-laws and trick-or -treated with Major's cousins. Halloween is always hard because we lost precious Sam that day. It is especially hard for Tatum, Herby and their kids, but still, we went on and had a nice time as a family. I appreciated that we were welcome to go along with them.

Major went to several houses and said to each one 'trick-or-treat, I can't have peanuts or treenuts, thank you". He got upset at the ones that passed out things that he couldn't have, so he posted up on the hayride with the bag of candy his Nanny had given him that was allergy free. We had a good time, but missed Daddy a lot. Here are some pics of our fun night.
 His goodies from Nanny and Cap
Me with Jack, Sadie and Major
 Major with Nanny and Cap
Pappy and Nona and their grands. 
I feel thankful and happy that even on holidays like Halloween,  I am able to spend it with family.