Baby, it’s cold outside!

Posted on December 19, 2008 by carrievoris

One of the best things about living in SoCal? The weather.

One of the worst things about living in SoCal? The weather.

I do miss the change of seasons sometimes. Well, for about a day or so, and then I’m back to loving the endlessly sunny days. But at Christmas time, it really is a little difficult to get in the mood when it is 70 degrees and you are buying gifts while dressed in t-shirts and flip flops.

But this week…our weather has been glorious! Most people here are complaining that it is “soooo cold” and in their defense, it has been in the 40s most of the week. Yeah, yeah…I know many of you are saying, “oh, ah boo hoo hoo!” But when you don’t really own a winter coat anymore, almost freezing is pretty cold!

But I am loving this weather. Breaking out the sweaters and the hot cocoa. Tuesday afternoon when it was pouring down rain, we popped some popcorn and put in a movie and cuddled up on the sofa. A perfect rainy, gloomy day. Plus the rain has rinsed off a few layers of dirt that covers everything the other 11 months of the year.

This morning when I went out to get the papers it actually smelled like snow, you know that smell? And it did snow on our mountains – a lot, and pretty low down, too, which is unheard of this early in the season.

Best of all, it just feels like Christmas!

Plus how else can I torture my children by making them wear impossibly adorable hats like this?

Addie calls this one her “reindeer hat.”

Favorite Holiday Memory ~ Theme Thursday

Posted on December 18, 2008 by carrievoris

I thought I would have a hard time picking a favorite holiday memory for today’s Theme Thursday.

Christmas has always been my favorite time of year, but to pick just one favorite memory? That might be a bit of an impossible task for me.

I thought that maybe I would write about Christmas Eve. I love the anticipation – the going to midnight mass, coming out after church to softly falling snow, putting out treats for Santa, snuggling into bed with both my brother and sister and waiting for Christmas morning to come.

And then I thought maybe I would write about the very special Christmas Eve, when J. asked me to marry him – and the Christmas Eve nine years later when he asked me again – definitely ranks as two of the best Christmas gifts on the all-time list.

But today I opened up my email and my Dad had found, and sent me, a copy of the letter. I had tried to write about this Christmas last year, but didn’t do a very good job of re-creating it. When I realized that the letter was attached, I knew there wouldn’t be a photo for today’s Theme Thursday. This memory takes a written form, and I don’t have a photo that captures it nearly as well as this.

The letter that was under the tree on Christmas morning, 1992.

To All Non-Believers

It has come to my attention that a number of you no longer believe
in me and the happiness that my efforts can produce. You have been
identified as one who no longer wishes to enjoy the receiving part
of my efforts, and in so doing are denying me the pleasure of
giving which is the reason I exist.

I am therefore discontinuing my sharing with those who refuse to
experience this truest example of Christmas’ meaning. But I will
take this opportunity to remind you of the Spirit of the Season
that you are forsaking.

St. Nicholas and later Santa Claus visited homes at night,
especially poor families, or those with children, to leave gifts.
The purpose of the clandestine visits were to provide gifts to
someone without them knowing who left them. That way the recipient
could not feel obligated to return the favor. It is much the same
way that God provided us with the gift of Eternal Life. He sent
His Son to die for us, even before we knew who He was. Then the
gift was completely free without obligation, it is ours for the
taking!

Your belief in those Santa presents under the tree are intended to
symbolize the same thing. If you simply accept them, and don’t
question where they came from, or who pays for them, then the
pleasure is shared by the giver as well as the recipient. The gift
can then be enjoyed without having to “match it” or return the
favor.

If you can agree with this reason for having Santa stay in our
celebration, you can take part in this sharing opportunity by
looking outside the door for gifts. (Just like St. Nicholas). If
you still can’t see the advantage to believing in the need for
Santa, your gifts will be shared with someone else.

Enjoy the rest of your day, and the time you have with each other.
—Santa

This piece of paper forever changed the way I look at Christmas. It was a very memorable Christmas indeed. I think of it often, and what a fantastic gift the letter was – back then and again now.

I think it is just a good little reminder while we are all running around, crazed and trying to get things done.

Enjoy the season.

Still here….

Posted on December 12, 2008 by carrievoris

Yes, we are still here and I *think* everyone is on the mend, now. Em contracted the lovely stomach flu on Wednesday night and was out of school for the past two days. Which I must say threw a bit of a damper on my grand plans for getting a bunch of stuff done after being MIA for a few days myself. I felt so very on top of everything last week, and then along comes a teeny, tiny, minor little setback, like not being able to hold my head up for one day, and suddenly my world feels all out of whack.

Boom. Just like that.

But, who isn’t busy? Who doesn’t have a million things going on right now? So I will quit complaining now.

At any rate, we have had dance recitals and two school Christmas programs. So, I have videos! And photos! And I also bear glad tidings of the first perfect report card! It is all here. Somewhere. Scattered in the stack of mail. Spread out from one computer to another. Stuck on a memory card or three.

It will all get done. Deep breaths.

—————————————-

(Nana and Papa – you will be pleased to note that Addie upheld the fine tradition of her mother and every time she saw us point the camera at her during tonight’s school Christmas program she waved like crazy. I will get the video, and except for the curly hair, you’d swear it was me!)

Crafty Tuesday

Posted on December 8, 2008 by carrievoris

There has been some craftin’ going on around heeere!

Em has had a few serious homework/craft projects for school. Ones that require trips to the craft store to get glitter glue and jingle bells.

And when you are in the same aisle as the pom-poms, you have to know you aren’t leaving without a package of those for another little someone.

And then Wendy called and invited us over for a Girls Crafty Day, and we made some serious ornaments.

Most of these were actually Wendy’s creations (except the 2 over on the right of the picture, those were crafted by the two cuties pictured!) Most of our creations from today are going to be given as gifts, so we can only tease you with a sampling.

It was such a fun, fun day. Thanks, Winnie!

And finally, my new obsession… (which was born out of my other new obsession – trolling around and browsing etsy shops) the craft of the season. Hopefully every kid in my life will be getting one of these for Christmas.
I present the kidlet.

HOW cute are they? Just little bags to hold books, animals, stuff. You can hang them on hooks or on a doorknob. As our lovely model is showing here.

We made this one for Addie’s little friend, Madison who turned 3 on Sunday. Put a cute little book inside, a card in the front pocket and voila! Gift! Cute! Fun!

So I’m off to cut out about 10 more kidlets to work on before Christmas. Want to guess what you’ll be seeing next week?
What about anyone else? Got some fun stuff to share?

Crammin’ it in ~ Best Shot Monday

Posted on December 7, 2008 by carrievoris

Our weekend started off with a lovely Saturday bagel date. We fueled up our tummies with bagels and our minds with all of the day’s news.

And then? Well…I’m not really sure where the rest of the weekend went.

I guess it could have been lost somewhere along the way while we:
-Did some Christmas and birthday shopping.
-Grabbed some party supplies for Em’s soccer party.
-Bought our Christmas tree.
-Did a little real “work.”
-Cleaned the house up for the imminent party.
-Printed and hung some photos on the wall that has been pretty much bare for 2 years.
-Addressed and sent 75+ Christmas cards.
-And then decorated the other Christmas tree.

And that was the first half of the weekend.

Today, we managed to:
-Clean the house again (How – in less than 24 hours, how could it possibly get messy again?)
-Sing at church (well, Em and the Gospel cherubs sang – I just helped with the robing and de-robing)
-Celebrate our little friend’s 3rd birthday (complete with a bouncehouse!)
-And throw an end of the season party for the WonderGirls at our house. (Little hint – don’t even bother to clean your house – and certainly not twice! – when you are going have 11 kids running through your house with pizza and cupcakes!)

Exhausted. And other than the two photos here, I hardly took any photos.

But, J. took a bunch at the party for me and got this one which is my absolute favorite. The girls, giddy after some chocolate cupcakes, showing off their trophies. So it is a J.’s Best Shot Monday today.

Christmas Cheer ~ Best Shot Monday

Posted on December 10, 2007 by carrievoris

I finally have it. After a packed and productive weekend, I am the proud owner of both a little bit of Christmas spirit and a much shorter to-do list. And it feels good.

We put up not one, but two Christmas trees on Saturday. It was so fun with the girls this year. I’ve said it ~~a hundred times~~ once or twice before, and I’ll say it again…the girls are at the BEST age right now. They are still excited about family time and truly do want to be helpful. I know some day they will not be so anxious to help, and I’ll be left decorating by myself, so I am just eating it up while I can.

Testing out the lights. She kept saying “Are they hot, Mama?”

Em was an ornament-hanging pro by the end of the night. Very serious about the task and I didn’t even have to go back and re-arrange after her. Well…not too much.

Every ornament was paid proper respect and excitement. Ad couldn’t believe this one had her name on it!

And Em loves every ornament from when she was a “baby.” She kept asking, “Was this one mine when I was a tiny baby?”

So our house is completely decorated. It looks amazing. J and I got a ton of shopping done on Friday. And I also finished my Christmas cards on Saturday (also with a little bit of help from my Christmas elf, Em!).

Not that I don’t have a bunch of stuff to do still, but what a difference a weekend makes. I think I’ll just go turn out the lights and enjoy the fire and the pretty tree.

I’m making this one my Best Shot Monday. The soft glow of Christmas is upon us.

Make sure to stop over to Tracey’s to see some other glowing Best Shot Monday photos.

Still Digging Out

Posted on December 28, 2006 by carrievoris

We are still trying to find our living room floor, and some sleep. After trying to get my courses finished this week and dealing with all of the extra stuff going on, I just don’t have anything left for the blog. Sorry. I’ll post some fun pictures of last week, though. And maybe tomorrow…there’s always the hope that we’ll have a very restful and productive day today…and then maybe I can write tomorrow.

Happy Christmas!

Posted on December 25, 2006 by carrievoris

Well, by now I’m sure all of you have rushed to wrap all of your presents, attended a Christmas mass/program, tried to get your exhausted children tucked into bed so Santa would stop by, finished final Christmas Eve “preparations”, grabbed a few hours of sleep, participated in the subsequent frenzy of unwrapping all the presents, cleaned up the wrapping from the presents, possibly made a Christmas dinner, or at least stuffed yourself with someone else’s cooking and now…now you are sitting wondering where has Christmas gone? (And that was all just the past 18 hours or so!)

No wonder we all feel so exhausted come December 26th. And now, having done all of that for 2 kids (as my friend Kimmer said) you can truly appreciate my parents and all of the wonderful Christmas celebrations we have had over the years. It is really, really hard work.

But it is done for another 364 days.

At our house, I just got beat playing a Wii game by my 3-year old. Granted it was a game that requires a little rhythm, which I have not one little bit of. But I think all-in-all it was a very successful and definitely fun Christmas. Christmas really does take on a whole new level once you have kids. Emma was so engrossed in the midnite (actually 9:30) mass last night and seeing the Baby Jesus in the manger. She looked so sweet in her Christmas dress and then promptly fell asleep on my shoulder about 15 minutes into the mass. (Reminded me of when Ken would fall asleep every year at midnite mass when we were kids.)

She woke up long enough to put out her cookies, milk and letter to Santa and was asleep pretty much the minute her head touched the pillow. Addie on the other hand was so tired that she was completely wired, so J. actually took her out into the vestibule and she did not fall asleep til we were nearly home.

When we finally got to bed, (like I said – it is hard work getting the “preparations” completed before morning) and I was lying there I realized I felt that anticipation, that sense of not being able to possibly wait until Christmas morning arrived, and I haven’t felt that since I was a kid. But I was just so excited to see the girls’ excitement the next morning, and we were not disappointed! And even better – there was not one mention of the Butterscotch. Well, E. did name her little ride ‘em pony, Butterscotch, but she did not seem disappointed in the least that the actual Butterscotch wasn’t under the tree. Hooray! Small victory for Mommy and Santa.

At any rate, we are happy and well and ready for a “normal” week. And I hope you also had an amazing Christmas, got to experience some anticipation, some craziness, some good food, and most of all some happiness with your own families.

Merry Christmas!

Almost here!

Posted on December 23, 2006 by carrievoris

Emma is counting down the days and I am furiously trying to get stuff done and feel like I am ready for the “Big Man in Red” to be here. There doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day – and we are quickly out of days. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. So instead of writing…I’m going to try to squeeze a little more time out of the next 24 hours. I’ll post pics and stories soon, I promise.

In the meantime…here is another very funny re-enactment of Baby Jesus’ birth to enjoy. (In case you missed our re-enactment from Emma earlier in the week, you can read it here.) I can so totally see Emma doing something like this in about 4 or 5 years. I’m not sure if the story is true or not – I read it on another blog and nobody can get confirmation on the validity, but it is too good to make up!

Enjoy.

———————————————-

[This story came from a discussion forum in the UK… “Tescos” is a supermarket chain there.]

Went to Abigail’s school Christmas concert. Each class did a little something followed by a song or 2. Anyway, Ab’s class did a Nativity scene, with Ab as Mary. A few minutes into their bit Ab promptly lifted her dress & shoved baby Jesus up it. The script then wandered away from what they’d learnt & goes as follows…

Joseph: “What are you doing?”
Mary: “I’m feeding our baby”
Shepherd: “Have you got a bottle up there then?”
Mary: “Don’t be silly he’s having milk from my booby”
Joseph: “That’s disgusting”
Mary: “No, that baby milk they have in Tescos is disgusting. My baby’s having proper milk”
Shepherd: “What’s a booby?”
Mary: “Those sticky out bits ladies have”
Shepherd: “They’re not boobies, they’re nipples”
Mary: “No they’re not, they’re boobies”
Joseph: “So why can’t Jesus have milk from a bottle then?”
Mary: “Because I haven’t got a breast pump with me – you forgot to put it on the donkey”
Shepherd: “Can’t you ask the teacher for a bottle to feed Jesus with?”
Mary: “No because this is the best way to feed Jesus. Anyway bottles haven’t been invented yet & even if they were I’ve just had a baby so if you think I’m faffing about round Tescos to buy baby milk when I make proper milk in my boobies you can think again”

I felt a teeny bit sorry for their class teacher – she did try her best to steer them back towards their proper lines but she was laughing so much she didn’t really stand a chance. The line about Joseph forgetting the breast pump finished her off – she slid to the floor & couldn’t get up for laughing…

Via Hathor

Christmas Cheer In the Mail…

Posted on December 21, 2006 by carrievoris

I think it is safe to post our Christmas card now – most people have received it in the mail. And if you haven’t, but you were expecting to get one, well, um…it must still be on the way, or lost in the mail.

So the outtakes are posted on the flickr account, but I was trying to get a fun picture of the girls in front of either the Rose Bowl House or the actual Stadium, to commerate Michigan’s trip to the Rose Bowl on the 1st of January.

As you can imagine, it was a bit more difficult to get 2 girls, looking at the camera with sweet angelic faces, their pretty dresses all spread out nicely with no underwear sticking out, all of their hair lying down clipped back with bows. All right, it was more than difficult – it was IMPOSSIBLE.

So this is the picture we went with this year. An action shot, but I actually decided that I really love this picture. If nothing else you can see just pure joy on their faces as they chase each other. And isn’t that what Christmas is all about?

And yes – this really was on the Rose Bowl “front yard” – I did not Photoshop it in (but thanks for thinking my Photoshop skills are good enough to do that!). No Photoshopping occurred on the actual photo this year – only the Christmas embellishments were added.

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Category Archives: Christmas