Christmas with the Cranks!

It took me six separate photo shoots to take this years Christmas card picture. In fact it took me so many attempts that I had to scrap the idea of sending photo cards in favor of real cards with a photo enclosed. For your viewing pleasure I have for you, the highlights.

Merry Christmas from my children!

Happy Halloween!

The kids had a ball and I died at least ten times from the cuteness. Huge shout out to my talented aunt for making three of the cutest dinosaur costumes ever. They were a huge hit all over town! First Halloween in Maine...a total success!

Happy Valentines Day!

Alternate title: The most pinterest'y' thing I have ever accomplished! (and a day early to boot!)

In a fit of hypocrisy I went a little Pinterest crazy for Valentine's Day this year. I suppose it isn't completely hypocritical since I did write just a few days ago that don't have to be a 'pinterest mom' unless you want to be...what can I say other than that I am loving this second trimester burst of energy! 

Anyway Lily's preschool class is small so I figured it wouldn't be too crazy to make her Valentine's Day cards instead of buying them. For the record I also bought a box at the dollar store fully expecting to fail miserably at producing cards that would not scar my daughter for life. After seeing a few cute things that involved at lot of paper and cutting I decided to make these...

Credit: http://beholderinsinspirations.blogspot.com/

I thought it would be super cute if we made heart shaped crayons and attached one to each of the kids' valentines. I couldn't find this small silicone mold and since I was throwing this whole thing together in one day I actually felt pretty grateful to find a bigger (6 cup version) version at Christmas Tree Shoppe for three bucks. 

Lily helped to break up the crayon pieces (as best she could) and she also helped to place them into the mold. She had just enough attention span to help me make the first batch, then Mimi and I peeled crayons for the rest of the afternoon a little while longer, in order to make three batches total. 

I baked the crayons at 350 for about 10 minutes. As soon as they looked melted all the way through I took them out of the oven and placed them on the porch to cool, I am far too impatient for my own good. I was a little worried because most of the crayons just looked brown from the top and I was pretty convinced that this whole thing was going to be a huge flop. When I popped the crayons out of the mold (and they really did slide right out) I was pleasantly surprised! 

The first batch I made was very thick and I decided that for the purposes of gluing them onto the foam card stock I had, thinner was better. For the second and third batches I only used two layers of crayon as opposed to filling the whole cup. They were harder to get out of the molds but in the end were easier to attach to the cards. I used hot glue which melted the wax slightly and seemed to hold the hearts in place. 

Lily had to write her name on all 15 cards, which after the first three was the worst thing I had ever asked her to do in her whole life. We had to take several breaks and I had to apologize for snapping. It wasn't my finest moment but I should have known better than to expect that she was going to fill out all of the cards in one sitting: stupid mommy. 

The end result was super cute and I was happy with how they turned out. I would definitely do these crayons again for other holidays or goodie bags. 

Then in a moment of total insanity I decided that I should also make royal icing heart cookies for Lily's class. 

I really have no idea what came over me, like I said some kind of pregnancy related phenomenon. 

Last but certainly not least, Lily's Valentine's Day gift from us, a brand new outfit! She was one happy little girl as she left for school this morning! 

Gotta love that toddler "smile"

My Valentine

When I first met my husband he was a lanky high school freshman. I was foolish enough to break his heart. He got me back and broke mine a few years later. None of that matters because now he fills my whole life with so much love.

2003

Dingle is smart, super handsome, and irritatingly nice. It is more than likely that if I was never in a foul mood, or raised my voice, or treated him with anything less than kindness, we would never fight. That is not to say we wouldn't disagree but I am almost always the first person to lose my temper.  I am very lucky to have found such a forgiving man. As I have told my sister, if you find a man who is so sweet that you can't decide whether to kiss him or smack him...marry him.

2013

At the foundation of our relationship is a great friendship. Even after ten years together we still just love to be together. For the past couple of years I have been a stay at home mom and Matt has worked from home at our dining room table. We have probably logged more hours together under one roof than most couples do in a life time. As of two weeks ago Matt has started a new job that requires him to be at the office, which is 45 minutes away, full time. It has been hard. Of course I miss having an extra set of hands when one kid is spitting up and the other kid is peeing on the floor, but mostly I just miss my companion. (For the record I also miss the bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches...but it is mostly Dingle) In a lot of ways we are totally codependent, which I know wouldn't work for a lot of couples. It really does work for us. He is my best friend and I am his. When the kids are grown I know I will not have to worry about what comes next. Hopefully we will just continue to do what we have always done...and just love being together on the couch.

I was instantly drawn to Matt and according to him I was always the girl of his dreams. He told me he loved me the day after we made our relationship official on January 11th 2003. Even though I knew he meant it I laughed it off...and then never looked back. A little over five years later, I couldn't wait to say my vows. And now, five years and two babies later, I am still crazy in love with my Dingle.

On April 3rd, 2010 I fell in love with my husband in a whole new way. I was legitimately concerned that because Matt knew so little about babies that he would just thrust this tiny newborn into my arms and close the door behind him on his way out. He did exactly the opposite. My husband is great at almost everything (yes, it is super annoying) but he is exceptional at being a daddy. Our kids are so very lucky to have him.

Love at first sight 2010

Same shirt, new baby, all love.  2012

The kids are crazy about their daddy too. Who else would play games like whatever this is!?!?

Happy 11th Valentine's Day!

I love you Dingle, always have. 

Christmas Wrap Up!

I know that you all have endured two weeks of Christmas blog posts on your google readers, but my Halloween post was 2 weeks late and my Thanksgiving post is nonexistent...so no one should be surprised that I am just now getting this done!

Lily sort of understood the whole idea of Santa this year, and she certainly knows what a present is. I have done a lot of thinking about this past holiday season, and I will organize my thoughts a little better in a post coming up. This year was so wonderful, and it really got me thinking about what traditions I remember and which ones (new and old) that I want to pass on to my kids.

We started out the season the weekend after Thanksgiving, a tradition we will keep, so up went the tree. Ben was pretty tickled about the whole thing, and Lily wanted to put out every decoration we own. Matt inherited more than a few Dept 56 houses from his grandparents (which he has such fond memories of setting up = tradition we will definitely keep), but this year we decided it was too many delicate pieces for too many little fingers. Our tree was not as short and fat as I like, but it smelled amazing. It did stop drinking water as soon as we got it in the stand, and by mid-December it was so droopy and dry you couldn't walk by it without a bucket of needles falling off. The kids couldn't have cared less, as long as it was plugged in from 7am-7pm.

Matt strung the outside lights, but the ones on the second floor weren't working. He never did make it back up there to fix them. Eh, maybe next year. I hung the beautiful wreath my dad made (another tradition I would like to have passed down). Overall I think Colby was pretty impressed. 

On the weekend of the 9th we went to breakfast with Santa. I already posted the picture of the kids with the world's youngest Santa Claus, so here are a few from breakfast and crafts. I don't think we will keep up this tradition...at least not this particular breakfast. Tickets were expensive, and too many Santa sightings this year made Lily feel like seeing the big guy wasn't a big deal. 

The following weekend we went to Vivi (Silva) and J's to decorate cookies. This is a must keep tradition. So much more fun with friends than alone in our kitchen. Also, J makes the best Bloody Marys ever.  

A few days after cookies we packed up and made the hour drive to Edaville. On our drive down the sky was looking ominous despite there being no rain in the forecast  Matt and I joked that the world might actually be coming to an end the following day and that we had better hurry up and ride the flying elephants. It was sprinkling by the time we got to Carver so we decided to stop at McDonalds for a little dinner before trying the park. I sat in the car and nursed Ben, Matt ordered Lily her first ever happy meal...which she wouldn't eat...go figure. By the time we were done with dinner, the rain had stopped and we were raring to go. The is another must keep tradition! 

The following day we packed up our sled with all the foof for the Who girls and boys and headed to Maine. It was a looooong drive. The weather was terrible, and local traffic getting to the highway was nuts, but we made it and that is all that matters. The few days leading up to Christmas were filled with family and quick trips out to the mall to get "one last thing". (Sidenote: I am well aware that Lily is wearing her winter hat both indoors and out in almost every picture. I honestly don't even notice it anymore. She insists on wearing it 18 hours a day.)

And then came the big day! Christmas morning at my parents' house followed by Christmas afternoon and evening at Matt's parents' house. My mom and dad have started hosting the entire family so that Matt and I don't have to drag the kids all over town. It is big, and loud, and there are people everywhere. In short, it is total chaos. I love it all. 

Matt's mom and dad's Christmas is smaller (Mimi, Doe, Aunt Becky, and the four of us), much more quiet, and relaxed. Each present is beautifully wrapped, we listen to Christmas music, and drink our coffee. It is equally wonderful, in a completely different way. This year Santa even ordered up a little snow! 

Thank you again to everyone who helped us make so many wonderful memories for not only my kids, but for Matt and me as well.