Merry Christmas to All

O Christmas Tree...I Want to Eat You!

One of the things I always enjoyed as a stay-at-home mom, was to make crafts, bake, and be creative with my boys and all the other kids who came to our home for a visit. Today I took the day off from work, due to some little visitors we've had for a long weekend (my niece and nephew are with us, while their newlywed parents are celebrating in Jamaica). Today to be creative, we made Christmas tree cupcakes...but it's probably NOT what you are thinking!

I bought ice cream cones--the small variety, although I think sugar cones would be the best option to look like a real Christmas tree. We filled the cones with yellow cake mix, and topped with green frosting and sprinkles.

Here are the directions we followed:

1) Placed the cones in a muffin dish top side up.
2)Make the cake mix as directed on the yellow cake mix box.

3) Filled the cones 3/4 way full and placed them in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden and a toothpick comes out clean when placed in the center of the cupcake.

4) Remove conecakes from the oven, and let cool.

5) Flip over on a plate, frost, and decorate like a tree.

6) EAT & ENJOY! YUMMY!!!

Sunday Funday Blog Carnival

What a fun way to get to know other bloggers...through a Sunday Funday Blog Carnival!
This week's posted topic by Keely is to post a prior Christmas card picture or video (like she did).

Here is last year's

We send our Christmas cards out to over 110 homes of family and friend past and present.  I love sending them and the kids LOVE receiving the mail in return.  It's so fun! :)  Now let's see your's!  Link up and hop around!

When You Wish Upon a Star...or Something Like That...

This week my sister and her husband took their honeymoon to Ochos Rios, Jamaica.  Between my twin brother and I, we are splitting the week and taking my niece and nephew who are 4 1/2 and 1.  To start my portion of the duties, my sister-in-law took my two nieces and myself to see Disney's Princesses on Ice.  

The little princesses themselves dressed up in fabulous princess attire including little petticoats to bring the whole "princess effect" into order.  They were so darn cute, and so in awe of the magic that transpired before them.  Here are some pictures of the evening.

It was a very fantastical evening, and all of the princesses showed up.  You could really hear the sighs and giggles of the little ladies in the audience as each princes pranced across the ice in their amazing costumes.  I was impressed by the sets, props, costumes and acting of the skaters.  The only thing that I was let down by was the less fabulous skating technique, but I'm sure I was the only one hoping for triples, tricks, and fancy footwork.  I'm grateful for the opportunity to take in such "pink" events, since I live primarily in a house of blue.
Maybe. Someday.
When You Wish Upon a Star....
or something like that.

~Amber

How Much IS Too Much?

As a kid, our living room was filled to the brim with presents wrapped in bright shades of red, green and Christmas themed papers, and topped with a jewel-colored bow, you know the variety, peel and stick.

My very giving mom is the same or even more giving than she was while we were growing up.  She buys for myself, my brother, my sister, all of our spouses and each of the lucky grandchildren.  She amazes me with her thoughtfulness and generosity.  Every year my husband shakes his head (in what I would like to think is amazement) at the piles and mountains of Christmas gifts for the family.  She takes such joy in shopping and purchasing just the perfect gift for each member of the family.  Rarely does she ask what we want, it seems she has a notebook in her mind keeping track of things we need, have wanted, or things she thinks would be just right for us.  She just knows.

I, too, have taken to the love of shopping for others, especially for our kids. I love to shop for great deals,  buying them things they need, mixed in with things they don't.  But since I decided to stay home for the last 18 months, finances aren't what they were and money is tight.  It made us re-evaluate what is needed and gave us the desire to scale down, but not necessarily take away.

We've decided to give gifts to our Little Spices based on The Bible and The Christmas Story.  We'll be giving the boys three wrapped gifts based on the Three Wise Men, and the three gifts they gave to Baby Jesus.  The Three Wise Men gave Jesus gifts of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh, and we'll...well, we'll give them three gifts that are age appropriate.  But, the main idea is to keep bringing the excitement back to the REAL meaning of Christmas, the REAL reason we're celebrating, and the REAL present we were given so many years ago.

~Amber

Wild With Whimsy

And these perfect photos are why I BEG..BEG..BEG the Lord for a little girl of our own to add to our bay of blue in our house. Our boys are pretty adorable...remember this...

I've made tutus for my nieces (See our oldest modeling one above)...but I love the wild whimsy of this tutu!  I think I may have to make one of my own...well, not for me, but for my cedar chest that sits at the end of our bed (or hope chest as I like to call it!).

~Amber

I Can Feel It

Dreams can mean so many things....or so they say.

But how do you explain this one...or am I just weird? 

Often times while dreaming, I can feel skates on my feet, ice beneathe them, and then see myself jumping and spinning.  It's the craziest thing, but I can feel it.

See, I skated from the time I could walk. And like all skaters, dreamed beyond the possible.  I always wanted to be at the Olympics.  When I was a sophomore in high school, my coach, my mom, could no longer skate along side me, and there my skating ended.

But, I can feel it.  The ice under my feet.

I feel the rotation of the jumps. The pull of the spins.  I love it.

I cannot wait to get my skates back on this winter.  You'll see me at the outdoor rink, gliding, spinning, and rotating to the music in my heart.  I love skating.

Until then, I'll keep feeling it in my dreams. 

And my plan is to get my little spices onto the ice with me this winter.  Hockey skates are on mama's Christmas shopping list this year. :)

~Amber

Leaf Me Alone

The boys and I are enjoying the first of three weekends of quality time together. We've jumped in leaf piles, had a date night at Pizza Hut, and watched Mary Poppins all cuddled up on the couch.
I loved be Leaf-t Alone with my boys.  Hubby is enjoying his time in the Northland, and we're enjoying our time together.

~Amber

I'll Adjust.

I've always had a lot of change in my life.  I switched schools often due to location of our home, my parents divorced, we moved, our family situation changed again and again. In fact, I've come to like change really, and seriously wonder how I will take life when it may become stagnant and have little change.  Not surprising, life has rarely become even close to stagnant.

Today I was talking to a new friend (yes, I've been blessed with many new friends, recently...it all comes with change) and he asked how my new job was going and I didn't have an answer. Suddenly out of my mouth came a profound statement that I had not even considered, "I'm adjusting." 

What!?  "I'm adjusting?"  Is that the best I could reply?  Goodness me, you'd think I'd come up with something a little more professional, a little more...sugar-coated, but there it was.  "I'm adjusting."

It's the truth.  I am adjusting.  I hadn't considered that, but I am.  I went from being a stay-at-home-mom of two beautiful boys, the best gifts God has EVER given me, aside from salvation, and *POOF* I'm now working full time.  It all happened so fast...and I didn't have time to adjust...so two weeks later...I'm adjusting.  I'm now working full time with 14 toddlers at our church.  It truly is an amazing opportunity that God literally placed in my lap in an instant.  I couldn't be more...well, what would the emotion be?  Happy..yes, I'm happy about being there.  It's my church home afterall, and the people I work with in the childcare and preschool are above and beyond wonderful.  I'm in rare company with the phenomenal people that comprise the ministry at our church.  I feel blessed.  That's about the best word to describe me right now.  I am however, adjusting.

I'm adjusting to working again. 
I'm adjusting to new coworkers, new children, new administration, and a new title.
I'm adjusting to not being solely in-charge all of the time and working as a cohesive team.
I'm adjusting to not seeing my our beautiful boys every minute of everyday.
I'm adjusting to having sick children (they are picking up every germ)
I'm adjusting to these new people not knowing the real, true, me. 

I'm adjusting.  That's just it, and as it came spewing out of my mouth, I was take aback.  But,  it's the perfect explanation for how I am feeling. 

We're making headway, though, the boys, Aaron and I.  I know I'm not alone in this change.  We're a family.

We're adjusting....together.

~Amber

 

Wordless Wednesday- Enough Said.

SKOL VIKINGS!

The Truth.

The Truth.
It isn't something we all like to see or even acknowledge all of the time.  It's something I sometimes like to avoid altogether, and to be quite honest, like to ignore.

The Truth is, is that the truth isn't always our ideal. 

The Truth is, is that my "ME" has become someone other than who I really am, and really, who I want to be.  I've become more crabby, more irritable, and more, Not Me.  In fact, I have been struggling to figure out who "Me" really is and trying to get back to the "Me" I was before I became, quite truthfully, a stay at home mom. But when I am home with "my boys" I am happy, excited, full of life, and energetic.  It's when someone or something enters the realm of "ME" that isn't something I planned on being part of "ME" that changes who I am.

The Truth.

The Truth being that we must all endure changes, events, and parts of life that, quite truthfully, are not "ME" at all. I'm blessed with God-given talents, friends, and family that keep me grounded in who I am, and help direct me back, when I go astray from the "ME" I want to be.


The Truth is, is that I bum myself out when I feel conflicted with sadness for the parts of "ME" that were "ME" before.  A new friend of mine has talked to me about being content with the Now that God has provided me with.  The Truth is, is that I am not content, I am sad, mad, frustrated and confused as to why I feel this sense of loss over who I was, instead of being content with who I AM today. 

Get what I mean?


My Truth is that I love my family, friends, and all of the surprises on the path laid before me, but I need to learn to be content with the new.  The new friends, the new happenings, and the facets of, well, ME.


~Amber

Not Me Monday- First Edition

 Today is my first "Not Me" Monday with all the friends and folks over at MckMama's site.  It's a hilarious way to start off the week and to make light of the things that happen that may, well, not be very "me" at all.

I haven't been keeping tabs, and I've been so forgetful, that I'll have to start jotting down ALL of the "not me's" that occur and all the "not my child's" that frequent our household.

It wasn't me that took a break during Sunday's bi-annual Vikings versus Packers game.  I didn't leave the dinner table with my delicious over-the-top nachos, go up to our bedroom, turn on the game and enjoy my dinner in silence, while watching the Packers and all their devoted "Cheeseheads" turn a little more than moldy.

It wasn't me that allowed our littlest spice to enjoy chocolate bar after chocolate bar during the time that the biggest spice was out trick or treating.  He had a fever and we weren't letting him out to enjoy the festivities, hoping the warmth and downtime would heal his sick little bod.  The deal needed to be sweetened.

It wasn't me who squeezed the paint bottle a little too hard, which exploded all over a sweet toddler's face, filling his face, blonde hair, and clean clothing with festive orange washable tempera paint. Nope, NOT ME.

A New Day

Today I have decided to come back to blogging.  I really enjoy it, and as I see it, it is my way to make new friends, share stories, and "give back" to society thru cyberspace.  I closed my incredibly busy other blog formerly known as Miracles on Mama Street, where I shared much of what I will here, bur here, I intend to have a little less chaos and an easier format (I have a tendency to shoot for the moon). 

So, welcome friends!  Take off your shoes, make yourselves at home, interact, and enjoy a sense of community!  I look forward to getting to know each of you!

~Amber