Christmas Collage 2011

We had many wonderful Christmas celebrations with great family, food, and fun throughout the month of December!

Story Time with Daddy

Corbin and Daddy read some stories today.

Some were riveting…

while others were suspenseful.

One was surprising…

and this one was silly.

Even a story with help from Corbin…

 

Ahh, stories with Daddy are so much fun!

Wordless Wednesday

Quick and Easy Meal Solution

I picked up this soup mix at Target and thought I would give it a try.  It was super easy, few ingredients and turned out delicious!

Ok, well I guess I should clarify my above statement: I thought it was delicious while Corbin and Chris were on the fence.  It’s similar to vegetable soup with lots of tomatoes so that could affect anyone who isn’t crazy about tomatoes.

But again, I thought it was delicious and worth a try if you are looking for another soup to warm you up this winter!

StoryTime Christmas

Our church has a storytime playgroup every other week and this week we had our Christmas party.

The kiddos dressed up in festive holiday garb and we did some Christmas activities.  Of course, I only snapped shots of a few things because I was in the thick of managing and helping.

We started first with a felt board telling of the Christmas story.  The leader told the story and the kids helped place the different people/items on the felt board.  This was a huge hit and we did it multiple times.

Then we sang some great songs like “Away in the Manager”…a classic and one of my favorites!

The kids colored a picture of the nativity scene.  Corbin decided that he just couldn’t find the exact color he was looking for on top, so he dumped the whole bucket out thinking he would surely find it at the bottom.  Surprise, he didn’t find what he was looking for…he had no idea what he was looking for. :)

One of my favorite activities, which I have no pictures of, was the Christmas tree decorating.  The kids had handmade ornaments and put them on the little tree we had in the room.  Corbin put a TON on the tree and loved it!

Of course no party would be complete without food.  Sugar cookies were devoured by all except Corbin. This kid does not like sweets.  We gave him half a cookie and all he did was play with it.  Oh well, that’s not something to stress over.  Although it does make you feel like your child is super strange when children younger than him are eating multiple cookies.

We had a great Storytime Christmas party!

Wordless Wednesday

 

How Many Bags Does It Take?

December is a busy travel month.  It seems that we are always packing a bag for an overnight stay here and there.

Well an overnight stay shouldn’t require that much work.  So really, how many bags do you have to haul with you?

For my little ole family of three last weekend we hauled one suitcase, one hanging clothes bag, and two other smaller bags.

But I must admit that when it was just Chris and I we often would take two bags for an overnight trip.  I have this thing with shoes and jeans.  I never seem to pick outfits that use the same pair of jeans or shoes.  It just doesn’t work out that way, which means I pack multiple pairs of each.  Chris just doesn’t understand…

However, with having Corbin I really have tried to be more of a streamline packer and try very, very hard to pack less.  I’m doing much better, but no one could probably tell because now instead of over-packing for myself I over-pack for Corbin. :)

I also noticed as we were going to church the other day that I might be slightly over-packing for that as well.  I take two bags.  One for me with all of his diapers and necessities and one for activities and snacks.  Could I find a way to consolidate?  Probably, but I have a system now that works with the two bags so I’ll probably continue to haul those around the church at least until Corbin has graduated from high school. ;)

So how many bags do you travel with?  Are you over-packers as well?  I feel a deep sense of security when I have over-packed, and I feel like I have everything I need.  Umm, I’m sure there’s a deep-seeded issue there that could take years to uncover in therapy.…:)

As you travel this Christmas season take note; how many bags do you need? 

Happy Packing…maybe I’ll see you on the over-packed express!

What the What Wednesday On A Thursday

So this post was set to go out Wednesday and I thought it had.  But to my surprise I found that it hadn’t been posted like I thought.  Thus we have a Wednesday themed blog post on a Thursday…let’s roll with it!

Last night while Chris and Corbin were playing (I was downstairs in the office doing homework), Corbin did something BIG!

Well ok, maybe no one else will think it’s big, but I did.

Apparently out of the blue Corbin told Chris “pooey, pooey”.  What the what!?!? Chris checked his diaper and sure enough he had a dirty diaper.  Hooray, the child told us he was dirty…what the what?!?!  

To me, this is the starting signal that someday this kid might actually be potty trained.  I’m sure he won’t tell us he has a dirty diaper in another…oh I don’t know 2 years. ;)  But here’s to hoping the trend continues!

Hey it’s Christmas time a girl can dream. :)

It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas?

Our house has experienced the “Charlie Brown Christmas Tree” Syndrome.  Meaning there’s not much up in the way of Christmas decorations in our house.

We put up two of my favorite decorations and that’s all.  I heard someone say the other day that this year they went simple because they wanted to remember that this season is about Jesus’  birth and not get caught up in the other “stuff”.

As much as I would like to claim that was our reason too, it wasn’t.  I was just feeling lazy and a little scrooge-like at the start of the season.  Although I do think simple is an important reminder that Jesus came simply into this world.

What we do have up are two of my favorite Christmas decorations.

The tree, minus decorations…(looks a little “Charlie Brown Tree-ish”)

and the nativity scene.

Although at times I miss the other decorations I have to say this year I’m really ok with the minimalistic Christmas decorations.  I know come January 1st when I would have spent half the day taking everything down I will REALLY appreciate my decision, lack of effort, and overall general laziness with decorating. :)

For now, if you visit my house just think “wow this girl is keeping it simple in honor of Jesus’ birth”.  I think this statement is far better than the real reason.

Easy as ABC

Corbin loves letters.  So it makes sense that he likes alphabet books.  I checked a book out at the library called Sleepy ABC.  It has a letter on each page using nighttime activities and scenes.

The letter sizes on this page fit perfectly with the magnetic letters we have.  So Corbin decided to match the letters up.  This is a great activity for him to do while I get dinner going.  He can sit and put the letters in the book and keep himself entertained.

Easy as ABC!

Chef Corbin Creates Pizza

I have been having a wonderful time cooking with Corbin.  He’s at a great age to start helping me in the kitchen.  He loves to dump, pour, stir, and mix ingredients.

Last night Corbin assisted in the making of some homemade pizza!

First the hamburger…which after eating a piece by itself declared it yucky.  Strange since he always eats hamburger. 

Then on to the pepperonis.  He took a bite of pepperoni and liked it apparently since he ate one more.  However, when the pizzas were all done and the pepperonis were cooked…oh no then they were not so good.  Really?!? 

Finally, the eating.  This is always a good part.

Can’t wait to see what Chef Corbin cooks up next!

Wordless Wednesday

Cousins Unite

This Thanksgiving we spent much time with the family.  We had a great time, ate wonderful food, and enjoyed time to hang out.  (On a sad note, I forgot to take very many pictures at all!)

Corbin especially had a great time with his cousins.

Corbin started off his weekend hanging with cousin Blake. 

Corbin did an outstanding job of being gentle and sitting with Blake doing six month old type activities.  They played very well together; it was very sweet.

Later in the weekend we spent some time with cousin Collin.  Collin is two, Corbin’s one, and as you can imagine the activity and noise level were much higher.  These two provided endless entertainment for the adults!

There were many great moments, but one of my favorites was when Corbin and Collin were asked their age (again remember Collin is 2 and Corbin is 1) 

“Collin how old are you?”

“3”

“Corbin how old are you?”

“2”

Awesome…without hesitation they both quickly replied with an age that is a year older than they really are.  Loved it!  This question was asked and repeated various times throughout the day and it never failed to make me giggle!

Corbin’s looking forward to more cousin time this Christmas!

List of Thanks

Here is a list of items Corbin said he was thankful for this Thanksgiving:

Trucks (this boys favorite toy)

Huggies (diaper protection is important…maybe momma's more thankful for that:)

Afternoon naps (I’m going to label that as a joint thankful item, both Corbin and Momma need them!)

Nanas (bananas, requested on a daily bases)

  

Kars (I know how to spell, but I’m working with limited letters! Corbin could not make a thankful list without including his cars!)

Friends (many opportunities in the week that Corbin gets to play with some buddies…fun!)

Utensils (ahh the joys of using a spoon)

Letter Blocks (endless possibilities of fun)