A Toddler Type Christmas Countdown: Day One

While Baby G is a bit too little to understand Christmas I wanted to come up with one activity a day we could do as a family to get into the Christmas Spirit. And in case any of you have toddlers and want some ides I will post them online. So here we go with my plan for day one.
Family Project: Set up Christmas Tree (OK we already did this but it would have gone great with the other activities)
Song: Sing O Christmas Tree
Game: Christmas Tree Matching. If you go here- http://lds.org/gospellibrary/pdfmagazine/0,7779,594-7-1-2009,00.html and click on the December issue of the Friend Magazine, there is a free Christmas tree and ornament matching game you can print out on page 26. (I was just going to scan it but the scanner gave me attitude.) It also has the meanings of each Christmas symbol on there, which would be great for older kids.
Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

The Animal Kingdom Strikes Back

I have long had a love hate relationship with animals. As a little girl my older sister Jill and I would walk to the bus stop together and if any animal approached Jill would swiftly climb to safety on top of the the old red water hydrant at the corner. As there was only room for one atop the hydrant I would freeze in fear until the four legged beast would go on its way. And then I saw the movie Where the Red Fern Grows and for about a week I longed for a pet, specifically two little red hunting dogs and that was it for the love part of the relationship. Animals have a keen sense and know I don't like them and therefore are drawn to me. Often in a room full of people I become the victim of a dog or cat as it plops down in my lap and attempts to snuggle. When I was dating my husband he asked me what my favorite animal was and I quickly responded, "a dead one." I was joking...sort of. Anyway today the animals got me back for my disdain. More specifically a dead frozen turkey got even. As I was lifting my carefully brined turkey into the fridge, I swear the headless thing wiggled, managed to pop open the bag I had secured it into and sent brine and vegetables flying all over my large pregnant belly, the counters and the kitchen floor. And so the animals had the last laugh as I was on my hands and knees cloroxing everything.

Its beginning to feel alot like Thanksgiving!

and I know this because I just spent over two hours in the grocery store :) The planets all aligned though and Grace was a little angel until the end, and by angel I mean she stole the grocery list and I had to trick her into letting me see it and check off items. I found everything I needed except a cheese cloth. This is my first time ever preparing a turkey so I am a little anxious about things. I bought my turkey last week for 67 cents a pound with a ten dollar purchase and thought I was a rock star until the next day when I saw turkeys advertised for 26 cents a pound with a minimum purchase of $20. Well, anyway, Mr. Tom has been defrosting in my fridge and tomorrow night I am going to brine that baby. Does anyone know if I have to use coarse salt in the brine or if regular will suffice? While I am excited for the turkey on Thanksgiving day I am even more excited for leftovers! I have already started a file on my computer of freezer friendly turkey meals and yes, you guessed it, I am christening the day after Thanksgiving as Freezer Friday, a day totally dedicated to cookery. I figure I will do a dance of joy after the baby comes, next month, when all I have to do is pull a meal out, let it defrost and then feast. So far I have recipes for turkey chili, turkey pot pie filling, turkey and tortellini soup, and turkey enchiladas. (Ok- maybe there wont be that much turkey leftover but a least I am prepared if everyone finds my turkey inedible.) If you have a tasty turkey leftover recipe let me know :) I am also going to attempt making my own turkey stock, cross your fingers.

In other Thanksgiving news I am hosting a Turkey Tuesday play date/lunch for some of Grace's buds tomorrow. I had big plans for activities and crafts but pregnancy exhaustion has taken root and so far all I have finished is a Thankful banner over the fire place. Luckily my guests came to the rescue and one gal is bringing a pin the hat on the pilgrim game and another is bringing a craft for the kids to do. Hurray for friends! Now you might think that turkey sandwiches would be an appropriate entree but we are having roast pork tenderloin sandwiches instead. Hopefully everyone will get their fill of Turkey later on in the week.

And in some non-Thanksgiving related news I have once again lost the camera charger- bah. This is becoming the story of my life. And I have totally been getting my craft on and want to document my projects. Tonight for a super fun family activity we are going to scour the house for it, par-tay!

Me Wants

Would it be too wild to make over my project room in turquoise and red? I love the creative space on the site allsorts.typepad.com. And I have the perfect red polka dot material to make cute curtains with.
I don't know though- I would like to create something original. I just love that color combination but it would definitely not fit in with the rest of my house. If you could do over a room any way/color you wanted what would you do?

In Which I am Victorious over a 20 Month Old

After several days of screaming at nap and nighttime Baby G has finally come to terms with the loss of her beloved bottle. She did ask Neil two nights ago "Where my bottle go?" in a sad little voice and today at Kohl's she questioned me, "Bottle? Where did it go?" but right now that little miss is snoozing away sans la bottle. I could do a happy dance.
I mentioned before that I had completely failed at my Christmas shopping goal but recently I have been making up for lost time. Grace is now finished and I am twenty minutes away from completing the presents for my sisters and my brother's girlfriend and I have one small thing for Neil. So I have my parents, Neil's parents, and two of Neil's sisters, one nephew and my two brothers left to get gifts for plus stockings to fill. I have reset my goal for Thanksgiving. If all goes according to plan I can mail my family's Christmas package on Thanksgiving eve and relax and focus on getting the new baby's nursery ready. By the way baby boy clothes are a LOT less cute then baby girl clothes. It seems like all the sleepers are too effeminate or plastered with ugly sports paraphernalia or garish cartoon animals. I do think I may have to buy the baby a crazy fur lined hunting cap from baby gap though. That definitely qualifies as a wardrobe staple, right?

Black Apple Dolls

I saw the black apple dolls on homemadebyjill and printed out the free pattern at Martha Stewart and whipped some up and I LOVE them!

Vacation

Last week we traveled up to St. Louis to visit Neil's brother's family and then we headed over to Nauvoo and met up with my mom and dad. But as I was looking through my pictures they all looked like this.
I guess I couldn't get enough of the fall weather which we miss here in Houston. Baby G loved to stomp around outside and crunch the leaves and she finally had the opportunity to wear her new jacket. We went with Baby G's cousin to the St. Louis children's museum and it was giant and amazing. Here is Grace digging in sand.
And here she is, with her cousin, building dams and bridges.
While we were in Nauvoo Grace and her Grandpa really enjoyed the wagon ride around the sites.

But the highlight of the trip for Grace was when her Grandpa let her drive the car. Yes- my baby was steering a car! And she loved it- when we tried to put her back in the car with us she tried to escape and run to Grandma and Grandpa's car. Oh- and Baby G fell in love with a statue in the garden behind the visitor's center. She kept hugging the baby and the dad and later at the hotel she spotted a framed picture of the statue in the gift shop. She ran and grabbed it saying, "mine" and threw a little fit when I took the photograph away. Here is a picture I took from one of the tour houses that has the temple in the background.
Nauvoo is one of those places that has a special feeling about it. It was inspiring to look at the rebuilt Temple and think of the sacrifices the early Saints went through to build that beautiful city. Here is one more shot of the Temple. We had a great trip.