Have a Holly Jolly Christmas

FRIDAY NIGHT
The weekend is here! My timing and sense of time are off because our stay in our hometown threw us off our regularly scheduled events. Big Class Party on Thursday and then bam.....TGIF. The twins were bored so I whipped out a roll of sugar cookie dough and some sprinkles. Mary Ellie and Fenley enjoyed "cooking" and making their own cookies. This was more an attempt to entertain them than actually make anything or use a new recipe. Their sweet teachers did this at school with them and they were so very, very proud of their cookies that were sent home with them. I decided to keep the goods on hand so cold days could be spent recreating their sense of pride and small grasp of cooking with momma in the kitchen.

Baby Bear does not get to really help out and cook. I try to include the little guy as much as possible so he got some Tupperware, a spatula, his sippy cup and his hysterical new Mexican rattle from Mary Madison and Tennyson that he loves. The pretty little rattle inspired our colorful afternoon of cooking and baking cookies. Bear loves to think he is involved so he is thrilled to be "cooking" with us. Ole! Ole!

These are our colorful sprinkles and cookie dough balls. No matter how many times I told Mary Ellie and Fenley DO NOT EAT the raw cookie dough, they managed to lick every ball and eat as many sprinkles as possible. They absolutely love being in the kitchen with their momma and helping. This is great for children and their little spirits but you have to supervise the amount of gross raw food that they sneak!

They were assuring me it was just sprinkles they were sneaking but goodness gracious, I see why cooking at their school is considered science. This looks like a science experiment gone terribly wrong!!

Yes, I actually had to cook the licked little balls for them to complete the process.

Bear's Mexican Rattle. The sprinkles and rattle were so colorful they were a great way to kick off the weekend. A nice change from all the red and green we have been using around here for Christmas.

I could not resist snapping this shot. As I mentioned before I need constant caffeine but this is special caffeine. To stick with the Mexican Colorful Fiesta theme I grabbed one of my Mexican Coca Colas to sip on to keep momma spirited and awake. YUM! If you can locate Mexican cokes, buy them right away. They use sugar cane and not high fructose corn syrup. A total treat for me and hey, I was not licking sprinkles and cookies so the calories were worth it!





SATURDAY MORNING 





A sweet moment between the twins. They LOVE this tradition and were elated to start getting ready to head out the door to pick up Donuts with Daddy.

 


Mary Ellie is a little confused about the shoes, Santa socks, and nightgown. Get them off!!





NO problem with wearing if a coat, in or out of the house, as long as there are donuts involved with it





I guess Joe picked the red sprinkled donuts to go with the childrens' holiday place mats and Pottery Barn Kids plates.



Yum, Yum, Yum. Thank you Shipley's Do-Nuts! Traditions are important and this one is a keeper around our house.



Saturday Mornings...what do you remember as a child? What did you do on Saturday mornings when you were little? Pancakes? Cereal? Cartoons? Around here we get up (waaayyy too early for me) and Daddy takes the twins to Shipley's Donuts. They love it. Mary Ellie and Fenley go in their jammies and crocs and run out the door (the enthusiasm builds Friday night when we promise with goodnight kisses that when they wake up it will be donut time). Daddy buys them donut holes and the crazy colored sprinkle donuts. They come back thrilled and share with Mommy and Bear their loot. I have to say it is adorable (good for the family and memories but probably not the healthiest breakfast but hey! it is all about the memories and fun!), and I hope they are creating memories to last them a lifetime about their Saturday morning donut runs with Daddy. We love the little ritual and we enjoy creating new family traditions with our little crew. And the donuts are delicious!!

*The clip above is from our old blog. I copied it because the tradition and feelings remain. If you have read this quote before, refresh your memory and if you are new, I think this sweetly explains our little tradition.

SATURDAY LATER MORNING AND AFTERNOON

So, the donut high only lasts so long. We had to get moving and get on with the day. Big morning trip: Walmart. We needed some basics and we decided to drag the whole crew there and get our errands done. The children go bonkers in Walmart. BONKERS.

Santa Claus cookie jar enjoying his perch and soooo thankful I did NOT put those licked cookies in the jar!

Ready to walk out the door in their jammies, coats, hats, and gloves. They are that excited to get donuts with Daddy they are willing to don this apparel to get out the door. This is a feat when you live in a HUMID & HOT city.

My baby Bear and I eat and drink coffee until the crew arrives with donut holes and sprinkled donuts. Baby Bear has for MONTHS wanted to feed himself. I gave up. I just let the little guy go for it lately. Messy but more coffee for me while he tries to do it!! This sounds mean but since he was a baby we have had to feed him with two spoons: one for him and one for me. He won this battle. And he is quite good at it.

Finally, donut holes shared by his generous sissy.

The twins' breakfast table.

What are you lookin' at?

"Yum. Yum. Yum" in his own words and direct quote



We get pretty silly over donut holes and sprinkle donuts. Have you ever seen such a silly boy in jammies, donut holes, and sneakers?!



Fast forward to Saturday night....met Lauren and her hubby for cocktails before our friends' fabulous Christmas party. Lauren has triplet boys. She completely gets me, my insanity, my life, and how awesome yet crazy it is to raise sooo many babies all at once. I love you, Lauren! God bless you and our precious friendship.



Our supportive hubbies



My Walmart shopping crew

Saturday afternoon (yes,this is out of order but it has been that kind of day) we loaded up our choochoo and delivered some Christmas presents to friends. The children were really into the holiday spirit. They smashed a few presents along the way, but I am sure our friends did not mind. Sorry if yours were smashed. I promise to get the darn cards off tomorrow and homemade goodies made tomorrow too and delivered (recipes posted too!) by Wednesday. We are delivering goods in small batches. Just accept us for who we are and realize our dream of delivering a whole batch of homemade goodies and gifts just did not pan out this year.
Again, this post has taken me since Saturday to finish and write. In the midst of my holiday madness, I was told to slow down and do a few things, not pretend, write about being a Christian, or create a perfect mom/friend/craft persona online. I put everything on hold and listened to God as soon as I got back from our big trip. I got to my friend's house on Friday and spent a few precious hours with her while she rested on bedrest. Anyone that knows me or of our family, knows how very, very hard it was for us to get our lambs and bear. It took years, tears, sweat, blood, and pain and months & months of bed rest, drama and prayers to deliver these children into our life. God heard our prayers and answered. I RUN, drop to my knees and lift anyone that is struggling with infertility, pregnancy, families, and complications during pregnancy. I have been there, and my journey has made me feel deep, deep empathy for the struggles of others.
My amazing, beautiful, sweet, kind, thoughtful, and WONDERFUL friend has been fighting for her baby on bed rest lately. I stopped the holiday silliness and got to her and just spent time with her on Friday. Today, God decided that today was the day he brought her sweet baby home to him. I watched someone I love and deeply care about, have her heart broken and wrestle with emotions no one should have to embrace. Please keep her and her family in their prayers. She fought hard to keep the baby, but our Good Lord had other plans for him. This is hard as mere humans to understand and we just do not know why ,but the pain and suffering on Earth is real. Please lift her and her family up in your prayers as you pause for a moment during the holidays, Christmas and birth of our Lord and Savior. This is not really how I intended this post to end but I think the sentiment is important. Holidays and traditions are fun, but let us not lose sight of the importance of this Christmas season. It is not about homemade treats, recipes, gifts, or Santa, but the birth of our Lord and Savior through all things are possible and our sins are forgiven. Let us remember those less fortunate and those struggling this Christmas with not just words but deeds. Much love to our amazing friend and her sweet family, and I do not have permission to name her or anything but just lift her up in your prayers tonight. Create your own memories and traditions but above everything be prayerful in all that you do. Sweet dreams!