JustJessie

Midnight! (8:00 real time)

Happy New Year, guys!  Please refrain from commenting on our very Southern accents.  They're accentuated when you're fake yelling for a bogus countdown.  (In case you're wondering, we watched last year's ball on youtube!)

11:00 (7:00 real time)

making kazoos and shakers

icing sugar cookies

10:00 (6:00 real time)

(pretzels and butter. mmmm.)

9:00 (5:00 real time)

9:00 New Year

For the last few years, Jeff and I have packed the kids up to spend the night with our folks and spent our New Year's Eve with friends, acting too crazy for our age.  This year, we want to start it off differently.  The kids are much too young to stay up until midnight, but we're going to move midnight up a few hours at our house.   I'm going off to the dollar store to pick up cheap toys to fill goody bags.  Then beginning at five o'clock, we're going to start counting down the New Year.  The boys will open a gift bag each hour until midnight to count down, only the five o'clock one will be labeled eight o'clock, so that their "midnight" will occur at nine p.m.  It will still be past their bedtime, and will feel like they got to stay up way late, because we'll put them in their jammies early, too.

We're going to spend some time making homemade kazoos with paper towel rolls, wax paper, and rubber bands; also we'll make shakers and things to make lots of noise at "midnight".  I have sparklers left over from the fourth of July,  and we'll play board games and have fun snacks.  I'm trying to come up with a New Year themed snack I can make on the fly.  Still working on that one!

After the boys are in bed, Jeff and I plan to watch a movie (we've got a couple of good ones from Netflix right now) and maybe watch the ball drop on tv.  Depends if we can stay awake late enough!  I'm looking forward to not being groggy and funky feeling on New Year's Day for a change, and starting the year off quietly with my family. 

I leave you with a picture of Copper taken and edited by Grayson with his new digital camera.  Our demon dog:

Y'all have a good night and BE SAFE!!

Handmade Jitters

Do you like this view?  It's all I saw for the last week before Christmas.  I woke up, ate breakfast, and retreated to the sewing machine until lunch or catastrophe, whichever came first (with my boys, it was usually catastrophe!).  I came back to it in the afternoon, and stayed there late into the night.  Sometimes I took breaks, but always with embroidery or knitting in my hands.  It was a lot of fun, but at the same time there was a level of stress involved.  I would find myself gnawing on my lip with my shoulders tense and hunched, and realize I was totally stressed about giving gifts that I made.  Will they like it?  Will it turn out the way I picture it?  Will it fit?  Will it suck?  Will they think I made this cause I'm cheap? 

Does anyone else feel this way about gifting handmade things?  Maybe it's just because I'm a rookie seamstress/knitter/embroiderer.  I dunno. There are a few people I know loved their gifts beyond the shadow of a doubt.  I made my neice (who loves purple and pandas) a purple purse with polka dot lining.  I appliqued some of the polka dots and a big tare panda on the front.  She had a fit over it (as I was pretty sure she would), and I didn't realize I didn't take a picture of it until after we came home.  My nephew immediately put on his University of Auburn flannel pj's and pronounced them the most awesome and comfy pj's ever.  (He then proceeded to my parent's bed and napped there until 4pm, having worked all night long restocking at American Eagle).

Grant and Grayson are very gratifying to sew for, because they are always thrilled with what they open.  I made Grayson a new backpack:

And Grant a Bulldog outfit:

Grant was especially happy.  All week long, he would run up to me and ask, "Mommy, 'zat fer me?"  And all week long I had to tell him to wait and see on Christmas morning.  He was a little jealous on Christmas Eve when other family members opened the things he'd seen me make, so I was very happy to hand over his bulldog threads on Christmas morning!

The Candle of Loving and Giving

This one was the calm before the storm.  We gathered our little family around the coffee table the night before Christmas Eve, and took a few minutes to talk about the wise men.  The next morning is when all the craziness would begin for our family, so this was sort of the last chance to have a calm moment and refocus them on the baby Jesus. 

The Candle of Loving and Giving is meant to represent the wise men in the Christmas story.  As Jeff read the passage from Matthew 2, and then I read from our advent book, I realized how little we know about these men.  Nowhere does the Bible say they were kings; it never says there were three of them; it tells us virtually nothing.  Yet history/legend/imagination would tell us of three kings from all over the East who followed the star to Bethlehem.  On camel's backs they trudged across the desert, all in search of the king foretold in the heavens.  In my favorite Christmas legend, they stop at the door of Babushka and invite her to join them, and add her gift to theirs.  So much mystery, so much left untold, and yet such a vital part of the nativity story.

After we read, Jeff lead us in prayer together.  I know I'm a terrible example, but I couldn't resist snapping these shots as we prayed.

 

Merry Christmas

*photo by Patty McCarley

Because I'm an eternal procrastinator, I will be glued to my sewing machine/knitting needles for the next few days, and therefore unable to post.  There are six gifts left to make and one to finish; a trip to Santa's Village; gifts to wrap (I haven't even begun); family to see; and most importantly two kids to snuggle with.  You know what's funny?  All that is what makes me happiest.  I love making things and spending time with family.  I just don't think I'll be able to squeeze blogging into the mix. (I will try to at least blog Sunday about the last advent candle.)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas, filled with the things that make you smile.  Until Sunday then...

Why Jeff and I should never be allowed to dance in public...

 

The Candle of Adoration

This was the best so far.  As we lit this candle, we discussed my very favorite part of the Christmas story.  The angels in the heavens, singing to the poor shepherds below.  Since I was a little girl, memorizing Luke 2 for Sunday School programs, this is the part of the story that has thrilled me.  After we sang "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and talked a moment about the candles from the weeks before, I had Grayson close his eyes.  I know this kid well, and I know his imagination is much like mine.  He closed his eyes, and scrunched up his forehead as I began...

"Grayson, imagine you are in the middle of a field, in the blackest of nights. You're huddled close to the fire in your shepherd's robe.  All your sheep lie around you, and you know them all by name.  Your dogs are pacing around the outskirts of your camp, watching and protecting you and the sheep.  Your brother sits near you, playing on a small harp while you both sing a song to pass the time. (at this point he was smiling a dreamy sort of smile).

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a huge, shining man in armor is filling the sky with light, and speaking directly to YOU!  He says, 'FEAR NOT! (here Grayson's mouth dropped open) I bring you the most wonderful news ever heard!  Tonight in the tiny town of Bethlehem, a Savior is born!  It's Christ, the Lord!  And YOU may go to Him.  You will find Him in a barn, lying in the manger where the cattle feed.'

Then, before you can ask a question, or even think, the WHOLE SKY IS FULL OF ANGELS!  They are singing a song like you've never heard.  You hear the words, 'Glory to God in the highest!  And on earth, peace and good will toward men!' "

At this point, he just couldn't stand it anymore.  He jumped up and described to me in full detail how he ran through the streets, searching for the stable.  And when he found the baby Jesus, he sang him a song, because he just loved Him so much.  "That's just what adoration means." I told him, and we prayed and thanked our Father for sending the baby that night.