Advent Countdown Activity : Trim the tree!

I love Christmas. I really do. I love the decorations, the parties, the entertaining. I love the preparation and the anticipation. I try to do something a little different every year. Some things don't work out so well [I'm talking to you - all-handmade-gifts-idea/insanity] but some things do. This year, my difference will be in the way we trim our tree.

I was trying to think of some way, other than the same-old chocolate advent calendar, for us to mark the days until Christmas. At the same time, the kids have been badgering me since Remembrance Day to put up our tree. Putting up the tree is something I especially love to do. It's not the best tree - we bought it 10 years ago when we first moved into our house and expecting the Boy. It's lost a lower branch, and I need to string it with lights every year, but I can't bear to part with it just yet. We have a set of about 30 red "filler" ornaments and every other ornament we have is a "special" one.

Every milestone in our family is marked with a Christmas ornament. The easy ones, like going on a trip, or a new baby, and the trickier ones like my stint as a school bus driver, family baptisms, opening up my business.  Yep, there's an ornament for that.

So, when we trim our tree, I like to reflect on these moments and tell the stories that go with them. Like a scrapbook that's taken out once a year. However, after 11 years of marriage, you can imagine that we have quite a few stories to tell on our tree trimming day. So, I'm spreading it out.

I took 24 paper bags, numbered some Christmas labels and let the kids go to town decorating them.

I had to let go of my perfectionism here. In my head I pictured pretty kraft bags with bows and ribbons. Beautifully numbered etc. But this is a family activity. I just stepped back and let it happen.

The kids absolutely loved this idea. They were excited to decorate the bags and even more excited to "start Christmas". It kept them busy for a good half hour. :)

Once they were done, we lined them up on our buffet behind the table. I didn't fill them that day. I waited until they went to school to put all the decorations into the bags. I put some of our filler ornaments in each bag and then parceled out our special ornaments. I also added a few surprises in most of the bags - little chocolates or candies, little toys - nothing huge, but just an added surprise. 

These are the latest addition to our scrapbook tree! Can you guess where we went?

The newest ornaments will go into the last bag, where we also have our old tin star. It doesn't quite fit, but it works for this year.

I don't know who's more excited for Saturday to come around, me or the kids! For now, our little tree is up and lit and waiting patiently for our first bag of goodies to be opened up. Hurry up, Christmas!

Most Popular Post: Elmo takes the cake

I like looking at stats. Numbers. All so orderly. It just gives me chills. As I look at my blog stats every few days, there is one thing that is consistent. The number of pageviews I get from a single post: my How to make an Elmo cake post. It is ALWAYS the highest ranking, and has been since I published it. I'm guessing it is because my post title matches so well with search criteria. The most popular being:

1. how to make an elmo cake
2. how to make elmo cake
3. how to make a elmo cake

Coming in a close fourth is "wedding cake disasters" search keywords which leads me to my second most popular post of a wedding cake delivery gone terribly wrong for me. Very little writing, but in this case, the picture told it all. It's still painful for me to look at. I guess a lot of people like to look at painful things. 

So, what's the point of this little exercise? At first I thought maybe I should change how I write my blog post titles, and even the subjects, to garner the most views and bigger audience. I could research trends and write that way. But I don't want to do that. I don't write this blog because I want a huge following. I write because I find something that interests me and if it interests someone else, that's all good. I like to share what I know, and start conversations. I believe that information should be free. It's why, to the chagrin of many of my colleagues, I don't mind giving away the "secrets of the trade" or sharing my recipes when someone calls to ask me. Don't get me wrong, I expect to be paid for teaching a class because I'm preparing and delivering information in a specific way, but my advice is free. 

Does that mean I'll stop looking at stats. Absolutely not. I still love the chilly feeling of looking at numbers. 

Let's do the time warp, again.

I like all kinds of music, but I mostly have two channels: oldies and modern rock. Oldies are good to sing along to, clean the house, work, listen in the car with the kids. Modern rock I love for hard beats, edgy tunes. You know, modern rock like Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam, The Tragically Hip, hey...wait a second.

Where exactly did I lose a decade of my life? Ok, to be fair, the Hip are still around and awesome, but if I look at a list of my go-to songs, I realize that most of them are from over 10 years ago, a lot over 20. What happened? Did I step through a worm hole and disrupt the time-space continuum? Did I watch too much Star Trek? Apparently, I've just been a mother for the last 10 years. Losing track of the little things to take care of other little things.

I assume the next time I wake up will be when the kids are in university. Mumford and Sons better still be popular! Help me catch up. What's in your Walkman? ;)

New look!

Hee hee! It's finally done. So.... what do you think? About my new blog look, that is.

I do so like to mess around with different looks, and changing up a blog template is a little frightening, if not downright terrifying. I was afraid I'd lose all my information, that I wouldn't get my widgets back. [Who likes losing widgets?] But it's over now, and I can breathe.

My design came from here: http://misspicklesdesignstudio.com/ Very straightforward instructions, but you need to be a teensy tiny bit tech savvy to troubleshoot any issues.

My follow buttons came from here: http://www.addthis.com/ Super easy and no registration needed, unless you'd like to track results.

Cost: Free (unless you count the hours searching online for usable tools that I actually like.)

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Tat's all, moms!

Since I knew they existed, I've wanted a tattoo. I love the idea of body art and expression. [Even if right now, I seem to be expressing my body's love of medium double doubles.]

A few years ago, after many years, pregnancies, and discussions with my husband, I finally took the plunge. I was ready. But what to get? And where?

I knew for sure I wasn't going to go for anything "girly". No roses on my ankle, or unicorn on my butt. Puh-lease. When I was a teenager I wanted a scorpion with its tail wrapping itself around my breast. Yeah...if I had gotten that, it would definitely be hidden now! So, what design did I want permanently inked on my body. I briefly considered getting my husband's name tattooed accross my back Black Dagger Brotherhood
style, but recalled that I was a sensible woman. What is the one constant that would never change. Ever. My kids. No contest. But how? Their faces? Names? Hand prints? I decided for a little whimsy that included my penchant for all things ladybug. Something that was uniquely mine, just like my little beasts.

Design: check.
Tattoo artist: check - one of my girlfriends had a trusted artist: Boris. I trusted my friend, and I liked that work she had done by him.
Body part: not so fast, Mama.

Where, where, where? My shoulder? No. Legs? Ridiculous. Face? Come on. I realized it needed to go on the trunk of my body. Somewhere I could see it and appreciate it, so not on my back or bum. Boobs? Absolutely not. That leaves only one area, my friends. Somewhere on my belly or hips. I figured, with such a wide expanse of canvas, surely there would be a few square inches to spare for a little art.

Picture this: I'm lying on the table in Boris' work room. My dress [don't wear a dress to get a tattoo on your abdomen - knowing is half the battle] is rucked up around my waist. Professional Dr. Boris [it helped me to imagine I was at the doctor and this was a routine shaming] is peering at my belly, poking and prodding and muttering things like "hmmmm...maybe it can fit there....no...too many...this might...no....what about..." and so on and so forth until I asked exactly what was going on. He told me he was trying to find the best place for my masterpiece. I pointed to an area near my left hip. He answered with a cryptic "Too many." Too many what?

Stretch marks. 

How ironic that I wanted a tattoo to represent my kids, but I couldn't get it because of the number of stretch marks acquired due to creating said kids. Did you know that you can't get a tat over stretch marks because the skin is too thin and will break? Neither did I.

Boris the Magnificent did find a place [gee, thanks] high up on my flank and all went well. It took about half an hour of pinching pain, but the result was exactly what I wanted.

My Tattoo [and stretch marks]

Two little ladybugs, with vines and tendrils that make up the years my bugs were born. Can you see it?

Do you have any body art? Are you given any flak about it?