December daily #7

We didn't really do much today, just got to hang out at home and catch up the laundry. James helped me make a snowman, I added the tinsel to the tree, and I'm going to go finish sewing Jacob's pajama pants for tomorrow's Pajama Day at school.  He doesn't own any since he outgrew the last pair.  :D

 Tomorrow we get to go on post to the Education Center to get my paperwork signed, and then we have an IPR for the Christmas social and the orphanage party. :) Should be fun.

December Daily 6

Here is what we did today!  We started out early by taking the kids to school (shoot me, I wanted to sleep in, and NO ONE was awake at 715 when I stumbled out.  They have to catch the bus at 725- not happening this morning). Then I came home, took Jon back to work, and headed to the Ed center to find out that my college was closed today.  Urg.  Picked up Rachel, went back to the school, filled out alternate guardian paperwork (yet another reason I'm starting to hate dealing with this school), and finally headed out for CRC (another Army post about 30 mins away).  Get there early, stop at the 3 story Daiso, find flat tire on the way out.  Gah.  Change tire (picture included at the end.. lol), meet with client (booking for a newborn session), go to McDonald's for lunch (HEAVENLY)!  BACK on post, this time to the gas station (can we say $3.98 per gallon for diesel, instead of 1,716 Korean won per LITER?) and to the vet's office for Rachel to pick up paperwork.  Whew.  Then, looking for my college branch located on this post, we stumble on the thrift store, which is (gasp) open!  My friend found a jogging stroller for $15!!  I got a pair of new sneakers for James for $3, two pairs of fleece lined overalls for James (score!), and a new pair of jeans for Cait, since she has busted the knees of almost every single pair of jeans.  Oh, and two new kids books and a pair of jeans for Jon (for $.50!!).  We decided to skip the commissary, since we now had three cranky children (ages 1, 2 and 4).  On the way home, they all crashed.  Surprise, surprise.. lol
Anyhow, we barely make it in time to get Jacob from the bus, and she calls to let me know they won't let her get him off the bus. I am literally 2 minutes from home, and she said the monitor wouldn't talk to me on the phone, and that since she already called the school, she HAS to return Jacob to the school.  GRRR.  So I turned at the light I was at, and made it to the school in 3 minutes, where the VP tells me that since it wasn't the correct stop (we use the bus stop at the 200's buildings, and she was at the second bus stop at the 300's, where she lives, which is about 200 yards away from ours), that it was for safety concerns, and the transportation policy states that children can't get off at a different stop.  Well, I read the policy when it was given to me back in August, and don't remember reading that at all.. so I asked them to email me the policy. Phooey. 
Anyhow, we play at home for about an hour (me folding laundry and straightening my room, the kids decompressing with a bit of Nick Jr.com and horsing around with each other)... Go pick up Jon, go to the tree ceremony, come home, eat dinner, and the kids were in bed half an hour later. :)  Jamie put himself to sleep tonight with barely any fussing.  WOOHOO!!  Its been a struggle to get him to stay in his bed and not ask to nurse every 5 minutes.  (and as I write this, I went to my room to get my phone, and found him stretched out under the covers on MY pillow, in my bed.. :D oh well, at least he put himself to sleep, right?).

Ok, I think my ranting is over.. I've run out of things to recap for myself. :)  Now, for the pictures.

Jacking up the van.

Happy December, ya'll!  I hope you're having fun this holiday season! :D

December daily- part two from yesterday, and Day 5

Here are some shots from our tree decorating last night.  I also took some random shots of some simple Korean decorations we picked up last year. Not that you can really tell they are from Korea, but hey, it works for me. :)

I made two items on my Pinterest Food board today.  First was the homemade hot chocolate. I tweaked it a bit, since it tasted heavily like unsweetened cocoa, and added another cup of powdered sugar. We made it with milk the second time, and it was delicious! Even better with a candy cane as a garnish! :)

Homemade hot chocolate

3 cups powdered sugar

1 cup cocoa (I used Hershey's, since its what I had)

2.5 cups powdered milk

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cornstarch

1 pinch cayenne pepper (optional)

hot milk

Heat your cup of milk in the microwave (60-90 seconds) and add 2 heaping TBSP's (for a full cup).  Stir with a candy cane or add marshmallows for an added treat.  Yum!

Dinner was Crockpot Orange Chicken.  I'm not going to re-post the recipe, because sadly, we didn't care for it too much.  I will make it again another time and tweak the recipe.  This one was WAY too much orange and a bit salty.  The kids ate it, but not as well as my friend's manicotti the other night! :D

Yay! I've made it to day 5 on the December Dailies! :D  Tomorrow night is the Camp Casey Tree Lighting Ceremony- this year, we are taking hats, gloves, and blankets!  We FROZE last year, even though they were handing out hot chocolate and treats.  I'll have to look through and see what I can come up with to bake for tomorrow. :)

Santa letter (free printable)

I am dipping my toes into making printables to share.  I have been extremely blessed to be able to decorate my house with some of the beautiful printables that I have found online, and would like to give back in the same manner.  Please let me know if it doesn't work on your end- my printer is out of ink, so I haven't been able to print it myself.  I hope its sized correctly! :)

Just right click and save the picture. Enjoy!

Catching up on my December Dailies

PSE didn't want to work for me the other night, which is why I blogged just the photos. But it has been working now, so here are my last two days, and today's pages.

I'm pretty sure that we will have a few more pictures when we decorate the tree after dinner, but I haven't decided if I will scrapbook them or just post them.

So far, the kids really like the felt tree- they get to stick and re-stick all the decorations.  Alpha (local Korean craft store) sells ready made kits with various items in it.  I swiped the Santa with a sleigh, and 2 little houses.  Next time I think I might go get the snowman, and we will cut out our own ornaments, too. 

Well, the manicotti is ready, so off to eat.  Then we will decorate the tree, and I plan to make some yummy coconut macaroons for dessert. :)

Maybe I'll even get around to sewing my Christmas pillow cover. Hehehe..

December Daily- Day 1

Well, my PS Elements has decided it hates me tonight, I tried 3 times to create my scrapbook page, and it kept freezing up. So I am blogging about our evening. :)

After school, the kids got to play a bit and have snack.  We headed out before dinner to pick up Hillma and head on post for the Unit Christmas Tree Decorating Contest.  We had a paper chain, several types of Christmas ornaments from the local Korean dollare store Daiso, handmade crossed cannons, gingerbread men, Santas and colorful yarn hats.  Oh, and glittered up stars and snowflakes.  LOTS of decorations, as you can see above.  We got to go pick up Daddy afterwards, and he stayed home long enough to do our first Advent reading. 
It wasn't exactly the reading I was thinking it would be (I thought we'd be reading pieces of the Christmas story- that'll teach me to forget to look up the verses beforehand)! In all, though, the kids sat still and listened while we read John 3:1-21.  After Daddy headed back to post, we read day 1 of the Countdown to Christmas and then the kids got snuggled down in bed. 

So that was our fairly eventful but fun evening. :P  I had lots of cute little papers and decorations for the scrapbook page, but oh well.  Simple is good. :)

I was able to order the Elf on a Shelf and the Little People Nativity Set for the kids today- I'm excited for them!  I have a few creative ideas on where the Elf can be found, but I want to find a better explanation for him than "he's here to watch how you behave and he will tell Santa whether you've been good or bad."  I don't like thinking that my kids will be anxious over it, wondering if they will still get presents, etc.  Better behavior would be great, but not at the expense of their minds. :)  So far, I think he will have a snowball fight with cotton balls or marshmallows, and he will make a snow angel out of sugar, and make a little tent in the kids' rooms out of their clothes that are laid out. 
The nativity set will be for their play, but we will keep it set in the living room.  I can't wait to hear if they will retell the Christmas story with it. :)

Thanksgiving

This was our second (and last) Thanksgiving in Korea.  We had a few friends over, tons of laughter, and LOTS of food.  I made a pecan pie from scratch (Jon said it was a bit runny, but otherwise good), a pumpkin pie and apple crisp.  Then came turkey, stuffing, rolls, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, creamed corn, and gravy.  We didn't have very many leftovers this year, for which I am extremely grateful. :P

I am diving into Christmas this weekend- the tree is up, with the branches somewhat rearranged.. lol.. James and Caitlynn hung their 2011 ornaments (Jacob didn't want to choose one, so his will be up later), we took down the fall decor, and brought out greenery and ornaments. :)  I am trying to get my December playgroup items finalized, along with a creative snack for each day, and am also finishing a couple of Advent things.  I am trying to keep it relaxed this year, and if I get to it, neato!  If I don't, oh well. 
Hopefully, I will have time tomorrow to post some pictures of what we are doing.  We are attending a birthday party at the Aeshin Orphanage down the road- they have 48 orphans there right now.  Up 3 from the last head count I heard a few months ago.  Our unit sponsors them.  I made cupcakes for each of them tonight, as well as some cookies for other people that are attending.  We are hosting an annual Christmas party for them right before Christmas- last year they brought their handbell choir- AMAZING!!  During the baking, Caitlynn said to me, " Mommy, are we going to bring some of the orphans home?"  Dumbstruck moment for me. I tried to frantically recall the verse where we are to care for orphans, but she beat me to it, sort of, by saying that she wanted some more brothers and sisters.  I told her that God would have to tell Daddy and I if that was what we were supposed to do- she said, oh, we should pray about it?  lol.. Talk about an eye opening conversation!

And since its 11:22pm, and I can hear Jamie asking to "get out", I think I'll go snuggle him back to sleep. :)