my little valentines

Valentines Day is a pretty big deal around here (as with every other holiday - any excuse to spend the day crafting together!) We made all kinds of things to fill each others envelops up with. And thanks to Pinterest we had fun trying some new ideas. 

Happy Valentines Day,

from us to you!

this week.....

we got a package from my parents in the mail. It contained Christmas cards for the kids and this years ornament. Since moving away my mom has made a really big effort to send the kids cards - for Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, ect. This means so very much to them. They save every card! Thank you, also, Mom and Dad for the birthday cards. I got two - one from my mom and another one especially from my dad! I am missing my parents this time of year, and wishing we could have our annual girls day at the mall.

Auntie Shannon let Santa know that we needed an elf at our house, and so a couple of weeks ago we had a new little guest come to stay with us for the holiday season. Nya was not too sure about him, and refused to go into the living room where he sat. After a couple of days, and seeing pictures of her cousin, Aubrey, with her little elf, Nya warmed to the idea. I asked her what we should name him and she insisted upon Sheep. So here he stays, taking advantage of the many holes we still have in our drywall since getting pot lights installed last summer! The kids are actually super excited about him. Every morning I will awake to Tate asking me if he can show me where the elf is now! 

My Christmas mantel this year is super simple. I didn't go and gather greenery to make fresh boughs. Normally I clip behind my parents house, but since they moved I didn't have in in my heart to go. Maybe next year. But thanks to Debra who was in a purging mood, the mantel got a facelift at least. Thank you, Debra. I LOVE the believe sign, and the black star got a coat of red paint and now my pretty bland mantel is all ready for Christmas. And..........

after 8 months I FINALLY painted my board and applied the vinyl (cut by Debra) for our family affirmations. It makes me smile every time I walk past! It has been WAY too long since I have done anything creative. I need to get back at it.

My boys have such fun with their hair. Every morning they think up some new animal they resemble. One morning this week it was a great horned owl. About 30 minutes later Bergen was relieved of his horns, via the hair clippers!

Noelle is continuing to cook up a storm! She loves it, and so do the other children. She declared one day that she wanted to open her own bakery and name it 'The Baker Bee'. She would greet her customers with, "Welcome to the hive. How may we help you?" I, for one, think this is a fantastic idea. I will be your first customer, Noelle!

You would think that Nya would never be in need of a playmate, but the other day I found her playing Connect Four with a Webkinz. She would lift his paw and have him play his piece when it was his turn. Too cute!

cedar boughs

We had the opportunity to go down to Sidney yesterday and visit with our friends the Schafers.
The kids played, while the moms made wreaths. I had no plans of making a wreath this year, not because I didn't want to, simply because my list is long.
I am so grateful that a hedge needed trimming, and a friend made a phone call. Thank you Kirsten. I love you.
I thought I might add other things to my wreath when I it got home, but I hung it on the door straight away to keep it safe, and decided that I like it just the way it is.

A December Saturday

Today we...........

carved neglected pumpkins from October (at least we got to it before Christmas, sheesh!),

taught ourselves how to play 'hot cross buns',

 commenced work on an impossible puzzle,

  read our library books (again),

 went shopping here,

where we were assisted by this lovely lady on the first day of her new job (she now works in this little piece of homemaking heaven).

We created with the queens of craft, Mrs. Moore & Mini Moore. 

We are now off to get the kids into bed so we can go out to dinner and do some Christmas shopping.

Happy Saturday, from the McCullough home!

the most wonderful time of the year

38 days until Christmas! Did you know? If not my children will be sure to tell you! The asking starts well before Halloween and doesn't stop until we have made a paper chain to count down to the 25th of December. Even then they will ask, just to make sure that they are on the right link.

We are having a homemade Christmas again this year. First of all I must say, before you read any further, I DO NOT think that there is anything wrong with buying presents, nothing at all. I do not believe that making gifts is the best or only way of celebrating this holiday, we just happen to love doing it. So, we do! I love finding the perfect project that will be just right for each individual child and the satisfaction of the end product. I love that my kids will peruse though craft books instead of catalogs to decide what they are going to give each other. I am grateful for the feeling it brings into our home. I do believe that Christmas can still be magical without turning commercial, and for our family this works. Therefore we have been busy with all manner of sewing and crafting, knitting and woodworking, in order to be ready in time.

I do worry whether they will actually like the gifts we make or whether they will think they are lame and secretly hold out hope that they will find some shiny new package of the mass produced variety with their name on it under the tree. If that is the case, being the nice kids they are, they will tell me they love it anyways, discard my gifts on the sidelines and hunt for something packaged, held in place with a million twist ties and tiny rubber bands. Good thing for them, even though we are going homemade, Santa always delivers!

I wish I could show you some of the things we have been working on, but that will have to wait until after December 25th, as my children read my blog regularly. A funny thing that is - they live here, everyday, with me. They know everything that is going on. They are usually the topic of said posts, and yet they read.

I can however show you this. She knits and knits and knits, and I LOVE watching her do it!

Happy Christmas preparations!

sunshine

As I am sure countless mothers have done before me, I have sung this song to each and every child of mine. And 1 by 1 as the children came along, together we would sing this to the new baby on the way. This song becomes personal. It is a mothers ballad to her children. Each 1 claiming it as her own, as if for the first time. Her individual expression of her love for her child. 

No one else was there as I sang this to my babies. In those moments it belonged to us, and us alone. The world outside ceased to exist if only for a moment here and there. Nothing else mattered. 

Thanks to Debra and her vinyl magic, I was able to make this for our home. The only problem is where to put it. I want 1 in every room of the house. It makes he happy just to look at it - like a spot of sunshine on the wall, forever reminding me of the most tender moments in my life.

Thank you Debra.

I {LOVE} it.

Dear Emma,

8 years ago your family and loved ones {but most especially mom and dad} celebrated. You came into this world - small and pink and perfect. We did not serve cupcakes or play party games, but our hearts were filled with gratitude and thanksgiving as we beheld in awe the most marvelous of reasons to have joy. The following years have been filled with the laughter that you cause, the energy that you share, and the spirit that you spread with an open heart wherever you go. You love without reason, you share all you have, you live with purpose and inspiration. 

- 8 years later we celebrate again -

Planning your birthday party this year was just as much fun as it always is. We started the celebrations on your actual birthday with cupcakes and swimming. We then spent the next 2 days getting ready for your party. We made cake pops and candies. We painted Posies - 1 to look like each of your guests, to put in the goody bags. We hung butterflies from the ceiling, we painted and crafted and egg-hunted. We laughed a lot and had so much fun. We celebrated you. How grateful I am to have an excuse as wonderful as you to celebrate in pink all over again. 

Happy 8th birthday Emma - may you receive as much joy as you so freely give others.