A pinteresting Christmas indeed

The more presents I buy for Christmases and birthdays, the more crafty I desire to become.

Perhaps it's a way to save money, or maybe it's because I believe in personal gifts...or maybe because I love finding things on pinterest so much and I realize I can't make everything for myself or I would have a cluttered house full of crafts (and I already have the cluttered part down).

Here were some of the gifts I made this year:

A canvas for my sister-in-law with the words
created from the lyrics of one of her favorite songs

 Pictures for the grandparents of Henry's handprints
(created while he was sleeping!)

And Adele's handprint (and fingerprint for the bubbles!)

Headbands for the girls

My cute model

From the side

And another look...she's busy focused on play-doh here

Ahh there we go!

A canvas for the couple getting married
(not a Christmas gift, but I made it)

And an alphabet book for Adele
(I also made one for a couple of my nephews)

"I'm The Bride!"

My youngest sister Rachel got married on December 29th.

It was a busy, crazy, fun-filled week of Christmas celebrations, bachelorette parties, pedicures, lots of good food, family time, and laughter.

At one point when we were out doing some last-minute shopping, it occurred to me. Rachel should be using the phrase "I'm the bride" as much as possible. Just like I love saying "Tis the season" for every situation from Thanksgiving through Christmas, those rules somehow seemed to fit for the bride leading up to her wedding.

Stuck in traffic? Wave a fist and yell "move, I'm the bride!"

In line at a store? Smile at everyone and say "I'm the bride".

Arriving at a party (that's probably for the bride anyway!)? exclaim "I'm the bride!

Got a busy, full calendar? Shrug shoulders and sigh "I'm the bride."

Listening to another love song on the radio? Wipe away tears and sniffle "I'm the bride!"

See some great sales and spending too much money? Justify it by saying "I'm the bride!"

Tired from not enough sleep? Make a cup of coffee and say "I'm the bride".

House a mess and fiance starting to get nervous (and hope it's different when you live together after the wedding)? Smile sweetly and tell him "I'm the bride!"

Rachel's too nice to want any added attention to herself, but oh if only I were a bride again...I would totally do this!

And major props to my sister, who rarely got the credit she deserved for being responsible or even capable of most things without help growing up (she was, of course, the baby), she pulled off a beautiful wedding. And looked just like we knew she would - the most gorgeous and stunning bride, who made the rest of us completely and utterly jealous. :)

Here are some pictures of the big day:

Wedding day coffee with the girls! (big sis Emily, me, youngest sis Rachel, younger sis Katie, Adele, and Mom)

Getting my hair did

Pre-wedding dancing practice

The beautiful bride!

Sisters! And Henry, who can't take his eyes off his beautiful Aunt Rachel.

Three good looking men! David with ringbearer Ash and the adorable Henry

Cue "Can't you feeeeeel the looove toniiiiiight"

Mr. and Mrs. Robison!

Adele with her sucker after being an excellent flower girl

Daddy-daughter dance (all together now "awww")

Reception dancing (good thing they practiced!)

Traditions

Ahh blogging. Life has gotten a little busy lately and blogging has taken a backseat for a while. I've hardly had time with the traveling we've done, plus the normal routines of reading books, cooking meals, cleaning the house, playing with play-doh, and constant picking up all the time.

Well enough is enough. I've got my priorities figured out now. Who needs a clean house anyway?

So I've got a few blogs I've been storing up that I'll hopefully post throughout this next week.

I'm backing up all the way to Christmas now.

I love Christmas. We were all about traditions growing up. Christmas Eve service, singing "Silent Night" by candlelight, stopping by McDonald's on the way to my Grandma Darlene's house for Christmas with my mom's side, watching old Christmas movies, sleeping in the same room as my sisters, early morning Christmas presents followed by morning naps, and Christmas Day in Pella with my dad's side.

Our traditions have evolved and changed over the years.

My Grandma Darlene passed away a number of years ago, so we now get together with my mom's side of the family for an evening sometime during the week of Christmas. Our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with the Gosselinks doesn't even always fall on Dec. 24th and 25th anymore since some of us are married and have another family to split Christmases with. McDonald's is no longer part of the tradition.  (Christmas Day naps usually still are.) Instead of a family of 6 of us Gosselinks, our family has grown into 14 of us celebrating this year.

Traditions have changed. Next year will probably be even more different than this year. But the essence of Christmas remains the same. You know, the reason for the season. And family time. Lots of family time.

My sister Katie wrote a blog you should check out. It's beautifully written all about family, and rather than attempting to write one similar in nature, I will direct you to hers instead.

http://msriddikulus.blogspot.com/2013/01/i-love-this-family.html

Tis the busy season

Tis the season for busyness. And the stomach flu. And colds. And late-night crafts. And last-minute Christmas shopping. And family time, and laughter, and snow, and stress, and Christmas goodies, and extended family visits, and less sleep, and crabbiness, and Christmas movies and lights and music, and a warm home. 

I love this season.

Here are some things we've been up to over the last week or so.

Tis the season for Henry learning to climb stairs!

Tis the season for carefully examining a Christmas tree!

 Tis the season for food!

Tis the season for FOUR generations of Hille men getting together!

Tis the season for cousins in matching Christmas pajamas!

Tis the season for Gabriel's hotel-pool-birthday party!

 

Tis the season for cousins having "coffee" in bed together!

 Tis the season for Hannah's birthday party!

Christmas movies

I love the Christmas season. Leading up to the actual day, I truly enjoy the music, the lights, the decorations, the food, and the movies.

It has been particularly fun this year to get Adele into the holiday spirit and bombard her with Christmas songs and movies. She makes me both laugh - when she giggles at a song said root-toot-tooting in it because the song said "toot", and cry (or at least tear up) - with rendition of the song "Small One". Youtube this sweet little old Christmas movie and try not to cry. And then imagine Adele softly singing the song and good luck holding back tears!

So 'tis the season for Christmas games, right?

I've come up with some notable quotes from some classic (and some of my all-time favorite) Christmas movies. Good luck coming up with the movies. They are listed at the end if you get stuck.  :)


-Francisco! That's fun to say! Francisco.. Franciscooooo...

-I believe...I believe...It's silly, but I believe.

-I'm gonna give you to the count of 10, to get your ugly, yella, no-good keister off my property, before I pump your guts full of lead.

-HEY! HEY! Unto you a child is born!

-Are you afraid of staircases? If you are, then you have climacaphobia. Maybe you have thalassophobia. This is fear of the ocean, or gephyrobia, which is the fear of crossing bridges. Or maybe you have pantophobia. Do you think you have pantophobia?

-I lost mine.

-We evil magicians have to make a living too!

-Hey, what do you say we both be independent together, huh?

-Ohhh, ohh, oh, Scotch pine delicious, but Douglas fir give me heartburn. Burp! Excuse me, ohhh, oh!

-I need a gentle donkey to carry my wife to Bethlehem

-That's right. That's right. Attaboy Clarence!

-She falls down a well, her eyes go cross. She gets kicked by a mule, they go back. I don't know.

-Thank you. That will be nice. Yes is being my answer. Easy question.

-Well um, you realize if you give money to the poor they won't be poor anymore, will they? And if they're not poor anymore, then you won't have to raise money for them anymore. And if you don't have to raise money for them anymore, then you'd be out of a job. Oh please, gentlemen, don't ask me to put you out of a job. Not on Christmas Eve.

-There's children throwing snowballs / instead of throwing heads / they're busy building toys / and absolutely no one's dead!

-Mother always taught me: "Never eat singing food."

-Listen, Lucy, when I told my mother I was getting married to my wife, her intestines exploded. You tell them the truth now, you may as well shoot grandma.

-In the movies we have leading ladies and we have the best friend. You, I can tell, are a leading lady, but for some reason you are behaving like the best friend.

-You ought to be horsewhipped. First you, and then you, and then you again.

-The thing about trains...it doesn't matter where they're going. What matters is deciding to get on.

-I have since heard of people under extreme duress speaking in strange tongues. I became conscious of that a steady torrent of obscenities and swearing of all kinds was pouring out of me as I screamed.

-If I can't find a reindeer, I'll make one instead!

-My, those are your hands? Those are your hands! What happened to you? Where are your parents? Um...your mother? Your father?

-All right, you guys, just permit me one sentimental moment here, will you? I have something to say. Christmas: it's not the giving, it's not the getting, it's the loving. There, I said it. Now get outta here.


ANSWERS:
Elf
Miracle on 34th Street
Home Alone
Best Christmas Pageant Ever
Charlie Brown's Christmas
Claymation Christmas: Carol of the Bells (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMALk-i3TA8) watch this over and over and you may laugh more every time!
Frosty the Snowman
Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer
Sesame Street Christmas
Small One
It's a Wonderful Life
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Love Actually
Mickey's Christmas Carol
Nightmare Before Christmas
Muppets Christmas Carol
While You Were Sleeping
The Holiday
White Christmas
Polar Express
A Christmas Story
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Edward Scissorhands
Garfield Christmas Special

'Tis the Season

I love the saying "'Tis the Season". It cracks me up. I have found, that with proper intonation, you can use this saying for anything during the Christmas season. If I'm out in public, I try to say it to as many people as I can in every possible situation.


When standing in the back of a long line, roll your eyes and say to the person who comes up behind you next in line "'Tis the season."

When you show up at a Christmas party to have a good time, exclaim "'Tis the season!"

When you are looking at your busy full calendar, mumble to yourself "'Tis the season..."

When you turn to 5 different radio stations and Christmas music is playing on every one, shrug your shoulders and say "'Tis the season!"

When someone cuts you off in traffic, grumble "'Tis the season..."

When you can't help but take advantage of sales and buy too many things for yourself, justify it by saying "'Tis the season!"

When you are tired from not getting enough sleep, make a cup of coffee while you tell yourself "'Tis the season".

When your husband makes a comment about the house in a constant state of disaster, smile sweetly and say "'Tis the season!"


Try it out - here's to a few more weeks of busyness, good food, irritable shoppers, kid-like excitement, and little sleep. Because 'tis the season. :)

Days of Thanks

So life is a little busy these days...but I wanted to do my own 30 days of thanks. There's no way I could have kept up with doing a post a day on facebook or on this blog (hence the December post...) so here they are. In no particular order.

My husband. David is my other half, partner in life, my bestest friend. He keeps me striving to be better, keeps me grounded, and keeps me laughing.

My kids. They are awesome. I have a hard time believing there are better kids than mine. They are smart, creative, active, and sassy.

Fall/early winter in Oklahoma. The nice weather makes up for the other three seasons here (Unbearably Hot, Tornado, and Ice season).

My sisters. Emily, with whom I get to share this motherhood adventure; Rachel, with whom I share good conversation and quirky personality traits; and Katie, with whom I share environmental ideas and social justice passions.

Costa Rica. The country where I studied abroad, met my husband, gave birth to my first child, learned the majority of my Spanish, broadened my world view, and met great friends.

My parents. They show me extreme generosity, as well as continued love and support, and pass that love and care on to my kids.

Christmas music. I love it. It makes me happy and I shamelessly say I will randomly play it all year long.

Pinterest. It inspires me and draws out any creative juices that flow through me.

My in-laws. They have always welcomed me into their family, accepted my quirkiness, and treated me like a daughter.

My sisters-in-law. Jordan, who is the most selfless person I know; and Jenna, who lives vivaciously and passionately.

Old friends. Jane, who I will always feel a connection to as my oldest friend from Kindergarten. Angie, my forever friend and no matter how long in between conversations we go, we always reconnect on a deep level. Theresa, who is like my sister - nuff said. Laura, who has a worldview even bigger than mine. And many more.

Our church. They welcome us, and never stop looking out for us.

Skype. Allowing my kids to stay better connected to their extended family, and helps us stay in close communication with David as he does his research in Nicaragua.

Our home. After some crazy times renting from a not-so-nice lady, we own this house. And it is small and comfortable for our little family.

Northwestern College. Gave me a great college experience, met some lifelong friends, and made great memories.

Project Free TV. Allows David and me to unwind from the day by watching our favorite TV shows on the computer, rather than sticking to the nightly scheduled TV programs.

Local businesses. Those that are still able to survive without being overtaken by big-boxed stores.

Coffee. Some days I'm not sure I could live without it. Most days I simply love being able to sit for 5 minutes and truly enjoy it.

Our car. After a long search, we found a great used car that we could pay cash for. We get excellent mileage, at times getting 49 miles to the gallon.

Slippers. I learned to love and rely on them while living in Costa Rica and having only tile for the floor, and continued my love for them upon returning to the States.

Fair-trade businesses. They look out for the people who are truly MAKING the product you are buying.

Work. I am thankful for the opportunity to use my Spanish to interpret for those who need assistance at a doctor's office, a psychiatrist appointment, or in the mental health hospital. Not only does it provide some much-needed income, but I love the chance to connect with Spanish-speaking people.

David's grad school experience. Sometimes we wonder what in the world we are doing in Oklahoma...and then we remember what brought us here in the first place and I am thankful David has such a great advisor and school experience at OU.

Tuesday Girls. A group that meets once a month, gives me the chance to hang out with a group of girls, eat good food, and hear some share their stories.

The library. Our library here is awesome. It's got an entire LARGE section blocked off for kids, with tables full of educational toys, puzzles, computers for kids, and programs that Adele loves.

Zumba. The chance for me to work out, sweat, and have fun.

The USA. It has provided numerous opportunities, including the chance to get a good education, and travel to many countries around the world.

Organic products. They help take care of our land, and look out for the health of the workers.

PBS. While we try not to watch too much TV in our house, I am still thankful for the kids' programs that help educate Adele and teach her valuable life lessons.

All the things I take for granted. Food. My sight. Healthy kids. Heat on a cold day; air conditioning on a hot day. My mental health. And so forth.....

I am truly thankful.