May you experience the magic & wonder of the season as we celebrate the Birth of our Savior.
Merry Christmas from our home to yours!
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Reindeer Root Beer & Christmas Popcorn
Just in case anyone is looking for a last minute fun Christmas activity with your kids....
Reindeer Root Beer & Christmas Popcorn!
Christmas Popcorn = popcorn with red & green M&Ms :) I saw a friend on facebook with similar root beer reindeers, so I made my own version based on the materials I already had laying around the house. I bought plastic bottles since I thought they would be safer with the kids, a word of warning - the labels were a PAIN to remove. My advice is to go with the no-label glass bottles and just pour the kid's root beer into another cup when it's time to actually drink it - that's what we ended up doing anyway.
We ate & drank our special treats while watching a Christmas movie and then had our annual weekend before Christmas sleepover under the tree. I love making memories!!
Linking to: simply {kierste}, The Frugal Girls,
Reindeer Root Beer & Christmas Popcorn!
Christmas Popcorn = popcorn with red & green M&Ms :) I saw a friend on facebook with similar root beer reindeers, so I made my own version based on the materials I already had laying around the house. I bought plastic bottles since I thought they would be safer with the kids, a word of warning - the labels were a PAIN to remove. My advice is to go with the no-label glass bottles and just pour the kid's root beer into another cup when it's time to actually drink it - that's what we ended up doing anyway.
We ate & drank our special treats while watching a Christmas movie and then had our annual weekend before Christmas sleepover under the tree. I love making memories!!
Linking to: simply {kierste}, The Frugal Girls,
Candy Bar Christmas Gift
The kids & I put together some Christmas goodie bags for J's teachers. Nothing fancy because I wanted J to be able to do most of the work, so it was really from him and not me. I have seen different versions of these candy bar gifts, but we made up our own based on the candy we could find. We appreciate J's teachers and his school so much and I hope these treats were a hit!
If you can't read the note, it said...
The finished product was definitely not fancy & crafty, but it was filled with love from a student to his wonderful teachers!
Linking to: simply {kierste}, The Frugal Girls,
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| Each bag contained a copy of the note and each of the candies (and Shout wipe - random I know) pictured above. |
KUDOS to you...I want to SHOUT it from the rooftops!
You are EXTRA special, a real ORIGINAL, and one of the RIESENS I love school!
I have MOUNDS of fun here and you are a such a life LIFESAVER, helping me become a SMARTIE!
I wish I could give you 100 GRAND for your PAYDAY ~ you are worth a MINT!
Enjoy your Christmas break, TAKE FIVE, relax, and have fun with your family!
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Thursday, December 20, 2012
Easy Christmas Card Display
I absolutely love the anticipation of going to the mailbox every day this time of year. In a time when 99% of our correspondence is done via email or facebook, it is so special to me to actually get Christmas cards from friends and family. I love every card I get, but I especially love photo cards. I like to display them throughout the Christmas season, but we do get a lot and sometimes it is hard to find a good spot for them. For the past few years, I have been taping them to my freezer, but this year I wanted to move them to an area where we would see them more often.
I thought the kitchen or the dining room would be the perfect place since we spend a lot of time in those rooms. We have a lot of wall space, but I didn't really want to use tape, so that took that idea away. (Although since then, I have thought about using painter's tape, so that might be an option someday!)
In keeping with my "simple is better" theme, I hung twine from the curtain rod over the sliding doors that lead to our screened-in porch. I used mini clothespins to attach the cards, and voila ~ instant Christmas card display!
Here's a closer view so you can see those cute mini clothespins! (Find them at places like Hobby Lobby or Michaels).
How do you display your Christmas cards?
Linking to: simply {kierste},
I thought the kitchen or the dining room would be the perfect place since we spend a lot of time in those rooms. We have a lot of wall space, but I didn't really want to use tape, so that took that idea away. (Although since then, I have thought about using painter's tape, so that might be an option someday!)
In keeping with my "simple is better" theme, I hung twine from the curtain rod over the sliding doors that lead to our screened-in porch. I used mini clothespins to attach the cards, and voila ~ instant Christmas card display!
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| (You can also see the Christmas Burlap Table Runner I made a few years ago, and the Red Chair that we use because our other matching black chair broke!) |
How do you display your Christmas cards?
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Crowdtap & Old Navy
I love free stuff. You too? I thought so. Thanks to my friends at Crowdtap and Old Navy, I was able to get some free stuff today!
If you haven't heard of Crowdtap, their mission is to "shift marketing to a fully collaborative and participatory process between brands and consumers." Crowdtap achieves this by an interactive website - survey questions, web tasks, moderated discussions, and sometimes even sample shares. For each action you participate in, you earn points which can eventually be used to purchase gift cards or donate to charity. Just like in Swagbucks, I typically use my points to purchase Amazon gift cards.
I was lucky enough to be chosen for an Old Navy ActiveWear sample share! I received coupons for one friend and myself - we were each able to pick out an ActiveWear top & bottom, totally FREE. Old Navy ranks right up there on my list of favorite stores... FREE is good, but at a great store = even better. Super exciting and maybe, just maybe, this will even give me a little motivation to be active.... currently my treadmill is serving more as a storage area than an exercise machine.
I picked out a pair of ActiveWear capris and a fleece jacket. I'm loving both - the fleece jacket is a little longer than usual and almost has a peacoat-look. My daughter was a little disappointed - there was a pink sports bra hanging right at her eye level that she thought would be perfect. (She's 3 and anything pink is perfect).
I also bought my first ever pair of skinny jeans at Old Navy today. I have always been intimidated by skinny jeans, mainly because I don't really feel skinny. But my friend convinced me to try a pair on, and actually....I liked them! We'll see if I'm brave enough to wear them out of the house.
Thanks for a fun day, Crowdtap and Old Navy!
If you haven't heard of Crowdtap, their mission is to "shift marketing to a fully collaborative and participatory process between brands and consumers." Crowdtap achieves this by an interactive website - survey questions, web tasks, moderated discussions, and sometimes even sample shares. For each action you participate in, you earn points which can eventually be used to purchase gift cards or donate to charity. Just like in Swagbucks, I typically use my points to purchase Amazon gift cards.
I was lucky enough to be chosen for an Old Navy ActiveWear sample share! I received coupons for one friend and myself - we were each able to pick out an ActiveWear top & bottom, totally FREE. Old Navy ranks right up there on my list of favorite stores... FREE is good, but at a great store = even better. Super exciting and maybe, just maybe, this will even give me a little motivation to be active.... currently my treadmill is serving more as a storage area than an exercise machine.
I picked out a pair of ActiveWear capris and a fleece jacket. I'm loving both - the fleece jacket is a little longer than usual and almost has a peacoat-look. My daughter was a little disappointed - there was a pink sports bra hanging right at her eye level that she thought would be perfect. (She's 3 and anything pink is perfect).
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| (That's my blur of a 3 year old in front of me) |
Thanks for a fun day, Crowdtap and Old Navy!
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Christmas Mantel
A post not related to adoption?! It's a Christmas miracle! :)
Although I haven't been blogging much lately, I still do read some of my favorite blogs once in awhile, and saw that today at The Lettered Cottage there is a link party for Christmas mantels. I thought I'd share a few pictures of our Christmas mantel. It's simple, but I love it. I love to have a cozy home, and I always think it is the coziest at Christmas!
I've been collecting the Willow Tree Nativity
pieces since the year Jon & I were engaged. I love the simplicity of it. The old window behind it was the result of some dumpster diving :)
I don't like to be ultra matchy-matchy, so the stockings are all knit but aren't part of the same set. Two are from a flea market, and two were bought at the Pottery Barn Outlet (different years) after the season when they are all clearanced. If I'm remembering correctly, the reindeer stocking had monogramming, but the price was right at around $1.97, so my seam ripper and I got to work and it looks great!
It may not be the fanciest, most unique Christmas mantel, but I love it!
Also linking to: simply {kierste},
Although I haven't been blogging much lately, I still do read some of my favorite blogs once in awhile, and saw that today at The Lettered Cottage there is a link party for Christmas mantels. I thought I'd share a few pictures of our Christmas mantel. It's simple, but I love it. I love to have a cozy home, and I always think it is the coziest at Christmas!
I've been collecting the Willow Tree Nativity
pieces since the year Jon & I were engaged. I love the simplicity of it. The old window behind it was the result of some dumpster diving :)
I don't like to be ultra matchy-matchy, so the stockings are all knit but aren't part of the same set. Two are from a flea market, and two were bought at the Pottery Barn Outlet (different years) after the season when they are all clearanced. If I'm remembering correctly, the reindeer stocking had monogramming, but the price was right at around $1.97, so my seam ripper and I got to work and it looks great!
It may not be the fanciest, most unique Christmas mantel, but I love it!
Saturday, December 1, 2012
12 Months DTE
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| (source) |
Tomorrow is a bittersweet day for us ~ twelve months ~ yes, a year ~ since our paperwork went to Ethiopia. We are thrilled to be a year closer to our little one (or ones), but it has been hard to see our wait time estimate increase three times in the past year and realize the likelihood of more increases is pretty high. We are so thankful we can trust in God's plan for our lives & our family! We are also thankful that this week there were a few referrals for families in our agency!!! Our current unofficial numbers are...
Infant Boy (0-18mo) = 49
Young (under 4 yr) siblings = 28
Siblings with older child = 8
Toddler Boy (19-47) mo = 16
Over the course of the year, not a day has passed without some daydreaming about our sweet boys. So many unknowns - will there be one or two? How old will they be? Will their personalities be like J, or C, or totally different altogether? What will their laughs sound like? Will they be able to learn to trust me and love me? Is someone taking care of them now? Are they going to bed with empty bellies tonight?
To our boys...I wish I could start now telling you now how much you are loved and wanted. Not only are you missed, but you have missed a lot of things this year....
- Big Brother J turned 6, graduated from Kindergarten, and is now in 1st grade. He lost his first 2 teeth this year, and thinking of you & Ethiopia, threw his teeth up on the roof for the Tooth Birdie!
- Sister C went from a barely talking 2 year old to a silly chatterbox of a 3 year old ~ always dancing & singing. She thinks of you a lot too ~ her imaginary friends are often Ethiopian :)
- 2 new boy cousins were born this year!
- My Grandma (your GG) passed away in June. I am so sorry you never got to meet her, because she was the BEST EVER. I will tell you all about her someday!
- We took many day trips to Baltimore and visited the zoo, Science Center, Port Discovery, and went to lots of Orioles games! Your daddy can't wait to someday take all his boys to cheer for the O's!
- The annual beach vacation
- Many many many fun times just being together as a family...can't wait until you are here with us! We love you!!
We don't really have a great estimate of how much longer this journey will be, but we know that in this time of waiting, God is knitting together the story of our family!