A Few of My Favorite Things

Hooray! December is officially here! We now get to put up our special advent calendar and start counting down the days to Christmas!

This fantastic calendar was made for our family by my husband's grandma. She is so talented! All of the nativity pieces attach with velcro to each day on the calendar. The kiddies get to take turns placing angels, palm trees, sheep, wise men, etc. in the nativity scene until we reach day 25. Then we get to place baby Jesus in the manger and talk about the most wonderful reason that we celebrate Christmas. I know that this will be something we keep and treasure for many years to come! It's just one of my favorite things!

And speaking of favorite things, I determined that this year I would shop Etsy for some of the kiddies' Christmas presents and find some incredible handmade things. I particularly looked for handmade play food, as my offspring are budding little chefs that love to mix and stir and chop and bake. The plastic stuff you can get at toy stores has literally been gnawed to pieces by my eager young cooks! I needed something more substantial, and of course way more adorable:

I got this set of sturdy crocheted veggies and fruits made by a fellow stay-at-home momma that runs her shop While You Sleep I Crochet. I can't wait to see what clever little recipes my kiddies will come up with as they play with these cute fruits and veggies!

Of course, I had to balance out all those healthy veggies and fruits with some bona fide junk food! This sewn felt food set, which includes a frosted donut, a hamburger with all the fixings, a corn dog with mustard, a pizza, and bowtie pasta with sauce and meatballs, was created by the owner of Blue Star Jewelry. Hope you're not getting too hungry!

Isn't this felt cookie counting set just too cute for words? Each frosted felt cookie has an embroidered number and is nicely padded. The whole set comes inside a drawstring bag (you get to choose the fabric!) which is personalized. (a great touch!) Heart Felt Crafts made this set, and I just saw that they now offer a felt fish counting set as well. :)

I mentioned these lovely leg warmers in an earlier post (the Drama Queen's pirate costume). Unfortunately the day I posted it, Mama Runs With Scissors was on vacation. This ultra-talented seamstress makes these great Kool Kid Legs that can be worn as leg warmers or as "sleeves" under a short-sleeve shirt. She has tons of designs for both boys and girls. The Drama Queen especially loves her rainbow set, and I just love the clever Converse sneaker ones as well.

Finally, I couldn't help but browse a little the other day for a possible birthday present for myself. :) I stumbled upon The Factory and fell in love with this sweet pink birds' nest necklace with three little pearly eggs to represent my three little ones. The necklace arrived in a lovely handmade box (I just adore the vintage children paper!) just a few days after I ordered it. Happy Birthday to Me! (well, tomorrow, anyway! Ill take my time and enjoy my last day of being 29!)

So, I encourage you to buy handmade this Christmas! You will find beautiful quality gifts and sellers that will give you incredible customer service! Visit Etsy today.

Farewell November

I hope you all had a fantastic holiday weekend! We stayed busy for sure, and our activities included:

1. Eating! This comes rather naturally to me, of course. I inhaled my share and more of stuffing, turkey, cranberry sauce, and other yummy homemade goodies on both of our Thanksgivings. (yep, both! We celebrated it at the in-laws, on Thursday and then again at the grandparents' on Saturday)

2. Working. The Christmas rush has begun, and many people are hurrying to get their custom orders in time for Christmas gifts from The Framed Frog. Add to that a great Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale at The Framed Frog, and even more orders poured in. I'm just a little busy! (and by the way, you can still take advantage of the great deals today!)

3. Shopping. We decided to brave the hordes of crazy people and attend a Black Friday sale. We chose to go to Toys'R'Us at midnight and ended up standing behind 300 people or so for about thirty minutes before getting into the store. It was madness, but we got the coveted items (two scooters for the Drama Queen and the Beast, and a programmable Rocket from Little Einsteins for the Spud) and only waited in line to check-out for an hour. (haha, the dedication, the dedication!) We also counted it as our date night. :)

4. Decorating. Well, we started anyway. The Christmas tree is up and lopsidedly decorated with clumps of ornaments. The bottom is pretty much barren since the mighty Spud has a tendency to destroy anything remotely breakable. The nativity scene is also out and has been moved and rearranged several times by eager little hands. Bundles of garland, Christmas lights, and other decorations are still sitting in their boxes, waiting to be put up. And this year we decided to put a mini Christmas tree in the kids' room. Every night they ecstatically turn it on and ooh and aah at the beautiful sight. It makes a great nightlight!

And, obviously, I've cleaned up and redecorated my blog a little. I hope it helps you to find things a little faster. :)

And now I must get busy accomplishing the tasks of the day (and enjoying one of my last days of 29-hood).

Thankful Indeed

The chefs here in the land of Temporary Insanity would like to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving! They are in the midst of making some very tasty cornbread stuffing, but they paused to tell me some of the things for which they are thankful:

*monster shirts

*movies

*Jesus

*Mommy and Daddy

*stuffing

*little brother when he's not hitting them

*when Momma lets them drink soda (this is a lie - I do not know what they are talking about!)

*lollipops

*toys

*the presents they will get at Christmas

*when Daddy lets them wear his shirts to bed

*football

*church

*Pastor Mutchler

I'm just guessing that all of you have a lot to be thankful for, too, huh? We wish all of you a joyous day with family and friends and of course no weight gained whatsoever. Amen. :)

Wordless Wednesday - Christmas card photo shoot

sorry, family, I'm not showing the one that will be featured on the actual Christmas card :)

more wordless fun at 5 Minutes for Mom

Come On Spud Just Say It

We pegged my daughter as a big talker at an early age. Her first word was "shoe" and immediately after came a host of new words - "juice," love you", "cheese", "yay", and of course "momma." The Beast took a little longer to use the spoken word. He was quiet and just smiled and giggled a lot. His first word was "ball", and he used it for everything. Well, except his momma. He knew that all he had to do was reach up with those chubby little arms and say "Momma, momma" to get exactly what he wanted.

The Spud is in no hurry to talk. I did hear him say the word "kitty" once, and occasionally he shouts an "Amen!" at the end of our prayers. But mostly he babbles on in Spud language that we have no idea what he's talking about. Except... every morning when I go in to wake the kids and get them ready, the Spud will stand beaming in his crib and shout"Daddy! Daddy!" as clear as anything. Throughout the day, he will often look over at me and say "Daddy?" and then laugh hysterically. I have tried coaching him to say "Momma" or "Mommy", but the little stinker will have none of it.

I suppose I should be glad the first two were so delighted to say their Momma's name, but having the Spud only say "Daddy" really grates on me. Poor Daddy finally gets a kid that is more attached to him, and here I am, trying to bribe him or cooerce him into saying Momma, thus crossing over to the winning side.

And even as I type this, I can hear the Spud's voice chanting over the monitor - "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" Yeah, its going to be a fun day!

Oh and in other completely random news, my shop The Framed Frog was featured on Getting to Know You Tuesdays at SassMowth Designs! Kathryn (the blog's writer) is someone I met through Twitter and now read her blog regularly. She rocks!

A Big Thank You to You

A spirit of thankfulness is in the air. People are once again reminded by a simple holiday characterized by lots of cooking and eating and family togetherness that we need to be so grateful for our blessings.

In that spirit, I would like to say a big Thank You! to my faithful blog readers. It was just a year ago that I started blogging faithfully, and although my primary goal for blogging is still to record our family's life as I see it for future generations, I do love having an audience along the way. So thank you! I hope to continue blogging for a long time.

You may have noticed a new box on my sidebar, inviting you to join as a fan of The Framed Frog on Facebook. I encourage all my readers to join up and be Froggy Fans! Froggy Fans get first notifications of new things in the shop and also have access to exclusive deals and discounts. And, sometime in the next two weeks, I will be posting on The Framed Frog Facebook Fan Club how you can get something free from my shop! So go join up and ribbit on!

"Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name." Psalm 100:4

He Cares About the "Little" Things

A few days ago, I was once again tackling the dishes that had started to pile up in the kitchen sink. The children were playing somewhat harmoniously in the living room with a "train" made of several chairs pushed together and "landscape" adorned with various afghans and quilts.

As I washed the endless stack of sippy cups, I heard a loud thump and a pause before the Spud started wailing. I could tell by his cry that it was nothing serious - he just needed a little TLC. I called out to my daughter, "What happened to your little brother?"
"Oh, he just fell off the train," she answered nonchalantly.
"Well, could you please give him a hug and tell him it's okay, sweetie?" I asked her.
"Oh, okay, momma," she said with a sigh.

Moments later, I heard her tell the Spud that he would be okay.
"Let's pray, okay?" she reassured him. "Jesus always makes everything better. Dear Jesus, thank you for this day. Thank you for this food. Thank you for my family. And help him not hurt anymore. In Jesus' name, Amen. Okay, you're fine now." And she ran off.

I turned the faucet off and went in to give my Drama Queen a hug. "Thanks, honey, for doing that," I said. "It's always good to pray and ask Jesus to help us." Inwardly, I was thrilled. I have been trying hard to direct my kids to Jesus whenever they are going through something tough - whether it be a skinned knee, monsters under the bed, or disappointment at a missed privilege. Now, instead of me saying, "Let's pray about it," my daughter was initiating contact with the only One who can heal our pain.

It cracked me up during my migraines when the Drama Queen told me she was praying for my head to feel better. "Thank you, honey, " I said. "Well, are you feeling better right now? " she asked. "Cuz I prayed for you, so your head shouldn't be hurting anymore." :) Maybe if more of us had this strong child-like faith, God would heal our hurts a little faster...

Wordless Wednesday - bye bye curls :(

^^^the BEFORE picture^^^

and ^^^now after his momma cut off most of his beautiful curls. . . :(

sigh. . . milestones are so hard sometimes...

more wordless stories at 5 Minutes for Mom.

Migraines Gone - for now

Well, I'm back from my little blogging break! Yesterday was the first day in two weeks that I was headache-free. woohoo! I hope it continues - migraines are no fun!

To recap, I started suffering debilitating migraines about two weeks ago. The first ones came accompanied by some sinus problems and fever; so I figured I had some kind of flu bug. After a few days however, the sinus problems and fever disappeared but the headaches and migraines got worse. I would start the day off with a headache and by mid-afternoon it would be a full-blown migraine, the kind that makes you ultra-sensitive to bright lights and computer screens and sound and three toddlers.

My doctor decided that a toridol injection would be the best option, to help break the "migraine cycle." It worked - for about two hours anyway, and then the migraines came back with a vengeance. It was very frustrating - after all I am the caretaker of three small wild children and also run a home business off my computer! Finally I was able to get another appointment with the doctor to run some more blood tests. He told me that there is no real way of determining what caused the migraines and that I may very well suffer from them periodically for the rest of my life.

Not a great diagnosis! He also gave me some very helpful drugs that help knock a migraine out when it is still in its beginning stages. I refuse to just settle for the fact that I might have these headaches often, and therefore I am on a quest to figure out what I can do to change it. Common triggers for migraines are processed foods, cheese, chocolate, caffeine, stress, dehydration, lack of sleep, posture problems, hormone issues, etc. Haha - I don't have any of these in my life, right?!

Meanwhile, or now, the migraines seem to have disappeared. I am so grateful and am trying to catch up on all that I missed during the headache period. I have stacks of orders that need to be completed for my Etsy shop. If you are reading this and are one of my customers, rest assured that your item is in progress right now and will be completed soon. And there is still plenty of time for you to order something for Christmas. (wink, wink;)

Well, I had better get busy! Thanks to all you who were praying - being pain-free today feels pretty amazing!

Migraines

Well, I am still fighting the migraines. It is hard to look at a computer screen for more than a few minutes, and watching TV or having bright lights on is hopeless!
Yesterday, I finally managed to get in to the doctor's, and she gave me an injection of migraine medicine to help "break the cycle." They also ran a bunch of tests to try to figure out why these migraines keep happening.
I am doing a lot better today - I am able to do more things around the house. I just have to avoid the computer (this is all I'm doing today!) the TV, books, and anything that makes my brain ache! Ha ha. Hopefully this gets resolved soon - I am so bored and extremely tired all the time.
But until I am back regularly posting, enjoy these photos from our Fall Festival:

Wordless Wednesday - Christmas Blitz Sale!

. . . these are just a few of the things in the Christmas Blitz Sale at The Framed Frog this week only. . .

I'm just sayin' - save a little money on those Christmas gifts! :)

more wordless fun at 5 Minutes for Mom. . .

Everybody Needs Grace

Last night, a Bible conference meeting was being held at my church. My ladies' ensemble was supposed to sing a special for the service. I was still fighting a migraine headache, but decided to go and sing anyway. I knew I probably wouldn't be able to make it through the whole service, but I could at least sing a song!

We gathered before the service on stage to run through the song one last time. All of us were dressed in our Sunday best - in black and pink to match each other. Then we filed into the hallway to await our turn to sing. After the choir sang "Lord, I Believe in You", we walked out on stage to sing. All the bright lights made my head pound even more so, but we began to sing. The song was "Grace in My Hour of Need", and the words of the song intermixed with the words to the traditional "Amazing Grace". I focused on the beautiful and meaningful words of the song.

After we sang, I met my husband in the foyer to drive home so I could rest my aching head. On the way home, he mentioned that the song sounded great and that he couldn't think of a more appropriate song for our group to have sung that night. "What do you mean?" I questioned him. "Well, look at your group." he pointed out. "You are trying to work through a blinding headache right now. Another of the ladies recently went through a devastating miscarriage. Another has been through several miscarriages and has yet to be blessed with a baby of her own. One lady is doing her best to live for God, while her husband rarely attends church. Another struggles with lupus, an ailing mother, and a daughter who has been through more surgeries than any teenager should ever have to. I think it's safe to say that all of you have been given grace in your hour of need."

I thought about what he said, and realized that he was right. Perhaps someone walking into our church for the first time and seeing our group sing would think, "Look at that group of ladies all dressed nice and singing for the Lord. Do they really know what needing God's grace is all about?"

It just goes to show that everyone needs God's grace. Look around you. Who can you reach out to today? Maybe you can be the one that shows His wonderful grace to someone right now.

Catching Up

My life is always busy but is especially so this time of year. I am sitting here typing this with a fever and migraine, so I'll just give you the main details of our past week to catch you up:

Friday night we had a fall festival at our church. The Spud turned out to be a pretty cute Nemo. I giggled every time I saw his fishy tail waggling behind him.

The Beast has always been a huge fan of sharks, and I was fortunate enough to find this costume at a garage sale during the summer. This shark really enjoyed roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire at the festival. That, and eating a LOT of candy...

The Drama Queen was a "girly" pirate. I got the pirate tutu and leggings from a great etsy shop Mama Runs With Scissors, and the rest we compiled from things we had at home. She loved wearing her tutu and wanted to wear it again the next day. I found out that our local department store was running a costume contest for kids age ten and under, so she got all dressed up for the occasion. And she won! Our little pirate spent her $25 gift card prize on Play-dough kits, because then she could "share them with her brothers." Ah, I have trained her well...

In other news, putting my Etsy shop on vacation for a week and spending the entire week getting my home in order was exactly what I needed. A close friend and organizing aficionado came over EVERY day to help clean and organize every room in the house. She was a powerhouse! I took an entire van-load of boxes to Good Will and another van-load to the dump. Hopefully later this week I will have pictures, but I am just in awe at how clean and uncluttered each room is. I am sitting here in MY living room, with almost no toys in sight. It is glorious!

And now The Framed Frog is back from vacation and running a fabulous Christmas Blitz sale all this week. Thirty-four items are on sale - french memo boards, photo frames, paintings, trains, etc., all of which make great Christmas gifts! And I have a SPECIAL OFFER for my blog followers! Purchase any of the items in the sale section in my shop and tell me in the Notes to Seller box that you follow my blog, and I will give you half-price shipping! Just a little way to say thank you for following my blog. :) (and if this is your first time here, go ahead and follow my blog to get the discount!)

And finally this post is my 200th post! Who would have thunk it? Next week, I will have been blogging faithfully (more or less) for a whole year! I am looking forward to so many things - mainly this migraine and fever to go away. :) Happy Monday, all!