Christmas Style #2...and a traditional Christmas Craft

We always start December with this tried and true craft- but it's not too late for you to join in the fun!!  Have your child make a card that says Bridgette's (your child's name, of course!) Christmas Countdown - they can decorate it however they wish.  In the past, I have always given my kids red and green paper, but this year I let them pick their own colors. The only (school) requirement was that their chain had to be in a pattern.  Last year, Jake still needed a bit of help - this year, they all did it on their own, in just a few minutes.  They are getting so big!!
Here are our Christmas countdown chains - I didn't get very good shots because I forgot to take photos until after they were  hung up.  For smaller children (like under age five), it's a good idea to hang them where they cannot reach them.  Each day, you can lift them up to help them reach their ring to tear off - if they are easy to reach, they might tear them all down in one day - not that it's happened to us before...   :)

Last night, we had a dress rehearsal for the Christmas show, so I decided to do Bee's hair in an updo style. This one was so simple, and came out really cute!!  I didn't do a step by step, and I kinda made it up as I went along, but it was really easy.  First, I pulled up part of her hair in front in an elastic (see photos). Then I had her lay on her tummy with her head hanging over the end of my bed.  I french braided her hair from the bottom up, and added the end of the braid to the top pony that I had made earlier.

Once the pony was dry, I added curlers, and left them in for about an hour.  I think it is important to add a light spritz of hairspray to each strand before you roll it - this helps the curls stay in "difficult to curl" hair.

I took the curlers out one at a time and bobby pinned them around her head - added a bow, and tada!  Adorable updo!!

This one might just be the winner - or we might do a different style each night. We'll see what she's up for!  The exciting part of doing this was that a few other moms asked if I'd do their girlie's hair for the show.  I'm going to be in hair-doing heaven!!   :)

Both my kiddos before the show last night - little Mister was sooo not into having his photo taken...despite the smile here - don't let him fool you!!  :)

Here are the kids during rehearsal last night:

Today we're doing minimal school, and getting ready for shows this weekend, and our homeschooling co-op Christmas party tomorrow morning. 'Tis the season for crazy, busy, fun, awesome family time!

Remember to have fun ths time of year - Jesus wouldn't want us to be stressed about His birthday!!   Hug your babies, your man, and your friends - and have a blast with all that you do!

Stacy

And Updo for shorty hair...

I have found that many moms who blog their "toddler styles" are easy to change up a bit for older girls with short hair. This mama has beautiful little red heads, and I got this idea from her: http://redpunzel.blogspot.com/2010/07/side-pony-and-braid.html   Here is how our's turned out:

Pretty cute, huh?

Our beautiful outdoor weather has given way to some much needed rain. Maybe we'll check something off of our Summer Fun List today...what are your plans?

Stacy

Happy Fourth of July!

We had such a fun day yesterday, and today has been filled (so far) with relaxation as well.  Here is a picture story of our special day (sorry, but no photos of the fireworks at the end of the night - I forgot my camera at home!).
We started our morning at church, where we got all decked out in our July 4th gear:

On Saturday, the kids needed something to do - and lacking any creativity, I handed them red, white and blue paint and paintbrushes, and let them have fun on our sidewalk.  I thought I'd add it here because of the "July4thness" of it.

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the sunshine - with our sprinkler, slip and slide and water guns!

Last year, Bridgette designed and decorated her first cake on the fourth of July.  She hasn't done one since, but seeing as she has the memory of an elephant, she handed me this picture:

and asked that I make a cake for her to decorate.

Apparently this is going to be a new yearly tradition for her - decorating a cake for the fourth of July - I think she did a great job, and like all artists, took a little liberty with her design plan.

Later, we had a picnic at home, just the five of us.

Later on we went to see some fireworks. It was a perfect family day.  I am one blessed lady.

I hope your day was equally as grand!

Stacy

Oh, and here is a closeup of Bee's 'do.  It's just little half piggies - where I left out a bump and added some fourth of July bows.

A little funky, but fun.

:)

Spring - Warning LONG post - but does include a hair style, I promise!

Ah, spring.  The lovely weather, the flowers, the warm air returns from the south - such a lovely time of the year.  For our family, it also means:

Putting on our game face (their coaches have them practice this face - it cracks me up):

For T-Ball practices and games:

Going on Field trips:

With our best friends:

Lots of playdates at the park (this was actually the same day as the previous photos - because I don't usually take my camera every time we go to the park...):

I've found that when I'm busy and set my kids to learning on their own, they come up with things like this:

And somewhere in the past few weeks, my daughter has musically become a 'tween:

And dance practice, and gymnastics, and weight loss meetings (I'm down a total of 28 lbs as of last night's weigh-in!), and church, and picnics, and swim lessons, and a girls weekend, and a trip to Buffalo for Bee, and hanging with these guys:

And lots of adorable hair styles that I just haven't taken the time or effort to photograph and post here.  Sorry about that.  Here is one I did last week which turned out so cute.  You can find it here:  http://dostochoose.blogspot.com/2010/03/quick-and-easy-barbie-bun.html

We made our bun sock a little bit smaller - but here are our results:

I thought this was so pretty - but it was a one day 'do.  By the next day, it had mostly fallen out.  So pretty though, for the day it was in!

I guess this is all to say that we've been busy. Good busy. I'm not complaining - not even a little bit. I'll be the first to tell you that my life is a blessed one.   My hubby is good to me, and as we joke, I'm a "kept" woman.  I've just had less time to blog the past few weeks. Here's to hoping that we get back to it!

I hope your spring is just as exciting and fun filled as ours has been!

Stacy