today

today?

Well, we have already been to the dentist and back. (Elise's tooth was fixable so she won't be toothless for a few years.) The rest of the day will be filled with baking cookies, sneaking in some pj time during naps and possibly (if the weather holds up, so cross your fingers) a visit to zoolights. And I am such a lazy photographer that you don't get any pictures to prove any of this. I guess I could be making it all up, eh? Let me make it better then. We will be baking homemade gingerbread houses (2 stories, of course) in my sparkling clean house while the kids twitter about, being sweet as candy canes to each other. We might take a break for my homemade chili and hot cocoa and deliver some homemade treats to all of the neighbors. Gee, this no picture things is pretty nice. As Chris likes to say, with a twinkle in his eye, "Everything you read on the internet is true!"

to pj or not to pj

I am really struggling with this and I think mainly because I don't want to make jammies this year and my kids, of course, want me to.

Since it was just Rachel and Autumn, there have been handmade jammies made out of $1/ yd flannel that was bought on the day after Thanksgiving. This year, Lilly helped me only get 1 1/2 hours of sleep before the big sale. Joann's fabric wasn't quite as cheap. And now, laziness and enjoying a very slow December is taking over. I like the relaxed mode that is going on at the Kang abode.

Ok...now for the pro argument. I mentioned to Rachel the possibility of not doing pj's, thinking that with her teenageness she would be absolutely with me on this decision. And she wasn't. She was shocked that I would think of getting rid of a tradition that, in all honesty, was made when I didn't think we would ever have more than 4 kids. Six pairs of jammies are more of a time commitment than four! So do I hold on to the tradition seeing that there might be a time in the near future when my kids will not be keen on matching pj's for Christmas Eve?

Input?

the search is over.

I have been searching for a copy of The Night Before Christmas (not actively, but here and there as I have been out) and the search is now over. Being a slight book snob has its disadvantages, kind of like being a crafter. (A lot of times, I end up making things just because I can't find something that meets my expectations at the store...luckily, I am not so great at whipping out children's books.)

Saturday night, Chris and I had a little compromise date that led us out for sushi (bleh!) and to Barnes and Noble (yeah!). I was picking up some copies of The Christmas Carol for the family to read this month and ran across this fabulously illustrated The Night Before Christmas. Gyo Fujikawa's sweet artwork has graced our bookshelves before and I must say I was more than slightly pleased to hear each girl immediately identify his other works. This is a beautifully done book and is pretty much just what I was looking for. My other search that I would love your help on? A just as fabulous book that tells the nativity story.

Ah, Elise...

Elise's new "thing"? Whenever she does anything wrong, whether it be sneaking candy, hitting a sister on accident or just being a typical 3 year old, she always apologizes very quickly. And if you aren't quick enough, she will repetitively tell you to say "it's okay" until you do. And if you tell her that you are sorry when she has fallen or when she has gotten hurt, she clarifies that it wasn't your fault.

On another cute note? The kids are all conspiring on Christmas presents for Chris and I. It sure is fun watching them be sneaky and thoughtful, but I am also very pleased with how much my kids get caught up in the giving and care very little about the getting during Christmas. I sure do love my girlies! (Even if they didn't let me change our appointment with Santa. I SO want to celebrate St. Nicholas' Day and take Christmas over as a 100% celebration of the birth of Christ! Next year, my pretty! *picture me tapping my fingers together in a conniving fashion*)

Oh, Christmas tree!

Yesterday was the day for our yearly outing to find the perfect gargantuan tree for our Christmas celebrations. (oh, how daring of me. Calling it a Christmas tree instead of something more politically correct!) It was a little different because our time at the u-cut place went a little like this:

Me: So. Do you think you could get us a tree cut and on our car in 20 minutes or less?

Parry: Sure thing! What kind of tree are thinking of?

Me: At least 12 feet. Ok....at least 11.

Parry: Did you know there is another u cut down the street for crazies? (nah...that's just what he wanted to say.)

So it turns out that taking a picture of a 12 ft tree with a 50 mm lens is quite the task, which is why I have, for you, a picture of the bottom half of my tree. "What is in the delicious red suitcase at the bottom of your tree?" you ask. Why, that is a genius idea I had around 11 pm last night that required minimal effort on my part. You see, we have a bundle of Bethlehem dress up that we pull out every Christmas Eve for a little Nativity Skit starring the Kang Girls. This year, those costumes are staying in said suitcase, along with a baby Jesus, to be played with all December long. If I may say so myself, it is brilliant.

Christmas shopping? Check.

Yep. All the Christmas shopping is done. Here comes the bad part....the rest are handmade gifts. Santa is just dying to come out of the closet at our house. All of our gifts are homemade and then Santa just inconsiderately (yes, he has a few kids on his list) buys all of his. I can't wait until the day where handmade can be extended to all of the gifts!

We keep things very simple at our house when it comes to gifts. All of the kids get a santa present (probably $25 or less), a pair of pj's and one present from us. Their stockings are filled with fun and inexpensive stuff. We started this after Rachel's first Christmas was pretty over the top, back when I didn't know that we would end up with six girls to give presents to. All I have to say now is "phew!". Can you imagine 6 x $100 presents? The real reason though? I don't like Christmas being wrapped up in get, get, get. I like the girls to be anchored and practical and as much as I am constantly fighting myself on this, I like to keep it simple. That and...how do we expect them to focus on the Christ's birth if we are focusing on presents the whole time?

What the girls asked for? So sweet.

Rachel: Something girly.

Autumn: a watch and a good book

Chloe: a cute outfit

Hannah: secretly asked for the giant horse at costco that I told her Santa could not fit in his sleigh OR our house. (it took 20 minutes to get her to tell me what she asked for because she was being sneaky....)

Elise: a Daisy train and a big percy (which I don't think exists so we are settling for daisy that I plan on finding SOMEWHERE over the next month)

Aren't those sweet things to ask for? What good girls. (minus the sneaky giant horse request. how many giant horses do we need in our house?)

Presents in Review

Since I couldn't just go around flashing all of my Christmas presents (even though I really wanted to show everyone what I was up to), I thought I would do a project a day to show you some of the fun we had creating for our family this Christmas.

This is a little piece of Angela's lap quilt that I made her.  We kept it simple with strips of these two fabrics, with the black dots on the back again.  Then I did some free motion quilting swirls up the strips as an accent.  Viola!  A fairly quick quilt (quick as a quilt gets, at least.) for my wonderful sister in law.