Christmas « Girly Muse

Archive for the ‘Christmas’ Category

Last Week of December

December 30, 2011

Happy last week of December! I hope you’re all enjoying the holidays. Christmas has come and gone and now there is the feeling of Newness in the air. For now, though, I’d like to recap on the past week.

Last Friday, our Youth Choir Christmas concert was so much fun. It was bittersweet because our fearless choir director, Steve, is being promoted to Media Director at our church. He has been part of the Youth Choir for 20 years and will be desperately missed. Thankfully, he is not going anywhere, really…we will all still be working together. AND…we are so excited for all the great things he’s about to do.

I love this picture of Steve and Jillie Bean.

Sweet moments…

me & Mari xo

Look at this firecracker winking at me.

I’m crazy about this girl.

We all are.

Pretty girls~ Mari, Kelexus & Celsy

Fun, fun night. It always is.

If you haven’t heard, we still don’t have snow. We had a brown Christmas. And I was completely OK with it! I just cannot bring myself to wish for snow. It’s been so mild and I know it’s bound to hit eventually.

This is my son’s idea of winter wear.

It broke his heart for me to tell him the shorts weren’t fit for the cold.

He won.

What? It was in the upper 30s!

Christmas was wonderful. My late sleeper, Greyley Kate, woke up bright and early. We waited for the little man to wake up and it didn’t take too long.

Here are the two lovebirds waiting to go downstairs…

And the Silly Sabins in their Matchy-Match Jammies

Indigo LOVED Greyley’s present to him

This was my present from Indie:

All day long the kids said, “This is the best Christmas EVER!” And it really was. We gave them stockings and then surprised them with an Air Hockey table. (We found the Air Hockey table at Goodwill~ what a FIND!) They played together all day and are still hooked on the game.

The next day, the family came over…we had an Italian Christmas. DELICIOUS. It just might be my favorite…although I really enjoyed Mexican Christmas and Greek Christmas too…no, Italian Christmas was the winner, pretty sure of it.

Take a look at this sweet and gorgeous family…

love

One of the best, most relaxing, fun Christmases I can remember…

The next night, we had a party for Steve…also Italian themed.

And then the next day, I crashed…after I took down the Christmas decorations.

This weekend has more fun in store…

I am looking forward to 2012. The year 2011 was a challenging one, to say the least. I am excited to bring in a new year. I will see you then! XO

Posted in ABC Youth Choir, Christmas, December 2011, Family | 8 Comments »

Merry Christmas!

December 25, 2011

photograph by Jennifer Bong

*For extra fun, click here to see Jennifer’s collection of Greyley.

Posted in Christmas, December 2011 | 12 Comments »

Masterpiece

December 16, 2011

My little man was the Gingerbread Man in his classroom play. So cute.

They all did a great job.

Then the REAL fun began~ making gingerbread houses! Or should I say, graham cracker houses? We both came home covered with frosting and smelling like a candy factory. It was hard to not eat all the decorations…

Some masterpieces CAN be created in one afternoon!

Such fun…

We’ll see how long the house survives before being eaten, one Red Hot at a time…

Have a great weekend! XO

Posted in Christmas, December 2011, Kids | 2 Comments »

Surefire Ways To Be A Christmas Grump

December 13, 2011

For some people, everything is glitter and good cheer at Christmas time. For others, it’s a little less rosy. I love this time of year, but there are some days Grumpdom is just impossible to avoid.

Here are a few Surefire Ways You TOO Can Be a Christmas Grump!

1. Decide between Halloween and Christmas that you really have to get serious about those unwanted pounds.

2. Wait until Dec. 13th to start your Christmas shopping.

3. Go to the Post Office. Enough Said.

4. Realize after your trip to the Post Office, that the box in the trunk also needed to be shipped ASAP. Head back to the Post Office…one hour before closing.

5. Hear how expensive it is to ship a box.

(Apparently, I can’t really say enough about the Post Office.)

6. Pass colds back and forth throughout the household multiple times.

7. Try to find a non-Christmas song on the radio.

8. Untangle and hang Christmas lights. (I’ve bequeathed this job to Nate from day one, so I’m being preventative here.)

9. Try to find all white candy canes.

10. Go to Target to buy socks and get trampled by the Christmas shoppers.

11. Help your children stay sane through the large school projects teachers seem intent on piling on this time of year.

12. Keep everyone well-rested through an extra busy schedule and #11.

13. Charge through the inevitable migraine for my girl due to #11 and #12.

14. Add braces to the mix! (Coming up on Friday for G: spacers. And next Wed: braces!)

15. Think about all the ways to be a Christmas Grump…

OK, thanks, I got it out. Now I can carry on!

What puts you on edge during the Christmas holidays?

Posted in Christmas, December 2011 | 14 Comments »

Fun, Flutes and Alvin

December 9, 2011

If you need something delightful and Christmas-y to do today, head on over to the Mall of America at 1:45 and hear my daughter play in a fantastic flute choir. Don’t I sound like a mother? It’s true, though, it will be fantastic. She is SO excited about it.

My girl will be the one in the red Alvin sweatshirt and stocking hat. Yes, any ABCYC members, THAT red Alvin sweatshirt~ if any of you have one you’d like to get rid of, we’ll take them! We sang there one year with Jesse McCartney for the opening of Alvin & the Chipmunks~ all the girls were thrilled and all the guys were cringing with embarrassment. I have fond memories of that, especially the cringing…good times/free movie.

I’ll be (one) of the proud mamas shooting pictures and video at the same time.

While I’m talking about how proud I am of my daughter~ I can do that once in a while, right? Ahem~ let me show you what she’s been working on at school…

Have I ever mentioned she is a true fan of Stevie Wonder? She knows every word to every song…every lick…it’s awesome.

Then she came home and whipped this one up…truly. She’s on a Stevie roll.

Fun, right? She gives us lots of reasons to work on our pride.

Posted in ABC Youth Choir, Christmas, Creativity, December 2011, Heartwarming Events, Kids, Music | 4 Comments »

Childlike Joy

December 8, 2011

Christmas elves finally made their way to my house last night…they weaved their enchanting touches here and there, making all of us very happy.

My little man, Indigo, informed me first thing this morning:

1) The Christmas tree really does look so nice.

2) We should have gotten Christmas decorations up before now, so Christmas could come sooner!

We enjoyed the lights all morning and then I had to let him know that the decorations wouldn’t make Christmas day come any faster. All the while, I’m thinking, I don’t know how much sooner it could get here! It feels as though we were just taking DOWN all the decorations and here they are, going up again. I remember, as a child, how Christmas seemed as distant as the end of the world. It would NEVER COME IN MY LIFETIME.

In contemplating this, I’ve realized something troubling.

I am letting OLDNESS get on me.

It has nothing to do with age, but rather an old mentality. It’s wrapping its cloak around me, y’all…trying to make me feel at one with it.

I like the wisdom that comes with time, the knowing…in fact, I like so many things about getting older…but there is one aspect I really do not enjoy~ the loss of childlike joy.

Where does that go?

I’m not sure. It’s more than happiness. Childlike joy is an exuberance for everything that life has to offer. It is seeing the fun and the good all the time~ unless you’re too hungry or sleepy. (I’m fully on board with that, by the way.) It’s a setting aside of yourself and seeing only the best. I don’t want to ever get too old for that. I’m ashamed to say that’s been the case for some time. But for now, I am trying to bottle up my children’s joy and relearn how to feel it again on my own.

Christmas helps me remember.

Posted in Christmas, December 2011, Life, Mama Musings | 7 Comments »

I’ll Take a Jingle With a Side of Bell, Please

November 28, 2011

I’m in a sleepy stupor this morning. Greyley had to wake me up three times to get her off to school. Whew. Maybe there will be a nap in my future…or lots of caffeine. Both, if I’m lucky.

We had an excellent Thanksgiving celebration weekend. Would you like the rundown?

Thursday was so fun with our family…and all the delicious food. It’s always wonderful to be together. And chaotic. Friday, we played Phase 10 and Scattergories at Tosha’s…also good food. Saturday, we had lunch with friends we hadn’t seen in a long time and then Nate played out at the Aster Cafe. Sunday was a full day at church and then we played out at the Mall of America with the ABC Youth Choir. Good times.

Our “dress code” was ugly holiday sweaters. Or just ugly sweaters.

I think Nate’s outfit took the cake.

Ugly Christmas Sweaters

It was the candy cane turtleneck that took it over the top.

Greyley and I wore matching Christmas tree sweaters. Here’s the thing, though…they were so comfy! I have a feeling my ugly Christmas sweater will be making a home in my lounge wear selection. I’ll restrict it to the month of December, how’s that? What you can’t see from the picture are the tiny gold bells that jingle when you move…or breathe.

Everyone needs at least one outfit that jingles when you breathe.

I’m happy to see the sunshine is back! It makes the whole week shine with promise. Happy Monday, loved ones! Hope you had a wonderful weekend. XO

Posted in ABC Youth Choir, Christmas, November 2011, Thanksgiving | 5 Comments »

Shopping, Music and Naps

November 11, 2011

I’m off to The Library again today…

Here’s a look at my space. It’s a peaceful place, surrounded by musical instruments and books. What could be better?

I am distracted over all of the above, but wanted to quickly remind you that Rachel’s Holiday Shopping Boutique is TOMORROW at Mt. Zion Lutheran in Minneapolis. I’m excited to see all the pretty things and happy to be seeing those of you who have mentioned you’re coming. It’s going to be great fun. Come keep me company AND get your Christmas shopping done! There will even be an area for the kids to buy their Christmas presents in peace.

The charitable beneficiary is The Michelle Project, an organization that helps people with financial need become more self sufficient.

Greyley and I have been working hard to get new merchandise ready for tomorrow after our show last weekend. There are some pieces I like so much, I ~~sorta~~ hope they ~~don’t~~ sell. I do wear the rejects, after all.

After this weekend, I will need a nice, long nap.

Posted in Christmas, Creativity, Fashion, November 2011 | 3 Comments »

Christmas Flashback

January 3, 2011

So I took a bunch of pictures over the Christmas holiday, but when I saw my niece, Cheri’s pictures…well, it was just that vast difference between OK and great.

Here are some of my favorites…

Any questions? Heehee

Well, we tried to do a What Would Jesus Eat Christmas…although it sort of turned into What Can We Make That Jesus MIGHT Have Eaten. We like to mix it up at Christmas and try new things and Cheri came up with this idea. We had a lot of fun with it. That gorgeous picture up top is a Crown Pork Roast. We also had Gyros and Hummus, Rice Pudding….and Spanikopita~ Flaming Cheese!

OK, ok, it was a Greek Christmas, but whatever!

Look at that flame! Andrew, our nephew, is the brave soul who got coerced into making this dish. I’m so sorry about the burns you endured, Ang. Does it make it worth it that it was delicious?

And then, the flutes…I get sort of giggly about this picture and the fact that we play flute trios at all. I feel ever so nerdly about it, but…well, we are having so much fun with Greyley playing the flute. When Nate and I dated, we played flutes together for various music events and haven’t really done a whole lot of it since then besides at home. But Greyley decided she wanted to play too and has gotten really good, so we pulled them out for the family this year. I get tickled every time that third part comes in~ it makes me laugh just like whistling in harmony~ but I managed to work through my giggles to play Carol of the Bells and O Come, O Come Emmanuel. Whew.

The last picture is in here just because I love it so much. Matt & Jenny…our niece and nephew-in-law…such a sweet picture. That Jenny, she is a beauty. XO

Dirty Santa Bingo or whatever it’s called got heated, as it always does…

Look at Greyley eying the pitchfork. I was praying she wouldn’t win that. Shh, don’t tell her.

Andrew and Cheri were the winners of the night, winning the coveted plastic cup AND coffee press. Lucky!

They didn’t gloat at all, nope, not one bit.

Thanks for going down memory lane with me. I can’t believe Christmas is already over~ the whole break really flew by…

Posted in Christmas, Family, January 2011 | 6 Comments »

Merry Christmas!

December 24, 2010

I hope this Christmas holiday finds you with a smile on your lips, hope in your step and love in your heart.

photograph by Jennifer Bong

Posted in Christmas, December 2010, Family | 1 Comment »