Christmas parties and such….

Next week is our University faculty and staff Christmas party. At first I couldn’t think of what to make as a dish. Thank goodness for Pinterest.

I found these….

image via: Betty Crocker Recipes Flickr

 

Christmas tree Brownies!!

I think Jaxon will get a kick out of helping me me make them too! LOL!

I’ll let ya know how they turn out.

It is almost December!! Are you ready for Advent?

We are making our Advent wreath this week too! Can’t wait to share!

XoXo,

Tiffany

Tis the Season of Hope…

The Holiday season is probably the loneliest season for a single Mamma. And the most frustrating and heart wrenching. Last year I didn't bother with our outdoor lights. And they have been boxed and wrapped up for over 2 years just as my ex-husband left them until now. This year I decided I would conquer the lights. And last night I did just that.

Me – 1   Christmas lights – 0.

Turns out it isn't as hard as it seems. And it feels good to put up all of our decorations just like we always did before.

As I was putting them up I cried a little bit. A little for having to yet again go through the Christmas season again as a divorced family.

But I cried more for how far we have come. Last year it wasn't in my heart or soul to put up outside lights. This year I was excited about it.

Last year I couldn't afford to buy Jaxon any gifts. Luckily all of his grandparents spoil him like crazy so he had so many toys he didn't even know what to do with them all. But not having money for your baby for a Christmas present. That will tear a mamma's heart up. What we did have was a roof over our heads and food in our bellies so I knew we were blessed. We were so blessed. But I would be lying if I denied that I wished I had more to give him that year.

This year I do. He already has presents in my closet just waiting for Christmas day. I was able to buy my baby a few presents this year. Not many, but enough. That my friends is progress. That is big progress!

I can't always see it in front of me everyday. I see more of my failures than I see my accomplishments, isn’t that how we all feel as parents? We fail more than we succeed most days, or it at least it feels that way.

But truly, we have truly come so far. God has wrapped us in His Grace this year and blessed me more than I can even fathom. My home is busting at the seams this year with Christmas goodness and blessings.

Even our tree is a Christmas tree of Hope. When my ex-husband left, our Christmas tree was destroyed by mice. Ironically, it seemed to symbolize how everything had been destroyed. My Mom bought me a super cute little tree at the thrift store that year and a few vintage ornaments. We didn't' have much, but we had a tree. Having a tree gave me hope for a better future.
And guess what? This year our tree is busting at the seams with decorations. I’m so very proud of our tree of Hope. I will probably keep it forever.



Our life is full. Our life is Blessed. God is so very good.

I hope this season you can see how far you have come too and take a minute to be grateful for the progress you made this year.

As we celebrate Christmas this year and the end of 2012, I think we should celebrate all that we have accomplished and overcome. I know you too have as many blessings as I do to be grateful for!

Much love!
Tiffany

Hope you had a WONDERFUL and BLESSED Thanksgiving!

We sure did!

XoXo,

Tiffany

Spiders and such…

You should know that there are times I get a little frustrated at this whole single Mom gig. Like when my lawn mower acts crazy and I can’t get it to start. Or the garbage disposal acts clogged. Or when my car is leaking weird fluids. Yep. There are times when I’m thinking… “seriously God, I can’t do this.”

Saturday I had one of those moments.

I woke up…and went to brush my teeth. And screamed as loud as possible. Because this was on my tooth brush….

Do you see it? Hmmm…I’ll do a close up for you so you can get the real effect.

Hello Mr. Scare-the-Bajeeeeez-Out-of-Me-Spider!!

I sat there…after I gathered my composure of course…and thought how do I get rid of it? Jaxon heard me scream and came running in saying “Mamma what’s wrong?”

So I showed him our visitor.

Now you must know that Jaxon is all boy. He likes Hot Wheels, horsies, playing in the dirt, bugs, snakes….and spiders.

So this….this was exciting stuff.

“Mamma you can’t kill him. I love him.”

Gulp.

What?

So I did what I could…what every Mom would do for the baby.

I mustered up my spider-slaying strength….and put him in a Mason jar for Jaxon to check out. I mean we should at least take advantage of this crazy moment and learn something from it. So a spider science lesson it would be.

 

Can you see how much he loved it?

“Hey Mister Spider!! What are you doing?”

Now don’t get me wrong. I am a country girl through and through. I am not totally afraid of spiders. But I don’t like them. I will scream if one catches me off guard. And I especially don’t like removing them from my toothbrush first thing in the morning. That should be a man’s job. Lol. But since I’m the Mamma and the Daddy of this house…I get to do awesome fun jobs like removing spiders from toothbrushes. ☺

We did free the booger shortly after checking him out. Jaxon was worried he needed to be with his family and that they probably missed him.

At first Jaxon was afraid to get too close to the jar after I opened it. Hey so was I.

But then my brave boy decided he needed to help the spider. Oh good gracious.

And in the blink of an eye…our visitor vanished.

Thank goodness.

The moral of this story: it may be total bleck beyond all belief to be single Mom when spiders are on your toothbrush first thing in the morning…but you can turn the situation around and make it a fun science lesson for your sweet pea. Turn the negative into a positive I suppose.

It might be scary…and you might cringe…but the smiles that you get after it’s all said and done are priceless.

And Jaxon will see that we face our fears…and we just keep on…keepin’ on! Spiders and all!

Hope you have a SUPER day!

XoXo,

Tiffany

Weekend Fall Craft Project Ideas for Kids

Yay it’s Friday! We survived the week! I hope you did as well!

I found some really cute Fall projects that I want to do with Jaxon this season. I’m hoping to get at least one done this weekend! So far we haven’t had time to make any Fall crafties, and I really want to get a few done soon. Thanksgiving is right around the corner!

((Click each image to visit the respective link for project information and tutorials))

Look at this cute family handprint project from Blog Me Mom…

image via: Blog Me Mom

 

So loving this garland… Jax and I could go on a scavenger nature walk to find the leaves and make it together…

image via: Simple as That

 

I am so loving these turkeys!! What super cute idea!! There are so many textural elements for kiddos to create with this project.

image via: Share & Remember

 

I fell in love with this the second I saw it…serious cuteness!!! What sweet pea wouldn’t love to paint their food?

image via Coffee Cups and Crayons

 

And we have plenty of leaves that sure would look cute with a Jaxon paint job….

image via: KatieBrownBlog

 

Aren’t these SUPER CUTE?

I think there’s at least one we could all do with your love bugs this weekend…and give thanks for little moments with our babies.

I hope you make something beautiful this weekend!

Blessings!!

XoXo,

Tiffany

Christmas mini-sessions!

This past weekend I did my annual Christmas mini-sessions. It was a blast! I had 14 sessions for the weekend and to say I was exhausted was an understatement! But I so loved spending time with each family. I have the BEST clients! Here are a few shots from the sessions….


XOXO,
Tiffany