Is it Chrismas yet?!

We have an Advent calendar in the kitchen that marks the days down to Christmas. Frankie is rather sentinel in her duty to keep track of how many days we have left, so I always know the count. I love Christmas, but usually reach a point where I am ready for all the festivities to be over and our normal schedule to return. This year, I'm not sure if it's because I have two preschoolers or because we're in Atlanta (Christmas is a much more subdued event in Boston), but I think I've reached my limit. I think it's the crowds more than anything, but I don't think I can handle any more crowded Christmas-related events.

But wow, we've had a time of it this year! We started Christmas off in Knoxville at Great Gammie's house. We went to the Festival of Trees with Mimi



The kids made ornaments, got their faces painted, and rode a carousel, all to benefit the local Children's hospital.











There was a pretty impressive gingerbread house contest there too. This was my favorite:


Then it was off to Clemson to decorate gingerbread houses of our own with Maggie, Sam, and Caleb






I've been told it's been unseasonably warm, even for down here, but this has been our favorite part of Christmas in the south:


Back in Atlanta, we went to the Life College lights display with Aunt Dawn and Uncle Bob. We saw Santa, who turns out is dog friendly!



When Santa asked what the kids wanted, Frankie replied a teddy bear (?) and Dex replied enthusiastically, "A present!". Frankie decided later what she really wants is a hula hoop, which sounds more accurate to me, so that's what we got her. Sounds like Dex will be happy with anything we get him, so Chris picked out a sweet ray gun for him at Target.

Speaking of presents, I entered our bedroom the other day to the sound of ripping paper. I found Dex in the midst of the wrapping paper roll mess below, and asked him (a little horrified) what he was doing. "Momma," he said, "I found this present under your bed and I kept opening and opening but couldn't find the present."



You can't discipline a boy for that kind of hilarity.

We got a tree and decorated our house.






One of my favorite pieces on the mantel - my mom made this a few Christmases ago.

Frankie has been a veritable factory of Christmas crafts this month.


There is a baby Jesus, lost somewhere in the house. That's probably why Mary and Joseph look so anxious.


One of my favorite ornaments she made. She was really proud of the pattern she chose to do. "Momma, I did two reds and one white. Most of the other kids only did red then white, red then white." How lame of them, right?


Finally! A use for all those discarded puzzle pieces.

We've now also been to Frankie's school Christmas sing a long and Christmas party, Advent Sundays at church, the lights at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, and Madeline's Christmas (a theatrical production for kids, and super cute). While all this has been loads of fun and really well done, I think we're ready for a little quit before Christmas is actually here.

I'm wishing you all a restful few days before the actual Christmas holiday so you can contemplate with me the birth of our savior and all he did. For unto us a child was born.

Hotlanta

I'll have to change my tagline soon to "Raising two munchkins in Atlanta", because we're moving in 2 weeks!

Chris got a great offer with a new company in Atlanta, and we accepted it on Monday. It's all happening really fast, and we're sad to leave Boston after 8.5 years here (over a decade in New England), but are happy to be moving closer "home". Chris was raised for the most part in SC, and I'm from Ohio. We both went to University of South Carolina, and have lots of family and friends still in South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina, and even Atlanta itself! While still "far" from my family, we'll be a much more reasonable 8 hour drive vs. 16 hour drive.

Boston, Cambridge, MIT, CTK Cambridge, thank you for so many great friends, memories and meals. It's been a great ride!

Tree Removal

Remember how I was worried about that Walnut tree during last week's storm? Turns out that while it didn't fall down, upon further inspection it almost did. It was bumping up against the shed and leaning in an ominous direction towards my house and shed. The roots had pulled up on the eastern side of the tree, indicating that it was about ready to topple.





I called about 5 tree places. The first two said they were only taking calls from people who currently had trees on their house. I finally got some quotes, and then waited with baited breath for them to call me. Every time I went outside it was looming over me, just waiting to fall on us. At least in my mind that's what it was doing.

They came this morning with a swat team of guys and a giant crane. This tree was considered a "dangerous" what with the unstable leaning, the power lines directly behind it, the fact that it was 1/2" away from my shed, and only 5 feet from my neighbors shed. It was a 70 foot black walnut tree that was about 3 feet in diameter.

It was awesome to watch them in action!









They're coming back in a few days with a bigger truck for the trunk:







Funniest part of the morning: We currently have a rental car due to the accident. The Acura is also still in our driveway until we get the insurance settlement worked out, so I had to move both those cars out of the driveway to make room for the tree guys. They wanted my neighbor's car out of the way too, so I asked him to move his car. Then they pointed to Rebecca's Volvo and asked if I knew the owner of that car. I said "Oh, I actually have the keys to that car, I'll move it." After that, he eyed Chris' car, and asked if we knew the owner of that car to ask them if we could move that one too. I sheepishly said that that was also our car and could move that one too. He looked at me quizzically and asked "Lady, how many cars you got?". Too many apparently. :)

Big Kid Room Makeover

The kids' room was in a sad state of affairs. Frankie had outgrown her toddler bed (which was really just her crib with one side taken off), and was in a mattress on the floor. The dog had gotten sick on the rug while we were out of town. There was no saving it, so the floor was bare. One curtain had been ripped down by the barbarians who habitate there. Sprinkle a generous helping of toys, old craft projects and half-done puzzles and you get the idea.

I finally had enough. As incentive for keeping his diaper dry at night (which he has successfully been doing! Go Dex!) we promised Dex he too could move to a big boy bed. We went to Ikea on tax free weekend (I know, it was insane, we barely made it out alive) and bought their Kura bed frame. We decided to pass on their $150 mattress for the top bunk and ordered this mattress from Walmart.com. At $75, it was well worth the extra $12 for shipping.

I love this bed from Ikea, because I feel like our guys are still a little too little for real bunk beds. This gives them all the fun of bunk beds without the 5 foot drop. The best part of bunk beds in my opinion, is the secret space, feeling like you're in your own little tent. So I set out to make that space really special.



We bought Dex the Ikea tent that attaches to the top of this bed. I took Frankie to the fabric story and she helped me pick out some fun girl-riding-an-elephant fabric. I made curtains and slid the top through a tension rod I picked up at Target. I used 3 yards of 44" wide fabric for that project.



The bed comes with a blue paneling that did not seem girly enough for Frankie, so she helped me pick out the coordinating purple unicorn fabric and I stapled it to the frame making a more girly headboard for her. I put step by step instructions at the bottom if you're interested in this project - it was really easy and only requires a staple gun. I used 1 yard of 44" fabric to do this part.



Frankie loves having her own little space!


Dex does too!


I reattached the curtain, and hung some new pictures that my sister Sarah did for the kids:





I also took the time to move a few things around in the office/craft room. We found the doors that separate the office from the playroom and I painted them and we put them up. After 3 years of living here, this space also finally feels "finished"!









It feels so good to have it "finished". For now, anyway. Until the little Barbarians who habitate this room come home from their morning out with Daddy and sprinkle it with toys again.

Here's how to make the headboard:

Materials needed:
1 yard 44" fabric
1 yard of batting (I used some leftover quilt batting)
Staple gun

Cut out the fabric and batting to fit the space, with about 1/2 inch on either side. You want the batting and the fabric to be the same size. Line them up, and iron them a little so they stick together nicely



Here's my empty bed frame:



Start at the bottom, and use the staple gun to affix the fabric and batting to the back. Start on the bottom inside. Also best to start in the middle and work out.





After you get the bottom staple on, fold the edge under on on the top, again starting in the middle and staple on the outside as close to the edge as you can





And voila! Purple unicorns to the max.



This project really only took about 30 minutes once I had everything cut out. You can do it too!

Hurricane Irene

Hurricane Irene hit Boston today with a "tropical storm" rating. This was my first tropical storm experience, and it was interesting! It wasn't too bad; some good rain, and heavier than usual winds. We did take a few precautions such as taking the plants inside and the porch chairs off the deck.



We have some yard clean up to do, but nothing significant







I was mostly worried that this walnut tree was going to fall:

It had a bad branch we had to remove after we moved in, and it's definitely not in great shape. I think what saved it (besides lots of prayers, thank you for those of you who prayed specifically that this tree would not fall on us!) was the fact that it doesn't have many branches or leaves. It did a lot of wild waving, but did not fall. We did see a tree ripped from its roots one block over covering the street. Looked like a 150 year old Oak.



In the end we did not even lose power (or internet, hurray!) We are so thankful, thank you for all your prayers.

I would chalk it up as an incident free day, except for the car accident the kids, Noah and I were in this morning. Ironcially, totally unrelated to the storm, we got t-boned by a guy who ran a red light in Roxbury on our way to church. We've learned by now that Rick never cancels church, and in the midst of this storm, the place I wanted to be most was worshiping with my fellow believers. We've battled many a blizzard in much worse conditions to get to church and have never regretted it. Chris is out of town, and I figured it would be better than spending the day cooped up inside.

Anyway, back to the t-boning. I had never been in an accident before. It was true what they say about how everything moves in slow motion. I remember thinking "Why is that car not stopping?" He hit us squarely in the passenger doors while going about 20 mph; we were going about 25. We did a 270 degree turn before finally stopping. The kids were silent through the affair (while Noah and I screamed all kinds of expletives). After we stopped, Noah and I check to make sure each other was okay, and then we turned back to the kids to see if they were okay. They paused for a minute, looked at each other, and then burst into loud panicked crying, which honestly was really funny. They are totally fine, I am totally fine, and Noah just has some minor scrapes and bumps.

The accident happened right in front of a fire station and within 10 seconds the fire fighters were out, making sure we were okay. Within 30 more seconds the ambulance showed up, and about 60 seconds later a cop showed up. I had dialed 911 anyway because I knew that's what I should do, but by the time I got an operator I had to say "Oh never mind, they're all here".

The firefighters entertained the kids in the fire station by letting them climb up into the trucks and slide down the pole while I got the paperwork I needed. The officer did cite the other driver with running the red light, so hopefully insurance will cover the damages.

I am so thankful (again today!) for God's provision for our family. I am thankful that we all walked away whole. I am thankful for Noah being with me, I am thankful that the firefighters were so nice to my family, I am thankful that because we were bringing the kid's old cribs to church to donate them to another family I had moved Dexter's car seat to the middle to make space for the cribs. He would have been on the impact side if I had not. I am thankful that the impact only affected the doors, so we were able to drive away. I am thankful for the car seat engineers who designed the seats that kept my kids safe. I am thankful to the Acura engineers who made my car a tank.

The guy who hit us was okay, but they had to tow his car away. I'm guessing his will be considered totaled. The firefighters couldn't believe how little damage there was to my car.

Here's the damage, for those who are interested:




Tomorrow we'll begin piles of insurance paperwork, but for today, I'm just thankful for my safe, dry house and that we are all inside it.