A bit o' Christmas

First off, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has written such thoughtful and kind comments after my stepbrother's passing.  It has been a hard time for my family and your words and thoughts meant more to me than you will ever know.  

I have been keeping my spirits up by throwing myself into the Christmas activities that Jemma loves and celebrating a sweet birthday.  We have decorated some but not as much.  I just couldn't pull it all together this year.  My friends would tell you it is all decorated, but I know the truth!  I have more stuff!  I thought I would share a few shots with you.  I have to do my nighttime shots soon.  I just can't believe that Christmas is almost here!

Singing her sweet heart out at the Christmas program

Birthday party at the Children's Museum of the Lowcountry.  It was a princesses and noblemen theme.  It was so much fun and included a scavenger hunt to help Princess Jemma find her royal things!
Can you say smocked birthday cakes on her shirt?  Looooove it!!!

The girls made crowns and the boys made shields.  Here they are on the scavenger hunt!  So much fun!

Some decorating!

This is Jemma's room.  I don't know if I have shown it before.  She picked out her canopy when we moved to Charleston.  The bed is super high and she can now get in without the step stool, but it is awfully cute there!  I still put the rails up at night as it is so far for her to fall off and she has done it once!  Ouch!  We just use a soft blanket with the quilt at the foot as she gets so hot at night.  She loves when I put up the garland!

This is her PB bookcase that she got when she was born.  I love this thing and fill it with seasonal books.  She has about 2 more shelves of just winter books.  My name is Kathryn and I am a children's book addict.  As a teacher for 10 years, I collected a lot and then I buy more all the time for her!  I actually have tubs for each season and we rotate books!  

I got my craft on once and made a hair bow holder!  

These shelves hold her collections... smoking men, Eiffel Towers and snowglobes.  The blue tin cup was my dad's.  It has always been in her room.

Oh yes... she has a purple Christmas tree that she decorates all by herself!  She loves it and so do I !

THIS is what Christmas is all about and we try very hard to teach Jemma the real reason for the season.  One of our favorite traditions is her advent nativity scene.  Each night we read the nativity story and add a piece to the scene.  On the 24th, we add the most important part... baby Jesus.  Jemma says that this is one of her most favorite traditions we do.  She read the story to us last night as she has memorized it.  There is nothing sweeter than her sweet voice telling the story of the birth of our Savior.

We bought this little music box thing two years ago and she loves it.  When we first got it, she would make us all lay in the bed, turn out all the light (this thing lights up), and play the songs.  We still do and the other night she was propped up on her Daddy's leg singing along with it and the glow of the lights just lit up her sweet face.  I will never forget that moment.

Just a few of the stuffed animals that inhabit the bed.  Fuzzy is always there along with pinky poodle the dog.  There are always a few pillow pets.  We have more...  Her irish dancer has been a favorite lately so she gets top privileges.

A peek of our new tree

Henry VIII and all his wives are back in our room!

I made a simple centerpiece this year as I was having all my sorority sisters to the house and needed something quick.  My mom always had a hurricane vase nestled in a wreath on our table so I created my own with clippings from the box they have at Lowes!  The berries came from my parents house and the candles are the flameless.  I love them!  This is a simple centerpiece, but I absolutely love it!

Letter to Santa.  She thinks she is fancy this year with her curly a's!   I also love her snowflake!  When she started it, I wasn't sure what it was.  When she said a snowflake, I wasn't really seeing it, but when she was done... I thought it was brilliant!

This is Fred our elf.  He missed the North Pole so much that he was in the freezer one morning!  Jemma gave her letter to him to take back to Santa.  We love Fred!

Fred's snowball fight with Rudolph and the gang!  

I love this picture.   We talk all the time about Jesus's birth and she knows that THAT is the true meaning of Christmas, but oh how I love all the magical excitement of Santa Claus!

I will take some more pictures and post them.  We have just got so much to do with so little time left.  Thank goodness that my shopping is pretty much done except for a few small things!
3 more days to go!

6 Years Ago Today

Six years ago today at this time, I looked like this...

At 6:25 p.m., God blessed me with the best early Christmas present I could have ever received.  

You were a perfect baby and all we could have every hoped or dreamed for.  You grew into a sweet chubby cheeked angel that made us laugh and see so many new things through your precious eyes.  

We moved to a new place, met new friends and you flourished into a big girl who has so many friends and loves to learn about everything!

Your daddy and I can't believe how quickly you have grown and we thank the Lord above for the best thing that has ever happened to us.  Happy Birthday my precious Jemma. 

May you always walk in sunshine,
May you never want for more,
May Irish angels rest their wings
Right beside you door.


May your day be filled with blessings,
Like the sun that lights the sky,
And may you always have the courage
To spread your wings and fly

I love you the most,

Mommy

Thank you

I just wanted to say thank you for all your prayers and kind words.  My stepbrother passed away today.  Please continue to pray for our family.  I will back soon.

Praying

We received the devastating news on Thursday that my step brother has cancer.

He has been a quadriplegic for the last 13 years and faced many challenges.  This is the toughest road yet.

A mass about 8 inches in diameter was found on his liver and a biopsy showed cancer.  He is unable to have surgery due to how much it has already spread.  They believe it may have started in his bowels or lungs.

He will begin chemotherapy as soon as he is strong and well enough to handle it.

My step mom, step sister and nieces have been so strong and supportive.  It is times like this that makes living far away so hard.

Please pray for him and for the strength that he will need to fight this battle.

For the Four Legger

You know how much we love our Four Legger around here.  She is our first baby and Jemma tells everyone it is her sister!  

She loves her treats and we needed a place to put them other than the ugly box on the kitchen counter.  I had bought this dog treat jar from Longaberger years ago when I sold their products.   I basically did it to support my basket habit!  I loved this jar, but the blue doesn't go at all.  Then it hit me!  SPRAY PAINT!!!  I primed it and hit it up with the good ol' Almond color.  I was going to rub some Burnt Umber on it, but I don't know how it will look.  What do you think?

It looks so beautiful on the counter now and all those treats are hidden away!

This and That and the CARD

I have been doing this and that... just keeping busy!  The BHW (Best Husband in the World!) has been gone thirty days in the last two months.  We have missed him so much and are glad he is home for good for a while anyway!!  I have been taking some pictures, visiting with family and wanted to share.


The four legger will actually lay with her head on the pillow in her bed downstairs.  Cracks me up to no end!

Jemma worked on her "invention" while cleaning up her playroom.  It was tongs made up of a Princess Tiana wand, a wooden spoon (stolen accidentally from the house in Ireland), a thing from her tool box, gift wrapping ribbon, and her giraffe that sings, "If you want my body" by Rod Stewart.  All these items together created tongs that helped move barbies from the floor to their tub!  I LOVE THIS KID!!!!

My in-laws came for a visit.  It was so nice to see them and Jemma enjoyed being with them.  I will share more on those adventures later!

One rocking four year old birthday party!  It was a royal ball and they had cleaned out the whole garage.  It was so cute!!  Check out the cake!  It was beautiful and yummy!

This picture is for Deb from Confessions of an Ugly Mom.  You may burn heart shaped things, but I found a lettuce leaf shaped like a heart!  Ha!

The BHW has started Jemma a mini smoking man collection.  This was the newest one he brought home.  Jemma has deemed her a she.   We have a book called Apple Trouble about a hedgehog who gets all kinds of things stuck in her quills including an apple.  Isn't this perfect for the story!!  The hedgehog in the story is a she so that is what ours is!

I did a photo shoot for  sweet friend and Jemma's best buddy.  I love the family and the fall colors just made the perfect backdrop!

I am linking this fun photo up with i heart faces Autumn Splendor photo challenge

Last, but not least, these bad boys arrived.  

Yep... that is a business card.  I am doing this.  I am going for it.  You have all been so complimentary and uplifting and have given me so much courage to go for it.  I read this quote on Kelly from Jax Does Designs blog and it really hit home.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the

 things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So 

throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch

 the trade winds in your sails.  Explore. Dream. Discover.”

~ Mark Twain ~ 

I don't want to look back and regret not doing what I love to do.  I want to teach Jemma to reach for the stars even though you may be terrified.  I want to do this for me and my family. 

I am setting sail.

Family Craft Night

I love traditions.  They make me feel like we are really a family and I try to do as many traditional things that I can.  For example, we have spaghetti and a movie almost every Friday night.  Weird, but we love it.  We listen to music every night at dinner and we change up the genre all the time.  If it is a holiday we listen to that type of music!  We have Halloween traditions like we always USED to eat Sloppy Joes, but some short person (and I am not talking about me!) decided they didn't like sloppy joes.  Oh well!  I try to shove as many traditions into Christmas as I can but I think it is the things you do on a daily basis that really make memories to cherish.


With all that said, I decided it was Family Craft Night!  I had seen this adorable tree on Pinterest from ALittletipsy.com.  I loved the more fallish colors in the reds, yellows, and greens.  She did this by using the arm painted brown and then just squirting the other colors on top of the brown and mixing it a little bit.  It truly made a difference than just a red handprint!

I decided to make one using the whole family's arms and hands!  I had the paints in our art tub and bought the canvas at Walmart!  They aren't the super best quality but they did the trick.  We got to work!  Hubs was put on the job of opening bottles of paint!

The supplies and a pony!

The wink

The finished product!!

I just love how it turned out!!!  Jemma kept saying how much fun this was and when could we do Family Craft Night again!  It now sits proudly on my sofa table in our living room and it just makes me happy every single time I look at it.  


We all had a great time and I think Family Craft Night will be a new tradition!  What traditions do you have? 

I am linking up to

 Carrie's Amaze Me Monday Party at Dittle Dattle 

and to 

Kim's Wow Us Wednesday Party at Savvy Southern Style

I am also joining at new linky party with 
Suzanne at Privet and Holly called Monday Moments.  
If you have never read her blog, go there right now and read.  She has a gift with words.  Her posts are always inspiring and moving.  She has such a heart about her that comes through in all she does.  Go.  Read.  You won't be disappointed!!


Can't forget the wonderful Beth at Stories from A2Z and her Tuts and Tips party!!

Thanks to these  ladies for always hosting such wonderful parties!