Thursday, December 4, 2008

sick and tired, but Christmas-y!

A horrible cold complete with hacking cough and perpetually dripping nose has been making its way through our family, starting with Maryn last week and finally making its way to Lucy in the last couple of days. Actually, it started with my Dad, but I'm not pointing fingers (or tissues). To compound issues, we took Lucy to the doctor for a bad diaper rash and found out she also has an ear infection. Poor baby! She's such a toughie that we had no idea she was hurting. We're all (mostly) on the mend now and it's time for a long overdue blog update!

We are getting into the Christmas spirit here and put up our Christmas tree last night. That is a story unto itself as I happened to buy a stump-less tree without thinking about how in the world I would put a tree with no stump into a tree-stand. A little branch trimming and some poking and prodding got the tree into the stand and it's only a teensy bit crooked. You don't notice, do you?

As we hung our ornaments on the tree I realized that our collection is seriously lacking. I ended up putting some on that would better be left in the box, and others that I had no memory of where, when or why they were procured. And the fun of ornaments is reminiscing about the stories behind them (which we got to do when we helped mom, dad and Amanda trim their tree last week). So this is my plea for ornaments. Anything with a good story or sentimental value would work. Handmade is always good, too. Any takers? I know you guys will come through :)

We've been working on pictures for the Christmas card and I think we're going to have my talented freind Allie take some in her new home studio this week. I was trying for a picture of just the girls today and man is Allie going to have her work cut out for her: these girls won't sit still together for anything! Here's the first attempt:

This is after the chocolate chip bribe:

I quickly realized that chocolate and white dresses do not mix well so these are the final shots with lollipops instead and a dress-less Lucy:


And a funny story to end:

We periodically purge the kid's out-grown toys, usually saying something like "we're going to give these to kids who don't have any toys." This goes over fairly well and the kids forget about it quickly once they get consumed with the toys they still have, or, more likely, making toys out of things that not designated as such ie: mommy's kitchen utensils or books.

As I finished typing this post I looked behind me to notice an abnormally quiet Maryn serenely pulling carefully organized (have I mentioned that I'm slightly OCD) books off the shelf. As I told her to put them back with a slightly annoyed tone to my voice, she retorted "but some people don't HAVE any books!!!" I guess she's getting them ready to donate to the Goodwill. Hmmm. Put me in my place.

And with that I leave to put my bookshelf back in order. OCD, remember?!

7 comments:

Bonnie Janelle said...

Hey that lollipop one should totally be your christmas card! It's so cute! (and Christmas-y! =P)

Doug and Kathy said...

I love the sad girls/happy girls comparrison : ) Great pictures! and the tree looks great too!
The "stubby" turned out OK! Ha Ha
Love you,
Mom

Drew & Erica said...

Jess - I am in the same predicament as you. We only have about 4 ornaments, so our tree looks desperately naked :( Hopefully over the years we'll acquire more.

Here's a fun ornament idea that we did with our small group - you can do it with your girls: Get clear glass ornaments from Michaels and a few water based craft paints. Squeeze some paint (red, green gold, etc.) into the glass ornament and add just a touch of water to thin out the paint. Cover the opening of the ornament with your finger and shake it around until your glass bulb is a lovely abstract work of christmas art :)

Carol said...

I so wish you lived closer. I have far too many ornaments. I can tell that I need to bring you a "festive christmas squid". That is the Ballanti family tradition.
The girls look cute and food motivated. But, then we all love food. I bet you must have taken a couple of good one.
I can hardly wait to see you on Saturday.

Katers said...

i was just thinking about how i wish we all lived near each other & saw how carol said that! erica, we should pick out some ornaments for you that were your mammas from the gigantic stash your dad has. i don't think he'll miss em.:)

love you family, jess!

Jessica said...

Erica - Love the ornament idea. Thanks! Sounds like a good project for Grandma Carol and Maryn to do when she comes to visit this weekend.

And I agree with Katie...I know your dad would be happy to pass on some ornaments. And I wish we all lived closer, too! Good thing we have the blogs to keep us all in the loop :)

Melissa B said...

So fun to read!!! And i think these photos are great! I love reading the stories about your girls.