Easy Easter Egg Clean-up

Here's a little Works for Me Wednesday tip I gleaned from my dear mother-in-law.

Each year when we dye Easter Eggs she first pulls out an old vinyl tablecloth to cover our workspace. Here's is red and white checked. I bought a bright one covered in pictures of what else? Easter Eggs.

I've found that a vinyl tablecloth can be used for any art project. It's especially helpful for those messy preschool art projects.

So go ahead, get the whole family, grandparents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, mom and dad, involved in dying Easter Eggs this year. Let's see who can make the time consuming rainbow egg my husband always attempts. The whole point is having fun as a family and not worrying about dye on a table really helps that effort.

The King Is Born

I'm still trying to figure out how to write about our Christmas, or maybe I should skip it entirely. I really wish I had some funny moments or pictures to share, but none come to mind. In the struggle to orchestrate the best Christmas ever for 7 adults and 4 kids, I really lost my Ho, Ho, Ho. Oh, everyone had a good time. I just made myself worry entirely too much about the stress of being the hostess.

There was one perfectly wonderful hour - The Christmas Eve Candlelight service.

This was the first year we've taken our kids to the Candlelight service. It was completely packed. The joy of singing hymns loudly in a packed church on Christmas Eve still makes my heart beat faster. Of course our kids LOVED the candles. I'm still laughing over what was used to protect us from candle drips - plastic champagne glasses without the base. They worked great.

Fred, my eldest, decided he would be the absolute last person to blow out his candle. He patiently outlasted the other 12 year old holdout in the balcony above us.

I wish I could remember more of the sermon. But I won't. What I will remember is the joy of celebrating our Savior's birth. And as I think back over our families' days together, that was about the time that peace showed up in our house, and I stopped worrying about pulling off a great Christmas and started enjoying the one we had.

The Quiet After the Storm

The last few relatives left earlier.

Dusk has arrived. Quiet has descended on our household. I can hear the washing machine churning and my children laughing.

My Christmas vacation is finally here.

Peace.

Counting Down the Days or Adding to My List?

My Christmas to do list is growing exponentially every minute I put it off and find 3 new things to add to it. I was going to leave a quick post and head off to start on it, but I decided to glance at a few of my favorite blogs.

Big mistake.

I saw cute decorations and thought,

"Oh, I could totally do that."

Except I haven't finished the other 42 projects that I totally thought I could do. And the relatives start arriving in 3 days. And I haven't finished Christmas shopping. And my husband asked me to take his car in to be inspected and have the oil changed today. And...

I'm beginning to hyperventilate.

Whew!!! The spirit of Christmas craziness got me there for a minute. I'm going to go finish a project for my daughter before she wakes. If you'd like to enjoy some beautiful Holiday decorations click over to BooMama's Christmas Tour. Just remember - I am totally sure someone hyperventilated over those decorations or trying to get the pictures posted on their blog.

Me - I'll be running around in my sweats all day with a list in my hand. If you see me with lights in my hands trying to improve our outdoor lights, please pour me a drink and lead me to a quiet, dark room. I must not let this get out of hand.

Reality Check

I spoke too soon.

You know what that means.

Sunday, mid-afternoon, I was talking to my dear friend as she was frantic about the holidays. She had come to the realization that this year was going to be like every other year. As much as she wants a calm, peaceful Christmas - the busyness and stress were getting to her, and she could see just more of the same for the next week and a half.

Me - oh, I said I was fine. The tree had been sitting in our house for a week without being decorated, and it was no problem. I have 6 relatives coming for 6 days - no problem. The shopping wasn't finished - no problem. It would be what it would be.

Uh, yeah, that lasted another 2 hours - when suddenly the reality of the tree, all I have to do in the next week, and the fact that we've had something every night for 2 weeks already with a full week in front of us crashed down on me. And then the Tree lights were tangled...

I called my friend back and said,

"I spoke too soon."

She Will Survive One More Thanksgiving

I found it! I found it! Here's the link and my favorite Thanksgiving Song. Enjoy!

Last Minute Halloween Costumes

Amazingly there are some of us in this world who think about Halloween costumes at about 4 pm on Halloween. Add to that a child who can't make up his mind until after school on Halloween, and you have a mom with a few last minute Halloween Costume ideas. Without further ado here are a few we've tried.

• One year my son dressed all in green, and I painted his face with green craft paint. He was a swamp monster. The paint didn't hurt his face and came off easily. Although I'm sure it would have irritated my sensitive-skinned son.
• One year my Husband dressed in a dark suit, sunglasses, and carried a silver pen light flashlight - aka Men in Black.
• My black graduation robe has become a wizard's robe in mere minutes. Add a stick for a wand and last year we simply knotted a long piece of cloth as a cloak.
• My husband's favorite costume was the year he carried a long white stick, wore sunglasses and wore a sign around his neck that said, "I'm from Venice." He was a Venetian Blind.
• I heard about a woman who dressed all in pink and carried a feather. She was tickled pink. I think I might use that one this year.
• Of course there's always the Christmas Tree option. Dress in green, wrap lights around yourself, and stand near an outlet at the party.
• Grab a few leaves from the back yard and tape or glue them on - instant leaf pile.
• A few more ideas are here - tons, here's a squid with step by step instructions, and this site includes pictures.

Have a great Halloween! Enjoy more Works for Me Wednesday tips at Rocks In My Dryer.

Are Fireworks Illegal?

"Mom, Dad says that fireworks are illegal," said Connor.

"Yes, Connor, they are," answered his mom.

"Awe man, then I don't want to go to the block party," whined Connor.

"Connor, just because fireworks are illegal, doesn't mean there won't be any at the party," said his mom.

And were there ever fireworks in our neighborhood last night. I think each street and cul de sac were hard at work celebrating the one night in the year that we encourage our men to blow up things and impress us. One husband commented that the 4th of July is his idea of the perfect holiday.

He said, "You get the day off work. You don't have to get up early to open any presents, put in batteries, and play with the kids' toys. You don't have to invite your relatives. There's no big meal to make, and you can throw paper plates away. Really, you pretty much don't have to do anything until the afternoon, and then you stand in your yard with your neighbors and a cold one. And for a bonus, you get to set off fireworks. Yeah, 4th of July's the best."

You know, he's right, it was fun.