Small Things Are Big Things

After the busy month-o-Christmas, Valentines Day always sneaks up on me. And since Vday is Cora Jane’s birthday as well, I’m about to go into hyper drive!

I made this Valentines Day printable to decorate.

Simple and sweet as all those conversation hearts you’re about to eat!

Get a frame and print this Free Valentines Day Printable…

   

I got my frame at The Dollar Tree and painted it white for the grew/pink one.

I think red would look great with the red/pink one!

Happy Printing:

Grey and Pink 8.5×11

Grey and Pink in 8×10

Red, white and pink I 8.5×11

Red, white and pink I 8×10

I’m kinda obsessed with making printables now… that and the Amish. So look for more soon!

And don’t forget we are coming out with a new Lid in a couple of weeks. I’m planning the photo shoot now and getting ready to introduce you to the sweetest family ever!!

Dollar store earrings + spray paint = kick a%$ earrings

While walking the aisles of the 99 cent store I came across the cutest wooden earrings. So I bought 10 pairs.

REALLY!

I gave a few as favors at a craft night, kept one wooden and spray painted the rest.

You can do it in minutes too!

You’ll need:

~Earrings (duh)

~Spray paint (double duh)

~Needle nose pliers

~Some sort of drop cloth (I used a paper towel)

1. Use the needle nose pliers to remove all the hardware.

2. Lay the earrings on your drop cloth. Spray. Let dry. Flip. Repeat till you like the color.

3. Use the pliers to reattach the hardware.

I get compliments every time I wear mine… I’ll probably go back and get 10 more pairs.

REALLY!

Side note: I ended up getting my hair colored darker and loved it… but now I think I hate it. Blarg. (me with blonde hair below)

Sometimes after folks buy Lids they send me pictures of their adorable kiddos wearing them (or post them on our Facebook page).

I love it.

Like really LOVE it.

Because I really think people who buy Lids are my friends.

Is that weird??

Anyway, each Sunday I feature one of the Kids in Lids pictures sent to me!

This is 4 month old Dexter in the Navy Snowboarder Lid. As the only lil’ boy in a play class of 21 girls his Lid keeps the ooooos and awes focused on him! The pic is a little blurry but isn’t that smile priceless!!

While on our trip to Ohio I had one of the best experiences of my life.

Seriously.

I know that’s a pretty bold statement, so let me explain – we went on a wagon ride on a working Amish farm in Walnut Creek.

Doesn’t sound like it should get on a person’s life “best of” list?

Let me break it down…

We arrive in the area and see horses and buggies all over the place.

We are loaded up in an open wagon in the snow by an Amish man. Then we are driven all around the farms and get to see all sorts of exotic animals.

Are you getting the awesomeness of this????

Let me paint a picture for ya! (imagine me telling you this next part by counting off on my fingers for emphasis or using the word BAM as each picture is shown… I’m a dork)

Buggies ALL OVER the place…

  

A blanket of new fallen snow covering the farmland… random haystacks by the side of the road… no power lines…

     

Clothesline laundry blowing in the winter wind…

Amish kiddos frolicking in the snow at recess (yeah, I said frolic!) in their sweet black coats…

    

A gnome-like man helps us onto a horse-drawn wagon.

The gnome-like man is Aden.

Aden with a Swiss-ish German-ish accent.

Aden with 13 children!

Aden is awesome.

Did I mention there were sleigh bells!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!??!!!!!!!!

We are all bundled in these thick (quite luxurious) blankets…

As we come over the first hill we see deer in the distance.

Beautiful deer from all over the world.

And we fed them.

By hand!!!

Off in the distance amongst the new fallen snow were zebras.

ZEBRAS!!!

It felt like we had entered Wonderland.

REALLY!

 

And llamas.

And alpacas. (Just like the infomercial!)

We fed those by hand too.

We pull up to a big barn and Aden shoos away the water buffalo…

He leads us into a barn.
It was like 90 degrees inside.

It was dark and quiet. (The thought did cross my mind that we were being lured into some horror movie plot – it was that surreal!)

Our eyes are getting used to the dark barn.

We follow the barn cat deeper into the hot shadowed barn. (Not a rabbit chanting “I’m late” but still very storybook.)

Then what’s around us starts to become clear… 

Giant giraffes.

Like inches away from us.

INCHES!!!!

George, Martha, Freedom, Lucky and Liberty were their names.

We fed ‘em!!

It was crazy rad.

Crazy.

Rad.

Oh, and there were parrots that talked and monkeys…

Then we hopped back on our wagon and fed an ox. It had long horns that could bump you in the head. It was kinda scary.

 

Then it started to snow.

We sang jingle bells..

Yes we did.

Then we were dropped off at the main house where hot cocoa and homemade cookies were waiting.

HOT COCOA AND HOMEMANDE COOKIES!!!!

I also had a strong desire to can…

The whole day was amazing.

A.MAZ.ING.

If you ever find yourself in Ohio you have to go to The Farm at Walnut Creek.

Details:

The Farm at Walnut Creek site

The Farm at Walnut Creek facebook page.

In case you have ever wondered how Amish peeps, who don’t use electricity, have a site or a facebook page OR suddenly become obsessed with Amish people (ahem!) then here are a few other sites to check out…

Amish America (like a million questions answered)

Amish.net (FAQs)

You should also watch my mom’s all time favorite movie, Witness, starring the haute Harrison Ford.

Happy weekend.

Do you like this smaller font?

I have the cutest crafts to share soon!!

I’ve been busy busy busy around here behind the scenes since we got back from our vay-cay.

Fun fun fun things to tell you soon.

But for now I want to share share share (had to continue with the 3 repetitive word thing) a few things I learned about plane travel with kiddos

~Red eye flights work for us. A red eye flight sounds a little intimidating at first but we loved it! Our first flight left out of LAX at at 12:30 am and arrived at 6am in Ohio. We cozied the kiddos up in their PJs and they slept most of the time.

~Flying out on Christmas is awesome! Our red eye was actually on Christmas morning. LAX was empty… it was kinda strange. But so great! Because we left on Christmas, our flight was way under booked. We were each able to claim a row of seats and sleep through the flight. Flights can be cheaper on Christmas day too!

~Security check sucks with kids. There is no way around it. This whole taking off of the shoes and getting everything onto the conveyer belt is torture. Torture. Don’t even try to be quick or you’ll end up focusing all your attention on making sure your stuff is loading quickly (and together) while doing loud blanket apologies to everyone around you and your 1.5 year old will end up 2 check points over and an angry TSA employee will be screaming for the parents of the “little blond boy.”

(Ahem)

~Electronic devices are a must for trips. These kept sanity on our 5 hour layover. Yes. FIVE HOUR LAYOVER!!!!!

~Babywearing keeps babies quiet. Tess’ sleeping schedule got a little off but she did so great in the sling. Did you know if you are wearing a baby you have to have your hands tested for explosive residue? Which gave me the hebie- geebies because that means people are hiding bombs next to their babies. That is just sick.

Sick.

~Bring a carseat for kiddos under 3. Eli and Cora Jane (5 & 3 y/o) were fine in the regular seats. We could even put up the arm and they could snuggle up and watch a show on the ipad together. Cyrus in a regular seat would have been a nightmare. He was able to sleep so well in his carseat and he is so used to being in his carseat for car rides, it was no big deal for him to be strapped in.

Warning: The carseat height puts lil’ feet in the perfect position for kicking the the seat in front of them. (Thanks for the heads up Jami!) Slippery socks make the force of impact softer and offering to buy drinks/snacks for the person in the kicking zone keeps the dirty looks down!

~Farts. We were in the very back of almost all our flights and people really do walk to the back of the plane to let one loose.

~Don’t overdo the snacks. The motherly instinct is to pack the world, but then you’ll just have more to carry and keep track of the whole trip. Pack a few non-perishables (we did almonds, goldfish, graham crackers) and empty sippy cups (anything liquid won’t make it through security check. Thanks for the tip Andrea!). Your kiddos will be so much happier eating something yummy (Ruby’s and Starbucks below) rather than a smushed PB & J.

~Rent a luggage cart. Worth so much more than the $2 they charge.

~Remember to have fun! The whole point of a vacation is to make lifelong memories for your kiddos (and you) so don’t sweat the small stuff. The worst thing that can happen is total strangers might not get to snooze on the flight because you have a loud child. Relax and keep it simple. You want your little ones to remember getting wings and a Sprite from the flight attendant not mommy having a nervous breakdown.

~Home is where the heart is. All things good and bad about a vacation are temporary. Keep in mind even the worst day has end you’ll be able to go home, shower the airport off and sleep in your own bed!

(Cora Jane asleep at the curb pick-up in LAX)

Doesn’t it seem like our lives are just a series of random events?

I’m linking up with Life Rearranged’s InstaFriday  to document all the randomness!

Because phone pix rule.

Eli saw this at The Lil’ Pickle and asked what it was.

A thing of the past, son.

Date night with my sweetie.

            

Tess dressed in Cy’s tee shirt and Cy dressed in Cora Jane’s PJs. I never would have done a gender clothes swap with my older two.

Ya live, you learn, and laundry goes on. 

Every year my hubby gets to work in the store again.

I think he looks hot.

Cy got 4 more viles of blood drawn for more tests.

Boo.

But he sure does look cute in his Heather Brown Snowboarder Lid!

While unpacking Christmas stuff, we found out my parent’s menorah from their trip to Israel over 30 years ago, actually isn’t a menorah. It has been rename a kenora, because that’s how Cora Jane pronounces it. I still think it’s adorable.

The final Christmas giftie for Eli’s teacher (thanks to input from FB friends) was a gift card for some yummy and homemade (by my mom) Christmas napkins.

Our minivan door was jammed and Hot Hubby found a Lid in the mechanism!!

I thought we left it in a restaurant.

3 years ago!!!

Needless to say our Lids cannot withstand 3 years in a minivan door.

Tess is 3 months old.

She is the happiest lil’ gal ever.

Do you just love that flower. It was a gift from the gals at Babysteals. LOVE THEM!!!

Flare for the Christmas Eve service. I can’t believe I got Hot Hubby to wear a bow tie. I may have promised to wear it at a later date and time if he wore it to the service. (wink) My hair looks super dark in that picture an I’m thinking I might go that color in real life.

Thoughts?????

        

Santa came to our house on Christmas Eve because he knew we were flying to Ohio on Christmas Day. He is so smart! Hot Hubby surprised me with Swing Dance lessons!! Something I have wanted to do since we were married. He did good, really good.

I’m on vacation in Ohio right now (having a blast!!) but I have so many awesome things to share with you (no mom, I’m not preggers). Like really awesome help-a-little-boy-come-home type things.

I know for a fact santa is wrapping gifts tonight.

Right after going to Denny’s, because kids eat free Tuesdays (thanks for that tip Jill!) and checking out the Brea Christmas lights.

I love wrapping gifts in general. They just look so lovely under the tree or stacked up at a birthday party. After Eli was born I got rid of any Christmas wrapping paper with Santa on it (you now know I have a bit of an anti-santa decorating thing). Then this past year I went through The Great Gift Bag Purge.

Please tell me I’m not the only one who saves gift bags from gifts I receive??!?

I had a HUGE box filled with gift bags. I even had some from my wedding and Eli’s baby showers. They were nice,they were cute and they were free. I used them, but the bags in the box just kept accumulating. When it came time to move I decided to reinvent my gift bag stash (aka Hot Hubby said he wasn’t going to move a giant box of empty bags… makes me think of my old container stash). I now only save plain colored bags or get plain ones from the dollar store. I use fun tissue paper and then print out the first letter of the giftie’s name in a silly font. So cute right??

So cute and a little more personal right???

###

My neighbor just told me about First Christmas Gift Wrap. It’s super cute. And since we stay away from the santa thang, this is right up our alley.

This one is my favorite…

Check out the First Christmas site and their blog. Or if your child has done some cute Christmas drawings you can enter their Christmas drawing contest (ends today!!). See the details here.

Did I mention the paper is printed in the USA!!!

YAY!

… that is the question.

He’s got twinkly eyes and a tummy that giggles when he laughs, just like me, what’s not to like?

In faith based families the “santa thing” can be blown out of proportion, whether you celebrate with him or not.

Ethically we have no issues with santa. Why? Well, many Christmas traditions people don’t seem to be worried about are taken from pagan holidays: The date – December 25^th was the last day of Saturnalia. In the 4^th century, Christianity allowed the celebration of the Roman Saturnalia festival by changing the meaning to Jesus’ birth, to help convert the pagan masses. Gingerbread Men – During Saturnalia people would bake human shaped cookies in honor of the human sacrifice on the last day of the festival. Caroling – Singing (naked) in the streets during the festival. Christmas Trees – Pagans who worshiped trees would decorate them and bring them into their homes. This list goes on and on…

Anyway our thought was, if most of our Christmas traditions are derived from pagan traditions, than what is the big deal with santa? Well, some people believe the original pagan origin is pretty crazy (Nimrod)… think baby killer coming down the chimney. Some people think santa origins are Saint Nicolas (we go more in that direction). But the modern version first came around after ‘The Night Before Christmas’ poem became popular.

If the kiddos asked me straight out “yes or no” if santa was real, I would tell the truth, but say we choose to honor the American tradition because of the kindness and legacy of Saint Nicolas and because it’s a fun way to remember the Truth of Jesus’ birth aka fulfillment of Jewish prophecies. We feel we can attach our own meaning to traditions. And since there really isn’t anything new under the sun it’s likely that most traditions from any holiday can be traced back to something yucky. If we didn’t do santa because he isn’t real, then would we not do the tooth fairy, fairy tales, the Easter bunny, or that mouse that talks at the happiest place on earth?

I think what it really comes down to is the fact that I celebrated Christmas with santa as a child, with very little spiritual tie-ins, and my faith in God (or my trust in my parents) wasn’t shattered when I found out it wasn’t real.

Oh, and it’s hella FUN!!!

But as far as what we actually do…

~We don’t have any santa decorations – we use stars, angels and nativities.

~We don’t make an event of going to see santa, but Hot Hubby’s company does santa pictures for free at the Family Company Party and we usually end up seeing santa at other events. I think santa pictures are a fun tradition to see how kiddos grow over the years.

~santa brings the kiddos 3 presents just like the three wise men brought Jesus 3 presents. Last year santa brought the kiddos something they needed, something they wanted and something educational and I tied that into the purpose of the gold, frankincense and myrrh. But it was kinda a stretch, and they really didn’t understand.

~We talk about how Saint Nicolas was a real person – this veggietale was really helpful.

~We haven’t written santa a letter yet… but my kiddos can’t write so we really haven’t had to choose what we will do. A part of me thinks that it is taking the “fun santa thing” just a bit too far and another part of me thinks it would be a great keepsake to see how their writing progresses and what their perspectives were as children.

~We talk about the “tradition of santa” but have never actually said santa was real. Any questions we have gotten usually are redirected to our beliefs – celebrating Jesus’ birth (which we don’t believe was actually on Christmas… whole other post!), prophecy, etc.

~santa doesn’t watch us through the year to see if we are good or bad. He is strictly a present bringer not a behavior judger.

I’d love to hear what you do or don’t do and why!

 

Below are some interesting Christmas reads. Some are super extreme!!

History Channel – Christmas

The Origin of Christmas from Last Trumpet Ministries

The True Origin of Christmas

The Real Story of Christmas

Christmas on Wikipedia

The Mystery of the Pagan Origin of Christmas

Sometimes after folks buy Lids they send me pictures of their adorable kiddos wearing them (or post them on our Facebook page).

I love it.

Like really LOVE it.

Because I really think people who buy Lids are my friends.

Is that weird??

Anyway, each Sunday I feature one of the Kids in Lids pictures sent to me!

This is 2-month-old Micah with his mama Jennifer wearing the Method Brown Lid. Don’t you just wanna snuggle that lil’ guy!?!?! (Jennifer, I love your glasses!)