Basketball Cake...and Tears

Somehow I closed my eyes and took a sigh and my sweet baby boy...

...turned into this five foot tall, athletic, smart, funny, and handsome young man.

All it took was ten years. A decade. I have been a Mother for a Decade.

Now I understand all those parents and grandparents who told me time and time again, "Cherish these moments." "Love him up while you can." "He'll be grown before you know it." Because at the end of these next ten years, he will be twenty. A thought that makes my throat seize and my eyes fill with tears.

And I thank God for ten years of  gigantic smiles, bright brilliant blue eyes, goofy dancing in the kitchen, cuddles, excellent debates and discussions, reading together, music, praying together, endless laughter and endless adventures.

So how do you celebrate all this? With a cake! Doesn't cake make everything better??? Even the idea that your baby isn't a baby anymore is lightened up by his excitement over Birthday Cake!

Yep. That's Louie. My Ten Year Old.

And this is his awesome Basketball Swoosh Cake! Inspired by Parenting Magazine...they always have the best birthday cake ideas RIGHT before our Birthday Season starts!

Basking in the Glow of 10 Candles!

Now...excuse me while I grab some toilet paper...I've run out of Kleenex!

Elf on the Shelf...or Not!

Well, we've got a busy little Elf at this house! They guy hasn't sat on a shelf ONCE!

This morning we found this:

It seems that Filmore was getting a bit lonely. He gathered up some of his Best Buddies from around our house and sat them all down to read a story!

He got everyone to climb on top of our tubs full of Christmas decorations and sit nice and quiet! Maybe tonight he and his posse can dig out the decorations and put them up for us! And do the dishes. And fold some towels...

These friends are hanging onto every word of this story! And the best part is...Filmore brought back "The Animals Christmas Eve" from the North Pole and we get to keep it! We love new books!!!

Elf in Our Tree

This little Felt Bodied and Plastic/Rubber Headed Elf is making us all insanely excited! Like CrAzY excited!

Last night was our oldest's turn to spend the night with Gram & Gramps. So we let the little two "camp" out in the living room and fall asleep to the soft Christmasey Tree Glow. This morning...a little past the crack of dawn... I hear whispering and some giggles. Then I hear Thump Thump Thump which translates into chubby bare feet smacking the hard wood floor.

Then from the kitchen are squeals of astonishment and delight. "HE'S GONE! FILMORE MOVED!!!!!!!" at the same time as, "OHMAGOSH! Where is he???????" (insane punctuation to enforce the level of Christmas Excitement Spazzyness)

Thump Thump Thump Thump which translates to chubby bare feet scurrying around looking for him. Then, "He's HERE! He's on the tree!!!!!! FILMORE is on the Christmas Tree!!!! He has a SIGN!!!!!"

All for this:

Filmore is perched near the top of the Christmas Tree. And the children spoke the truth...he is holding a sign.

Filmore say What? Only 24 more days 'till Christmas? How will we ever keep track of how many days?

Obviously with the Elvin Sized Mini Paper Chain he made us! Filmore somehow knew our family had an affinity for keeping track of things with paper chains! This baby is staying on the tree and each night we will gingerly tear off a tiny piece of the chain.

Filmore. You Rock our Christmas World!

Elfish Antics

I'm pretty sure we are the last family in the Universe to jump on the Elf on the Shelf Band Wagon.

Better late than never!!!

This morning our three little grumps woke up to this:

North Pole Breakfast!!!

Santa FINALLY sent us our own Elvin Scout...Filmore!

The Man in the Big Red Suit also sent this letter, introducing Filmore and giving us his brief resume and job description!

That's S.C.'s official signature, people! We're so glad Filmore came with a name, as our children are not the best at picking out names for things: Meow Meow, Pup Pup, and (the most weird) a stuffed Buffalo named Moosey. SO! When Santa says "Filmore" we comply!

This Cute Little Guy made us Breakfast:

Peppermint North Poles with Powdered Sugar Do-nuts, Reindeer Do-nuts, and normal...non-theme-specific Do-Nuts. Hey, even Elves need some sleep!

Close up of a Rudolf Do-Nut. The kids got the biggest kick out of them. And the noses are definitely candy...to they kept saying, "These are candy. Thanks, Filmore! We get candy for breakfast!" It's the little things...

He had hot water waiting to make up some Cocoa in new Christmas cups and a bowl of Peppermint Marshmallows to go with it.

For himself, although he Froze before he had a chance to munch on them, Filmore even made up a tray of Elf Sized Do-Nuts!

For Reals. If the Cooking Network had a show called Mini Do-Nut Wars, Filmore would be BOSS!

Here's John & Katy in a state of Ecstatic Christmas Wonder. They were so in awe of Filmore, they only got a few nibbles and sips in!

Filmore also tricked out our stylin' 1980s ceiling fan with lights, tinsel garland, curly ribbon and giant snowflakes! 

When it was time to get brushed and dressed for school, the tree Filmore chose to perch himself on was gently lifted and placed on top the fridge (where it originally was before this Elvin Madness). It was a great spot to watch and listen from!

 Santa's letter did explain that these Elves like to Make Mischief sometimes and will get stuck in silly situations when the have to freeze every morning. While children can't touch the Elf...if this happens, it's okay for Mom or Dad to "gently" remove an Elf and place him back on his watch spot. For those days when he's wrapped around the gallon of milk and we need to pour some. Or he's mummified on our t.p. roll and someone needs a wipin'!

Oh Silly Filmore! What fun will you get into tonight???

Joining the Christmas Linky Party @

Our Red Carpet

Last year I did a post called Oscars...Our Style.

So, it's only fitting and proper to introduce...

The Second Annual Oscars...Our Style!

The Oscar for Best Costume Design goes to:

Kat! For her work on Princess Sassy Pants.

The Oscar for Best Art Design goes to:

John! For his work on Swirly Rock Painting!

The Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film goes to:

Louie! For his portrayal of a super nervous 8 year old taking his first plunge off a diving board!

The Oscar for Best Set Design goes to:

Kat! For her work on Toddler Tornado Hits Living Room!

The Oscar for Best Make Up goes to:

Louie! For his extensive aging and paling work on Vampire Boy.

Best Actress in a Leading Role goes to:

Kat! For her work in Jurassic Two Year Old.

Best Actor in a Leading Role goes to:

John! For his role as Peter Peter Pumpkin Smoothie Eater.

Best Documentary goes to:

Louie, John & Kat! For their patriotic look at Mt. Rushmore: National Monument!

Best Visual Effects goes to:

Louie  Kat! For their work on Cosmic Mini-Golfin'!

And. Finally. The moment we've all been waiting for.

Best Picture of 2011 goes to...

(ugh. Let me just open this darn envelope.)

Goes to...

Our Trio!

Kat, Louie & John

The main problem with this...keeping their acceptance speeches under the time limit!

My Dad

Let me tell you a bit about my Dad.

He's HILARIOUS!

He's the kind of guy that wakes up laughing and falls asleep whistling.

He loves his family...esp. the Grandkids.

He's worked his hiney off his entire life...farming, meat packing, press operator and now he does maintenance work...second shift.

He'll be turning 67 soon and his cheerfulness, his activity level and his wise-cracker personality make me forget his age.

He'd also blush and say, "Cut that out!" if he heard those few praises I just sang!

So. On with my story.

Growing up in a crafty family...I got a lot of homemade gifts for Christmas, birthdays, whatever.

My Dad's Mom crocheted me a couple of afghans, lots of booties and she sewed me endless jammies.

My Dad would always tease and say, "No one's ever made ME a blanket (or whatever the gift was)!"

Now that I'm a crocheting fool, I've been whipping up scarves and hats for everyone.

If I'm working on something while my Dad's around he'll shake his head and put on his puppy-dog look and sigh, "No one's ever made me a (enter project here)."

Can you guess where I'm going with this???

For Christmas I crocheted him a scarf!

I didn't follow a pattern. 

I just crocheted back and forth and back and forth. 

Forever. My Dad towers in at six foot four!

Here's Louie "measuring" it! Floor to ceiling...I think it's long enough!

Here it is...all Sushi rolled and ready to wrap.

Do you think he liked it?

I think he did!

Before he opened it I said, "Now. You can finally quit your belly-aching!"

Now I need to start on a matching hat for his birthday!

Jolly Holly

First...a little Jolly.

A Jolly Hair Pretty for Miss Kat that I whipped up in no time.

This is just a regular alligator clip with sparkly pom poms hot glued on. My Model wasn't so cooperative, but it really is a simple way to glam up a Girlie's Do!

And now...some Holly!

Literally!

I had mentioned on my personal facebook page that it was time to "Deck our Halls". My Aunt who lives in Washington decided to snip us some "Boughs of Holly" from her Holly bush and send them to us.

I was totally surprised and delighted!

Warning...the berries are poisonous. And the leaves are sharp little suckers! So I put some in a jar on my kitchen shelf where the kiddos can't reach them.

I'm loving how festive it looks!

Sassy Monkey!

No. The Sassy Monkey isn't some new dance craze!

Let me tell you about it. 

Not so very long ago, I was reading one of my favorite blogs, It's Just Jennifer. I've never met this lady before, but at times it seems she is living in my brain! And she's a Rock Star Crocheter!!!

So. It was her birthday and she decided to share the love and do a giveaway.

Drum Roll.

I ended up winning!!!

It was muy exciting! I'd never won a giveaway before!

But the SUPER exciting part was the Giveaway Item.

Shall I let my photos do the talking???

Here's Kat with the package. She was mad because it wasn't her turn to go down and get the mail from the box. 

Big Brother is helping her through the tears. Are you seeing the Giveaway Cuteness?

Hmmmmm...it FITS!

And we have achieved Sassy Monkey!!!

Although it is not a dance...Kat enjoys, "Shaking my bum bummmmm!" while wearing it!

I want to send a Woot! Woot! at Jennifer, for making such an adorable hat and then being sweet enough to share it with someone (us!)!

Paper Heart Ornament

Today's Ornament...I don't even know what number I'm on...is it the 14th???

Louie was home sick today with whatever stomach bug is going around. It was a total stay in our jams and chill sort of day. Then I hurried up, got dressed, ran and picked up John from pre-school, came home and hurried right back into my jams!

Ahhhhhhh.

So. Today's Ornament is sort of chill. 

Just a cute little paper heart. Chillin' at the bottom of the tree!

You can find a great tutorial at Reese Dixon. I'm running a little low on Holiday themed paper, so I used two patterns instead of four...mine having a plain color on the backside.

It's a cute and quick decoration. I'm having Visions of Valentine's Day dancing in my head...

Come February you all may be deja vu-ing!

On a sad note...

Mr. Colorful Polka Dot Ornie fell to his death.

With all the new ornies going up on the tree...it made me think of the Lion King (cue Circle of Life music!).

This is an ornament I gave my Grandma Rita 20ish years ago. When she moved in with my folks a few years back, she started giving me a lot of her Christmas stuff. 

It's Louie's 9th Christmas (he was crawling that first year...so it counts!) and this is the first time we had ornament breakage!

However. It took about a nano-second before fingers were being shot all around. Louie is blaming John. John is blaming Louie. Kat is looking at me and shrugging, saying, "It wasn't ME, Mama."

Here's the scoop. My kids had built a "fort" in the living room. They are obsessed with all of the pillows and blankets of the house being in the living room. All of the time. Some how...no one is sure...maybe ghosts??? Some how the "fort" ended up right next to the tree. Louie was the catapult (remember. he's the sick one.). The cushion of the couch was the boulder. John was the invisible force that carried the boulder from the catapult to the other side of the "fort". Hey, at least they didn't just throw the cushion! Anywho, as John was "Oh. So. Carefully. Mom. I was Oh. So. Careful." stepping around the "fort" wall, the pillow he was carrying whammed into the tree. 

And that was the end of Mr. Polka Dot Ornie.

I'm sure he is twinkling in the Heaven's tonight...just like Mufasa. (to be said in funny hyena voice.)

Elf Yourself!

A few years back, my cousin emailed me about OfficeMax and their "Elf Yourself" videos.

Needless to say, they have been making us laugh ever since and have become a family tradition!

I'd like to present the Official 2011 Gilmore Addition of

Elf Yourself!

Now go make one for your family. I know you want to!!!

Advent Count Down Calendar

I fell in love with this Advent Calendar last year.

Source: mayamade.blogspot.com via Amy on Pinterest

That's right. I waited an entire year so I could make my own!

Maya Made did such a fantastic job and has a fantastic tutorial HERE. I love how organic it looks. And it's so festive without being bright or flashy.

So I finally cranked one out for us! I was able to use materials I had on hand, so it was completely free. Bonus!

Here's mine:

I LOVE IT!

I wrapped an old project poster board we had with beige burlap. Then I pinned on the lace bands. The TP tubes are already an off white color. I painted one white, and there wasn't much of a difference, so I left them au-naturale! I used a paper punch for the snowflakes and I used my Silhouette machine to cut the numbers. Then it was just a matter of putting it all together!

I used staples to close the bottom of each tube, but I didn't like the way they looked, so I covered them with this pretty band of ribbon.

We like the count-down factor of the Advent Calendar, so today we started with #25 and #1 will be for Christmas morning. I've got a Holiday Appropriate activity in each tube to keep us busy and the season full of fun!

Today's activity was "Set out the Nativity". This is a big deal...because I'm sort of a Nativity Buff! We have our family one that goes in the living room. Then each child has their own...they received a couple of years ago from their Great Aunt Mary & Uncle Jim! So everyone gets to display theirs however they want. Donkey in the stable? Sheep outside? Whatever. Mix it up.

Here's Kat reflected in her dresser mirror. Her Nativity is Precious Moments. Note the Lurker Brother in the background! She fell asleep talking to Baby Jesus. SWEET!

A few of our other activities to look forward to:

Watch Christmas Movies

Make Hot Chocolate

Put on our Jammies and drive around looking at Christmas lights

Write our letters to Santa

LOTS of Christmas Crafts

LOTS of cookie baking & sharing

Pop some popcorn

Make bird feeders

Make our own wrapping paper

Camp in the living room by the tree

Make ornaments

Family Game Night

Breakfast for Dinner

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