I'll be home for Christmas!

We have been in our house for about three months now. Long enough that we have most of the pictures hung up, the bedrooms have curtains and tiebacks, we've ripped down the wallpaper in the master bathroom and have the necessary tools to patch/prime/paint (just need to find the time!). We celebrated our first Thanksgiving and finally feel settled. Decorating for Christmas was a blast. Having a mantle to decorate is new and really helps pull it all together.

Overall, it's gone well but we were REALLY looking forward to going ''home'' for Christmas to Kansas. We had planned on being in Kansas from the 21st-31st but the weather had other ideas. Luckily we left Texas a day early because the weather turned ugly quick!

We had a lot of fun in Kansas. A LOT of fun. And it snowed EIGHT inches the day after we arrived so we had a white Christmas. Snow, baking, family...it was great and much needed after not being with extended family for a holiday in three years.

 

We were very fortunate to be able to visit Grandma Great (my dad's grandma), whom we hadn't seen in over two years. She had a few falls and was hospitalized a few times while we were in Italy and I honestly didn't know if we would get to see her again. Don't quote me, but I'm pretty sure she's 94 years old. Other than her vision, she does really well...still lives on her own in an apartment for seniors. Our trip to Kansas in October was so quick, we didn't have time to drive to the town she lives in (almost 2 hours from where we were in Oct) so I was really thankful we had plenty of time to see her. 

She still tells it like it is ;)

So we saw Grandma Great on Christmas Eve as well as Papa Bob (my dad's dad) who we saw again on Christmas Day.

Christmas eve we went back to my parents house to settle in and wait for Santa. The kids were so freaking pumped up on Christmas Eve that they were up until almost 11pm!

 

For real. It was a long night but made for a fun morning!

The kids all got exactly what they asked Santa for, everything they asked Nana and Papa for, plus lots of extras. Spoiled? Probably but they are good kids :) After opening up presents and getting ready for the day we packed up our stuff from Nana and Papa's house and headed down to Grandma Phyllis' house to see everyone, open more presents and for Christmas dinner.

 

 I got to snuggle and spoil my nephew again, so that was fantastic!

 

We also got to update our four generation pictures...

And the Dads/Papas took the kids outside to enjoy that White Christmas before it melted. They made both a snowman as well as a snow pyramid. It wasn't very cold out with the sun and no wind, which made it a lot more fun (according to them).

 

 All in all, a perfect Christmas!

But as a family we learned an important lesson...home is Texas now. It's kinda sad to say but makes me happy that we're all happy here. By day seven in Kansas the kids wanted to go ''home''.  Asking to just go home. They had a blast but they missed their beds, their house, their rooms and they wanted to play with their toys. We headed home 2 days earlier than planned and it worked out great. We slept in. We spent Christmas money at Build A Bear. We enjoyed our new waffle iron and air popcorn popper with late breakfasts and afternoons spent cuddled up watching movies.

Tutorial: Using a Silhouette Cameo with a Sharpie pen to address cards

Last year for my birthday, B gave me a Silhouette Cameo. While I don't think I've mentioned it on the blog, this machine is amazing! I used it last June to make a "Classroom Jobs" board for Ryan's first grade teacher. We went with a board that looks like an iPhone, with each app being a pocket that holds the student's weekly job.

In order we have Line Leader, Door Holder, Calendar Reporter, Boys bathroom monitor, Teacher's assistant, line monitor, weatherman, girls bathroom monitor, substitute, caboose, classroom helper and the last "app" pocket holds the names of students who do not have jobs this week.

 I made every single app, cut every square, using the silhouette. This entire board, from idea in my head to laminated finished project, took less than two days to make, working when the kids were busy or after they went to bed.

I LOVE my Silhouette Cameo. And no, I'm not being paid to blog this. I seriously just love it.

My Cameo also came with some sketch pens. But I think they're less than stellar. They don't always write smoothly and I'm not a huge fan of the metallic choices. But I did realize that pretty much any pen would work, if the machine would just hold it. (The sketch pens are chubby!). So after brainstorming, I realized a small strip of electrical tape would make a regular fine point Sharpie or Sharpie pen, chubby enough. After successfully addressing over 50 Christmas cards, I took a quick iPhone video tutorial.

 

The video: It's not fancy, I'm pretty sure you can hear my dogs and kids in the background but I think it could really help others who are looking for a personalized yet quick way to address envelopes. The result is more thought out than just feeding an envelope through the printer. You can tell it was done with a pen/marker but people aren't going to know how your handwriting looks so neat!

Merry Christmas!

Or "Buon Natale" as we say in our neck of the woods. This is our second Christmas in Italy and well, that just seems crazy! I can't believe we've been here that long. Last year we celebrated Christmas living in a hotel and then headed to Venice the next day. I was seriously considering making it a tradition and going back to Venice on the 26th this year but B has to work. And now the forecast calls for rain so it's a no go. The kids and I will probably have a pajama day and just play with new toys.

We had a very nice, quiet Christmas at home this year. We went to our good friends house yesterday for "Christmas Dinner'' and it was really nice. Getting a few families together (most with 3 or 4 kids each) it was loud but in a good way. Today we woke up and signed into Skype so that Nanaw and Papa could virtually join us. The kids opened stockings and presents, we set up toys and Leappad's, we ate a late breakfast and napped. We played with toys, watched Christmas movies and just lounged around...all day. We never left the house.

This is our third Christmas without family (yes, I'm counting) and it's hard. I'm not gonna lie. At first it was ''Hey this is nice...no stress, no rush, no hurry" but now it's just kinda...boring. I miss the chaos. The disagreements. The squealing over who was gonna pass out presents or who was sitting where. All ''us woman'' in grandma's kitchen arguing about where the good gravy boat is. The homesickness is hitting hard this year. I think it's even harder because the kids are older and expressing that they miss opening presents with their cousin Isabelle (Bubba). Or they say things like ''I want to move back to America''. (Pooks' words). My brother and my sister in law had a baby in October...I'm an Aunt to the CUTEST little guy and I haven't even met him. It's hard...really hard. I'm quite literally, a small town Kansas girl who never lived more than 2 hours away from my family and now I'm 1/2 way around the world. Italy is amazing, and the things that I've been able to do/see/eat/drink/visit and people I have met have been more than amazing, but I really did want to be ''home for the holidays''.

But, we did make the best of it. Like I said we spent Christmas Eve with our nearest and dearest friends. We woke up this morning and the kids were VERY excited to see that Santa found us!

 

It was a morning well spent and the kids loved their gifts. So thank you to everyone who sent them here, I know it isn't easy nor cheap, but we appreciate it. Pooks said it best before bed ''It's not about the getting...it's about the people'' and this year, we were really missing some important ones. ♥

It's been almost 3 weeks but...

I finally uploaded Christmas photos! There isn't much, the kids just opened their gifts in the hotel room. They ripped through everything so quickly that Peanut was done going through his stocking and on to his presents by the time I got my camera! But here is a quick overview....

Their favorite gift was there LeapFrog Explorers. Nanaw and Papa got them the gamers, Nanaw Phew Phew bought them each 2 games and we bought the cases (plus other presents). Those Explorers are life savers! Kids are learning, having fun and being fairly quiet! Which when six people are living in one hotel room...is a huge blessing!

Here comes Santa Claus...

Well, statistically three out of four isn't bad...

Merry Christmas!!