Outtakes

Here were some of the outtakes from our Christmas photo shoot.

 

And I liked all the blond and all the crazy in this one....

And our finals...

Ah, it was such a festive season. Minus the snow.  But since it's our only Christmas actually staying in Miami, we're making sure to spend plenty of time doing just what is pictured above....

Christmas Programs

Since my mom is about the only one left that reads the blog and can't seem to get the pictures I email her, here are the kids Christmas programs!

I have to say, Cash was the stinking cutest clown!  Too bad their class show was mostly about the girls doing ballet and then the boys only ran out for the last few seconds!  But it was cute.

Then I have to say I LOVE that the twins' are at a Baptist pre-K and can have an actual nativity program, not just a holiday show.  And that they pledge allegiance to the American flag, the Christian flag and the Bible every morning.  Their show was so cute.  They're not in the first "We're Going to Bethlehem" song, but it's so darn cute.  Phoenix is the wiseman in purple and Ashton is on the right end in the back row when they're singing, "Virgin Mary had a baby boy."  And then I also love the "Happy Birthday Jesus....I'm so glad it's Christmas..."  I cry watching it every time I think it's so sweet.

I should have had a picture of me in my festive wear too.  I went to everything decked out in my candy cane tights, hats, and other festive attire. I asked Cash if I looked festive or crazy.  He said I looked so cute and festive so I went with it.  In a few years he'll be totally embarrassed. And I'm sure I'll still do it.  :)

Here was a cute little party we had at my house for the young women from our church, with s'mores (graham crackers spread with marshmallow creme, dipped in chocolate and topped with festive sprinkles) and a hot cocoa bar (toppings of marshmallows, whip cream and more festive sprinkles, or candy canes to stir in).  

And not to be forgotten, this little guy is pretty cute too.

Festivities

Been getting in the holiday spirit over here! Made this cute jar for Cash's teacher:

His turned out so cute I wish it was mine!  Now to fill it with some candy and leave some votive candles in there for her.  Saw the idea here.

Took snowman poop for the bake sale last week.

Boy was that a hit.  Everybody here just brings in snack packs of oreos or crackers for bake sale donations, so when I always bring in something creative or homemade it's always such a novelty and people are like... well, in awe, I guess.  These things were gone before the first class got through.  I could hear teachers asking over the radio, "Is there still snowman poop??"  And then Cash's class was in there chanting "Snowman poop!  Snowman poop!"  I was laughing so hard. It's marshmallows, people. Seriously though, I'm going to be crushed when we move to Utah (probably) and no one is amazed at my creativity anymore.  :)  Crafty stay at home moms there are a dime a dozen.



But the latest project I'm really excited about is my new Sounds of Christmas Bingo!  I saw the idea for sound bingo here and thought it was great.  Then recently when I was thinking of ideas to go do some Christmas activities in the twins' Pre-K class, I thought it would be really fun and still work on listening skills to do a Christmas sounds bingo.  I had a hard time thinking I could come up with enough sounds but then had so much fun when I got the ideas!  A baby cooing, angels trumpeting, carolers singing, the clip clop of horse hooves (my mom and I always play a Sleigh Ride duet at Christmas so it immediately came to mind as a holiday sound I love), the crunching of a candy cane, a fire crackling in the fireplace, Mary singing a lullaby.... So I spent a bunch of time finding good sound bytes on the internet and just recorded them as voice memos on my iPhone so I could have it handy when I go in their class.  Some might be trickier than others for them, but I think it will be fun!

I probably should have googled it first to see if someone has already made one since I'm sure someone else could make it way cuter than I could.  And the sound was totally unprofessional - just me sticking my iPhone up to the computer speakers to record it.  But hey, it's the idea that counts.

If anyone wants a copy of the file and the sound bytes I recorded, feel free to email me (jen_isom@hotmail.com) - don't leave a comment since they just don't regularly come to my hotmail account, try as I might. I'm forever grateful for people who post their stuff on the internet for me to use!  (I'm just not as savvy as them to want to figure out a better way to pass on 12 sound bytes rather than email....

And finally these were for Cash's school class.

)