It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We've been having fun at our house getting ready for Christmas:) This year Emma is really into it and in turn that has made me more excited this year as well. Take a look at what we have been up to...

This is the first year that I have done a Gingerbread house with the kids...it was much more work than I imagined but we still had fun doing it:) We ran out of the candy that came in the kit (yes, I used a kit...I'm not that talented:) half way through and ended up using mini marshmallows and Halloween candy. I think the kids(especially Brice) had more sugar than they have ever had during the construction of that house!



We got our Christmas tree a couple weeks ago. Emma wanted to help every step of the way. She helped cut the the netting off the tree and attempted to help Jason bring the tree into the house:)


A tradition at our house...the Garfield ornament goes on first:) Jason has this glass Garfield ornament that he had growing up and I believe he managed to always put it on first when they were decorating their tree so we continue the tradition.

Brice and Emma had fun decorating the tree! Emma got the hang of it pretty quickly (we didn't have a tree last year) and had a blast. Most of Brice's ornaments didn't stay...because he didn't use the hook and because he liked taking them off more than putting them on:) Most of the ornaments are actually still on the tree...the first day after we decorated it was pretty bear but since then they have not done to much "redecorating".

Last but not least...the star:)

A conversation at supper time

Emma has been telling me lately that she is frustrated when Brice is loud or something is bothering her. My usual response is that she doesn't have to be around what is frustrating her (Brice) and that she can go to another room. I also say that she can pray about it. So the other night Brice kept getting down from his seat at supper time (a usual occurrence that drives me nuts!)...after a few times of this Emma said, "Mommy are you frustrated?...I think you need to pray." It's interesting when you start getting reminders to pray from your 4yr old...kids keep you humble:)

Happy Birthday Emma!

My baby is turning 4 years old today! Crazy to think that 4 years ago we were in the hospital just beginning the great adventure of parenting. Emma (and Brice) have taught me so much. They have taught me to be less selfish, how much God loves me as his child, responsibility...they are so dependent on you especially when they are newborns, how to better communicate with people and how to just have fun with life. It is nice now that Emma is older and able to do so much...she loves to wash and brush her hair; which may be part of the reason why her hair always looks so wild and that she inherited my crazy curls (which aren't so present for me after having kids:). She loves to pretend. Lately she has been really into The Little Mermaid....a couple times last week she wanted a fork during quiet time to brush her hair:) She often asks me to help her act out different fairy tales.. she will say to me "You be the prince and I'll be Cinderella". The other day as I was cleaning the house she said, "mom you are kinda like Cinderella":)

She had a fun birthday...we went to Charlotte for Jason interview (went well!) yesterday and met my mom at the mall for a special surprise. Every time we have gone to our mall Emma asks to make a build-a-bear so we decided that would be a special thing for her to do on her birthday. She had fun with it. When they came to the part where you put the heart in the bear the lady told her to make a wish...Emma just looked at her like "what does that mean"...I guess we have never talked about making wishes:) We spent the rest of the weekend with my Sister in law and brother and their son. It was fun hanging out with them. I made a cake for Emma yesterday...it was quite sad...it stuck to the pan and I ended up trying to piece it together with icing...Emma didn't care though:)

My New Hobby

At night I love to relax by watching a good TV show but I feel unproductive if I am not also doing something else as well (crazy, I know!)...a lot of the time my hands are busy with laundry but lately I have also been crocheting. I learned how to knit a while back and made a few scarves but never really got into it. I also tried to learn how to crochet a year ago but couldn't get the hang of it. Every year as the weather gets cooler my desire for making something warm increases:) This year I have several friends who are also crocheting and it has helped me get into it and understand it more. I have also used YouTube...they have great videos that show you how to do the stitches and follow pattern...I'm a visual learner so this is great for me! Here is my first project:)



Sadly, this hat was supposed to fit me...but it looks great on Brice....Jason's not sure yet...he thinks it may look too girly...what do you think?

Halloween

We had a fun Halloween last weekend:) Every year our neighborhood has a potluck get together on Halloween and this year we decided to go. It was a great way to get to know our neighbors a little better. After the potluck we took the kids trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. They had a great time. We let Brice trick-or-treat too this year and he quickly got the hang of it:)



Emma the Ballerina (that got cold half way through) and Brice the Dalmatian (I love the tail..it was especially cute when it waged when he walked!). If you look closely you will see that they were using Easter baskets. Halloween baskets...yet another thing I packed(thinking we would for sure be moved by Halloween!) and wished I hadn't. Brice held tight to his basket the whole time...it was fun prying it from his fingers when we got home. He said his first "sentence" that night "unt dat" (want that!).




We also carved our jack-o-lantern on Halloween as well. Emma drew the face on the pumpkin and I carved it:) Emma wanted legs on him so the line on the side of the pumpkin is his legs:)

Fun at Home

Today we had a great day without leaving the house(except for a quick walk around the neighborhood). About 3 days a week we are out of the house a good part of the day because I am a nanny. In the past I have nannied in people's homes and in my own. My present job is not in my home. I am enjoying it and the family I work for is great! I love that I have the opportunity to nanny because I can work and still be with my kids! I have found that the times that I have not had a job as a nanny I miss it because I enjoy the challenge and interaction with children and their parents. Back to today...I tend to be the kind of person that likes to get out and go places but today it was good to just be here...and my cleanish(cleanish because I can never get my house totally clean in a day with 2 kids to love on as well) house thanks me:) I had to share some pictures of some of the things we did today...

Emma helped me make some honey whole wheat bread...she loves adding the flour...I think some actually made it into the bowl:) If you look closely you will see she even had flour on her cheek....a sign of a true baker:) PS...gotta love that smile...that is how she used to always smile for pictures; eyes half shut and looking like she is in pain...it still comes back every once and a while:)

I had to add the picture from yesterday afternoon....I got my hair cut yesterday and of course as soon as we got home Emma wanted her hair cut as well. I have cut her hair in the past and I have also taken her to a salon to get it cut...I decided to try it again since the last time was at a salon and I could pretty much see how it was cut before. It turned out pretty good:) Thankfully she has curly hair so it hides my mistakes:) I thought about taking the scissors to Brice's hair but I could see that that would be a disaster with his straight blond hair and wiggly body:)

Weekend fun in NC

We have had busy couple of weekends visiting in family in NC:) We had a great time and it was fun getting to see everyone! Hopefully it won't be long before we won't have to travel so far (though around 3hrs isn't that long compared to some) to see everyone.

On our first trip we went in Greensboro to visit the McCracken side of the family. Jason's sister is pregnant and due December 30th...though we are praying for a baby boy to hold on Christmas:) We were excited to celebrate her and her husband and 7yr old son with a baby shower that weekend. We had a good time catching up with everyone. Jason's brother and his wife were in town (they spend most of their time overseas) so it was great to connect with them. On our way home we stopped by my brother and sister in law's house to visit with my new nephew (Jack) and my mom (who was taking care of him while my bro and sister in law worked). He had grown so much since I had seen him last...it was fun seeing him more interactive.

The kids had fun playing outside with the dogs:)

Chillin' Jack

This past weekend we went the my parent's house. Jason did not make it on this trip so it was just the kids and I. We missed Jason but still had a fun time. My sister(Laura), brother in law(Dennis) and their 4 kids (Rebecca (5yrs), Hannah (20mo.), Samuel (20mo) and Isaac (1yr) were there as well:) The kids had a great time together. Emma and Rebecca always have a fun time together...though Laura and I always joke that they are in their "honeymoon" faze when they first get together and we are always aware that the honeymoon is over when they start fighting...this time the honeymoon was over by day 2:) The younger kids also had a fun time...it is cool to see them as they get older and play together more.

The young scholars

Fun on Bama and Granddaddy's back porch:)

On Saturday while Laura and Dennis went to a friend's wedding we took the kids to a pre-halloween festival downtown. Emma and Becca had fun jumping in the bounce house they had and trick-or-treating at the downtown shops. The girls were cute in the car on the way home...comparing and smelling their candy...they managed to wait until after supper to delve into their candy:)

Isaac hung out with me in this cool side sling thing that my sister has....it was nice to have seeing that we had 2 adults and 6kids!

Brice Alan McCracken Aka BAM:)

A little about Brice; Past and Present

Past

*We just knew Brice was a boy when I was pregnant with him...I was really excited to have a boy; though a little scared about how I would relate to him since we only had a girl. It's cool to see how much Brice has taught me in 17months.

*He was born 10 days late(though he thought he was just on time:)! God seems to find all kinds of ways to teach me patience...waiting to move to Charlotte reminds me (on a different scale) of waiting for Brice to be born...I didn't know when he would come and it was not in my hands.

*He was 9lbs 8oz (we skipped newborn diapers:) Emma was 7lbs 6oz...it will be interesting to see how big the next baby (God willing) will be!

Present

* Brice loves to "help" me around the house(as you can see from the pictures). He is my cooking companion (Aspiring Chef)..he stands on the stool in the kitchen as I cook and watches with a random measuring cup and spoon that I have given him or he has found rummaging through the kitchen drawers. He often gets out all my pots and pans and "cooks" with them (why do we have toys?) He also loves vacuums and brooms. Whenever I am using either of these he is right there with me wanting to help push the vacuum or use my broom.

*He loves, loves, loves dogs! Whenever he sees a new dog he goes crazy and says "dog, dog". We have 2 dogs of our own that he likes to follow around will try to find as soon as he wakes up. He also loves to feed them. Every morning Brice puts the dog's bowls down where they go and then calls to them with a kissing sound (which Jason and I use to call the dogs) to get them to come and eat:)

*He also loves his sister (most of the time:). He laughs and laughs when they are playing. I have seen him lately start to "protect" her by handing her things that are hers and sharing his food with her.

*He now hates his highchair :( He will no longer sit in it when we are at our house. He wants to sit in a regular chair (like his sister) on his knees. Our challenge now is teaching him to not stand up on the chair and to not get down when we are eating.

*He loves his sister (most of the time:). He laughs and laughs when they are playing. I have seen him lately start to "protect" her by handing her things that are hers and sharing his food with her.

*He uses a few words (Dog, all done, please ("ease"), mama, Dada and uoh). I suspect he knows a few more words but we don't understand him:)

Emma Ruth

"There was a little girl

Who had a little curl

Right in the middle of her forehead.

When she was good

She was very, very good,

But when she was bad she was horrid." by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This poem is a pretty good discription of our Emma...even down to the curls:) There are times, especially as she is getting older (I'm so excited that we are almost out of the 3's) that she is very, very good. She loves to take care of her brother. There are times when they play so well together that I can actually sit down and read or get something done around the house (and it not be nap time:). The other day she cleaned up her room without much prompting from me and also volentarrily cleaned up Brice's room. She will randomly so sweet things like "I love you mommy! or "Your a sweet mommy"(probably because I tell her she is a sweet girl). But there are times when she acts horrid! These are times when she is just plain grumpy and I tell her to go upstairs to her room because we don't like being around people who are acting grumpy. One of her latest grumpy times has to do with church on wednesday nights. Jason and I have been helping out with the highschool students for 5yrs now...it was a stretch for us because we both weren't popular as teens or very outgoing but we have found that we love it:) Emma (and now Brice) have always come with us and just hung out with the teens right along with us. Emma has always been clingy durring those times unless she has a friend her age around. As she is getting older we are trying to get her to "use her good maners" and at least smile at the teens and answer some of their questions when they ask her something. Well a few weeks ago she definatly was not doing that. As one of the teens was talking to her kindly I caught Emma sticking her tongue out at her and giving her a scowl! I was horrified...that does really help the whole being there to make the teens feel loved and accepted when my child is sticking her tongue out at them! "This to shall pass" right?

Here Goes:)

Well this is my first post of my blog that I've been writing in my head for about 6 months now. Things happen throughout the day that I think "that would be a great blog post" but I have never actually gotten around to making a blog until now:) My sister is cheering now because it has been her voice in my head that has been telling me to start a blog. She is definitely my inspiration since she has an awesome blog that I'm addicted to. I'm mainly doing a blog to keep track of my children's life (more on them to come:) and share it with my family and friends. Also as the name of my blog indicates I want to keep track of the wonderful Odyssey God is taking us on. I love the definition of Odyssey: a spiritual journey, an extended adventurous voyage or trip, an eventful journey. I have to remind myself to think of life this way. It is easy to get focused on my worries and troubles and forget that God has us on a wonderful adventure and he is using it to shape us into beautiful vessels for Him. I pray that some day I can say that this verse is true in my life: "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Phil. 4:11-13 It is not about us pushing our way through life and making things work on our own. God gives us strength to get through life with contentment through the ups and the downs.