Making do

So I decided to have Aurora wear her Christmas dress after all. We had to cuff the sleeves, but it didn't look to bad.

Frustrating !

So I thought it would be a lot of fun to have Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty have matching dresses for Christmas. However I didn't come up with this idea in enough time to sew them myself. However Sears sells the brand Youngland, which makes fancy little girl dresses, and has similar ones in the little girl sizes and baby sizes. So I hunted around and found some, and bought them on sale.

They are cute dresses and I am happy with my purchase. When the package got here, I opened it, checked to make sure they were what I thought I had ordered, but forgot to check the sizes.

So today I was looking at them, and noticed that Sleeping Beauty's is bigger than the other 12 month size dress it was hanging next to in the closet. It was then that I noticed that it wasn't a 12 month size, but a 24 month size. So I promptly went to the computer to see if the sears near me happened to have that dress in stock in the right size. Nope. But they did have all of their dresses on sale for 60% off as a door buster this morning. (Why do they call it a door buster on line?) Anyway, so I decided that since Cinderella doesn't have a lot of dresses, I could probably afford to buy a new one for her, and get one that matched for Sleeping Beauty. So I did a bunch of hunting. Most of the Christmas type dresses were out of stock. (Go figure, it's the day after Christmas.) But I was able to find one that they had in both sizes. So I placed my order.

Then at 5:45 this afternoon I get an e-mail telling me that the 12 month size dress is out of stock and so that item on the order has been canceled. I was already frustrated because they won't have their matching dresses for tomorrow, but I was hoping to have some by the first Sunday of the New Year. Well because the sale ended at noon, I can't even afford to get them both dresses. I did get a new dress for Sleeping Beauty (if this order doesn't fall through), and Cinderella will be keeping her original one. So they both get dresses, however they won't match. That makes me sad, but their isn't anything I can do about it now.

But I can make sure they have matching dresses for Easter. I'm going to make those ones myself.

A tea set and cars

So I try to stay on top of my Christmas shopping and get it done before the Christmas Season really starts. This has it's down sides sometimes too.

We went to a Christmas party a last week, and when Cinderella sat on Santa's lap she told him she wanted a tea set. This was the first I had heard of this idea. However it has cropped up several times since then. When I asked Cinderella what she wanted in her stocking she told me a tea set. I asked her if she thought a tea set would fit in her stocking. She said she thought it would. Last night she was sobbing in her bed. I went to see what was wrong, she told me she had a dream where it was Christmas and her stocking was empty. Now I've already gotten all of her presents and she isn't getting a tea set. At least not that I know of. I wonder if she will be really disappointed on Christmas when she doesn't get it.

Guy on the other hand is certain that his presents are all cars. Because he loves cars so much, of course someone would be giving him cars right? Wrong. Not one of his presents that I know about are cars. Trains, yes. A tractor, yes. Cars, no. I hope he's not too disappointed either.

Is it always this hard to get gifts for people?

Santa Claus. They want to believe

My husband grew up in a family where his parents taught him there isn't a Santa Claus.

I grew up in a family where there was Santa Claus.

My husband told me when we were still dating, before we were married that he didn't want to teach his children about Santa Claus. Now I can respect that, but I wasn't so sure that I wanted to tell my children that Santa isn't real, because I believe he is.

No, I don't believe in a fat man who lives at the North Pole. But I do believe in people giving gifts anonymously and saying they are from "Santa." Whether it be parents or people giving gifts to a needy family, I do believe Santa exists. My husband could see some value in my opinion as well and we decided on a compromise. We decided that we would teach our children that Santa is a game that people play, when they want to give gifts to someone without the recipient knowing who the gift is from.

As time has gone on, we have had some gifts from "Santa" in our home. But we never really told our kids that Santa is real, or that he isn't.

The other day I was having a discussion with Cinderella. She was asking me if she can stay awake all night on Christmas Eve. I asked why she wanted to do that. She said, because she wants to see Santa so she can get a present from him. So how do you reply to such a comment with out giving the message that Santa is real or that he isn't?

I asked her if she thought she needed to see Santa to get a present. She said no. So I asked why she wanted to see him, and she said she just did. I then started to tell her that Santa is a game. She cut me off by whining. I asked what was wrong, and she told me she didn't like what I was saying. So I ended it there and haven't made any comments on the subject since.

I guess she really wants to believe and who am I to not let her.

My Kids Chrismas Clothes

So did I get their clothes finished in time?
Cinderella's dress minus buttons and buttonholes.
Guy- Store bought pants, I made the shirt and tie, however I didn't get a vest done. His shirt was also minus buttons and buttonholes. I took a day after Christmas and got the buttonholes and buttons put on both their outfits. Actually my mom took pity on me and put half of the buttons on. Thanks Mom. Oh and I also made Cinderella's hair bows.

Rush to the finish line

Getting ready for Christmas always seems to involve rushing around. It doesn't seem to matter how early I start and how on top of things I think I am, I seem to still find myself rushing around trying to get ready in the last moments. I think I am probably not alone in this. I'm guessing that many of us are this way.
This year for Christmas, we are going to my parents house. We booked our flight in July, and so I started shopping for presents then. I was really on top of it. By the end of August I had about half of my presents purchased and shipped to my parents.
Then on Labor Day weekend, I was checking my e-mail and noticed one from JoAnn's. Now most of the time I don't read junk e-mail, but for some reason, this time I did. I noticed that they had Christmas fabrics on sale, and for some reason I decided to follow the link to their website. While I was there I saw a blue fabric with snow flakes on it. Seeing that fabric put an image in my mind of a dress for Cinderella, and a little vest and bow-tie for Guy Smiley. So I just had to go out and get the fabric to make them.
Just a little background for those of you who don't know.... When I was in college I majored in Family and Consumer Science Education. One subject that is covered a lot in that major is sewing. I never really sewed before college, in fact I was terrified of a sewing machine. Then I had to take the class, and so I started sewing.
Just before the semester when I was supposed to take my second sewing class, my husband and I decided that it would by wise to invest in a sewing machine, so that I could work at home. I didn't know much about sewing machines at this point. All I knew was the ones we used at school were Bernina's and my mom's machine that she had for years and loved, as far as I know, was a Singer. So I looked for a Singer that was what we felt like an affordable price.
The machine I ended up with was a great machine for someone who is only doing basic sewing, or someone who is learning, but to do a lot of sewing, it wasn't the best thing we could have bought. This machine has a strait stitch and a zig zag. It only has a basic foot, and so you are quite limited on what you can do on it. So I haven't done that much sewing since I left college, where I had access to more advanced sewing machines. That and I hadn't even set up my machine since we had moved here.
So after I bought and laundered the fabric, my husband helped me rearrange the furniture so that we could get my machine set up. But still my machine stayed in it's box, because I just couldn't figure out when I would find the time that I could sew with two kids about. One of them being old enough to maybe catch on to what I was doing.
Then at the end of October I had one of my sister-in-law's come for a visit. She was working on sewing a quilt. She had done most of it at my father-in-law's house, but was stitching the binding by hand, while she was visiting us. I don't know if it was seeing her sew, or just realizing how much time I had while she was here, but I decided to do something about my sewing. So I got my machine out of the box, and decided to make some pillow covers, that I had been intending to make. I figured I would do this first, so that I wouldn't be as rusty when I was sewing my kids clothes. Well that plan worked for maybe 3 days. Then I realized, that I could do the sewing, but when would I cut out the fabric? So I stopped, and decided to just buy some clothes for my kids.
I stayed in this stage until about right before Thanksgiving. I decided that if I was going to buy some clothes for my kids I better get to the store to do it. I went shopping and came home disgusted by all of the holiday commercialism in the stores, as well as not having found anything that would work. I decided then and there that I would make them clothes and I wouldn't put it off any longer. The next day as soon as I got up, and my kids were still sleeping I got one of my peices of fabric laid out. Then any moment I got throughout that day I worked on getting it ready to cut. By the end of that I had my blue fabric cut, and so the next few days I worked on getting it sewn together as best I could. I then did a similar day with my white fabric.
Well somewhere along the line, I learned that the fabric I had gotten for my son's pants was too light weight for winter. So that put me on hold there.
Then I realized that the reason I had not been able to find anything for him in stores is because I was looking for something in a 9-12 month size, which by the way doesn't exist. Once I learned or remembered that baby sizes went 6-9 months then 12 months, I decided that I would try to buy a shirt and pants for Guy and then make the vest and bow-tie. So I found an outfit on Sears website, and bought it. When it arrived it was way too big. So now I am back to making a shirt for him, as well as the vest and bow-tie. And I only have a week. I am almost done with Cinderella's dress. I am doing everything except for button's and buttonholes. Those I will do on my mother's machine, most likely after Christmas. So now I am in a mad rush to the finish to see what I can get done for Guy, before the big day arrives. I'll post pictures of my creations after Christmas and tell you how it went.

Gettintg Elfed

I got an e-mail from my dad, about elfing people he loved. I clicked on the link in it and saw quite the site. You might get a kick out of seeing the people I elfed. Have a Merry Christmas.

Can't have Christmas without Snow

Cinderella was sick this weekend. So much so, that she missed church on Sunday. Going to church is one of her favorite things. Particularly nursery. (The class for children aged 18 months to 3 years). Daddy stayed home with her, and Guy and I went to church. Later in the day, I thought I would help her Sunday feel more like Sunday.
On Sundays in our home, we try to behave differently than we do the other days of the week, and we try to do things that help us remember our Savior, and Father in Heaven. So I suggested watching a movie. Well of course she was all for that, but when I pulled one off the shelf that wasn't one of the standards, she wasn't incredibly happy. The move was "Mr. Krueger's Christmas." A film staring Jimmy Stewart, and featuring the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I tried to pacify her by telling her it is a Christmas movie. She said "NO! I DON'T WANT TO WATCH THE CHRISTMAS MOVIE. I DON'T WANT CHRISTMAS!"
I didn't respond to this the best. I have to admit, I was tired and emotional, and frustrated with my daughter. Well after some thought and prayer, I finally got her to sit down and read stories with me.
Well I kept thinking on this incident, and decided that she was tried with "Christmas" because all she understood about Christmas, is that it is something that has been changing a lot of things, like movies, and music, etc. from stuff that she likes, to stuff she isn't really familiar with, and she was tired of it.
So then we used our Little People Nativity, to tell her the Christmas story and try to explain what Christmas is.
Then this morning, she corrected my assumption. She found the case for "Mr. Krueger's Christmas" and asked me what it was. I told her it was the case for the DVD that was in the computer, and I took the DVD out to show her. She then told me "Cinderella doesn't want to watch that movie."
I told her, "you don't have to."
And then she said, "We don't have any snow. Grandma, has lots of snow."
I asked her, "so we can't have Christmas without snow?"
And she said, "No. We need snow."
Well for Christmas this year, we are going to Grandma's house, in the state with the slogan, "The Greatest Snow on Earth".
So hopefully for Cinderellas sake, we will have snow on Christmas.

A Winter Wonderland?

So we live in a climate that is known for their wet winters. Rain, rain, and more rain. So we figured we most likely wouldn't see much snow this winter. Cinderella was quite disappointed by this. She has gotten the idea somewhere in her almost 3 years, that Christmas needs snow. In fact one Sunday as we were driving home from church she told me "Mom, Christmas is coming." I said "Yes it is", and she said, "Do you see snow? Where's the snow?" We have seen snow forcasted a few times, but never had any fall. Well that all changed. Today we got snow. When Cinderella woke up from her nap, the world was white outside. So of course we had to bundle up the whole family and go and play in it.

The kids loved it. Cinderella couldn't get enough of it. And once we put Guy down in the snow, he took off and had a hay day until he realized he was cold. He was then ready to go back inside. However I think he would have been happy to come out again if we had let him.

The Wonderful World of Sharing. or Guy Smiley vs. Cinderella

So now that I am done with my Alphabet Soup, I can move on to other things. So lately Guy has become a menace. At least in the eyes of Cinderella.

Cinderella loves her Little People toys. We decided that this year, we would invest in a Little People Nativity, to have out with our Christmas stuff. Part of this nativity is a stable that has a spot for an Angel to sit on top. Then you push down on the Angel and it plays "Away in a Manger". Guy loves to hear it play.
So picture this if you will. Cinderella is sitting on the floor. She has her "special" People (what we call the nativity Little People), all organized the way she wants it and is playing. Guy sees her playing and wants to play too. So here he comes crawling over, right through the Wise Men, and animals, knocking them all over, continues crawling, picks up a donkey, and sits down, right in Cinderella's lap. Then he turns to the stable. He pulls himself up on it, pushes down on the Angel, turning the stable over in the process. So do you think Cinderella is as happy as can be that her brother wants to play with her? No! She yells, "Guy, my people!" Or "Guy, play with something else!" or "I don't like you, Guy!" Does she like him, yes, just not what he is doing at the moment.


Guy loves his sister. He wants to do whatever she is doing. The problem: She doesn't always want him to play with her. So she has developed those lovely sibling qualities. Yelling, hitting, kicking, pushing, etc. You get the picture. So my question is: how do I deal with it?

So I want some feedback. How do you deal with sibling love? Or lack thereof? Lately I've been taking away a toy that is being fought over. Well, that is, after time out didn't work.

It isn't fair to expect Cinderella to always have to play with Guy, when she wants to play by herself. But it also shouldn't be expected that Guy never play with Cinderella, just because she doesn't want him wrecking her setup. Anyway I'll accept any suggestions. Let me know.