Christmas Eve Eve

Tonight is "Christmas Eve" at the Schneider House.  Santa will be here tonight to drop off Josie's first round of presents that we'll open in the morning before heading to Xenia for another round of Christmas Eve and Christmas with Grandma, DD, Tia, Tio, Lyla & Jack.

Here are some of the festivities from our Christmas Eve!

This is the letter Josie had me write to Santa. Verbatim. I giggled the whole way through it.

Here is Josie making a picture "for Santa to hang on the wall of his North Pole bedroom."

The finished product - complete with traced "Santa" at the bottom. She was worried that he wouldn't be able to read it if she wrote it herself. (I think she was trying to impress him, which is adorable.)

 Making this year's batch of "Glitter Oats" for the reindeer. We almost forgot to make them and when Josie reminded us, she ran a loop around the house declaring "Josie Saved Christmas!!!"

 Sprinkling & spreading the oats around the yard...

 

 And now, my favorite thing! Of course Josie wanted to leave cookies and milk for Santa. She has been collecting bits of left over cookies and treats all week and leaving them out on a plate overnight "because Santa likes his cookies crunchy like toast." So tonight, we talked about setting the cookies & milk on the kitchen table. We set out one plate and one cup. Then, Josie took over. About ten minutes later, she had set up a plate and cup for Santa & Mrs. Claus and 9 other cups set up for the reindeer. Each cup was filled with chocolate milk (we did help with that) & she broke the cookies in pieces so each guest would have a piece.

Josie truly has the sweetest and most generous heart. Don't get me wrong - she's *thrilled* about getting presents for Christmas, but I *adore* the moments when she demonstrates to us that it's not all about her.

Christmas around the Casa

Here are a few photos of our favorite things around the house this holiday season.

Love our tree -  it feels like a "family tree" with its crazy assortment of beautiful old ornaments from Lou's family, ornaments Lou & I have collected over the years to mark occasions and vacations, homemade ornaments from Josie & ornaments that were ours as kids.  It just makes me smile, and I wish we could keep it up all year! (Not to mention the smell of a real tree in the house. Mmmm....)

Our stockings hung by the chimney with care...all four of them...above our main fireplace which roars from sunrise to bedtime every day. (Oh & one very happy cat who can be found sprawled out in front of one of them at any part of the day.)

The wreath Josie & I made together...

The "winter branch" Josie & I made out of foil and tissue paper out of one of her craft books...

Josie's collection of holiday pictures hanging on our side door...

Three of those homemade ornaments that make our tree so special -  the bread ornament, a glittering gingerbread boy from school & a "lucky tiger ornament" Josie made one morning.

A "happy coincidence" - Josie's ornament from school hanging next to the nest with three eggs we bought to represent the "three little birds" we've lost that will always be a part of our family.

There she grows!

Oddly enough, I'm now 30 weeks pregnant and these are the FIRST "bump" photos. I actually just pulled the trigger on our first official family photo shoot next weekend as well. Maybe it's because it really is just now sinking in that this.is.actually.happening!

(Oh dear sweet little baby, we'd go to the ends of the earth for you...)

Snowy Days

The last month has been absolutely bananas!  Cincinnati has set record temperatures for cold temperatures and snow totals. Winter has hit us like a ton of frozen bricks, and it's safe to say we were totally unprepared for the realities of this old house and single digit temperatures. It's been one costly home improvement after another, none of which was really too surprising. But, add to this the already jam-packed schedule and my massive Dec. 17th work deadline and um...yea...not pretty. (Oh & the bedrest.)
Anyway, with all the chaos, it's been a pretty amazing month so far.  We *LOVE* having our very own snowy yard to play in and it's been a blast decorating for Christmas and hanging out by the perpetual fire.  Simply put, life is good.
Here are all of the December moments I've managed to capture so far.  And I think we all know this is just the tip of the iceberg with Mr. Claus coming to town very soon.

OUR FIRST SNOW DAY:

 

 

 

 FIRST SNOWMAN (ALL 6 INCHES OF HIM):

 SCRAPS, SEEDS & SNOWBALLS FOR THE BACKYARD WILDLIFE:

 NEW CAMERA SETTING:

 

DECORATING FOR CHRISTMAS:

WATCHING THE BIRDS & SQUIRRELS DINE ON ALL OUR SCRAPS & SEEDS:

 OUR SNOWY HOME:

 HOMEMADE ORNAMENTS (really fun, easy craft using stale bread):

 "THE BIG SNOW":

 TREKKING THROUGH THE YARD:

PRETENDING TO BE PETER FROM "THE SNOWY DAY" BY WHACKING A SNOW-COVERED BRANCH: (She has the book memorized, cover to cover and we play "Peter" every time we're outside in the snow.)

 OUR SMALL BUT PRETTY HOLIDAY LIGHTS:  (Next year they are going up at Thanksgiving. We bought so much stuff to decorate the house but only these lights on the bushes made it up before it got too cold & too snowy to add anything else.)

jolly little elves

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ho ho ho

Thanks to grandma & dd for taking josie to see santa over the weekend.

And for your 'quick quote' enjoyment... when grandma fifi saw the picture and asked josie where she went to see santa, josie's reply: "the xenia north pole."

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caught red-handed...

...swiping a candy cane from the tree, in one heckuva sugar plum fairy get-up

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2010 "Gingerbread House"

Last year we decided to start an annual tradition of creating a family gingerbread house. Long story short, it ended up being way more complicated than we could've imagined, because *every* kit and mix across several stores was processed with peanuts. So, we had to make the whole darn thing from scratch. And it was a little bit of a disaster - a hilarious, memory-filled disaster.  Josie remembered making the gingerbread house from last year, and recently started asking when we were going to make the one for this year.  Needless to say, we were thrilled this weekend when Josie had the impromptu idea Sunday morning to use the leftover crackers from Thanksgiving to make the 2010 "gingerbread house." I was sitting on the couch and she brought over a bunch of boxes of crackers, some marshmallows, raisins and "pretzel sticks for a perfect chimney." She was ready to go!  We grabbed some glue, put some foil on a cutting board and made the perfect "gingerbread house."  Lou & I worked on the construction with her help & suggestions, but the decorating was all Josie.  I like the "marshmallow path" she made in the front.
And that chimney creation is just priceless.
Oh, and be sure to check out the Austin Family Gingerbread House.
These are some of their sweetest family photos yet!  :) 

tree preview

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the celebration

Carissa is staying with us for a couple of weeks - until she graduates and moves back to New York. (We are in denial, so not going to discuss that now.) It's been a really fun week so far. Yesterday was Carissa's birthday and Josie was hilarious about the whole thing. She kept asking about 'the celebration.' We had a great time celebrating at Teak for dinner and with Graeters ice cream cake for dessert. Happy Birthday Sisis! We love you!!!

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Dancing Josie Bonanza!

Fueled by way too many starbursts (or "starbirds" according to Josie), what started as a ballet show (in her 3rd birthday clothes that she dug out) quickly morphed into a pirate - snail - snake - treadmill - windmill - penguin dance show. My favorite line: "No, the audience doesn't get to do it!" Enjoy!

Baby Naming News!

According to multiple reports from Josie's teachers at school, her darling little sister's name has grown.  Drumroll please...

"Roly Poly Hamburger Helicopter"

Oh and when her teacher was telling me the big news - she said, "Did you know Roly Poly has a middle name now? It's Roly Poly Hamburger Helicopter." Josie added: "Actually, it's Roly Poly Hamburger Helicopter Schneider."  :)

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas...

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Peaceful Parenting & Positive Discipline

Ask and you shall receive my friends! After posting on Facebook this morning that Louie & I attended a seminar on Peaceful Parenting last night at Cintas, I received about a dozen comments or emails asking to share the resources from the talk.  I thought this would be the easiest way to get them all in one place.  So - here you go. (We've been following these philosophies since Josie was a wee little thing, with great success and we highly recommend checking this stuff out!) Enjoy!

POSITIVE DISCIPLINE & PEACEFUL PARENTING RESOURCES

BOOKS:

Positive Discipline for Pre-schoolers by  Jane Nelson http://www.amazon.com/Positive-Discipline-Preschoolers-Years--Raising-Responsible/dp/0307341607/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291388555&sr=1-1

The Discipline Book by Dr. Sears http://www.amazon.com/Discipline-Book-Better-Behaved-Child-Birth/dp/0316779032/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291388481&sr=8-1

The No-Cry Discipline Solution by Elizabeth Pantley http://www.amazon.com/No-Cry-Discipline-Solution-Encourage-Behavior/dp/0071471596/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1291388481&sr=8-2

Everyday Blessings:   The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting by Jon Kabat-Zinn http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0786883146/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Unconditional Parenting by Alfie Kohn http://www.amazon.com/Unconditional-Parenting-Moving-Rewards-Punishments/dp/0743487486/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291389308&sr=8-1  (Note: there’s a DVD of this too that’s available on Amazon – or check the library.)

The Parents’ Tao Te Ching by William Martin http://www.amazon.com/Parents-Tao-Te-Ching-Ancient/dp/1569246629/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291389974&sr=8-1

WEBSITES & BLOGS:

Positive Discipline Overview http://www.positivediscipline.com/what-is-positive-discipline.html

Jane Nelson’s Positive Discipline Products Website: http://www.positivediscipline.com/

Peaceful Parenting Blog:  http://www.peacefulparenting.com/blog/

Peaceful Parent Institute: http://www.peaceful-parent.com/

Beech Acres, Strength-Based Practical Parenting: http://www.beechacres.org/Strength-based-Practical-Parenting.aspx

Mindfulness (and Parenting): http://mindful.org/at-home/parenting

Youtube VIDEOS:

Positive Discipline Video on YouTube (by Jane Nelson) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-e4H2rsEww

Alfie Kohn on Time-outs & Punishment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRE2gqjQx5Q

Alfie Kohn of Reward & Over-Praise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQesSzkZW4s

Ten Ways Attachment Parenting Makes Discipline Easier (Dr. Bill Sears & Martha Sears) – audio only http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x70rqAv1r-c&feature=related

FACEBOOK GROUPS:

·         http://www.facebook.com/positivediscipline

·         http://www.facebook.com/peacefulparenting

·         http://www.facebook.com/AttachmentParenting

One Fine, Fall Day

Now that it's feeling a lot more like winter than fall here in Cincy (first snow, no leaves, gray skies, icy windshields, etc, etc)... I'm quickly coming to the realization that the end of 2010 is approaching. That means a lot of catching up to do here on the blog to clear out the 2010 photo files and get them published here by January.  (Sidebar: We print hard copy books of our blog every year, hence the goal to get all the 2010 stuff where it belongs - in the 2010 book.) 
There are lots of future posts ruminating, but as I was scanning the "still needs blogged" file on Picasa, these quickly jumped out at me.  I think it's that first snow from earlier this week that has me mourning how quickly autumn came to pass this year.
So - with that - here are some snapshots from my camera that I took one day at Owl's Nest Park when the leaves had just started to change. It was pre-bedrest so Josie and I had spent a good amount of time playing "bus driver" on the playset and traveled to all sorts of faraway places (in case you're interested, all you have to do is steer the bus from the top, tell it where you want to go, then slide down the slide & you're instantly there).  While we were swimming around with the jellyfish under the coral, Josie noticed this really bright red tree all the way on the other side of the park.  We both ran over there & these are the pictures that followed. Enjoy - one last glimpse of fall 2010.

 

Thanksgiving 2010

Here are a few photos from Thanksgiving weekend.  The first Thanksgiving at the new house was a success!

DD & Jack

Tickle Time!

Grandma & Josie reading the coolest book ever - "Frosty the Snowman" (from Hallmark I believe) that Grandma & DD recorded themselves reading. SOOOO Cute!

Our new dining room - complete with the paint & wallpaper that was finished two days before guests arrived and a (sweet antique score) dining room set from Craiglist that we got the night before!

Josie in the jumperoo! (I know you remember all those early videos of "Jumpin' Josie" in this thing. She was so excited to get right back in it & spent a pretty decent amount of time bouncing around the whole weekend. And yes - it's still sitting in my living room even though Jack is back in Chicago.)

And now for the heartwarmers...
So many things about this next one make me smile - the hug, Lyla's pearls, their striped tights...

The way Lyla is holding Josie's knee...

Trying for a full family picture. My sister has the final one because we couldn't figure out the timer on mine.  Lou's on the other side of the lens trying to figure it all out...

All told - mission accomplished!  Some highlights: Josie & Lyla sleeping together in Josie's bed; Josie's comment when Tia was changing Jack's diaper;  the sound of Josie & Lyla chasing each other through the house; Lyla playing "Where's Lou-Lou?"; two "nudey booties" going up the stairs; Oh - not to mention -  green bean casserole, chocolate pie and my sister's blue cheese dip that changed my life. :)

first snow

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