With 2009 nearing its final pages of the book, I'm gearing up to tackle some projects around our home through the new year. For those of you who haven't been to our home, you probably would not know that there is always a project going on. I absolutely love doing home projects. I'm inspired to do so much, with so little time. While our home is modest, what sold us to sign the closing papers when we bought this house almost five years ago was the location itself. The house backs to miles of wilderness, all protected by the Town Creek River. We knew it was the perfect place to raise our children, a place where they can explore. Our home is a spec house, meaning there usually aren't any customs. These little fancy things are not high on our priority list. When we first moved into our home, we were given a blank canvas to work with. For starters, one of the first projects we did was the kids' bathroom. It is between the kids' bedrooms and is a very nice size to work with, considering for a non-master bathroom. The builders put in carpet in the sink area and vinyl in the tub area. I could not stand the carpet anymore. The carpet would get soaked every time the kids got out of the tub. I could only find one "before" picture of the kids' bathroom, showing the vinyl flooring (Forrest getting ready for his bath). We included Summer in this project as much as we could. Summer, the so-called tile queen, had fun picking out the white spacers after the tiles were dry and settled. Now I love that everything has a place. We tiled the entire bathroom floor, wainscoted the tub area, changed the hardware, replaced the light fixture, and painted the walls a subtle gray/purple color with white trim. I love white and cream colors, but with this being a kids' bathroom, I added some splash of color. I am amazed what little changes can do to transform a room on a small budget. Here is to 2010 with a long list of projects waiting my attention and hopefully I can get some done before the year passes by too quickly.
Today we learned something new about our little girl... Summer is an ice princess. Summer had so much fun. David took Forrest first and he decided he did NOT like the ice at all. He was content to sit and hold a hockey puck that David had found. When we found a "skating trainer", Summer quickly took off. We took turns skating with Summer while one of us stayed with Forrest. I must say, this girl worn both of us out! She kept giggling, "This is so much fun!" while I skated backwards to make sure the path was clear for her. It was a magical day to turn the last page of the year 2009 and I can't wait to go back to the rink with my ice princess.
"I happy" is often heard from his little boy all day long, with his big smile and blue eyes lit up. Forrest is sure a happy boy. There is only one Forrest Logan Schultz on this planet and I am so lucky to have him. He brings so much joy to my life.
I would have to say without a doubt that celebrating Christmas is much more fun as a parent. It was so much fun watching how excited the kids were as they came down the stairs to see what Santa had brought for them. Santa definitely got it right this year. So fun! Summer danced to the Nutcracker ballet that Grams had given her. This morning when Summer woke up she asked me how many "more sleeps" until the next one. Lucky for Santa (he is tired!) we have 364 more sleeps until we can do it all again.
We went to our church tonight for their traditional christmas eve pageant. The program was so cute. The kids loved the christmas songs. We got home late, the kids could not wait to put out the cookies and milk for Santa. Summer was smitten with the "Santa's special cookie plate" that I had found earlier this week. She made sure to write a note for Santa. Forrest is in complete awe of everything. We told Summer and Forrest that they had to hurry and get to sleep so that Santa could deliver their toys. It is now way past midnight. I am beyond tired but I love this part being a parent. David is currently in the garage with every tool from his workshop to get ready for a lot of assembling. It took me some time to figure out where I hid all of the gifts but I think I have everything. I hope tomorrow morning will be as magical and fun for our kids as it has been for us preparing for it.
Each night before bed we read a holiday book with all four of us snuggled up in our bed. I read about two pages each night and we would wait the next night to read two more until the story is finished. The best part is watching the kids talk about what they think will happen next. recently we finished The Polar Express story. I told Summer and Forrest that we have a surprise. We all went down to the living room where the movie, The Polar Express, was coming on. Their eyes went wide! We all sat together with a big blanket and did not move once during the entire movie. It is so much fun to watch the kids experience this. I think it is even more fun for us as parents.
Sharing christmas with children makes for quite a magical season. Our little kids are just in complete awe of anything and everything to do with Christmas. Summer was snuggled up to me on the couch the other night and said, "Mommy, thanks for making our house a christmas house". As the mom in this house, I do feel a responsibility to create the magic of Christmas for Summer and Forrest. We have the tree up and decorated, stockings are hanging over our fireplace. The wreaths are hung... We even have reindeer statue on our front porch, for heavens sake. It is pretty magical for sure. Every morning we watch a different Christmas movie curled up on the couch. All of that is amazing and great but I am also trying to teach these little children the real reason we are doing all of this. I want them to know that having this "Christmas House" is my attempt at showing them the importance of this season. David and I have had family nights with the children where we talked about the importance of giving. Giving is love. I really want them to know why this season is so magical and so special. And David's and my hope is that the Schultz home will be a Christmas house all year long.
We were all rushing in to see Santa during "Cookies with Santa" at my friend's neighborhood. All the kids were running to see Santa, but my kids ran the opposite direction. My kids love talking about Santa and seeing Santa everywhere, but they do not like sit with him or even talk to him. Summer and Forrest have to see his complete face. Of course, Santa can't take his beard or hat off. Luckily, the party had tables with fun stuff to do. Off we went to the crafts table where the kids made reindeer treats. Reindeer treats are made of oats, sugar and sprinkles where the kids spread them all over the front yard the night before Christmas to help the reindeers find their way here. Summer made sure we secured the reindeer treat bags in a safe place in the pantry when we got home. We headed over to Tessa's house for a pizza and movie night. Lots of laughter, great friends, and good food - a perfect day, for sure.
Today I went to Summer's preschool for their holiday performance. She was a reindeer. About a week ago her class had an elves' workshop to make their shirts. They used their footprint as face, their hands as antlers, and glittering red puffball as the nose. The performance and shirts were adorable. I had Forrest in tow, who is usually quite wiggly, sat mesmerized through the whole performance. He even waved to Summer during the middle of it and Summer, of course, waved back excitedly. The teachers placed Summer in the front row so that I could see her face, which I am so thankful for. I am so grateful that I am able to be at all of her functions. It means the world to her and I get that.
Forrest is a Mommy's Boy. I LOVE this little boy. Here is Forrest eating his oatmeal, his usual breakfast request. Forrest pointed above the fridge where I keep my camera, and said, "You picture me". When he saw me getting the camera, he started to make silly faces. I love these photos of him being all boy, hanging out on his kiddie size chair. Summer was still asleep (which was a rarity) and it was our time together, even brief. He was all smiles that morning.
My Summer was in Candyland heaven with her friend, Amelia, Saturday afternoon. Amelia and Summer were in the same preschool class last year. This year they are in different schools and miss each other. I'm so glad they were able to be together during this time. Summer loved every minute of it. I loved seeing her face and hands messy, covered with white frosting - the messier, the more fun. I glimpsed Summer sneaking in and sharing candy with Amelia, such a sweet moment. I think that's the most fun part.
While dinner was being cooked the other night, I sneaked into the back porch to take some snapshots of what our evening usually looks like. The kids get so excited when they hear the garage door opening, screaming "Daddy's home...!" with glee and running to hide so that David would go on the hunt for them. The funny thing is that I never realized how often Summer finds her way into her ballet attire after looking at these photos. My, how much has she grown, blossoming into a ballerina. I love these photos of David cuddling with Forrest while Summer does her usual dance performance. Love. That's what it is.
We headed out to the tree lot last night. The kids played hide and seek in the rows of trees and sucked on candy canes. The magic has officially begun at our house. Decorations are going up and memories are being made. The kids are at such an amazing age and are so excited about every light and decoration they see. David and I went round and round about which tree to decide on. I think we picked a beauty. We tied it to the roof of our car and set off for home. We all can't wait to see it all lit up and Summer is beyond excited about getting to put the angel on top.
David and I were talking the other night about how fast time is going by for us. The holidays here already?! For a split second I thought how it didn't feel like Christmas yet. Then, I remembered... as parents we are the ones who have to create that feeling in our home. On Sunday we got out all of our holiday decorations including the kids' favorite... our stocking holders. They get the pick which one they want to hang their stockings. The kids were sooo excited. I think family traditions are so important for kids. We have some really fun holiday traditions. One of our favorites is "The Elf on the Shelf". Meet Collie. He is a little felt elf that came in a box with a picture book. The book explains that he comes out every Thanksgiving and watches the children during the day. At night, he flies to the north pole to report to Santa how they were behaving during the day. The kids named our elf Collie. He is a deaf elf and the only way to communicate to him is by signing to him. You can not touch him or he loses his magic. This is my favorite part... when the kids wake up they go on the hunt for Collie. This morning I woke up to Summer and Forrest downstairs excited that they had found Collie's new resting spot on top of the snowman stocking hanger. Then they started signing their morning greetings and wishes to him. It was the cutest, sweetest thing ever. In the picture with the kids you can see Summer signing YOUR to Collie (she was asking him, how was your trip to north pole last night?) and Forrest loves to wave to Collie whenever he walks by. I love this time of the year. I love how magical everything is for them right now. I love that I get to be a part of creating that feeling for them. I think tonight we are going to go to the tree lot to pick out our Christmas tree. Summer has been begging us and I don't blame her. I am so excited for the next few weeks. As magical as holidays are for children, it is even more so for parents.
