Day 21--Elfcapades

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Day 21

Today I celebrate my little man...Z :)  A little over four years ago this treasure came into my life and my heart has never been the same.  He fills my heart and soul with love and pride and has been an absolute gift. I am so blessed to have him to love!

A few days ago our Advent Calendar of Experiences asked Z to write love letters.  He immediately got to work on a letter to his Auntie A and then asked me to write him one :)  This is what I wrote:

Dear Z,

I love you so very much!  You are so special and filled with love. 

I love that you have so much Christmas spirit.  Thanks for being you 

and for being such a wonderful son.  I am so proud of you!

Love, 

Mommy

Reading this simple letter put a huge smile on his face.  I know that if I read him the Advent Letter I wrote today, it will probably not mean as much as this simple love note did.  I will most likely put it in his treasure box so that he can read it when he is old enough to appreciate it.

Z is an amazing little boy!  He is a sensitive soul with a heart of gold.  He has many worries in life (like his momma and papa) and often fixates on things.  He loves to give to others, loves to laugh and has such an enthusiasm for life.  Z is an active little boy but a homebody at heart.  Most days he would rather be playing in his house than out and about in the world.  He loves the lake (his second home) and is devastated every fall when we have to leave for 6 months.  The people at the lake are family as far as Z is concerned and he talks about them all year long.

Z is a smart little guy and has a thirst for learning about new things (especially science).  He loves the solar system, the digestive system, animals, sports and now is obsessed with learning how to write letters :)  He is such a special little guy and I love him so very much.  Z is our own little Christmas Elf and he spreads Christmas cheer wherever he goes.  I am looking forward to a very magical Christmas and want to Z know how much I love and appreciate him.  Merry Christmas Z :)

Elfcapades

Park the Elf (our Elf Magic Elf) is back this year for a two week stay :)  This time he had a big surprise.....after about 5 days of being with us, he asked Santa if his kid sister Molly could come to play too!  Z and Lil' C were so excited to meet little Molly.  Two elves can get into way more trouble than one, check out our pictures below :)

 

playing Yahtzee with crackers and water

reading the new books he brought for them while munching on crackers

cuddling up with friends :)

 Park writing in a new journal :)

 Snowball fight!  This was hours of fun as we then had a snowball fight with the cotton balls :)

Meet Molly!

 Park and Molly get ready for an Adventure

 Here we go....

Park and Molly get caught fishing for our pet Burger! :)

The Marshmallow Snowman Craft the Elves brought :)

They covered our house in candy canes!

 They brought extra candy for the gingerbread house!

 Z sets them up each night with their crackers and water
(the crunch of the crackers reminds them of the snow at the north pole) :)

Day 20--Z's My little Christmas Elf

If you would like to learn more about my personal project called "Advent Letters", please click here :)

Day 20

Today's letter went to my in-laws, J and E :)  I am very fortunate to have the in-laws that I do and S and I consider them to be more like "friends" than parents.  We enjoy spending time together and always know that we can call them whenever we have a question about cooking, home issues or any other life problem.  From the day I met them, they welcomed me into their family with open arms and I immediately felt at home.  I am so very lucky.

Z and C adore their grandparents and so enjoy the time they spend with them down on the farm.  Z and C enjoy making pancakes with Mimi, going on walks with Grandpa and love making music together.  My in-laws are incredibly talented (were the leads in Godspell in Boston in the 70's) and so you can imagine the quality of our family sing alongs (myself excluded) :)  I am so blessed to have J and E in my life and want them to know how much I love them.  Merry Christmas.

Z the Elf 
May Suffer From After Holiday Depression

The other day, Z said to me very seriously, "Mommy I will be so sad when Christmas is over!"  I looked down at him, gave him a hug and told him that I would be sad too.  Then I reminded him about "Happy New Year".  He looked at me puzzled and I explained that a week after Christmas Eve, we would have a party and countdown to our new year and say, "Happy New Year!".  You could see the wheels in his brain turning as the memories from last year came into view and a big smile crossed his face.  I then told him that after New Years we have Elvis' birthday, then Valentines Day, then St. Patrick's Day, then Easter, then Mother's Day, then Father's Day, then 4th of July, then his birthday, then Halloween, then Thanksgiving and then it will be Christmas again!  "See, there is always something to celebrate Z!".  This made him grin from ear to ear and he said, "You are so right mommy!" 

He is my little elf and truly spreads Christmas cheer wherever he goes.  He is constantly singing Christmas carols (just like Buddy the Elf) and the smiles of strangers around us spread like wildfire :)   The other night when we were on our Santa hayride, Z burst out into song, "Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel..." It was priceless!

 

Special Christmas Fundraising Project

Click here to learn more about my husband's special fundraising effort to raise money for Make A Wish.

Day 19--Z's Charitable Giving

If you would like to learn more about my personal project called "Advent Letters", please click here :)

Day 19

Today I celebrate my former colleagues and friends from the best school on the planet, "Salts" :) They are some of my favorite people and I had so much fun working with them.  It has been a little over a year since I have seen many of them (life just gets in the way) but I think of them often and they hold a very special place in my heart.

When  I graduated with my Zoology degree, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life.  I liked the idea of teaching but did not like the lack of freedom in the public schools.  I could not imagine myself, working within a building and always conforming to the given "cookbook" curriculum.  I wanted to be the captain of my ship and take advantage of teachable moments, the great outdoors and celebrate our strengths and differences.  I wanted to teach through art, movement, cooperative learning and science.  I never in my wildest dreams, thought I would find a school that appreciated this thinking.

My time at "Salts" was an adventure.  We had many great times, some dark times and some frustrating times.  Through it all, we came together and stood up for the values and beliefs of our school and came out shining in the end.  I hope that Z and Lil C can attend a school similar to "Salts" someday, maybe we will have to move back to the area :)  Thanks to everyone there for everything you taught me.....I am better off for having known you!  Merry Christmas.

Z's Charitable Giving

This year, we have really stressed the importance of giving.  We want Z (and soon Lil' C) to understand how blessed we are and that there are many out there who are in need.  We decided this year, that Z would be involved in our donation to Toys for Tots as always but we wanted him to participate in even more of our annual giving projects.   

The giving adventure started off with a gift from our elf, The Berenstain Bears Think of those in Need.  This wonderful story shares the bears adventure to minimize their belongings and give to those who most need them.  After the story, we had a wonderful discussion and Z went off to collect gently used toys to donate.  He was asked to pick out 4 (one for each year of his life) but he ended up filling a garbage bag!  We were so proud of him and then it was off to Goodwill. 

Our next giving activity was at our library where Z picked a mitten off of our library's tree.  These mittens represent gifts for children in our community that might not otherwise have a Christmas.  Z picked the mitten, went with me to buy the gift and then returned the gift to the library.  It was so cute to see the big smile on his face as he put the gift under the tree :)  After our library stop, he marched into the police station and dropped off our donation for Toys for Tots (he loves this job) and left proudly with his police sticker :)  

A few days later we sat down and talked about donating money to a worthy cause.  With the help of pictures, I explained that we could help people build houses, help sick children, help people get food or try to do all three.  Z decided on all three and went to his piggy bank to get his donation.  We decided to send a check to Habitat for Humanity, we will add money to the donations that S's song brings in for the Make a Wish Foundation and we are are going today to buy toiletries and paper products for our local foodbank.  

Though he is still young, I do think that Z is starting to understand how important it is to give back to our community and help when we can.  I am hoping to find a project that our family can participate in all year long.  So many give around the holidays, but unfortunately there is a need every day of the year.

 

Special Christmas Fundraising Project

Click here to learn more about my husband's special fundraising effort to raise money for Make A Wish.

Day 18-Holiday Photos

If you would like to learn more about my personal project called "Advent Letters", please click here :)

Day 18

Today I am celebrating all of my former students.  I taught a second and third grade multi-age class for four years before starting my new job as a mother.  The best part about teaching for me was getting to know my students.  I was blessed to have most of my students for two years and so I was given the opportunity to really get to know each of them and their families.

Today I am going to highlight Jabari :)  He was in my very first class and it is because of his gift so many years ago, that I was inspired to create the Advent Letter Project.  Jabari is an amazing and talented person.  Even as a third grader, he was wise beyond his years and one of the nicest children I have ever met.  He was super creative and even invented, "Comedy Snack Time".  Once a week during snack, students would sign up to entertain the group with their comedic talents :)  It was really fun and so nice to see how supportive they were of one another's comedy routines :)

I have written to Jabari and his mother today and it is one of my New Years resolutions to reach out to as many of my students as I can by this time next year.  I am friends with many of them on Facebook  but it has been a long time since I have seen any of them.  I hope to write to each student and let them know how special they are and how much they mean to me.

I learned so much from each and every one of my students and our classroom was always a close and loving community.  I was the queen of holidays and we celebrated every occasion I could get my hands on (the Elvis birthday countdown was always fun).  There is not enough celebration in today's public schools and not enough appreciation for the strengths that each student brings into the classroom.  One of my favorite units of the year was called "Teach the Class".  Each of my students was given a 30 minute block of time to teach us about something that interested them.  We learned how to Irish Step, how to cook family dishes, about different sports, how to play different games and so much more.  It was so nice to see each child shine and for everyone in the class to learn from one another.

I miss my days in the classroom but my current role as a stay at home mom is where I need to be :)  I want to thank each of my students for not only teaching me so much but for also touching my heart.  I love you all!  Merry Christmas.

Thanks to all of my beautiful students!   Thanks to Jabari, Kim, Joey, Tommy,  Jessica, Alex, Andre, Dylan, Dylan, Giovanna, Giana, Carolyn, Jessica, Erin, Jake, Michael, Andrew, Austin, Amanda, Caitlin, Len, Zack, Allie, William, Dylan, Annie, Elizabeth, Will, Carter, Alex, Bridget, Samantha, Ryan, Dominic, Tarik, Sammy, Sophia, Jonathan, Xavier, Sean, Andrew, Emily, Winnie, Petey, Jack, Anna, Anne, William, Quanah, Alex and Sydney for all being so wonderful!!

Holiday Photos

 Lil' C reads her Christmas books in front of her tree :)

 going out to hunt for lights :)

 the lights :)

 our candle lighting for Kiki

our tree

Lil C checking the tree out

 Our Annual trip to the Liquor Store to see the Trains!

 Loving these trains!

Lil C checks out the advent books

 trimming the tree :)

Santa's Holiday Party at the Farm

 Frosty

Look who came :)  It is Park and Molly our Elves

 Check out the piggies

Special Christmas Fundraising Project

Click here to learn more about my husband's special fundraising effort to raise money for Make A Wish.

Day 17--Z's Rockin' Holiday Hits :)

If you would like to learn more about my personal project called "Advent Letters", please click here :)

Day 17

Today I am celebrating my "lake family".  As many of you know, I spend much of my free time in the spring, summer and fall at my family's lake house.  Our house is part of a very special community and they have been like a second family to me.  I am so blessed to have this group as a part of my life and feel closer to many of them than I do my own relatives.

Every year we have two big picnics a year where we all get together and laugh, eat great food and enjoy each others company.  Throughout the year we have campfires where my dad and S play the guitar and everyone enjoys singing and chatting.  We all love the water and many of the families have boats for tubing, skiing and wakeboarding.  There is a nightly happy hour for the over 50 crowd on the sundeck and others enjoy spending time on the beach gossiping and catching up on the days news.  I am so lucky to have these wonderful people in my life and often find myself tearing up when we all say good-bye in October.  I love them all like family and wish them all a very Merry Christmas!

Z's Top Ten Rockin Christmas Hits

Z loves Christmas!  He especially loves Christmas music (they say the apple does not fall far from the tree ;)).  He wanted to share with all of you some of his favorite Christmas songs.  We hear them at least 8 times a day but they are still a lot of fun to listen to.  So here we go :)

1.  Everybody Loves Christmas Time by his Daddy :)
2.  Step into Christmas by Elton John
3.  Feliz Navidad by Jose Feliciano
4.  Chimpmunk Song by Alvin and the Chipmunks
5.  Run Rudolph Run by Chuck Berry
6.  Little Saint Nick by the Beach Boys
7.  Hanukkah Blessings by Barenaked Ladies (yes we are not Jewish but he LOVES this song!)
8.  12 Days of Christmas by John Denver and the Muppets
9.  Jingle, Jingle, Jingle by Burl Ives
10.  O Tannenbaum by Vince Guaraldi Trio (Charlie Brown Christmas)

Special Christmas Fundraising Project

Click here to learn more about my husband's special fundraising effort to raise money for Make A Wish.

Day 16--Z's Teacher Gifts

If you would like to learn more about my personal project called "Advent Letters", please click here :)

Day 16

Today's letters went out to my 6 favorite blog friends :)  I started blogging almost 3 years ago.  S encouraged me to do it as part of my New Years Resolution to keep record of my daily life with Z.  It started off as a way to journal, reflect and vent (cheap therapy).  I had no idea when I started that I would soon become part of a community of mom bloggers and "meet" some wonderful people.

Today I celebrate, Connie over at the Young and the Relentless, MamaB at the Cripe Family News, Lisa at Mommy's Nest, Dana over at MommyBrain, Annie at the Santiago Twins and BJMama over at For What It's Worth.  Over the last few years, I have really enjoyed getting to know these woman through both their blogs and their comments.  They make me laugh, smile, cry and I feel as though I shared some wonderful (and not so wonderful) moments with them.  They have been a big support to me, especially through the loss of S's sister and very loyal.  Despite my very long blog break this summer and fall, they were right there waiting for me whenever I returned (and it was sporadic).  An email letter will be going out to each of you today.  Thanks for blogging, for making me smile and for being wonderful "blog friends".  Merry Christmas.

Z's Teacher Gifts

This week we handed out Z's teacher gifts.  With four gifts to buy, I needed to be both frugal but original and thoughtful ;)  I wanted the gift to be something they would use but something that would standout from the rest.  When visiting the Re-usies (reusable snack bags) website, they had suggested wrapping teacher gifts in one of their bags.  I LOVED this idea and also the promotion that if I bought 4 bags, I got free shipping!  Inside we put a few pieces of lindt chocolate and a card explaining that their present this year was the wrapping :)  They were a big hit and cost about $7.50 a gift!

Day 15--Daddy's Girl

Happy Birthday O!!!  I love you very much :)

If you would like to learn more about my personal project called "Advent Letters", please click here :)

Day 15

My father is one of a kind, he is a family man through and through.  Family always comes first for my dad and he has had to work very hard to make this possible.  He is one of the most hardworking people I know and will work late hours or weekends in order to make sure he does not miss one family moment.  I am so blessed to have this wonderful man in my life and need him to know how much I appreciate all he has ever done for me.

I will never forget the day that my acceptance letter to the college of my choice came in the mail.  I came home from school to find the letter on the counter.  It had been opened but I think I was too nervous to notice.  The envelope was thin and everything I had ever heard said that a thin envelope was bad news.  With trembling hands I read that letter and gasped at the part with the large academic scholarship.  I had done it!  I had gotten a scholarship that would allow me to go to my dream school!  My heart was beating so fast and joy filled my body. Then my dad came around the corner with a big smile on his face, beaming with pride (I will never forget that face).  He hugged me and told me how proud he was of me.  It is a moment I will treasure forever.

My father wrote and performed an original song for all of his girls at our weddings.  My wedding was first and thus the song was a complete surprise.  I remember sitting with my sisters close by, watching my dad play the guitar and sing the beautiful song.  The three of us held hands and cried as we looked up at the man who raised us.  He loves us with all of his heart and we are so blessed to have him as our daddy :)

I am so very fortunate because my Dad, Mom, LB and K are four of my favorite people on the planet.  We are a family who actually looks forward to getting together and tries to make time for each other whenever we can.  We LOVE to vacation together and because of this, we have so many wonderful memories to celebrate. 

I love you daddy, thanks for loving me, believing in me and always cheering me on.  Merry Christmas!

Special Christmas Fundraising Project

Click here to learn more about my husband's special fundraising effort to raise money for Make A Wish.

Day 14--Z's Homemade Gifts--Family Members Do Not Read Bottom Half!!

If you would like to learn more about my personal project called "Advent Letters", please click here :)

Day 14

Today's letter was personally delivered to my good friend K :)  K and I met back in the spring of 2007 when she called me out of the blue and asked me to meet her (with a few other moms) at the park for a playdate.  At the time of her call, I had just about given up on our local MOMS Club (they were way to cliquey) and was starting to feel that I would never meet anyone in this new town.  K's call was a life ring, being thrown to me when I needed it most, and it changed my "mommy life" forever!

K is a very special person and has been such a wonderful friend.  She is always there whenever I need her and has been a wonderful support to me since the birth of Lil' C.  K's daughter Ab and my son Z are two peas in a pod.  Z says he is going to marry her someday and we always joke that that would be a bad idea (they both are so sensitive to sound and have anxiety so they would never leave their house!). 

The Raising Z household is so lucky to have K and Ab as not only our friends but as our neighbor too.  We love them very much and can't wait to meet their new addition this spring.  Merry Christmas!

Z's Homemade Holiday Gifts

WARNING!!!!

Neene, Mimi, Chi Chi, Grandpa Jeff, Auntie Laura, Auntie Amber, Auntie Kristen, Uncle B and Godfather Matthew........Don't go any further!!!!  You do not want to spoil your Christmas gift from Zachary!!!!!  Turn off your computer NOW :)

Are you still looking Mom??  I am serious, time to put down the computer :)

For the last few weeks, Z has been working on his holiday gifts.  Since the beginning of November, we have spent a little time each week on this project.  I did not want to stress anybody out, as the holidays approached, so I figured that this would be the best way to do it.  I am soooo pleased with the way this gift turned out and Z is so very proud.

So here is what we did (I think it is now safe to talk about it ;)).  We made note card sets (picture below).  Each family member is getting a stationary set of 8 note cards, each with an original design.  We did one design each week (water color, crayon resist, stamps, finger print animals, tempera paint, glitter paint, marker picture and a splatter paint) and Z made 8 of each technique.  All of the note cards and envelopes were put in a big envelope with a big sticker that said, "Z designs".  They came out so cute and I know that the recipients will love them!

Here they are :)

Special Christmas Fundraising Project

Click here to learn more about my husband's special fundraising effort to raise money for Make A Wish.