So This is What it Feels Like

Hi! My name is Claudia. I'm a recovering Over-doer, Martha Stewart Wanna-be, Viral Pinner (650,000 times because of this post), Creative Blogger, and Ideaholic. I hit rock bottom about 2 years ago.  My creative juices still flow and the urge is ever-present, but it had to stop consuming my life.

 

Ok. Kidding. Not kidding.

 

Y'all know I love some costumes, holidays, and theme parties! (Exhibit A, B, C, D, E, F...you get the idea.) I still do. But it was becoming a chore. A competition among other moms, pinners, bloggers, etc. That doesn't feel very good. It squashes creativity and makes it no fun at all! And as life would have it, all those plans and ideas have suddenly fallen to the bottom of my agenda. Besides, I think the only one who really cared was me. The accolades were great and all, but they don't drive the train very long. The accolades weren't up with me at 2am making party favors or gluing gauze strips to long johns for a mummy costume. It takes a lot of energy and time. Making the cutest Valentines, creating the perfect birthday party, or costume is just not really that important anymore. It seems that now all I can wrap my brain around is the boys, their homework, extracurricular activities, and my must-dos.

 

So this valentine's I finally got what IT feels like...to let it go, make it easy, manageable, and just keep it simple. And it all started with this box.

 

Fulton and Oliver were both required to decorate a box to use for collecting and distributing their valentines. I helped Oliver start his and then Fulton said, "Oh yeah! I need to do one too." Of course you do!!! I huffed and puffed and searched all over. NO BOX.
So off to Walgreen's we went! That's where I found these babies for 2.99 each. SOLD to the exhausted momma, who really no longer gives a poo and neither do her boys.

 And at that moment, the cute Valentine idea I had conjured up got upstaged by Darth Vader and the gang. Complete with tattoos and we even added a little pop of candy with a (Pinterest girls, close your eyes!) STAPLER! What?!?!?!? Who the heck have I become?!?!?!? Who uses a stapler? Staplers aren't cute and no body will ever pin, like, or repost store-bought Valentines that were stapled!!!

Guess what? I became the mom who no longer cared!
This is what their Valentines looked like. And I loved every square inch of it. It was easy and it felt so good! And the bonus: they did all of it themselves...except the stapler. YAAAASSSSSSS!

I urge you to PIN this bad boy to your "No One Really Gives a Crap" board.

 

My wheels will always be turning. I'll still plan parties, design invitations and costumes...in my head. But I'll be sure when I'm ready to fall off the wagon and give those plans life, that it feels good and doesn't send me to my rock bottom.

A Fondue Valentine's Dinner

Just a quick post to share our Valentine's day celebration...

As if we hadn't already spent enough time together during the snow/ice storm - we celebrated Valentine's day all together too.

Shan and I haven't celebrated Valentine's together in...oh say...11 years. But that's ok. We will again someday. Besides, we love our little turkeys and they enjoy the extra special time with us too. {Plus, a dear boy-mom friend of mine with the exact same set up - 3 boys all 3 years apart - is now dealing with the competition of her 15 year-old's girlfriend. *GASP*SIGH* So I'll take my boys on Valentine's while I can. Kinda puts things into perspective.} I digress.

So what do not-so-mushy-gushy people do for a family Valentine's celebration?

Why you Fondue, of course!

That's right. I dragged out my fondue pot and recipes and we had the most fun!

It's been years since we've used it and I always enjoy it. I've just kinda waited for everyone to be big enough to man their own skewer and not get injured. We have arrived, folks. It was a hit!

The boys "dressed up", we set a pretty table, and exchanged valentines with the boys. Our first course was classic cheese fondue. We dipped Italian bread and granny smith apples. I, personally, could have eaten the entire pot of cheese without any help. It was so good! I think they were bigger fans of the bread with cheese and just ate the apples plain. Not quite ready for the whole fruit and cheese deal.

Our next course was the meat and vegetables. We did chicken and steak and for veggies we had zucchini, squash, mushrooms, and potatoes cooked in seasoned bullion. That was tasty too, but took a {long} while. We had fun while we waited though.

 

And just FYI...any leftover meat and veggies can be thrown into the crock pot for vegetable beef/chicken soup!

 

After we finished our main course it was time for everyone's favorite. Chocolate fondue! We were all in heaven! So, so yummy! We fondued (?) strawberries, bananas, angel food cake, and marshmallows. Oh-my-goodness.

 

 



 

If you've never had a fondue experience, at home or a restaurant like The Melting Pot, I highly recommend it. I'm not sure a couple of mine are ready for a public fondue dining experience, but I am so glad we did it at home. It will definitely be on our family fun list!

 

Any who, here are a couple of pics from the rest of our Vday...

 Our traditional Valentine's donut breakfast wasn't spoiled by the ice and snow! Daddy saved the day!

 

 

 Oliver's cow tail valentines and his decorated box. LOVE it!

You know you're a boy mom when...you get a Buzz Lightyear card. My heart melted.

 

How 'bout y'all? Do you celebrate with or with out children? What are your Valentine's traditions?

{HOLIDAY} Family Traditions

..."I said leave me alone. I'm singing all night long it's a family tradition!" -HW, Jr.

While the holiday busyness took over, my little blog got neglected {again}.

We had a great holiday season and I feel like it officially ended Monday night with the Feast of Lights at church.

I just love establishing family traditions! My mom was always good at it and I thank her for that.

I'm going to back up a couple of months to highlight some of my favorite holiday traditions...

{GIVING THANKS}
Thanksgiving is such a great holiday. It's a "no-pressure" kind of holiday. Just a time to be and give thanks. We alternate spending our Thanksgiving with either my family or Shan's. While Aunt Laynie was sick and with it being my mom's first Thanksgiving without her, we have been celebrating with mine the last few years, but typically we rotate.

It's sometimes chaotic with so many people under one roof. But it's like I always tell me mom...It's OUR chaos and I LOVE it!

This year the boys had a blast as my dad dragged out the karaoke machine after dinner.
HILARIOUS! I tried to post the actual videos but I was having technical difficulties. So cute!

We truly have so much for which we are thankful. I am especially thankful for these guys.

{GEARING UP FOR THE HOLIDAYS}
After Thanksgiving we moved onto Holiday Market week, which has been a family tradition for the last 7 years. I won't be in charge in the years to come, but we still plan to support the events during that week.

 

{LIGHTS}
One of our favorite places to see a great light show is in a neighborhood not too far from us. Our good friends live directly across from the display. Their circular driveway gives us the best view of the thousands of dancing lights. The boys dress in PJs and we get warm chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate from the drive-thru to enjoy while we watch the show from the car.
I found this link to a small portion of the display on youtube.

{GOOD EATS}
Then the few days before Christmas through the few days after Christmas are packed with family, exchanging gifts, baking and playing!

Some of my favorite things we make in our family are our Biscottis - a true family tradition, Toffee Crackers - YUM!, and my mom's Crispy Cheese Wafers.

{LET THE FUN BEGIN}
{December 23} We spent the night at the lake with Shan's family at the lake house. I make a big pot of potato soup and Nana makes a yummy ham along with some other goodies and my S-I-L provides the sweets. I love sitting around their living room, watching the kids exchange gifts, laugh, and play with their new loot. My favorite part is our feast-of-a-breakfast prepared by Papa on Christmas Eve morning. It's a great kick-off for the special day ahead!

{December 24} Christmas Eve is always a whirl-wind day. We ended up having a quiet Christmas Eve dinner at home after church. Our tradition is a big Italian feast at mom and dad's, but there was a change in plans this year. It was actually a first for us to be at home, but it was really sweet with just the 5 of us. Each year after dinner, the boys put on their PJs and track Santa on Norad and they love reading A South Carolina Night Before Christmas before heading to bed. Then the fun begins!!! Shannon and I always have a ball preparing for Christmas morning together. I don't know who is anxiously anticipating the next day more; us or them.

 

{THE BIG DAY}
{December 25} Every Christmas morning I love making the boys wait on the steps or by the living room door so we can all go in together to see what Santa brought. We eat French Toast Casserole or Cinnamon Coffee Cake {whichever one the boys request} and an ambrosia salad for breakfast. Early in the day we stay at home to enjoy opening gifts and playing with Santa's goodies. It's so relaxing and pleasant! We also enjoy the tradition of going to my mom and dad's for lunch and visiting with mom's family.

{THE BIG DAY CONTINUES}
{December 28} This year my brother and his family came in town to make Christmas #3 for us a few days later. We usually get together at mom's, but since Santa brought a trampoline and some cool things that couldn't be transported, we decided to celebrate at our house. We made some heavy hors d'oeuvres and grazed in between watching the kids play and exchanging gifts.

 

{THE NEW YEAR}
{December 31} I have a love-hate relationship with New Year's Eve! It is completely over-rated and I hate making plans, but I'm always so glad we did on January 1st. Thankfully, we always have good friends to shoot fireworks and enjoy the evening with. So this year for New Year's Eve we gathered with a few friends and neighbors to ring in 2014. It was quite convenient because the host and hostess live next door to the adult party we were all invited to. So we all took turns dropping in while the kids all played next door. It could not have worked out more perfectly!

{January 1} Not much to say about our New Year's Day traditions that vary from anyone else's traditions. It consists of laziness, football, pork-collards-black eyed peas, and sweet tea! New Year's Day is always so laid back. The holidays are winding down and it's a fresh start... I love it!

Those are a few of our favorite holiday traditions.
Maybe you have some we'd like to try. Tell me about yours in a comment!

Letting Go

Well. Happy New Year!

It's 2014 already? So hard to believe.

My New Year post is a little delayed, but then again, it's doing a lot better than my Thanksgiving and Christmas posts that never even made it to the blog.

 I love the fresh start of the new year! For me, it's a chance to wipe the slate clean; out with the old, in with the new. I thought about doing a post on my resolutions, but then I remembered that resolutions and I don't get along. I do better resolving to make changes randomly throughout the year...as they come to me. I definitely have goals for 2014 in mind. I just don't necessarily feel like I have to change everything starting January 1st. I get too overwhelmed and fear failure.

I've spent the last few days reflecting on 2013 and what kind of year it was. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either. I think the most distinguishable theme of last year is "letting go".

I'm not a "let-goer" by nature. I usually hang on for dear life.
Afraid of change, I cling to people, events, traditions, and idols. Letting go is hard. It can be liberating and bittersweet in some cases. Painful in others. Sometimes letting go of something hurts so badly in that moment, but it only means God is preparing us for something better.

It seems like I had a lot of that this past year.

I am still in the process of letting a few things go. Unfortunately, they didn't disappear at midnight on December 31, 2013!

I'm still trying to let go of my long-time idol and crutch called ANXIETY {it's a daily struggle}.

 

I said SEE-YA! to a few friendships that were often one-sided and a few that were recently very hurtful.

I am still letting go of the idea of not having my Aunt Laynie. The holidays make it rough!

 

I had to let go of an awkward and hurtful situation where my help was requested and was in turn perceived as invasive. 

I let go of the idea that I was still 18 {or at least 25}, as I celebrated my 20th high school reunion.

 I let go of my baby Ver and our 9-12 preschool days when he went to big-boy school with his brothers.

It was very long overdue that I purge the baby gear, so I let it go too. {It served me VERY well through all three.}
I also let go of having any more babies.

 

And as always, I tried to find a little humor in letting go of certain things...

 

I had to let go of my fear of operating heavy "machinery" {a 4-wheeler on a very steep mountain} and flying by myself.

 

Though it may not be a big deal to the average person, it's HUGE for me. I let go of my need to create thematically coordinated Halloween costumes and let the boys pick and design their own. (I only helped where asked.}

And at the end of 2013, I let go of a seven year volunteer tradition that is near and dear to my heart.

 

 

 

I am sure I let go of many other little things along the way, but in my heart, these were pretty big things.

 

I let go feeling a little heavy hearted but a little lighter at the same time.

 

Letting go is a weird thing.

 

But as The Truth states:

 

Forget the former things;

    do not dwell on the past. 

See, I am doing a new thing!

    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland. -Isaiah 43:18-19

 

I must move forward, excited for the "NEW things".

 

God's Peace to you in the New Year!