Curtain Rod or Wall Art?

You know how the kids are always bringing home artwork from school? And you know how you never know what to do with it so it always ends covering your fridge to the point that you can't even tell that there is a refrigerator underneath all of those rainbows and turkeys? Well, do I have a solution for you! My Hubs is not a big fan of paper decorated refrigerators and I was trying to find something to do with all of the Christmas artwork that has been coming home since October. Here is what I came up with...

Here is a closeup...

It is an extra curtain rod that I had hanging around (no pun intended). I added the circle clips and voila-a decorative holder for artwork that relieves the refrigerator of its paper-holding duties and allows to me to proudly display my children's artwork, the way it was meant to be displayed! It now has a wall all to itself and I can even rotate the artwork to coordinate with the seasons and/or holidays.

What do you think??

Quite Possibly the Cutest Thing I Have Ever Seen

Sprout went back to school on Wednesday after having his tonsils and adenoids removed. He was very apprehensive about going back to school and was very dramatic (not really a surprise if you know Sprout). He pulled out all of the stops...

"I'm not ready to go back to school."

"I can't be away from you for that long."

"But I'm going to missssssss you."

All through giant alligator tears and sobs, of course. What can I say, the kid knows how to pull at my heart strings!

No, I didn't let him stay home; we made it to school but were a weee bit late. When we got to the classroom the kids were all gathered in the corner on the rug for story time. When we walked in, they all gasped and shouted "SPROUT-YOU'RE BACK!!!"

It was quite a sight, Sprout turned all shades of red and a giant smile crossed his face. You would have thought that Santa Claus had just entered the room the way these kids reacted. It was so touching, I even teared up a little. I thought that this very well may be the cutest thing I had ever seen. Until I saw this later that evening...

"I hope they put you asleep when you get your tasls cut out. I hope it does not hret a lot. Love your friend Madeline. Eat lots of ice crime!!!"

All of the kids had made Sprout a card and it was so stinkin cute reading all of them. This one though, without a doubt, was my favorite!

Old Traditions/New Traditions

I love traditions and I love creating new traditions. Traditions provide stability and observed year in and year out become a means by which family members can build trust and security. Regardless of what else may happen, the traditions will not change. So much in our lives these days is temporary. Family traditions provide something for every person to hold on to and to rely upon. And as a military family, where things are constantly changing and often laced with uncertainty, traditions give us a foundation of familiarity in places and circumstances that are unfamiliar and sometimes disconcerting.

I shared our Thanksgiving tablecloth tradition and thought I would share a few of our Christmas traditions, both old and new.

Christmas is a great time to practice generosity! One of our older traditions involves gathering toys that don't receive much attention anymore and donating them to our local shelter. I have always let Sprout decide which toys he wants to donate and this year he was very generous, filling an entire box! (I'm sorry if you see something in this box that you may have given to Sprout...like I said, I try not to dictate what goes in the box and let him feel good about his choices to donate. ;)

Now on to new traditions... This year we started a new tradition that the kids seem to be really enjoying. We have a new advent calendar and the kids love opening the door each day to see what tiny treasure lays inside. Some days it is a gold chocolate coin, others days it may be a mini ornament or sticker (what's not to enjoy-right?)...

The twist is that this year we have a little elf who lives on the top shelf of the advent calendar. I hide him every day and before the kids can open the door to get their tiny treasure, they have to search the house, find the elf, and put him back on the shelf.

Here he is hanging from a door hinge...

And here he is sitting in a candle holder...

And here are the munchkins getting today's treasure after successfully finding the elf...

What are some of your holiday traditions?

Congrats Chief!

The Hubs got promoted to Chief Warrant Officer-2 (CW-2) Friday- Woohoo!!

They Call it Kitty Love

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Work I Go

I am happy to announce that my job search since moving back to NC has come to an end. I was offered and have accepted an Executive Director position with the North Carolina Alliance for Health, an independent, statewide coalition of individuals, businesses, and organizations working together to advocate for health improvement policies before North Carolina's legislative and executive branches. Their mission is to improve the health of North Carolinians by advocating policies that promote wellness and reduce the impact of tobacco use and obesity. I am really excited about this opportunity and feel especially fortunate to have found such an opportunity at a time when so many are losing their jobs in this rapidly deteriorating economy!

I also feel fortunate that I was able to stay at home with Sprite these past two and half years. It was a challenge transitioning from career woman to stay-at-home mommy after spending 7 years with an organization that I loved and I expect that transitioning back to career woman from stay-at-home mommy will be equally, if not more, challenging but I am ready to go back to work and Sprite is thriving in preschool! Plus, this particular opportunity allows me to work from home most days. I will have a lot of meeting in the RTP area and will spend some time at the legislative building when the General Assembly is in session but the bulk of the work can be done at home which allows for more flexibility as I strive for that work-home balance. This will be especially beneficial when the Hubs is deployed.

My official start date is December 10th but I have already started digging in and look forward to joining the Alliance in their quest to make North Carolina a healthier place to live and work.