New Year's Eve Plans and Printables

2013 is nearly upon us and I can hardly believe it. It feels as if 2012 just started. I don't know if it is parenting or the fact that I'm nearing 30, but time seems to go faster and faster with each passing day, month, and year.

I love New Year's Eve. I always look forward to the fresh start of a new year. I'm a big resolution maker and a mediocre resolution keeper, and I always enjoy celebrating on December 31. I'm especially excited for this year's merriment because, instead of going out on the town, Colt and I have opted to stay in and spend the night with Harper. I've gathered several fun surprises (puzzles, special treats, coloring activities, noise makers, and party hats) to keep her entertained throughout the evening as we watch others party 2012 away in Times Square. It's going to be great, and since Harper is a night owl that always burns the midnight oil, I have no worries about being able to keep her up.

Although she doesn't really get the concept of New Year's Eve, Harper is excited to have a party. We spent this afternoon and evening preparing for it by making cookies (how scary is it that I have my chocolate chip cookie memorized?) and coloring NYE themed pages (find yours at the end of this post)...

How about you? How do you plan on ringing in 2013?

Colt is sick with a pretty yucky cold. Harper and I left him home to rest earlier today while we went to see Hotel Transylvania. We saw it in the regular theater before Halloween and Harper loved it. I've been waiting for it to hit the dollar theater so that I could take her again. I absolutely love taking Harper to movies. I can't get enough of her little face/giggles as she watches a film and I love that she snuggles me and holds my hand during most of the movie. We get a large popcorn to share and we always get a refill to take home to Colt.

Here we are heading into the movie...

And, if you are interested, here are the NYE pages we colored (Harper loves the first one because she thinks she is in it, along with her friends Talon, Paityn, and Cash)...

Christmas 2012

My parents came to town last night, which means that we were finally able to wrap up Christmas. With Colt's family, his extended family, our friends, and my family, Christmas tends to last closer to a week than just one day. Parties, dinners, gift deliveries, and other festivities make for a fun, but exhausting, Christmas. We have had a wonderful holiday season.

I wanted to share some of my favorite photos from Christmas 2012. My camera battery was dead for some of our celebrating and so these photos are just from one party and Christmas Eve/morning. I'm not going to wait to edit them. If I do, I'll never get around to posting them and that really isn't any fun.

Harper and her cousin Ruby are just one week apart in age.

I think people thought that Whit and I planned our outfits.

We didn't. We just share a solid- and sort of quirky- sense of style.

Harper was so happy to receive a guitar from her Great Grandma Rushton.

Harper recently tried to cut her own hair.

She didn't do a very good job.

Whitney fixed her right up, though, and she looks adorable.

We exchanged white elephant gifts while waiting for Santa.

This is a boobie, by the way. Everyone wanted to cop a feel.

Somehow, the nasty thing came home with us.

These two weren't so sure about Santa.

Harper's face turned serious the minute she saw him.

She ran directly to me and buried her face in my neck.

She didn't leave my arms the entire time Santa was around.

We visited Santa together.

After a little coaxing, Harper opened up enough to tell him what she wanted:

"A Loopsy Doll Mermaid."

Santa gave each of the children a present.

Harper was so excited to receive a new Ariel nightgown.

Here Harper is waiting for her best friend Paityn to stop by for a quick gift exchange.

On Christmas Eve, we stayed home and relaxed.

Harper and I made some cookies for Santa.

He ate all three (plus about five more).

That Colty Santa sure loves his cookies.

Christmas morning!

Harper was so excited to get an Ursula, a King Triton, and a Prince Eric.

She made sure to have King Triton stab Ursula right away.

Paityn gave Harper some Ariel bath supplies.

Harps is obsessed with them and loves washing herself with her new "Eeer" mit.

One of the things that Harper asked Santa for was an Ariel room.

She got it!

She also got her "Loopsy Doll Mermaid."

In addition to a plethora of Ariel toys, decorations, and clothing, Harper received a new bike, some DVD's, puzzles, books, a set of petite princesses, some Sofia toys, a castle, and several new dress-up dresses. Colty and I were equally spoiled. I have a delightful little pile of gifts cards and can't wait to go shopping (after the holidays, of course).

My Sleepy Girls

This happened the other night. It was the sweetest Harper/Hazel moment ever.

Little times like this are what give me hope and peace. 

I'm so thankful for these two girls. 

P.S. What do you think of the new look?

Not Ready

I'm still not ready to post. I'm not ready to resume life as usual. My heart is still broken for the people of Newtown, Connecticut and I continue to cry every time I see an article, facebook post, or newscast about what happened last Friday morning. I can't even bring myself to look at pictures of those precious children because I know I'll see the same beauty and innocence in their eyes that I see every time I look at Harper and I just don't think I can face that right now. I don't know if I will ever be able to. Death is scary to me because I am still trying to figure out what it is that I believe. Guns and mass shootings are also scary. Helplessness is scary. The loss of a child is absolutely terrifying. I am trying to be hopeful and to look forward with faith but right now, I'm still sad.

Today

I feel like, on days like today, things should stop a bit. I think that the world should slow down and take note. Pinterest and other frivolities should be put aside. Lunch photos and exclamation points should be saved for another day. Planned blog posts should be postponed in order to make room for mourning and reflection. I don't want to do anything today but hold Harper close to me. What happened in Connecticut this morning was awful and my heart is broken for those that were affected. I can't think about it without crying. I feel humbled. I feel inadequate. I feel afraid. I feel devastated.

More than ever, I feel grateful for my family- for a husband to love and a daughter to hold. I can't imagine a day without them. I don't know what I would do if I were to lose one of them and I hope that pray that I will never have to find out.

I had a post scheduled for today but am placing it on hold. Instead, I wanted to share a really good article on helping your children cope with tragic events. Child psychologist Alan Kazdin offers some really straightforward and useful advice here. If you are a parent, teacher, daycare provider, or you work with children in any way, you should definitely read it.

Much love, my friends.

Snowmen and Snow Globes

It has just been within the past few weeks that Harper has become really interested in crafting and creating. She liked to color before but only for short periods of time. Recently, she has started trying to stay in the lines and is coloring with a bit more purpose (like she did with this Ariel masterpiece) than just making scribbles on a page. It's been a lot of fun to watch her develop an interest in crayons, markers, scissors (which she has taken to both the shower curtain and her hair, by the way... her hair wasn't too big of a disaster- basically, she now has long bangs... the shower curtain, on the other hand, needs to be replaced), and glue (Harps loves to glue).

Here are a couple of recent Harper projects:

Harper is obsessed with coloring, cutting (my part), and glueing these snowmen.

Together, she and I have made five of them.

I got the printable from pinterest last year.

Here it is if you'd like to make your own:

The quality is sort of low but the link from the original pin no longer works.

Believe me, your little person won't mind fuzzy edges.

The only person who will mind is you because you'll be cutting out snowmen until your hand hurts.

While we are at it, here is a cute Christmas tree that we found:

I like this because it's simple and easy for Harper to color.

Some coloring pages (Disney and Barbie mostly) are way to detailed for me, let alone a three-year-old.

I must admit that I colored my own copy of this little tree.

You may not know this about me but I love to color.

I think it is so relaxing and fun, especially now that I have Harper around.

Anyway... here is our second project:

Harper and her daycare friends made these yesterday.

They turned out perfectly- much better than I'd expected considering that I was in charge.

You can find the instructions here.

I'd like to do these again with small deer or other figurines.

These trees were all I could find at Hobby Lobby.

If you know of anywhere else to get small animals/people/Christmas figures, let me know.

I also need help with something else.

I am looking for a good homemade gift for a five-year-old to give his parents.

Any ideas?

P.S. There is a new Beauty Aisle post ready for you here.

A Letter to Santa

Harper spoke and I wrote.
The result was total cuteness.
This letter is so Harper.
Short, sweet, direct, and full of confidence.