That's a Wrap

Twenty thirteen is coming to a close and as I look back, the only word that comes to mind is...BUSY! I spent a good part of this year providing childcare, often up to 12 hours a day. Throw in my own 6 kids and a hubby that worked nearly EVERY day throughout the year and it all seems to be a bit of a blur. I've recently found myself running out of steam. I miss spending time with just my family, even though I have come to love the "littles" that I care for. Tomorrow is my last day as a childcare provider. I'll miss the kids, but it is what is best for my family. 

It seems strange to think that when the big kids go back to school on Thursday, the only "little" I'll have at home with me is Stella. I'm actually excited to do some "mommy school" with her. With all the chaos that has been going on here everyday, I really haven't had much of a chance to do any of the fun things I did with the older kids when they were her age. It actually makes me sad because she's my baby. It's like I've robbed her of those moments by spreading myself too thin. :( Darn that mommy guilt...it gets me every time!

Oh well, there is no turning back now, the new year is knocking on the door and I, for one, am happy to have a fresh start. Farewell 2013 and welcome 2014!

Happy New Year! 

From Our Home To Yours...

Wordless Wednesday {Way Back When...}

Raise Your Hand if You Like to Get Crafty

It's no secret that my favorite kids crafts are those that use my little one's hand print. When I pull them out from year to year, it's nice to see how tiny they once were. Here are a few from our past. They're all super easy and adorable! 

Hand print ornaments make great gifts for grandparents!

Christmas Trees

Reindeer

A hand print wreath.

These are, hands down, some of my favorite Christmas crafts!

 

Oh Christmas Tree...

The past several weeks we've manage to squeeze in just about as much Christmas fun as we can handle. We decorated a tree for Treefest, helped to decorate the church, went to the Parade of Lights, went to our town's Santa party for the kids, and headed back to Treefest so we could marvel at the amazing display of trees and entertainment. Throw in some shopping, work, and school and we found ourselves with very little time to deck the halls at our own home! Finally, this weekend we managed to get a tree and, although it took us two days to get it up and decorated, we finally got it done!  

The girls did almost all of the decorating and I think they did a fabulous job! It's finally starting to feel like Christmas around here. Now all we need is some more snow. Today, school was cancelled due to an approaching storm, but it turned out to be a bust. 

There wasn't even enough snow to cover the grass! I guess we'll just have to be patient and hope "the big one" comes soon!