Take the Opportunity to Give

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Arkansas Children’s to support the 2018 Festival of Stars toy & donation drive. I am helping promote the statewide event as part of a paid promotional partnership. However, all opinions are my own.

With the busyness of the holiday season in full swing, I want to take a minute to offer up a simple way to share some goodness in your community. The Festival Of Stars toy drive for Arkansas Children's Northwest in Springdale will be next Friday, December 14. That means you have just over a week to run out and purchase a new gift or toy for a child who needs a brighter Christmas this year. There is a particular need for items for babies and teens, though gifts for all ages are collected. 

In Springdale, the collection will take place from 7am until 6pm, at the new hospital on Gene George Boulevard, just west of I-49. There will be hot cocoa, holiday music, snacks and special guests for people to enjoy when they stop to make donations on site.

Our family has a yearly Advent calendar that includes special activities and acts of kindness listed to complete each day. Many of our activities include an aspect of giving to others during this month. It's an easy way to help my kids understand that the holiday season is about so much more than them being on the receiving end of gifts. We donate to little free libraries, bell ringers and food pantries during this time. A toy drive makes a great addition to the list! 

Unwrapped toys collected on December 14 will be given to patients and their families who are staying in the hospital on Christmas. There are drop-off locations all over the state, and an online donation site for those who prefer to make a financial donation. Here are just some of the things that your monetary donation can help with:

In this season of giving, I encourage you to find something that makes your heart happy to support. Let us all remember others who are in need of a little holiday cheer.

Holiday Recap

We had a flurry of holiday activity that started with our (mostly) annual trip to Branson. We spent the weekend swimming, eating and playing at Silver Dollar City. It was way more crowded than I ever remember it being in the past, probably because the weather was beautiful and mild the day we went. The little kids and Nanny enjoyed all the kid rides. The big coaster riders had to sit out because of Lee's injury and TP wasn't feeling well. 

We had a quiet Christmas Day at home feasting and playing with all the kids' loot. We cooked the best turkey we've ever had, but I'm going to save that for another blog day.

My little Christmas miracle is that I finally got to set up my Dickens village, after storing it for nearly 10 years! I finally have room for a display and can trust my kids not to handle it or break it. My handy hubby repurposed an old wooden ladder for me to use as a display. It's so beautiful that I still haven't taken it down, even though the Christmas tree and decorations are all put away. It makes me so happy to look at it, that I may leave it up all winter.

For New Year's, we headed to Wynne, where we had our family Christmas and went to the Liberty Bowl for the Hogs vs. Kansas State game.

I picked the best photos of our holiday season to share. 

Holiday Recap

 

 

Hello! I guess this means that I'm back from my blogging break.  As you can see, there have been absolutely zero changes to the blog...not what I had planned for this break.  With the bad weather, working holidays in retail, traveling and other general craziness, I just didn't get my list of blog chores done.  But I will work on it.

 

Now that we are well into the new year, I thought I should do a quick recap of Christmas.  We stayed home and celebrated with just the five of us.  We started the day with checking out the kids' loot from Santa and opening our gifts.  Then we had a big breakfast while the kids played.  We later enjoyed a big feast at home and finished the day by watching some of our new movies.

 

 

The kids' Christmas jammies were a big hit this year!  We had fun being silly and taking some pictures.

Here are the kids with their favorite gifts.  In fact, in a strange turn of events, each kid specifically asked Santa for one thing only. Lucky for them, Santa delivered!

More than anything, Boy Twin wanted a "Bob the Builder truck."  Doesn't he look so happy?  Big Sis requested, begged, pleaded and longed for an American Girl doll.  Um, Santa did what he could on that one.  Meet Sadie; Big Sis is in LOVE! 

Girl Twin simply requested "a new Sissy," which means "a new doll" and NOT a new sister. We are thankful that Santa understood that loud and clear.

 



 

We ended our holiday festivities with a weekend trip to Wynne to see the family.  In all, my kids had four Christmases and thought they'd hit the Christmas Jackpot.  I told them many times that they are so lucky to have so many people that love them and want to spoil them rotten.  We had a great time visiting, laughing and eating with everyone this holiday season.  Thanks to you all for loving my kids.

A Few of Our Favorite Things

I've had this post in my head for a few weeks, but haven't gotten around to actually writing it yet.  You may have seen my recent post about the glorious Pizza Quesadillas I made from Pinterest; this is the main reason for their deliciousness: 

This is a new tortilla that I've recently found at our Walmart.  They were giving out samples and coupons one day, so I bought.  I don't think I'll ever, ever buy the other kind of tortillas again. These are uncooked, so you have to heat them in a skillet....just give 'em a flip and toast both sides.  We've used them on taco night and for quesadillas, and I've used them for baking in the oven for tortilla chips (fantastic, by the way!).  I'm not getting paid to promote this product, or getting free product, I just like them so much I want to share with you all.

Here is something else we are using that we like.  New Disney cups! Every mom knows how hard it is to find a cup that won't leak, and one that makes the kids happy.  My little ones are begging to be more "grown up," and be like Big Sis....so we thought these might help! They are good for car travel, too.  Now, I'm not saying they won't leak, because they will. But the cool thing is that the straws won't come out!!!  GENIUS.  My little ones always want a straw cup, but I hate giving it to them because they pull the straws right out and make a mess.  Problem solved!  We have these, that Santa got at the Disney Store in Branson....but you can also get them online from the Disney Store:

Home for the Holidays 2012

I am back from my blogging hiatus. Don't get too excited, y'all.  I was off work for 13 days straight,counting the weekends. It was glorious, for the most part. I had so many things I wanted to get done, including blogging and working on a new blog design. Very little of it got done, if any. It's odd how quickly 13 days can pass when you have children around needing your attention---and cookies needing to be baked (and eaten).  It also didn't help that I got a stomach bug for the first two days; then it took another couple to fully recover.

Anyway, here's a brief summary of the past couple of weeks in Bramell Land:

--I went to help with Big Sis's kindergarten Christmas party at school.  Learned that I'm thankful that I didn't choose teaching as my profession. Her teacher must have the patience of a saint.

--Stomach bug, two days.  Sick mama on the couch. Luckily, kids were still in school and daycare for the worst of it.

--Sick Girl Twin for a whole day. This required constant holding and snuggling. And cleaning vomit.

--Final Christmas prep--wrapping, fretting over gifts and how to do last minute shopping since I couldn't leave home, if you know what I mean.

--Holiday meal planning and shopping.  We went with an Italian Feast: chicken parm, spaghetti, lasagna and linguine with Alfredo sauce.  Totally yummy and worth being in the kitchen all afternoon.

--Load up and travel to Wynne for a few days after Christmas.  More on that in another post.

Here are some photos of the kids getting their loot. Why the heck didn't I brush their hair? I should have known to do that, because my mother has years of Christmas photos showcasing my childhood bedhead, too.  

Above:  Big Sis's very favorite gift from Santa--it's a Disney Princess art/activity set. She colored, drew and painted for four days straight. No lie.

Below:  Boy Twin's favorite gift---a Spiderman Stunt City toy.  It has a Spiderman figurine that can climb up the wall of the building! He loved showing it off to daddy. I think daddy kinda likes it, too.

Below:  Girl Twin's favorite gift--Minnie Mouse Bowtique on the Go Fashion Show.  Girl didn't put it down for days!

Above: Big Sis checking out her stocking loot.

Below:  I swear the twins aren't drunk, it just looks like it.

The best part of Christmas?  The kids played and SHARED so nicely all day!  The dad and I got to spend some time on the couch together and I got some relaxing time snuggling my baby girl.  I love it when Santa gets it right.

Sweet Holiday Tradition

I know a lot of families do this, but our Christmas PJ tradition is one of my favorites! We let the kids open one gift on Christmas Eve, which is their pajamas for bed.  This makes for really cute photos on Christmas morning.  And, what's funny is that Big Sis was so excited to open that first gift---she didn't even remember that it would be pajamas! 

Here is our 2011 photo:

And 2012:  (not sure why it's so blurry)

We had a great Christmas at home. I'll have some pictures up in a few days. Santa really got it right this time--the kids love their gifts and have even been sharing!

Gingerbread House Building

Before Big Sister's school let out for holiday break, they hosted a gingerbread house-making night for students and family. Dad stayed home with the little ones, so I got to take a crack at my construction skills.

Here's what we learned:  

--Neither of us have very good construction skills

--Other people cheated by bringing in their own gingerbread house building kits

--Sometimes it helps to just let your house crumble and start over

--It's always fun to call in extra help!

Big Sis hard at work.  See that focus!

Our "extra help" that came to our rescue.  My friend Keisha, who is always up for a creative challenge!

Mama and Big Sis with the final product.

Surprisingly, we got this done in the one hour time frame we were allotted.  Also surprisingly, the gingerbread house made it home without falling down.  Once home, it was all we could do to keep Boy Twin from taking it apart, piece by piece.  We sure had fun and got messy.  This was my first attempt at making a gingerbread house...I think it turned out great.  Nice teamwork and great kindergarten memories!

Our first Advent Calendar

I've been wanting to get an Advent calendar for a couple of years, but realized that most of the cute ones were not cheap. Then, I thought about making one but I was too busy being pregnant and then busy having infants to look after.  Not sure what happened this year, maybe just the sheer luck of being stuck at home for the long Thanksgiving weekend.

Luckily, I've become acquainted with my new friend Pinterest, who made this project very easy and manageable for me.  I'm also lucky that I have Big Sis around, who never turns down a chance to use glue and Sharpie markers.  So, off we went to Hobby Lobby for our crafting extravaganza.

Instead of giving the kids candy every night leading up to Christmas, I chose to write special activities on each card.  Some of them are:  look at Christmas lights, drink hot chocolate after dinner, make a Christmas craft, etc.

We are having fun with it! And Big Sis is really enjoying the countdown to Christmas.  And the best news? We can use it year after year!  Score.

Twin Tuesday: Our Jingle Bells Rock

Funny how I get the best twin nuggets on Tuesdays. I had nothing planned to write for today, and it just happened all by itself.

Just as I am complaining about how much these kids fight, they shock me with this.  Tonight, as we were sitting at the dinner table, Boy Twin says: "Sister pretty. I love her."  I could have cried. Then, as if she understood the compliment, she went over and squeezed herself in the chair beside him. And they hugged. O-M-G. Adorable!

We've been listening to a Christmas CD in the van on the way to daycare every morning. They have definitely decided which songs are their favorites; Miss Bossy will scream her request from the back seat like I'm a DJ or something.  Out of 12 songs on the disc, we actually listen to about four of them.  Today:

Girl Twin:  I want Jingle Bells Rock.

Boy Twin:  No Jingle Bells Rock!

Girl Twin:  I want Jingle Bells Rock!

I start playing Jingle Bell Rock and Girl Twin starts singing along.

Boy Twin:  TOO LOUD!!

Dear Santa

Taa-Dahhh!  Presenting the 2012 Bramell kids photo with Santa.  Yeah, pretty much a spot-on wordless description of my children.  In case you need the interpretation--

 Big Sis: "I'm only here because I left something off my letter that I already mailed."

Girl Twin:  "Just give me the candy cane, dammit."

Boy Twin:  "I wonder if I can climb up there?"

Seriously, we waited in line for the mall Santa for about 45 minutes. For this.  You only get one photo with your own camera, and I sure wasn't going to buy their overpriced photo packages to get 65 copies of THIS.  Actually, I'm quite pleased with the overall experience.  Nobody cried, the little ones sat in his lap and both even talked to him and nobody cried.

Every year, I have such high hopes for a beautiful Santa photo. After five years of Big Sis not wanting anything to do with Santa, you'd think I would just give up.  We have one good photo of Big Sis with Santa.  And it's not really even very good. It's just not worth the struggle.  Maybe next year...

My Christmas Elves

Our Advent calendar activity the other night was to take a photo by the Christmas tree.  I assure you, getting all three kids to sit still and look at the camera was definitely a small Christmas miracle in itself. I got several pictures of open mouths, tongues out and booties shaking.  This is the best shot of the bunch.

Merry Christmas from us!