I Love Lamp...

...these glass lamp bases, to be exact.  I originally bought them because I wanted something light and neutral with my gray walls and dark wood furniture. But I just keep stuffing them up. Earlier this year, I filled them with pine cones and now ornaments. The bottom is open, so all I have to do is flip the lamp over and fill it up. I'm all for easy holiday decorations.

I bought my lamp bases from Target a few years ago, and they aren't available anymore. However, this version from IKEA is another great option. I really love them when they are empty, and I think they are pretty cute filled. So, if you are in the market for new lamps, I'd highly recommend these.

Also, we are getting an IKEA in St. Louis! (if you hadn't already heard)

Let Them Eat Bread

Will has only cut two teeth so far, but those two teeth have taken a lot out of the both of us. Basically, those teefers (as I like to call them) are making both of us hate life.  The last two days have been better than the previous six, but we were touch and go for a while there. Will basically wanted to be held ALL THE TIME for the last week (the same week when I was trying to get the house ready for a big Thanksgiving celebration), which is sweet sometimes, especially when he does this thing where he launches his entire body into my arms or lap. But then, as soon as he is in my arms, he pushes against me with all four limbs until I try to put him down when he grabs on for dear life, all while issuing a high and constant whine. Just a tad frustrating for both of us.

He's also had cold symptoms, fever, and a rash over the last month, all presumably from teething. So what is the cure? Traditional medication like acetaminophen and ibuprofen? Homeopathic medicine like teething tablets and amber necklaces? The former only seems to take the edge off a bit and the latter I'm a bit dubious of. (Anyone out there want to vouch for either of those methods?) Our cure so far has been prayer, perspective, and crusty bread. We pray for strength and patience and comfort.  And I realize that I'd much rather be dealing with a whiny William than grading 120 essays.  And if we ever have a really bad day with really short naps, I just pack Will up in the car, where he is usually happy (and sometimes nappy), and head on down to the closest Bread Co. (that's Panera to you non-St. Louisans) to pick up a french loaf.  When we get home, he'll teeth on a hunk of that crusty bread long enough for me to get dinner ready, and if it was a really bad day or Jason isn't going to make it home for dinner, I will have a piece of bread with butter (and a beer) for dinner and a piece of bread with butter and honey for dessert. I figure if we can make it to dinner, we can make it another day. 

Also, I suspect those two new bottom teeth are responsible for his new top-lip grin. Kinda cute, right? I guess I'll keep him.

Be-Your-Own Bathroom Attendant

Even thought it's been four days since Thanksgiving, I still haven't put everything away from our big shindig. But I did get out all the Christmas decorations... so there you go. One of the things I still need to put away is the be-your-own bathroom attendant supplies. I've never actually used any supplies at restrooms where there are real live bathroom attendants because I just felt awkward, but I have been at weddings and other events where there were supplies set up in the bathroom that came in handy. And I thought, "Hey, I could do that for my guests."

The be-your-own bathroom attendant idea really evolved from when we had guests stay over for Thanksgiving last year, and I set up a hospitality basket in each room with some (hopefully) useful items. This year, I set up the items in the guest bathrooms in our house because... well, you never know. And I believe that being a good hostess (like a good teacher) is all about anticipation and preparation.

You can see all the supplies I included below (purchased from the travel size section and checkout line at Target). When I created the hospitality baskets for the guest rooms, I also put in chocolates, water bottles, a candle, and a lighter. Once you have the basic supplies, this takes about two minutes to set up.  After the party, I just stow the unused items in the linen closet and put the perishable items like mints, gum, and TUMS on my grocery list the next time I have a party. Easy peasy! And you'll be the hostess with the mostess!

Also, speaking of hospitality, isn't that one of the best understated things about traveling... those little extra things that make you feel a bit more comfortable when away from home. Although I love where we live, I keep telling Jason that if his company ever offers him a position in Belgium or Brazil (the two countries the company that bought out his company are headquartered), he should take it, especially if it's Belgium.  In my dream, we will live in Antwerp, and I will get to go to Wasbar to do my laundry and practice my German (or Dutch or French). Check out the sweet little video below about the coolest laundromat ever. 

See the full story about this hospitable place at Messy Nessy Chic.

Also, One More Video to Start the Week

I love the idea of having your own personal LOL/ROTFL like the one mom's CLAH (cackling like a hen). I've been trying to come up with my own since seeing this segment. So far, I have the following:

LLAL (Laughing Like A Lady)
CAAMP (Chuckling Audibly At My Phone)
GFETE (Grinning From Ear To Ear)
WMH (Warms My Heart)
TAPASOOM (Tears And Pee Are Streaming Out Of Me)

Any other suggestions? I feel like CAAMP is most accurate for what is often happening, but TAPASOOM has a nice Seussical ring to it.

Happy Monday! I hope your week has many moments where you are GFETE!

A Perfect Way to Start the Week

Happy Advent! The season of joyful expectation and preparation for the birth of Jesus is here! And let me say, this Advent weather has been very conducive to outdoor preparation so far. Reaching almost 60 degrees yesterday, we got to go for a walk and get our outside Christmas decorations up. 

Another way we celebrate Advent every year is by buying presents for a child in Christian Social Services of Illinois. Last year, we participated in CSSIL's Secret Santa program directly, and this year, we are delivering the presents through our church.  If you are interested in working with them, they have an awesome program.  You can click here to find out more, or you can let me know and I can put you in contact with the right people directly. 

In order to help finance our charitable giving this season more fully, we have tried to cut down on superfluous giving in our family. Instead, in our family, we are trying to focus on the present of presence by spending more time with each other this season, and I am very excited for some of the activities we have planned.  AND... one of my favorite activities actually involves gift giving. I'm talking about Yankee Swap! We have done Yankee Swap for the past few year's in addition to giving individual gifts, but we really enjoy it so much, that we thought we could just make it THE gift exchange. Maggie just sent out the directions to our family last night, and I have already started to get my girl present ready.  Read below for Maggie's Yankee Swap explanation:

Hello Sweet Family,

I feel so grateful that we all got to spend time together this Thanksgiving, and I absolutely cannot wait to celebrate Jesus's birthday with all of you, my beautiful family, and your children and grandchildren. 

As our adult gift giving has evolved over the years, Melissa and I propose a new twist to our exchange. All adults, including MoM and DaD are to purchase a gift, a boy gift if you are a boy and a girl gift if you are a girl, not exceeding a $50 limit. We will participate in a Yankee swap.

See here...   ... for clarification.

If you feel in your heart that you desire to buy a gift for a specific someone, you are, of course, welcome to do so. However, no one is obligated to; we were hoping this might help us focus on the true meaning of Christmas (see here... ...and make inferences) and our sweet children.
Hope you enjoy participating, and we can always make adjustments next year as needed.

Thank you and much love,

Maggie

I actually really need a new oven mitt, so I'm really excited!

Also, I recently listened to last year's Christmas episode of This American Life and the lengths to which some people go to celebrate are anything if not entertaining.  I mean, just read the description about "Jeko, the super-powerful (and somewhat-scary) Christmas elf."  Let him serve as a warning to all you parents doing Elf on a Shelf. (Just kidding... kind of... I really have no idea what Elf on a Shelf entails more than what I see on Pinterest, but it seems like it could backfire in the same way.)

Happy Monday! I hope your week is filled with joyful expectation!