Santa Claus at our House?

As a child I wasn't taught to believe in Santa Claus -- to me he was just an overweight guy dressed up in a red suit that came to Grandmas' house on Christmas Eve to hand out a bag of candy. There was no stockings or letters addressed to the North Pole. I'm pretty sure it was a deliberate decision on my parents' part to make sure Santa wasn't really a part of our Christmas celebration.
However, now that I have kids of my own we need to decide how to approach Santa Claus -- will he be coming down our chimney? Should we hang stockings in hopes that they will be filled to the brim on Christmas morning? And should I be baking cookies and putting them out on a plate on the coffee table with some milk? And what about the lies we tell to the kids, just to keep the fantasy alive and the Christmas 'spirit' exciting -- will they forgive me when they grown older and realize that Santa is not really real?
I recently read this article by suggestion from my friend Steve, and it really helped me decide what I will be telling my kids about Santa Claus this year...and I think I'll keep the cookies & milk off the coffee table so the cats don't eat them!
I hope you and your family are having a wonderful Christmas, with or without Santa Claus.

A move not to be repeated

Last summer when we decided to put our house up for sale and look for something outside of the city, I didn't really know what to expect. Well, our house sold rather quickly and we began looking for another one, but finding one in our price range with all the requirements was difficult -- especially finding a home that could incorporate a large sewing studio as well as leaving plenty of room for our family! Finally, after a very thorough search we were able to find a two story that had a completely finished basement that could accommodate the sewing room, as well as a bonus room for the kids (upstairs) and 4 bedrooms & 3.5 baths...it was perfect! We made the offer, competed with two other offers and got our new house for a little more than the asking price. Then came the hard part -- the move! Our sewing room at the old house was small but very packed -- mom and I had a LOT of stuff in there, as well as in storage. Finally we were able to get moved and settled into the new place only to realize some painting needed to be done and our sewing studio would need some better planning & organizing this time around. It took us until December to actually have the sewing room set up like we wanted it, and another couple months in 2010 to get set up enough to actually sew something in our new studio -- but it was worth the wait! It is such a cheerful room that has plenty of space, with a whole room for fabric and a separate office and bathroom -- it is such a blessing to be able to work in such a wonderful space! I plan on taking some photos soon and give you a peak -- as soon as a curtain is hung I will do that. But for now I want to share with you a picture of the old house and the new house:


Old


New

My "baby" turns 3

We celebrated a birthday at our house last week -- my little girl has turned 3! I am constantly amazed at how quickly they grow up! It feels like yesterday we were going to the OBGYN to schedule my c-section and she asked us "how's valentine's day for you?" we said "great!" (my swollen ankles were thankful!). What a way to celebrate our love for each other than to welcome our new baby into the world (and it gets my hubby out of buying over-priced flowers every year on Feb. 14th because we just celebrate her birthday on that day and then do something for valentines day later in the week!)!
So our house was filled with purple and pink balloons and streamers were hung in our dining room & the presents got wrapped (the night before!) and unwrapped and overall it was a special day to celebrate our "baby's" birthday. :)

Babies of the world

I found this trailer over at Make and Takes blog, and once I watched it I'm super eager for it to come out (to be released in April 2010). I can't think of a better first post on my new blog than one that showcases babies around the world...we can see that even though we're culturally different they are still babies!

More info on the movie can be found here.