Wednesday Love

Oh I was doing so good! But here I am finally on my break and I'm late again;) oh well!!

My love this week is:
Brown Paper Packages Tied up With String

That's how I wrapped my Christmas presents this year!








I bought brown paper in the "postal" section at wal-mart and jute to tie it up with.

I was really happy with the way they turned out. So simple! I also tied them all different ways.

Here are a few examples









And I already showed you the homemade tags. Now I'm ready for everyone to tear into them:)

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

It's a Wonderful Life

I don't know about you, but this movie has been a part of my family Christmas for as long as I can remember! Every Kern loves it and cries during it:) We watch it every year.



Five years ago, when Nick and started dating and I was in Miami during the holidays, I noticed that the old Coleman theater was showing "It's a Wonderful Life". Nick had never seen it all the way through, so we decided we'd do it:) Even though it was us and about 20 other people, we had a great time! They give you old-fashioned tickets with the movie title on it, popcorn in red-and-white-striped boxes, and you get to sit in the beautiful theater:)



The Coleman Theater is a historic landmark on Route 66. Not very long ago, it was very rundown, then they had a time of restoration and everything is back to the way it was in the late 20s:)

This is the view from the stage



This is a weird view but it shows the stage and the size of the screen we watch the movie on



We decided to partake in this event every year! The next year, I invited my mom to come along and they showed "White Christmas", which we also love:) The next year, my Aunt Marian joined us and they showed "White Christmas" again and she loved it! Last year, Uncle Les and Aunt Terri, Riley and Emily, Curt and Becky, Mom and Tim, and Aunt Marian joined us and they showed "It's a Wonderful Life". This year, they showed it again and Aunt Marian, Aunt Rhonda, Megan and JD, Mallory, Mom and Tim, Nick and I all enjoyed it:) It's been a time where people can come see our house here in Miami, we've eaten some good food, and really enjoyed each other's company!

I can't wait to see what they show next year, but whatever it is, we'll love it:) I cherish this little tradition and the lessons learned from this movie!

"Remember, George. No man is a failure who has friends."

11 Months

Oh my goodness, Lucas!!

I can't believe your first year of life has almost come to an end! This has been a whirlwind! Every month seems to go by quicker and quicker! Your 11 month birthday certainly snuck up on us:) You've had a busy month!

You are still growing, growing, growing! You haven't been to the doctor this month and Daddy hasn't weighed you, but we know you are getting bigger because you are in 12-18 months clothes now! Most of your 6-12 months clothes are too short! I don't know if you've gained much weight, though, because you are active!!



You've definitely mastered pulling up this month and have been cruising a lot as well:) You can move from the couch to the loveseat to recliner and back to the ottoman with ease! You don't like to stay in one spot for a long time:)



You love to pull up to the piano and plunk out a few notes and you love to pull up to the bathtub when you hear your bath water running:) It's so cute!!





Another big change this month is your switch to table food:) You don't eat any baby food anymore:( Kind of sad, but so much easier for Mommy and Daddy! You pretty much eat anything we give you:) You love chicken, green beans, carrots, corn, bread, meatloaf, lasagna, pork chops, popcorn shrimp, scrambled eggs, peaches and pears:) You also love applesauce and you still eat yogurt and oatmeal in the mornings most of the time:)



We've also started weaning you off of formula. Tomorrow at lunch and dinner time, you will have 2 oz formula and 3 oz milk! You are switching so easily:) You are also drinking it out of a cup:) You're doing great! This is much easier for Mommy and Daddy too!!



You've had some new traditions this month, as well!

You had your first Thanksgiving! You had a great time with both families. You ate turkey and got to see a lot of your cousins; including Delia for the first time! You also got to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade with Daddy and me that morning. You fell asleep during it, though;)



During Thanksgiving, you finally got to meet the Pennsylvania Johnsons! These are Poppy's parents:) They were so excited to meet you and Daddy! We send them a picture in the Steelers shirt Mimi and Poppy got you this summer when they were visiting them and they loved it:) Then, they came to our house for dinner and they got you some jammies. You wore them during Thanksgiving at Mimi's!





The other new tradition this month is decorating for Christmas:) You love your little tree and you love your Advent calendar and you liked Santa pretty well too:) You smiled when you saw his beard and started at it for awhile! I'll put that picture up in a few days;)



It is so fun sharing all these new things with you and seeing it all through your eyes:) I know you don't understand it all right now, but you will:) We're trying to share more with you about why we celebrate Christmas and the real meaning behind it. I know you'll have fun with presents and decorations, but I pray that you will come to know Christ as your One and Only Savior and worship Him as the Reason for the Season:)

We love you baby and we are so proud of the little man you have become and are becoming! You make life wonderful and we can't wait to celebrate Christmas, the New Year and your 1st birthday!!

All our love,
Mommy and Daddy

Wednesday Love

My coffee pot!

Everyone loves the Keurig but very few people can shell out the money to buy one. My coffee pot is the equivalent of the Keurig but a fraction of the price!


Here it is. As you can see, you can fill up a travel mug if you're on the go, or an individual cup if you're staying at home.

You buy Senseo pods. They are much cheaper than the Keurig pods and you get 16 in each bag.






I buy them at Wal-Mart and when I first got it they only had Medium Roast and Dark Roast, but now they have Paris too; which is French vanilla. My favorite:)



You fill up your mug or cup however full you want, with water.



Then pour it into the top of the pot



Put in the pod






Put your cup/mug in there and press start



It takes 2-3 minutes tops and you're done!



Add your cream and sugar and you're good to go:)






The best part is the pot costs $20 at Wal-Mart and the pods are about $6!!

I just know you will love it as much as I do!!

P.S. Hamilton beach did not pay me to write this blog. I just like it that much!!

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A Family Tradition

In the Kern family, everyone remembers my grandma Marguerite's freezer jam. She would use strawberries and make it in butter tubs. She would also make homemade biscuits. It was an amazing breakfast or snack:)

A few weeks ago, my Aunt Terri brought me some when I was at my mom's house and I remembered how yummy it was. Nick also fell in love with it!!

I decided over Thanksgiving that I wanted to learn how to make it. I was amazed when Aunt Terri told me how easy it was!

Here are all the frozen strawberries I used. The key is for them to be room temperature



Here is the sugar and Sure-Gel mixed together in the pan



You then add water and let it boil stirring constantly



I didn't get a picture of this mixed with the strawberries because everything happens so fast once it starts boiling. It goes in to the jars in 2 minutes.

But I did get a picture of all the jars



It makes 8 jars, so great Christmas gifts right? That's what I thought too. I'm making my own gift tags this year, too!!










I Didn't give them all away! After I let it set for 24 hours, we tried it out on a biscuit!






It turned out perfect! I was so excited! I told Aunt Terri about it and she said Grandma Marguerite would be proud!!

Best compliment ever:)

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone.

Wednesday Love

Fig Newton Bars



I discovered these this year and they are amazing!

Everyone knows the original Fig Newtons, but these are bigger, softer and come individually packaged:) They are my favorite new snack!!!

They are with the Little Debbie's at your local Wal-Mart:)

Preschool and Pinterest Go Hand-in-Hand

Here are some Christmas crafts I've made with my kids over the past few days and I got them all from Pinterest! So cute and so unique:)

The first were Christmas Tree Footprints



I painted their feet green and their toes red. Some of mine with high arches are blank in the middle, but that's what makes them special!

The next thing we made were some ornaments; both with handprints.



This one I traced their hands and cut them out. We put glitter all over them, a red bead for the nose, a googly eye, and cut out a hole for the pipecleaner antler. Some decorated with shiny sequins, others chose for me to draw a heart on them!



This next one is Santa. You paint their palm (closest to their wrist) red and add a little white to the tip of the thumb (for the end of Santa's hat), a little white under the red (for Santa's hair) and white on the fingers (for Santa's beard), then I used peach for the middle of the palm (for Santa's face).

The next thing we made were Rudolph marshmallows



I didn't put eyes on mine, but we dipped a marshmallow in chocolate, laid it on top of pretzel twists and added a red M&M for the nose:)

We did Letter "R" last week, so we did a lot of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer crafts;)

The next one is Reindeer Noses



I used Whoppers for Santa's eight reindeer and a red gumball for Rudolph. The red gumball is supposed to be at the front of the line (because he's the leader, ya know?), but somehow this one got all scrambled. It was also a good counting lesson because they had to count Santa's eight reindeer:)

The next one is this Rudolph craft



I traced their shoe onto brown paper and cut it out. Then glued it onto green. They drew the antlers and glued on the black circles for eyes and the red circle for the nose.

The last one we did were Christmas lights



I drew one letter per light and sprinkled them with glitter. They then had to choose the letters to spell out their names and I hung them on the ceiling:) They give my room some pizazze!

Anyway, I love this season with kids because they are so excited about each little craft:) It makes it so much fun for me as their teacher. I'm going to do a few of these things with Lucas and you should do some with your kiddos too:)

Advent Calendars

Yesterday was December 1, so we started our little Advent calendar at home with Lucas and I started one at school with my kids. Since Lucas is too little to understand and I can't go into great detail about the Nativity story in my classroom, we are just doing fun things:)

At home with Lucas, this is our Advent calendar. As he gets older, we'll transition into a more "spiritual" understanding of Advent, but for now just fun things are behind each door!



This year, it's bells:) I stole this from Katie! I think she did this a few years ago with her son!

Here is Lucas and I with the house:)



I'm reaching in to get the bell



He's holding it



And now it's strung on the piano! He loves to swing it and jingle it:) It'll be so fun when they're all up! We'll put today's up this evening:) Mornings are too rushed!





In my class, we have a Santa Advent. I stole the idea from Pinterest. My kids are loving it!

Here's the whole thing



The close-up of the poem



The close-up of Santa with 2 cotton balls on:)



It's been fun so far, and we're only two days in! Can't wait to see what the rest of the month holds!!

Have a great weekend everyone:)