Autism is a myth

This is my son James and he is on the autistic spectrum. It's just something that "is" and isn't much discussed. Well, until this morning when I heard my boys fighting. James was yelling at Carter. Carter was speaking calming but he was obviously annoying James. So I called them downstairs to discuss what was going on and James begins yelling "Carter says autism isn't real". Carter interrupts and says no, "I said autism is a myth. I just don't believe in it". I asked why and he then explained how you can't see it and it's not on tv so it's not real. Oh boy. So then I started listing other medical terms that they will grow up learning about and asked if they are real like heart disease and lung cancer and diabetes. My point was for them to say they weren't sure so that I could say 'they are real and just because they aren't on your tv shows doesn't make them not real' but diabetes caught me since they apparently know all about this from a Jonas Brother? Anyway, I explained to Carter that this is something that James was born with and it's part of his brain and you can't see it. They both wanted to know how to make it go away. Good question. I guess I'll need to provide some more information for Carter and it's no wonder James struggles with his friends at school when his own brother doubts this confusing 'thing' that you can't see.

James is the sweetest 9 year old ever and had so much fun making a gingerbread house at Aunt Kim's last December. I don't remember this little girl's name but she is one of Kim's friend's daughters and she was SO sweet and friendly to let James help with her house. There is nothing I think parents can instill more in their children that the ability to accept other kids for what they are and be a friend regardless and this little girl was a prefect example of that!

Christmas Eve Brunch

Every year, I host brunch on Christmas Eve. I love starting the holiday as early as possible and this forces me to be DONE with all holiday shopping and errands. We welcome family and freinds and enjoy being a part of the start of their holiday as well!

Here are just a few decorating pictures from that party:

Coffee Bar

Cups from the hot cocoa area on the pool deck

Toppings for Waffle Bar

Rice Krispy Treat wreath, donut trees, carrot cake muffins

Candy trees that Kim made and Reindeer Food to go home with every family

Ribbon trees that I made

My sweet boys with their favorite babysitter!


Merry Christmas!

Bethlehem, a 6 year old's perspective

I just got this from Southern Living At Home. Look closely. Do you see it? Is there anything sweeter than your 6 year old little boy integrating his dinasours into your nativity scene?

Sugar Cube House

I have fun at Christmas. - Kim

Best Cryptic Christmas Present Phone Call 2007

My Brother: Hi Kim

Me: Hey!

My Brother: So, you make a lot of cupcakes right?

Me: Oh yes

My Brother: Do you travel with them?

Me: Definitely, to school all the time

My Brother: Do you find them difficult to transport?

Me (pause and try not to giggle): Why, yes, they are very difficult to transport actually!

My Brother: Okay, love you, talk to you later

Me: Love you Bye!

Hilarious. Hey, good thinking! I own about every baking thing a girl like me needs and I can't believe I don't have one of those!

-Kim

I Love My Self Absorbed Daughter

I always prayed I would not have a weak, meek child and I do not. Katie is hilarious and enjoys her life thoroughly...she giggles all the time. She enjoys keeping herself happy, just like her mom. My husband thinks I'm a bit self-absorbed but he's amused by me. I told Eric the story I'm about to tell you and he smirked and said "she's your child honey". Today Kate and Derrick were given $20 each for Secret Santa at school. The school buys tons of gifts and pre-wraps them. The kids pick out gifts, for their loved ones, and a volunteer labels them after talking to the child. Parents don't go since this is their time to buy gifts for us. Tonight Kate had her Secret Santa bag filled with wrapped gifts and said "can we open our presents?". I said "No way, they're for Christmas and there's nothing for you in your bag anyway". She said "yes there is" and laughed. I took her bag and took out the gifts to see:
"From: KATIE To: ME".
Some volunteer probably got a kick out of that. She cracked up, thoroughly amused with herself. As a mother who loves that I have a strong decisive child, I was thrilled that she made the decision that she deserved a little something for herself too. She's adorable.

-Kim

You CAN make a red hot tree!

Kim says you can't but you can! See, Kim was just too precise! Here is the proof! Throw out the rules and get messy and it's a breeze!


In case you want to do it, here's what I did:

• put a large plate down below where you are working
• cover a small area with hot glue
• drop red hots on it
• quickly dump red glitter over the same area
• use a tiny paint brush to ently get the glitter off the candy so it's only in the spaces
• keep going!

Done, a red hot tree!!! I tried it with regular glue but they literally slipped off. Hot glue is the only thing that dries fast enough. My 8 year old helped me by dumping the red hots on and we had a blast!

Here are the three trees that I grouped together:



I bought the set of trees from http://www.orientaltrading.com/, aren't they cute? They came with the bases, trees and then a stick that joined them together so they were easy to decorate separately. The tall one is candy canes and was very tedious but so worth it! The small one was really too small for any candy so I just used ribbon and I think it turned out cute. I used glitter and more ribbon for the bases.

I love a good Christmas craft!!

Kiersten

Hosting A Gingerbread Party

I host a gingerbread party every year. I could go on and on about how to host a gingerbread party and would be happy to elaborate if anyone would like. For now, I wanted to show you my candy. Candy is obviously a very big part of a gingerbread party and I have so much fun getting all the candy ready! Yes, I have a list so I make sure I don't miss anything critical to gingerbread homes!

Merry Christmas!

-Kim

Christmas, Candy & Crafts

I love crafts when it involves home decor. Check out my easy creations. I don't even think I need to explain how to do these things. Grab a hot glue gun and have fun. Oh, and get a strong hook, your candy cane wreath will be heavy.

Kim's Craft Tip: don't ever bother trying to hot glue red hots to any form. I tried to make mini wreaths with red hots. 4 blisters later I was amazed......I was being so neat but there was no way to keep the gloss of the candy. The glue got on the candy due to the gun or my fingers and it was a mess. Just don't do it. I just saved you hours, I am so kind.

-Kim

My tree inspiration!

Two days after making my trees, a new Oriental Trading scrapbook catalog arrives and guess what was on the cover? Yes, this was my inspiration! I had been checking out their catalog online and I guess this stayed in my head! Their trees are what they sell and they are on a base and mine are not, I just used the cheap floral cone. And theirs is made of scrapbooking paper but I used ribbon. Anyway, I laughed when the catalog came and had to share this!

-Kiersten

Christmas Decorations are in the stores!

Wow! Back to School is barely down and things are already beginning to look a lot like Christmas! And I am a wonderful consumer and thought that I'd better get ribbon before the best ones sold out. Right. It's the first of October but that's what justified my purchase. That and 40% off. I am not crazy--if it were full price I wouldn't have done it, I swear. Having just moved into a new home also doesn't help me with these impulse buys--the decorating ideas are ENDLESS and I'm beyond excited about have Christmas in our new home! I saw something that turned a floral cone into a cute little tree so I went with it. Once I was done with the ribbon, I couldn't figure out what to do on the top. I had no clue where I saw these trees and wished I could remember so I could go back and look at their topper. Well, I also plan to do a full blown Candy Cane theme since my new dining room is painted red so I had to work some candy into the trees too and putting them on top was perfect! I love my trees! Now I just have to pray that I don't develop an ant problem over the next 2 1/2 months so this glued on candy lasts!
-Kiersten