I cannot tell you how much I love this girl!


She is utterly irresistible.

When The Lightbulb Goes Off

It might surprise you to discover that Brad is actually the patient "teaching" parent in our family...at least when it comes to Eli. With all other children, I have the patience of Job when it comes to teaching. I rarely lose my temper and never wind up in tears. With Eli, though, all bets are off and we both wind up frustrated and in tears when I try to teach him something. Be it letters or potty-training or how to make the bed. I like to say that it's because that boy is one stubborn little cuss, but I think, in reality, it's because we are both too sure that our own way of doing things is the "right" one. (Even though mine really is!)

I admire moms who homeschool their children...sometimes I even wish I was one of them. They have patience and discipline and a feeling that what they are doing is the absolute best for their child. But I also know it would never work for Eli and I. We would probably kill each other before the first week was over.

So I leave most of the "teaching" to Brad. While he uses language that I think would be confusing or too hard to understand, Eli gets it. Brad taught him his right from his left, how to ride a bike, and, most recently, how to ski. And it wasn't easy, either. Eli spent the first few hours having meltdowns or falling on purpose because he was scared or unsure. The child's real gift is knowing how to use his body in any way he wants effortlessly, but sometimes he gets a little overwhelmed and clams up. He also doesn't take direction well and will most likely do the exact opposite of what you've advised him to do. He just has to come into it on his own. I think that's where Brad's real "genius" as a teacher to Eli comes from--his ability to let Eli try his own way countless times and not get so frustrated he can't see straight.

After awhile, after Eli figures it out in his own stubborn little way, the lightbulb just goes off and it's like he's been doing this his entire life. On Friday, it happened about noon, and Brad and Eli got in about four hours of actual skiing. This video is the first time Eli really figured it out.


Next lesson: How To Tie Your Shoes. Brad is thrilled about this one.

This Quilt Almost Killed Me

I finally finished my very first real quilt. From start to finish.

And it almost killed me.

I've decided that $6000 for a quilting machine just doesn't sound like that much anymore. I've also decided that I greatly prefer "piecing" a quilt to actually "quilting" one. (My friend, Dixie, calls us "peace-makers". Get it? She's my inspiration for wanting to really learn to quilt. And apparently my resource for bad puns.)

My SIL, Sarah, loved her quilt. She collects snowmen, and Dixie had assured me that the pattern was easy, and I had a deadline so I actually finished it in time. Binding and everything.


I'm hoping it won't be my last quilt and I'm even considering finishing the one I started back in September or starting one for Phoebe's big-girl bed (if she ever actually gets one) or making a lap quilt for my mom. The possibilities are endless...unlike my time which is being used up right now with putting the last bit of Christmas away. I might actually have it down before Valentine's Day.

Just in time to have forgotten how frustrated I became at times with quilting and start a new one!

A Mommy Melt-Down

Christmas night I had a mommy melt-down.

It was probably a combination of exhaustion and over stimulation and spending a lot of time with this precious little guy, but all I could think about as I went to bed was that the only Christmas with a six-year-old Eli and a two-year-old Phoebe had passed. All the anticipation and excitement and work had lead up to a great day, but it was over and I was never getting it back. The next morning I felt much better (and even a little silly) and realized that if I let the passage of time affect me so greatly, then my nights were going to get really, really long because every single day was one less I had to spend with my children.


Fast forward to last Monday. I was still in my "after-travel funk" and still unpacking and doing laundry and trying to get up the energy to put Christmas away and organize it like I wanted. Brad came home and suggested that we go on an impromptu ski trip, just the four of us. I was less than thrilled. Despite the fact that I just really like to stay home, going out of town after just getting back just didn't sound very appealing. And then there's the fact that I just like to stay home...I might have mentioned this before.

Then I thought about my Christmas day mommy melt-down and how a few days away, without feeling the need to clean and organize and be productive, was the way to make memories. A small way to stretch out the Christmas of 2009. So we packed our bags (again) and headed off to snowy Ruidoso.

We had a great time.

We let the kids stay up as late as they wanted. Brad and Eli skied. Phoebe and I stayed home and watched movies. We sledded and ate queso and cookies and bowls and bowls of popcorn. A good time was had by all.



Today we are back to school and work and schedules and laundry and cleaning and putting away Christmas, but we've got some pretty darn good memories to wrap around us when we're old.

The Holiday Nickel Tour 2009

I'm a nosy person.

I love to see other people's houses and how they decorate and how they live. Especially at Christmas. And since I figured I'm not the only "crazy" out there, I decided to take a few pictures of my holiday house before I took it all down this next week. (I know, I should have used this last week to do such a task, but it was vacation and I just plain didn't want to!)

Keep in mind this is the nickel tour. You get what you pay for, folks!

These aren't all my decorations, but just a few spots I chose to highlight. There were some festive touches on my eggcups and in my kitchen and the shelves in Brad's office, but I forgot to take pictures of those. Maybe I will on Monday.

I like to group items by type and this area was for all my Santas...or at least most of them. It's also a catch-all for "red" things.

You'll have to excuse my blue hutch. I got it just before we had a big Christmas party at our house and I didn't have time to stock it full of my treasures. I'll do it later...probably from the treasures on the crates that I'm debating about taking down. I'd love anyone's input on this, by the way!


Of these decorations, I think this is my favorite. I made it a few years ago from items purchased at Hobby Lobby, and they keep breaking off every year, but I still love the simplicity and rustic-ness of this nativity.



My buffet was home to all my "sparkly" snowmen. This picture doesn't do it justice, but it looked really great. I'll showcase individual snowpeople later. Also, notice that I turned my book to the winter page.


My tree. I'm a little sad I didn't take a photo with all the packages underneath, but, trust me, they were pretty darn beautiful!


And finally, my mantle. All my little sparkly cardboard houses lined up in a snowfall of tulle. Again, the photo doesn't do it justice, but I loved it. I also forgot to hang the stockings back up after our trip. Here's a (partial) picture of those. My handy-dandy mom made them for us!


Happy New Year's!

A Little Bit Of Sunshine

My great-aunt Anna gave this to me for Christmas.

Actually, she gave it to the entire McCall family, but I'm a bit miserly with such treats. I call it A Little Bit Of Sunshine In A Pretty-In-A-Rustic-Sort-Of-Way Jar. You might call it stewed apricots. Whatever you call them, they. are. simply. divine.

I would like to make apricot fried pies with them, but since I'd be the only one eating them, it seems like a lot of work and mess for just one gal. So instead, I've eaten them on whole grain toast and rolled them up into crescent rolls to bake. The crescent rolls were good, but I think I would have preferred a shortbread-like dough instead. However I've eaten them, they are just like a little bit of sunshine in my mouth while the wind howls and the snow falls outside.

Dear Aunt Anna,

Thank you so much for this delicious treat. I have truly enjoyed it all by myself. If I return the empty, clean jar to you in a few weeks would you fill it up with such yumminess again? :)

Just kidding.

Sort of.

Love,
Your great-niece Jordan

Before The Internet Goes Out. Again.

I've been trying to download these pictures into a montage for three days and the Taj McCall keeps having major internet difficulties. As in, it just plain won't work. At all. Brad has it working right now, but I can't guarantee the duration.

In the meantime, peruse our Christmas pictures.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I'll just be here waiting. And putting up Christmas. And doing laundry.

I lead a very glamorous life.

All The Cool Kids Are Doing It

...eating mashed potatoes off the beater, that is!

The Stockings Were Hung By The Chimney With Care

Merry Christmas to all,
And to all a Good Night!

In Search Of Christmas Fun

Well, I certainly didn't mean to let 3 days lapse between my last post and this one, but it's the holidays and there are roads to travel and new baby cousins to meet and menus to plan and marathon grocery store runs to make and last minute gifts to buy and Santas to find.


And since we've been having so much Christmas fun, I'll just leave you with several pictures from the last three days.

Enjoy!