Coffee with Kel

Building relationships, encouraging hope

kelly

The Truth About Santa…

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First of all…SURPRISE! I’m actually updating my blog. No one faint, okay? 😉 We are several days past Christmas now and I’m finally sitting down to write a post that’s been on my brain for several weeks, actually.

(This photo was taken at our church’s Home For the Holidays celebration in December.)

Over the summer our oldest daughter, Macey, learned the truth about Santa Claus. The way this came about was that little miss detective figured out the Tooth Fairy deal and then that lead to a conversation that involved everyone’s favorite jolly ole elf.  You see, in our house, the Tooth Fairy leaves glitter quarters. I got this idea from a friend several years ago and loved it. You simply paint quarters with glitter nail polish and leave them from the Tooth Fairy. Easy and cute, right? This worked like a charm for the first several teeth Macey lost. She got her glitter quarters and some cash. Win/win and fun. Last summer, Macey had to have a tooth pulled at the dentist. So, out came the glitter quarters that evening. Only, I left the glitter nail polish out on my vanity. Didn’t occur to me that Nancy Drew was in the house. The next day, Macey saw the glitter nail polish out and noticed that it was the same color as her glitter quarters from the TF. When she asked me about it, I will admit, I tried to dodge the question at first, but when it was clear that she wanted a real answer, I told the truth. Instead of redirecting her with questions such as “Well, what do YOU think?” I was up front and honest with her. I told her that the Tooth Fairy isn’t real, but it’s something fun for parents to do for their kids to celebrate losing teeth. She was perfectly fine with that. No tears, no drama – just an understanding. I couldn’t have asked for a better revealing.

Once that conversation started, my wheels started turning and I really wanted to address Santa. I have long wrestled with the Santa dilemma. (See my post from November 2008.) I conferred with Mickey and we decided that the time was right to talk to Macey about SC. So, once we talked about the TF and she was obviously more than fine with that, I segued into the Santa conversation. I asked her if she had any other questions about real vs fun/fantasy and, sure enough, HoHo came into question. So, again, I was just honest. I told her that Santa Claus aka Saint Nicholas was a wonderful legend that had been told and enacted for many years. I told her it’s about giving and how the legend showed that Saint Nicholas was always happier to give than to receive. I emphasized how much fun it is for kids AND for their families. And, once again, she was perfectly fine with it. No drama whatsoever. What a relief!! In fact, she was happy to know the truth. She and I talked about what is real (God) vs fantasy (Santa) and she had a very clear understanding about all of  it. She was also happy to keep the magic alive for her sister and be in on “the secret” with us.

I know some people think that innocence is somehow lost when children no longer believe in Santa, but I’m here to say that isn’t the case. Macey enjoyed a wonderfully “magical” Christmas this year. Not one ounce of joy was diminished for her. In our home, we emphasize the birth of Jesus as the main celebration of Christmas, but we also include secular traditions like Santa, of course, and Elf on the Shelf. This year, Macey helped Mariana (our youngest) write her Santa letter. Once the letter was done, Macey took it to the mailbox to mail and sneaked it back into the house so we’d know what was on the list. When our elf  “arrived”, Macey was there cheering about it and getting her sister all excited about it too. Macey then went to a laptop and printed out a letter from the elf and got excited when it magically appeared on the printer. She never once let on anything to her sister. She loved being in on it  all. So, there was no loss of innocence or fun. It’s simply a new phase in her life and one that she fully embraces with happiness.

We aren’t yet sure when we’ll tell Mariana about SC, but I’m sure the truth will reveal itself in the right time, just like it did with Macey. I always had a fear in the back of my mind that finding out the truth about Santa would cause Macey to have doubts about God, somehow, but that has not been the case. I can’t take any credit for that, but I’m hopeful that our keeping Christ at the center of Christmas was what helped her when she found out about SC. I worry less about Mariana finding out now since her sister has done so well with it all. After all, we are teaching our girls the truth of the Lord and that’s the main thing. We always said that when they came to us for the truth, we’d tell it and that’s what we did. I don’t mind redirecting their questions back to them at a young age, but when they are old enough to know, then it’s time to cease the redirects and come out with the truth. We always want our girls to know that we’ll tell them the truth, even if it’s not always what they want to hear.

I just had to share this story because I know that other people out there have children that are “of age” to find out about Santa too. And, you might have the same or similar worries as I did. My advice would simply be to tell the truth. The legend of Santa Claus is a fun one, so we enjoy including that in our Christmas. But, Jesus’ birth is first and foremost what we believe and celebrate. I’m so thankful that our big girl took the SC news as awesomely as she did and also thankful to know that she realizes and believes that Jesus really IS the reason we celebrate Christmas.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I look forward to blogging more in the new year. 🙂

Kelly

Five

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Our baby girl, Mariana, turned five yesterday.  It’s surreal, really, because it seems in many ways like she was just born and in other ways it seems like we’ve been a family of four forever. Five is such a cool age. It’s that “no longer a baby, but still a little kid” age. She’s still very much in that stage where she thinks her mommy and daddy are cool and loves to give us plenty of hugs and kisses. Meanwhile, she’s independent enough to play in the backyard with her sister and is quite skilled at entertaining herself. Mariana will start kindergarten in August and, let me just say, that is something that she is pretty thrilled about already. She is bummed that she can’t start NOW, actually.

Mariana is a giggle girl. She loves to laugh and play. She has an imagination as big as the sky. She loves to pretend to teach a class which mainly consists of stuffed animals. She’s a fantastic little mommy to her dolls. She makes up songs and stories all day long. She got a doll house for her birthday and just about every mini LaLa Loopsy doll ever created, so she has already spent hours playing with those. She loves to sing and dance, but doesn’t so much like for us to think it’s cute when she does that. She reminds us to say the blessing before most of our meals — just in case we forget. She mostly says the “Now I lay me down to sleep” prayer at night, but sometimes she says her own prayer and she is always sweet and thankful when she prays. Mariana has a spark of mischief and a whole lot of curiosity. Ever since she’s been able to walk, we’ve said she’s an adventure waiting for a place to happen. She’s sweet, spunky, smart, sassy and such a delight. We are so thankful that five years ago, God entrusted a second beautiful baby girl to our care.

This is Mariana when she was one day wearing her going home outfit, but all swaddled up because it was chilly that day:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, here she is before her “almost” sleepover birthday party on Friday evening:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s pretty hard to believe that that baby girl is already five, but…she sure is. She’s five and loving it!!

Thank you, God, for Mariana. Here’s to MANY more happy birthdays!

Blessings,

Kelly

Happy Mother’s Day

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Today has been a great Mother’s Day for me. I “slept in” and got up at around 7:45am. Mickey and the girls gave me a great new flat-iron which I have really been wanting and was HAPPY to receive! I was taken out to breakfast at one of our favorite places. We went to church and, as usual, the message from our amazing pastor was just wonderful. I chose to spend time cleaning out our nasty vehicles this afternoon after lunch, so I am happy to report that my Explorer is quite the clean machine right now. Mickey took our girls to the pool this afternoon while I lazed around and watched last week’s Grey’s via DVR. Then we had a delicious dinner followed later by homemade brownies for dessert. Now, obviously, this is the abridged version of the day, but it highlights the best points and that’s the main thing. It was a really good day. At the end of a day like today, I am tired and happy all at the same time. These are the good times.

I feel so blessed to be a mom. It’s a dream come true. I know I’m not always the best mom in the world, but I always love my girls more than life itself and I am always and forever grateful that God chose me to be their mom. I’m also thankful for my awesome husband because without him, I wouldn’t be a mom at all, let alone a stay-at-home mom. I am grateful for the blessings and opportunities of motherhood. My prayer is that our girls will grow up knowing they are loved most of all by the God that created them and entrusted them to our care. I also pray that they will be secure in their faith and in themselves as a result. As one of our pastors at church likes to say, I hope that learning about faith now places an “anchor in their hearts” to keep their paths steady on Christ their whole lives long. When I am sometimes asked what I do, I don’t ever say I am “just” a mom because it’s more than a “just” statement. I’m a mom and it’s a dream come true. I could not be more thankful.

I know that today is a hard day for some people and my heart goes out to those of you that are hurting today. There are those that have lost their moms, those who have strained relationships with their moms or those who really never knew a mom. There are also those who want more than anything just to be a mom and haven’t gotten that chance as of yet. For those, I hope that today wasn’t a hard day and that some joy found its way to you on this day.

Blessings,
Kelly

MaceMallows

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Macey has to do an entrepreneurial project at school. She has to come up with something homemade to sell. So, she decided on marshmallows. Homemade marshmallows, of course.  When she told me about it, I was pretty excited because I love to cook and create new things in the kitchen. I also enjoy working with my girls in the kitchen. So, I set about to find a great recipe for homemade marshmallows. My old friend Google led me to The Smitten Kitchen blog where I found a great recipe along with helpful notes for making delicious homemade marshmallows. Score!!

I went to the grocery store yesterday to pick up the various ingredients. When I got home, Macey and I got to work in the kitchen. These marshmallows are really easy to make. I’m glad I had the recipe notes from The Smitten Kitchen because that prepared me for the mess.  Macey couldn’t do everything, but the recipe had plenty for her to assist with in the kitchen. She helped grease and sugar the pan, she measured and poured, etc. We had a great time creating these marshmallows together.  I really couldn’t get over the simplicity of making them. By my own admission, I am not the most talented cook in the kitchen when it comes to candy. I can create all sorts of wonderful dishes and I enjoy baking too. It’s just that I have never found my niche with confections. Fortunately, making marshmallows is significantly more simple than making, say, divinity candy at which I abysmally failed at my first attempt. (oops) Making marshmallows was definitely easy and definitely messy. Macey and I would both agree, however, that the mess was worth it. The clean-up was actually a good bit easier than I anticipated. Just be ready to use HOT water to get the remaining marshmallow “goo” out of the stand mixer bowl. (And, a shout-out of THANKS to Mickey for helping us clean up after the preparation.)

We made the marshmallows last evening and let them set overnight. I cut them this morning and, of course, we had to taste them. Well, to be perfectly honest, we tasted the “goo” last night once the marshmallows were poured into the pan to cool and set. So, we already knew it was good. However, I must say that they got better once they cooled and set. Oh my good gracious, they are fantastic!! My friend Jamie said the following to me in a blog post: “And be prepared to never want to buy another store marshmallow again. Homemade ones taste exactly like store bought ones, only fresh. I can’t explain it, but you’ll understand when you eat one!” Jamie…you were RIGHT! I may never buy store-bought marshmallows again. These were incredibly easy to make and they taste amazing! YUM!!

Macey has decided that her marshmallows will be called MaceMallows. How cute is that?! We now have to come up with cute packaging and a label for them. She will take them in next week and I think I am more excited than she is! I am hoping to get by Michael’s today to find some fun options for her MaceMallows. This school project is definitely one that we have all gotten to enjoy!

I will take a picture of her MaceMallows soon to share. I tried taking photos with my iPhone this morning, but they didn’t do it justice. So, I’ll get out the “big” camera later and see what I can do. 🙂

Happy Thursday,
Kelly

PS: The recipe can be found by clicking through to the springy, fluffy marshmallows blog entry for The Smitten Kitchen. I am so glad I found this blog. I have bookmarked and will be checking back frequently!

WHO Wednesday

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In keeping with yesterday’s fashion post, I decided to do something that I think is fun for today’s WHO (What’s Hot Online) Wednesday post. Less than a week ago, many of us were glued to the television watching the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. While I could write many a post on the things I loved about that wedding, I decided to declare hats to be my WHO item this week. Specifically, beautiful hats worn to amazing occasions. Since the Kentucky Derby is right around the corner, I have further occasion to feature hats. No, I won’t be attending the Derby, but I definitely have a fascination for fascinators — and other gorgeous hats.

If you are in need of a Derby hat, check out Hats in the Belfry. They have some hats that have me all a’swoon and wishing I had an occasion to wear one of them. Look at these lovely creations:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are just a few of my favorites and there are lots more beautiful hats on their site. I don’t have a reason to wear them, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting them.  I just adore them! I definitely think that hats are “What’s Hot Online” and in reality. I wish we wore hats more often in the US.

Cheers,

Kelly