We Wish You a Merry Christmas

From our family to yours.

We wish you the best holiday ever.

Love,

The Dunbar’s

Up on the Housetop

We tried our hands at making “Gingerbread” Graham Cracker houses, just like Ashley’s kids did. My sister-in-law tried it with a whole group of kids and said it worked fabulously. The glue gun rocks.  It was a fun activity and the boys ate as much sugar and candy off of their hands as they put on the house.

Off topic but, since we were staying home, I let the boys choose their own clothes completely. Monkey came out with his soccer uniform on, complete with socks and shorts. Bogie chose two green pirate tee’s that had to be piled on together with gray sweatpants.  HUH?

This is what you call a Dunbar Sense of Style.

It made me laugh (and then want to cry. j-k.) I’ve got my work cut out for me. Good thing they are good at things like math and physical dexterity.

And while they were busy creating homes.

I was chomping away at this.

The easiest fudge, I have ever made.

Recipe:

3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 can fat-free sweetened condensed milk

All melted together, removed from heat, then added 1.5 tsp of good vanilla extract. Set and chilled.

Oh my word. Pure goodness. And of course since I used the fat-free sweetened condensed milk there are no calories or fat in it. (Right?)

Enjoy your day.

mrs. dunbar

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

God with us. That’s what Emmanuel means. Did you know that?

I just put Bogie to bed and as I was sitting there quietly in the dark waiting for the sighs and heavy breathing of a sleeping child, the plea in my heart for "God with Us” couldn’t be more present.

What I really feel like is the Christmas Cookie who Crumbled, or my boys would probably say “The Mom Who Yelled”. You see…

It’s raining.

And we have a (hopefully) small leak in our roof, which of course is leaking in the living room.

It’s raining.

And I’m too slow physically these days to get everything done which frustrates me to no end.

It’s raining.

And I’ve forgotten to call three people back this week. Agh. Prego brain and clumsiness have moved on in.

It’s raining.

And my kids are bouncing off of the walls with Barn Fever. Yes they are like caged animals right now who are cooped up and ready to pounce.

The pressure to get things done for this new soul that is coming to live with us is mounting. No name chosen. No furniture ordered. No car picked out. The list goes on.

So, I want to be the Mom who is in the moment and loving every second, the Friend who is reliable, the Daughter who is a pleasure, the Wife who is happy and romantic and calm… “I want” is the key phrase because all of that seems to have flown out the window. I actually threw it out the window today. But then I recognize, “Emmanuel- God with us.”And I remember that I can lean on Him for He is good. Tomorrow is another day. And I have the gift of life in Him to share with my kids and my husband and everyone else. 

I can choose to be a light or I can hide and crumble under pressure- that is mostly my own. So I’m not going to stress that when my neighbors showed up this evening to drop off Christmas gifts I had a load of warm laundry on the couch and mail strewn across the desk. Or that the people I forgot to call back will be too terribly upset. Or that my boys have not gotten their 60+ minutes of outside physical exercise in four days. Because ultimately, who is going to recall most of these concerns next week or next year? And if those are my stresses, then life is good, because there is so much junk others are going through this season.

Our Pastor said this past weekend, “God is Good, Life is Hard.”

Isn’t that the truth? Life is hard.

But I choose to cling to Emmanuel because He is good.

Rain or shine.

~mrs. dunbar

Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree-Weekend Re-Cap

Well, last week went out with a bang.

What would you do if you had to wait for your brother to sing?

Put your feet up and play on the iPhone? 

Yeah, me neither.

But Bogie did.

I had a really nice sweater on Monkey and when he came out on stage wearing his Christmas Rocks tee I couldn’t believe it. My MIL leaned over and said, “He’s a Dunbar.” That’s what she tells me any time my boys do something I don’t expect. Ah well, it matched the theme.

Saturday we had a Mommy and Me date. My idea of a date and his idea of a date are two different things. It was fun anyhow.  

Sunday I had a few gals over. Everyone brought an appetizer and an ornament. But in SoCal when its raining girls tend to bail on you, so it was a small crowd. We had a good time though.

It turned into a snowflake making seminar. Thank You Miss Eryn! You rock with all of your non-studying college hours learning how to make awesome snowflakes and airplanes.

Can you already envision what will be hanging around my house next Christmas? With cool paper and maybe even some glitter?  Yeah, me too.    And my Bogster. I just liked this picture for really no reason at all other than my Charlie Brown Christmas tree is in the background.

Have a great last Monday before Christmas.

It’s countdown (crunch) time now.

~mrs. dunbar

10 Things with Less than 10 days to go…

1. We cut way back on gifts this year, so I only have two more people to shop for: Mom and Dad. Why are they always the hardest to buy for? Ummm, because they have everything!

2. The boys and I were going to take dinner to them yesterday, so I called my mom letting her know that dinner would be waiting for them when they got home, as we were putting on shoes someone was tapping at my door; Dad. Ha. Saved me a trip (and he didn’t even know it), but the boys were mad because they wanted to play on his iPad.

3. Going to Costco today. Gotta buy the dogs a new bed, Dodger hates the one they have now and I have to get razors for Mr. Dunbar. Does anyone know if they sell powdered sugar and cocoa?

4. After Costco we’re making treats for all of the boys’ teachers. My boys have got 12 of them! Seriously. I can’t wait for the one teacher classroom. Then I am going to spoil that woman of the year like crazy!  (I know what it feels like to be on the other side.)

5. I was missing work the other day. I miss my friends and my students and the Christmas-time aura that’s in the air this time of year. I was feeling sad thinking about Staff Breakfasts and Staff Parties and Secret Santa’s, but then somebody kicked me in the ribs, what a wake up call! And I remembered that home is where I need to be right now. There will always be other people’s children to teach and I still have great friends. Someday I’ll be back at a school site doing something. Probably working as a lunch lady! Ha.

6. It’s raining. Monday and Tuesday we were wearing flips and shorts and today it’s raining. I think I’ll put on Miracle on 34th Street and make popcorn later on this afternoon.

7. Bogie redecorated the tree yesterday. Now it truly looks like a Charlie Brown Christmas. Ornaments on the floor and bottom two branches, gold strands hung like a bad scene from Pirates of the Carribean (the ride), lights bundled in spots and empty in others. He was happy.

8. I bought wrapping paper after Christmas last year. You know, when you get it for 50%off. Well let me tell you, you get what you pay for, the cheap stuff kept ripping as I was trying to tighten corners. Next year, I’m using paper bags, the brown ones, and if we’re lucky they’ll come from Trader Joes; they always put cool Christmas print on the bags. One year I bought a roll from Costco, it lasted me like 4 years, I hated it by the time it was all gone. The moral: never buy super cheap paper and unless you’re wrapping gifts in the mall don’t buy paper from Costco.

9. I am loving Amazon Prime. Two day shipping rocks. I feel like I just registered for my wedding with all of the boxes that arrived yesterday. The UPS guy smirked at me. Ha. He knows I love him. Mr. Dunbar knows I love our UPS guy too. I get all giddy any time his truck pulls up. And my UPS guy is still rockin his 80’s mustache. Sweet.

10. I made coffee this morning for Mr. Dunbar. It was the first time I’ve ever done that. In seven years of marriage. I’m not joking. It was a labor of love. I feel like a real grown-up now. Okay, off to check off my list of things to do. I’m wired, since I had coffee at 5am.

~mrs. dunbar

It’s a Wonderful Life

Well, the weekend came and went. Flew by actually. We had a fun family weekend. Saturday morning we woke up early and headed down to see “the Mouse.” Our passes are expiring soon and we’re not going to renew this upcoming year, so we figured we might as well get in a few trips before the gates are locked.

I know you’re supposed to being praying during prayer, but I couldn’t help but capture this sweet moment as my boys joined hands.

Bogie is in LOVE with the Go Coaster. He had the guys riding it three times in a row, and he would have kept going if someone else wouldn’t have thrown a fit. (They are in the last 2 rows.)

Daddy is explaining why we have to let Bogie have turns at choosing rides…       Blurry, I know, but again such fun moments in time.

Ah, and of course, our controversial stop at Disneyland. We do this every. single. time.

The Shooting Gallery.

The boys love it, absolutely love it.

I don’t know what it is.

Some innate manly urge to shoot things.

And so we spend $1 on each and every trip letting them do this.

Bye, Bye Mickey.

I also found this fun little treat, on a blog I cannot find now. (If you do, let me know please.)

You take Rolos.

And mini-pretzels.

Melt them slightly, about 30-40 seconds.

They are so fun, easy, and yummy.  

I put them on top of wax paper, so when it was time to transfer to a platter it was easy-peasy to peel them off.

Good times.

Good eats.

~mrs. dunbar

Advent Activities

Each day the boys and I have a small activity, project, or service planned through Christmas. Nothing spectacular or expensive. Lots of sugar involved and hopefully fun-filled time. Just moments of small things like “Cut Out Paper Snowflakes” and “Go to Barnes and Noble for a new Christmas book.” We’ve “Painted ornaments” and made “Special Holiday Chex Mix.”

Of course one of our first activities was to make a Nativity Scene.

One day it was “Create Marshmallow Snowmen.”

String a Paper Garland.

Bake and decorate cupcakes.      

I can’t reveal all of the day’s activities because some of them are service projects and surprises for loved ones. But we are going to do the “Drive-thru Difference” and pay for someone else’s coffee one morning, if all works out “Deliver Sweets of Gratitude to the Fire Station,” and “Leave a treat for the Lawn Guys.”

Little projects.

Bits of time.

Lots of love.

(If you want the whole list I’ll email it to you.)

~mrs. dunbar