Santa Clause {or just his hat} is Coming to Town

So I'm pretty late on Christmas posts but I promise to try and be finished by the new year {or shortly after}. I've got other stuff to talk about also like scrappy projects and...well I guess that's actually all I can think of right now but I'm sure over the next week more things will come up. I wanted to share these fun pictures I took of the kids with Santa hats. I'm happy with the results but getting there was not so easy. Michael did great for the pictures on his own, he was actually interested in taking the pictures. Then I tried a couple with just Lydia which was hard because she kept taking the hat off so I started on pictures with both of them. I was *thiiis* close to having a great picture and then the camera wasn't working. My 13 year old brother decided that it would be a good idea to charge the already full battery - just in case it decided not to work anymore. :-/ I was a little frustrated as you can imagine. Got the battery back in the camera, tried again and Michael decided to pull that little stunt in the top picture. I guess he was trying to fix her hat but as you can see all he did was cover her face. Folks, this sent me into a bit of a breakdown. It's a little embarassing now because I look at the picture and think it's cute and laugh. But right then, in that moment I was beyond frustrated. Christmas was a shaky time for me and this was just one of those things that shook me. After wiping tears and consoling Michael I decided to give it another go. This time I had help from my stepmom so at least Michael didn't try pulling hats off of sissy. I think this will be a fun thing to do each year, esp when the children can better listen to my "look at mommy, put your hands down, keep your hat on and smile darn it!" directions. I showed my hubby these pictures through messenger and he LOVED them. It will be fun to send him some actual prints.

The Secret is OUT!

Why am I posting at 1:30am while congested and after taking care of a feverish boy today? If there were any questions about my sanity, well doubt no more - I am certifiable. My sister & her hubby got in today and after eating lunch and teasing us a little more about how they knew the gender of the baby and we all didn't we watched their wedding video. My brother in law's dad does video editing and added a trailer to the end of the wedding stuff. It was a cute story about how these wild newlyweds driving this red Cheville started the record breaking fires in Tahoe during their honeymoon & now they were having a baby and it was a...wait for it... - girl! It was a fun way to find out and I'm excited that she's having a girl. It's actually a little bitter sweet. Rachelle is due May 20 {so far} and my mom's birthday was May 23rd - we're hoping she is born on that day. The baby's name will be Amellia Renee {Renee was my mom's name}. So while I was thrilled about having a little neice only 18 mos younger than my own daughter I was also very sad. How I wish my mom could be here for my sister right now during her pregnancy & after the baby is born. She would be ecstatic & like many of us be saying "I told you so!". We all knew {except the happy couple of course} that they'd be pregnant much sooner than they had planned.

So after finding out about the baby we opened gifts from the people who drew our names. I got a HOT pair of boots {LOVE them}, some fun scrappy stuff & a handmade apron {do you know how many apron contests I've entered?} from my sister. Michael and Lydia have more fun toys, though with Michael's fever he wasn't too interested in any of it. Then it was time for clean up, dinner, more clean up, bedtime, Michael woke up & decided he wanted to eat {good sign!}, bed time again and then it was on. We play lots of games as a family and tonight was no different. We played three games of electronic Catch Phrase {girls won twice!}, a game of Risk {I was the first one out}, Clue & Balderdash. Tonight was not my night with games. It was fun though. And now I'm waiting & hoping to see if my hubby gets online but it's not looking like he will so I will turn in. I was going to post the Santa Hat pics but got sidetracked with the baby talk so I'll do that another day. I hope you all are recovering well from the holidays and will be back to posting & reading more regularly soon. Thanks for visiting!

Merry Christmas to All & to All a Good Bye

But only for a couple days - I promise! I still have some homemade gifts to make & wrap today. I know we'll be busy over the next few days so I'll be back sometime after Christmas. Though I'll likely wait until I'm back home to share our Christmas with you. My sister & her hubby get here two days after Christmas so there will be much activity then. Here's a sneak at something I have to talk about.

I wish you & your family a Merry Christmas! Thanks for stopping by.

Crafty Christmas

I think I have shared before that some of my family (dad, stepmom, 8 siblings, husband, brother in law, two children & a grandmother) draw names to exchange gifts rather than trying to buy for everyone. It makes it a lot less overwhelming on both the giving and receiving ends - not to mention the organizational/OCDness of myself. Could you imagine each of your kids receiving even just one gift from that many people, it would be a lot for my two let alone my stepmoms 6 that still live at home. Part of the drawing names includes making some part of the gift. It can be as simple as making a card or some cookies or be a more elaborate fuller part of the gift. The homemade gifts are my favorite part. Because my kids are so little I am still making much of their gifts though I really should have had Michael make something this year - oh well there's always next.

So I'm sharing some of the craftiness that was going on in this house - none of it being mine. I wouldn't want my sister, best friend or any other family members who may read this to see what they get before they come out to get it or I finally (BAD! I know!!) get them mailed out. So to avoid spoiling any surprises I'll post the craftiness that Carrie, my stepmom, did instead. These are gifts for my kids & my little sister Hannah - but they are all under the age of 4 and don't read my blog yet ;)

We took a trip to Hobby Lobby {read: crafters/home decorators DREAM!} and she found these cute lunch pails to alter along with an easy example to follow. She changed up the themes, decorated the insides & voila! Cute, fun & homemade gift. They will look SO cute in the kids' rooms and be put to good use. She is filling Michael's with little army men and Lydia's has fun purses & hair accessories. After Christmas I'll be posting my own craftiness. Thanks for stopping

by!

Happy Birthday!!!

Today is my bff's 30th birthday :D Happy Birthday Chriss! I hope you have a great day!!! If I were there I'd bake you a cake girl, or take you out for a drink - or both! Go on over to her blog and leave her some birthday love. She's been journaling her December and it's been a lot of fun so far.

"Chuggy Chuggy Choo Choo" ~ Michael {says daily}

Have I ever talked about my son's affection for trains? Oh how he LOVES his trains. Whenever he hears one whistling his eyes open wide & he stops in his tracks, at a complete standstill {yes, my son is still} then looks at me & says "Momma, did you hear that? It's a train!" He knows {and makes up} many train songs. Saturday my dad thought it would be fun to take the kids on the train into Albequerque, hang out for a bit & ride the train back. After finally getting all of the kids bundled up {it was 30* out!}, packing the diaper bag and loading up the car we were running to catch the train. Oh we were a sight to be seen. But we made it! We boarded the train - Michael was SUPER excited - and started taking pictures. We got off in downtown Abq and enjoyed some creamy hot cocoa provided by a Cold Stone cart then walked to Cold Stone for some ice-cream. It was the best hot chocolate I've had ever and of course I am never one to not like ice-cream. Then it was time to board the train so we got more hot cocoa, replaced three escaped balloons and began taking more pictures. I have 122 just from the train trip on file - this is after deleting some of the blurry & unflattering ones. I'm sure there are still more of both but I got tired. So here's some of my favorite shots that we got, I *think* I have at least one of everyone - we didn't get the group shot we tried for. My 13 year old brother took many photos of Michael and really has a creative eye. I hope he pursues some kind of photography class. He also took some interesting shots of the trains.

By the way, did I mention that a friend e-mailed me saying she would hold onto her sons train table, trains & tracks for Michael when we got back home? Her son doesn't play with it so often and she remembered how much fun Michael had with it. It will be like Christmas all over again - plus another reorganizing project for me, double bonus!
Thanks for stopping by!

12 Christmas Things About Me Hoopla

I've been tagged by Andrea at Lifesong with this hoopla {she doesn't like using the 'm' word} that she created. Here are the rules:

1. List 12 random things about yourself that has to do with Christmas

2. Please refer to it as a 'hoopla' and not the dreaded 'm'-word

3. You have to specifically tag people when you're done. None of this "if you're reading this, consider yourself tagged" stuff is allowed...then nobody ends up actually doing it. The number of people who you tag is really up to you -- but the more, the merrier to get this 'hoopla' circulating through the blogosphere.

4. Please try and do it as quickly as possible. The Christmas season will be over before we know it and I'd like to get as many people involved as possible.

5. If you want to -- please give me, Andrea, some link-love as the 'Hoopla-Creator'. I love new blog-traffic.

So, here are 12 Christmas things about me:

1. I love Christmas music! I like it to be on when I'm decorating, baking, wrapping gifts, writing letters/cards or relaxing with a cup of tea and writing up my lists. I even enjoy it playing at the stores, weather I'm shopping for gifts or not.

2. I love to give gifts but don't like the commercialism of Christmas. This is something I really struggle with, not getting caught up in all the gifts of the season. I LOVE finding things for people I care about that I know they will enjoy and wrapping it up all cute. However, that's not what Christmas is all about. So I try to find a balance in it and save more of the giving for birthdays.

3. I love the seasonal treats, well almost all of them. Pass me the cider, carmel corn, pies, cookies and any other baked goods you have but hold the egg nog. I'm sure that I've tried it and it may taste okay but psycologically I can't get past the thought that I'm drinking raw egg. I'm sure it's not raw egg but it's the first thing I think of and um..ew. {As a side note I also don't like cottage cheese because well it looks like curdled milk and I can't think to much before I eat a mushroom thanks to a video on spores in biology}

4. Growing up we always had a real tree and so far I've continued that tradition - though having a fake one ready to go does sound appealing {and cost efficient}.

5. I like houses that are lit up and decorated for the holiday but not sure that I'll be doing that myself, at least not to the extent that it doubles my electric bill.

6. I don't really enjoy cooking but like to bake and have fun making plates of goodies to give to friends & neighbors. Wow, this is more difficult than I thought it would be - only half way there!

7. I want to carry on traditions with my kids that I had growing up; going to the local Christmas tree lighting (only if it's worth going to), walking down Candy Cane Lane (or whatever street of houses they have that are decorated to the point of at least doubling their electric bill, cutting down a tree at a local tree farm, decorating the tree together preferably making some part of the decoration, and giving my kids an ornament each year.

8. I'd also like to start some new traditions with my kids; attending a church Christmas service, bringing my daughter to a Christmas tea {or hostessing one}, giving my kids an ornament that has some kind of meaning to that past year of their life {character they like, activity they enjoy, something they accomplished, etc.}, and frosting people.

9. Each year around Christmas time I send out a yearly letter updating family & friends on all the goings on in our lives {major events anyway} along with a family picture.

10. Some Christmases growing up my mom would use leftover tree branches to make a wreath and decorate it, I'd like to try doing the same.

11. I really wish I knew how to play the piano so we could sing carols like the girls did in Little Women.

12. I enjoy watching Christmas movies around Christmas, any other time of year it seems strange. One of my favorites is White Christmas.

So there you have it. 12 Christmas-y things about me. Now here's the part where I would usually say "if you want to participate let me know so I can come read your blog" but since that would be breaking the rules, I won't - this time anyway. I'm tagging Christine, Leendaluu, Melanie and Helen.

Thanks for stopping by!

My New Do

For some time now I've been unhappy with my hair. It was in that awkward growing out stage and had NO style cut into it. My hair doesn't hold a curl when it's long so I stopped trying that a while ago. The color was also getting old, oh and growing out, I had 'roots' halfway down my head. It was just drab and I was in a rut. Yesterday that all changed!

My {wonderful} dad wanted to spend some time with just the grandkids between appointments in town {Albequerque}, and yes my dad works some Saturdays. So I met him and then followed him over to this little shopping center. The first sign I saw read "TATTOO" so I asked if he was taking me to get my first tattoo which if you know my dad you know how obvious a joke that is. Then I found out that I could get a cut & color - on him. I was THRILLED! I had been talking about how I wanted to do it but wasn't sure and wanted to talk to a good stylist. As soon as I walked into this salon {it was SO cute & trendy} I knew I'd leave happy.

After talking with the stylist {and owner - wife of my dad's coworker} we apparantly decided my head should look something like turkey leftovers or a funky space alien - take your pick. She had already cut some of the length before applying the colors, four of them but I'm not telling what they are yet. ;) I flipped through a magazine and checked my im mobile to see if my hubby was online - he wasn't so I left him messages letting him know I was getting my hair done and it was totally different than anything I've ever done. I also let my bff know that I was getting my hair done but didn't give away the style/color to her either.

And ^^this^^ is the final result. I LOVE it! I'm out of my rut and have a style that's easy but looks great and the color - omg SO awesome. I have a warm brown, two shades of blonde and peekaboo streaks of black. Yes, black. The stylist suggested it to me and I was a little unsure at first but I wanted something different and this was about as different as I've ever done. Plus I've always wanted to go to someone and say "you're the pro, do what you think will look good" and the peekaboo of black is lots of fun. The only thing I'm not happy about is that I've finally found a stylist and salon I really really like and it is 20 hours away from where I currently live. I think my dad had something up his sleeve when he sent me there, a little 'insurance' that we move out here when Shawn is out of the Army. We've already talked about moving out here {even before the Army} because houses are so affordable and the job market is good. There's a house across the street from my parents selling for $200,000. That's unheard of in California, unless you're buying a small fixer upper and even then it's a good deal. But this is housing area is less than 4 years old, and the house has at least 3 bedrooms - probably 4. So now I have to get the forumla for the color so I can get touch ups done back home and I'll be visiting La De Da {the salon} every time I visit my parents.

Counting Down to Christmas

There are only 19 {and counting!} days left until Christmas. Are you stressing out yet?? I am, but only a little. My to do list is much shorter this year. All of my gifts are simple and I just need to do some ordering, packaging and get them mailed out. Gifts for the name drawing exchange with my family here won't be opened until the 28th which means I have a few extra days & after Christmas SALES to take advantage of. Now I'm not cheap, but I LOVE a bargain so if I can wait a couple days and get the same thing at a marked down price then w00t! for me. :D The other things I have to do are get supplies for homemade gifts & make them, figure out exactly what I'll be buying at said post Christmas sales, stamp & mail out the yearly letter and ... I think that's it. I'm not hosting any get togethers, baking cookies or other goods to give out to friends, or volunteering set up for any church functions. Now don't get me wrong I really do miss doing some of these things I've done in the past but this year I think the simpler the better and the better chance I'll have at actually completing my tasks. I'm actually more excited about next Christmas and have lots of ideas of stuff to do then, with hubby coming home and all (so long as the Army doesn't extend his tour essentially screwing us and our plans). But I'd rather talk about what we've been doing around here.

Tuesday night we had a more traditional Thanksgiving meal since our original meal had no turkey, cranberry sauce or pumpkin pie - which really makes a Thanksgiving meal right? But because some of the kids had stomach flu and our plans changed last minute we made do with what we had. After our belated turkey day dinner we decorated the tree. First dad put up the lights, Carrie put up the beads and then the kids got to put up the ornaments. Of course most of the kids each had a 'spot' on the tree so the ornaments were a little cluttered but it looked cute and they had fun. Chloe {my almost 2 year old sister} tried blowing out the lights, it was cute & I got a picture. Lydia went to bed before we decorated because she missed her nap that day {we went to the aquarium} so I took pictures of her hanging an ornament the next evening. I put pictures below of decorating and the tree post rearranging of the ornaments. What the kids did was cute but the bulbs were down low and with a crawling & curious baby and two other small ones in the house it just wasn't safe.

Yesterday we received a package from one of my grandma's back in California. She made each family {mine & my parents'} an advent calendar, with our last names embroidered on the bottom. For those of you who don't know, this woman is talented. She sews, quilts, embroiders, even teaches sewing and always finds the cutest ideas. She LOVES Christmas and always finds some new cute thing to make for the holidays. So this calendar is fabric, has little pouches for each date (pouches weren't in the original design, she added them so pockets wouldn't empty during transit and to make it more difficult for kids to peek) and in each pouch is a little gift or instructions on opening a package labeled with a certain number. Because they came after the first the kids opened 5 pouches yesterday. The gifts are really simple and not very expensive but the kids still get TOTALLY excited about it, esp since they get to open something every day. So far they've opened a pouch with candy canes, small packets of m&m's, quarters for each to go to the 50 cent theather, mcdonald's gift cards for a happy meal, push pops and little bags of coins. So one day soon we'll take the kids to lunch & a movie - the candy is pretty much gone already.

Here are pictures from decorating the tree, our turkey dinner & the advent calendars. Thanks for dropping by! By the way, the picture above was taken at the aquarium. We were heading out and the little gingerbread man display was up and would you believe all the kids went running to it, putthing their heads into it before we even noticed it to try talking them into it? On top of that the camera had run out of battery power but we were able to squeeze out just enough 'juice' to take the picture. It was an exciting moment for us!